A Family Divided (Dividing Line #3) (29 page)

“
I’m trying to get you out of here, that’s the deal.”

She looked back at Ryan, who
’d fallen to the floor when he’d been released and was trying to push himself upright, but he was too weak and fell face down on the floor again.

“
I’m not leaving him.”

Nick was helpless to stop her as she wrenched herself free. Rachel crouched behind a kitchen unit and watched as several large dark shapes swarmed into the kitchen, shooting at the panicking Jordans, chasing them through the house. Taking a deep breath, she ran into the battle to reach her husband
’s side, being careful to keep low.

“
Ryan,” she said, shaking his shoulder. “Please Babe wake up.”

He managed to lift his head.
“Rachel?”

“
Put your arm around me, I’ll help you.”

He did, feet scrambling on the tiled floor that was now slippery with blood, snatching up the gun dropped by Kurt. A cry of pain flew from his lips as he put weight on his injured knee. Rachel staggered beneath his weight but they managed to keep upright. They couldn
’t reach the back door leading outside because of the gunfight, so they were forced to go the way Nick had been trying to lead her, deeper into the house.

Nick watched Ryan and Rachel leave the room with a sigh of relief and scurried across the room towards his brother, who had barricaded himself behind the pantry door and was shooting at the intruders. Nick snuck in behind him.

“Jesus Christ, what’s going on?” exclaimed Robbie. “Who are they?”

“
No idea,” lied Nick before whacking his brother around the back of the head with the butt of his gun.

Robbie dropped to the floor, unconscious and Nick ducked out of the pantry and locked him in. There was a loud bang to his right and he felt warm blood splatter his face and clothes. In the trickle of moonlight filtering in through the now shattered windows he saw his cousin Gavin drop to the floor, a large hole in his stomach. Two enormous figures swung their shotguns round at him and he let his gun clatter to the floor as he held up his hands.
“Easy, it’s me.”

The figures stared at him hard, not lowering their weapons and Nick felt sweat trickle down his spine.

CHAPTER 25

Rachel gasped for breath, her battered body wracked with pain as she staggered beneath Ryan’s weight, doing her best to get him away from the gunfire. Two figures darted out in front of her. It was Jan and Chris. They skidded to a halt when they saw them. Chris’s face lit up with an evil grin as he raised his gun. All Rachel could do was stand there helplessly as he prepared to shoot them. There were two loud bangs, a spray of red and Chris dropped, having failed to see the gun in Ryan’s hand. As Chris fell, Ryan gave a breathy wheeze and the weapon clattered from his hand. He slumped to the floor, his energy spent.

Jan and Rachel stared at each other across the hall. Jan scrambled for the gun Chris had dropped but Rachel flew at her, kicking the weapon from her hand. Then Rachel snapped. The sounds of gunfire, the shouts and screams, even Chris
’s dead body lying on the floor receded away from Rachel until all she knew was the need to inflict as much physical pain on this evil woman as she could, thinking only of her son who had died and her husband who had nearly died, all because of her plotting.

Jan
’s face crumpled beneath the repeated blows, her attempts to fight back futile as Rachel refused to let up, grabbing a handful of her short spiky hair and slamming her head into the wall repeatedly. When Rachel kicked her, Jan stumbled backwards and crashed through a plate glass door, landing on her back on the floor of a small sitting room.

Rachel snatched up a shard of razor sharp glass, leapt on Jan and pressed it to her throat.
“This is for my son and husband you bitch.”

The cold steel pressing against the back of her head caused her to freeze and Jan
’s bloody mouth twisted into a smile.

“
Shoot her Robbie.”

“
Drop the glass,” said Robbie, breathing hard from the effort of breaking down the pantry door.

“
No,” retorted Rachel coolly. This was her revenge and no one was taking it from her.

“
Drop it or I’ll kill you.”

“
I’ll still take her with me.”

Nick raced into the room, followed by all the Maguire men, the sounds of battle ceasing. The war had been won.

“Don’t do it Robbie,” exclaimed Nick. “Let her go.”

“
She’s going to kill Mum,” Robbie cried back, completely bewildered. Then realisation dawned. “You cut the power, you let them in.”

“
Damn right I did, in exchange for your life and mine.”

“
You fucking traitor. How can you turn against your own family?” he declared, the gun still pressed to the back of Rachel’s head, who in turn held the shard of lethally sharp glass to Jan’s throat.

