Astrid was moving before she’d finished reading the last word. The mobile clung to her fingers as she leapt down the corridor, past the lift, and through the exit to the stairs. She took the steps two at once, her shoulder and legs bouncing off the walls. By the time she got to the bottom, the phone was back inside her jacket and the sounds from earlier had become sharper: a crowd was shouting outside the hotel.
She sprinted by the reception and burst outside. A mob surrounded the front of the building. Some of them wore badges identifying them as the media, with arms outstretched and microphones pointed forwards. Television cameras were slumped over shoulders while lights flashed into action as dozens of photographs caught what she couldn’t see on the other side of the hive.
Then the shouting started again.
Is your brother a murderer?
Did you help him do it?
Did you help him kill the Glick girls?
Why were you locked up?
A screaming, baying public drowned out those questions.
Child killer!
Murdering bitch!
You’ll get yours, bitch!
Hang ’em both!
String ’em up!
Astrid reached the edge of the crowd, standing on the tips of her toes to see Evie quivering in the centre of the storm. Her eyes were ruby red, her lips moist and trembling. Astrid had to get her out of there, but there was a swarm of people between them. The screaming and shouting continued as she stared into the faces of the angry horde. She’d witnessed the likes of this before and knew it wouldn’t be long before someone snapped and did something everyone would regret forever.
Astrid grabbed at those closest to her, pulling them back to create a path through. Disgruntled voices shouted at her while fists swung in her direction. She dodged most of them, but one or two connected with her shoulder or hip. Electric shocks coursed through her as she got closer to Evie.
And then she saw the gun.
The barrel came out of the throng behind Evie, crawling in slow motion for her head. Astrid’s path was overgrown with bodies blocking her way. Someone stumbled and a television camera flew towards her. She lifted her arm, and the metal bounced off her bones with a crack. The crowd shoved her sideways, so she lost sight of the gun, waiting for the bullet to explode into Evie’s face.
She tried to shout a warning, but wild, swaying arms kept falling into her. It was all she could do to stop from crashing to the ground. Astrid pushed out with all her strength, moving the human obstacles back until she saw Evie again. The pistol had disappeared. Then the air exploded with gunfire. People screamed and moved as one. Some dropped to the ground with their hands over their heads; the rest split on every side, streaming away as fast as they could. The screams were ones of panic and distress, mingled in with the crying and sobbing.
Evie was nowhere. Astrid twisted her neck, looking for the woman she’d sworn to protect. Amongst the shouting and the terror, she saw the back of Evie’s head vanish into the alley by the side of the hotel. She leapt forward, jumping over cowering bodies and broken cameras. She reached the passage in three strides, her gaze adjusting to the sight in front of her. A girl had a gun pressed against Evie’s stomach. Astrid froze to the spot a few feet away and stared into manic eyes.
‘You don’t want to be a murderer.’
The teenager turned to her, the weapon still pushed against Evie. ‘She needs to pay for the sins of her family.’
Astrid held out her hands, showing she wasn’t armed. ‘How old are you, seventeen or eighteen? Your life will be over if you shoot her. And for what? She hasn’t done anything wrong.’
The pistol shook in her hand as she spoke. ‘You don’t know what her family did, none of you does.’
Her hands were still outstretched and open as Astrid moved forward. ‘Whatever you have to say will be lost with the murder of the innocent woman next to you. Give me the gun, and you can leave. I don’t know who you are, and I won’t tell anyone what happened here.’ She took another step, near enough to smell the lavender of her perfume, close enough to recognise the pain in her eyes. ‘It’s not too late for you.’
The girl clutched the fingers of her free hand deep into her palm. Astrid calculated what the damage would be if she lunged for the gun. Would one bullet in the gut kill Evie? She’d need immediate medical help to stop her bleeding to death, and that’s only if the squashed metal didn’t hit any of her internal organs.
She was weighing up the options as the girl dropped the weapon to the ground and ran into the shadows at the other end of the alley. Astrid kicked the gun into a gutter and grabbed hold of Evie before she fell. Sirens wailed behind them, conveniently late. Evie held on to her for dear life.
‘I thought I was a goner for sure.’
Astrid’s body stiffened, uncomfortable with such a show of affection. She eased Evie off her gently.
‘Do you know that girl?’
She shivered as she spoke. ‘I’ve never seen her before.’
Astrid turned to the footsteps approaching behind them.
‘Maybe she’s a relative of the dead girls.’ Two uniformed police officers ran in their direction. ‘I guess we’re going to get a lift to see your brother.’