Page 14 of Savage Justice

“She’s at my house. The bad man is there.” She reaches for my hand. “You have to come quick. I think he’ll hurt her.”

“What is this?” Ethan demands. “You know this kid?”

“She’s the one Tony and I rescued a few weeks back. The abduction?”

He slowly nods. “I remember it. Jack filled me in.” He drops to his haunches again. “Are you saying that man has come back?”

“No. Not him. A different man. He broke in our house and tied my mummy up.”

“Jesus.” Ethan straightens, all business suddenly. He reaches for his phone. “Do you know where they live?”

“Yeah, I took her home. It’s not far…”

He selects a number on his speed dial. It’s answered immediately. “Jack? I need men at the gate. We have a… a situation. Oh, and Ruth, too. Yes, wake her up.” He ends the call and turns his attention to Lucy again. “Someone is coming to take care of you and your brother. They’ll take you inside and you’ll be nice and warm. And safe. Nico and I will go to your house. Is that okay?”

“You promise? You’ll go straight away?”

“We will.”

I hand the baby to Ethan. I’m already sprinting back to the vehicle to turn it around. I can see lights appearing in the house, and there are men charging down the drive to join us. Jack, Tony, Aaron, followed by half a dozen soldiers. Ruth, Jack’s wife, is there, too. And Jenna, Tony’s girlfriend. The huge iron gates slide apart, and reinforcements pour out into the road.

Two more vehicles appear, and the men pile in.

Ruth asks no questions, simply wraps her arms around the shivering child and ushers her through the gates. Jenna takes the baby from Ethan and follows them. He jumps back into the passenger seat next to me. Tony and Aaron are in the back.

I put my foot down, leading the convoy the couple of miles to the smart estate where I dropped Lucy off a few weeks earlier. “It was a bungalow,” I mutter, “on the main road. One of those with an upstairs. There was a swing in the garden…”

It’s a ten-minute drive, but we cover it in five. I spot the house and pull up close by. The others glide to a halt behind me.

The place is in darkness from the front, but there’s the dim glow of a light somewhere at the rear. On instinct, we leave a couple of men at the front, but most of us head for the back. We spot the broken dining room French window at the side of the house.

“Looks like that’s where he got in,” I murmur to Ethan who is right behind me.

He nods grimly and draws his weapon. I do the same.

The rear door is locked, but the light is coming from that room. The blinds are closed, and I can hear the sound of gushing water within. A burst pipe or a leak, perhaps.

I briefly contemplate knocking but remember the broken window and the terrified child. By mutual consent, Ethan and I level our shit-kickers against the door and set to booting it in. It gives way on the second blow and bursts open.

I don’t know what I expected to see, but it wasn’t this. A woman is bent backwards over the sink, held there by a hulking brute of a man, her face under the gushing cold tap. A thick hood is over her head, and she’s bound, helpless. Limp. She looks to be unconscious. Or dead.

Fuck. Are we too late?

The man whirls around to face us, his features contorted into a snarl. Ethan makes short work of him, planting a bullet in his gut. He topples, screaming, to the tiled floor.

While others check the rest of the house, I make a dash for the woman and pull her from the torrent. I lower her to the floor and tug the hood from her head. Her eyes are closed. She lies motionless in my arms.

“Is she breathing?” Aaron drops to his knees next to me.

“Not sure.” I lean in but can detect no sign of life. “Jesus Christ,” I cover her mouth with mine and blow four short quick puffs of air into her lungs.

“Again,” Aaron urges.

I repeat, then settle into a steadier rhythm. I’m dimly aware that our men are dragging the big guy out. He’ll be transferred to the kill room at Caernbro Ghyll, assuming he survives the journey there. My attention is focussed on the lifeless woman before me, Lucy’s mother.

“Come on,” I urge. “Breathe. You need to breathe. Lucy needs you. You can’t die, not now.”

“Do you want me to take over for a while?” Aaron offers.

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