Page 105 of No Safe Place

Sunday | Evening

Callum

He backed away from Ruby, the knife still in his stomach. She was distracted, trembling and facing the hallway, clutching her shoulder.

‘She called them,’ Ruby spat, looking at the ceiling. ‘That fucking bitch must have called them.’

Callum looked down. It didn’t hurt. He couldn’t feel it, beyond a sharp scratch and a stinging sensation, and he was still on his feet.

Keep the knife in his instincts were screaming.

‘It’s over, Ruby,’ he said, trying to stay calm. ‘It’s over – it’s okay.’

‘Okay?’ she turned to him, eyes wild, make-up still smeared across her pale skin.

‘I’ll tell them, I’ll explain. It was a play – you thought it was real.’

‘It is real,’ she screamed. ‘She wrote down everything the bastard said.’

The police were pushing at the door now, and he could hear Field calling out, but couldn’t make out the words.

‘I – I stabbed Moore, because—’ She was frantic, her hands in her hair and her eyes on the knife in his stomach. ‘And Sam knew – she must have done. She was in the room next to Paige’s. She must have seen something, or heard something.’

‘Ruby—’

But she had turned, and she was running for the stairs, to Lily—

Callum made a grab for her, and the sudden movement made the blade twist in his abdomen. A swell of a pain and his vision went black, but he kept stumbling forward, reaching for Ruby with his other hand.

‘Not Lily,’ he cried. ‘It’s over, Ruby – it’s over.’

Glass smashed somewhere, but the noises were confused – he was disorientated.

He caught hold of Ruby on the stairs, got a fistful of her clothing and dragged her backwards. She lost her balance and fell onto him. They hit the wall and Callum let out a scream of pain as Ruby’s weight drove the knife further in.

She was scrabbling, trying to get away, and he clung to her jumper, but she was twisting, trying to get out of it.

Callum turned his head and could see Field, trying to push through the gap in the door. She was shouting into a radio, still trying to get in but the cabinet was wedged at an angle, and they couldn’t move it, there was no way Field would get through.

It was so loud, and he couldn’t tell where the sounds were coming from, but he couldn’t let Ruby get upstairs, couldn’t let her reach Lily.

Callum breathed deeply and took hold of the handle with his right hand, pulled the knife out, and lunged at Ruby’s back.

He couldn’t tell if he’d made contact, because everything went black.