Suddenly I am afraid. I have been running around playing at being detective without any idea of what was really going on in the shadows. Jake is not the gangster. This man is. I see it in his cold, pitiless eyes.
The door. I have to get to the door. ‘I’m not listening to this,’ I say as calmly as I can manage, and getting up, head for the door. My knees are trembling so hard I am afraid I will not get to it. Almost there. I’m there… But before I can pull it open, Mills’ big palm slams down on it.
I jump like a startled cat, a scream rattling in my throat.
‘You’re not dismissed yet,’ he murmurs so close to my ear that I rear back in terror. He smiles at me and a shiver runs down my spine. There is something truly chilling and frightening about this smiling side of him. He is almost unrecognizable. I can hardly believe it is the same person. ‘Back to your seat. I’m not quite finished with you.’
He is six feet plus and sixteen stone so my racing mind decides that it is best to placate him until I can think what to do next. I sit back down and watch him, frightened to my core. He goes to the window, takes his mobile out of his belt holder and dials. While he waits for his call to be answered he keeps his eyes trained on me. I think about running to the door, but I know I won’t make it. He is too fast. Too dangerous.
‘Things have moved faster than expected,’ he says into the phone. ‘I’m going to need some help with dispatch.’ A pause. ‘No, no disposal necessary this time.’ He listens again. ‘Yes. Right now! Don’t forget to knock three times, so I know it’s you, and don’t shoot you by mistake.’ He laughs.
Oh my God! Oh my God. I am a dead woman… I have dug my own grave by doing such a good job of losing my tail. If Mills has his way, I will disappear without a trace. I think of Jake and everything he means to me…. God! He’ll never know that I love him with all my heart. Oh God! I’ve been so, so stupid. What a mess I have made of everything.
Mills ends the call.
I need to think. I’m starting to feel out of control and hysterical. My mind tries to analyze the situation. Who has he called? Robin? Or maybe Tommy Saunders?
‘Who have you just called?’ I ask.
‘That should be the least of your worries, I would have thought, Lily.’
Hearing him call me by my first name makes a wave of nausea roll into my stomach.
‘You don’t have to get rid of me. I’m off the force, anyway. Just let me go and you’ll never hear from me again. I beg of you,’ I cry. By his disgusted expression I know I sound whiny and pathetic, but I don’t want to die. I want to live, I want to be with the man I love and watch our children playing in the meadows like Jake did on beautiful spring days.
‘Don’t be pathetic, Lily. We both know that’s never going to happen. There’s too much at stake for everyone concerned.’
Helpless and frightened tears run down my face. I start wailing.
‘All right, I’ll let you go.’
I stop and stare at him. He’s playing games. ‘You’re going to let me go?’ I know it is nonsense even as I say it.
‘Yes, if you call Jake and ask him to come here now. It’s not you I want.’
A strange kind of calm washes over me. There is not a single cell in me that can be persuaded to do that. I’ll never hurt Jake. Not intentionally.
‘I’d rather die than do that.’
Mills breaks into what can only be described as demonic laughter. All the hair on my arms stand. ‘That’s funny,’ he says, getting a hold of himself. ‘I’ll just have to call him myself.’
’You don’t have his number.’
‘No, but you do.’
‘I’ll never give it to you.’
He starts walking toward me. I go rigid with fear. When he is about two feet away he reaches into his jacket, pulls out a gun and, after calmly screwing on the silencer, presses the cold metal to my cheek. I emit an involuntary cry. ‘Tell me,’ he orders. My eyes swivel sideways and I stare at him in terror.
‘Tell me or I’ll blow your brains out.’
‘No.’
He swings his hand in a wide arc and cracks the barrel of his gun across my temple. The blow sends me flying off my seat onto the floor, pain exploding in my head. I lie sprawled and stunned under the coffee table as he yanks my bag from my clenched fists. Through a haze of pain I see him search for my phone. I try to stand but he presses the heel of his shoe down on my chest and grins down at me.
Warm blood streams down my face. I start mumbling and begging him, ‘No, please. Don’t bring him here. Leave him alone.’
