Riot

by Heather Atkinson

  “That’ll be Paula. Don’t underestimate her, she’s very good at what she does.”

  Ronan shrugged. “Jordan can handle her.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Visiting time always made Paula nervous. If someone was going to make an attempt on Cathy’s life then it would probably be now, when anyone could walk onto the ward undetected. At least this ward did have set visiting hours. It would have been a nightmare guarding her on a ward where visitors could come and go as they pleased.

  Paula recognised some of the faces coming through the main doors. There were a few hardy souls who came to see their loved ones every day but others were strangers and she was careful to keep an eye on them.

  The regular visitors were used to a presence on the door of this room and nodded hello to her. The ones who hadn’t seen her before regarded her curiously, wondering what she was doing here. Paula just smiled back at them. One small, tortoise-like man shuffled by and gave her an odd, dreamy smile. Just to be on the safe side she watched him turn the corner and head deeper into the ward. He looked inoffensive enough but she was well aware that appearances could be deceptive.

  The door opened again and onto the ward strode someone she hadn’t seen in a long time.

  “Sandra,” she smiled.

  “Hi Paula,” replied DS Miller. “Long time no see.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “I need to have a chat with you about Dwyer.”

  “That little toad,” she frowned. “Is this on or off the record?”

  “Off.”

  “I heard you’re still on his team?”

  “You’ve still got your friends at the station then?”

  “I do and they let me know the more interesting gossip. Apparently the misogynistic prick treats you more like his personal secretary than a sergeant.”

  “You’re not wrong there.”

  “So what is this then? You after getting rid of him?”

  “Yes but it’s official. I can trust you to keep this to yourself?”

  Paula nodded.

  “An executive officer has asked me to discreetly look into his activities. He’s heard the rumours about Dwyer fitting people up.”

  “And he wants to know if they’re true?”

  “Yeah and I thought you might have valuable information.”

  “I do,” replied Paula, her eyes still scanning the faces of everyone who passed by. “I’m happy to tell you what I know but not now, I’m working. You free for dinner tonight? I finish at seven.”

  “Yep. I know a nice place not far from here. It serves the most incredible Chinese food.”

  “Sounds good,” said Paula, retrieving her card from her pocket and holding it out to her. “Text me the address and I’ll meet you there at half seven.”

  “Great,” said Sandra, taking the card from her. “I’ll let you get back to it then.”

  Paula watched her leave, wondering what the hell was going on. She made a mental note to let Riley know about their conversation. Dwyer was constantly on the family’s back, so it might affect them too.

  Eventually visiting time ended and the visitors filed off the ward individually or in small groups.

  The tortoise man shuffled by, giving her another dreamy smile. His shuffling meant he tripped and dropped his carrier bag, the purchases tumbling out, which constituted a bottle of water, newspaper and a couple of apples that rolled, coming to a halt at Paula’s feet.

  “Oh dear, clumsy me,” he said in a soft, gentle voice.

  “You okay?” Paula asked him.

  “Yes,” he sighed. “I’m used to it. It’s the Parkinson’s. I’m so unsteady on my feet.”

  Jordan looked up at her expectantly, waiting for her to help him to his feet and start picking up his dropped items so he could make his move but she remained where she was, looking down at him, refusing to leave her post, the stubborn bitch.

  Paula felt bad for not helping him but for all she knew this was a distraction so someone could sneak past her into Cathy’s room. Riley’s training had drummed it into her that the client was her only concern and she allowed nothing to distract her.

  A little sheepishly Jordan began stuffing the items back into his bag, wondering how he could play it now. The woman appeared strong and fit and was considerably taller than himself. He already had the blade secreted in the palm of his right hand. It was small but vicious enough to cause a lot of damage.

  Slowly he placed one of the apples back in the carrier bag with a shaking hand. As he reached for the second piece of fruit he rammed the blade into Paula’s thigh. Unfortunately she’d been watching him and had moved at the last moment, enough to avoid him piercing her femoral artery but not enough to avoid being injured. Blood began to stain her dark trousers.

