Private Games

Chapter 105

SUDDENLY SIRENS WAILED nearby, coming closer, and Knight’s spirits surged with renewed hope.

‘They’re coming for you now,’ he said, grinning insanely at Marta and the bottom of the Coke bottle. ‘You’re going to the gallows, no matter what you do to me and my children.’

‘No.’ She laughed caustically. ‘If they go anywhere, they go next door, not here. In the meantime, I kill you and then use the tunnel to escape.’

She tried to press the Coke bottle against Knight’s head. But he batted at it with his hand and jerked around as the sirens came closer and louder. He thought: Buy time. At least the twins will be saved.

But then Marta stepped on the side of Knight’s neck with her boot, choking him as she lowered the silenced gun.

He looked up at her cross-eyed and grabbed at her ankles, trying to upset her balance. But she just ground her boot deeper and harder into his neck until his strength was gone.

Marta peered down at him. ‘Goodbye, Mr Knight. Too bad I don’t have a pickaxe.’