As the Russian stepped forward, still holding the gun in John’s general direction, he made to take the pistol from Tina. Neither Tina nor Sasha were looking at the gun, the baton handover was fumbled. Tina let go before Sasha had hold of it properly. The Glock clattered to the ground. Tina screamed and jumped back. John knew this was his chance, probably the only chance he would get. It wasn’t the ideal time
John leaped towards the Russian, grabbing his arm and pushing it as hard and fast as he could into the air. Sasha was stronger than John expected and once Sasha realised what was happening tried to twist away from John’s grasp.
John used his body weight to knock Sasha off balance and the two men bundled into the doorframe. John smashed Sasha’s hand against the wall, shattering the glass of a picture hanging behind them. Streams of blood flowed down Sasha’s hand from his knuckles. Again John thumbed the hand back against the glass, turning his head away from Sasha free hand, as the Russian’s fingers tried to gouge at John’s eyes.
John brought his knee up and hammered it into Sasha’s crotch and once more rammed his opponent’s hand against the wall.
Sasha let out a cry of pain, he hunched over, gasping for air but still kept his grip on the gun. John looked at the weapon as Sasha turned his wrist, attempting to point the muzzle at John. In one last attempt to overpower Sasha, John brought his left elbow up, catching Sasha under the chin. The pain inflicted was enough for Sasha to momentarily ease his grip on the gun. John yanked the pistol free.
A shot rang out, followed by a scream from Tina. Bits of plaster from the ceiling fell down onto John.
‘Stop it!’ shouted Tina.
Both men froze at the sight of Tina standing in the middle of the kitchen with the police-issue Glock in her hand. Her whole body was shaking as she stood holding the gun out in front of her, two hands clasped round the weapon; it wavered in the air as if fighting against an unseen magnetic force.
‘Give me the gun,’ said Sasha to Tina.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ said John, now turning Sasha’s own weapon on him.
Sasha let out a laugh. ‘Take another look at what you have in your hand.’
John should have realised as soon as he had taken it from Sasha. The weight was all wrong for a start, and now the texture, the finish, the whole look of it was off kilter. It was a replica. Not a bad replica – good enough to fool someone from just a few feet away, but once in possession, John should have spotted it immediately.
All the same, he checked the breach and magazine holder. Empty. Not even a blank. Sadly, not the same could be said of what Tina was holding.
John slowly lowered the imitation firearm to the floor, kicking it down the laminated hallway.
‘Tina, look at me,’ said John. ‘At me, Tina. Look at me.’
‘Ignore him, Tina,’ said Sasha. ‘Don’t betray me. Remember what I said.’
‘Betray you? After what you’ve done to me?’ She looked at John and then back to Sasha.
‘You know why it had to happen. I was protecting you.’
‘Protecting me? What you did was so cruel. One of the cruellest things a person could do to someone they supposedly loved. You never gave me a choice. And you know what? If you had asked me what I wanted to do, I would have taken my chances and not become a widow.’
‘I am sorry.’
‘Maybe you are, but you’ve come back and caused me so much pain, all over again.’
John watched and listened to them. He knew at that very moment, neither were aware of him. They were having a deeply private and emotional exchange, totally unaware of the world around them. It hurt him to see Tina in so much pain. He wished he could just take her in his arms, right there and then. Comfort her, protect her and love her. Show her that he wouldn’t let her down.
‘I know how much this has hurt you. I wish there was another way. I have come back to try and explain everything.’ Sasha ran his blooded hand through his dark hair.
‘No, Sasha, that’s not why you’re back. You’ve come back for your son. Explaining what you did is out of necessity, not choice. You came back for your son, Nikolay.’
‘I stayed away for you. I stayed away so you could have a new life, safe, without me.’ There were tears in Sasha’s eyes. ‘I dreamed so many times of a life with you and our child. Instead I had to build a new life to block out thoughts of what could not be mine. In that new life, I was given Rozalina and Nikolay. It was as close to my dreams of you as I could get.’
John’s eyes darted to Tina, her face a bed to a river of tears. This conversation was going off in totally the wrong direction. Getting involved with feelings and emotions meant things could get messy. Emotions caused people to be unpredictable. Unpredictable was no friend of his right now. He needed to get them back on track.