  Jordan rolled when a well aimed foot powered towards his head, the slowness and shaking gone. Paula didn’t let the shock of this transformation slow her down. She drew her gun from the holster and aimed at him but he threw himself at her, shoving the gun upwards. The bullet discharged with a bang and ploughed into the ceiling. The noise attracted the staff.

  “Call the police,” cried Paula as she struggled with the small man, who was a lot stronger than he looked.

  The shocked nurses rushed off to obey as the two struggling figures tumbled backwards into Cathy’s room.

  Cathy shrieked with shock as the door banged open and Paula fell into her room, grappling for her gun with a small, odd-looking man.

  “Get out of here,” Paula yelled at her. “Go to the nurse’s station.” She brought up her knee into the man’s stomach. He released an oof but refused to let go of the gun.

  Cathy slid out of bed, her head spinning at the movement. She hadn’t been on her feet for a few days but she refused to leave Paula who was clearly injured, blood smeared on the floor around her.

  She picked up the full bottle of disgusting orange cordial Beth had brought her off her bedside table and raised it in the air, bringing it down on the back of the man’s head. His body jumped and he went still.

  “Thank God for that,” said Paula, shoving him off her.

  “Are you okay?” said Cathy, kneeling by her side.

  Before she could reply two men appeared in the doorway. Paula took one look at the guns in their hands and kicked the door shut. “Get under the bed,” she yelled at Cathy, pressing the door shut with her feet as the men attempted to open it. Her hand found the panic button in her jacket pocket and she pressed it. Hopefully one of her team was in the vicinity.

  Ignoring Paula’s order, Cathy frantically searched the small man, smiling when she found a gun.

  Paula cried out with pain, fresh blood trickling down her leg as the men threw themselves at the door.

  “Cathy, get out of sight,” Paula yelled at her. “I can’t hold it.”

  Cathy slid beneath the bed, grimacing as she tugged at her wound.

  The pain too much, Paula was forced to lower her legs and the door burst open. The intruders were greeted by the barrel of her gun.

  “Declan,” she breathed.

  The two men had drawn their weapons too and aimed them right back at her.

  “Where the fuck is she?” said Declan, glancing at the empty bed.

  “You’ve come to kill an injured woman in her hospital bed,” said Paula. “You cowardly, rancid piece of shit.”

  “We’ve not come to kill her, she’s just leverage,” he replied. “But we don’t need you.”

  “The police are on their way,” called a voice from the corridor.

  Declan looked to the left to see two security guards at the far end of the corridor, peering around the corner. He let off a shot in their direction, causing them to shriek and vanish.

  “Put the gun down and we won’t kill you,” Ronan told Paula.

  “Go fuck yourself.”

  All the shouting brought Jordan sharply back into consciousness. It felt like his brain had suddenly become too big for his skull and was bur
sting out of it. He remained where he was, not wanting anyone to know he was awake yet, he had to choose his moment carefully. From his position on the floor he could see the target cowering under the bed.

  With his dreamy smile he began to slither towards her on his belly. Cathy gasped but there was nowhere for her to retreat to and Paula was too caught up facing off against Declan and Ronan.

  Jordan went still when a gun was aimed at him.

  “Come any closer and I’ll blow your fucking nose off,” Cathy shrieked. The gun was shaking in her hands but at close range and in such confined quarters he knew she wouldn’t miss, so he went still.

  “Get her out from under there,” Ronan told Declan.

  The room was filled with an enormous bang that made all their ears buzz. The recoil almost caused Cathy to lose her grip but determination kept the weapon in her hands, although her palms were stinging. The bullet she fired just missed Declan’s left knee, ploughing into the door behind him but it encouraged him to stay back.

  “Piss off and leave us alone,” screamed Cathy.

