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“And it wasn’t just me, was it Ossian? You abused lots of other women too, including the one standing over there.”
“Marcia.” My tone was a warning. If she brought that image back to my mind, I wouldn’t be able to follow through on my promise. I would kill him with my bare hands.
Ossian turned his head sightly, flashing his eyes. “She knew it was me.”
“I did not,” Vivian whispered.
“She felt my fingers, my mouth…”
“Stop it,” Marcia snapped.
“…my lips, my tongue. My hair, my shoulders…”
Vivian hiccupped somewhere to my right. I couldn’t turn to face her. I would have killed the man in my arms instantly, and that wasn’t why I was there.
“She had her thighs around my ears…”
“I said, stop it.” The words didn’t sound like they came from Marcia. More like they came from a creature that had been gagged until now.
Ossian rolled his head back to face Marcia. He had always underestimated her, always treated her like some meek, pathetic woman who’d only ever been after his money and the status that came from marrying a Thorn. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. Marcia was nothing like the persona she’d paraded around the island her whole adult life. She had depths so hidden, I guessed no one truly knew who the real Marcia was.
“Or what?”
Marcia straightened her spine and stared at the man she’d married. “Or I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.”
Ossian stilled, then a childish snort shot out of his nose. It was quickly followed by a hollow, nail-scraping cackle, like Marcia had just told the funniest joke in the world. I glanced at her expecting to see slightly reddened cheeks and a wavering in confidence. I hoped one look from me would have reignited some belief in herself. But her features were solid, her skin perfectly pale, and her eyes… were black with hatred.
She bent forward, ran a hand down her leg and into her boot. We all watched as her intention unfolded in slow motion. With a small pistol in her hand, she stepped forward and straightened her arm pressing the barrel just above the bridge of his nose.
Ossian’s lids were at half-mast as he continued to laugh. “You don’t ha—”
My ears rang as I hit the floor and felt Ossian’s dead weight land on top of me. Vivian’s scream pierced through the vibrating air. I turned and kicked the still-warm body off my legs. As soon as I was free and clear I glanced up at Marcia. She was staring down at her dead husband with an expression that bordered on profound bliss. Vivian’s gasping sobs drew me backwards along the floor and I gripped her hand while keeping my eyes on Marcia. Eventually she lifted the gun up and peered at it, as if seeing it for the first time. Then she raised it, looked across at me and nodded.
I nodded in return. “Keep it.”
She slipped the gun back inside her boot then walked into the nearest lab. Seconds later, she emerged with a large can in each hand.
“Wh—what is that?” Vivian asked, her voice trembling.
“It’s our cue,” I said, jumping to my feet. I held out my hands and pulled her up. Her eyes darted from side-to-side as she tried to process what the hell was going on. I realised she was in too much shock to help but it didn’t matter – she’d get her chance in good time. “Stay here. Don’t move.”
I traced Marcia’s footsteps into the lab and pulled out two more cans. Marcia had already emptied one of them over Ossian’s lifeless form and carried the second into his office. I poured a third around the perimeter of the lab and took another to the lab next door. Marcia drenched the lobby while I finished off the other three labs and my office.
Vivian had calmed slightly by the time Marcia and I had finished coating the place in petrol. “What now?” she asked, tilting her chin defiantly.
“Now, we leave.” I took her hand and we followed Marcia out of the building.
Once outside, Marcia turned to face us with squared shoulders. “Let me finish this,” she said.
I shook my head. “No Marcia, it’s too dangerous.”
Marcia walked towards me and held my free hand. “I’m not asking, Rupert. I’m going to finish this. Give me the building.” She flicked her gaze to Vivian then back to me. “And give her the rest.”
“But…”
“But nothing, Rupert,” she said, calmly. “You suffered at his hands; I’m not denying that. But Vivian and I paid for this in ways you would never understand.”
I swallowed. She was right. Ossian was a beast of the lowest kind, but he’d never physically or mentally hurt me. But Marcia and Vivian… He abused them both. They each deserved to end this chapter of their lives.
