The Birthday Girl (46 page)

'That's the track where we turn off,' Freeman said.

'I see it.' In fact she'd already seen it but hadn't let on. She indicated and waited for a mini-van full of skiers to drive by before turning on to the track. Mersiha reached over and put her hand on her father's shoulder. He patted her hand. Jenny was suddenly jealous. It was a father-daughter relationship the like of which she'd never experienced. Total trust and understanding, not after-dark fumblings and threats.

'Wait!' Freeman said sharply.

Jenny slammed on the brakes. 'What? What's the matter?'

'Look,' he said.

Jenny looked. There were two vehicles parked in front of the cabin. Bzuchar's Jeep Cherokee and a white Lincoln Continental. 'What's wrong?' she asked, even though she knew what he was thinking. She turned off the engine.

Freeman turned around in his seat and looked at Mersiha. 'We have to go to the police,' he said. Mersiha nodded silently.

I 384 STEPHEN LEATHER 'Why? What's happened?' Jenny asked.

'I can't tell you,' he said. 'Please, just do as I say.'

Jenny shrugged. She turned the key, but not all the way. She cursed, and tried again. 'God, that's twice it's happened today. There's a loose connection to the battery or something. My husband was going to get it fixed but...'

'Come on, come on,' Freeman said urgently.

'I'll have to open the hood,' she said. 'Can you look at it for me?'

Freeman swallowed nervously. Jenny made a show of trying again. Nothing. She smiled brightly. 'It's easy to fix, really. It took my husband less than a minute.'

'Dad ...' Mersiha said apprehensively. 'Let's go.'

'It's better we drive than walk, pumpkin,' he said, climbing out of the Jeep.

He pulled the hood open and peered inside. 'Why don't you help your dad?' Jenny suggested.

Mersiha nodded and clambered out to join her father. 'Stay in the car. We're not hanging around here,' he said.

'But she said ...'

'I don't care what she said. Do as I say.'

They looked up as they heard the sound of a bullet being chambered. Jenny stood at the side of the Jeep, the submachine pistol in her hands. Freeman looked as if he was going to run and Jenny pointed the Ingram at him. 'I think you'd both better do as I say, don't you?' Without being asked, Freeman and Mersiha raised their hands. Jenny smiled. 'There's no need for that. I don't think you're going to give me a hard time, not when I've got firepower like this.' She gestured with the gun for them to walk to the cabin. Freeman and Mersiha lowered their arms and walked together down the track. He put his arm around her shoulders. It was a touching scene, Jenny thought. But not touching enough for her to spare their lives.

Freeman's shoulders slumped as if he'd given up all hope, but Jenny wasn't fooled - she could see that he was heading for the pile of cut wood and that his hand was swinging a little to the side. 'Freeman, if you even try to reach for that axe, I'll shoot your daughter,' she said. Freeman instantly pulled his hand back THE BIRTHDAY GIRL 385 as if he'd been stung. Jenny kept her distance as she shepherded them between the two vehicles and up on to the deck. 'Open the door,' she told Mersiha.

Katherine Freeman dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, but the man on the sofa was unmoved. 'You can't kill them,' she said.

'I can do whatever I want,' Utsyev said. 'I'm the one with the gun, remember?'

'She's just a girl. A sixteen-year-old girl.'

'She killed my brother. She blew his face away.'

'She must have had a reason.'

Utsyev chuckled. It sounded like the rustling of long-dead leaves. 'And that makes a difference, does it?'

| Katherine sniffed. She blew her nose loudly. 'How do you know it was her?'

'She used your husband's gun. And my men saw her going into my brother's office.'

Katherine shook her head. She began to cry again. 'Please don't hurt her. She's only a child.' Utsyev said nothing.

They heard steps on the deck outside. Katherine started to get to her feet but Utsyev held a finger to his lips and pointed die gun at her head. Katherine twisted around on the sofa. The door _ | opened. It was Mersiha. Behind her was Tony, his hand on her I shoulder. Katherine jumped up, shouting for all she was worth.

'Run, Tony! Run! He's going to kill you!' The door continued to open, revealing a tall blonde woman holding a large gun.

Utsyev threw back his head and laughed. Freeman and Mersiha stepped into the middle of the room and the woman Iclosed the door behind them. Katherine hugged her husband and then pulled Mersiha to her. 'Are you all right?' she said. 'What are you doing here?' Freeman said. 'I came to warn you,' she answered. Freeman shook his head, sadly.