  Ronan aimed his gun at Paula, who was still on the floor. She was pointing her gun back at him but she was growing weaker with blood loss and it was starting to waver, her face shiny with sweat.

  “Come out or I’ll shoot her in the face,” said Ronan coolly.

  “Cathy stay where you are,” said Paula. She was tempted to shoot the bastard but if she did she knew Declan would kill her. If they made a move for Cathy though she would just shoot them and fuck the consequences, on that she was decided. It felt good to have some sort of plan.

  Jordan produced his tiny knife and lunged at Paula with it. As she was weakened this time she was too slow and he managed to pierce her right side.

  “Paula,” exclaimed Cathy as she cried out with pain.

  “Your friend will bleed to death if she doesn’t get medical attention,” Jordan told her, the statement accompanied by his dreamy smile, which only Ronan knew meant he was deriving a lot of pleasure from the situation. “Why don’t you come out so she can get help?”

  “Okay, I’m coming out,” she told them. “Just don’t hurt her.”

  “Cathy, stay where you are,” said Paula, her voice growing weaker.

  “Give me the gun first,” said Jordan.

  “You want it?” said Cathy. “Here you go.”

  Cathy fired and the bullet struck Jordan in the left leg. With a cry he went down on the floor. The noise roused Paula, who had been starting to lose consciousness. Her head snapped up and she fired. Although her aim was off because of her injuries Ronan and Declan were forced to duck out of the room.

  Declan glanced down the corridor and saw Riley tearing his way towards them, gun in hand.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he yelled at his friends before racing off in the opposite direction.

  Ronan dragged Jordan to his feet and practically carried him away. Riley was tempted to let off a shot but he could see people gathered at the other end of the corridor, who leapt out of the way of Declan and his friends, so he didn’t want to chance it.

  He rushed into Cathy’s room, horrified to see one of his people on the floor, bleeding. Cathy had her hand pressed to the wound in Paula’s side, stemming the blood flow.

  “Help,” he yelled down the corridor. “We need help. It’s safe now.”

  Two doctors and a nurse tore into the room to tend to Paula.

  “Will she be okay?” demanded Cathy, tears in her eyes.

  “We need to get her straight to theatre,” said one of the doctors.

  Armed response arrived, who Riley went to greet. As he’d been absent for the majority of the situation it was left to Cathy to explain what had happened. She was placed in a wheelchair and taken into another private room two doors down, away from the sight of Paula’s blood, Riley sticking by her side. The armed response team fanned out through the hospital to catch the perpetrators while one officer remained with Cathy and Riley and another accompanied Paula as she was rushed off the ward.

  Once Cathy had finished explaining what had happened - denying all knowledge of the identity of the perpetrators as she knew the family wanted to handle Declan privately - she gave into the overwhelming emotion and started to cry. The armed officer tactfully retreated, taking up sentry duty outside her door.

  “I hope she’s alright,” Cathy told Riley, a tear slipping from the corner of her eye and sliding down her face. “That happened to her because she was protecting me.”

  “Paula’s tough, she’ll pull through,” said Riley, not feeling as certain as he sounded. There had been so much blood on the floor.

  “Thank you,” said Cathy, grasping his hand. “If you hadn’t arrived when you did…”

  “Fortunately I grabbed a sandwich from the canteen before I left, so when she hit her panic button I wasn’t far away.”

  “Declan looked scared of you.”

  “Because he knows what I can do. Did they say why they were here?”

  “They said they weren’t going to kill me, I was leverage.”

  “They probably wanted to take you as a hostage to draw Jules out of hiding. She’ll be their primary target, to punish Mikey as well as destroy the family. We need to move you somewhere safer.”

  “Where?”

  “I know of a place.”

  “The boys,” she exclaimed. “Now they’ve failed here they might go after them instead, or Cara.”

  “I’ll send more of my people over there and to your kids too,” he said, taking out his phone. Once he’d sorted that out he called Jules.

