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“I’m
going to hide you in the woods.
Take my mobi
le phone and call the police.
Try to h
old on, it’ll all be over soon.
I’ve got to go and stop him.”

He gently placed me on the ground in the dark woods, hidden by a large t
ree trunk and a sprawling bush.
He handed me a mobile phone, then he kissed me and fled into the dark night.

I rang the police, holding my breath as I watched Marty approach Sam, his palms held
upright to show he was unarmed.
Sam held
the gun aimed at Marty’s head.
Even knowing bullets wouldn’t hurt him, I found the image abhorrent. I whispered my location and explained the situation, as briefly a
s I could, to the call handler.
She sounded horrified and immediately reassured me
that assistance was on the way.
She tried to keep me talking, but I fell silent, unable to concentrate on anything bu
t the scene in front of me.

“Tell me where the girl is!” Sam was yelling, his voice distorted with rage.

“No.”

“I’ll shoot you.
I mean it.”

“Go ahead.” Marty sounded cool, composed.

“I’m not bluffing.”

“Neither am I.”

“You don’t want to get involved with this.”

“I already am.”

“Big mistake. Where is she?”
Sam fire
d a warning shot into the air.
Marty didn’t flinch.

“I am not telling you.”

Sam aimed the
gun at Marty’s head and fired.
Marty ducked at the last millisecond and the bull
et missed him.
I let out a silent exhale of relief, realis
ing I’d been holding my breath.
I reminded myself that bullets couldn’t hurt
Marty and tried to stay calm.
The pain in my side had lessened and I guessed that the adrenaline coursing through my body was numbing the pain.

“Last chance. Tell me where she is.”

“Never.”

I could hear sirens in the distan
ce and willed them to hurry up.
Sam aimed the gun at Marty again, this tim
e focusing lower, at his chest.
He pulled the trigger and Marty moved swiftly to the s
ide, dodging the bullet again.

“She’
s not worth getting killed for.
Tell me where she is.”

“The police are on their way.
If you’re going to kill me, you’d better hurry up and do it.” I could hear the smile in Marty’s voice.

“Fine.” Sam pu
lled the trigger again.
Marty leapt forward, avoiding the bullet
and knocking Sam off his feet.
The gun flew out of Sam’s han
d and landed several feet away.
Marty pushed Sam face down on the ground and pinned his arms behind his back, rendering him immo
bile.
Flashing lights stormed down the footpaths o
f the park, heading towards us.
Marty raised one arm to wave t
he police over to where he was.
Sam took the opportunity to try to struggle fre
e, managing to release one arm.
He reached into his pocket before Mart
y had a chance to restrain him.
He produced a knife, waving it
wildly, trying to slash Marty.
I saw the knife make contact with Marty’s arm, before Marty’s large hands
pushed Sam back under control.
The police cars pulled up and officers raced
over to Marty and Sam.
As soon as they had Sam under control, Marty ran over to me,
bringing two officers with him.
The relief was immense.

“She was caught by one of his bullets, I haven’t h
ad a chance to examine her yet.
We need to take her to hospital
as soon as possible. Claudia, are you OK?”
He was kneeling down next to me, stroking my face.

“I feel
like I’ve been shot.
Did he get you with the knife?”

“It’s just a scratch.
Claudia, I’m going to have to rip your dress open to examine your wound, I
’ll be as gentle as I can.
We’re going to take you to hospital as soon as I
’m sure it’s safe to move you.”
He looked at one of the officers. “Shine your torch over the right side of her waist.”

The policeman aimed a beam of light over the part of my dress that
was stained red with my blood.
I immediately felt squeamish.

“Look away, sweetheart.”

I did as I was to
ld and heard the rip of fabric.
I felt a gentle prodding which prod
uced a pain that made me wince.
Marty took a sharp intake of breath.

“Sorry,
baby, I know it hurts.
I’m trying to be gentle.”

“It’s OK.”

“Tell the hospital that I think the bullet has grazed her, but I’d like them t
o X-ray the wound just in case.
She’ll need some pain
medication as soon as possible.
Shine the light at her face,
please.”

I blinked as th
e light temporarily blinded me.
“He slapped me.”

“Monster.
I can see the mark, it must have been painful.”

“Nothing compared to being shot.”

“Does anything else hurt? Tell me where to look.”

“My wrists are sore.”

The officer shone the light over my wrists an
d Marty gently felt the bones.
I glanced over to where I’d last seen Sam a
nd saw a commotion of activity.
Several police officers were restraining Sam, whils
t others were locating the gun.
I saw another set of flashing lights arrive.

“There are no breaks, but I believe that the right wrist has a bad sprain.”

“The ambulance is here, Dr Glean,” a gruff policeman called over.

“Claudia, I’m going to carry you to the ambulance, OK?”

“OK.
Marty?”

