Coming Home (25 page)

"No. She's ruined
me, she has to pay." He lifted the knife and held it at the side of
Rooney's throat.

Stevie took the gun
from the halter at his hip and lifted it. "I will use this if I have to.
Put the knife down, now." He spread his legs and took a quick look at
Rooney, then back to Stubbs.

"Back off, cop, or
she gets her throat cut." Mr Stubbs walked backward with his arm still
around her throat and she gasped for air.

Help me please, Stevie.
Don't let him kill me
.
There is too much for us to
discover, a child to raise and maybe more to come.
She begged him with her eyes,
but he kept his gaze firmly on her captor.

A sound at the back
door made her ears
prick up. There was someone out there
too. Covering all bases, they wouldn't let him take her out of here.

"You may as well
throw the knife down and give up. The place is surrounded." Stevie held
the gun pointed straight at them, his hand steady, gaze hard.

"If you don't back
off, I'll slice her now." To show he meant it, the knife moved closer, the
pressure of the sharp blade cutting the skin.

Rooney gasped as the
cut stung, her breathing rising as panic set in.

He was careful to keep
himself behind her and his back to the wall, not giving the police a clear shot
at him. "Tell them to back off and come around front where I can see them
or I'll cut her deeper. The next time might be harder." He waited five
seconds and ran the knife over the side of her throat.

"Dennis, stand
down and come around the front, now!" Stevie held his stance, his glare
reserved for Stubbs alone.

Rooney closed her eyes.
He was going to get away with it, taking her away and hurting her in return for
what she did to him. There was so much more she wanted to do. She wanted to
watch Tam grow up into a young woman and fall in love. She wanted to give
Stevie a chance to change her mind and sweep her off her feet. Now her future
was disappearing in front of her eyes. All she had worked for was going to be
swept away with the stroke of a blade at her throat. That was if he didn't make
her suffer before he got that far.

She opened her eyes and
tried to read something, anything, on Stevie's face, but he was intent on Mr
Stubbs. Dennis walked in behind him, holding his hands up to show he had put
his weapon down.

"Don't even think
of following us or she's dead."

Tears ran down her face
as Stubbs dragged her out through the back of the surgery. He held her in front
of him and dragged her backwards until they reached his car. Mr Stubbs took his
hand off her arm and reached for the handle, pulling the door open. Rooney
looked toward the front door and saw Dennis standing inside watching, his hands
down at his side.

A crunch of footsteps
sounded on stone and the blade dug into Rooney's throat, slicing deeper as a
scream rose in her throat. A shot rang out and she fell to the ground, the
warmth of blood covering her face and running down her throat.

The last thing she
heard was Stevie calling for an ambulance.

"I guess that was
money well spent then," Russ cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear,
listening to Tory give the report regarding his soon to be ex-wife Paula.
"I can't wait to call and tell her what I know."

"Would you rather
I did it through her solicitor, might carry a bit more weight that way."

"Makes me seem a
bit weak doesn't it? But I guess you're right."

"I'll send a
follow up letter to her and her solicitor as well. I'm sorry about this, Russ.
I thought everything would go through without any hassles."

"Wasn't your
problem Tory. It was my fault for using someone I didn't know. Thanks
again." Russ hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair. It was only a
matter of time before Paula came back into the hospital to see him. So far he
had avoided her phone calls and invitations to dinner to 'discuss' their future
as she saw it.

His pager beeped and he
frowned looking at it. With reflexes a quarterback would be proud of, he bolted
from his office and ran down the hallway to the emergency room as the ambulance
pulled in. Lizzie was already there, directing staff as the door burst open and
Stevie rushed in, blood over his hands and on his shirt followed by the
ambulance attendants pushing the stretcher.

"It's Rooney.
Looks terrible but the ambo's say it’s superficial. They think she collapsed
from shock."

Russ hurried to her
side, letting the nurses do their job while taking her vitals and making sure
for himself she wasn't in any danger. When he saw everything was under control,
he grabbed Stevie and took him to one side. "What happened?"

Stevie shook his head,
his hands on his hips. "We got a call from Rhian, screaming that Stubbs
was at the surgery with a knife. Rooney had pushed her out the back door when
they saw him approaching. He got her, Russ. When we arrived he was standing
with the knife at her throat and taking his time slicing her bit by bit until
we backed off, giving him a chance to escape. Christ, he could have killed
her." He dropped his head, a look of defeat crossing over his eyes.

"Tell me the
rest." Russ folded his arms and waited for Stevie to get himself together.

"I had no choice.
I shot him when he dragged her out to make his getaway. He'd cut her twice by
them and, shit, it's my own damned fault. He heard me creeping up behind him
and cut her again."

"You couldn't have
tasered him earlier? I thought that’s what you did these days."

"Are you accusing
me of not following regulations, Russ?" Stevie lifted his head and glared.

"Not at all. I
just don't understand why you went in with your gun if there was another
way."

"There wasn't. He
was holding her too close and in cases like this, it’s up to the officer’s
discretion. Stubbs was ready to kill her, make no bones about that. I'll face a
committee about this, without doubt but I have no qualms about killing the man
who was going to kill my future wife."

"Sure of yourself,
aren't you?" Russ walked over to the bed and glanced down at his sister,
who was starting to come too.

She waved her hands in
the air and screamed, a sound that ripped straight to his gut.

Stevie was beside her
in seconds, wrapping his arms around her as she sobbed.

Russ pulled the curtain
blocking out the staff and other patients. Lizzie stepped away and tried to
walk out too. "I need your help, if you don't mind, Nurse Stanley."

