Public Property (44 page)

Freya screamed
.
Sasha
tightened her grip
, holding
on to her again.

‘
And then there was nothing
.
N
o fighting for air
. N
o flailing around in the water
or
struggling for breath
.
Just the
sound of the crows overhead
.
Get the connection now? I thought it was fitting
. I gave
you a little insight into your demise
,’
Sasha
spoke, putting her mouth right up close to Freya’s ear.

‘
Miss Kelly
!
T
his is the
LAPD! Drop your weapon!’

The sound of a voice through a loud hailer startled both the women
.
Sasha
held Freya tighter and pushed the barrel of the gun hard against her temple.

‘
You’re wasting your time
,
o
fficers
!
I don’t care what you
’re planning to do to me.
S
he dies now
!’ Sasha screamed.

Freya could feel her heart beating hard against her chest. She couldn’t see anything but the white of the blindfold
.
The arrival of the
authorities was doing nothing
to quell her anxiety.
They weren’t on the bridge. Anything could happen.

‘
Sasha
, come on
.
W
hat’s going on?
’
Nicholas
yelled.

Sasha
turned her head
. Nicholas was
at the end of the bridge
, in front of the police. He began
slowly walking towards them.

‘
Nick
,’
Sasha
greeted in a soft voice.

‘
What are you doing here? What are you doing with Freya?
’

‘
I’m getting rid of her
,
Nick
.
F
or us
.
S
o we can be together. Oh
,
I’ve wanted to tell you so many
times
but it was never right. Something, or
should I say,
someone
always got in the way
.’

‘
Sasha
, let Freya go
.’

‘I will.
I’m going to
…
r
ight into the river, just like t
he Christian Fathers. She loves these bridges
.
I
t’s only fair she gets an ending she deserves
,’
Sasha
replied
.

Freya felt Sasha’s fingers loosen and she slipped forward again.

‘
I love you
,
Nick
,’ Freya called.

Tears were streaming down her face now as the reality of what has about to happen hit her.

‘
Shut up
,
b
itch!
’ She released the safety catch on the gun.

‘
Sasha
, this is crazy. Come on, y
ou don’t need to do this for us.
J
ust let her go
.’ He inched closer to them.

‘
I have to do this
.
S
he will always get in the way
. A
nd now there’s a brat
too
.
I
t will ruin everything
.’

‘No it won’t.
I promise it won’t
.
J
ust let Frey
a go and we can talk about this…
together
,’
Nicholas assured her.

Freya could feel herself starting to hyperventilate. Her chest was straining from being held in a bent position and she didn’t know how long she could stay that way without having
to move. But she couldn’t move.
Sasha
had hold of her arms
, her wrists were tied
and
not being able to see was making the panic build.

‘
You don’t mean that
.
It’s too soon. I’m not stupid.
You would need time.
T
hat was the plan. I would get rid of her and give you some space and then you would
realise
it was all for the best. It can’t happen yet
,’
Sasha
said, shaking her head.

‘
I don’t need time
,
Sasha
.
I just need you to trust me. You trust me
,
don’t you?
’
He leveled a smile at her, gaining more ground.

‘Of course I trust you.
I love you
,
Nick
.’ She smiled back at him.

Freya was crying hard now, unable to stop herself. The pain of the position she was in and the emotion of having to listen to
Sasha
’s declarations was overwhelming her.

‘
Then if you love me, give me the gun and let go of F
reya. None of this is important. Y
ou
’r
e the special one
,
Sasha
.
W
e need to find a way to go forward from here
.’

Sasha
nodded
and
took the gun away from Freya’s head.

‘
Give the gun to me
,’
Nicholas ordered.

Sasha
held the gun out to Nicholas and he took it
. He disarmed it and held it above his head.

‘
I’ve got the gun
,’ he called.

With that said, the police began to swarm onto the bridge.

