JК
Ыоуве Been Warned :: Patterson James
Страница: 129 из 138We had agreed to leave the baby at a hospital after it was born. But the baby, the little boy died. Right here at the Fálcon. Can you imagine what that was like? I let my baby die, Michael! I saw my baby die, my little boy.”
Now it’s Michael’s turn to look and wonder if he knows who I am. It’s a dilemma I’ve been facing myself, for three years.
“We have to go,” he says.
I stare back into his eyes, if only because I can’t bear to look anywhere else in the room. Not at blown-away Stephen, not at Penley -definitely not at Penley.
He really did it. He killed her.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he says as we head for the door. “We’re done here.”
But not by my count. Not even close.
All along I’ve been seeing four gurneys. Stephen and Penley only make two. Two dead. So we’re not quite done here, are we?
“Wait,” I say, stopping. “What was that noise?”
Make that one dead.
Chapter 104
“SURPRISE, YOU BASTARD!”
I spin around to see a knife plunging into Michael’s neck. Once, twice, Penley stabs him before he even knows what’s happened.
Payback, that’s what.
Michael grabs for his throat with both hands as a red river gushes down past his collar, soaking his shirt in an instant. His mouth opens, but the only sound I hear is the gurgling of his blood.
She keeps stabbing him. Three, four times. This isn’t Penley; it’s a killer possessed. Again and again, the silver of the blade disappears into Michael’s flesh – the neck, the chest, the shoulders – he can barely lift a hand to try and stop her.
And she’s not about to stop on her own.
I lunge at Penley, desperately reaching for her pumping arm. She’s so much smaller than me -she’s been shot, for Christ’s sake! – and still she pushes me away as if I’m nothing. Of course, that’s what I’ve always been to her.
Am I next? I wonder.
I turn and see Stephen’s bloody and bare-assed body sprawled on the carpet. My eyes move from his shattered head down to his arm, until I arrive at his outstretched hand.
The gun!
I’m scrambling now, making this up as I go along. Just trying to survive is all it is. I’m half running, half crawling, anything to get me to that gun.
Behind me, Michael’s body crashes to the floor with a resounding thud! He’s wheezing and gasping for air, and I realize that I still love him, and that he’s dying.
As my fingers stretch for the gun, I hear Penley’s voice over my shoulder.
Now it’s Michael’s turn to look and wonder if he knows who I am. It’s a dilemma I’ve been facing myself, for three years.
“We have to go,” he says.
I stare back into his eyes, if only because I can’t bear to look anywhere else in the room. Not at blown-away Stephen, not at Penley -definitely not at Penley.
He really did it. He killed her.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he says as we head for the door. “We’re done here.”
But not by my count. Not even close.
All along I’ve been seeing four gurneys. Stephen and Penley only make two. Two dead. So we’re not quite done here, are we?
“Wait,” I say, stopping. “What was that noise?”
Make that one dead.
Chapter 104
“SURPRISE, YOU BASTARD!”
I spin around to see a knife plunging into Michael’s neck. Once, twice, Penley stabs him before he even knows what’s happened.
Payback, that’s what.
Michael grabs for his throat with both hands as a red river gushes down past his collar, soaking his shirt in an instant. His mouth opens, but the only sound I hear is the gurgling of his blood.
She keeps stabbing him. Three, four times. This isn’t Penley; it’s a killer possessed. Again and again, the silver of the blade disappears into Michael’s flesh – the neck, the chest, the shoulders – he can barely lift a hand to try and stop her.
And she’s not about to stop on her own.
I lunge at Penley, desperately reaching for her pumping arm. She’s so much smaller than me -she’s been shot, for Christ’s sake! – and still she pushes me away as if I’m nothing. Of course, that’s what I’ve always been to her.
Am I next? I wonder.
I turn and see Stephen’s bloody and bare-assed body sprawled on the carpet. My eyes move from his shattered head down to his arm, until I arrive at his outstretched hand.
The gun!
I’m scrambling now, making this up as I go along. Just trying to survive is all it is. I’m half running, half crawling, anything to get me to that gun.
Behind me, Michael’s body crashes to the floor with a resounding thud! He’s wheezing and gasping for air, and I realize that I still love him, and that he’s dying.
As my fingers stretch for the gun, I hear Penley’s voice over my shoulder.