‘Who the fuck was that.’ Bark tweaked a little like he had a saw neck.
‘That’s my sidekick.’ Commented Booker who now held his hands in the air as that was something he’d seen in a movie once.
‘I’m not your sidekick.’ Rob made it to the top of the stairs, walked next to Sara, stopped, glanced at Booker, then put his hands up in a similar, if not a little more calm manner.
‘Is there anyone else down there?’ Asked Bark, glancing down his stair-well and checking for other people to point his gun at.
‘Least we have a murder weapon.’ Booker noted allowed.
‘How do you know that’s the gun?’ Sara asked, who had joined in putting her hands up now that everybody else was doing it.
‘Guns are hard to get in the UK.’ Answer Rob who didn’t seem to care there was a gun pointing at him.
‘Like you know.’
‘I do, Booker told me.’
‘Shut up. Let me think.’ Bark hit himself in the head with the butt of the gun trying to get his head in gear.
‘Very unhinged, is he?’ Booker asked.
‘Not normally, been a rough day I guess.’ Commented Sara.‘Michael, Michael calm down.’ She concentrated on Bark now.
‘Their out to get me.’ Michael mumbled pacing now.
‘Who are?’ Sara probed some more.
‘That cop and your dead husband.’ Bark never looked up.
‘Nobody is out to get you.’ Sara tried to calm the situation, she was lying but Bark never had to know that.
‘Well, they are.’ Booker spoilt the surprise, which was met with a glare from Sara, this shut Booker up.
‘I killed him. And now he’s back.’ Bark was obviously broken, Booker couldn’t put his finger on what point he had broke. Was he always broken, or was it when he shot Alan or was it when he saw Alan walking around in his shop chasing after him. Pretty much at any one of them points a man could be fractured.
‘He’s not coming here.’ Sara tried to calm Bark back down. This time she told what she presumed to be the truth. ‘Can I ask you something?’ Bark nodded in reply, only looking up for a second. ‘Did you shoot my husband?’ Sara had seen cop shows, she knew they had to confess for the thing to stick. Bark nodded again. ‘When you shot him, you killed me.’
Bark rolled his eyes, metaphorically, of course, he thought. Like when he did it he broke her heart. That old thing. ‘I know, I just wanted to be with you, and he was in the way.’
‘I don’t think you get it, you literally killed me.’ Sara lifted her top to show the huge hole which lay in the centre of her rib cage, this is when Bark vomited.
‘I knew it couldn’t be just me.’
‘What the fuck, you break into my house.’ Bark cried.
‘We didn’t break in. The door was open.’ Corrected Booker.
‘I don’t care if you broke in or not, you're here now. Why? Is it to haunt me?’
‘I’m not a ghost, and we’re here to bring you to justice.’ Sara pointed at Bark.
‘That’s something a ghost would say. Is this because I shot Alan?’
‘I thought we already said it was.’ Booker looked at Rob to get some confirmation. Rob nodded to say yes.
‘When you shot Alan, we were tied together. On an atomic level, this bracelet keeps me and hip in sync, I think. To be honest, nobody really explained it really well to me, so I’m sort of joining dots now.’ Explained Sara.
‘I don’t get it.’ Bark had lowered his gun a little now.
‘Of course, you don’t, you’re dumb as a rock. All you got to know is when you shot him you shot me. That’s it. That’s why I have that huge hole in my chest.’
‘Oh.’ Bark sighed. He’d hurt the one person he was never meant to, nor ever wanted to.
There was some crashing at the bottom of the stairs.
‘What’s that?’ Asked Bark.
‘I have a feeling it’s Adam.
‘Who’s Adam?’
‘Now, that is a good question.’ Booker pointed at Bark.
27
Adam jumped from a moving car, not enough that he spilt out onto the floor, just enough that he was unsteady on his feet for a few seconds. He tucked his shirt in and stumbled to the door, the blood was somewhat flowing through his veins now, you could tell because the circle of a hole in his chest, which had been hidden by his free shirt had now turned a deep maroon red. It was awful to look at because with a glance you knew something wasn’t right with the man. Adam stumbled through the door, it swung on its hinge and rattled when it hit the wall.
