But the blade was a proper bit of kit. The flick knife would cut deep if it sliced into her skin.
He tried again.
“I promise to stay with you and wait for them. Might take a while, though, to get here from Liverpool. This is between me and you. Let Claire go.”
Kevin shifted nervously, looking down at Claire, considering it.
“She’s going nowhere.”
He uttered finally; and held onto Claire with renewed determination.
Sion shrugged. He’d had the choice.
He’d just taken the hard way.
One hand behind his back, he eased his hand towards the gun in his belt until he could feel the metal of the handle. With the knife so close to her he couldn’t afford any sudden movements, so he inched his fingers discreetly until finally he had the gun securely in his hand.
“Give it up, Kevin. No one’s coming. The cleaner’s called the police.”
Kevin’s eyes darted towards the door.
“They’re outside right now and they’ll be treating this as a hostage situation. The only reward you’ll be getting is free lodgings in a twelve by eight cell, courtesy of her majesty.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“Did ya not hear the sirens?”
He was agitated now. His pupils like black saucers.
Frantically, he looked around and checked the door. Then, over in Sion’s direction. Then, the space around them.
He was about to crack.
Sion took his chance.
“There’s blue lights all over the car park, Kev. You can see from the window. Go see for yourself.”
Pulling her up with him, knife at her neck, Kevin started to move; dragging Claire across the room towards the window.
Sion pulled the gun from behind his back and pointed it, trigger poised, ready to shoot.
But Claire hadn’t seen that.
She took her chance too.
Slamming her elbows back, she drove them fiercely into Kevin’s solar plexus. Snapping herself upwards. Coming right between Kevin and Sion’s clear line of fire.
“Claire!”
“Argh!”
A vicious slice.
Sion stashed the gun quickly back in his belt and leapt into the air, but it was too late to stop the line of crimson beading up behind the knife as it sliced its way angrily down Claire’s neck.
No!
Grabbing Kevin’s fist, Sion smashed it down to the ground.
The knife bounced free and scuttled across the floor, out of their reach.
Claire flung herself after it, scrambling clear of the two men wrestling on the ground. Grabbing the knife tightly, she brandished it at them in self-defence.
“Claire? Honey? You alright?”
Taking advantage of Sion’s momentary distraction, Kevin, wriggling an arm and fist free, slammed a punch with force into Sion’s face, sending him reeling.
Seeing Kevin coming at him again, Sion snatched for his gun in the back of his jeans. Flicking free the safety catch, he fired a deafening shot upwards into the air, flinging Kevin backwards.
Smack.
The handgun came crashing down into Kevin’s face, shattering his nose and stunning him.
That one was for Claire.
Like a bear catching a salmon, Sion expertly flipped him over onto the floor. His face covered the carpet tile in a pool of dark blood. In one swift move, Sion then skilfully had the barman tied up securely, with his hands and ankles secured tightly with the plastic ties.
“Claire?”
She was behind him cowering in a corner, frozen from shock. Her knees were hunched tightly into her body, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. And he saw too, the steady stream of blood running freely down her neck onto her collar bone and into her hair.
She snapped out of her daze and touched her neck; her hands becoming covered in blood too.
“Oh my God! Help!”
“Shh. It’s okay.”
She began shaking with shock. Kneeling beside her, he took her in his arms and held her tightly.
“Let me see it, Claire.”
Pulling back her hair for him, he could see that the gash was deeper than he realised, and there was a fair bit of blood coming from it. It ran from the base of her ear right down the side of her neck and she was damn lucky that it had missed an artery.
Still, it was bad enough.
Sion found her a tea towel and sat her down on a chair.
“You need to get that stitched. Keep pressing on it to try and stop the flow.”
“They’ll have you sooner or later,” Kevin growled into the carpet. “Watch yer back, ‘cos this ain’t over yet. Not by a long shot.”
“One more peep and it will be for you,” Sion snarled.
Claire was still shaking a little, but she held the towel firm as Sion quickly retrieved the rope out of his bag.
Hauling Kevin to the other chair, far enough away from Claire, he bound him up fast. If he heard another peep out of him, he’d gag him too.
Then, after storing his gun back in the bag, he phoned the farm. Annie was on her way to take Claire to hospital while he waited with Kevin for the police to arrive.
CHAPTER 25
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“What d’you mean, I can’t go in?”
“There are reports of gunfire. It’s an armed siege. You need to shift your vehicle from here, Miss, and stay behind the tape.”
The whole of the car park is crowded with police and a black BMW is blocking the road behind me, trying to turn around too. Sunday city tourists in big, flashy cars that are far too big for our narrow country lanes.
“Annie!”
Detective Ellis Roberts recognises me and comes over.
“What you doin’ here?”
“I got a call from Sion. He’s in there, with my friend, Claire.”
“Is Sion who the cleaner said ran in there?”
“All I know is Claire’s got a knife wound. He phoned and asked me to take her to hospital. It’s not serious but she needs stitches.”
Ellis gives the uniformed officer a nod.
“Park up.”
I swing Trusty Rusty into the back of the car park, while Ellis waits for me.
“What’s going on?” I ask him breathlessly.
“There’s been gunshot. We’re waiting for the armed response unit. So, tell me what Sion said to you?”
I repeat the phone call word for word.
“And is this the same Sion who was staying with your mam’s tenant?”
“You mean Jac? Yes, it is. You d
o know Mam passed away?”
Ellis stares at me.
“I’m sorry. No I didn’t. How did…?”
“Cancer,” I cut in, “A couple of weeks after Dad. She was dying and hadn’t told us.”
There’s an awkward pause; and the way his eyes bore into me, makes me feel uncomfortable.
“Sorry to hear that. How you managing with the farm?”
“Jac’s been a big help.”
“Jac and Sion? They were in the army together, right?”
“Yeah. They’re both ex-special forces. Look, can you let me go in and see what’s going on? What’s the worst that can happen, eh?”
“You could get shot and killed.”
“There is that… But Sion’s a friend. He called for me to come, so it must be safe.”
Ellis rubs his face.
“It goes against all our protocols.”
“Please, detective. I can phone him?”
It sounds reasonable and he’s considering it.
“Alright, but if we do this, you need to stay behind me and do exactly what I say. Understood?”
“Absolutely.”
He shakes his head and goes over to clear it with a uniformed officer who’s speaking into his walkie talkie.
I can tell that they’re disagreeing about it.
Eventually, Ellis beckons me over.
“Give him a call.”
He answers immediately.
“Sion? It’s Annie. The police are here, they’ve heard shots. Is it safe for us to come in?”
He tells me it is. I pass the phone to the detective, and afterwards he’s happier with the situation and we get the green light.
I follow him towards the kitchen door. Then, moving into the pub behind Ellis, he checks out each room first before we go further inside. I can sense that he’s not convinced that this isn’t a trap.
Near the bar, we approach the open door and see the stairs up to the flat.
“Sion? You up there?”
There’s a movement of feet above us.
“Is that Detective Roberts?”.
“Yes. And Annie’s here too.”
“Hi Sion. How’s Claire?” I call.
“She’s shook up.”
He appears at the top of the stairs.
“She’s a bit sore. Gonna a need a fair few stitches down her neck”