Jacqui Rose - Fatal

‘Come on, boy, come on! We’re nearly there.’

Then, after jumping over the small stream and into the woods, Alice slowed Mac, giving him a chance to get his breath back before steeling herself to turn around.

In the distance she could see the clowns, but they were too far back to catch up. If she kept going up towards the road, which was a few miles along, she could hopefully flag someone over.

With tears of relief, full of determination, Alice ducked her head under the trees as Mac set off into a trot, heading up the hill to safety.

It felt to Alice like she’d been riding for hours, with the bushes and branches snatching and scratching on her skin, but finally she could see the road up ahead.

Exhausted, she guided Mac onto the lane, but a sense of dread engulfed her. Out of the trees she felt exposed and vulnerable on the wide tarmacked road, which wound and weaved through the hills. But there was no other route; the track she’d been on fell away, so the only means to get help was to continue along the lane.

As they walked along, Alice felt as if every noise and every movement of the trees was danger lying in wait. Then a sudden sound of a car behind them triggered Alice’s panic. She trembled in terror, sweat pricking at her forehead. She didn’t dare look back, even though the car was getting nearer and she could almost feel the heat from the engine. She tried to push Mac on to go faster, but the hard ground was too much for his unshod feet. Then Alice heard what she’d been dreading, the sound of the car door opening and feet running towards her.

A hand on her arm grabbed her, making her scream.

‘Alice! Alice! Stop, stop, it’s me.’

Covered in Sister Margaret’s blood, Alice stared at Cabhan. Her voice was almost unrecognisable. ‘Dad?’

‘Yes, baby, it’s me.’

Alice broke down in tears of relief as she leant forward, burying her face in Mac’s mane. ‘They killed her, Dad! They killed her! They just shot her and then … and then they began to call out my name.’

‘What?’ Cabhan’s voice was sharp with concern, though his hands were still gentle as he held onto his precious daughter.

Alice nodded frantically, her nose and eyes streaming. ‘Yeah, they kept calling out for me.’

‘Okay, okay, honey. Alice, Sshhh, it’s going to be okay, baby. Look who’s here with me.’

Alice glanced up into the face of Franny.

‘Hi, sweetheart,’ Franny said, her voice full of warmth and tenderness. ‘I’m so sorry you’ve been through all this, but we’re going to get you out of here. Like your dad says, it’s going to be all right, though we need to get you off this road and into the car.’

Distressed, Alice cried out, ‘What about Mac? I can’t leave him. He saved me.’

Franny smiled at Alice, speaking as gently as she could. ‘He’ll find his way home, the convent’s over there. He’ll be okay.’

Panic-stricken and wide-eyed, Alice cried as Franny glanced at Cabhan, ‘But they’re all dead, Franny.’

Wanting to, but not allowing herself to break down, Franny knew that she had to stay calm and she spoke a little more firmly. ‘Okay, baby, we’ll call someone; we’ll make sure they go and look after him. I promise you, he’ll be all right, okay?’

Alice nodded, trembling as Franny continued to talk. ‘But, Alice, we really need to get you off this road. I want to get you to a safer place.’

Franny turned to whisper to Cabhan as he lifted Alice off Mac, watching the woods.

‘It’s got to be them. It’s got to be Salvatore. This isn’t some random, crazed shooting. We need to get out of here before they find us and before the police get here. We need to disappear.’

Cabhan nodded, the full horror of the situation beginning to hit him as well. Why they’d thought it was some American-style school shooting, he didn’t know. Why hadn’t he just put two and two together, or maybe he had, maybe he just hadn’t wanted to believe it was the Russos.

‘Are you hurt?’ he asked Alice, wiping away the nun’s blood still covering her.

Alice shook her head against his chest, cradled in Cabhan’s arms as he carried her towards the car. He kissed her, whispering words he knew in his heart were hollow. ‘It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s all over now. Everything’s going to be all right.’

As Franny got in the car after quickly glancing back towards the woods, Cabhan gently placed Alice on the back seat, covering her with a blanket as she continued to shiver. And in the distance, in the shadow of the trees, stood Salvatore Russo, watching as Cabhan drove away at speed, and he smiled.

Nico Russo ruminated as he glanced out of the prison window. He sniffed the bitter espresso that he’d got one of the wardens to make, then took a sip. He sat watching his younger brothers, his expression as usual blank, the only giveaway sign of his seething and burning anger the muscles pulsating on his jaw line as he clenched his teeth, grinding them until they gave out a low screech.

Bobby, uncomfortable with the silence, which had hung in the air for the past five minutes, glanced around the empty visitors’ waiting room, locking eyes with the prison officers in the corner before turning away contemptuously. Trying to keep his voice light, but still with respect, he leant across the table, touching Nico’s hands.

‘Nico, both Sal and I did everything we could to get the girl.’

Laughing scornfully, Nico pulled his hands away before burying his fist in Bobby’s face, the force of the blow knocking him to the floor along with the coffee. Officer Johnstone went to make a move, but Nico raised his hand, indicating for him not to interfere.

‘How dare you come in here to disrespect me! You think I’m stupid, Bobby?’ Nico loomed over his brother, speaking dangerously low. ‘First, Salvatore goes behind my back by not telling me about the cocaine shipment …’ Nico paused as he stared at Salvatore angrily until he dropped his head as Bobby shot him a puzzled glance. ‘Now, you think you can come and give me excuses whilst I sit and rot in this place. She’s a kid. Sixteen. Fucking sixteen and she gave you two the runaround. I want her found, she’s mine. I want her. I want you to bring me her heart. You understand me? No more excuses.’

Getting up slowly and sucking the blood from his lips, Bobby shook his head. ‘Nico, it’s not an excuse, I don’t want you to think we didn’t try.’

Raging, Nico growled out his words. ‘This family was built on success, on honour, on men who could be counted on, but, in turn, this family will be destroyed by failure, by weakness, by motherfuckers like you. By my own brothers.’

‘Nico—’

Nico flew at Salvatore, grabbing hold of his face, squeezing and crushing it between his gigantic, rough hands. He shook, trembling with rage as he spoke, his mouth touching his brother’s cheeks. ‘I love you, Sal, you’re my own flesh and blood. You hurt, I hurt, whatever pains you, pains me, but I’ll break your neck right here, right now, if you continue to disrespect me. Understand?’

Salvatore gave a tiny nod. ‘ Sì .’

Then, taking a deep breath and exhaling noisily, Nico let go of his brother’s face and placed a kiss on the top of his head. ‘Good, good. I’m glad that we’ve got that sorted out … Now, give me your cell.’

Clearly relieved, Salvatore gave a small smile as he passed over his phone. Scrolling down the numbers, Nico came to the one he wanted, but just as he was about to click the call button, Officer Johnstone stood up.

‘Nico, you can’t have the phone in here. You’re not supposed to have phones in prison, you know that, and this block picks up unauthorised mobile signals. Use it when you get back to your wing, or we’ll both be in trouble.’