by JD Nixon
Another pause. “Put him on.”
“Superintendent, so glad you’ve decided to see reason. All I’m asking is that you return my property, which was stolen from me, and you let me leave your fine town without any problems. In return, I’ll give you back your senior constable in good shape, and I’ll never return to Wattling Bay. I can’t be fairer than that.”
At that moment, I leapt from the chair and pushed him backwards fiercely. Knowing I had mere seconds before the others recovered from their shock, I threw myself forward, only just managing to grab the gun and roll over, springing to my feet. Problem was, I ended up cornered. But at least I had the reassuring feel of my gun in my hands. And my gun and I could do a lot of damage in this room, if that became necessary.
There was loud and probably foul-mouthed shouting from the phone, which had gone flying across the room when Merrick fell.
A couple of teens rushed to help Merrick to his feet.
“Looks like all the cards are in my hand now, aren’t they?” I taunted.
He turned and viciously whacked Jonah across the face. “I told you to tie her up properly.”
He flinched. “I did, Merrick. I swear I did.”
“Don’t touch the boy again,” I warned, aiming my gun carefully. “Or you’ll soon be missing a non-essential body part.” I lowered the gun from his head down to between his legs so he got my point. “Although that would be a good thing so you can’t knock up any more young teens.”
Merrick seethed. I could almost see the ugliness of his anger spreading through his body. His face twisted and turned, almost mutating into something supremely frightening and unattractive.
“I’m moving over to the stairs now,” I told them and edged out of the corner, my gun ranging across them. It had never been more important in my life to be so vigilant.
Nobody attempted to stop me.
At the foot of the stairs, facing the others, I yelled up, “Annabel, come down now with your baby. Leave everything. Come now. We’re getting out of here. Just you and me.”
Soft, hesitant footsteps sounded on the treads as she made her cautious way down, baby Jamie asleep in her arms. “Is it really safe?”
“Yes. Come on. Hurry up. I want to get out of here.” I pointed my gun at Merrick directly. “You. Get your car keys. You’re going to chauffeur us to the police station.”
He was a bit too slow for my liking. I shot above their heads, scaring the crap out of them, and also knowing I was leaving myself with a whole lifetime of paperwork to explain that discharge.
With a surliness I hadn’t seen since I’d clapped eyes on a Bycraft teen, he snatched up his car key from a table and marched towards the back door.
Then it exploded into splinters, a team of tactical response specialists bursting through.
Chapter 30
We all stood in shock staring at them.
“Get down! Get down! Get up against the wall!” they yelled at everyone, stomping around, weapons up and ready to shoot.
We all obeyed, even me, placing my Glock on the ground, hands up against the wall. I didn’t want to be accidently shot for being mistaken as one of Merrick’s gang.
“Senior Constable Tess Fuller here,” I yelled over my shoulder, hoping one of them would hear me over the clamour.
Noticing my uniform, one of the grim-faced cops made a beeline for me. He kicked my gun out of my reach.
“ID in back right pocket,” I told him.
He reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. He examined my ID and grunted, allowing me to pick up my gun.
“You took your bloody time about getting here,” I griped as I did.
He grunted at me again. I wondered if that was a prerequisite for being part of this specialist unit, or whether it was some sort of code language between them.
I nodded at Annabel and the baby. “These two are rescues. I’m leaving the house and taking them with me. Okay?”
A grunt with a different cadence made me think he’d given me permission, but I was wrong. He scooped up the three of us and ushered us to the back door, sheltering us the whole way. I was rather disconcerted, not used to being treated like a rescue or being protected in such a paramilitary way.
A bright spotlight blinded us as we exited the house. I could vaguely make out more people grouped in the darkness of the back yard.
“Get them to safety, now,” the man yelled at someone.
Hands grabbed us and hustled us to the front of the house, where the three of us huddled behind a patrol car. With all the flashing lights, yelling, and loud protesting from the group of people being frogmarched out of the property, Jamie started to wail loudly.
“Shh, shh,” Annabel soothed, desperately trying to pacify her distressed baby, a difficult task as she herself was trembling and crying. I helped her to sit on the curb when she almost collapsed in stress.
In the middle of the chaos, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, my heart sinking when I saw the number.
“Tessie Fuller, you stupid little bitch,” she growled. “Are you all out now?”
“Yes, ma’am. All three of us are out, but I think I should take Annabel and the baby back to the hospital for observation. They’re both very upset and shaken.”
“Maguire’s on his way. He’ll take her there. I’m organising a counsellor for her.”
“Does that mean you want to see me afterwards, ma’am?” I asked with dread.
“No. I don’t even want to set eyes on you right now, I’m so fucking angry,” she snapped, and I could almost hear her hair sticking up in clumps as she ran her hand through it. “You’ll go home with Maguire. We can talk about it in the morning when I’m in a better fucking mood.”
Fat chance of that, I thought gloomily, resigned to spending the night preparing my butt for another good kicking. I only hoped Baz wasn’t going to be recalled to deal with me.
I hung up and waited for the Sarge to arrive.
