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Charlie dragged himself clear, scrambled to his feet and grabbed the gun, ignoring the pain in his ribs, as he kicked and wrenched until the weapon came free in his hands. Tom kept choking Kaylan, impervious to Kaylan’s grasp on his arm as he tried to relieve the pressure. Charlie had handcuffs, and he used the last of his strength to peel Kaylan’s hands from Tom’s arm until he heard the click of the cuffs closing on his wrists.
“Let him go,” he rasped, and Tom lifted his arm.
Kaylan dragged air into his lungs with an audible groan, tears mixing with the blood on his face. His neck was purple with bruising, and his chest rose and fell as the oxygen began to flow.
“Sharp knife in the box by the desk,” Tom said.
It took Charlie a moment to work out why he would need a sharp knife. Cable ties.
He got the knife, and very carefully inserted it between Tom’s ankle and the chair, sawing until the tie parted. Then he did the other ankle. Tom rolled onto his knees and stood up, then deliberately kicked Kalyan in the ribs. “Sorry,” he said to Charlie, and then held out his arms, enfolding Charlie with his body. Charlie felt Tom tremble as the adrenaline receded. His own legs were shaky, and the pain in his ribs and arm was making him nauseous.
“Fucking put him down and let me go,” Vitruvious yelled.
“No,” Tom said. “You can wait.”
Charlie walked stiffly to the office door and unlocked it. He saw that the bullet that had grazed his ribs had landed in the centre of one of the chocolate box paintings. He couldn’t feel sorry about it. It might even have been an improvement.
First through the door were Eddy and Patsy, with a very anxious-looking Ann standing well back.
“You’re bleeding,” Patsy said.
“That’s because he’s been shot,” Tom said. "He needs a hospital, or at the very least a doctor, and I need you to get that thing out of my office.” Tom pointed to the gun, lying out of Kaylan’s reach in the middle of the carpet.
“We’ve called firearms officers, and they will do what’s required,” Patsy said. “And for now, sir, your office is a crime scene, so we’ll need everyone to leave.”
Vitruvious decided this was a good moment to start yelling again, demanding to be released.
“That man has stolen thousands of pounds from this college,” Tom said. “I want him arrested.”
Eddy and Patsy looked between Tom and Charlie. Charlie suddenly needed to sit down before he fell. Shock, he recognised, but that didn’t make his head stop spinning, or stop his body beginning to shake with cold. Tom must have seen the blood drain from Charlie’s face, and produced a chair, pushing Charlie into it with gentle hands. Then he took his own jacket off and wrapped it around Charlie’s shoulders. Tom’s body had warmed the fabric, and in turn it warmed Charlie. He didn’t think he could stand up, but he had to take charge.
“Patsy is right,” he said, swallowing hard, because vomit was rising in his throat. “This room is a crime scene. We need transport for Kaylan here, plus I’d like somewhere private to talk to Mr Vitruvious. Tom will need to give a statement, and I need to make some calls.”
Slowly, they got themselves sorted out.
With Tom’s help, Charlie got out of the chair and into the corridor beyond Ann’s office, where he sat on the floor and called Ravensbourne. She promised to be there within the hour, with a forensics team and some uniforms to boost their numbers. Eddy released Vitruvious and stashed him in an office next door, threatening him with handcuffs if he tried to leave. Kaylan was moved, none-too-gently, to Ann’s office and was left to stew, which for once he managed without talking. There was no suggestion that the handcuffs were coming off before a nice solid cell door had closed behind him. Crime scene tape was plastered all around the door and corridors near Tom’s office and the students and staff were sent home.
Patsy took a statement from Tom, and Charlie listened through the fuzziness in his head, the words providing a background hum as he waited for Ravensbourne to arrive and take charge. His ribs and arm were beginning to throb painfully enough that it was hard to think about anything else. He wanted to wrap himself more tightly in Tom’s jacket but attempts to move sent his injured ribs into a spasm that he never wanted to repeat. What he wanted was to hand over to Ravensbourne and sleep for a week.
After an eternity, Tom came and squatted down in front of him.
“You need the hospital,” Tom said. “You’re oozing, and you’ve gone a very interesting shade of pale.” He made to adjust the jacket so that it covered more of Charlie.
“Don’t touch. Please.” Charlie said, trying to keep as still as he could. “I can’t leave, not yet.”
“Waiting for an SIO? See, I remembered.”
“She’s on her way.” Charlie knew Tom was trying to make him smile, but he couldn’t summon the energy. “What happened before I got there? In your office, I mean?”
“Short version: Vitruvious came to complain about Kaylan essentially stalking him, I said he brought it on himself, he lost his temper, and we were having a row when Kaylan appeared with that gun hidden under his hoodie.” Tom paused. “He might be a psychopath, but he’s a clever psychopath. He made me tie V to the chair, and then he said he’d shoot V if I didn’t fasten my own ankles to the chair, and one wrist. Then he did the last one. He held the phone while I talked to you. The rest you know. How much longer is this woman going to take?”
“What about that rape alarm?” Charlie wanted to know, but it was hard to get the words out. Shivery was the only word that seemed to fit, except he wasn’t moving. He didn't dare move.
“That was dumb luck. It was in my pocket, and I must have fallen on the button. I was watching you watching Kaylan. I don’t know what happened, but your eyes changed, and I thought you were going to jump him. I thought I’d see if I could provide a distraction.”
Charlie remembered that Kaylan’s arms had begun to tremble, but he couldn’t get his mouth to form the words. His eyes closed. He was hot and cold at the same time.
“Charlie. Stay with me. Look at me, Charlie. Don’t go to sleep.”