She nodded her head and
stood at the end of the bed waiting for direction. Russ gave them another
couple of minutes before tapping Stevie on the shoulder. "We need to sort
this out." He took his sister’s hand. "Honey, it's okay, you’re safe
and not in any danger. I need to check out your throat. Okay?"

He watched the tears running
down her cheeks and the way she gripped onto Stevie as she nodded. "He…he
tried to…kill me…Russ." Her lips quivered as she tried to get the words
out.

"I know, babe, but
he can't hurt you anymore. Now, let's get you sorted out." Russ reached
for the trolley and Lizzie pushed it forward. She tore open a sterilizing pack
while he pulled on gloves and looked at the cuts on Rooney's throat. With
gentle fingers he probed and inspected the knife wounds.

Russ asked for a suture
kit while he cleaned blood from her throat exposing the slashes along one that
ran from just below her ear to her collar bone.

Stevie looked up and
questioned him with his eyes.

"It was pretty
close but I think we can glue the two smaller ones together. Unfortunately I
have to stitch the bigger one, Rooney. Can I have some local please,
Nurse?"

Rooney watched his face
while he cleaned the wounds, wincing when it got too painful for her.
"Sorry, but you know better than most we need to do this first." He
threw the swabs onto the trolley and waited for Lizzie to return with the local
anaesthetic.

"Is that
her?" She looked at Russ.

"Yes."

"She's very pretty
but she looks sad."

The curtain opened and
Lizzie walked back in with a small glass bottle and handed it to Russ. He checked
it and took a syringe, filling it before turning back to Rooney. "Going to
sting for a bit. Hold her hand, Stevie."

He leant over his
sister and injected the anaesthetic along the biggest cut, apologising when she
cursed at him. "Sorry. If you only needed one stitch I wouldn't bother but
you need quite a few. If you don't want a scar, stitching is the best
way."

"I know, just
being silly. Take no notice of me." She wiped a tear from the corner of
her eye before it fell.

"Rooney, I don't
have to tell you about shock. You might want to think about staying in
overnight."

"No, I have Tam to
think about. She would be worried if I didn't come home." She glanced at
Stevie. "I've never hidden anything from her and I don't want to start
now. We don't have to tell her everything, not all the details."

"I can stay with
Rooney if that will make you feel any easier, Russ." Stevie looked up at
him, his look daring Russ to object.

"That would ease
my mind. I might not be back til late tonight and it would be better if there
was someone close to you for a while—just in case." He picked up the
syringe again and poked at the area around the biggest cut. "Can you feel
that?"

"No." She
shook her head.

"Great, let's get
started then. Sutures please, Nurse."

When he was finished,
Russ took off his blood-stained gloves and threw them in the waste. He reached
up and took a fresh pair from the box on the wall and took a small tube of glue
from the trolley. "This won't hurt a bit. Can you give me a hand here
please, Nurse?" He waited for Lizzie to help hold the skin together before
he glued the two smaller cuts together.

"There you are.
They will heal nicely. Don't worry about the glue, it will come away with the
scar. Any questions, either of you?" He stood, threw away the gloves and
put his hands in the pockets of his white coat.

"No. Can I go home
now?" Rooney tried to sit up but Stevie placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Sure, I need to
see to some paperwork, so if you wouldn't mind hanging back here for a few
minutes, Nurse Stanley can get you a cup of tea. I want to make sure you don't
pass out when you stand up." He smiled at her and nodded to Lizzie.
"If you could see to that, I'll do the paperwork." Russ brushed the
curtain aside and walked out.

He remained calm until
he reached his office. Slamming the door, he groaned. His own sister. That
hurt, seeing her brought in because some crazed bastard had attacked her with a
knife. Russ paced his office trying to get his temper down to simmering point.
If the police hadn't killed the guy already, he would do it. No one threatened
his family like that.

For a minute he was
taken back. Him, Russ the peacemaker thinking of hurting someone. What was
happening to him? Violence had never been his thing. Even when he was angry, he
was the one who soothed everyone else. No wonder his ex-wife had walked all
over him. It was time for him to stand up and tell her what he thought.

Tory could contact her
solicitor, at least it would be more professional that way but he was going to
visit her on the way home and tell her some home truths. Some he should have
told her years ago.

Once he was calm
enough, Russ walked back to emergency and took the paperwork waiting on the
counter. He sat down and filled in his sister’s chart, happy now he’d made up
his mind. Then he went in to see how she was doing.

Lizzie had raised the
head of the bed and propped a couple of pillows behind her head. Rooney sat up,
drinking a cup of tea. Her face was still pale and her blue eyes looked huge in
her face, but she would be alright. Stevie would keep her safe from the
nightmares that would no doubt plague her sleep when she closed her eyes
tonight and probably for weeks to come.

"How are you
feeling?" He stood at the end of the bed and gave her a professional once over.

"A bit weird
actually. Not sure how I'm going to go, but I think I will definitely be better
at home."

"Don't go in
tomorrow, Rooney, and that’s my medical opinion, not my personal one. If you
were asking me as your brother, I would tell you to shut the place down and not
go back at all."

"She won't be able
to anyway. The place is locked off."

"I have a patient
in there. I was going to operate this afternoon." She looked dismayed.

"What is it and
who does it belong to? I'll get one of the boys to take it home."

"The Bells, they
live in Lorn. You know the older couple who used to own the bakery?"

"Yeah, not a
worry. I'll get them to reschedule or go elsewhere." He stood and took her
cup. "Ready?"