He didn’t take long. Slamming the door of the patrol car, he stormed over to where we were. He didn’t greet me or say one word to me, his face set and unapproachable. I guess I wasn’t his favourite person in the world at the moment either.
He bundled the crying mother and baby into the back seat of the patrol car, and apart from that cacophony, we drove to the hospital in complete silence.
We saw Annabel back to the maternity ward, where the Sarge left me to do all the explaining to the bewildered duty nurse. Fortunately they had a spare bed and were able to readmit her. Before we left, I gave her a quick hug.
“Thank you for not telling Merrick about my phone. I think it helped everyone track us down. That was really brave of you.”
“Really?” she asked, her face streaked with tears. “I was so scared. I was so afraid he was going to hurt Jamie. Or do something worse to her.”
“It’s over now, Annabel. We’re arranging for a counsellor to visit you tonight, so you can talk about it. And I’m sure one of the nurses will take Jamie to the nursery for the night so you can sleep, if you want.”
She clutched her baby tighter to her chest. “No! I’m never letting go of her again.”
“Okay.” I stood and looked down at her. “I’ll check on you soon. I might have to return here tomorrow . . .” To get my arse chewed off by a furious commanding officer. “. . . so I might see you in person. Otherwise, I’ll ring. Try to get some sleep.”
“Thank you for saving my baby, Officer Tess. And for saving me from Merrick.”
“That’s all right. It’s my job,” I said, sad again thinking about the future this young pair would have. I hoped with all my heart that she was able to provide a loving and stable future for her little girl.
I trailed behind a still fuming Sarge down the corridors to the exit. The stiff way he carried his body, his uniform shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, his fists clenched, didn’t give me any hope that it was going to be a pleasant long drive home.
We drove for about fifteen mi
nutes, neither of us saying a word. Not being able to stand the stony silence for another second, I said, “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry? Guess what? I’m sorry too – sorry that I ever came back here.”
That hurt, but I suppose I deserved it.
“At least Annabel and her baby are safe now. And Merrick’s been arrested,” I offered in a conciliatory tone.
“But it might easily not have turned out so well. In fact, it might have become an epic fuckup that got you killed.”
“I had a plan,” I lied, sounding a little defensive even to myself.
“Oh, yeah?”
“I knew you’d miss me when I didn’t return to the station. I knew you’d come looking for me, and when you found the patrol car near the Kilroys’ house and saw the brown car, you’d know it had something to do with Merrick. I knew you’d put two and two together, and realise that he’d probably returned to look for his things.”
“Oh, it sounded as though your so-called ‘plan’ relied on me rather a lot to know everything.”
“Not completely,” I said in a small voice. “I hoped you’d remember that you could track me through my phone.”
“And what precisely did you ‘plan’ to do when he took you to his house at gunpoint to join an unknown number of other people? Did you ‘plan’ to use your weapons? Oh no, that’s right. You didn’t have any.”
“I don’t know,” I said in a smaller voice.
“Pardon? I didn’t hear you,” he snapped, though I knew quite well he’d heard me loud and clear.
“I don’t know,” I snapped back. “All right, are you happy? I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
“It wasn’t much of a plan then, was it? In fact, if you ask me, it was a fucking stupid and reckless plan.”
“It seemed like the best thing to do at the time. He was holding the baby hostage. He threatened to kill her. I didn’t think I had a choice.”
“You always have a choice. The best thing to do at the time would have been to call it in to your long-suffering sergeant. He could have provided you with backup, and then you wouldn’t have gone into a dangerous situation by yourself. Which, by the way, would have been standard fucking operating procedures.”
“I just wanted to make sure it was them before I called it in to you.”
Suddenly, his anger fled and he almost visibly deflated. “Tess, are we partners or not?” I didn’t answer. He flicked a glance my way, unmistakable dejection stamped all over his features. Misery swamped me for upsetting him so much. “I came back here because I like working with you. I thought we made a good team. I thought we had a good relationship. I thought we understood each other.” He was quiet for a moment. “Perhaps you’d just be happier working by yourself?”
Minutes ticked by as I struggled to think of the right thing to say to him. In the end, I decided on the simplest. “No.”
“No what?”
“No, I wouldn’t be happier working on my own.”
“Then please start remembering that you do have backup; that you do have a partner.” His eyes cut my way again. “And one who cares about your safety.”
I felt even lower. Someone like me didn’t deserve to have a partner like him. I probably deserved to be lumbered with Baz for the rest of my life. It would only be justice.
“I wanted . . .” I started, but didn’t know how to finish. “Annabel and Jamie. I feel responsible for them.”
“Tess, you can’t save everyone,” he said, his voice gentler.
My laugh was joyless. “I can’t even save my own relationship.”
He was thoughtful for a while. “Is that what it was all about? Because of Jake?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, not wanting to meet his eyes. “I do know that I didn’t think about him at all during the whole experience. That was a good feeling.”
“You can’t deal with a breakup by risking your own life, Tessie,” and his voice was so kind that I felt the prickle of tears in my eyes.
