The driver of the Ford Mondeo leaving had to stop abruptly to avoid hitting her. Another stupid woman, who didn’t bother to look to the side, that’s what the driver of the vehicle thought at first.
As he beeped, she kept walking unfazed, and merely turned her head and looked directly at him. He saw the fury in her eyes. He wouldn’t dare to beep again. Especially when he noticed the six-foot tall young man in a hoodie walking a step behind her.
Having heard the car beep, Gerry Payne glanced up from the couple he was serving with cappuccinos in the café.
He watched as the automatic entrance doors opened as if to announce her arrival as Sadie walked into the reception area with Lennox in tow.
She turned left and strode towards the coffee lounge.
Gerry had his eyes on her. He was cleaning a table and just six feet from where Francis and Roger’s dad were sitting deep in conversation and unaware of their approaching guests.
Gerry noted them both, but it was Sadie who took his attention. His instinct told him the lady was trouble. He could see it in her eyes. It was almost like a red beam fixed on the two people sitting at the table in the corner. He may have retired from the police force but all his years of training kicked in. What was more she seemed familiar even if she was attempting a disguise by wearing a cheap blonde wig. All his years of experience, he knew something was about to happen. But even this didn’t prepare him for what was to come.
As Sadie walked towards the table, Gerry watched as she put her hand into the black handbag slung over her left shoulder. He spotted the hand gun in the split second as she brought it out of the bag.
As Sadie raised her arm and aimed at Francis to shoot, Gerry didn’t hesitate and jumped in front of the intended target. The bullet entered his shoulder as the force flung him backwards against a nearby pillar.
Lennox was standing next to his mother and reached forward to grab Roger’s dad.
“This is for my Tyson, you fucking bitch!” Sadie bellowed at Francis as Sadie raised the weapon for the second time.
With his arm covered in blood, Gerry hurled himself at Sadie once more, knocking her aim to the side as the gun went off with another loud bang.
Panic filled the coffee lounge.
Gerry quickly got to his feet and swiped his fist across Sadie’s face. The gun slid from her hand and across the floor. Gerry’s wife Paddy coolly picked it up and pointed it at Sadie. Keeping the gun aimed at her, Paddy walked slowly backwards to the reception desk, picked up the phone and dialled 999.
“We need police with an armed response unit and two ambulances,” said Paddy to the operator.
“C’mon, Lennox. Let’s go. She won’t shoot us,” said Sadie, all the time fixing her stare on Paddy who still had Sadie’s gun pointed at her.
“Mum. I’m hit.”
Chapter Forty
HERO’S HOTEL
Sadie looked down for the first time noticing Lennox was on the ground with blood coming from his stomach. The second bullet had hit him.
Sadie rushed over.
One of the people who had been sitting on the opposite side of the coffee lounge came over. “I’m a doctor. Let me have a look at him.”
Gerry Payne staggered over to where his wife was standing by the reception desk.
“Paddy, I’ll take the gun. Get Marie to fetch the first aid kit from the office.”
Marie, the part-time receptionist, froze until she heard Paddy shout at her.
“Marie, do what Gerry says. Grab the first aid kit from the office.”
Within three minutes, the police had arrived, closely followed by the first ambulance.
Sadie was handcuffed and arrested. Medics went to attend to Gerry and Lennox.
“I think it would be a good idea if I took that, don’t you?”
One of the police officer stood in front of Paddy and held open a plastic evidence bag.
Paddy nodded and did as he requested.
The second ambulance arrived, and the medics rushed in.
Within two minutes, both ambulances rushed off, Gerry in one and Lennox in the other.
As the vehicles left the car park, an unmarked police car with its blue lights still flashing pulled in and parked by the entrance.
Out stepped DI Eden Gold and his colleague DS Tracy Archer, just in time to see Sadie O’Connor being led away to the nearby police vehicle.
Eden walked over to one of the two uniformed police officers who were already on the scene and held up his ID. “What have we missed?”
“It appears the woman walked in with a gun and fired at a couple sitting in the corner. The owner appears to have stopped the intended victim from being killed by jumping in front of the bullet. A bloody hero, according to a lady who witnessed the whole thing. The woman then tried to shoot again, and the owner stopped her, and the shot hit a young man who came in with the shooter. He was hit in the stomach. He’s on his way to the hospital, and so is the hotel owner.”
Once all the witness statements had been gathered, Paddy led the two detectives to the main office and gave them a backup copy of the CCTV showing the incident as it had taken place.
Tracy, ending a call, said, “Paddy, I’ve just heard from the hospital. Gerry’s going to be okay. It will take a few weeks of recovery, but he should be as good as new. Just be prepared, once the newspapers get wind of what’s happened you’ll get bombarded. He’s a hero for saving that lady.”
“You worked with him so you both know what he’s like. He’s always been the same. Act first, think about safety later.”
“Yes we know what he’s like, Paddy. He was a great copper. Maybe you should rename the place Hero’s Hotel.”
“Oh God no. That would only encourage