'Who's she?' Jenny asked Utsyev.

'The wife,' he said.

'The wife?' she repeated. She tossed back her hair. 'That means we can kill three birds with one stone.'

Freeman stood in front of Katherine and Mersiha and stared at Utsyev. The man looked ill. His skin was deathly pale and his eyes seemed rimmed in black as if he hadn't slept for a long time. He had his back to a window and the light behind his close-cropped grey hair formed a halo around his skull. Freeman instinctively knew that there was no way he could talk the man out of what he intended to do. He was a stone-cold killer, with eyes that held no human warmth at all. There was no point in pleading for their lives. As if reading his mind, Utsyev aimed the gun at Freeman's stomach. 'You won't get away with it,' Freeman said.

'We'll see,' Utsyev countered.

'Let me do it, Bzuchar,' Jenny said eagerly.

'Quiet.' He narrowed his eyes at Freeman. 'Suppose someone killed your daughter? Wouldn't you want revenge?'

Freeman looked him straight in the eyes. 'I'd want justice. Not revenge.'

'How very fucking civilised of you ...'

'He was going to rape me!' Mersiha blurted out.

Utsyev looked at Katherine. 'See - she doesn't even deny it.'

'If your brother was trying to hurt her, of course she'd defend herself.'

'She went there with a gun!' Utsyev screamed. 'She went to see my brother with a fucking gun and she shot him dead.' He was waving his gun around and Freeman could see that he was close to firing it. Katherine moved to stand by her husband. 'Don't hurt her,' she pleaded. 'If it's revenge you want, then kill me. Kill me!'

'Katherine, no!' Mersiha shouted. 'Don't beg. Please don't beg. It won't work.'

Utsyev was breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he glared THE BIRTHDAY GIRL 387 at them. He aimed the gun at Katherine, then swung his arm sideways. 'I'm going to shoot the little bitch first.' He squeezed the trigger, but before he could fire Freeman moved in front of his daughter.

'No!' he said. 'You can't.'

Jenny stepped forward and slammed the butt of her gun against Freeman's temple, knocking him to the ground. 'We can do what the fuck we want,' she said. She turned to Utsyev. 'Let me, Bzuchar. Let me kill him.'

'You always had a thing about father figures,' Utsyev said evilly. He grinned and waved his gun at Freeman. 'Go ahead.'

Jenny brought her gun to bear on Freeman as he knelt on the floor, holding his hands to his bleeding temple. Katherine screamed and threw herself at Jenny, grabbing hold of the weapon and kneeing her in the stomach. The air burst from Jenny's throat and she doubled over. Bullets sprayed across the wall over the fireplace, shattering a mirror and screeching off the light-fittings. Katherine and Jenny fell on to the sofa, still fighting over the gun. It fired again and the television exploded.

Freeman staggered to his feet and headed unsteadily towards them. 'Katherine!' he shouted.

Utsyev fired his silenced gun and Freeman felt his right hand explode. He held it up to his face in astonishment. It was covered in blood and a chunk of flesh was missing from his palm, close to the base of the thumb. As he stared at die wound the pain hit and he gasped. He staggered backwards, his left hand holding his right wrist. Utsyev's gun coughed again and Freeman felt a bullet slam into his right leg. He fell sideways and crashed to the floor. Utsyev stood over him, grinning. 'How does it feel, Freeman?' he hissed. 'How does it feel to die?'

On the sofa, Katherine was screaming. Freeman looked over at her. She was flat on her back with Jenny on top, the submachine-gun between them. It went off again and bullets ripped into the ceiling. Bits of wood and plaster floated around them like a light snowfall.

Freeman saw Mersiha standing at the end of the sofa. She was looking right at him, as if there were no one else in the room. Her hand moved behind her back and reappeared with a gun. He saw 388 STEPHEN LEATHER her flick the safety catch off with her thumb. She was still looking directly at him. Katherine screamed again. Jenny was forcing the barrel of the Ingram down towards her face, her finger still on the trigger. Freeman looked back at Mersiha. She had the gun up but she was still looking at him. He knew what she was waiting for. His permission. His approval. Katherine screamed again. Mersiha's mouth opened a fraction. She licked her lips nervously. Her eyes darted over to look at Katherine and Jenny fighting on the sofa, then back to Freeman. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that unless he said it was okay she wouldn't fire the gun. She'd made him a promise and only he could release her from it. It was up to him. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, he nodded, looking deep into her eyes as he did so.

