Page 115 of The Twenty (Major Crimes)

“She said your name,” Maggie whispers. His face is so close he can smell her breath. The sourness, a stink of death that makes him gag. “She cried out for you, over and over again. As she died.”

He feels sick. His stomach contracts, but he forces it down. What this woman did. To Pippa. To all those other people. The pain she must have inflicted. Marsh, lying dying less than ten feet away from them. Adam, who knows where.

“She said she loved you. She was calling out for you, but you never came.”

He almost lets go then. His muscles turn to water; he feels weak, Pippa knew he wasn’t enough. As she died, that he hadn’t been able to save her.

“Put her down, Jamie, please,” Romilly shouts again. “This is what she wants. You, her, Marsh, Adam. That’s the twenty. The final four.”

He feels the hard brickwork against his legs. The only thing stopping him from falling over the edge. And he looks down again. This life, his existence without Pippa, it’s too much. He deserves to go down with Maggie. Punishment for his failure.

“She died in pain, DS Hoxton. In fear. Covered in her own puke and piss and shit. I killed her, and you did nothing.”

His hand is cramping now. He’s starting to shake. To let go, to jump. How hard could it be? He starts to cry, tears rolling down his face, falling, falling. One simple movement. To get his revenge. Maybe even see Pippa again. Hear her laughter, her voice.

“She needed you and you couldn’t save her.”

“Jamie, don’t do it. What would Pippa tell you?”

Romilly is next to him now. He knows Romilly can’t physically stop him, he’s much stronger, much bigger than her. And all he has to do is let go, lift his leg from the ground a few inches.

He feels a hand on his arm. And that one touch, the warmth, makes him stop.

He hears Pippa in his head. “Here you are.” The thought of her makes him ache, a pain eating at his broken heart. “Don’t,” she’s saying. “Don’t.”

With a strangled cry, he throws himself backward. He pulls Maggie with him to the roof, throwing her hard onto the concrete. She lets out a cry of anger. Jamie watches as people arrive. Men in black, forcing her face into the asphalt. Handcuffs go on. She screams in frustration, knowing she’s beaten.

Jamie falls back onto the ground. He starts to sob; he feels Romilly crying as she holds him close.

Next to them, Marsh is surrounded by paramedics, working frantically to save him. Shouted instructions, medical equipment being passed to and fro. The officers carry Maggie away. She’s still twisting, screaming in frustration, as they drag her down the stairs toward the cells.

“Wait!” Romilly shouts. They pause and Jamie watches as she rushes over, standing, determined, in front of the killer.

“It’s all over now, Maggie,” she says. “Tell us where Adam is.”

Jamie lifts his head, watching them through blurry eyes. He feels completely drained; all adrenaline vanished the moment he pulled back from the edge. In front of him, the woman that killed Pippa lifts her head, then smiles.

“Nothing’s over,” she says. “Nothing’s finished.”

“You’re four away, Maggie. You’ll never—”

“Less than that now,” she says, indicating Marsh with a tilt of her head. Marsh is still surrounded by paramedics, but Jamie can see his eyes are closed. He’s still and the sight makes terror race in Jamie’s veins.

“And what about Adam Bishop?” she says. “Hide and seek, DS Hoxton.”

All the police officers pause. Maggie’s voice is singsong and eerie in the quiet of the night. “Coming, ready or not,” she says.

CHAPTER

68

IN THE DARKNESS, Adam stirs. He’s been drifting for a while now, in and out of consciousness. The pain comes in slow waves, his limbs aching, his head heavy. He forces himself to open his eyes.

Alone.

Cold.

So very, very cold.

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