Little Red (35 page)

The archive files were number to keep them assorted. Sometimes a
word or special meaning that related to a file would open that specific folder. Now, she didn’t know of any criteria to type in, she decided to enter in the case number in the small grey bar labelled CN. The folder took several minutes to open, Lillian felt anxious as time was pressing on. The file popped up onto the screen and she selected the print option, not knowing what the contents were or how many pages it held. The printing machine began to clunk as it was awoken, the green lights blinking on the face panel. She waited, checking her watch constantly, until the pages had finished being spat out. She collected the warm pages and closed the file down upon the computer, making sure to cover her tracks. Once done, the computer was put into sleep mode and she headed for the door, the lights were deactivated and the room sat in its lonely darkness.

***

Jack’s jaw ached from the chewing. He had gnawed his way through several sticks of gum, his breath only slightly improving. His head still throbbed and the motion his mouth was making did little to ease it. The first of the early birds began to arrive. Their sleepy faces and bed heads made him feel slightly better, though he knew he was no oil painting right now. His phone began ringing upon his desk, he answered it carefully, choosing his words before muttering them.

‘Dawson’ the gruff voice greeted.

‘Jack, have you got a time that Lime is due to be going live?’ the Director asked.

‘No Sir
, are you planning on stopping it?’ he hoped

‘Chance would be a fine thing. He’s gone under the radar with this one, we’re unsure of where the interview is being held, I’m just rather keen and grilling him right now, after that shambles he put on the telly last night. Right, well, if you get anything, let me know A.S.A.P!’ the call ended.

Jack felt a little weight pulled from his breaking back, at least the Doctor had messed up on live television for all to see, now Jack may be able to regain a bit of that respect that seemed to have been misplaced. He decided to make it his task for the day.
Find Lime, find my retirement, and find my fucking boat!

***

Lillian sat at the edge of her chair, her eyes fixed on the open door. She waited for Malcolm, Jack’s personal driver to pass her office, the folder balancing on her knees. The minutes had
passed slowly, she became restless. Twenty minutes later she spotted the man entering the building. She jumped to her feet and called on him as he passed the door.

‘Malcolm, hey Malcolm’

‘What’s up?’

‘I need you to run this to Nathan’

‘What? I’ve just got in!’

‘It’s an emergency’ she pleaded

‘Does Jack know?’

‘Of course, otherwise I wouldn’t be asking you…..would I?’ she lied.

The folder was handed over and he exited in a mood. The door slammed behind him.

***

Russell opened his eyes slowly, the dream had been welcoming. It was more of a look to the past, a slideshow of fond memories, images of his transformation. He stood, his muscles tightening in the back of his legs. He arched rearwards and stretched his arms wide, groaning slightly under the strain. He was hungry, the excitement rushed through him. He hated the slow build up to his finale, he longed for the time to pass quickly. He created a plan within his mind as he moved to the bathroom. He needed to prep all of his tools for the
mission, it had to be perfect, just like the last two. He washed his face and wiped the sleep from his eyes, he grinned, flashing a vicious smile to the beast in the mirror. His tongue danced over the points of each sharpened tooth, he admired his appearance. The clothes were slipped onto his body and he moved slowly down the stairs. The large freezer was opened and he moved the bags from one side to another, searching for his decided piece of meat. He found it, the large slab of frozen protein lay inside the plastic bag. He removed it and closed the lid, trapping the freezing air inside. He placed the contents upon a plate and allowed it to start the slow defrosting process. He decided to check on his girl before venturing into the garage for another feast and fill of fresh blood.

The room was quiet, he could hear her sharp breathing as she slept in the chair. He entered, the lights still off. He moved closer to the girl, being careful not to startle her. He lowered his face to hers and felt her breath upon his cheek, he shivered. He could smell the dried blood as it plastered her body, he could smell the slow release of fear, the fear that he had placed inside her mind and heart yesterday. He licked at the dried red stuff upon her cheek, the sweet taste filled his mouth, he wiped his lips with his tongue and crept out of the den, leaving her to sleep in preparation for the night’s events.

