Slammer by Allan Guthrie Read Free Book Online Page A

lot of nutters out there these days and my work takes me away from home a lot.' He shrugged. 'We'd feel safer if she had a gun in the house.' He shrugged again, wondering how artificial all this shrugging looked. 'In case.'
    'Get a dog.'
    Glass didn't have to stop and think. 'My daughter's allergic.' That much was true. Any contact with dogs and Caitlin's eyes swelled up and started weeping. Cats were no problem, which is why he kept asking Lorna if they couldn't get Caitlin a kitten. Thing was, Caitlin preferred dogs, in spite of the allergy. Lorna preferred dogs too. Glass was the one who liked cats.
    The moans from the bedroom were growing more urgent.
    Mad Will said, 'You have a kid?'
    Glass swore under his breath. Done it again. He said, 'Yeah. What's that got to do with anything?'
    'Don't look old enough.'
    Glass said nothing.
    'You don't want a gun in the house,' Mad Will said. 'Not with a kid around.'
    Just his luck. A gun dealer with a conscience. 'I appreciate your concern,' he said, 'but it's my responsibility.'
    'And it's for your wife, huh?'
    He nodded. Good God. The guy in the bedroom sounded close to death.
    Mad Will wasn't paying the noise any attention. 'If she fires this at someone,' he said, 'she'll probably go to prison.'
    'Maybe. Depends on the circumstances.'
    'Reasonable force, the law states.'
    'I know.'
    Mad Will topped up his coffee. Silence from the bedroom now. 'Guns aren't reasonable,' Mad Will said. 'By any stretch of the imagination.'
    'And even if they were, this baby's illegal.' Glass paused. 'I know.'
    'Worth thinking about.'
    'Okay.' Glass waited a few seconds. Then: 'I've thought about it. I want to buy the gun. Do you want to sell it to me or not?'
    'Absolutely,' Mad Will said. 'But I want to make it abundantly clear that it's not a toy. Owning this 'baby' can change your life.'
    'Fine.'
    'Well, if you're sure.' Mad Will made a sound with his lips, ran a hand through his straggly hair. 'Gun's yours.'
    Finally. Glass laid a pile of notes on the table. 'That's what we discussed on the phone, right?'
    Mad Will nodded.
    Glass waited.
    Mad Will looked at him, pointed towards the door. 'You can see yourself out, eh?'
     
    *
     
    In the corridor, Glass closed the sitting room door behind him and, as he passed the bedroom where the moaning and grunting had come from, he couldn't help noticing that the door was ajar.
    Just a slit. But enough of an opening to see the girl's face.
    She was gagged. Black mascara-bruised eyes. Tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked into Glass's eyes. If she hadn't, he might have been able to sneak past. But not now. She'd seen him.
    His breath quickened as he leaned closer to the door and peered through the crack. Her hands were clamped together behind the bedpost. He couldn't tell if they were tied or cuffed.
    A grunt, and then the back of a man's head came into view, a dark shutter falling down over the girl's face. Now was Glass's chance. He could no longer see her eyes pleading with him. Maybe he could get away. Escape.
    There was the sound again, though. Grunting. Moaning. But it was different. Slightly higher pitched. As if … yeah, a different man.
    As if to confirm it, someone said, quietly, 'That's it. Fuck the bitch, Jocky.'
    Behind Glass, the sitting room door was closed. Mad Will couldn't see Glass in the corridor. Mad Will thought Glass had left the flat. And the men in the room didn't know he was there. Only the girl knew.
    Glass could do this. He should do this. He had to do this. He couldn't do anything else. He backed away from the door until he felt the wall press against his shoulder blades. His mouth was dry. Do it. He couldn't just walk in there, hold them at gunpoint while the girl escaped. But if he didn't, she'd continue to get raped by Jocky and whoever else was in the room. He couldn't leave her to be gang-banged. Maybe killed afterwards. Humped and dumped, as the cons would say. Glass couldn't stand here thinking. He thought far too much.