The Shooting by Chris Taylor Read Free Book Online Page B

again, lest she’d done exactly that, but to his relief, she laughed again—that beautiful, full-throated sound.
    “Oh, yes you do and I have a number of witnesses to prove it. What’s more, given that you were asleep while it was happening, the odds aren’t great that you’ll disprove it!”
    Charlie watched the exchange in amusement. “She’s got you there, Tom.”
    Tom grimaced, but tempered it with a rueful grin. “Thanks for your support, mate.”
    “Anytime.” He held his arms out wide. “What are friends for?”
    Tom chuckled and then wished he hadn’t. Already the effects of his overindulgence were making themselves felt in his belly and in his head. As much as he now wanted to stay, if he wanted to leave the angel with even a modicum of a good impression, he best make his departure now. It was only going to get ugly from this point on.
    He turned back to her and did his best to keep her in focus. “Lily, it was lovely to meet you.”
    She smiled. “You already told me that.”
    “And I’m telling you again. Surely, there’s no harm in that?”
    “You’re right. There’s no harm in it at all. It was lovely to meet you, too, Tom Munro.”
    “Christ, you’re beautiful. Will you give me your number?” he blurted out and then groaned inwardly at his lack of finesse.
    “I don’t think so, Tom, but it was nice of you to ask.”
    Tom stared beseechingly at her for a moment longer and then sighed. “You’re right. It was nice. I guess I’d better get going. All of a sudden, I don’t feel so well. In fact, I think I’m going to—” He bolted in the direction of Charlie’s bathroom and only just made it there in time.

CHAPTER FOUR

    Roseville, Sydney—present day

    Brady Sutton flipped over onto his side for the hundredth time and tried to get comfortable on his bed. He’d been interviewed by the police in the presence of his mom and the lawyer she’d arranged and after several hours had been charged with attempted murder. He’d been fingerprinted, photographed and taken before the judge where he’d been granted conditional bail. He’d then been allowed to return home with his mom until the next court appearance.
    Lawyer; charges; judge; bail. The unfamiliar words crashed around inside his brain and he shook his head at the enormity of what had happened. It was never that way when he went hunting on GTA V .
    He thought of Mrs Munro and bit down hard on a cry of pain. How had it gone so wrong? She’d wrestled with the gun right at the moment he’d pulled the trigger. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. It was Ian Little who should be dead, not Mrs Munro.
    Not that she was dead—yet. The police were quick to inform him with their hard, narrow-eyed stares that if her condition deteriorated and she died, his charges would be upgraded to murder.
    Murder. The very word was incomprehensible. He wasn’t a murderer. All he’d wanted to do was to even the playing field; set the record straight; stand up for himself, like his mom was always encouraging him to do; rid himself once and for all of the agony and torture at the hands of the school yard bullies.
    But it hadn’t turned out that way and now his life was over. Ian and his buddies would go on their merry way, teasing and tormenting. His mom looked like she’d aged a decade. She could barely bring herself to look at him. She kept blaming his father over and over again. Brady couldn’t bear the thought of what she’d say to his dad.
    It wasn’t his father’s fault. Okay, he’d given Brady the gun to look after, but he’d never encouraged him to use it. He’d never even shown him how to load it. He’d given him GTA V , but the game hadn’t caused Brady any grief. It was Ian who shouldered the responsibility for working him up to such an extent that fatal violence seemed to be the only solution.
    But it was Brady, not Ian, who was now in big trouble. Until today, he’d never been inside the belly of a police station. Even