Page 51 of Burn for Me
Her mother’s words shattered the immobility that the shock had induced. Turning to run, she screamed, “Run, Mom! Get to the bedroom.”
“Don’t you run from me, bitch!” she heard the incensed screech from behind her. Then the sound of a shot. Kitty kept expecting to feel the bite of the bullet, but it appeared to have been a warning shot. The burn she did feel, however, came from being brought to a sudden stop by her hair.
Unexpectedly propelled around by the force of the pull, she never saw the blow coming. Stumbling back a step, Kitty wiped a hand across her bleeding lip. Looking at her attacker, she felt a sear of anger.
“You b–”
Another shot rang out. The last thing Kitty heard was her mother scream out her name before everything went black.
* * *
His blood frozeas he heard the shot and the scream that followed it. But nothing compared to the raw terror that ripped through him when he heard a second shot and then silence. Not a single sound.
“No!”
Gray didn’t even realise it was him shouting as he ran. All he knew was he had to get to Kitty. If she died, it would be on him. If he’d figured all this out earlier, it wouldn’t have come to this.
Kyle and Fourie close on his heels, they ran like the hounds of hell were chasing them. Not even bothering to call for the lift, they took the stairs two at a time. The sudden silence freaking Gray out, he snarled at Kyle, “Call it in and get an ambulance here.”
Bursting onto the landing on her floor, he noticed Kitty’s front door standing open. Cautiously approaching, he kept his ears peeled for any noise coming from the apartment. After what felt like an eternity, he finally reached the door. Slowly pushing it fully open, Gray stood clear of the opening. When no one fired at the space, he edged closer, peering around the corner to see a blood trail leading down the short hallway to the lounge.
He couldn’t draw a breath.God, please don’t let me be too late. Don’t let it end this way.
Gray looked over his shoulder to see if Fourie had followed and saw the man draw his own weapon. Together they inched down the hallway in search of the woman who held Gray’s heart in the palm of her tiny hand. At the entrance to the living room, he once more peeked around the corner to ensure he wasn’t walking into a nasty surprise. He saw Kitty’s mom sitting tied to one of the dining room chairs with a gag in her mouth as tears streamed down her face. Looking beyond her, his heart squeezed painfully. Lying on the lounge floor, also bound and gagged, Kitty’s body jerked each time a boot landed a kick. He couldn’t see who was doing the kicking.
Without warning, a voice screamed, “I did it all for you, you ungrateful whore! I did some of my finest work to help you get rid of all the competition around you. So that you could thrive and flourish. So you would be happy. And we could finally be together.”
The voice stopped, as if waiting for Kitty to reply. When she lay, silent and unmoving, a particularly vicious kick landed in her abdomen. Gray could hear them breathing heavily.
The voice continued, “You said the bakery was your dream. That you had to focus on it, grow it, make it successful before you could even think of a relationship. I did itallfor you. And how do you repay me? By whoring yourself with that fire investigator.”
There was no reply, and Gray suddenly found himself praying. He was terrified. Kitty hadn’t moved since he’d first spotted her lying there on the floor. Another unnerving silence followed. Fourie cocked his weapon, ready to fire. Holding it aloft, he stepped fully into the room, Gray at his heels.
At the quiet snick of the captain’s weapon cocking, Lee turned her head. Her eyes locked on Gray’s, and the first thing he noticed was the madness gleaming bright in the arsonist’s eyes. The reports had said that Leyla Newman was delusional and should be treated in a mental facility. Prison was not the right place for her. Clearly, since her last stint, she’d finally fallen over the edge of delusion and straight into raving lunacy.
He watched as the gun Lee held in her hand started to lift in his direction, smiling in what appeared to be glee.
“Well, well. If it isn’t Inspector Meddlesome himself.”
“Drop it, Lee. It’s over. This is Captain Fourie, and more police are on the way. You’ve got nowhere to go,” Gray said quietly. “Don’t make him shoot you.”
An unholy rage fired in the woman’s eyes.
“She’s mine!” she screamed. “She’s always been mine. But you had to come along and interfere. Well, you can’t have her. I’ll see her dead before I let you have her.”
Gray watched in horror as Lee swung the gun away from him back to Kitty. Without thought, he shouted, “No!” and heard another shot fired. He saw Lee’s body jerk at the same time he heard Kyle come running down the hall toward him.
He watched in a daze as he saw Fourie step forward, kicking the gun that had fallen out of Lee’s limp hand away. He saw the man check for a pulse. Obviously finding one, the man cuffed Lee with the handcuffs he pulled out of his pocket. Lurching toward Kitty, Gray hesitated. He was almost too scared to check her pulse. He didn’t think he could bear it if she was dead.
Gray braced himself, pulling in a much needed breath before he reached out. His hand shaking, he placed two fingers on her carotid artery. He panicked for a second when he didn’t feel anything. He pushed a little harder. There! He picked a beat. Faint, but there. He cut her bonds loose and dragged her blanket from the couch to cover her while they waited for the paramedics to arrive.
He glanced up when her mother dropped to her knees beside him, Kyle having obviously cut her loose. With a heart wrenching sob she dropped down opposite him. She put one hand over his holding Kitty’s and the other under so she, too, was holding Kitty’s hand. His free hand placed on top of Elenore’s, they sat like that until help arrived.
* * *
Archie had beenin the process of washing his hands when he heard the altercation in the hallway. Turning the tap off, he stood still for a moment to better hear what was going. When he heard the sound of a shot ring out, he went rigid with fear.
Cracking the door open in an attempt to see into the hallway, his heart almost stopped beating. He saw Kitty lying on the floor, unmoving, but couldn’t see who her attacker was. Shock coursed through him when he saw a woman’s hand reach down to grab a fist full of Kitty’s hair before unceremoniously dragging her down the passage to the living room.
