Page 23 of Snow Going Back

‘I…’ He faltered and placed his hands on his hips with a sharp, irritated sigh. ‘I can’t,’ he admitted. ‘But you need to juststop,’ he demanded. ‘Put the damn bat down, and we?—’

‘I didn’t think so,’ Kate snapped, cutting him off sharply. ‘But that’s fine – you can save your story for the police. And as for putting down the bat, not on yourdamn life.’ She raised the phone to her ear. ‘Hello?Yes, I’m here. The address is one-oh-one… Yes. Yes, that’s it. Two minutes out?Thank you. Thank you so much.’

Relief rushed through her. She eyed Langston, wary that he might still try to barge past her as the walls closed in on him. ‘The man whose voice you’ve just heard was arrested after nearly running me off the road this morning and being aggressive to the officer who attended the scene.’ Kate ignored his derisive snort. ‘The officer warned me to steer clear, and now that same man has broken into the house with a knife and pretty clear intentions. I have a bat raised, ready to defend myself if he makes another move. Please warn your officers.’

She felt her heart jump as Langston lifted his arm, but he simply threw it in the air and dropped it again. She tried to focus on what other information the police would need. ‘H-He’s a white male, around six foot, broad, muscular. Er, dark messy hair and beard, red checked flannel shirt and jeans.’

Langston glared at her, and Kate tightened her grip on the bat. It was getting harder to keep it in the air, and her arms were starting to ache.

‘How far out are they now?’ she asked, terrified Langston would soon see how weak she really was.

The responder assured her they were pulling into the street just as Kate heard the sirens.

Sighing loudly, Langston shook his head. ‘You’re going to regret this.’

‘You just made that threat on a recorded police call,’ she replied coolly, hearing the car doors slam. They were here. It was going to be OK. ‘Thank you. That will help in court.’

‘In court?’ he repeated.

‘When they decide the length of your sentence. And trust me’ – she reached over and unlocked the back door as the dull thud of approaching boots grew louder – ‘you’ll have many years to look back and regret what an epic,epicmistake you made tonight.’

Two officers burst in, guns pointed forward. One of them hooked his free arm around Kate and manoeuvred her quickly behind him, shielding her with his body. She dropped the bat with a clatter and sagged with relief.

‘Nobody move!’ the second officer boomed. He darted forward, turning in swift jerky movements as he checked the room. ‘Where is he, Sam?’

Kate looked expectantly at the officer shielding her, but it was Langston who answered.

‘You’re looking at him.’

‘Yes,’ she said strongly. ‘That’s him!’

‘Where?’ the officer asked, repeating the jerky swing of the gun around the room.

Kate’s brows knitted together, and she frowned with frustrated disbelief. Was this guy serious?

The officer shielding her moved away from her towards the hallway. Exposed again, Kate glanced nervously at Langston and found him staring back at her oddly.

‘Sam,’ the officer barked. ‘Comeon– where’d he go?’

‘Put your gun down, Mike,’ Langston said. ‘You too, Jerry. There’s no one here but us.’

‘What?’ the officer asked.

‘Yes,what?’ Kate echoed, watching them lower their weapons. ‘What are youdoing?’ she demanded in a panicked tone. ‘Don’t put them away.Christ! He’s – he – you…’

Kate fell silent, putting one hand on her hip and the other to her forehead, rubbing it agitatedly as she tried to make sense of what was happening. Both officers were now eying her suspiciously. They moved to stand near Langston, and there was a short silence. Kate watched the three men with a deep frown, and the uncomfortable feeling that something was very wrong here settled in the pit of her stomach. Something she couldn’t see yet. Something that she had the distinct impression was about to get a whole lot worse.

FOURTEEN

The officer Langston had called Mike narrowed his gaze. ‘We got told there was an intruder, some violent guy with a knife trying to kill people.’

‘That would be me.’ Langston opened his arms outwards, and both officers’ expressions widened in surprise.

‘What thehell?’ the one he’d called Jerry exclaimed. ‘Sam, what’s going on?’

‘Sam, this was put out as a highest-level emergency,’ Mike said, sounding angry now. ‘I had a shoplifter I had to turnloosebecause of the priority level ofthis call. And you’re telling me it was, what, a – a…’ He threw both hands up, flummoxed. ‘Well, whatis it? Because Iknowyou’d never be stupid enough to pull a damn prank call!’

‘Well…’ Jerry tilted his head to one side, giving them a meaningful look. ‘There was thatonetime.’

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