An Unfamiliar Murder (27 page)

you . . .”

The penny dropped. He hadn’t only taken her address book, he also had her
iPod. “Where’s Ross?” She struggled to keep her voice even.

He stood still and raised his eyes to the sky. Perhaps now she could run,
turn, quick, if she just . . .

And then he put his hand into another of the pockets on his jacket, and
pulled out the knife. And she knew it was too late . . .

The blood rushing through her veins suddenly turned icy cold. She felt
trapped. She turned to run, but he was quick, too quick. He grabbed hold of her
by the lapel of her jacket, pointing the knife at her throat. Struggle would be
useless, the tip pressing against her skin.

 
She peered down her nose at the
knife. “What do you want from me?” she cried, her palms sweating despite the
rapidly declining temperatures. The sun’s light was just starting to fade, open
skies leading the way to a frosty night.

He ignored her question and just stood in silence for a moment. She
looked up to see his grey eyes filled with malice, spittle in the corner of his
mouth. He looked like a wild animal, preparing for the kill. Or a supernatural
character in a film. She shivered, physically repulsed.

He laughed bitterly. He was enjoying himself.

Behind him she saw a movement in the distance.
Yes.
It was a person she was convinced of it.
Don’t focus on them. Don’t draw attention.
Short glances. It was a
man. He was within 30 yards now. And then . . . Her stomach bounced briefly,
then confusion set in . . .

“Get your hands away from her Edwards!”

Kane jumped. Anna moved back, lashed out with her leg. But he was too
quick for her. She felt a sharp sting as the knife scratched the first layer of
skin. Then he tossed her around so that she had her back to him, his thick arms
tightening their grip around her.

 
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t
McCafferty
,” he said. “I wondered if you’d show up.”

Anna’s mind was in a spin. How did
Rab
know
they were here? Unless… Were
Rab
and Edwards in this
together? Some kind of deranged feud against her?

Suddenly, a light switch flicked in her brain. At that moment she finally
realized why Kane looked familiar. She
had
seen his face before. He looked like, no he was, the man who she had
crashed into on her bike at the end of Ross’ road. The day Ross went missing.
The day she went to meet
Rab
. And he was the man who
had stared at her from across the road, when she had been in the coffee house
with
Rab
. How many other times had he been there?
Stuck at the back of a crowd, hidden behind a parked car, secluded down an
alleyway; watching her. Stalking her . . . She gulped as if there wasn’t enough
oxygen in the air. What was
Rab’s
role in all of
this?

 
“I’m serious Edwards, get away from her,”
Rab
continued.

“Where do you get off telling me what to do?” he hissed back.

“She’s done nothing wrong.”

“No, but you have.” Anna was sure she could feel his face sneering. He
sniffed at her hair and she shuddered.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No?” He lifted the knife.

“You’ve got the wrong guy,”
Rab
said. There was
desperation in his voice. “It wasn’t me. I might not have approved of what you
did, but I’m not a snitch.”

“It’s too late. I know it was you. Estrange told me.”

Rab
blew a quick, short breath out of his nose.
Estrange had been
Rab’s
cell mate. He had bought
heroin off Kane, but Kane couldn’t keep up with his demand. “It was Estrange
who shopped you. He’s done the double bluff.”

“I don’t believe you. You’ve ruined my life. Now I’m going to wreck
yours.”

Rab
held his hands in the air. “I’m telling the
truth. Honest.”

“Ha – an ex con telling the truth. How do you expect me to believe you?”

“Think about it.” Nobody spoke for a moment. Time stood still.

Anna wished she could see Kane’s face. Work out what he was thinking.

“Let her go!” The voice came from behind them. Kane jolted and turned
around. Anna kicked out again. He lost his balance. She slipped out of his
grip, ran towards
Rab
.

She heard a
loud crack and then felt a sharp pain as something heavy hit her. Everything
seemed to move in slow motion, like in a car crash. You see yourself rolling
into the back of another car, your foot is fixed on the brake but it’s too
late, too late to stop. Dream and reality mixed together. For a moment she was
numb, then she could smell grass by her nose, taste mud in her mouth. Then, the
pain came. Severe, excruciating pain slicing through her stomach. Anna tried to
open her eyes but they were glued shut. Voices in the distance were blurring
together as a wave of fatigue and pain flew over her.
If this is dying, its almost easy
, she thought to herself. Just
give in to the tiredness, let it sweep you up and take all the pain and complications
of the last eight days away. Suddenly, she could hear someone calling her in
the background. It sounded like Ross’ voice. And then it went all black.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Ross?” Anna looked
up towards the eyes of a blurred image. Her mouth felt dry. Speech was an effort.

