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Back Dead Horse Gap Save as PDF
Chapters (58)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Acknowledgements

A rustle of clothing told her that Heidi had moved away. And then the other woman’s knees cracked as she crouched down to pick something up. Fear of what was in the syringe drove strength into Sterling’s body. She wheeled around before the other woman could rise from her crouched position.

‘Don’t move,’ she said between gritted teeth, holding the barrel of the Glock flush against Heidi’s temple. ‘Drop the syringe . . . DROP IT!’

Only then did Sterling become aware of anything else; of people racing into the room. Her head was spinning, and her arm was beginning to shake, but not for a single second did she take her eyes off Heidi Lorrimer.

‘Sterling, did you get a needle stick?’ she heard Flowers ask, and it was the slight tremor in his voice that made her eyes sting and blur.

She shook her head, the gun still pressed to Heidi’s temple.

‘Drop the syringe,’ she heard Ryder say. ‘Don’t make this worse.’ Heidi lobbed the syringe onto the carpet, and in her peripheral vision Sterling saw Flowers step forward, pick it up and put it into an evidence bag. Flowers retreated and then Ryder was next to her with a set of handcuffs.

‘Sterling?’ Ryder said quietly. ‘We have her covered.’

Only then did Sterling turn her head and look towards the door. Both Flowers and Sergeant Collins had their pistols trained on Heidi. She didn’t know what kind of a shot Collins was, but she had no doubt Flowers would hit the mark.

She lowered her gun and passed it to Ryder. Then she took the handcuffs from him, waiting while he took hold of Heidi’s arm and helped her to her feet.

Sterling snapped the cuffs around the woman’s wrists. ‘Heidi Lorrimer,’ she said. ‘I’m arresting you on suspicion of the murder of your brother, Arthur Lorrimer Junior. You have the right to remain silent, but anything you do say, can and will be used as evidence against you in court . . .’

Forty-two

Flowers watched the paramedics leave, then Sergeant Collins guided Heidi into the back seat of his police car. Across the road, a small group of neighbours were gathered in a huddle, curious to see what all the commotion was about.

‘I’ll go with Collins,’ Ryder said, coming back to join Flowers where he was waiting outside the studio for Sterling. ‘There’s no major damage to Heidi’s eyes. One is badly scratched from Sterling’s nail, the other has a broken blood vessel. They’ve given her antibiotic eyedrops.’

Ryder dug in his pocket and handed Flowers the car key. ‘I grabbed my things from your car. Look, if Sterling decides she’s not up to coming, take her back to your place. You have plenty of room, don’t you? Or there’s a room at the Crystal Lake Motel, Jindabyne where she can stay. She has the key.’