over her face.
Juite the little fighter, aint you,?Eugene said, clearly not regarding the ten-year-olde struggle as anything more than a minor setback.
Lauren wriggled her head forward a few centimetres. When she felt the base of Eugenee fingernail pressing against her lips, she bit down hard. The knee slipped off her stomach as the bite sent the old man into a spasm.
Temporarily abandoning his murder attempt to concentrate on his finger, Eugene snatched the pillow away. With the finger still clamped between her teeth, Lauren inhaled through her nose and, now she could see what she was doing, aimed the pointed end of the Biro into the soft tissue at the side of Eugenee throat. The pen sounded like a sink plunger, as the metal point speared his wrinkled flesh.
Lauren let the finger out of her mouth as Eugene slumped across the bed, wailing in agony. Lauren pulled her legs from under him and knocked him cold with a two-footed Karate kick to the side of the head.
Shaking with fear and clutching her painful stomach, Lauren rolled off the bed and lifted the corner of the mattress to retrieve the Glock handgun shet seen James stash there the night before. She flipped the safety off and quickly checked the bathroom and the floor beside the other bed, terrified she was about to discover her brothere suffocated body.
She held the gun two-handed as she crept into the connecting room, again checking between the beds. The bathroom gave Lauren a shock: Eugene had carefully set out knives and polythene sheeting to dispose of her body.
Lauren was still no closer to knowing what had happened to James. Maybe Eugene had knocked him out while he was sleeping and dragged him off to be suffocated in another room, or maybe het been invited downstairs for an early breakfast with Bill and Curtis. You might as well let Lauren sleep in if shee tired. Eugene will look after her ?
With Eugene unconscious and James?fate a mystery, Lauren knew she had no option but to call Marvin. As she picked up the receiver, she heard someone enter the next room.
Realising she had surprise on her side, Lauren crept towards the connecting door, but managed to stub her bare toe on the leg of a table. Her tiny gasp was enough to send the figure in the next room diving into the shadows behind one of the beds before shet got a proper look at him.
ite got a gun,?Lauren shouted as she leaned into the doorway, squeezing the trigger to fire a warning shot.
Lauren didnt realise the Glock was capable of repeat fire, or that shet inadvertently flipped it to automatic when she took off the safety. She felt like there was a high-pressure hose in her hands, as the recoil from half a dozen bullets shoved her backwards. The shots plunged into the wall, smashed the mirrored front of a wardrobe and knocked clumps of plaster out of the ceiling. Lauren ended up sprawled backwards over one of the beds.
A stunned shout came out through the dust clouds and broken glass in the next room. ite me,?James coughed, as he stood up with his hands in the air.
Lhere the hell did you disappear to without bothering to wake me up? I nearly got killed.?
James stepped through the dust and snatched the gun from his sister. Lental gun, eh??he said. ite what the SAS use. Youte supposed to stand with one leg behind the other so it doesnt push you backwards.?
To wheree Curtis??
On his way to the棐
Before James finished speaking, the locks in both room doors clicked simultaneously. James spun around, ready to spray more bullets.
ABI,?Warren shouted, aiming a gun into the room.
Ill safe,?James and Lauren shouted back frantically.
John and Theo had rushed into the other room and ended up staring at James through the connecting door.
Le heard the gunfire. What happened??John asked.
The unconscious guy with the Biro sticking out of his neck just tried to smother me,?Lauren explained matter-offactly.
That doesnt make sense,?James said. Lhat about the Canadian passports we saw last night??
慙ook for yourself if you dont believe me,?Lauren said, pointing indignantly towards the bathroom. i dont go round sticking people with Biros for the fun of it you know.?
James, John, Warren and Theo peeked at the equipment laid out in the bathroom. James felt queasy when he imagined what had nearly happened.
Lasnt Jane Oxford supposed to be loyal to people who help her out??James asked bitterly.
Le clearly overestimated the extent of that loyalty,?Theo said. But the