‘Sara.’ Adam yelled, in his head, he was still Adam, even though now he felt a little more like his old self.
There was a weeping noise from Rich’s car. A sort of digital cry as the doors locked and the windows wound themselves back up. Rich had opened the window or Adam’s side because an aroma had begun to come from him.
‘Adam.’ Yelled Rich making it to the door, luckily it hadn’t swung its self-closed yet. But had begun to.
There was some fighting at the top of the stairs, Booker and Rob both stood with their hands up, Sara wasn’t with them.
‘Sara.’ Yelled Adam once again. This caught the eye of Rob’s, who through a soft smile at Adam.
‘Oh, hey Adam, you look a lot better.’ Rob said with his fleeting smile. He didn’t Adam looked much the same but with a huge target painted in red on his chest.
‘We can explain.’ Booker chimed in. This was also a lie, he couldn’t explain. Booker wasn’t too sure what had happened himself. One second he was watching Bark like a hawk, now Bark was holding Sara across the collarbone with his left arm and pointing his gun at her head with the right.
Adam had started breathing again too, he could tell because as he reached the top of the stairs he was a little short of breath. Seeing Sara and Bark made him try and pull as much air into himself as he could. He felt like a puffer fish, which was handy as he had just recalled what one was.
Adam put his hands out. Not up, there was a great distinction that he never put his hands up. Hands up was a sign of surrender and Adam never surrendered, he didn’t think. He was sure Alan never did, and that was one of his better qualities, so Adam decided to adopt it. His hands went out, waved around a little as he said the words. ‘Stop, stop, stop. I don’t think you know what you’re doing.’ Adam stated, knowing Bark didn’t.
‘I don’t know what the fucks going on.’ Exclaimed Bark, who had started to weep a little, he didn’t know why. It wasn’t something he was under control of right now. ‘You’re meant to be dead, she’s meant to be alive. She feels cold. I don’t know what’s going on.’ Bark had turned into a child with a weapon, that was even scarier.
Rich made it to the top of the stairs, leaping two or three steps at a time he made it there within seconds. There was a silence as he noticed the gun and put his hands into the air, now six hands were in the air. Adam looked at the three men, then at Sara whose eyes had turned to glass. He could join them or save her.
‘Look, man, I don’t think this was ever meant to happen. I was in the way, you had to kill me. You wanted to be with her and I don’t blame you.’
‘How do you know that?’ Asked Bark, although everybody else was thinking it.
‘You told me.’ Admitted Adam. The room filled with confusion so thick you could taste it.
‘When?’ Asked Bark.
‘When you were yelling at me, my guts hanging out after you shot me but before you wrapped me in the rug.’ Adam explained it was fighting how much a man could recall of his own death.
‘Okay.’ Bark finally said after a second or two of silence, this made everybody relax and take a deep breath their lungs had been asking for.
‘You’re going to let Sara go.’ Rich asked, breaking the silence once and for all.
‘No, I’m going to see what happens if I blow her brains out.’
‘Oh fuck, he's going full crazy.’ Yelled Booker, trying to cover his ears and duck there was
a moment of silence. A metallic struggled Booker looked up again. His left Rob and Rich still covered their ears. In front of them, Adam held tightly onto the nozzle of the gun, no shots had been fired. The two just grunted as they wrestled with the gun, Sara wriggled between them.
‘That’s not how this works, you do not want to kill her.’ Adam grunted, his teeth in a grip so tight he felt as if they would crack under their own pressure any second.
‘I shoot her, you die.’ Bark grunted back.
‘That’s really not how this works. You shoot her she dies, I might not. To be honest, I don’t really understand it. But if you want to shoot somebody it’s me.’ There was some wrestling, the gun had been lowered to chest height, with a few more grunts the gun couldn’t be seen anymore. Booker couldn’t keep up anymore.
