Ultimate Dilemma (Justice Again Book 2) by M Comley (best books under 200 pages txt) 📕

he had every right to receive protection from the murderer. However much that stuck in her craw. “Okay, I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. You’re going to accompany us to the station where you’re going to make a full confession to the murder of Sonia Crawford twenty-four years ago.”

He sank into his chair and covered his head with his hands. “If that’s what it takes to get you to protect me, then I’ll do it.”

“Do you need to collect anything or tell anyone you’re coming with us?”

“I have no one. I live alone.”

“Do you want to call your family solicitor or use the duty one at the station?”

“The duty one. Thank you. I’ll just lock the back door.”

“No, stay there where I can see you. DC Simpkins, will you do it, please?”

Charlie went through to the kitchen and nodded when she returned. “All done.”

“Let’s go then.” Katy grabbed Pittman by the elbow and exited the house.

Charlie secured the front door behind them. Pittman was put in the back seat. Katy motioned for Patrick and Graham to go on ahead. Patrick gave her the thumbs-up and drew away slowly, waiting for Katy to get in the driver’s seat and start up.

She followed Patrick back to the station but got cut off from him when the lights changed to red. “He’ll wait up the road,” she said to Charlie.

The car lunged forward. Katy hit her head on the steering wheel, and Charlie’s forehead smashed into the dashboard.

“What the fuck is going on?” Pittman’s panicked voice rifled around the inside of the car.

Dazed, Katy opened her car door and staggered out. A fist connected with her cheek, and she went down. The back door opened, and a screaming Pittman was yanked out of the car.

“He’s mine. You’re not taking him. I have plans for him.”

Katy peered through the misty fog blurring her vision. “Who are you? No, you can’t take him. He’s our prisoner.”

“He deserves to be punished for what he did.”

“What did he do?” Katy tried to form her words into suitable sentences through the pain in her cheek. It was a struggle, but she just about managed it.

“Him and his mates, it was despicable the way he treated…week after week, year after year. No remorse whatsoever.”

Katy peered up at the outline of the person, the sun blinding her, making it impossible to figure out who she was talking to. Car horns beeped as the lights changed colour.

Then the person ran, dragging the screaming Pittman with them back to their car.

“Charlie, are you all right?” Katy shouted.

“I think so.”

“We have to help him.”

“I know. I can’t move, my head hurts so badly.”

“Ring Patrick. Tell him what’s going on. Call for help, Charlie.” Katy struggled to get to her feet. It was imperative she didn’t let this person get away. Her career would be on the line if she allowed that to happen. It gave her the impetus to get moving, to fight the fog of confusion surrounding her and go after the two of them.

The car pulled out from behind hers, and the driver put their foot down, heading straight towards her. Katy hit the ground and rolled out of the way. Damn, they’re getting away!

A few hundred yards up the road, the sound of crunching metal and screeching tyres filled the air. Katy glanced up and was relieved to see Patrick and Graham tussling with the driver.

Charlie appeared before her. “Are you all right?”

Katy waved away her concern. “We have to find out who that person is, Charlie.”

“The boys have the situation under control, and I’ve rung the station for backup. Let me help you up.”

A couple of the drivers in nearby vehicles came to their assistance, better late than never, and helped them back to their car. Katy sat in the driver’s seat for a second to catch her breath, but the pull to get involved proved too much. She staggered towards Patrick and Graham—she had to find out who this person was.

Patrick glanced up, his expression one of sheer horror and disbelief. “Tell her who you are,” he ordered the mystery attacker.

“I’m the one he and his disgusting friends ‘killed’ all those years ago, except they didn’t. I survived. I crawled out of the grave and survived.” Tears ran down the woman’s face. “I’ve come back to avenge my ‘death’ and what they put me through. No one can blame me for killing them. Ridding the world of such evil. I took pleasure in seeing their horrified expressions, thinking that a ghost had come back to finish them off.”

Katy was rendered dumbstruck. Of all the conclusions they’d thought of, this wasn’t one of them.

“Do your daughters know you’re alive?”

“No. I’ve watched them both from afar for the last few months. I’ve been tempted a number of times to make myself known to them but was worried how they would take the news. I was determined to carry out my plan first and then I had every intention of revealing the truth to them.”

“Why? After all these years, why start killing these men now?”

Her head dipped. “For years I’ve lived with amnesia. In one way, I wish I’d never recovered, and yet in another, I’m glad I did. Those men deserved to die. They should have been punished long ago. Why weren’t they punished? Why did the truth never come out?”

“Because you’re right, they were all cowards. Pittman admitted his life had been ruined by the events of that night…”

“Not enough for him to come forward to the police and reveal the truth, though.”

“That’s true. As much as I want to slap you on the back for what you’ve achieved this past week, I can’t do it. These men shouldn’t have died at your hands, they warranted being banged up for the rest of their lives. I’ll ensure that happens to Pittman, you have my word on that.”

“I did it for my girls. All of this was done so my girls no longer had to live in fear. I’m