THE END
‘I could just shoot you in the leg. People think that’s a kindness, a chance, but they’re wrong.’ The voice was deep and clear. No-nonsense, South London, civil. It took her a moment to process the words. They couldn’t be right; they couldn’t be real. They didn’t fit in her world. ‘See, if I hit the giant artery that runs down your leg,’ he paused, waved the gun to indicate the length of the artery, the target, ‘then you’re dead in a matter of minutes. Even if I just nick the femoral artery but don’t apply a tourniquet, there’ll be a rapid drop in blood pressure, and combined with the inevitable blood loss, again, you’ll be dead in minutes.’ He paused and added, ‘I’m not gonna apply a tourniquet.’ He laughed at the thought. She was struck by the theatre he was providing. He wasn’t panicked. He was practised. He knew about death. He’d killed before. ‘Or, I could shoot you in the arm. The brachial artery. That takes a bit longer. I’d watch you go into decompensated hypovolemic shock.’ He said the words quickly, confidently. Sniffing, he added, ‘Ugly, that.’
Connie thought she was already in shock. She’d frozen. She had to do something, she knew that, but what? What?
‘It’s a lot of money.’ He shook his head, almost regretful.
‘I can pay it back.’
‘Can you though? Because now I’m looking at you and I’m thinking, cheat or liar? You see, if you can pay it back but haven’t when I’ve asked, and asked so nicely, then you’re a cheat. If you can’t pay it back, liar.’ He paused. ‘I don’t like cheats or liars.’
Connie had expected the conversation to go on. To buy her a little more time to get her thoughts together, to act, but then bang. Sudden and irretractable. The sound of gunshot ricocheted around the warehouse.
One moment there was something – hope, possibility, a chance. The next, there was a lot of blood. She pressed her hands over the wound. An actual hole, in flesh, it was inconceivable. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t breathe. The blood spluttered through her fingers. She thought she was going to be sick or faint. There was screaming, she was screaming. Her vision began to sway, she felt sweat prickle up all over her body from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head. Her body felt like liquid but was also convulsing; a jarring, jerking electric solidness. Someone turned down the volume, dampened it, stretched out the tape recording of her life. The seconds lengthened and struggled. How long did she have?
She thought of the blood that she had encountered in her life to date, all of it to do with her children. Her periods, their births, their childhood injuries, their periods. Now this. A gunshot wound.
Our Beautiful Mess by #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Adele Parks is out now in hardback, eBook and audiobook and coming to a shelf near you in paperback on March 12th . Get you copy here.
Synopsis
Connie is determined to bring her family together, but explosive revelations and long-held secrets are set to destroy everything important in her world …
Connie can’t wait to have her daughters back home for the holidays. Fran is bringing a new boyfriend to stay, and the empty nest will once again be full of friends, family and young love.
Yet from the moment she sees Zac, Connie knows trouble is coming. Zac reminds her of the worst mistake she has ever made: a man whose charm and good looks nearly destroyed her marriage. She doesn’t want him in Fran’s world, but then Fran announces she’s pregnant.
Connie is terrified that her past is going to threaten her family’s future, but there’s a greater menace looming. She’s not the only one who has something to hide. Someone in the house has another devastating secret. A deception which will put everyone Connie loves in shocking danger, and one of them will pay the ultimate price.