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Back The Ringmaster Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. The Ringmaster
  3. Contents
  4. Prologue
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. Epilogue
  72. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  73. Copyright

‘How dare you, you fucking arsehole.’ My words reverberated around the silence of the room. ‘How fucking dare you.’

My index finger twitched as I looked into Phil’s shocked eyes and by God, it felt like it would be so easy to squeeze that trigger. So easy to destroy this creature, so very much easier than it had been with the last one.

‘Sam?’ Paul’s gentle voice broke my focus. My eyes flicked momentarily to the hand that he now carefully laid on my shoulder.

I breathed out, hard and heavy and my eyes moved back to the creature in front of me. It was pitiful.

I let my arms drop slightly, gun now pointed at Phil’s chest, and stepped back, suddenly conscious of the thudding of my heart, the acid in my gut, the tremor of my hands.

‘Check him for weapons,’ I said to Paul. After a quick pat down Paul held up, then unloaded a Glock 17, retrieved from Phil’s jacket. As suspected, he’d been prepared – he’d intended to continue his deadly blood sport.

My gaze flicked behind me to my mother, who had shuffled her chair around and now sat, bound, eyes scrunched shut and shoulders heaving with each sob. I felt devastated she’d been caught up in all this, an unwitting substitute in a sick man’s game.

I returned my focus back to the feeble, wimpering creature in front of me. So much heartbreak and devastation had been wrecked by this warped, sick man, and again I battled the wave of searing anger. It would be so easy to … but, justice needed to be served. I breathed out, finally relaxed my stance and dropped my arms down to my side. Then with as much venom as I could muster, I spat out the simple truth. ‘You’re not worth it, you piece of shit.’

Epilogue

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah, I am,’ I said, without lie.

‘This has all been one hell of a roller coaster ride.’

‘You’re not wrong there.’ Life had seemed so beautifully humdrum up until a month ago. My biggest concern had been an arsehole boss and which café served up the best coffee. Now everything in it had been inverted, shaken, twisted and squeezed.

‘Do you wish you’d killed him?’

I risked the honest answer. ‘Yes.’ I let the weight of my reply hang a few moments, before qualifying it. ‘My heart wishes I’d killed him, but my head knows it made the right decision. My head doesn’t always win those battles.’

I heard a gentle chuckle.

There was a long, comfortable silence. I replayed some of the scenes in my mind. Although still vivid, they did not feel as raw.

‘How’s your mum now? How’s she taken it all?’