“It’s all over now,” it replied. There was a hint of an Irish accent.

That’s not Ross.
She blinked,
her vision sharpening. She could see the white interior, feel a blanket over
her, there was an oxygen mask, wrapped dressings, a man in green overalls –
an ambulance
. She tried to sit up, but
felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Lie down, you need to stay calm.”

Anna swallowed, but continued to push against his hand. For a moment,
when she had thought she was dead, she had imagined herself joining Ross, being
reunited in a kind of heaven together. Now it haunted her.
No, this isn’t right. It was supposed to be me.
“Ross!” she yelped.

“Come on. It’s over. They’ve got him. You’re safe now.” The voice was
soothing.

Got who?
She wanted to say.
Instead, she felt a stab of pain in her arm. And then more darkness.

*
* *

Helen checked
the final words to her report, before she clicked the print key. There was
still heaps of work to be done. Files would need to be put together. SOCO were
still gathering evidence from Kane Edward’s flat. They had found footprints in
the backyard beside the fence – it looked as though he had jumped the fence and
escaped across the other gardens. These footprints would be measured, examined
along with all the other evidence that would need to be bagged up, labeled,
sorted and filed in readiness for court. She guessed they would go for trial.
Edwards had gone ‘no comment’ throughout his interview – popular advice from
solicitors who thought their clients were banged to rights. No problem, they
would be ready for him. And, until then, he would be remanded in custody.

Helen thought of his home: the pictures of Anna, the obsession with the
military, the numerous weapons. Her mind moved on to Ross. When they had
reached the trio on the

Through the bare branches, they found an old, disused pump station. In
summer months it would have been engulfed in the undergrowth, hidden away from
the road. And this time of year, with the surrounding fields containing only
arable farming, nobody, not even the farmer would have need to come down the
track. A perfectly secluded location on private land – close enough to the
Bracken Way to walk up and meet Anna, far enough away so that nobody, even the
odd dog walker that may use the Way at this time of year, would hear Ross’
muffled cries for help. Kane had been careful to remove the boards at the back,
using the rear entrance, again out of view from the track. She wondered how
long he had searched for such a place?

Ross had been found, only just alive, prostrate on the floor, arms by his
side. He was strapped at both ankles and both wrists, using a mixture of duct
tape and plastic gardens ties, to a 5 bar, metal gate. More duct tape was wound
around his waist and fastened over his mouth. There had been a black hood over
his head and a makeshift noose was tied around his neck out of white nylon
rope. She imagined Kane seeking out something to tie him to, contemplating what
he should use to secure his prisoner. He would have been pleased with his
choice. The gate would have been from a nearby field and provided the
opportunity to secure Ross firmly, against a heavy, unwieldy object, preventing
movement or escape.

They had found other items in the pump station, too. A plethora of
weapons, knives, (hunting and saber tooth), laid out neatly like a surgeon’s
table by the door, alongside a video camera.
What had he been planning to do with that?
A shiver ran down her
spine. It didn’t do to dwell on the madness of killers.

George Sawford had appeared outwardly magnanimous, shaking her hand,
patting her on the back. But she could see that he was inwardly seething. With
her own Super seeking promotion, he obviously had his eye on his job. It would
be a great short term move for him, Superintendent on the Homicide Team was
just about the most high profile job you could get at that level. Well, this
was one result that wouldn’t go on his CV.

Then she thought of her family. She had barely spent any real time with
them the last week or so. This was something that needed addressing, and sooner
rather than later.

*
* *

Anna sat on
the corner of Ross’ bed, stroking his hand gently. The thought that he was here
because of her, his relationship with her had put him through the torture of
the last few days, stupefied her.

On the floor below, her brother was in bed with a bullet wound, a bullet
that had been meant for her. She rubbed her stomach which still bore the
bruises caused by him leaping at her when Kane had brandished the gun, rugby
tackling her to the ground, where she hit her head and instantly lost consciousness.
It wasn’t until she came around in the hospital that she discovered that her
injuries were minor. They had kept her in for observations in case of brain
trauma, but it was more shock than anything else.

