Page 87 of Savage Justice

“Are you sure?”

“What about? Marlowe? Lucy? You?”

“All of it. All of us.”

“I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t sure.”

“I never… I mean, I wasn’t looking for… anyone. Someone.”

“Me neither, but shit happens.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Right now? I want to get out of this fucking bed and nail the bastard who did this.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know it isn’t. I’ll settle for you knowing how it is, for me. And now I know you feel the same way, well, we can see what pans out from here.”

“See what pans out?” I echo.

“Yes. Let’s just enjoy being together. Nothing heavy, no big promises. Just, try it all on and see how it fits.”

I turn that over in my head. As proposals go, it’s weak to say the least. Woolly, even. But it’s exactly what I want.

“Yes, please,” is my considered response. “Let’s see what pans out.”

CHAPTER 21

Nico

“Holy fuck!”

Ethan sips his vending machine sludge and scowls into the plastic cup. “Thought you’d be happy. Good news, eh?”

“Alive? Really?” My brain is still foggy from the painkillers, and I can’t quite take in what he’s telling me.

“Alive,” he confirms, “but only just, and we have Megan to thank for that.”

“Where is he?”

“Caernbro Ghyll. I told Megan to stay there and keep an eye on him, once we knew you were out of danger. She’s not optimistic, though, so if you want in on the interrogation, you’ll need to get your arse out of that bed. If we wait too long, he’ll die on us.”

“But how could he still be alive?”

“It’s like I told you, Tony heard you yell out when you were stabbed. He charged out of the flat and saw Mulligan bending over you. He shot him, obviously, and assumed he was dead. He was meant to be. Tony was more concerned about you and didn’t waste time checking him over. He just left him behind and scooped you up. Luckily, you were in Inverness, The Richmond was less than ten minutes away, and Tony put his foot down. He got you here in time for the surgeons to do their stuff.”

He takes a final mouthful of his coffee, grimaces, and tips the rest out of the window. “Meanwhile, the clean-up crew arrived at The Mermaid expecting just bodies to shift, but they found a live one. Mulligan. He had a bullet in his gut, but he was still breathing. They rang me for instructions, and I told them to move him to Caernbro Ghyll. I sent Megan down there to keep him alive if she could, just until we’ve time to go and have a little chat.”

“We should assume he killed Agnes. And that woman upstairs.”

“Yes. Probably. It might be useful to know why.”

I close my eyes and nod. “The doc says I can leave here tomorrow, but for bedrest at Caraksay. He thinks I’m going to put my feet up in the clinic for a few days.”

“You can do that if you want. Tony and I will deal with Mulligan.”

“No. I want to be there. I want to hear what he has to say.”

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