WILL TIME WAIT: Boxed set of 3 bestselling 'ticking clock' thrillers (58 page)
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Authors: H Elliston
“Test?”
Kate asked.
“Yes.”
She smiled. “It’s positive. They’re going to have another baby.”
I
released the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. “A baby?
K-Kerry’s pregnant?”
She
pursed her lips. “You didn’t know?”
I
shook my head.
She
pressed her hand over her mouth. “Oh, my.” She paused. “I’m
sorry, everyone. Perhaps it’s best you leave. Kerry’s already had a
go at John tonight. Kicked him into the street and told him to—“
I
gripped the sofa. “Kicked him out?”
“Yes.
She threw his belongings on the lawn and told him not to come back until he’s
got a firm job offer. I was picking his stuff up when you arrived.”
Perplexed,
I stared at the door where I’d heard banging and clattering. Worry
slammed me in the chest. “So who... who’s in the kitchen?”
She
tilted her head toward the door. “Oh, that’s just the repair man.
My washing machine’s on the blink again. Excuse me while I check on
him.” She crossed the room and entered the kitchen.
Oh
crap. I jumped to my feet and shared a horrified look with Dylan.
My mouth dropped open.
Dylan’s
eyes bulged. “The sirens!”
I
ran to the bottom of the stairs and shouted up. “Kerry. Where did
John go when he left?”
She
came into view, leaned over the upstairs banister, red-eyed and
puffy-faced. “I told him to get off his butt and do some research on the
scrap business. He’s gone home. Said he was gonna phone his dad and
pick his brains.”
“How
long ago did he leave? How far is your house?”
“Fifteen,
maybe twenty minutes ago. If that’s where he’s gone, he’ll be home by
now. It’s not far.”
“Shit!”
my voice echoed up the stairs. I faced everyone. “Let’s go.”
Kerry
ran down to me. “What? Why? What’s going on?”
“Geordie
wanted to bump you off,” Kate said. “I think he’s rigged something up at
your house.”
“He
can’t have. He’s dead.”
Kate
took a breath. “They rigged it up before they went to the park on
Saturday.”
“Has
anyone been at your place since Saturday?” Dylan asked.
Kerry
shook her head. She yanked the front door open and practically threw
herself out of the house.
“Everyone
in the car,” Steve said.
We
piled in. Dylan sped off up the street following Kerry’s
directions. “Oh, Jesus,” she cried. “If anything’s happened to him,
I’ll...”
I
stroked her shoulder. I didn’t know what to say. A gruesome feeling
thundered through my body.
JENNA
I
n the distance,
smoke rose above the skyline as we drove at high speed through the housing
estate.
“Oh,
Jesus,” Kerry cried. “Please. This can’t be happening. Why
did I lose my temper and kick him out?”
My
mind reeled. “Drive faster,” I told Dylan. A rush of dread filled
my centre.
Dylan
pulled the car to a stop at the end of the street where residents gathered,
blocking my view. Gasps and murmurs came from the huddled crowd.
Kerry
screamed in anguish and shot out of the car. “Tell me he’s not
dead. Tell me.”
I
left my crutches and started after her. I struggled, but managed to barge
through the crowd on my weak leg.
“Oh
my God,” a bystander said, pointing at Kerry. “That’s her. It’s her
house.”
Kerry
ducked under the barrier tape that cordoned off the street, and sprinted toward
the burning house.
“Kerry!”
I shouted.
Dylan
put his arm around my waist and helped me along. I wanted to run, but
couldn’t.
“Hey,
hey!” A police officer said. “You can’t come down here.”
Ignoring
him, I hobbled as fast as I could, my eyes fixed on Kerry. Then the
house. I slowed as the true extent of devastation loomed into view.
My bandaged leg buckled. “Go after her.” I waved Dylan
on.
He
ran ahead to catch up to Kerry. I reached out and clung to Kate.
Tears sprung to my eyes. I watched in horror, shocked into silence at the
flames and dense smoke billowing out of shattered windows.
Firefighters
aimed their hoses, shooting water at the blazing house. Burnt debris
littered the pavement and street. Ash floated down on us like dirty
snowflakes.
I
kept my unwavering eyes on the front door, praying for John to burst out of the
house.
Come on. You can do it.
“No
one could have survived that blast,” I heard a paramedic mutter to a police
officer.
No... no! They can. You don’t know John.
He’s a fighter,
I wanted to shout.
According
to Kate, the device had been rigged to a door in the house. For it to detonate,
someone must have gone inside.
Kerry
reached the pavement outside her house. A police officer spotted her
slipping past. He hooked her by the elbows and drew her back. “You
can’t go in there, miss. It’s too dangerous.”
“John!”
she yelled, trying to push the officer away.
Dylan
ran over to him. “She lives there. There’s a man inside!”
The
police officer, still holding Kerry, glanced back at the flames. “We’re
doing all we can, sir. Please, you have to move back.”
