Spiral Mind by Janina Arndt

Author:Janina Arndt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Moriarty, sherlock holmes, john watson, mystery, crime, nitroglycerine, explosion, bomb, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attack, amnesia, drugs, sulphur, impostor, The Strand Magazine, Morse code, Baker Street Irregulars, mafia, The Red Circle, British Library
ISBN: 9781787056466
Publisher: Andrews UK
Published: 2021-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

I rushed down the stairs when I heard John scream. A man in a suit and sunglasses was cowering over John’s motionless body. He immediately raised his gun at me. To my astonishment, I was totally calm, but the man wasn’t; his left hand was twitching. There were stitches at his neck which suggested a recent operation. He must’ve been taken a considerable amount of analgesics that he stopped and was now nerve-wrecked. That could work to my advantage.

I raised my eyes in shock, staring at the empty space behind him. ‘Oh my God, be quiet, just be quiet,’ I stammered helplessly.

The man turned his head for a split second, which was all I needed to kick the gun out of his grip and strike his throat with the side of my hand. Before I could reach for the fallen gun, the man came at me again. I tried to kick him in the stomach, but he managed to catch my foot mid-air, sending me sprawling to the ground.

Meanwhile, John was slowly regaining consciousness, groaning and moving on the floor. My head was pounding from the fall, and at first, I just tried to struggle free, but then I realised, my hand was closer to the gun than the man’s. I only had to distract him, so I wriggled and lashed out with my legs as hard as I could. At the same time, I painstakingly reached out for the gun. When I was close enough, I spat in the man’s face, grabbed the gun and fired.

Please! Don’t let him be dead, don’t let me be a killer again, I heard myself thinking. I had only aimed at his shoulder.

When I opened my eyes again, I exhaled in relief. I had hit just where I had aimed, however, that wouldn’t stop the man from coming at me. The moment he took his hand off the wound, I jumped up and knocked him out with the gun.

Breathing heavily, I bent down to a terrified John. He immediately grabbed my outstretched hands.

‘Scarlett, are you all right? Is he dead?’ he stammered as I helped him up.

‘I’m all right, he’s just unconscious. We need to tie him up,’ I explained, laying my hands on his cheek to move his hair away from the wound at his temple. The blow must’ve knocked him out straight away.

‘Come on,’ I said after a moment, closing the front door. We carried up the heavy agent, and disposed of all his weapons. We tied him to a chair in the living room, next to Sherlock who appeared to be having bad dreams.

* * *

I tried hard to remember the plan. My aching head wasn’t willing to spit it out quite easily. Mycroft at the window. All windows open. No, all the doors. Was the kitchen window supposed to stay open? We were supposed to stay in the closed kitchen. Commotion. Didn’t he say something about commotions as well? Was I supposed to conceal them? Well, this would

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