Stephen Leather - The birthday girl

Freeman said.

'We'll see,' Utsyev countered.

'Let me do it, Bzuchar,' Jenny said eagerly.

'Quiet.' He narrowed his eyes at Freeman. 'Suppose someone killed your daughter? Wouldn't you want revenge?'

Freeman looked him straight in the eyes. 'I'd want justice. Not revenge.'

'How very fucking civilised of you…'

'He was going to rape me!' Mersiha blurted out.

Utsyev looked at Katherine. 'See – she doesn't even deny it.'

'If your brother was trying to hurt her, of course she'd defend herself.'

'She went there with a gun!' Utsyev screamed. 'She went to see my brother with a fucking gun and she shot him dead.' He was waving his gun around and Freeman could see that he was close to firing it.

Katherine moved to stand by her husband. 'Don't hurt her,' she pleaded. 'If it's revenge you want, then kill me. Kill me!'

'Katherine, no!' Mersiha shouted. 'Don't beg. Please don't beg. It won't work.'

Utsyev was breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he glared at them. He aimed the gun at Katherine, then swung his arm sideways. 'I'm going to shoot the little bitch first.' He squeezed the trigger, but before he could fire Freeman moved in front of his daughter.

'No!' he said. 'You can't.'

Jenny stepped forward and slammed the butt of her gun against Freeman's temple, knocking him to the ground. 'We can do what the fuck we want,' she said. She turned to Utsyev.

'Let me, Bzuchar. Let me kill him.'

'You always had a thing about father figures,' Utsyev said evilly. He grinned and waved his gun at Freeman. 'Go ahead.'

Jenny brought her gun to bear on Freeman as he knelt on the floor, holding his hands to his bleeding temple. Katherine screamed and threw herself at Jenny, grabbing hold of the weapon and kneeing her in the stomach. The air burst from Jenny's throat and she doubled over. Bullets sprayed across the wall over the fireplace, shattering a mirror and screeching off the light-fittings. Katherine and Jenny fell on to the sofa, still fighting over the gun. It fired again and the television exploded.

Freeman staggered to his feet and headed unsteadily towards them. 'Katherine!' he shouted.

Utsyev fired his silenced gun and Freeman felt his right hand explode. He held it up to his face in astonishment. It was covered in blood and a chunk of flesh was missing from his palm, close to the base of the thumb. As he stared at die wound the pain hit and he gasped. He staggered backwards, his left hand holding his right wrist. Utsyev's gun coughed again and Freeman felt a bullet slam into his right leg. He fell sideways and crashed to the floor. Utsyev stood over him, grinning. 'How does it feel, Freeman?' he hissed. 'How does it feel to die?'

On the sofa, Katherine was screaming. Freeman looked over at her. She was flat on her back with Jenny on top, the submachine-gun between them. It went off again and bullets ripped into the ceiling. Bits of wood and plaster floated around them like a light snowfall.

Freeman saw Mersiha standing at the end of the sofa. She was looking right at him, as if there were no one else in the room. Her hand moved behind her back and reappeared with a gun. He saw her flick the safety catch off with her thumb. She was still looking directly at him. Katherine screamed again. Jenny was forcing the barrel of the Ingram down towards her face, her finger still on the trigger. Freeman looked back at Mersiha. She had the gun up but she was still looking at him. He knew what she was waiting for. His permission. His approval. Katherine screamed again. Mersiha's mouth opened a fraction. She licked her lips nervously. Her eyes darted over to look at Katherine and Jenny fighting on the sofa, then back to Freeman. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that unless he said it was okay she wouldn't fire the gun. She'd made him a promise and only he could release her from it. It was up to him. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, he nodded, looking deep into her eyes as he did so.

Mersiha whirled around, both hands on the butt of the gun, and fired, two shots. Jenny was knocked backwards over the sofa, her blood smearing down the wall as she fell against it.

Utsyev roared like a bull and swung his gun around. Freeman lashed out with his left leg, catching the man just below the knee and knocking him off balance. Mersiha fired again and put two bullets in his chest. He fell to his knees, then keeled over backwards. Mersiha let the gun drop to the floor.

Katherine rolled off the sofa, coughing and spluttering.

She gasped when she saw Freeman on the floor, bleeding from his hand and leg. She crawled over to him and hugged him so tightly that the breath was forced from his body. 'I love you, Tony,' she whispered, her breath warm against his ear.

'It's okay,' he said.

'No,' she said, firmly. 'I mean I love you. I really love you.'

She looked at him long and hard with a burning intensity that left him in no doubt what she meant. He returned the look.

'It's okay,' he repeated. She struggled to find the right words to say, but Freeman shook his head. 'Don't say anything,' he said. 'Just hold me.' Katherine burst into tears. She held him in her arms.

Mersiha knelt down beside Freeman and she and Katherine helped him to his feet.

Utsyev had lost all feeling below the waist, and a cold numbness was spreading across his upper body. He could feel his lifeblood oozing out of his chest, and knew that he was dying. He could hear his brother's voice, calling to him from the distance, calling for him to come and play. It was Gilani as a child, a small boy who wanted nothing more than to play in the fields and catch fish in the river. Utsyev could feel himself slipping away, but something was holding him back. There was something he had to do. One last thing.

He concentrated on his right hand until he could feel the hard metal between his fingers, and then he forced himself to open his eyes. The pain returned and the room felt as if it was spinning. His eyes closed and the blackness enveloped him, but he fought against it, pushing it away, telling himself that all he had to do was this one thing and then he could go and play with Gilani. His eyes flickered open and he looked down over his bleeding body to where Freeman was being held up by his wife and daughter. He felt himself start to slip away again. The hand that lay by his side felt as if it belonged to – someone else. He was controlling it, he was raising the hand ¦ with the gun, but it felt as if he were watching the action from somewhere else. From somewhere outside the body. He pointed the gun at them, his hand wavering. Freeman passed through the sights, then the woman, then die girl. He aimed between Mersiha's shoulder-blades and fought to keep the gun steady as his finger tightened on the trigger. He concentrated all he had left on the index finger of his right hand. At the last moment, Freeman saw him. His mouth opened to shout a warning, but it was too late. Utsyev fired, then the gun fell from his hand as he died.

Freeman screamed as Mersiha pitched forward as if she'd been punched in the back. 'Dad…' she moaned as her legs gave way.

He grabbed her, but she was a dead weight in his arms.

'No!' Katherine shouted as Freeman laid her gently down on the wooden floor. 'No!'

'Get me something to stop the bleeding,' Freeman said, cradling Mersiha's head in his lap. Blood was still pouring from his hand and leg but his own injuries didn't concern him. All he could think about was Mersiha.

'What?'

'Anything. A cloth. A towel. Anything.'

Katherine ran past Utsyev's unmoving body to the kitchen.

'Dad, it hurts,' Mersiha whispered.

'I know, pumpkin. I know. You'll be all right.'

Katherine returned with a towel. She knelt down by Freeman.

'Press it against her back,' he said, lifting her. She positioned the towel over the entry wound and then Freeman laid her down again so that her weight would keep it in position.