He walks away from me with the phone to his ear. I feel like I’m losing consciousness, but I know that I must stay awake no matter what. I must warn Jake, if it’s the last thing I do. I hear him talking, but I can’t make it out through the excruciating pain. Mills is coming back toward me.
He stands over me and calmly presses his heel into my hurt temple.
I scream.
‘Is that proof enough for you or do I have to hurt her again?’ he asks into the phone. I clench my teeth to stop myself from crying out and try to listen to Mills’ side of the conversation. ‘That’s right. Get the key from under the mat and come in. Don’t try anything funny or bring anyone else with you, or you’ll be in time to see her skull explode.’
Mills ends the call and tosses my phone away. He then walks to the drinks cabinet and pours himself another brandy. He goes back to his chair and relights his cigar. He puts his gun in his lap and his feet up on the coffee table. He has assumed the same position I found him in. I hold my throbbing temple and remember my surveillance device. If I don’t make it I need his confession on tape. Perhaps someone else will find it and put this corrupt bastard away.
‘Why?’ I ask. ‘Why are you after Jake?’
He takes another mouthful of brandy. ‘Why? Why anything, Strom? Territory… Money… Power… And a gangster I can control.’
‘A gangster you can control?’ I repeat.
He watches the smoke rising lazily from his cigar. ‘You see, Lily, the real problem here is Eden. He’s a fucking dinosaur and there’s just no place for people like him in this industry.’
He takes a puff, blows out another plume of smoke and stares at me, his eyes dark and totally devoid of emotion. ‘The people I work with can’t have large swathes of prime real estate in the hands of someone like him. By running his clubs as if they’re part of a legit business operation he’s holding back progress.
I make a small sound of disbelief. ‘You mean Jake was telling me the truth! He really isn’t a gangster?’
‘Gangster?’ Laughter erupts from his mouth. ‘He’s fucking soft in the head. With him out of the way the clubs will be run the way they should be. With the right working girls, and our own security people controlling the flow of drugs there’s a fortune to be made.’ He shrugs. ‘I had a different timeline for our takeover, but with all your meddling and interfering you’ve pushed it forward. After today we’ll have it all.’
‘Just how do you plan to get away with this? You can’t simply make Jake and me disappear. There’ll be CCTV images of me and Jake coming here and questions that will eventually lead to you.’
Mills shakes his head. ‘My dear naive Lily. It will be my team and me who will be investigating. It’s really terribly simple and straightforward. Obviously, you discovered evidence of drug dealing. You came here to pass the information to me. Unknown to you your criminal husband followed you here. A gun battle ensued between him, my associate and me. Eden died. Unfortunately, Strom, you did too. Honorably in the line of duty. A real police hero. So young and good looking too – the papers will love it. We’ll award you a medal for outstanding services or something. Your parents will be quite proud of you. The public will mourn the death of a brave officer. Obviously I take the credit for the bust, and Eden, a notorious criminal, is forgotten very quickly.’
I feel my stomach shrivel up inside my body as I hear his voice lay out the future so confidently. But whe
n I speak my voice is full of contempt. At least I will die knowing that Jake is not criminal. He was being set up.
‘I had you marked as the type of officer who retires on a nice pension in the countryside somewhere. But after today the only thing you will be looking forward to is a view of the inside of a cell for the remainder of your days.’
He laughs. ‘It’s kind of you to worry about my well-being when you’re about to meet your maker.’ He checks his watch.
‘Is Robin coming?’
‘You’re giving me a headache, Strom. I’d appreciate a bit of quiet until your husband and my associate arrive.’
Quote
—You know it’s true,
baby I’d die for you—
Chapter 56
Jake
I feel the veins in my neck bulge, my throat narrow. If that fucking piece of dog shit harms one single hair on her head I’ll kill him with my bare hands. My right leg starts trembling with nervous energy.
‘God in heaven, why? Why, Lily? Why?’ I smash my fist into the door. ‘Why couldn’t you just fucking leave me to deal with it?’ Pain flowers into my fist. The pain is good, because it focuses my mind. I need to pull myself together. My secretary comes running into my office. Her eyes are wild. She has never seen me like this.
