Page 147 of Everything That Kills Me
“Once they investigate the crime scene, they’ll work out the logistics, but Thomas made me leave him my gun. Whether they’ll be able to correlate his movements and conclude there was no one else involved, I’m not sure. That’s what he wanted.” Jack sucked in a breath.
“To protect you.”
“He told me to be good, to be happy, then run. To keep running. I left him. Fuck. I left him.” Jack closed his eyes, his entire body shuddering.
Zeph held him tight. “You did what he asked you to do.”
“I could have stayed nearby, watched…”
“And let them find you? You did what he wanted. You need to keep telling yourself that. I’m glad he told you to run.”
For a long while, Jack didn’t say anything. His mind was racing. “Can you find out details of those who died?”
“They weren’t known when I left work, but at some point, yes, I can get names. I can try now.”
“Not if it’s going to get you into trouble.”
“It won’t.”
“Maybe Thomas was taken to hospital.”
“I might be able to find out.”
“With no name?”
“Maybe.”
Jack groaned. “If he’s dead, I can’t even bury him. I can’t claim his body.”
“I’ll go online and see what I can find.” Zeph pushed to his feet.
Jack couldn’t stop thinking about Thomas. Leaving might have been the right thing to do, but it didn’t feel right. It would never feel right.Fuck! FUCK!Thomas had done so much for him and to walk away…run away…
Zeph came over with his laptop and showed Jack the screen. “Twelve dead.”
Jack sagged. “Twelve. There were eleven of them. I counted eleven. Thomas makes twelve. Any names?”
“A few.” Zeph brought up the list. “What ID was Thomas using, do you know?”
“None of those names but he wouldn’t have been carrying ID. Would your facial recognition software link make the connection between the sightings you made and the… the incident at Gravesend?” He didn’t want to saybody.
“It’ll probably be something I’ll be asked about tomorrow. Everyone that was killed will be traced. Let me check the hospitals.”
“You have a way to get into their systems?”
“MI5 do. So yes, I do too. Don’t tell anyone.”
Jack sat watching as Zeph’s fingers flew over the keys.
“If he’s in hospital, you can’t risk going to see him,” Zeph said.
“I know.” Logic told Jack that Thomas was one of the twelve dead. If he wasn’t, where had the other person come from? And who’d killed him? He supposed it was possible he’d missed seeing someone who’d been dropped off before reaching the office building.
“No London hospital has admitted any unidentified person with abdominal injuries today. I didn’t look for anyone shot. That might have been flagged.”
“I need to see his body.”
Zeph gave a heavy sigh. “That won’t be easy.” He put his laptop down. “Wait and see what I can find out tomorrow. If he was there, they’ll have a picture.”