Nope, you are not doing that, I reprimanded myself, turning my head to the side and blinking them back.
“The Super was spitting lava at me. She didn’t even want to kill me tonight. She wants to save it for tomorrow. Probably so she can spend the night relishing the thought of what she’s going to do to me.”
“I hate to say it, but she did a good job at dragging the negotiations out so there was time to organise the response team.”
“She was good. She really pissed off Merrick, but I started to believe she really was going to leave me to my own fate.”
“As if she would. When he threatened to hurt you, it affected her. I could tell it in her face.”
“Oh.” My guilt grew stronger hearing that. Somehow I’d managed to do the right thing and wrong thing at the same time.
After a few more kilometres, I dared to hold out the white flag. “I believe we did work as a team today, Sarge, and I’m sorry if you think differently. You tracked me down when I needed you. Twice – to the hut and to the house.”
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Well, that’s certainly one way of putting some spin on it.”
When he pulled up behind his little car that he’d left at the side of the road earlier, he idled in the patrol car for a moment. “You’ve had quite an adventure today, young lady. I recommend a good night’s sleep. Don’t forget, Denny’s funeral is tomorrow afternoon.”
“How could I possibly forget that?” We sat for a moment in the darkness. “You know, it’s been a while since I put any flowers on Nana Fuller’s grave.”
“Tess, don’t even think about it,” he warned. “You stay right away from that cemetery tomorrow.” He checked. “Actually, it’s already today. Go get some sleep.”
“Okay.”
He stepped out of the car and I scooted over to the driver’s seat.
“Thanks, Sarge.”
He poked his head through the window. “For anything in particular, or for being the best partner you’ve ever had, and an all round great guy?”
I smiled at him. “Well, for the Tim Tams naturally. But mostly for being the best partner I’ve ever had, and an all round great guy.”
“Goodnight, Tessie,” he said softly, his eyes unreadable in the darkness.
He followed me to my house, and I told myself it was because he wanted to see me home safely, and not because he was concerned I’d hare off on a high-speed chase the second he let me out of his sight. I watched him drive away before trudging up the front stairs, my adrenaline evaporated, deeply exhausted.
I allowed myself to shed a few more tears on to my pillow for Jake, even though I vowed I wouldn’t, before falling into a deep sleep.
Inevitably, I dreamed.
I was back in the abandoned hut in the middle of a siege again. But this time, it was Jake who held the gun, his hostage a terrified Romi. But unlike the awful events of today, Jake held the gun against his own head, threatening to shoot.
“Don’t do it, Jakey,” I begged, my hands up in the air as he’d directed.
“You can’t stop me, baby doll. I’m holding all the cards in this situation.”
“Jakey.”
“Keep those hands up. I’m warning you.”
“Why are you doing this? Romi’s never done anything to you. She shouldn’t have to witness this.”
He smiled, and it wasn’t a happy one. “I’ve lost something very precious to me, baby doll. And I need you to return it to me. You need to come with me. You need to come to me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jakey. But please, put the gun down. You’re frightening Romi.”
“I don’t care about Romi. She’s not important to me. She’s just a means to an end. It’s you I’m going to take with me. You’re going to give me back what I lost.”
“Hold it! Put the weapon on the ground,” shouted the Sarge from the doorway.
“You told him where we were,” Jake said to me, disappointment clouding his face.
>
“I didn’t, Jakey,” I assured desperately, not wanting the situation to escalate any further. “We just understand each other, that’s all. We’re a team.”
“What the hell’s going on here?” demanded the Sarge, startled at the tableau in front of him.
“Back off, Maguire,” Jake warned. “Tessie’s coming with me and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“You’ve had your chance with her, Bycraft. It’s over. Let her go.”
“You better back off, right now. I’m warning you.”
The Sarge looked at me and looked back at Jake. Shaking his head, he said, “I hate doing this, Tessie. I don’t want to have to leave again.”
“No!” I cried out.
Two shots rang out and Jake dropped to the ground, my gun falling from his hand, blood streaming from a couple of neat circles in his brain. Romi screamed and screamed.
The Sarge turned to a shocked me and said, “I’m sorry I had to do that, Tessie. But you’re better off without him.”
Chapter 31
I thought about that dream as I drove to work the next day. I suppose that it was natural and normal, or as normal as I could ever be, to dream about death so much lately, particularly with Denny’s funeral on today.
Thinking about the funeral and the possibility of setting eyes on Red Bycraft filled me with apprehension. Even if I didn’t encounter him in person, just the thought of his malevolent presence back in town agitated me. I knew I was nervous though, because today I’d strapped on my knife as well as affixing my utility belt when I dressed.
The first part of the day passed peacefully enough, apart from a visit from Rick and Rosie, both of them already smelling of alcohol, despite it only being mid-morning. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with Bycrafts today.
“What are you doing back in town?” I demanded of Rosie.
“Got bailed, didn’t I, bitch? Thought you could keep me away from my own brother’s funeral.”
I shifted hostile eyes from her to Rick. “Kissed and made up have you?”
“Fuck you,” said Rick.
