Anger Management: A Jimmy Blue Novel by Ian W. Sainsbury

Author:Ian W. Sainsbury [Sainsbury, Ian W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fuse Books
Published: 2022-12-18T16:00:00+00:00

Anthony sent Zachary back to the house.

Beth draped one of Suzy's arms over her shoulders, and Anthony took the other. They walked her up the wide staircase, Suzy's feet trailing, still deeply asleep.

At the top of the stairs, Beth gestured towards the first door. "This one. Please."

They carried Suzy into the bedroom where Beth had spent the previous night, sitting her on the edge of the mattress. Beth sat next to her, her sister leaning into her, dreaming.

"She will sleep for a few more hours," said Anthony. "And she will be hungry when she wakes."

Anthony took off his jacket. Hung it on the back of a chair. He unbuttoned his shoulder holster and placed the gun on the seat.

"Help me get her into the bed," he said. Anthony pulled back the covers, and they slid Suzy along the sheet. Suzy's face was almost the same colour as the pillowslip below.

"If she needs medical attention, call the doctor. Just press hash, then three. My private physician is one of your neighbours, and will make himself available twenty-four hours a day. May I use your bathroom?"

Beth, holding Suzy's hand in both of hers, looked over at Anthony. A strange request from the man who owned this house, every other house in the area, and everyone who lived in them.

"Of course," she replied. While she looked back at Suzy, she heard Anthony's footsteps recede, and the bathroom door across the hall shut. He could have used the en suite.

As if of its own accord, her head lifted, turned away from Suzy, and forced her to stare at the gun. She released Suzy's hand. Stood up. Walked around the foot of the bed. Picked up the holster. The gun was heavy. Nothing else in the past thirty hours seemed quite real, but this did, as if it belonged in a world she had left behind. A world of real things. Everything else around her was transparent, almost to the point of disappearing. Muffled sounds, muted colours. But not this. Not this deadly object. She raised it to her face, breathed in the distinctive odour of oil on metal. Slid her fingers around the grip. Extended her forefinger into the trigger guard.

She'd watched the Anderson men check their guns enough times to know how to load one. This was a semi-automatic. She dropped the magazine into her hand. Empty. She pulled back the slide to check if there was a round in the ejection port. Nothing.

A test, then.

Across the landing, a toilet flushed. Calmly, deliberately, Beth replaced the gun and returned to her sister's side.

Anthony put on the shoulder holster and followed it with his jacket. Stood in front of the full-length mirror on the walk-in closet's sliding door. Brushed a speck of dust from one lapel.

"We will speak again, Beth. Soon. For now, nurse your sister. You can stay here till she's ready to travel."

Beth faced him. "Thank you, Anthony." She brushed Suzy's hair from her forehead. "I understand."

Beth couldn't have explained why she said that, but she trusted her subconscious, which had firmly prompted her to do so.

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