‘Why would you do such a thing? Especially to a woman who has risked her life to save you. Especially in front of her father. What? You kill her and then us? Then where do you go? Jail forever. But maybe this is what you have become. Maybe this is how you feel you need to be now – as evil and sick as the man who –’

Suddenly Amber swung the pistol at Elise. As she did, Klara slugged her in the face. Amber reeled backward, pulling the trigger at the same time. The explosion was vast, deafening. She fell toward the sofa, waving the gun again. I jumped at her, grabbing her arm, pinning it against the sofa. She tried to pull the trigger again, but Klara was now over her, slapping her repeatedly across the face. Screaming:

‘You fucking, fucking idiot! You want me to throw you back to LA, back to the wolves?’

Amber began to howl. Klara slapped her again.

‘Drop the fucking gun.’

More howls. Another slap. Even louder howls. I tightened my grip on her wrist, ready to snap it if she tried to again pull the trigger. Elise had thrown herself behind the counter when the gun had gone off. Now coming back to her feet, she walked over to the sofa and grabbed Klara’s hand just as she was about to administer another slap.

‘No more of that,’ she said to her, then turned to Amber.

‘I know you are crazy angry, crazy furious at the world. You have every right to be. But Klara is correct: this is madness. This is turning against everyone who wants to help you. Adopting the same tactics as the man who has been a monster to you. But again, you must understand: we are here for you. You have to stop now. And trust us. We are your only hope.’

Amber closed her eyes. She dropped the gun. I scooped it up. After letting go of her wrist with my other hand she collapsed into Elise’s arms, wailing, out of control. Klara fell back against the sofa, beyond stressed. I picked her up, raised her to her feet, put my arms around her and held her for a very long time. Then I whispered in her ear:

‘You are gonna take ten years off my life.’

She buried her head in my shoulder and started to sob. Klara was someone who never sobbed.

‘Let’s go outside,’ she finally said.

Klara turned to Elise, her arms still around Amber, asking:

‘You can handle this?’

Elise nodded.

We stepped outside. I fished out my pack of cigarettes and handed it to Klara.

‘Give me the Glock,’ she said.

‘How do you know its make?’ I said.

‘Because it’s my damn gun.’

‘Since when the fuck did you get a gun?’

‘Since doing this work. There are a lot of angry men out there who resent having time called on their violence toward women.’