‘
Why are they coming onto the bridge? Get back! Get back all of you!
’
Sasha
yelled,
her expression manic
. She loosened her grip on Freya again, lowering her out and over the water.

‘
Sasha
, don’t be stupid.
L
et Freya go
.
I said we
’
ll talk about this
.’

Freya let out a scream. She felt like she was hanging on.

‘
You don’t love me
,
do you? You still love her
.
I can see it in your eyes. I can see the fear and the love and the pitiful emotion. You don’t care for me at all
,’
Sasha
said,
her breathing erratic and her hands shaking.

‘
That isn’t true
,
Sasha
.
I do care
.’

Nicholas
put his hand out in an attempt to grab hold of
Sasha
but she stepped back away from him.

‘
Not enough
,’
she replied through gritted teeth
.

She
let
go
of
Freya
and sent her plunging from the bridge into the murky water below.

‘
Oh my God!
What have you done? F
reya
!
’

He looked down into the river, as he pulled off his shoes. Then,
duck
ing
under the rail
ings, he
dived down into the water.

‘Miss Kelly, you are under arrest. Tell her the details, Barney. And get some people down there or we’re going to be headline news for all the wrong reasons. I don’t want
drownings
on my watch,’ the female officer said, cuffing Sasha.

Nicholas
bobbed up from the dive and searched around for Freya, hoping she’d surfaced.
There was no sign of her. He dived down under the water again
. It was so
dull and dirty
,
the visibili
ty was practically non-existent
. He came up for breath and fill
ed
his lungs. He desperately wiped at his eyes to clear the dirt from them and looked over at the bank.

Clinging to the dirt at the edge of the
river,
with one hand
, mud all over her face and the blindfold around her neck was Freya.
She was breathing heavily, she looked weak, but she was alive.

Police officers were just coming down the bank to assist them and Nicholas swam across the river to reach her.

‘Freya, oh God.
C
ome on, let’s get you out of here
,’
he
said, putting his arms around her and bringing her closer to where their rescuers were starting to congregate.

‘
My other hand
…
it’s still tied
.
I couldn
’t get it loose.
I
…’
Freya
said.

She was freezing. She felt like a human
Popsicle
. Everything was numb.

‘It’s OK.
You’re going to be OK.
I promise, it’s all over now
,’
Nicholas reassured
. H
e grabbed hold of the bank and tried to help Freya from the water.

‘
What about
…
the baby
…
do
you think
…’
Freya began
.

A police officer helped Nicholas pull Freya up from the water.

‘
The most important thing is you
,
Freya
.’

‘
I know how much you wanted this baby
,
Nick
.
I really wanted it to
o.’

Her head was muzzy and breathing was a struggle. She fought to remain conscious.

‘
Everything
’
s going to be fine
,
Freya
.
I promise
.’

‘Do you think it’s going to snow?’ she asked as the paramedic team hurried towards them.

Crows filled her head.
C
rows
,
dirty water and people dressed in b
lack.
T
heir faces
were
hidden
and they were
leaping into the water
,
scores at a time.

Freya snapped open her eyes and took in her surroundings. It was familiar
.
It was her and Nicholas’ bedroom.
I
t was home. She was filled with relief.

Willis climbed up onto
her
and pressed his cold
,
wet nose into her cheek.

‘
Hey
,
boy
,’
Freya
said
, stroking his fur
as he turned around and around in circles.

Everything hurt.
It
had been almost a week and everything still hurt. Just breathing
made
her chest
ache
and she had been confined to the bedroom
,
by order o
f Dr. Stone. She was sick of it. She hated
being dependent on Nicholas to look after her
. It
was driving her crazy and
,
as sweet as it was he was seeing to her every need, what she really wanted to do was get up and
get back to
being the one who gave
the
orders.

On the bedside cabinet was a plate of fish, potato and green vegetables Nicholas had made her for lunch. She hadn’t been able to touch it
.
J
ust looking
at the food made her feel sick.
E
ven though her stomach was empty.