Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (38 page)

Immediately
,
Christian jumped into the room and shot several overhead lights which turned the room into half-darkness. Then
,
with both hands gripping his gun
,
he pointed it at Black Suit.

Jake saw Black Suit about to fire. Grace managed to motion with her eyes towards Jock. Black Suit turned to shoot Christian and Jock picked up a chair and threw it at the bodyguard. Jake shot Black Suit in the leg. He hit the ground screaming. Jock grabbed his gun.

The Voice turned to run out of the room but was stopped as Christian blocked the doorway. He threw himself on Christian and they both rolled into the room. They fought over the gun
,
both fighting not to have it aimed at them. It was too risky for Jake to fire his gun as he might hit his buddy.

Christian
’
s gun fired. Grace screamed. Jock had Black Suit
’
s gun pointed towards its owner who was still lying on the ground
,
moaning.

The Voice took the opportunity of chaos in the dimly lit room to find the doorway. They all heard a girl scream as he ran into someone. It was Kate. He pushed past her and was gone. Kate came into the room carrying one crutch.

There were two men down – Black Suit and Jake. Jake
’
s gun was lying on the floor under the video console. Christian leapt up to check on Jake
’
s state.

‘
Jock
,
do you have anything here you can to tie up this weasel with?
’
Grace asked
,
pointing at Black Suit. She noticed he was coming around from his bang on the head though knew he wouldn
’
t walk with the gunshot wound in his thigh.

‘
I have some computer cables here
,
they
’
ll do.
’
Jock gave the gun to Grace.

She held the weapon between her thumb and forefinger
,
pointing it at the ground.
‘
What am I meant to do with this thing?
’

‘
Keep him under guard.
’
Jock nodded at the bodyguard.

She pointed it at Black Suit as she tried to balance on one foot. She told the man to sit in the chair and Jock tied his hands behind him.

She heard Jake moaning as Christian helped him.

‘
Jake?
’
she asked.

‘
I
’
m okay
,
I think.
’

Jake pulled his shirt up and Christian checked the damage.

‘
It
’
s a graze
,
not too bad. I
’
d say you could use a couple of stitches though
,’
Christian said.

‘
Do you have a first aid kit
,
Jock?
’
Grace asked.

‘
Sure
,
I
’
ll get it.
’

Kate grabbed the kit from Jock and bandaged up Jake
’
s wound.

‘
Thank God
,’
Grace said.
‘
I
’
m going after The Voice. Come on
,
Kate.
’
She handed Jock Black Suit
’
s gun.
‘
He
’
s a worse character than you. I
’
d keep this gun on him or he
’
ll do you in
,
I know it.
’

‘
Thanks for the compliment
,’
Jock said.

Jake retrieved his gun from under the console.
‘
Let
’
s go
,
Christian
,
before he gets away.
’

‘
We
’
re coming
,’
Grace said
,
referring to her and Kate.

‘
No way
,’
Jake said.
‘
You
’
re not going to get far with your foot anyway. Jock
,
you stay here with this guy
,
keep the gun on him
,
as Grace said
,
and call the cops. Christian and I will get Alex. Do you think you can handle it?
’

‘
Get going
,’
Jock said as Black Suit slumped in his chair
,
moaning about his shot leg.

‘
What are we supposed to do?
’
Kate asked.

‘
Wait till the cops get here. They won
’
t be long
,’
Christian said.

Christian and Jake ran down the corridor
,
underneath the spillway
,
with guns in hand.

36

‘
Do
n
’
t take
your eyes off him
,’
Grace told Jock.

‘
You don
’
t give me much credit
,
do you?
’

‘
I
’
m making sure
,
Jock. You haven
’
t been the most upstanding man I
’
ve met.
’

‘
I said before I was sorry. Don
’
t worry. I
’
m happy to help with whatever is going on. Okay?
’

‘
Alright.
’
Grace was sure he was in self-preservation mode
,
however
,
if it meant the thug remained there until the police arrived to arrest him
,
she could live with Jock keeping him secure. She stared at Jock
,
the man who had done his best to treat her as his own personal sex toy. She wondered how someone who was morally bankrupt when it came to women could act decent in a crisis. She turned and walked out of the room and down the corridor on her crutch. She hoped he would not let Black Suit escape.

‘
Where do you think you
’
re going
,
Grace?
’
Kate called behind her.

‘
I
’
m not going to sit around twiddling my thumbs and keeping an eye on Jock when I can be doing something to help the guys catch The Voice.
’

‘
What
’
s going on?
’

‘
The Voice is the one who
’
s behind it. He
’
s the bad guy. It
’
s unbelievable
,’
Grace said.

‘
How did you find out?
’

‘
I
’
ll explain later. For now
,
I
have to do something.
’

‘
Don
’
t be ridiculous
,
you can barely walk.
’

She stopped in the corridor and leant against the wall
,
holding her sprained ankle slightly up off the floor. She sighed
,
exhausted.

‘
Grace
,
you
’
ve had a huge week. Relax
,
the guys will take care of him now. You don
’
t have to be the saviour this time.
’

‘
Since when am I a saviour?
’

Kate looked Grace straight in the eyes with an unwavering stare and her head cocked to one side.

‘
What are you looking at?
’
Grace asked.

Kate said nothing.

