Page 64 of How to Kidnap a Fake Date
‘Oh, so she knows,’ he continues before breaking into a hyena-like cackle. ‘I don’t even need to touch you. One whisper in the right ear and it all comes tumbling down. Sponsors. Fans. Maggie. Gone.’
Maggie’s fingers curl in my hand.
Then Eddie lunges, his hand gripping Maggie by the arm.
‘Let go of her,’ I demand, shoving him hard.
He ignores me. And I’ve had enough.That’s it.
I swing.
The punch lands, knuckles crunching on bone. The impact jolts fiery pain up my arm. Eddie stumbles and goes down hard on the slick stone, rain splashing up as his arse meets the paving.
The world seems to still. Nothing but rain pattering and Eddie’s short breath. He comes up fast, swinging, and we’re on each other. Stumbling and shoving, fists flying and catching flesh.
Maggie shouts my name, but I need my wits about me. If Eddie is the killer I now believe him to be, then I’m out of my depth. I can only thank the stars that he’s drunk as a fucking skunk.
Sloppy.
Eddie slams me back against the railing, his face close enough that I can smell the spirits on his breath. His hand dips into his jacket with a demented grin.
Metal flashes.
A knife.
Rain streaking through the blood at the corner of his mouth, making him look like the Joker.
‘I’m going to enjoy this,’ he slurs. ‘Cutting out that lying tongue of yours. I’ll give it to Maggie as an engagement present.’
My heart hammers as I try to shove him off, but he has me pinned.
Behind him, Maggie’s voice trembles. ‘Eddie.’
He turns.
Maggie stands a few paces away, both hands wrapped around a gun. Her arms quake, and her face is ashen.
Eddie turns before laughing, keeping his knife pointed at me.
‘You won’t do it. You never could. You’re not a killer, darling.’
She swallows and cocks the gun.
A shot cracks through the night.
It whines past Eddie’s ear and smashes into a stone gargoyle-like statue behind us, close enough that he flinches. Close enough to make him doubt his assessment of Maggie.
Maggie’s breathing is ragged, but the gun doesn’t waver. It stays pointed at Eddie. He stares at her, then starts to laugh in a wild, unsteady pitch. ‘Look at you go. Maybe we’ll make a killer of you yet.’
Lifting his hands, he backs away, still grinning. ‘This isn’t over.’
Then he turns and staggers off into the rain.
I don’t move until he’s gone, sagging against the railing.
Maggie’s knees buckle slightly. And I’m there in two unsteady strides, catching her and pulling her close. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘Nothing for you to be sorry for, you saved my ass.’
