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It takes Joseph a moment to fully appreciate what’s happening. The light beneath these trees is failing fast. Erin, standing fifteen feet away, is more shadow than light. The arrow’s razored steel tip is the brightest thing he can see.
‘Erin,’ he says slowly. ‘What is this?’
Tears are coursing down her cheeks. ‘Everything I told you just now was true. Which makes this the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The hardest thing I’ll ever do.
‘I’ve never stopped loving you, Joe. But Tilly’s my daughter. I have to put her first. If anyone understands that it’s you. Look at everything you’ve done, these last four days, to protect Max. Even when you thought he’d hurt her, your instinct was to cover it up. Crazy as it sounds, I don’t even blame you. No one really knows how far they’ll go until they’re in this situation, do they? And now it’s me being asked the question.’
Cautiously, Joseph rises to his feet. He takes a careful step towards her.
Erin braces the crossbow’s stock against her shoulder. ‘Don’t, Joe. Please. I don’t want to shoot you with this thingbut I will if I have to. It’ll kill me but I won’t hesitate. Unclip that knife and throw it over. Don’t unsheathe it.’
Joseph sees from her expression that she isn’t bluffing – that she’s approaching the edge of what she can bear. Keeping his movements slow, he follows her instructions. ‘Erin, I’m not going to fight you,’ he tells her. ‘But whatever you’re planning, just think. I know we can’t be certain, but Tilly and Max are probably inside that house. If Gabriel’s in there with them, he doesn’t know we’re coming. If we work together, stick to the plan, we—’
‘He does know.’
Her comment stops him dead. He stares at her, his thoughts stalling.
Erin takes one hand off the crossbow. She digs in her pocket and pulls out the cuffs he’d put on the kitchen table earlier. ‘I’ll do everything in my power to stop him hurting you, Joe, but first I have to prioritize Tilly – just like you’ve been prioritizing Max. Here,’ she says, ‘put these on.’
Joseph catches the cuffs, tries to focus.
If he complies with Erin’s demand it’s a death sentence, but if she shoots from that distance she can’t miss. He knows how much damage that steel broadhead will do. He’s watched YouTube clips of them ripping through sides of beef. ‘He got to you, didn’t he? When? How?’
‘He called while you were at Ralph’s, gave me an ultimatum. If I don’t do this, if I don’t bring you to him …’
‘And if you do? What do you think will happen then? That he’ll hand Tilly over and let you both go?’
The crossbow trembles in Erin’s grip. Her finger is millimetres from the trigger. If she isn’t careful, she’ll shoot him entirely by accident.
‘That’s what he promised.’
‘And you trust him?’
She blinks away tears. ‘Of course not. But what choice do I have?’
‘The choice for us to go in there together and get our kids.’
‘That’s suicide.’
‘Thisis suicide.’
‘He knows we’re coming, Joe. That advantage you were talking about – we don’t have it.’
Joseph stares at her in disbelief. A brutal truth is beginning to reveal itself: that his determination to save Max might be countered by Erin’s determination to save Tilly; that his success might depend on her failure; and that his failure might be a prerequisite for her success.
In one phone call Gabriel Roth has managed to make them rivals – and right now Erin is winning.
‘You’re just going to hand me over?’
‘I’m sorry, Joe. As I said, the moment Tilly’s safe …’ She indicates the handcuffs. ‘Put them on.’
Joseph closes his eyes, just briefly. He has one last card to play, but this isn’t the moment to reveal it. Slowly, carefully, he slips on the cuffs.
Erin takes out her phone, dials. ‘It’s me, we’re here. Yeah. I’m looking right at him.’ She pauses, then says, ‘No, not yet. Not until I see Tilly.’ Erin frowns. ‘But you—’
She listens, then flinches, perilously close to putting an arrow through Joseph’s sternum. Looking dazed at what she just learned, she returns the phone to her pocket.
‘I’m guessing he refused your request,’ Joseph tells her. ‘Maybe he doesn’t want you to see what he’s done to Tilly.’