“
Because she killed Dad and Andy.”

“
Bollocks.”

“
It’s true. Everything Rachel said was right. Mum was shagging Chris and they topped them together, so they could have power.”

“
Is it true Mum?” said Robbie, so bemused he looked to be on the verge of tears.

“
No. Kill her before she kills me,” she rasped, blood bubbling on her lips.

“
You do Robbie and you and your brother are dead,” said Alex in a cold, hard voice. “Rachel, drop the glass and move away.”

“
No. She killed my son and nearly killed Ryan.”

“
Rachel,” rasped a weak voice. She looked up to see Ryan being borne into the room on Bruiser’s big arm. “Don’t do it, you’re better than this.”

Her face crumpled into tears.
“She killed Thomas.”

“
I know Sweetheart,” he said, struggling to talk through his mouthful of broken teeth and swollen lips. “But if you kill her then nothing will ever be the same again.”

She knew what he was saying. Rachel had never actually killed anyone before, apart from Superintendent Jarvis, but that was only because she didn
’t intervene when he had a heart attack. Slitting someone’s throat while looking directly into their eyes was a very different matter. All their hopes of a life free of criminal activity would be over because she would forever be a changed woman.

Rachel threw down the glass and she felt the metal against the back of her head removed. She rushed to Ryan and buried her face in his chest, who did his best to hold her with his damaged arms.

“If you don’t drop that gun Robbie you’re fucking mincemeat,” said Frankie, drawing the engraved hatchet from its case. “You see this you hag faced, nippy fucking sweetie,” he snarled, tilting the blade so Jan could get a good look at her own name. “This is going to chop you up so small you won’t need a coffin, a matchbox will do and your little boy too if he doesn’t drop that fucking gun.”

“
No don’t, please,” said Nick. He turned his attention back to his brother. “Robbie, listen to me. Do you honestly think Dad would have walked into that warehouse to meet the Slatterys with just one person? No way. He would have taken all of us with him. He thought he was meeting Chris, who said he had Vic Slattery waiting for him, done up like a fucking kipper. But he never did, it was just bait.”

Robbie was looking more and more uncertain. Of all his family, Nick was the one he looked up to, the one he trusted most.
“Mum?” he said helplessly.

She was ghost white with blood loss and when she gave a derisive laugh, more of it poured from her mouth.

“He was so fucking weak,” she gasped. “He was going to have our family running round after the Slatterys like lapdogs. I couldn’t allow that. We’re Jordans, we’re better than that. He’d lost his bottle, couldn’t face battling them anymore.”

“
So you decided to get him out of the way,” said Nick in a cold hard voice. “Why Andy? How could you do that to your own boy?”

“
Because he was just as weak as your dad. If he’d taken over he’d still have caved in to the Slatterys.” Her eyes filled with disgust. “Just like you’ve caved in to the Maguires, you’re even weaker than they were.”

“
Keep your insults Jan,” retorted Nick, unable to bring himself to call her mum. “All I care about is keeping me and my brother alive.”

Robbie looked back to his mum.
“Please tell me it’s not true.”

She released a gurgle, which they all translated as a laugh.
“You’re as bad as the rest of them, whining little puppy. I should have drowned you both at birth. Chris was more of a man than either of you.”

“
You dirty old bitch, he was your nephew for fuck’s sake,” exclaimed Nick. “And Rachel was right, you do want to be her but you’re nothing compared to her. Now the whole family’s dead, all of them. There’s only us three left, but God only knows for how much longer. Jesus, I can’t believe this.”

Robbie was staring down at his mother in horror.
“You’ve destroyed us. Does that mean anything to you?”

All she did was release that horrid gurgling laugh, eyes rolling about in her head.

“You know there’s only one solution to this mess?” Alex said quietly.

Nick nodded. He
’d have to do something that was utterly repellent to him if he and his brother were to survive. “Give me the gun Robbie.”

“
Why?” he said, looking panic-stricken.

“
You know why,” he sighed. Nick hadn’t felt so tired in his whole life. All he wanted to do was curl up and sleep but there was much to be done first.

“
But…” Robbie looked down at his mother helplessly, who stared back at him with derision in her hard eyes.

“
Still so weak,” she smirked.

“
Surely there’s another way?” said a desperate Robbie.

“
Jeezo,” sighed an irritated Frankie. “Fucking southern poof. We might wear the skirts in my country but you’re the fucking girls. Get out of my way, I want to try out this wee beauty,” he said, gripping the hatchet in one hand and swinging it through the air.