“Yes?”

“You owe me a new dress.

He laughed gently.
“You’re going to be just fine, aren’t you?”

Marty placed one arm under my shoulder blades and the other under my knees, and with great care picked me up a
nd carried me out of the woods.
As we passed by one of the police cars, I could
hear Sam yelling from inside.
I rested my head against Marty’s chest, trying to ignore Sam’s tirade.

“Claudia, I’m going
to get you, you fucking bitch!
You’ll go to hell, just like your parents.”

Marty whisper
ed in my ear, “You’re safe now.
I won’t let him near you.”

“Don’t leave me.”

“I couldn’t.”

Paramedics raced to help Marty, bringing a stretcher, but he dismissed their assistance and carried
me into the ambulance himself.
He explained to them the injuries he thought I’d suffered and we began our s
hort journey to the hospital.
In the light of the ambulance, I searched his arms for evidence of the injury I saw Sam in
flict on him, but saw nothing.

“Marty, I’ve never been to hospital before.”

“Are you scared?”

“I just don’t know what to expect.”

“Don’t worry, I’m an expert, you’ll be well taken care of.”

The hospital staff were prepared for our arrival and I was rushed in for all sorts of
tests that I didn’t understand.
Marty stayed with me, explaining all the medical jargon and what the tests would
involve.
His examination in the woods was proved accurate and after my injuries were treated, I was moved to a private room
and interviewed by detectives.
I hated talking about the details of m
y evening with Marty listening.
I felt like I’d betrayed him by enterin
g into a relationship with Sam.
It can’t have been easy for him to listen to, eit
her, but he stayed by my side.

Finally, the detectives l
eft and Marty and I were alone.
He sat next to me on the narrow hospital bed, his arm around my shoulde
r and pressed me close to him.
I rested my head against his chest.

“Get some sleep, Claudia.
I won’t go anywhere.”

Chapter 37

He was still with me, in the same position, w
hen I woke up the next morning.
He checked my wounds himself, impressed with how w
ell they were healing already.

“Are you in any pain, Claudia?”

“No, I’m not.
I guess they gave me plenty of painkillers last night.”

“Hmmm.”

“Don’t make doctor noises at me, Marty, say what you’re thinking.”

“I’m worried you’re being brave for my s
ake.
I promised you that I wo
uld not allow you to be harmed.
I failed.”

“You saved my life.”

I could see he was about to reply, w
hen a doctor entered the room.

“Miss
Lee, how are you feeling today?
A little sore?”

“Not at all, I feel fine.
When can I go home?”

The doctor examined my
wounds, just as Marty had done.
He raised his eyebrows whe
n he saw the wound on my waist.
“Seems that one wasn’t anywhere near as bad as we thought, i
t might not even leave a scar.
We’d like to keep you in for observati
on, for a little bit longer.
By the way, there were some strange result
s on a few of your blood tests.
We think that the sam
ple may have been contaminated.
Do you mind if I take another vial from you?”

Marty discreetly walked behind the doctor and examined t
he chart at the end of my bed.
I held my arm out for the doctor to take the blood sample, watching Ma
rty’s reaction to what he read.
His eyes grew wider at fi
rst and then narrowed slightly.
The tiniest hint of a c
rease appeared on his forehead.
He shook hi
s head and returned the chart.

“There. All done.
Are you sure you do
n’t need any more pain relief?”
The doctor held some
cotton wool to my inner elbow.

“No, I’m fine.
Thank you, Doctor.”

He left and I stared at Marty. He avoided my gaze.

“What are you hiding from me?
What did the chart say?”

“Nothing. You’re fine.
You’re going to be right as rain in no time at all.”

“Marty.
I know there’s something – I saw it in your face.”

“I need to sit down.
And there’s nothing to worry about – it’s probably like h
e said, a contaminated sample.”
Mar
ty looked paler as he sat down. “Claudia, I’m being summoned.
I’ll be back soon.”

I felt myself growing dizzy, at first thinking it was panic at him leaving me, and then realising that I, too, was be
ing summoned.
“It’s OK, I’m coming with you.”

We raced up to the clouds, Marty holding my hand to guid
e me.

“Why are we being summoned?
Will they make you leave me?”

“I don’t know, I honestly don’t know.”

“I can’t be without you.”

“I know, I just got
you back.
I never want to let you go again.”

We arrived in the clouds, greeted by all of the Dominion. I feared for the worst, thinking they were going to enforce ano
ther separation on Marty and I.
Their faces didn’t look grim, as they had the first time I’d met them, but they looked at us with a mi
xture of happiness and concern.
Olivia spoke first:

“Marty, Claudia.
We are so pleased t
o see you both, alive and well.
We don’t wish to alarm you, we will not be asking you to separate again.”

I immediately felt lighter, ecstatic that he would be allowed to remain with me.