Rab
had taken the bullet in his shoulder, but
would live. Luckily. She found it hard to believe that the root of the revenge,
the attacks on her, her family, her boyfriend had derived from him. It stuck in
the back of her throat. On the one side, she felt if she didn’t see him again,
it would be too soon. On the other – well he took a bullet for her, he saved
her life. And it wasn’t his fault that a deranged monster sought revenge on him
for something he didn’t even do, torturing his family to get at him. It was all
such a mess. A mess that was now untangling, the threat of danger ceased. And
could she blame
Rab
for trying to find his sister,
for unconditionally loving her in spite of the empty years that had passed
between them?

When he had suddenly arrived on the

When she had finally awoken it had been light outside. She had been
allowed to sit up, eat half a bowl of cornflakes, drink strong milky tea. And
then DCI
Lavery
had come to see her, explaining how
Rab
had told her the tracker showed that Anna had joined

Anna touched his hand gently and he stirred in his sleep, turning his
head slightly. She stroked the red marks around his wrist where the ties had
cut into his skin, then looked over at the fresh dressing on his arm where his
tattoo had once been. She had been told that Kane had washed and dressed the
wound, to avoid infection, covered him in a blanket to keep him warm. Kept
alive, no doubt, in case he needed to be used as bait. But the cold weather had
induced mild hypothermia and there were now tubes entering his body at every
visible orifice.

She would make it up to him. And her parents. The events of the last nine
days had taught her that blood alone doesn’t make a relationship. There are
more important things like loyalty, friendship, support. Even her mother . . .
Right now her family felt like the most important people in her world and she
would make sure that they knew it.

* * *

“My round
then. What are we having?” Pemberton said, standing and stretching his back before
grabbing his glass for a refill. Every member of the incident team (apart from
Sawford who had excused himself under the guise of an important dinner party)
had gathered in the pub to celebrate and they were in good spirits.

“Excuse me for a moment, will you?” Helen asked. “I just need to make a
quick call.” It was a lame excuse. Phone home and then make a sharp exit. Right
now she needed to give time to her family, support Matthew, help Robert with
his homework, give her mother some adult company.

She stood in the small pub entrance outside the men’s toilets, curling
her nose at the smell of the urine. The phone was engaged. She rung off and
stared back into the pub through the open door. Her eyes fell on Townsend at
the far end of the bar, chatting up one of the custody suite assistants. She
stared at him for a while. They hadn’t spoken properly since the argument in
the Super’s office. She had been aware of his continuing presence in the
incident room, but he had shrunk to the background, rarely speaking up, drawing
attention to himself, just working behind the scenes. Was he ashamed of
himself? It didn’t look like it at the moment.

It’s a shame really
, she
thought. He had shown that he was capable of good work. But he couldn’t work
together as a team. And all those negative vibes . . . She rolled her shoulders
backwards. His clock was ticking. He may have weathered these sorts of storms
at the Met, but this behavior wouldn’t be tolerated in the smaller forces of
the provinces. It was just a matter of time.

She sighed and tried home again. It rung several times before she heard a
voice.

“Hello?”

“Mum, it’s me.”

“Oh. Hi, darling. You OK?” There was the sound of laughter in the
background.

 
“Yeah, you?”

“Fine thanks.” The dog started to bark, a deep drone, lifted from the pit
of its stomach.

Helen hesitated, waited for it to pause. “Mum, just wanted to say . . .”
Her voice was drowned out by more excited barking. It sounded like somebody was
playing a game with her.

“Sorry dear, I can’t hear you. Quiet
Boomy
.”
More laughing in the background as the barking subsided.

“Sounds like you’re all having a good time?”

Her mother giggled. “The boys are playing ‘Just Dance’ on the Wii and
Boomy
is trying to join in.”

Helen smiled to herself, imagining the scene. The dog barked again. “OK,
so long as you’re all alright?” She raised her voice to beat the background
noise.

“We’re fine, thank you.”

“I should be back in a couple of hours.”

“Great, see you then.” Helen clicked to end the call, the corners of her
mouth turning up slightly. Just at that moment a rush of excitement hit her by
surprise, almost knocking her sideways. She had never felt so exhilarated. This
must be what her father had referred to.
It
should be accompanied by a health warning.

She bit her lip for a moment, then put the phone back in her pocket and
marched back into the bar. Pemberton was still at the counter, waving a note in
front of the busy bar staff.

She stood next
to him. “I’ll have a vodka and coke,” she said smiling.
Plenty of time later for homework . . .