‘
Y
ou
’
re right
,
it
’
s been a big week and I can
’
t leave it all hanging. I have to finish it. I want to see what happens. I want to see the police up there
,
The Voice handcuffed and thrown into the back of their ca
r
the
n
carted off to get precisely what he deserves.
’

Kate used a soothing
,
non-patronising tone with her best friend.
‘
Is there more to it?
’

Grace hung her head. Kate had to lean in to hear her.
‘
I feel like a chump
,
a failure. I had meetings with this guy
,
believed everything he said to me
,
helped him with his cause and he has turned out to be the mastermind of the whole operation. How could my senses be all wrong? Am I too driven? I
’
m angry at myself for being stupid. I didn
’
t see it coming.
’
She looked up at her friend.
‘
I couldn
’
t have imagined myself being conned. It goes to show I
’
m the one who
’
s naïve.
’

‘
It could happen to anyone. Don
’
t be too hard on yourself.
’

‘
Kate
,
we have to help these children who are being used as pawns. The Voice
,
and others like him
,
needs to be brought to justice.
’

‘
What children?
’

‘
The ones in child labour in the diamond mines over in Africa?
’

‘
What are you talking about?
’
Kate asked.

‘
Oh
,
you came in after it all became clear. The Voice has been smuggling conflict diamonds into Australia and using de Silva
’
s shops to sell them. I
’
ll explain it all later. It
’
s complicated.
’

Kate said in a soft voice.
‘
What do you say to that? It
’
s awful.
’

‘
I know. It
’
s hard to digest. I don
’
t think we can because our minds can
’
t begin to believe these atrocities actually happen and consequently we feel helpless about it.
’

Kate took charge again.
‘
Grace
,
you can only do what you can do. You repeatedly go above and beyond. This time you need to leave it to the able-bodied boys who are hunting down The Voice. They know what they
’
re doing
,
they
’
re cops and they
’
re experienced.
’

‘
I know
,’
she let out a suppressed scream and placed the palms of her hands on her eyelids and rubbed.
‘
It
’
s hard not to help.
’

‘
Grace
,
you can
’
t help everyone.
’

‘
If I
’
m there I can help. I can stop the bad stuff from happening.
’

Grace knew Kate was reading her thoughts.

‘
Does this go back to your parents?
’
Kate asked.

‘
I don
’
t know
,
yes
,
no
,’
Grace said.

‘
It
’
s something you
’
ll live with forever. Grace
,
you did everything you could to save them. It
’
s not your fault.
’

‘
God only knows what would have happened to me if I didn
’
t have you. You
’
re a life saver.
’

‘
Let
’
s head up to the top and see what
’
s happening.
’
Kate put her arm around her friend and supported her until they were out in the open again. She carried her crutch as Grace used the handrail to jump up the stairs on her one good foot.

‘
T
here
’
s no-one here
,’
Kate said when they reached the top of the dam. She handed Grace her crutch.
‘
I
’
ll call Christian.
’
It was a brief conversation.
‘
If there
’
s anything we can do
,
let me know
,’
she hung up. She turned to Grace.
‘
They
’
re still looking for The Voice.
’

‘
I could call him and if he
’
s hiding somewhere nearby they
’
ll hear his phone ringing.
’

‘
He may have it on silent but do it anyway
,’
Kate said.
‘
We
’
re grown women
,
we can look for him ourselves. He doesn
’
t have a gun
,
does he?
’

‘
I don
’
t think so. He would have used it if he did. Why have you changed your mind?
’

‘
We can
’
t stand around doing nothing.
’

Grace loved her friend and her willingness to help.

‘
Come on
,
we
’
re in the middle of a crisis situation
,
get on with it
,
’
Kate said.

Grace called his mobile which rang about a dozen times and then answered. The other end of the line was quiet.

‘
Hello?
’
she asked. Then she said to Kate
,
‘
There
’
s no-one there but it sounds like he answered as it hasn
’
t gone to his answering machine.
’

‘
I told you not to ring me unless it was an emergency
,’
The Voice said from behind her.

‘
Where did you come from?
’
Kate asked.

Grace piped up.
‘
You
’
re the one who called me to uncover the story
,
remember? And that
’
s exactly what I
’
m going to do.
’

‘
I don
’
t think so
,’
he said.

‘
Hold it
,
put your hands where we can see them
,’
Jake said pointing a gun straight at The Voice
’
s head.

‘
What are you going to do
,
shoot me?
’

‘
If that
’
s what it takes
,
yes. Put your hands up. I won
’
t ask again
,’
Jake said.

Christian was standing inches behind his partner
,
off to one side
,
also with gun in hand.

The Voice remained still. All four scrutinised him and he gawked back at them.

‘
Now
,’
Jake said.

The Voice complied and threw his hands into the air.
‘
Have it your way.
’
Unexpectedly
,
he grabbed Grace and held her in front of him
,
pressing his chest against her back. The crutch fell to the ground.

Grace was not surprised to see rage on Jake
’
s face.

‘
I
’
ll still shoot you
,
leave her out of this.
’

‘
No
,
you won
’
t
.
I
’
ve seen the way you look at her. You love her and I can see why
,’
he stuck his nose in her neck
,
closed his eyes and inhaled. Then he said to Grace
,
‘
Oh
,
you smell good. I
’
ve wanted to hold you close for a long time.
’