Page 157 of The Jealous Girl

A slight movement on the floor behind Martin caught my attention.

Ben.

Had he moved? I stared at him, but he lay still. Had I been mistaken?

‘They already think she killed Charlotte,’ Martin said. ‘They know she was obsessed with you. And now she’s broken in, too. They’ll believe we were in danger. That I just did what I had to…’

He tightened his grip on the shotgun.

‘No!’ Ryan yelled as he leapt at me, slamming me backward into the wall.

In the same instant, movement caught my eye over his shoulder.

The gun fired.

Denise screamed.

For a second, everything blurred.

‘Ben!’ I screamed, shoving Ryan off me. He’d launched at Martin just as Ryan had pushed me out of the way. Ben was now sprawled across Martin on the floor.

I raced forwards without thinking.

‘The gun!’ Ben yelled.

I grabbed it, tugging it free from Martin’s grasp.

‘Let him go!’ Denise screamed, as she charged towards us. But Ryan caught her, pulling her backwards as she kicked and screamed.

Police sirens resounded above the chaos.

‘There’s still time,’ Denise pleaded with Ryan. ‘Grab the gun. Finish what your dad started⁠—’

‘It is finished, Mum,’ Ryan said sadly. ‘It’s over.’

54

NOW

Late August

Sunday

‘Kirsty!’

I froze at the sound of the familiar voice.

Janine.

I turned slowly.

‘What are you doing here?’ I asked, as she and Dad hurried along the corridor towards me as I stood in the Emergency Department waiting room.

Janine pulled me into a tight hug the second she reached me. ‘We’ve been so worried about you.’

Dad stroked my head. ‘We saw it on the news. The stables. The police.’

I squirmed, trying to break free from the unaccustomed closeness.