Page 38 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

She says, ‘Don’t be mad.’

‘Daddy’s not mad,’ he says, his tone light. ‘Is anyone else in here?’

‘Just me and the bad lady.’

From the side of the bed he can’t see, Carrigan groans weakly.

‘Give me the gun, sweetie.’

Mimi hesitates, chewing her bottom lip. ‘Didn’t shoot good.’

‘Don’t worry about that. Just give Daddy the gun now.’

‘I made a mess.’

‘We’ll clean it up,’ Danya tells her calmly. ‘Give Papa the gun.’

Mimi hands the gun over, and Lachlan takes it, noting with numb horror that it’s his gun, the same one Jules got hold of and threatened him with years ago. Lachlan hands the gun to Danya.

Then he scoops Mimi up in his arms.

‘It’s OK, baby. It’s all gonna be OK.’

‘She’s bad,’ Mimi whispers to Lachlan, who has tears in his eyes and rocks in his heart and Blaire’s voice in his head saying, You’re warping her. ‘Bad lady, Daddy. I promise.’

Lachlan kisses her cheek, holding her a little too tight.

‘Teams are fifteen seconds out,’ Rook informs Lachlan.

Danya is standing over Carrigan on the floor. Lachlan moves slightly sideways so he can see her, keeping Mimi’s back to the scene.

It’s an upper-left chest wound, the only one of three that landed.

It missed her heart, but not by much.

Lachlan looks at Danya, the pair talking in silence. Carrigan mutters something, her tone low with pain. Lachlan can’t hear it.

Arms around Lachlan’s neck, Mimi asks, ‘Are you mad I killed her?’

‘You didn’t kill her, princess,’ Danya assures her as he aims Lachlan’s gun down and pulls the trigger.

A single, precise shot ends the life of Priscilla Carrigan.

Lachlan takes Mimi away.

✴

The next few days are a blur.

Lachlan’s stress levels hit a new high he didn’t think possible. He’d take being lashed with the fucking laminar alloy again in a heartbeat.

The police aren’t involved.

None of her family are contacted.

Penhalyx’s assistant, Lionel Maddox, calls the Estate the next day to let Lachlan know they’re coming home as soon as possible, which, as it turns out, takes three days. He asks no questions on the phone.

Lachlan is spiralling.