“She either goes into a home or to jail. She’s too dangerous to be left free.”
I ignored him and said again, “Isn’t there anything you want to say?”
She smiled then, a tight, hard little smile.
“No; but there’s something I’m going to do.”
She must have had the gun wedged down the side of the chair all the time. The shot sounded like a thunderclap. The gun-flash set fire to the loose cover of the chair.
Willet dropped his gun and took two unsteady steps forward, his hands clutching at his chest. I saw him fold at the knees, then I threw myself out of my chair across the narrow space that divided my chair from hers. I clutched her wrist as the gun came round in my direction. It went off and I felt the gun-flash burn the side of my neck. She and I and the chair went crashing to the floor. I wrenched the gun out of her hand, gave her a hard shove, and scrambled to my feet.
“Okay, okay; take it easy,” Mifflin said from the casement windows, and Jack Kerman and he came into the room.
“You all right, Vic?” Kerman asked.
“Yeah; did you hear all that?”
“We heard,” Mifflin said. “Is he hurt bad?” And he started towards Willet.