Ryder (Slater Brothers 4)

“999, what is your emergency?”

“Please help me,” I cried which was very easy to do considering everything that had happened to me. “A man has kidnapped me, I think I’m dyin’. He stabbed me twice and beat me.”

“Ma’am, slow down. This man, is he still close by?”

“Yes!” I wailed and then quickly thought of a lie. “He’s in the buildin’, he left his phone here by mistake and I grabbed it. He said he would be right back though. Please send someone. Please.”

“Stay on the line with me, ma’am. Where are you? Do you see anything that can give us a clue to your location?”

“Me location?” I repeated and looked at Kane with wild eyes.

He held up a matchbox that had the name of the building, but to play it dumb I said, “I’m in the new apartments across from The Plaza Hotel, I can see the buildin’!”

“Top floor,” Kane whispered.

“I think I’m on the top floor, it’s really high up!”

“Okay, ma’am we have a unit dispatched to your location. Stay on the line with me okay? What is your name?”

“Branna Murphy,” I replied. “Please, hurry. Please—”

I was cut off when Kane grabbed the phone from my hand and threw it on the floor, smashing it.

“Why?” I asked staring at the now useless device.

“You gave them your location, and a unit is on the way. They’ll get here soon.”

I nodded.

“You’re goin’ to be okay,” Kane said firmly. “I promise.”

I hoped he was right.

He stood up and said, “I have to go.”

Fear gripped me.

“Don’t leave me, Kane.” I begged and reached for him with my good arm. “Please.”

A look of anguish passed over his face.

“The cops are coming, they’ll arrest me if they catch me here.”

I still didn’t want him to leave me.

“Branna, they will call an ambulance right away. I promise.”

I tried to move, but my body was drained, and I only managed a slight twitch.

“He is dead, he can’t hurt you. I stabbed him in the chest, and I think it went straight through his heart. If the cops ask, say he came back and fought you for the phone and you were able to grab the blade and stab him when he came at you. Okay?”

I sucked in a breath.

“Okay,” I rasped. “I’ll say I killed ‘im.”

“It will be self-defence.” He said then jumped to his feet. “I’m using the back stairs and exit, don’t mention anything about me being here, can you do that?”

I nodded, and Kane looked like he had to force himself to walk away from me.

“I’ll show up at the hospital with everyone else as soon as they call your sister. I promise.”

He was gone then, and once more I was alone with Big Phil. The only thing that comforted me was this time, the piece of scum wasn’t breathing. I sat up and stared at his body, mainly at his chest, just to make sure he was faking it. I wanted to make sure he was really dead. I didn’t have to think twice about whether he was really gone or not when I saw the fast growing pool of blood gather around him. It was impossible to tell what colour his shirt originally was because it was soaked with dark red blood.

When I couldn’t sit up any longer, I lay back on the sofa for so long that I felt myself begin to relax to the point where I could go asleep if I wanted to, the adrenaline I was feeling earlier now completely gone. I closed my eyes and when I opened them next it was because I heard a loud bang then an awful crunching sound.

“Oh, shite,” I heard a male voice hiss. “It wasn’t a prank call. Radio it in and get an ambulance here ASAP. Possible suspect is down, and the victim looks to be in bad shape.”

“Copy that.” Another male voice replied then moved away as he spoke using weird code words.

I flinched when I felt a hand on my forehead.

“You’re goin’ to be okay,” the first man said. “An ambulance is on the way, ma’am.”

I lifted one of my eyelids open, and for a moment everything was blurry, then my vision focused, and a handsome man was leaning over me. The first thing I noticed about him was his eyes—they were bright blue. The second thing was the uniform he had on.

“Garda?” I whispered.

The man nodded. “Yeah, I’m a Garda, sweetheart. You’re safe, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

I didn’t think I had enough energy to even feel relief, but I did and it slammed into me at that moment.

“He stabbed me, and tried to kill me,” I whispered, my eyes becoming blurry once more as tears filled them. They spilled over the brims, and slid down my temples and into my hair. “I stabbed him in the chest… I had no choice… he was goin’ to kill me. He said so.”

I felt a hand press against my shoulder, and I cried out in pain.

“I’m so sorry,” the Garda said, “I need to slow the bleedin’ until the paramedics get here.”

That fucking hot poker didn’t do its job.

“Am I goin’ to die?” I asked.

“No,” came the man’s instant response. “You aren’t goin’ to die. Look at me, you aren’t goin’ to die.”

I didn’t know whether to believe him or not, because I felt like I was dying.

“I killed ‘im,” I whispered. “I really killed ‘im.”

“You had no choice, darlin’. It was your life or his, and I’m glad it was his.”

I nodded. “Who is he?”

“No idea yet, did say why he abducted you?”

I forced more tears out. “He said he wanted to… to rape me, and keep me, but I fought back and he hurt me.”

“Son of bitch,” the Garda hissed.

He was lapping my story up like a starved dog.

“Don’t let ‘im get me,” I mumbled and closed my eyes when they suddenly became too heavy. I wanted to continue with my act, but I couldn’t, everything became too draining to keep up.

“Ms Murphy?” the man’s voice shouted as I felt my body being shaken. “Branna? Fuck! Mikey, where is that ambulance?”