Kerry
sank to her knees and wailed in a ball on the pavement. She started
hitting the officer’s feet and shouting John’s name.
The
hurt wrung my insides. It tore at my soul. I looked at Kate and
whimpered, barely able to speak let alone breathe. “He... he’s gone,
isn’t he?”
Orange
flames reflected in Kate’s glassy eyes. She squeezed my hand and looked
away. “Oh, God. This is too awful.”
Dylan
came over and gathered me into his arms. Steve hugged Kate.
I
cried against Dylan’s chest. “John didn’t deserve this. It wasn’t
his time to die.”
Not yet.
No amount of lies, truth,
cover-ups or money was worth this. His death.
I’m
sorry, friend.
Sadness
smothered me. I dropped through Dylan’s arms to the ground.
A
moment later, I did what any person with a heart would. I hauled myself
up and hobbled over to Kerry. All my anger at her betrayal left me in an
instant. I crumpled to the tarmac and held her tight.
She
lowered her traumatized eyes and sobbed. Her shoulders bowed and her weak
frame quivered in my arms.
My
hope for a new life... None of it was important or attainable now.
I could not let John die for no reason. I glanced up at a police
officer. The truth had to come out.
“I
did this.” Kerry’s bubbly and broken words pierced me. “It’s my
fault.”
“Shush...
Don’t talk,” I whispered into her hair. I pulled her closer. A
wintry sadness rippled through my veins as I rocked her in my arms. How
could I have allowed myself to believe that things might end well? I saw
everything clearly now. So why had I been so blind all along? I
kissed the top of her head.
If
only I had not suggested that John consider running the scrap business.
He might not have gone home today. But I thought I was doing him a
kindness.
As
hard as I tried, I couldn’t stop the guilt coursing through my trembling
body. I’d been married to the man that started this, and up until this
week I’d been blind to the whole thing. Yet again, and even in death,
Geordie and my husband were the cause of further devastation. Their evil
continued to spread like an airborne disease that couldn’t be contained.
Would it ever stop? Was this it?
“It’s...”
My voice cracked as I glared at the finger where my wedding band used to
be. “It’s not your fault, Kerry.”
I leaned
my cheek on the top of her head and stared at the smoking wreckage that was
once their home. The dark mood of this distressing week wrapped itself
tighter around me.
How
can any of us ever bounce back from this?
Before
I walked out on my marriage on Friday, I’d told myself that life could only get
better. How incredibly wrong I was.
Somehow,
all of us would have to stumble on.
John
was dead... wasn’t he? Was it terrible to hope it wasn’t him who’d set
the bomb off?
To
Kerry, John’s death was no doubt worse than any physical pain. But I knew
that he had unwittingly saved the life of her and their unborn child. He
was a hero and would never know it.
But
we knew.
Yes,
we knew.
Hopefully
Kerry could carry that thought with her wherever she went.
Kneeling
on the ground with rescue workers on one side, and shocked residents on the
other, I saw that Kerry’s hand was splayed across her stomach and, for a brief
second, I felt myself brighten.
The
good in John would live on! It was growing inside her belly, and
also running through Elliot’s veins. John was gone, but not entirely.
Kate,
followed by Dylan and Steve hurried over to us. They sat down and linked
their arms around us, creating a comforting bubble.
Things
might not always end nicely, but the world would continue to revolve, carrying
us into the next phase of life whether we wanted to be onboard or not.
I
would no doubt confront the untidy future the way I’d dealt with every problem
thrown my way since Friday – very badly. But I hoped that I now had
enough strength to support Kerry, and to fight my corner and Kate’s. And
no matter how messy the future may be, I’d gained something precious which I
didn’t have up until recently. Perhaps we all had. Something that
would make bad times bearable and good times memorable - an incredible circle
of friends.
Dylan
squeezed my shoulder and I glanced at him. He gave me a broad
smile. A smile? Yes. A smile. We were lucky to be
alive. He knew it and was grateful, that’s what his smile said.
Perhaps
that was the key.
Be
grateful.
Know
you’re alive.
Know
.
THE END
Thank you for reading!
SHIVER SWEET
By H.C.Elliston
Copyright © 2012 by
H.C.Elliston
All rights reserved,
including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by
any means whatsoever without prior written permission from the author.
The moral right of
H.C.Elliston to be identified as the author of this work of fiction has been
asserted.
All characters and
events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are
fictitious and any resemblance to actual events or real persons, either living
or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Thank you to all my
family, my fiancé and his lovely children and son-in-law, and my friends for
your encouragement and for putting up with me while my head was buried in
writing this book.
A special thank you
to all my critique partners, these especially, who are simply wonderful and
have really helped me to keep going, and to shape and finish this book; Carla,
Christine, Chuck, Dana, Rachelle and Steph – you’re awesome!
To everyone else who
had input or encouraged me to continue my dream (Hannah) – thanks, you’re the
best, and I wish good things for you all!
Thank you to readers
for taking a chance on me. I hope you enjoy reading it.
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