Mersiha whirled around, both hands on the butt of the gun, and fired, two shots. Jenny was knocked backwards over the sofa, her blood smearing down the wall as she fell against it. Utsyev roared like a bull and swung his gun around. Freeman lashed out with his left leg, catching the man just below the knee and knocking him off balance. Mersiha fired again and put two bullets in his chest. He fell to his knees, then keeled over backwards. Mersiha let the gun drop to the floor.

Katherine rolled off the sofa, coughing and spluttering. She gasped when she saw Freeman on the floor, bleeding from his hand and leg. She crawled over to him and hugged him so tightly that the breath was forced from his body. 'I love you, Tony,' she whispered, her breath warm against his ear.

'It's okay,' he said.

'No,' she said, firmly. 'I mean I love you. I really love you.'

She looked at him long and hard with a burning intensity that left him in no doubt what she meant. He returned the look. 'It's okay,' he repeated. She struggled to find the right words to say, but Freeman shook his head. 'Don't say anything,' he said. 'Just hold me.' Katherine burst into tears. She held him in her arms.

Mersiha knelt down beside Freeman and she and Katherine helped him to his feet.

# #

Utsyev had lost all feeling below the waist, and a cold numbness was spreading across his upper body. He could feel his lifeblood oozing out of his chest, and knew that he was dying. He could hear his brother's voice, calling to him from the distance, calling for him to come and play. It was Gilani as a child, a small boy who wanted nothing more than to play in the fields and catch fish in the river. Utsyev could feel himself slipping away, but something was holding him back. There was something he had to do. One last thing.

He concentrated on his right hand until he could feel the hard metal between his fingers, and then he forced himself to open his eyes. The pain returned and the room felt as if it was spinning. His eyes closed and the blackness enveloped him, but he fought against it, pushing it away, telling himself that all he had to do was this one thing and then he could go and play with Gilani. His eyes flickered open and he looked down over his bleeding body to where Freeman was being held up by his wife and daughter. He felt himself start to slip away again. The hand that lay by his side felt as if it belonged to - someone else. He was controlling it, he was raising the hand � with the gun, but it felt as if he were watching the action from somewhere else. From somewhere outside the body. He pointed the gun at them, his hand wavering. Freeman passed through the sights, then the woman, then die girl. He aimed between Mersiha's shoulder-blades and fought to keep the gun steady as his finger tightened on the trigger. He concentrated all he had left on the index finger of his right hand. At the last moment, Freeman saw him. His mouth opened to shout a warning, but it was too late. Utsyev fired, then the gun fell from his hand as he died.

Freeman screamed as Mersiha pitched forward as if she'd been punched in the back. 'Dad...' she moaned as her legs gave way. He grabbed her, but she was a dead weight in his arms.

'No!' Katherine shouted as Freeman laid her gently down on the wooden floor. 'No!'

'Get me something to stop the bleeding,' Freeman said, cradling Mersiha's head in his lap. Blood was still pouring from his hand and leg but his own injuries didn't concern him. All he could think about was Mersiha.

'What?'

'Anything. A cloth. A towel. Anything.'

Katherine ran past Utsyev's unmoving body to the kitchen.

'Dad, it hurts,' Mersiha whispered.

'I know, pumpkin. I know. You'll be all right.'

Katherine returned with a towel. She knelt down by Freeman. 'Press it against her back,' he said, lifting her. She positioned the towel over the entry wound and then Freeman laid her down again so that her weight would keep it in position.

Katherine stood up, wringing her hands. 'What are we going to do?' she asked helplessly.

Freeman shook his head. They were miles from anywhere and there was no phone in the cabin. Mersiha shivered. He pulled a rug along the floor and wrapped it around her. She smiled up at him. 'Am I dying, Dad?' she asked quietly.

Freeman stroked her hair. 'No,' he said softly. 'Of course you're not dying.' He looked up at Katherine, his face a pained mask.

'I'm sorry, Mom,' Mersiha said.

It was the first time she'd ever called Katherine 'Mom'. Katherine knelt down beside her, tears in her eyes. 'Shh,' she said. 'Don't try to speak.' She looked at Freeman. 'We need help,' she said. 'We have to get her to a hospital.'

'We can't move her. She'll bleed to death in the car.'

'The car!' Katherine said. 'God, I'm so stupid. There's a phone in the car!' She ran out of the cabin.