‘Who’s winning.’ Rob’s head popped up.
‘I have no clue. It’s all just a jumble of people now, these fights don’t look half as cool when you’re on the outside looking in. It’s just three people wriggling around. I don’t even know who has the gun, I think its Bark.’
‘Who’s Bark?’ Rich now had joined in.
‘Michael, his name is Michael Bark. Like a dog.’ Rob answered.
‘Weird name.’
Crack. There was a huge bang, the world rang a bell, it lasted hours. Booker held his ears. This was the reason guns weren’t allowed in the UK. They hurt even when you weren’t the one being shot.
Sara, Adam and Bark slowly dropped to the floor in a clump, blood ran from their bodies.
‘Who won.’ Rob yelled over the ring the planet had recently adopted.
‘I have no clue.’ Booker yelled in return. As he said that a small hand shot up from the pile, it was short and hairless and obviously belonged to Sara. She grunted a little as she was the only one who hadn’t the chance to grunt in the fight. Pulling herself free of the weight of Adam who lay on top of her she grappled with the ground freeing herself from the weight.
A small amount of blood caked her face, it was thin and spread. It dried as she righted herself. Her bangle jangling around her wrist. It's light out.
‘Are you okay?’ Rich asked, helping her the last few feet up.
‘Yeah, I think so.’ She dusted herself down, moving wet blood around her shirt. ‘Who won.’
‘I was kind of hoping you’d tell us.’ Booker stumbled over, pushing his finger into his ear.
‘I don’t know.’ Replied Sara, who honestly didn’t.
‘I think I can tell you.’ Rob slowly walked between Rich and Booker, Sara started to move out the way, so Rob could inspect the bodies, but Rob stopped her. Grabbed her by the shoulders and dropped just below her chest. In her shirt, he found a small burnt hole. Small enough for a bullet to pass through. ‘I think Adam pushed the gun into your hole.’
Booker chortled to himself. ‘I’m sorry.’ He shook his head and tried to hold back the laughter.
‘Fired the gun through you and into Bark.’ Finished Rob. He looked at Booker to see if he continued to laugh, Booker replied with an “I’m fine.” Hand gesture and turned to face the wall.
‘I’m okay.’ Booker yelled into the wall.
‘Then why are neither of the moving?’ Asked Sara, watching her two lovers piled together.
‘You’ve de-synced.’ Rich pointed out. Sara looked at her wrist, he wasn’t lying. The pinpoint light on her wrist had died. She just watched it as the two, Rob and Rich softly walked around her, step by step, never touching her.’
‘Booker it’s probably best you don’t turn around.’ Rob commented as he crouched and placed his hands under the arm or Adam.
‘Noted.’ Booker replied.
In utter silence Rob and Rich turned Adam over, doing so they dislodged the gun which tumbled to the floor. Giving Adam a final flip, he landed on his back and out rolled his bangle. He’d removed it himself.
‘He probably thought if he missed, removed it at just the right time, he could save you. If he shot you. You could live.’ Rich picked up the bangle, its final life fading. Handing it off to Sara she held it tight in between her hands. Watching it and glancing back at her own every few seconds.
‘We need to call up a clean-up team.’ Rich said walking past Sara who never flinched. He headed down the stairs almost slipping on a bill which was left on a step.
‘Maybe we should leave her for a few seconds.’ Rob told Booker, who without turning around agreed and wandered down the stairs to leave the girl in the piece with the bodies she’d sort of let die.
She pulled in a deep breath. It was a sad and sombre sigh which echoed through the now empty room other than three dead bodies.
‘I guess even in death you can have a little piece of me.’ Sara said softly. Placing the band back on Adam’s wrist a single teardrop landing on his hand. She left that room, to return to a life she knew she never deserved.
The door slammed behind her as she waited for the clean-up team to arrive.
‘I’M WET.’ Somebody cried at the top of the stairs.
The End
A Well-Timed Death (Booker Shield Book 1) Page 19
