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‘I can’t risk it.’
‘You will. For me. We’ve lost too many before their time. You deserve a chance.’
‘That’s enough.’ Alec’s voice made me jump. ‘I don’t have all day to stand here and let you say goodbye.’
‘Can I get my things?’ I asked, fixing him with what I hoped was a petulant glare.
‘Fine. You’ve got five minutes.’
As I took the stairs, I looked back at Jock and Eva. From her spot behind her husband, she fixed me with a stern nod. Could I do it?
Guilt warred in me with every step. I knew Alec to be efficient, but not cruel. I knew he tortured and killed on my father and brother’s behalf, but I hadn’t known him to hurt anyone unnecessarily. Then again, I didn’t know him all that well. He could be as bad as Harold, for all I knew.
My hand grazed on the door as I made it into my room and stuffed my toiletries and the few clean clothes I had into a bag that Eva had lent me after mine had been stolen. I shucked it on and snuck through to Eva and Jock’s room. I’d never been in it before, but it was as cosy and sweet as they were. The bedside table stuffed with happy family photos from their years gone by caught my eye. Their people they had loved and lost. It tore at my heart. I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t flee knowing they’d be at risk.
Then a creak sounded on the bottom stair. Fuck. He was coming. Which would give them time to get their shotgun.
The window slid open with a squeak that made me wince and I fed myself through the gap, my feet sliding against the slippery red roof tiles. I couldn’t afford to lose my balance and break something falling off. I’d have to take it slowly.
My heart thundered in my chest as I picked my way over the rooftop, reaching the end, and lowering myself onto another. I needed to find a way down and quickly. Going roof to roof would slow me down way too much.
I took one last look at Eva’s window and saw Alec’s stony face. My heart all but stopped as he fixed me with a glare. I half expected him to tear through the window, but he turned and left the room.
Which made me all the more terrified.
Minutes later, a loud gunshot sounded in the night’s air, taking my breath with it.
I continued on through a veil of tears.
FOURTEEN
ALEC
The little bitch!
She met my eyes as she lowered herself to the next roof and went scampering along it. I turned back from the window and stalked through the upper floor, heading for the stairs.
I would not risk breaking a leg following her, grappling on a rooftop was not my idea of a good time at all. If I followed the rooftops from below, I should be able to catch her when she dropped to the street.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I put my gun on safety, having no actual intention of killing the old folk who owned the place. As much as I’d used it as a threat, it was only to dissuade Esther from trying something stupid. Not that it had worked. Who knew she had it in her?
Half way toward the door, I heard a cocking click to my right. I’d barely had time to glance at the old guy, his fucking shotgun pointed at my midriff. I cursed and ran toward the doorway, stalling as my gun caught against a table and went sliding across the stone flooring. A loud bang making my ears ache and my stomach lurch. Crumbling brick tore away from the wall to my left as I ducked out of the room, the shot having only just missed me.
Sweat slicked at my palms as I ran around the building, another shot coming through a window and taking out a plant in a shower of green shards just in front of me.
Where the hell was Esther?
I dodged round the stone buildings, finding a narrow alleyway and making my way through it, all the while keeping my eyes fixed on the rooftops. Finally, I spied a swish of brown hair before it disappeared over the edge of another roof.
Gotcha.
With a look behind me coming up negative for shotgun wielding maniacs, I darted across the cobbled stones and around the corner of a building, just in time to see her feet hit the ground.
Her eyes widened as she spotted me, cursing as she hightailed it down the hill. But she wasn’t quick enough. My legs were longer, and I wasn’t tired from hauling myself about rooftops. The distance between us shortened with each step, my heart-rate increasing as I closed in on her.
Within a hundred yards, I reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back against me as I panted. She fought like an enraged fucking badger, nails scratching and legs flailing as I struggled to subdue her.
‘Just stop,’ I said, reaching into my pocket and grabbing a handful of cable ties - one of my favourite tools.
