30

 

 

Blue flashing lights. The chirp of an ambulance. Police officers gathered in front of the open gate of my home, speaking to security. I was out of the car before it had pulled to a stop on the sidewalk. Marshall followed closely behind.

A crowd of residents had gathered and I watched in horror as a blonde woman was dragged from my house by two officers. Blood dripped down her face and ran down one eye. She was kicking. Screaming. Biting. Scratching.

“I’m gonna kill that bitch!” Sarah Mallory reared up, bucking her hips and shaking her head from side to side. Her voice was a tortured shriek. Tear tracks ran down her face. “Let me go! Do you know who I am!”

My heart stopped.

I turned to the sheriff. He was shaking his head as he watched Sarah's feral snarling. Her expression melted into one of pure joy when she spotted me in the crowd. “Elliot. I did it honey! You're mine now!”

The officers handcuffed her but her love-filled eyes never left mine as she was manoeuvred into the back of the police car. I watched, helpless as it drove away.

I watched as the paramedics rushed forward. Two of them. Harriet stumbled out, her arm cradled to her chest. Blood seeped through her fingers. But she was alive. I was so relieved that I thought I was going to drop to the ground. A strangled cry wrenched from my throat as I darted forward. I looked down and saw that Marshall and the Sheriff had each gripped one of my shoulders and were holding me back.

“Harry! Harriet! That’s my girlfriend, goddammit! Let me through.” I roared as I tried to push forward.

“They’re gotta stitch her up in the ambulance, son.” The sheriff told me.

I reached up and wiped my hand across my face. It came away wet. I was crying like a baby. Once they’d sat Harry in the back of the ambulance, hell or high water couldn’t keep me away. I pushed myself forward. Her whisky eyes met him as she flinched with each stitch.

“I'm so sorry baby.” I said. My lips were numb. Her blood was red. Her shirt was stained with it.

“I know, Elliot.” Harry said, reaching up with her free hand. “It’s over now.”

 

 

Harriet had an ugly line of stitches from her elbow to her wrist.

I was powerless and I hated it.

She looked so tiny. Her eyes were purple and bruised. Her skin was sallow. We'd gone straight back to my house and she's passed out. Tired from the pain meds.

My girl.

I sat in silence, speaking only to greet her with gentle words when she rose to consciousness only to be dragged back under again.

I sat by her side for a full day before she woke up properly. I hadn’t showered. I didn’t want to leave her for even a minute.

“Elliot...” Her voice was dry. I quickly grabbed the jug of water on the side table and poured her a glass. Her eyes communicated her thanks silently as I tipped the glass to her lips and held it whilst she drank.

“You're okay.” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, Harry.”

“Not your fault.” She croaked. “Sarah...”

Harry leant forward and touched my cheek. It took a second to realise that she was wiping away my tears with her hand. We sat like that for a while. Harriet comforted me, even though she was the one in pain. When she winced as she sat up, I reached over and tipped the medication bottle until two white pills popped out.

“Have you heard from the sheriff?” Harry asked as she fiddled with the comforter.

“Sarah’s in county jail until the trial. Attempted murder. There’s enough evidence to put her away. I don’t even think you'll need to testify.”

“She was so ... Out of it.” Harry whispered. Terror laced her voice as the residual memory of her attack seemed to cover her face.

“She was on a lot of drugs.” I explained. “Her husband was divorcing her for it. She was an addict and refused to get help.”

“But why you?” Harry asked.

“I’m not gonna lie. I was sleeping with her on and off for a few years. Whenever I came to town.” I twisted my hands together to give them something to do. “She must have been desperate.”

“What about... The other thing?” Harry asked.

“The rape?” I bit out harshly, though I could understand why she didn’t want to say the word.

Harry nodded.

“She had Rohypnol in her car.” I scathed. “Coke. Ketamine. The list goes on.”

Harry put her hand in mine. “She can’t hurt us anymore.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I just want to know how she got in. No one has the code. You, Julian, Nate and Rina. Security. That’s it.”

“I’m safe.” Harry gripped the back of my neck and pulled me down until my head rested on her shoulder. She stroked my back. Comforting me, even though she was the one that had been shot.

 

 

I left Harriet up in my bedroom to sleep off the rest of the painkillers. I collected the bundle of her clothing at the foot of the bed and walked to the laundry room.

My trousers began to vibrate and I pulled her phone out of the pocket. It was an unknown number, but since my precious hospital calls had all come up like that, I answered the phone for her.

“Harry's phone.” I grunted as I stuffed the clothes in the machine.

“Your voice sounds a little deep Miss Thompson.” It was a male voice, that held the kind of rasp that came with smoking five a day.

“Who is this?” I demanded.

“I have a feeling this is Elliot Gold. Why, did Miss Thompson not tell you about little old me?”

My teeth pulled over my lips. I said nothing.

“Daniel Davis. Miss Thompson got herself in a bit of a bind.” He explained.

“By a bind, do you mean that you extorted a debt from a young woman that had no business paying it?” I snarled.

“Oh, Mr. Gold. You're a funny man.”

I knew that Harry had told me not to get involved, but I had had enough. My girl was passed out with a gunshot wound to the belly. I was raw. Protective. Damn right angry.

“Tell you what, Mr. Davis. I won’t tell anyone that you ran down Gilly Thompson with your Beemer. I've got some interesting camera footage from outside the Steel Trap.” I said, low and threatening.

“Now, why would I do that, Mr. Gold? Why would I run down an innocent woman?”

“I don't know Daniel.” I said, saccharine. “But I know that Gilly Thompson has been paying you off for almost twenty years. If you want your secrets to stay buried, then you need to leave Harry Thompson alone.”

Silence on the end of the line.

“Don’t go digging, boy.” Davis threatened. “If you want to protect your girl, that is.”