around the coffee table then kicked it over as Kirzek lurched around the sofa. He stumbled at first then charged across the room towards me. I raced to the front door but stopped to avoid having my back to him. Swivelling, I ducked low as he swung the knife in a broad arc. It hit off-centre, slashing the side of my neck, and I was able to sidestep and run down the hall towards my bedroom. My knee crunched against the skirting board as Kirzek brought me down with a crash tackle.
‘Now I will hear it,’ he wheezed in my ear. ‘You will scream like pig.’
My whole body felt like it was squashed in a vice and my knee throbbed in pain. Kirzek twisted my head and forced me to look him in the eye.
‘I gave you plenty chance. Now look what happens,’ he said, a smile spread across his meaty face.
‘You’re a filthy cockroach,’ I snapped back. ‘You won’t be safe anywhere. Even in protective custody they’ll make you eat your own shit.’
He chuckled, wiped at sweat on his forehead.
‘You think I will go to prison? Let me tell you something, I will never go back. Never.’
‘Right.’
‘It is shame about your bitch wife, huh. Pity we not have more time. Pity for her. Maybe I spend some time with her after I finish here.’
‘She’s a grown woman, Kirzek. Don’t you like them younger?’
A look of alarm passed over his face.
‘We know what’s on the laptop. We know about everything. The Holy Brethren’s going down. No one walks away from this.’
Somewhere outside I heard Cassie yelling, but I couldn’t focus on the words. I couldn’t focus on anything any more. All I saw was the knife, smeared with my own blood, striking towards me, then three loud cracks splintered the blackness, jolting Kirzek like a fit. His eyes fixed to mine as the knife fell to the floor. I looked back up the hall and saw Cassie in silhouette, gun trained on Kirzek’s body.
33
AS SOON AS I’D BEEN CLEANED up and had my neck stitched, I checked on Ella, who’d been treated and was under observation in an emergency department cubicle. After that, the questioning lasted three hours. Ben Eckles, Ian Gurt of ESD, Nik Stello, Cassie and I all squeezed into a tiny visitors room at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. I leant forward on my plastic chair and let out a long sigh. I was stiff and rigid and the stitches in my neck pulled tight every time I turned my head. The local anaesthetic had worn off and fatigue left me parched and moody.
‘It’s ironic,’ Eckles said. ‘We send out half the friggin’ force looking for this prick, and he heads straight for your place. How’d he even know where you live?’
I had no idea. ‘Maybe he rang your office and asked for an address,’ I said, not wanting to talk any more.
Apparently Kirzek had used a rope to gain access to my balcony, three storeys above street level. I often didn’t bother to lock those doors, assuming no burglar would ever attempt the climb. I was still amazed that a man his size could manage it. Guess it wasn’t all fat after all. I’d have to make up a story of some sort for Edgar so he didn’t freak out on me.
‘Is that it?’ Cassie said to Gurt, who’d scribbled everything we said in his daybook.
The fact they’d allowed Cassie and me to be quizzed informally, and in the same room, indicated that they weren’t interested in using the shooting against us. Just as well. We’d effectively captured and shot a suspected serial killer who’d evaded both the Homicide Squad and the Special Operations Group. To go after Cassie for the shooting would mean bringing about their own undoing for the foiled arrest.
‘That’s it for now,’ Gurt said, closing his book. ‘There’ll be more to come though. We’ll need it on record, from both of you.’
Stello stood, stretched his legs. ‘Hope we can contain it, keep the media off it.’
‘You will,’ Cassie said. ‘What’s happening with the priest, by the way? Miles Jorgensen?’
‘Ah, we’re holding on to him,’ said Stello, looking at Eckles, then back at me. ‘Thanks for your help on that too. Kirzek’s car was around the corner from your place. Had the laptop in it. It’s a real doozy. We’ve got the techs on it as we speak. They’ve struck a list of what looks like coded phone numbers and email addresses. It’ll probably