AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I speed after Luca, trying to secure my belt at the same time. He’s got caught up behind another car manoeuvring into a space and it leaves him exposed. And close. I ram into the back of him, sending the car into a tall sign that crumples the bonnet. The windscreen has buckled, and a door window has shattered.
I fly out of the car and throw open his door, broken glass tinkling as it falls. Looking dazed, with a heavily bleeding cut to his forehead, I drag him out and toss him to the ground.
I don’t know why the air bag didn’t work and I don’t care. But the knife in Luca’s hand has my gut twisting.
Fuck, is Ava hurt? My eyes dart to the rear seat, looking for her. I almost miss the moment Luca swipes for my face, the knife point glancing along my jaw-bone and slicing the skin apart.
Using my size and strength, I punch him in the face and he topples backwards again. “A man my size can subdue any man too,” I state icily, snatching the knife from his hand as he blinks away the pounding headache I just gave him. With icy calm, I bury it in his cock and balls. His resulting screams light up the dark sky, his lap soaking with blood. “That’s for Sabine, for Lenka, Irina and Charlotte. For Ava. You’ll never be able to touch her again.”
His piercing screams and wails turn into demonic laughter. “I’ll never leave her head though. I’ll always be there,” Luca reminds me, a callous smile forming. “I’ve ruined her for you. She’ll always be mine.”
I punch him again, blood spraying, his nose breaking. And then I kick the knife in his balls, hoping I sever them off. “Fuck you, Luca. Enjoy prison.”
Spinning, I turn for the back seat and throw the door open. In the footwell, Ava lies sprawled and unconscious.
Police surround the car, shouting instructions. Behind me, I’m aware that Luca’s injuries are getting assessed while the handcuffs are going on.
Jeremy arrives, opening up the far door. “She’s drugged. I found a syringe.”
I climb inside the car and check Ava’s pulse, finding it steady and strong. Carefully, I pull her into my arms, worried about hurting her. About injuries I can’t see. Blood stains her coat, alarm spiking until I realise it’s from my chin. Cradling her in my lap, I say, “Ava, it’s Max. Can you hear me?” I smooth her hair away from her face. “Ava, wake up.”
I carry her to a gurney, newly-arrived paramedics hovering. The next few minutes are a flurry of faces, of conversations in Dutch and French, in English. Ava is wheeled to the same room as Sabine because I’m not separating my family for another second.
Jeremy has her handbag and phone. “It was ringing near the bench where we were earlier.” From a napkin, he reveals the syringe. “The police need this as evidence.”
Dad says. “Keep it safe.”
Everyone’s fussing over Ava, asking Jeremy and me a hundred questions. I want them all to fuck off so that I can just hold her and know she’s safe again. It reminds me to put the ring back on her finger where it fucking belongs.
“What a fucking day,” Ellis says incredulously, bringing in some more chairs. “Finding one and losing another.”
“Ellis,” our mother warns. “We don’t want to think about what might’ve been.”
Counter-active drugs are given to Ava, the nurse stepping away to fill in a chart. Ava’s hand is clasped in mine when she opens her eyes a few moments later. “Hey,” I murmur, so happy to see her awake.
She answers with a soul-destroying sob. With tears that never seem to end. She cries so hard she can’t form words, everything that spills from her lips staccato sounds and halting breaths.
“Shush. I’ve got you, Ava. You’re safe. No one will hurt you now.”
She pulls her hand free and curls into a ball. “I can’t go back there,” she whispers. “I can’t go back . . .”
My heart shatters. I look at Sabine. Her eyes have been red-rimmed ever since her rescue, and tears are falling again. But this time it’s with sympathy and shared horrors rather than profound joy and relief.
“I don’t want to be in this shitting country anymore,” Ava whimpers. “I don’t want to be on this shittingcontinentanymore.”
“I’ll take you home,” I offer. “Tomorrow. After you’ve rested.”
Technically, it’s Christmas Day. I’ve never allowed myself to even think of the possibility of spending it with my whole family this year, sitting around a table with merriment and cheer. But it’s a real possibility. An actual real possibility. And even if all I manage is breakfast, I’ll be satisfied. There’ll always be next year. And getting Ava home and safe is my priority.
“There will be statements to make first,” Nils interjects.
“I need to do some tests before I can discharge the patient,” the nurse says.
“Please. No more tests, just the DNA match with Sabines’il vous plait.I’m leaving. I’ve got to get out of here,” Ava begs.
“You’re safe now. The police have Russo,” I explain softly. “They have Wertens, and I heard outside that they’ve got Frank and Alvaraz. Sabine is free. No one is going to hurt you anymore.”
Ava shuffles until she’s sitting up. Her eyes search around the room. “Where’s my bag?”