Freeman put his hand on Mersiha's forehead. She felt cold. When he took it away he left behind a bloody palm-print. 'I'm sleepy,' she said.

'Try to stay awake, Mersiha. Everything's going to be okay.'

'Can't I sleep, Dad?' Her voice was barely discernible.

'No. Try not to.' Blood was seeping through the front of her jacket. Freeman was frightened to open it. He couldn't face seeing the damage done by Utsyev's bullet.

'Dad?'

'Yes, pumpkin?'

'Will you sing to me?'

'Of course I will.' She shivered in his arms and closed her eyes. He shook her and she moaned softly. 'What shall I sing?' he asked.

'You know,' she breathed.

Freeman knew. With tears streaming down his face, he sang 'Happy Birthday' to her.

Freeman stood at the edge of the cliff, looking out over the jagged granite rocks and the white-topped waves of the North Sea below. He never tired of the coast's rugged beauty. It brought home to him the power of the sea. It was nature at its most brutal, a far cry from the soft beaches of the east coast of America. A massive wave crashed down on the rocks, sending salty spray across his face. He wiped the water away with his left hand. His right hand had healed nicely, though it was still a little stiff and he couldn't move his thumb more than a few degrees. The young doctor at the hospital in Aberdeen had said that he'd eventually regain full use of it, though he'd probably always feel a twinge or two during the winter months. The same went for his leg. He still had to walk with a stick and he became tired if he walked any distance, but that he could live with. He smiled as he remembered telling the doctor that he knew it would be all right |l eventually because he'd been shot in the leg before. The doctor had thought Freeman was joking until he'd seen the old scars. He heard Katherine walk up behind him and he smiled as she slid her arms around his waist. 'Maybe we should build the house right here,' she said, putting her head on his shoulder. 'Then you'd have the view without going outside.'

'Wouldn't be the same without the wind and the rain,' he said, waving his walking stick at the raging sea. They stood in silence together, Katherine pressing herself against his back as they looked out over the waves. 'You don't mind?' he said eventually.

'Mind what?'

'Leaving America? Leaving the company?'

Katherine thought about her answer before replying. 'No. As long as I'm with you, I don't care where we live.' She squeezed him around the waist.

'Good,' he said. They'd talked about it back in the States and they'd both agreed that there were too many bad memories in America. Too many tainted places. But he still wanted reassurance that he'd done the right thing. After they'd returned to Maryland they'd sold their house and put all their belongings in storage. Walter Carey had been surprised when Freeman had said that he wanted to leave CRW, but the bank had appointed a team of professional managers and all the signs were that the company would survive. Katherine sold half of her block of CRW shares, and the proceeds would provide enough of an income for them to live on, for a while at least. Maybe in time they'd start up a new business, build something together, but he was in no hurry. All he wanted to do for the time being was to take life slowly, one step at a time.

'Is there room for me in there?' Mersiha asked. She was standing on the path that led to the cliff-top, her arm in a denim sling that Katherine had made to match her Levi jeans. 'I mean, God forbid that I should intrude into this tender moment.'

Katherine laughed and waved her over. Mersiha moved slowly. She was still getting used to walking again after a month in hospital in Colorado and another six weeks in Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The surgeons had done an incredible job. The bullet had ripped through her left lung and exited through her shoulder, and she'd been on a ventilator for several days in a shock-trauma unit. She was still pale, and the muscles of her arm had atrophied while the shoulder healed, so she required regular physical therapy, but every day Freeman thanked God that she was alive. She was recovering slowly,

but like Freeman she'd bear the scars, physical and mental, for ever.

'Are you going to stand here all day?' she asked.

'Maybe,' Freeman said.

'That's okay, then,' she said. She sighed. The three of them stood looking out to sea, the wind and spray lashing their faces. Freeman breathed in the salt air. It had been important to get away from America, to start again. It wasn't that he feared retribution. The police hadn't been over-concerned about solving the murders of the Utsyev brothers, as both were known criminals, and they had been more than happy to accept that the Freemans were innocent bystanders caught up in a gang war. As far as they were concerned, the case was closed. Freeman had reported the Heckler & Koch stolen, but the gun was never found. It was over, and now they could put it all behind them. Eventually he planned to build a house in the north of Scotland, a new house, for a new life. But first, all he wanted to do was to spend time with the two people he loved most in the world, and to get to know them. To really get to know them.