Chapter 47
Estella and Ken both froze, staring at each other. Ellie shrank back on the bed, shivering in fear, her response to Ken’s presence too visceral to be anything other than the truth.
“What’s that about?” Estella made her voice as calm as she could, and Ken’s shoulders dropped.
“Ah, for fuck’s sake,” he said, not even pretending he was going to deny it. “You want to know what your problem is?”
“I suspect you’re about to mansplain it to me,” Estella said, rigid with fury.
“You lead with your heart. You’re too fucking soft. I was trying to—”
“You’re a fucking psychopath!” she said, standing up straight, deciding she had no choice but to bluster her way out of this. “You double-crossed me, you traitorous piece of shit. You need to get the fuck out of here, before—”
“You need me, Estella,” he cut her off, his hands upright in defence. “Don’t pretend otherwise. Now, listen to me—”
“And no one will get hurt? I’ve fucking heard that line before.” She launched herself at him, getting in one good blow with the benefit of surprise before she found herself shoved back against the wall.
“Christ, Estella,” he gritted out. “Just listen to me for a second!” She kicked him roughly and he groaned, quickly spinning her sideways until she hit the bed.
She sat up quickly, and kicked out at him again, the weight of her fury lending her strength, landing one good blow to his abdomen, winding him, but not slowing him down one inch.
He pinned her easily, wrestled her efficiently until to her horror and fury he’d tied her left arm to the wooden bed head with one of the epic yellow cable ties he always favoured.
“Fuck!” he shouted, and that’s when Estella realised that Ellie had tried to hit him with the broken lamp too.
What the hell was it with this woman and lamps?
Ken was too strong to go down though — or Ellie had already used up all her killing strength today — and he shook her off easily.
He reached into his pocket and hauled out a small box, a trick Estella had seen him do more than once in her employ.
She yelled as loud as she could at Ellie to warn her — getting out the single word run — but he’d grabbed Ellie’s arm and stopped her, jabbing her in the shoulder with the hypodermic needle, with a quick, sorry hon, calm down, as he pressed down on the plunger.
Ellie’s eyes went wide with shock as he held her still, oblivious to Estella’s screams of fury, before her lids got heavy.
“Estella?” she murmured. “What’s happening?”
“You’re okay!” Estella cried out. “You’re okay!
” She was only restrained with one arm, and she wrestled with her other to reach her phone, feeling in her pocket for the white rectangular card Yolanda had given her, hoping against hope that Ken was too busy with Ellie to notice her.
Right then, Ellie’s eyes closed, and she slumped unconscious onto the bed, Estella frantically trying to press the numbers into the phone as Ken straightened up.
“Alright,” he said with a weary sigh. “Here’s what’s going to happen.”
It was only then that Estella saw the knife in his hands.