  “I’m at the hospital,” he said when she answered. “Declan and two friends tried to kidnap Cathy. She’s okay but they badly injured Paula, she’s in surgery.” He winced and held the phone away from his ear when she burst into a stream of very loud swearing. “Now calm down Jules,” he said when he managed to get a word in edgeways. “I’ve sent more of my people to Jackson’s to watch over your children and a team to Cathy’s parents’ house too. I promise no one’s getting near them. Declan can’t find you so he’s coming up with ways to draw you out of hiding. No matter what he does you stay where you are, you hear me? I do not want Paula’s efforts to have been in vain.” With that he hung up and sighed. “She’s going to stay put, although she really wants to visit you and Paula.”

  “I love Jules to pieces but she needs to stay away.”

  “Let’s get your stuff packed, you can’t stay here.”

  “Where will you take me?”

  “I’ll tell you once we’re away from here. I’ll let the others know where you’re going. Are you fit to travel?”

  “Yeah but I don’t like running out on Paula.”

  “She’d be the first to tell you to get out of here. I’ll let her family know what’s happened so she won’t be alone.”

  “I can’t believe that was Declan,” she said, starting to shake.

  Riley dragged a hand down his face. This was the last thing he needed, he was so bloody tired and he still felt sick. Confronting three dangerous men had given him a much needed adrenaline boost but now that was wearing off the exhaustion was returning.

  “Are you okay?” said Cathy. “You look knackered.”

  “There was a day when I barely needed to sleep. Now I need more and more.”

  “It comes with age. Don’t tell Jez about this, will you? It’ll only drive him mad and he can’t do anything about it.”

  “Course not,” he said, patting her shoulder.

  CHAPTER 43

  Jules had gathered the inner circle together for an emergency meeting in the boardroom of The Manor. She’d just explained what had happened at the hospital and they were all still reeling from the shock.

  “This stops now,” she yelled, pounding the table with her fist. “Riley told me to stay here but fuck that. Declan wants me so he’s going to get me and by Christ I’ll make him regret that wish. I only told Riley I’d stay put so he wouldn’t start banging on at me. Now, h
as anyone any idea where the walking dead man’s hiding out or how to contact him?”

  No one replied.

  “For fuck’s sake,” she bellowed at them. “We have eyes and ears everywhere and we can’t find the tosser. How can that be?”

  “It’s the men he’s got with him,” said Mark. “They’re clearly experienced in urban guerrilla warfare.”

  “Yeah well, Captain Superpants and friends weren’t fucking good enough to get past Paula. Do not give them omnipotent powers, they’re just men and like all men they can be fucking killed.”

  Even Mark had to admit that Jules was intimidating when in a rage. She was a very attractive woman but anything soft and feminine about her was eradicated by her fury.

  “Has no one got any answers?” she said.

  More silence.

  “Right, well I’ll march right into Princess Street and wait for the fuckers to come to me,” she bellowed, snatching up her jacket.

  “Sit down,” said Ryan’s cool voice.

  Jules rounded on him, eyes blazing. “What the fuck did you say?”

  “I said sit down right now.”

  “Piss off,” she replied, marching to the door.

  “Not one more step.” He spoke slowly and quietly but something in his tone halted her in her tracks.

  “Have you got a point to make big bruv? Because if you do I recommend you make it very quickly.”

  “You’re angry and hurt and that’s understandable. But going out there and getting killed will help no one, least of all Cathy and Paula. Now I recommend you sit down and listen because I have an idea.”

  “It had better be good otherwise I am out of here.”

  Bruiser got to his feet and placed himself before the door, folding his arms across his chest and staring down at her sternly.

  Jules glared up at him knowing the only way she was getting past him was by using her blades, if she was lucky, which was something she wasn’t willing to do. She liked Bruiser.

  “You’re lucky you’re big and sexy,” she sniffed at him before retaking her seat, to everyone’s relief. She looked to Dane, expecting some quip but he remained silent, annoying her.