Page 55 of Ticket Out

Gabriella knewshe was being followed almost right away.

The reflection of her pursuer was clear in the side mirrors of the cars she passed. Although nothing about the way he dressed and moved was familiar, and she didn’t think it was the same man who’d attacked her the night before, he was following her, and she guessed that wasn’t a coincidence.

She’d kept her pace steady, glad beyond anything there were so many people out and about. If she had left a little later to go visit Mr. Rodney in hospital, she’d have been much more vulnerable.

The bus that came down the street was the wrong one, but she sensed the man getting closer, moving in, and all it would take was a sudden lull in foot traffic, and he would have his chance.

But she also didn’t want to lose him.

She wanted to turn the tables.

So far she had had things done to her.

That was no longer acceptable to her.

She’d darted across the street, waving to the bus, and then, seeing her chance, ducked behind a low brick gate that fronted a neat single story house.

She crouched behind it, pleased to find it had a built-in letterbox. She lifted the flap, looking through the narrow opening into the street, and saw her follower smoking as he looked after the bus.

Then he began to move off.

She’d waited a moment before following him, aware her movement across the road might attract his attention, and then she sucked in a shocked breath as she saw DS Archer casually stroll after him.

He must have been watching her house.

She vaguely remembered him saying something about extra patrols last night, but she hadn’t thought he would be doing them himself.

As she jogged across the road and fell in behind the men, she kept further back than felt right, but she was unsure what to do now she knew Archer was on the case. He was the police, and she should probably leave the field of battle to him.

But she had been so invested in following her attacker, in turning the tables, she found it difficult to let go.

She was so far behind them, she almost missed seeing DS Archer go into the pub, and slowed down even more, guessing her attacker had gone in, too.

Both would recognize her immediately if she were to go in as well, so she hung around outside, pretending to be waiting for someone.

More than one man offered to buy her a drink while she waited, but she made the excuse she was waiting for a friend to fob them off with as little fuss as possible.

Whatever they were doing in there, it seemed to take a long time.

She was about to give up when she caught sight of Archer through the window, heading to the back of the pub.

She caught her lip with her teeth, wondering what to do, when she heard the slam of a door coming from the narrow alley to her right, around the side of the pub. She had checked it out earlier, while she waited, considering it as a hiding place if both men came out.

Not knowing what else to do, she moved toward it and peered around, just in time to see a shadowy figure hit James Archer in the back of the head with a plank of wood.

He went down silently, and the man loomed over him, staring down.

He murmured something to himself, and then stepped around the detective’s body, heading straight for her.

Panicked, Gabriella pulled back and looked wildly for a place to hide, but the obvious answer was inside the pub. She darted through the doorway, standing just inside and watching at the door in case he’d seen her and was coming in after her.

She’d rather know if he was on to her immediately, but when the door opened, it was a couple, arm in arm, who stepped through, and beyond them, she saw no sign of the man.

She turned, finding the back passage she’d seen Archer take minutes before, and walked down it to the back entrance.

She stared at the metal door for a moment, getting up her nerve, then pushed through it.

Archer lay on the ground in front of her, very still, and for a terrible moment she wondered if he was dead.

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