Page 112 of She Saw What He Did

‘He was going to kill me. It was self-defence,’ he said, his shoulders dropping. ‘He wanted the box. Damn it, Ellen. All I did was smuggle in a few things. It was all harmless enough, until now.’

Ellen shivered. Anxiety was making her breathe faster.

‘Where are we going?’ she asked. ‘I need to get back.’

‘Here,’ he said. ‘You won’t be going anywhere Ellen, unless of course you come to South America with me.’

Ellen stopped. Ryan pointed to a small cottage ahead of them and sighed. Ellen thought he looked tired.

‘You could hand yourself in,’ she began.

‘Don’t be stupid,’ he snapped.

She flinched, and he looked crestfallen.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘The last thing I wanted was for you to get involved. Why did you have to follow me? I’m going to Brazil when this is over. Don’t make it any harder, Ellen. You of all people, I didn’t want to hurt. Can you imagine a life in Brazil? I’ll have money. Say you’ll come with me.’

His eyes brightened. Ellen looked down at the gun. His grip had loosened slightly.

‘Don’t try anything,’ he said sharply.

‘I thought we were friends,’ she said gently.

‘Yes,’ he said eagerly, ‘we are, aren’t we? I just have to do this. You see, they’ll kill me if I don’t.’

‘But we could protect you,’ she said. ‘I would protect you.’

He laughed softly and pushed her into the cottage.

‘Will you come with me, Ellen?’ he smiled.

For a moment she was confused and said.

‘Of course I’ll go with you to the station.’

He laughed. It sounded evil.

‘To Brazil,’ he corrected, opening the basement door and pushing her towards the steps. ‘We could go together.’

She realised in that moment that he was completely insane. She tried to resist him, but he was firm. She saw the woman and child immediately.

‘Oh God,’ she whispered.

She turned to Ryan who now had the gun back in the carrier bag.

‘This is Ellen,’ he said. ‘We’re all going to watch a film.’

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Sparrow looked at his phone and frowned. Fucking Scott had phoned again.

‘Fuck it,’ he muttered.

Soon Scott would raise the alarm.

It would only be a matter of hours before they came looking for Ellen.

They won’t think of looking for her here, he comforted himself. He opened the Mini door and removed Ellen’s bag. There were several missed calls on her phone.

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