“
Wait Frankie. They have to do this, to prove where their loyalties now lie,” Alex told him, gesturing to the Jordan brothers.

“
Aye, I suppose,” he said, disappointed. “But I still want my pound of flesh.”

He brought down the axe, severing Jan
’s left hand at the wrist, causing her to scream, the sound like fingernails down a chalkboard.

“
That’s for Tony and Andy you mad bitch,” he spat in her face. Frankie looked to Rachel. “Want to take your own, for your son?”

She looked at the hatchet he held out to her, gazed at the drop of blood sliding from the blade in fascination, then looked to the woman who was finished, lying helpless on the floor. Robbie was completely distraught but even after everything she
’d done, she was still his mum and for a second Rachel thought she couldn’t do it. But the memory of her little boy cold in her arms, murdered by this woman, filled her with resolve. Jan hadn’t had any concern for her child, so why should she have any for hers? Ryan wouldn’t have hesitated. This was the revenge he’d been after to finally bring him some peace, he needed this but he wasn’t physically capable, so it was down to her.

“
Thank you Frankie,” she said, accepting the hatchet from him.

Rachel took a couple of deep breaths, praying she had the strength left, her battered body aching to rest. She needn
’t have worried. The sharpened blade passed through bone and sinew like it was butter and another scream filled the air.

Declan thought he might throw up. This was his trial by fire, to show he was worthy of joining the Maguires. Now he
’d proved himself his brothers would be invited to join too. He’d killed someone tonight for the first time, shot them point blank in the face. Until that moment he hadn’t understood how a shotgun worked, that it released an arc of lead that shredded anything in its path and it had obliterated the man’s entire head. Already he felt different inside but as yet he didn’t know how, he was still high on adrenaline. Neither could he believe that he’d just watched Rachel hack off another woman’s hand, for him that had been the most chilling part of the night. Despite the presence of so many dangerous men with guns, she was the scariest thing in the room.

Frankie picked up the appendage and held it out to Rachel.
“There you go. Get it mounted and put up on your wall.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose up at the dripping limb.
“Thanks but you keep it, then you’ve got the set.”

“
Nice idea,” he grinned, pulling a large Tupperware box from the holdall. Frankie had a collection of pieces from people who had upset him. Jan Jordan’s hands would no doubt take pride of place. “Look at that Jan,” he grinned, holding the box up for her to see. “You’re pretty ‘armless now. You get it, armless?”

Robbie appeared on the verge of passing out.
“This is so fucked up,” he murmured, eyes fixed on his mother writhing in agony. Lucky for her she was starting to ebb in and out of consciousness.

“
Do it now,” Frankie told Nick, “while she still knows what’s happening.”

Alex looked to Rachel and Ryan.
“Maybe you two should get out of here first?”

Rachel nodded. She wanted no more of this.
“Can someone give us a lift to the hospital?”

“
No, you can see my doctor instead. He’ll patch you up.” Alex had a special surgeon who patched up stab wounds and dug out bullets, completely separate to the one who tended to the women at his gentleman’s club. It was important those two worlds were kept entirely separate.

“
I’m not taking Ryan to that drunken old bastard, he needs a hospital,” she protested.

“
We can’t have the police sniffing round.”

“
He could have broken ribs, which could lead to punctured lungs and his knee’s broken. He needs proper medical care and don’t you dare try and stop us.”

“
Rachel, you can’t, surely you see that?”

“
I’ll give you a lift,” said Jez, putting his brother’s arm around his shoulders and helping him to his feet.

“
Jez…” began Alex.

But Jez cut him off.
“Don’t you fucking dare Alex. This mess is all down to your bad judgment and my brother almost died today to dig you out of the shit so don’t you dare tell him he can’t go to hospital.”

Alex appeared furious but decided it wasn
’t worth arguing over. “You make up a fucking good story, understand?”

Rachel gave him a disgusted look.
“Just make sure one of the coppers in your pocket gets sent to interview us.”

When Nick stood over his mum and aimed his gun at her face, Rachel, Ryan and Jez left. Rachel paused to look back, just able to see Jan
’s legs sticking out of the doorway, the men looking on solemnly. There was a loud bang and Jan’s legs jumped then went still. The person who had caused Thomas’s death was dead herself, but Rachel still felt empty inside.