Deconstructing Bridges

Chapter Twenty-Five

Rose was finding the straightforward act of drawing air into her lungs extremely difficult. The blast had knocked her against the wall and she'd then landed hard on her knee before collapsing onto her stomach. For a few seconds she had been completely disoriented, and then the smoke had overwhelmed her. The dizziness hit hard and she felt as though she was going to be violently ill. Then she'd heard Matthew's weak voice calling for her, and she'd remembered. They'd been together, they'd talked. She had hurt him, and she had begun to hate herself even more, even though she knew that separating themselves from each other now rather than later was the right course. 

But right now, none of that mattered. She needed to see him, touch him and reassure herself that he was okay. Before checking herself over, she needed to know he was fine. 

On forearms, she had begun to drag herself forward in the direction his voice had sounded from, and then a sharp bang sounded. A gun, unmistakable. She shrank into a ball, knowing she was utterly defenceless, and then the sound had repeated. And then she heard a voice that definitely wasn't Matthew's. It had been familiar, even though she had not properly heard it for so long, and she lifted her head once more, squinting towards the doorway. The smoke from the explosion was mildly clearing, and she could make out the shape of the short, muscled man who had a gun pointed straight at her. The other arm also trained a gun, and she had to assume it was pointed at her husband. 

Freddie Marshall.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed in disbelief. The gun pointed at her lowered slightly as Frederick Marshall rapidly strode forward, placing his foot on the middle of her back, forcing her face down as she cried out.

"I'm not here to hurt you, but that doesn't mean I'm not ready to change my plan in an instant. You got it?"

She had seen several photographs of him over the years, she had caught one or two glimpses but the effect of him looking over his shoulder at her, a shrug with a glare of fierce concentration had her wincing. She'd wanted to come face to face with him, but not like this. She weakly nodded, and he dragged her over to where Matthew crouched, grimacing in pain. She reached out for him, managing to touch his arm before he was yanked from her reach. Marshall swiftly bound his hands behind him, securing him firmly with a plastic cord before whacking him over the head. Instantly Matthew dropped with a thud, and Rose gasped in dismay. As she saw the manner in which Matthew slumped, his head slowly rolling from side to side in disorientation, she felt something she hadn't properly felt in years.

Fear. 

She inaudibly mumbled in objection, but soon enough Marshall was straightening and turning his full attention back onto her. 

"Been a long time, Cole."

She coughed several times, grimacing as he pulled her up.

"Come on, my sweet. We have to get out of here."

Incredulous and in shock, she shoved at him, causing him to stumble and he gripped her more firmly, driving her back into the wall. Her head snapped forward, then back, the base of her skull knocking hard against the wood and causing her vision to blur for a moment.

"Don't make this worse. You've caused me a lot of trouble. Now we're getting out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere with you, you monster!"

Sighing in exasperation, he grunted.

"Don't you want to catch up for old times' sake? We do have a lot of catching up to do."

He grabbed her wrist, twisting it as he dragged her from the wall, but she pulled back.

"If we have this chat in front of your copper friend, then I'll be forced to kill him afterwards. Is that what you want?"