Blood On the Wall (16 page)

And he reached down with his free hand and dug his fingers into the sides of Georgiou’s mouth, prising his teeth apart, while at the same time upending the whisky bottle over Georgiou’s blood-filled mouth. Georgiou resisted, trying to block the whisky with his tongue, but it was no good, Willis was too strong, his powerful grip slowly forcing Georgiou’s mouth open wider …

The sound of glass shattering suddenly filled the kitchen, and the pressure on Georgiou’s face was released as Willis
fell back … and kept falling.

Then there was an even bigger sound of glass shattering, and Georgiou was suddenly aware that his window had been smashed in, and the barrel of a rifle was poking through the tatters of glass hanging from the frame.

Willis lay on the floor next to Georgiou, his face creased in pain, blood spreading out from a wound in his shoulder.

Then the kitchen was full of people. Men in black wearing body armour and armed with automatic rifles. And Debby Seward. She was the first to get to him, while the armed men were forcing the wounded Willis to lie face down with his hands and legs spread-eagled.

‘It’s OK!’ said Seward.

She had half lifted Georgiou and was cutting at the electrical wire that tied his wrists with a pair of wire cutters.

‘He said you were in the van,’ said Georgiou. ‘Unconscious.’

‘Lucky for me I’ve got a strong constitution,’ said Seward grimly. ‘I came round quicker than our friend here allowed for. The trouble was he had me tied up like the others, so I couldn’t get free.’

‘Then how…?’ asked Georgiou.

‘I managed to get my hands on my mobile phone and texted Mac Tennyson. He arranged for the Armed Response Unit. While one lot were getting me out of the van, the rest were staking out your house, getting ready to bust in. When they saw Willis hit you they realized they had to act quickly.’

‘I’m glad they did otherwise it would have been a stomach
pump job.’

Seward had finished cutting the wires that bound him, and Georgiou struggled to his feet. His head still ached. First the blow on the back of the head, then the hard punch in the face. And on top of being knocked unconscious just a few days before. His head was taking a lot of punishment lately.

He became aware of Tennyson joining them, his face a picture of worry.

‘You OK, guv?’ he asked.

‘As well as can be expected, considering the circumstances,’ said Georgiou.

Willis had been hauled to his feet and handcuffed.

‘Watch that wound,’ said Georgiou. ‘We want him alive for trial.’

‘Unfortunately,’ said Tennyson sourly. ‘OK, lads, get him in the ambulance.’

‘An ambulance as well,’ commented Georgiou.

‘We guessed there might be a casualty,’ said Tennyson. ‘I’m just glad it’s not you.’ Then he looked closer at Georgiou, at the blood around his nose and mouth.

‘Shall I get one of the paramedics to look at that?’

Georgiou shook his head.

‘Cotton wool, a couple of aspirin, and a night’s rest should do the trick,’ he said.

‘But doesn’t it hurt?’

‘Yes. If you must know, it hurts like hell. And I’m sure it’ll still hurt tomorrow. But what will make it feel better is knowing we’ve got chummy safe and sound under lock and key.’

Tennyson nodded, and gestured towards Willis, who was being hustled out of the room. ‘I’ll just go and do the formal stuff, read him his rights, and I’ll be back in a minute.’

Then Tennyson was gone.

‘We’ll put some plastic over the window, sir,’ said one of the ARU. ‘It’ll keep out the draught tonight.’

‘That’s fine. Thanks,’ said Georgiou.

He still felt groggy. He sat down and felt his nose. It seemed to be swelling up. Aspirin, cotton wool and rest; that’s what he’d told Tennyson he needed. The truth was he just wanted shot of them all so he could collapse and suffer in the privacy of his own home.

Seward sat down near him and looked at him anxiously. She gulped, and then said:

‘Look, I’m not sure you should be on your own tonight. Not after what’s happened.’

‘I’ll be OK,’ said Georgiou. ‘You’re the one who needs looking after.’

‘I wasn’t hit over the head.
Again
.’

‘You still don’t know if the tranquilizer has a knock-on effect,’ pointed out Georgiou. ‘If you ask me, you’re the one who needs treatment.’

‘Maybe I just need some rest,’ she said. ‘After all, we’ve caught the killer. Case closed.’

‘Yes,’ said Georgiou.

There was a pause between them. A difficult one. Both could feel it. Georgiou looked at Seward, at the expression on her face, the concern for him writ large, and he wanted to hold her, take her in his arms and say, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.’ But he knew that if he did it wouldn’t stop there.
Not for him. Not tonight, not after all that had happened. Thinking that she was going to be savagely killed by Willis. Thinking of her as he sat tied to that chair, desperate to save her, but unable to move.

He looked at her, her eyes scanning his face, her hands clenching and unclenching with some sort of inner tension. Say it is just sympathy, like before, he thought, and I say something … make the wrong move. She’s my sergeant, for God’s sake! And a really good one. She would be in her rights to demand a transfer. And what would that do to me? To the squad?

Seward was the first one to break the difficult silence between them.

‘Look,’ she said, and even as she spoke she knew she sounded awkward and clumsy, but she had to say it. ‘The way you are, the way I am …’

Before she could continue, Tennyson had returned and joined them.

‘All done and dusted,’ he said. ‘He’s been formally charged and the ARU are taking him to the infirmary to get the wound seen to. I’ve told them to keep an armed guard on him at all times.’

‘Good,’ said Georgiou.

Tennyson looked around the room.

‘You’ll need to get that window fixed,’ he said, indicating the remains of the glass.

‘I’ll sort it out tomorrow,’ said Georgiou.

‘Right.’ Tennyson nodded. Then he turned to Seward and said: ‘I suppose you’ll be wanting a lift back to Carlisle?’

Seward hesitated, shot a look at Georgiou, her eyes
making a silent appeal. But either Georgiou didn’t see it, or he ignored it, because, after what Seward thought was the briefest of hesitations, he nodded and said: ‘She will indeed, Mac. Thanks.’

Seward hesitated again, then nodded. But this time her eyes weren’t on Georgiou. The fire had gone out of them. She stood up.

‘Get some rest,’ she said.

‘And you,’ he said. ‘And if you don’t feel OK in the morning—’

She cut him off with a shake of her head.

‘I’ll be in tomorrow,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry about me.’

Then she walked out.

‘See you tomorrow, guv,’ said Tennyson. He grinned. ‘A big score to us, eh!’

‘Yes,’ echoed Georgiou. ‘A big score to us.’