Oh God, don’t let him give the all clear for his goons to rape me, not in front of Sean!
Anderton came to within a few inches of her and Sean. “Nothing to say for yourselves?” he sneered. “You think you can follow me and expect me not to notice? What type of cops are you? Keystone comes to mind.” He laughed at his own joke.
Paula Thatcham emerged from the back of the limo.
Anderton held out his hand for hers. “Come join me, my love. Now, what do you think we should do with our guests?”
Paula’s gaze avoided Katy’s, and she shrugged. “No idea. I want nothing to do with this.”
“It’s too late, Paula, we know you’re involved. You disposed of your husband, that’s what started this investigation off. It was only a matter of time before we discovered the intricacies of your combined plan,” Katy shouted.
Paula’s mouth opened and shut.
Anderton flung an arm around her shoulder. “Ha, call yourself a detective? She had nothing to do with this. I killed off her old man. He deserved to die after cheating on her. You think she warranted scum like that doing the dirty on her? No. I made it my mission to dispose of him. All right, my men screwed up, it was my intention to steal his boat, but don’t worry, my men were punished for fucking up.”
“I didn’t want him killed off. I would have left him, eventually,” Paula said, a deep frown wrinkling her pale brow.
He took her hands in his and smiled. “He wronged me, more importantly, he wronged you, my love. You deserve to be treated like a princess, he neglected to do that.”
“Most of the time he was good to me.”
“Most of the time…our future will centre around me always treating you right.”
“If you’re prepared to do anything for me then let the officers go.”
He stared at her, shock set into the wrinkles around his eyes. “What? Why? I need this transaction to go ahead this evening. It’ll be the making of us. If I let them go, they’ll jeopardise everything.”
Paula shook her head. “I don’t want any part of this. I haven’t got a clue what your intentions are but I want nothing to do with it.” She walked back towards the car. “Driver, take me home.”
Katy saw something glint off to the right. Her gaze homed in and spotted an armed officer taking aim. She glanced at Sean. He was watching her. She mouthed discreetly, “Follow my lead.”
She bowed her head low and wrenched her arm out of the goon’s hand and ran at the other bloke holding Sean. He did the same and head-butted the thug who’d been guarding Katy. Shots were fired.
Anderton’s men withdrew their guns and returned fire on the ART. In the melee, Katy shouted for Sean to run with her. They managed to make it behind one of the containers before bullets came hurtling towards them as Anderton ordered his men to attack.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I think I got hit.” He stared down at his hand covered in blood.
“Shit! Where?” Katy forgot all about the danger surrounding them and tended to the gaping wound in his side. She tore off her jacket and pressed it on to the wound. “This is going to hurt. I want you to know I take little pleasure in doing this, sir.”
Sean’s smile was faint, and he whispered, “I believe you, Inspector. Save yourself, Katy. Don’t worry about me.”
“No way. We’re in this together.” She peered around the edge of the container. Shots lit up the darkness, and the noise almost deafened her. Then there was silence.
Why? What the hell was going on? She peeked around the corner again. Anderton and his goons were sprawled out on the concrete. The driver was kneeling beside the vehicle, his hands behind his head amidst shouted commands from the ART.
A car screeched to a halt behind Katy’s. It was Charlie.
Katy’s voice sounded strained as she called out to her partner. “Over here, Charlie. Get an ambulance. We need help.”
Charlie hurtled towards her, speaking into her phone as she ran, Patrick not far behind her. “My God, what happened?”
Relief swept through Katy. “It’s Sean, he’s been hit, he’s losing a lot of blood.”
“Fuck!” Charlie shouted. “The ambulance is on its way. We heard over the radio that shots had been fired and left our post, I’m sorry.”
“Nonsense. You did the right thing.” Katy swept a stray strand of hair off Sean’s forehead. “Are you all right, Sean?”
“I think so. How long?”
“Not long. I can hear them approaching now. Stay with us, don’t you fall asleep now.” It was too late, his eyes slipped shut. “Sean, Sean, don’t you dare die.”
“Leave him to me.” Charlie swivelled Sean off Katy’s lap and, laying him flat on the ground, she began CPR. “Don’t you dare give up on us, Sean Roberts. What the fuck would Lorne say if you gave up now?”
Pump, pump, pump.
The sirens wailed and got ever nearer.
Katy leapt to her feet. “Patrick, direct them to us. Hurry.”
He bolted out to the road, and within seconds, two paramedics appeared carrying bags.
“All right, what have we got?” the older male paramedic asked.
“Gunshot wound to the side. Charlie has been giving him CPR. Please, you have to save him. Don’t let him die.”
“I’ll do my best. Tracy, keep up the CPR.”
The female paramedic took over from Charlie who stood and clutched Katy’s hand. “I did my best.”
“You did. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Katy watched the male paramedic inject a clear liquid into Sean’s vein. Her heart was heavy now. On the verge of tears, she watched the paramedics work hard and fast to revive him.
The defibrillator was unveiled from one of the bags. The female ripped open Sean’s shirt and attached the paddles. His whole body jolted as the surge ran through him, not once but twice.
Charlie glanced at Katy. Katy shook her head, fearing the worst. She offered up a silent
