Page 89 of The Question of Us
Oh God. Not Nick. Please, not Nick.
I dropped the fence post, clumsy weapon that it was. Knowing my luck, I’d hit the steel doors with it and give myself away. Then I sprinted for the barn, flattening myself against the steel panel just to the side of the open door. With my heart thundering in my chest, I counted to three and then peeked around the jamb. The two guards stood with their backs to me, their guns drawn on four men: Lee, Gazza, someone who had to be Aaron, and Nick. Oh, god, Nick.
I blinked back the tears. He was alive. They were all alive. But there was no time to celebrate the fact. They needed me. The men I loved needed me.
The shorter guard put his hand to his face a couple of times and then wiped it on his shirt. In between, he barked angrily at Lee, who was clearly provoking him, although I couldn’t catch the actual words. Then the guard slammed a heavy kick into Lee’s stomach and it was all I could do not to race inside and rip his fucking face off.
At first glance, I’d thought Nick and the others had been bound and gagged, but on closer examination, I realised that wasn’t the case. Cable ties littered the floor and the duct tape washardly secure. Had they been working themselves free? Had they made a run at the guard? Was that what this was all about?
When the guard readied to launch another kick at Lee and Gazza rocked unsteadily on his feet like he was going to try and stop him, Nick hissed a warning Gazza’s way. It was the first time I’d seen Nick’s face full-on—beaten and bloodied—and it ripped the air from my lungs. What the fuck had they done to him?
But the panic quickly subsided to be replaced by a raw fury the likes of which I’d never felt, propelling me forward. I slipped through the door and slid along the wall of the barn away from the others. Angry shouts and threats echoed in the space, but I couldn’t afford to look.
Keep going. Just keep going.
As I crept toward the far corner of the barn behind the pool, I raged. How dare they touch him? How fucking dare they harm that precious man? It had taken me fifty-five years to find him, to fall in love for the first time, to get the opportunity to share my life. And no one,no one, was going to steal that future from me. Certainly not these arseholes.
I skirted around some kind of pool and continued to the furthest corner from the men. A few towels and coats beckoned from a long peg rack and I slipped behind them, flattening myself against the wall.
And then I waited . . . again.
Waited as the guard continued to rail at Gazza and Lee.
Waited through all Nick’s taunting and backchat. What the hell was the man thinking? We were going to have a strongly worded conversation the minute I got that stupid, gorgeous man alone.
Waited as vehicles pulled up outside the barn and Marty and Freddie started dishing out orders.
Waited as they laid out their plan while I prayed for the sound of sirens.
Waited as one of the guards was sent off.
Waited and waited and waited until that astonishing moment when Marty screamed and staggered back, his blood spraying an arc across the wall behind Lee’s head, a small blade flashing in Lee’s hand.
Holy fucking shit.
From there, everything moved in slow motion.
Freddie shifted to cover his boss.
Aaron pushed the remaining guard onto the floor.
Lee cut Aaron’s ankle tie and sent his brother running.
Freddie took aim at Lee.
And I readied myself. Because this was it. That singular moment when plans went out the window and you had to choose between going all in or doing nothing at all.
Because it hit me clear as a bell in that half-second. There was only one way Marty was getting out of this mess. He had to pass the buck. Claim self-defence or blame his men. And the only way that worked was if there was only his and Freddie’s version on the table. Freddie’s in order to back Marty’s up. It was the only solution. Everyone else had to go—the guards, Nick, Lee, Aaron, Gaza.
Everyone.
I stepped out from under the coat, intent on a distraction. Something to slow things down. But just as I did, Nick, stupid, wonderful Nick, shouted, “No,” and made a run at Freddie.
But Freddie heard him coming and the shotgun turned. Seconds before Nick struck, a blast filled the barn, my heart stopped in my chest, and the world went into freefall.
The two men tumbled toward me, but I couldn’t see anything in the confusion of tangled limbs and jumbled bodies. Had Nick been shot? Was he hurt? I had no fucking idea.
Frozen in fear and caught out in the open for anyone to see, I watched in horror as Freddie grabbed Nick around the throat and shouted right into his face.
