Holy Island Trilogy 03 - The Final Countdown Read Free Page B

closing round the handle when the first kick hit her ribs.
    ‘Bitch!’ he screamed. ‘Fucking bitch!’ His face creased with pain, he glared at her through thick dark-rimmed glasses as his whole body began to shake.
    Rolling with the kick, she managed to grab the gun, but she wasn’t quick enough to avoid the next kick. It landed at the base of her spine, right on her tail bone, sending spasms of pain all the way up her back.
    Screaming, but without hesitating, she quickly rolled over and, still on her knees, aimed the gun at his crotch, just as his foot raised and he was about to kick her again.
    ‘Freeze, you bastard!’ she yelled, pulling herself up from the floor by gripping the settee arm with her right hand, and managing to hold the gun steady with her left.
    ‘Not much else I can do, is there?’ he said with a sarcastic sneer. ’The odds, as they say, are in your favour.’ The overwhelming smell of garlic as he spoke turned Kristina’s stomach. But she guessed he was babbling to stop himself from screaming. Professional to the end - if a tad sarcastic.
    ‘Take your trousers off, scumbag.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘You heard. Drop them.’
    ‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’ He looked at her as if he still couldn’t believe what had just happened.
    ‘Deadly. Now drop them.’
    Holding his right hand, which was bleeding heavily, tight against his chest, he loosened the belt buckle on his dark grey trousers with his other hand and, with a sneer, pulled his zip down. His trousers dropped to his ankles.
    ‘OK. Step out of them, then drop the underpants.’
    ‘You for fucking real, or what?’ Again he glared at her in disbelief.
    ‘Just do it now. And don’t for one minute think I don’t know how to use this.’
    Outside, Kristina appeared calm and totally in control of the situation, but inside she was terrified. Knowing that no way could she let him see just how frightened she was, she waved the gun at him. ‘Move it.’
    Grinding his teeth in anger, he slowly rolled his underpants down and stepped out of them.
    ‘OK, get the rest off. Oh - and that’s nothing special down there, by the way. Really nothing to be proud of.’
    Kristina could have bitten off her tongue when she saw the anger on his face.
    Shit! Shouldn’t have said that!
    But it was her way of dealing with danger. It was how she kept control. And it wasn’t every day, even in the police force, when you were faced with a semi-naked, heavily bleeding, thumbless man.
    ‘Kick the trousers over.’
    ‘I’m bleeding to fucking death here, bitch, and you want to play fucking bedroom games?’
    ‘With you? Er, that’ll be a big fat no. Kick ‘em over, scumbag.’
    Kristina had never considered herself as foolhardy, or a hero. Well aware that the incident with the thumb had been a freak accident that could probably never be repeated in a million years, she walked slowly backwards, her eyes locked steadily on the man’s, until her hip made contact with the phone table. Finding the phone blindly by scrabbling around with her free hand, she picked it up and quickly dialled 999.
    ‘OK, sit,’ she said, after putting her call through.
    His jaw dropped, and he blinked repeatedly as he said, ‘Aren’t you even going to phone a fucking ambulance for me, you stupid fucking ginger cow?’
    ‘Nice! There’s an ambulance on the way, prick, you heard me ask for one. Though I doubt you would have phoned one for me if things had turned out the way you expected them to.’ She waved the gun again. ‘Now fucking do as you’re told, and friggin' well sit down now before I lose it altogether.’
    The man, who had made no attempt to remove any more of his clothing, sat down quickly, swearing under his breath.
    Heart pounding, wondering if she was doing the right thing, Kristina put the gun on the table beside the phone. She hurried over and pulled his belt from his trousers, watching him closely and praying he wouldn’t suddenly make a move.
    ‘At