Siege

Seventy-seven

TINA STOOD BACK against the bedroom wall, just behind the door, wondering what the hell the guy who kept clearing his throat was doing. He’d been up here close to two minutes now, yet he hadn’t come in. She’d got the two kids lying back on their fronts so that he wouldn’t notice anything amiss when he eventually came in, but now she was wondering whether she should have tried to get them out of the window and to safety, or at the very least texted Arley to let her know she’d found them and they were OK. But then she heard the flushing of a toilet and knew she’d made the right decision. He was coming.

She could hear his heavy footfalls on the landing, stopping directly outside the door. The boy made a moaning noise beneath the gag as the door opened and the light was switched on.

Tina held her breath, blinking against the light, her hand tight on the pepper spray canister. She’d replaced the lead piping in the back of her jeans because she needed a free hand in case the guy was armed. It was a great weapon if she scored a direct hit on his head, but if she didn’t, it would be next to useless. She needed to blind him, and for that, the spray was perfect.

Her heart hammered as he moved through the open door. She knew she had to be quick. She was only going to get one chance.

And then he was in the room, a huge hulk of a man holding a pistol with a suppressor attached. He turned to shut the door and Tina charged straight into him sideways on, her free hand grabbing his gun arm by the wrist as the force of her attack knocked him back against the wall. She thrust the pepper spray into his face and pressed the button, sending clouds of chilli powder straight into his eyes.

He screamed in pain, and she tried to drive her forehead into his nose, but he was already turning his head, and she only caught his cheek. It didn’t stop her. She butted him again and again, desperately trying to press her advantage and disorient him as she reached into the back of her jeans, yanking out the lead piping.

But then with a roar he ripped his gun hand free of hers, grabbed her by the throat in an iron grip that cut her breath like a knife, before literally throwing her across the room.

As she careered backwards, she stumbled over the legs of one of the kids and her head slammed into the wall with a dizzying thud and then she was on her back on the floor.

‘Bitch!’ he howled, swinging the gun round in a jerky arc as he pawed at his eyes. A shot rang out, the bullet ricocheting off the floor and into the ceiling. He fired again and again, trying to pinpoint Tina without the aid of vision, one bullet passing so close to her head she could see the dust spray from the wall out of the corner of her eye.

And then he was blinking and staggering away from the wall, his gun hand jerking crazily as he searched for a target. The kids were wriggling about wildly, trying to get out of the line of fire, the girl crying openly, and suddenly the weapon was pointing at a spot right between Oliver’s shoulder blades.

Tina’s head was spinning and she felt like throwing up but she knew she had to act, because it looked like the guy was going to pull the trigger, even though it was clear he couldn’t see who he was aiming at.

She still had hold of the lead piping, and using her free hand to propel herself off the floor, she leaped to her feet.

Catching the movement, he swung round to face her, still blinking wildly but managing to take aim. His finger tightened on the trigger at just the moment she threw the lead piping.

It struck him full in the face and his nose erupted, sending blood squirting all over his mouth. Crying out, he lost his footing, his shot going high and wide, and, as he tried to right himself, Tina charged, taking full advantage of his lack of defence to drive a knee into his groin, and her head into his ruined nose.

This time he screamed. Not just in pain, but also in fear, and she sensed him weakening under the ferocity of her assault. Blood was pouring from his nose and he looked dazed, and still unable to see properly.

But he still had a gun, and as he brought it up to aim it at her she grabbed desperately for the barrel, managed to get a grip on the suppressor, ignoring the stinging heat pulsing out of it, and yanked with all the strength she had.

The gun came free and flew across the room, clattering into the corner without discharging, and Tina pressed her advantage, kicking, punching and butting her adversary in a bid to beat him into submission. But he was a big man, probably twice her weight, and though she’d hurt him, he wasn’t finished yet. With an angry roar, he literally lifted her up and threw her off him, and as she tried to right her footing, he backhanded her across the side of the head and sent her crashing to the floor. He aimed a kick at her head but she’d already brought her arms up to protect her face and they deflected much of the force of the blow.

She wrapped herself into a ball as he kicked her a second time, shrieking out an angry curse, his breathing coming in ruined gasps. Now she was hurt too, but as long as she kept her position and he kept aimlessly kicking her, she’d be all right.

Except he didn’t keep kicking her. Instead, he stamped hard on her arms as they protected her head, and then she heard him loping and stumbling across the room in the direction of the gun.

She had to get up. To keep fighting. If she gave up now, he’d put a bullet in her while she lay there. Then do the same to the kids.

Rolling over, she jumped to her feet and was immediately assailed by an intense dizziness. Her vision darkened and blurred, and she almost fell back down again, but she held herself together, and as it cleared she saw him bending over to pick up the gun, his back to her. His movements were slow and clumsy, but he could afford that, now that he almost had hold of it.

Tina saw the lead piping on the floor. Operating entirely on instinct and adrenalin, she grabbed it and ran at her adversary, lifting the weapon above her head.

He could hear her coming, and he straightened with the gun in his hand, already turning towards her.

But it was too late. She brought the lead piping down with a roar of her own, driving it into his temple with all the force she could muster.

He went down heavily, making no sound at all, and Tina fell over him, putting a hand out to stop herself colliding with the wall, before landing on her side on the carpet, noticing with a bloody exhaustion that the room had suddenly fallen utterly silent.

For a good ten seconds she didn’t move as she fought to get her breath back. Then slowly, in great pain, she got to her feet, feeling in her pocket for her phone.