Written In Blood
Page 32
From her position on the ground, Melissa saw that there was no way for her to untangle herself from Zack without knocking him over. If she did that he would be forced to let go of the shotgun completely, which would mean they were both as good as dead.
Despite being hampered by being on the ground, tangled up with Zack, and squashed against the side of her patrol car, she was determined to do whatever she could to arrest Kieran and bring him to justice for the numerous crimes he had committed, especially for his murder of her cousin. Her determination paid off when a tug and a twist on the double-barrel of the shotgun by Zack pulled Kieran’s upper body forward; Melissa immediately snaked out a hand to grab the off-balance Kieran by the belt, and with one almighty heave she pulled him down on top of her and Zack.
It was far from ideal for them all to be in a heap on the ground, but at least there was no way for Kieran to use the shotgun as a weapon.
Zack felt the air explode from his lungs as Kieran landed heavily on top of him, at the same time his injuries, which he had been ignoring as best he could during the struggle, sent a wave of pain rippling through his body. It was all he could do not to scream. The pain was so sudden and so intense that he released his grip on the shotgun without being aware he had done so.
Fortunately, Kieran was too close to be able to take advantage of having complete control over the weapon, and Zack recovered quickly enough to realise that his best bet was to keep Kieran close and negate the shotgun as a weapon. He ignored the gun, which Kieran was stubbornly holding onto, and worked to roll the teen over onto his back, with him on top so that he could gain an advantage.
The awkward and unskilful wrestling match continued for about a minute and a half before Zack and Melissa, though weaker individually, were able to gain the upper hand. When Melissa secured Kieran in a headlock, Zack wriggled out from under the teen, fending off the hand that sought to grab hold of him and keep him from getting away.
An elbow to Kieran’s ribs knocked some of the fight out of him, allowing Zack to roll away and get to his feet. He was bruised and battered, and his brain seemed to be receiving signals from just about every pain receptor in his body, but he pushed all of that aside as he grabbed the shotgun Kieran was still stubbornly holding onto. He wrenched at the gun, with more success than before, and reversed it once he freed it from Kieran’s grasp.
After watching for a moment for the right opportunity he struck with the weapon, using it as a club rather than as a gun. He slammed the butt into Kieran’s forehead with as much force as he could muster, and watched as the teen’s eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp on top of Melissa.
Switching the shotgun to his left hand, Zack reached down to grab hold of Kieran so he could drag him off Melissa. That took what seemed to be the last of his energy, and prompted a fresh wave of pain, which he let out in a loud groan that threatened to become a full-blown cry.
“Thanks,” Melissa said gratefully, accepting the hand that Zack held out to her; she could have got to her feet on her own, now that she was no longer at the bottom of a pile of bodies, but was glad of the help.
Drained, both physically and mentally, she slumped against the patrol car, sure that if it wasn’t there she would not be able to stay on her feet. She simply could not believe everything that had happened over the past day, let alone the past week, and looking from herself to Zack, who was swaying on his feet, she wasn’t sure which of them had suffered the most – they were both in bad shape, physically and mentally and in need of a long rest, not to mention medical treatment.
“How long d’you think he’ll be out?” she asked after a quarter of a minute, during which time she kept a careful eye on the unmoving form of Kieran at her feet, as though she expected him to wake and resume the fight at any moment.
“No idea,” Zack admitted. “He could be out for hours, or he could wake up at any moment. If I were you, I’d get some cuffs on him before he does wake up, and I’d call to see where that backup is, just to be on the safe side. You should get some ambulances on their way as well, you’re gonna need all the medical help you can get.”
“Where are you going?” Melissa asked when Zack left her and the unconscious Kieran and started up the road past the two crashed vehicles.
“I’m gonna go see if any of your colleagues are still alive, and if there’s anything I can do to help them,” Zack told her. He had waited until Kieran’s hands were cuffed, and he was sure the teen was not going to be getting away if he woke, and now that that had been done, he felt it was safe to leave Melissa with the teen. “If anything happens here, yell, and I’ll come running.” ‘Maybe not running’ he thought, given that this morning had shown he was not up to moving at speed.
Melissa nodded. She would have preferred to be the one who went and checked on her colleagues, but knew she couldn’t ask Zack to stay there and keep an eye on the prisoner. That would not have been right since she was the police officer and he the civilian.
Torn by conflicted feelings – she was unhappy with everything that had happened that morning, though pleased that the murders that had rocked Oakhurst were at an end, and the killer was in custody – Melissa kept one eye on Kieran, while with the other she followed Zack as he made his way up the road. It was only when he disappeared behind the Land Rover that she remembered she was supposed to be checking on the backup and making sure that there were ambulances en-route.
Leaning into the patrol car, she grabbed the spare radio from the glove-box and made the call to the station. With that done she sat on the edge of the driver’s seat to wait for help to arrive.
About the author
After working in the clerical, warehouse and retail industries over the years, without gaining much satisfaction, Alex R Carver quit to follow his dream and become a full-time writer. Where There's A Will is the first book in the Inspector Stone Mysteries series, which is set mostly in the fictional English town of Branton; An Eye For An Eye, the second book, will be out in September. In addition to writing crime and thriller novels, he writes sci-fi, with the first book in his Casimir Dragunov series due for release in either late 2017 or early 2018, and childrens’ adventure; the Curious Cousins series, the first book of which is due out in 2018 has been inspired by Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books.
When not writing, he is either playing a game, dreaming of a return to Egypt where he enjoyed exploring the tombs and temples, or being distracted by Molly the Yorkie, who is greedy for both attention and whatever food is to be found.
You can find out more about Alex R Carver at the following links
Alex R Carver's Website
Twitter
Or you can contact him at arcarver87@gmail.com
Also available
Inspector Stone Mysteries
Where There’s A Will
Novels
Written In Blood
Short Stories
Obsessed
Exposed