I hold my palms up.
‘Do you want me to do anything?’ she asks in a shocked tone.
I don’t trust my voice. I shake my head and stride out through the open door. I drive back to the house in a state of such agitation that I speed through every single red light I come across. Horns blare at me from every direction. They increase my sense of panic. At an intersection I slam the steering wheel.
‘Damn you, Lily. Always making promises you don’t keep.’
I throw open the front door and race to my safe. There is an icy hand inside my chest: clenched around my heart. I’m so angry I could kill someone. I take out the gun, the one I had hoped I’d never have a need for again. I always knew taking this in my hands again would require a matter of life and death, and this is. I load it up, my movements precise and efficient. It’s like riding a bike. You never forget. I slip it into my waistband. Then I slide the backup, a 9mm, into my right ankle holster and sprint to my car.
I input the address into my navigation system. Twenty-three minutes! That’s how long it’s going to take me to reach her. I tell myself to calm down, but I end up driving like a madman, keeping my foot floored to the pedal even when the near misses become more and more frequent. I sense that Lily’s captor means business, but it is me he is after. She’s just bait. And you don’t hurt the hostage, at least, not until you get what you want.
In this case, me.
I pull up outside the address, adrenaline surging through my body. I switch off the engine and do a quick reconnaissance of the street. All seems quiet. I exit the car and walk quickly up to the discreet entrance. I press the buzzer as per instructions. Someone buzzes me in. Once inside the dimly lit foyer I see the two level staircase that leads up to the flat entrance at the top. I listen. Nothing. I take my gun out and climb the stairs. My heart is thumping so loud I can hear it in the echoing stillness of the stairwell.
I find a key under the mat and use it to push open the door. It swings back to reveal Lily sprawled on the ground and a large man is standing over her. A gun is pointed at her head and her face is chalk white and smeared with blood. I feel myself going into shock.
‘Get out. Don’t come in. He’ll kill us both if you do,’ she screams.
I came to get you and I’m not fucking leaving without you.
‘Drop the gun, Eden, or I swear I’ll splatter her brains right now.’
‘Shoot her and you’re dead.’
‘But she’ll be dead, too. You want to take that risk?’
I can see from the man’s dead eyes that he is a psychopath. He wouldn’t think twice about carrying out his threat. But I’m not giving up my gun, or both Lily and I are dead for sure. Two thoughts occur to me. He is alone. But he won’t be so for long. This might be my only chance. My best hope is to distract the ugly cunt, and make him shoot at me, long enough for me to get a clear shot and finish him. I dive to the ground and roll, spin on the carpet, and bump into a lamp stand—it crashes to the ground. I lunge for the protection of a cabinet.
I see him: his eyes on fire, his shiny face contorted. He roars in surprise and rage, as he turns in my direction and starts firing wildly. The shots come rapidly. The shocking kick of the bullet as it smashes into my chest, shattering bone, muscles and sinew, whips me onto my back. The pain is ice-cold, fills my ravaged chest, and then something hits my head, it snaps back. Oh Jesus…. I pull myself upwards and level the arm that’s still holding the gun. I pull the trigger.
He doesn’t know what hit him as the bullet strikes him in the throat. His throat erupts. A spray of crimson paints the wall behind him as he sinks to the ground, clawing at his open throat, shrieking in agony. His body thrashes and writhes. Then an eerie silence descends. He is dead. I hear a sob, then an elongated wail of horror, the sound of cloth rustling. Lily is crawling toward me.
There is a strange icy throbbing in my chest, but my mind suddenly becomes calm and serene, almost trance-like. As if I am a calm observer. Outside the mayhem. At peace. Maybe I’m dying. Jesus, that would be a bummer. But at least it’s done. The job’s done. Lily is kneeling over me and crying, I feel a tear fall on my face. My head is on fire and I can feel my blood pouring out of me quickly. I try not to acknowledge it. I feel faint.
‘It’s all my fault. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I love you,’ she sobs. ‘I love you so much, Jake.’
Some part of me starts smiling. Yeah, me too, babe. Like crazy.
I try to speak, but my lungs are full of fluid, the agony is unspeakable. I try to squeeze her hand, but there appears to be no force in mine.
She starts shaking me. Oh fuck’s sake, Lily. Have a bit of respect. I’m dying here, I want to joke, but my lips won’t move. Oh Jesus, I cannot focus my eyes anymore. The peace envelops me like a fog. But I won’t submit to it. I kick furiously against it.
‘Don’t you dare fucking die on me. Hold on, please, Jake.’ She starts rummaging through the pockets of my jacket, finds my mobile, and dials. I don’t want to die.
‘Hurry, please,’ she cries plaintively, urgently.
Suddenly I hear Lily drop the mobile phone without giving the address and scramble to her feet.
Oh my God! Something’s wrong. She has my gun in her hand and is pointing it at someone standing in the doorway. I can’t see who it is, I can’t help her. Please… Get away, I want to scream. I try to rise up but I’m nailed to the floor.
I hear voices, Lily’s and someone else’s, a man’s, but I’m drifting away...the blackness is calling.
Lily
I hear him come up the stairs. My hands are shaking so much the gun seems to be rattling in my hands. I hate guns and I have only had two real hours of firearms training during the two week intensive. There is very little emphasis on SO10 operatives to master weapons since there is no need. Someone who can handle a gun will do so in the street compromising their cover. I take a deep breath. I curl my finger on the trigger. I straighten my elbows and point the gun into the open doorway. The sound of steps comes closer. I stare at the empty space.
Suddenly Billy Joe Pilkington fills the doorway. He is big. He is very big. And he has a gun.
‘Don’t come any further or I will shoot you,’ I shout a warning.
Chapter 57
Billy Joe Pilkington
‘Whoa,’ I say, dropping my gun and holding my exposed palms up. Hell, what the fuck happened here? I don’t know what I expected, but not the one-man-down, Jake covered in blood on the ground, and his missus crazy-eyed and pointing a gun at me carnage I find.
‘Hey, I’m here to help you.’
‘Liar,’ she screams wildly. ‘I heard Mills call you and I know exactly what he said so don’t try to pretend an
ything else. I’m not interested in your turf war. Just get out of here so I can call an ambulance and get Jake to hospital. If you don’t leave I swear I’ll shoot.’
‘Listen, I’m not the snitch. Jake told me about it. It’s Tommy. We figured it out.’
‘So how did you know about this address? It’s not listed anywhere,’ she asks suspiciously, all the while glancing worriedly at Jake.
‘We’ve been keeping a close eye on him. When he got a mobile call earlier today, he acted so nervous, I knew something was up. So I worked him over and that’s when he told me about this place, you, and his bent fucking copper friend. I jumped in my vehicle and came straight here, tooled up and ready for fucking anything, but looks like I got here too late.’
Suddenly, she throws the gun to the floor. ‘It’s not you. You didn’t knock three times.’
She doesn’t make any sense but if she’s putting down the gun, I’m made.
‘I have to call an ambulance,’ she blurts out, panicked and trembling.
I crouch over Jake. Fuck! He is in a bad way. He is lying in a pool of blood and more is pouring out of his head and chest. We can’t wait for a fucking ambulance. He’ll die before one gets here. The closest hospital is only ten minutes away. I might not even make it then.
I grab her wrist. Her eyes swing wildly toward me.
‘Listen, we can’t wait for an ambulance. We have to take him there ourselves. Do you understand me?’
She nods quickly.
‘My car is double parked right outside. A blue—’
‘I know it,’ she cuts in impatiently.
‘Right, I’m going to carry him. I want you to run ahead and open the back doors.’
I go to the curtain and tear a long strip. I tie it around his chest and around his head. Almost instantly the cloth becomes soaked. His breathing is scarily shallow. I don’t waste any more time. I heave him off the ground. He’s a big man, and unconscious he is a dead weight, but I have lifted men up and thrown them down from a high height during fights. I heave him up with a grunt and make for the stairs. Jake’s wife has opened the car doors and has returned.
The Heir: A Contemporary Royal Romance Page 47