***

The task team gathered in the briefing room. Jack stood at the front of his team, his appearance had been adjusted slightly, his shirt tucked into his trousers and hair dampened. His face still offered the tired, worn out look. He removed his hands from his pockets as the onlookers fell silent.

‘Morning everyone, you may already have guessed why I brought you all together this morning’

‘Tonight’s the full moon Sir!’ the female PC answered.

‘Yes, it is, which means we need to catch the Wolf before he claims another life. What I want is for two teams, one and two, to stay put in the office and plough through the information we have so far. I realise that we have a heavy load to sift through, but that’s why there are two teams on the task. I want everything looked over and dissected. Note down anything that may appear different or something we may have overlooked. The remaining teams will be heading off to the schools and local areas, I want pedestrians quizzed about the man. We have his picture so someone may recognise him. I understand that this has been done on many occasions, but we can’t just lie down and let the monster crack on…….we have to stop him, today is the day we do it!’

The speech had lifted the low spirits of the
room, moral had stooped as the case dragged on. They had watched as Nathan was removed, observed the Psychiatrist overtake the Press Conference gig and now had to face the fact that a ten year old girls life may be taken from her this very night. The room erupted with movement as the individuals got to their assigned tasking’s. Jack looked upon the case file plastered against the walls. He needed the beast, he yearned to be the person who dragged him into custody, the feeling off slapping a pair of cold handcuffs around his wrists, the power the beast held, slowly pulled from his core.

***

Nathan sprung from the bed as the knocking on his door excited him. He moved with speed to reveal his guest. Malcolm stood in the hall, an expression of anger and frustration plastered over his face. The folder was passed to Nathan, he gripped it with enthusiasm.

‘Thanks Malcolm, what have you got on today?’ he quizzed, hoping the results would be absolutely nothing.

‘I’m n
ot sure Mr Cawley, why?’

‘I may need you this morning’

‘Right, well you need to speak with Mr Dawson first, I can’t just drive you around for the hell of it!’ Nathan picked up on his guests anger, the cheap attempt at sarcasm didn’t go down too well.

‘Jack said if I need
you, I should call you….right?’ he pushed, ‘Those exact words came out of your mouth Malcolm’

‘Yeah, right, look I’m a bit down today, once I get some coffee I’ll be good’ he attempted to back step from his near argument.

‘You want coffee, come in, get comfortable’ Nathan ushered him in, the door closing as Malcolm sat upon the only chair.

‘Milk and two sugars please’ he added

Nathan looked at him with a,
are you fucking kidding me or what
, expression. He decided to do as the man asked, keeping him sweet was the key. He rushed with making the brew, the kettle boiled slowly and his temper began to join it, anxious to read the file. The click made him dive forward, grabbing the handle and tipping the vessels contents into the cup and around the table. He handed it to the guest, the brown liquid dripping from the sides as it overflowed.

‘What’s in it?’ asked Malcolm

‘What…..the brew?’

‘No, the file, what’s in the file?’

‘Just a theory that will hopefully be answered very soon’ he explained, the front page opened upon his knees.

He studied the pages carefully, absorbing the information as if his brain were a large sponge. The same details were offered from the previous file he looked in, just with a bit more detail. The two victims located in the bedroom of the grungy house. Mr Samuel Crane, the male victim, large in size and weight, stabbed multiple times, dying as a result of the attack.
Yeah, I know that……

The second victim, ten year old Sarah Crane, found under her father, one strike to her chest, piercing her heart. The missing child, sixteen years old Russell Crane, located at Mr Adrian Cranes house, question but not help accountable to any involvement or knowing of the incident.

Nathan’s mind began flooding with the pieces of the puzzle that he had needed since day one.

Ten year old girl with a punctured heart, only one strike.
Samuel Crane, multiple stab wounds. Why only one strike upon the girl? Why murder the male and hack at his body until dead, then stab the female once and leave.

He studied the personal information belonging to Mr Samuel Crane.

Drunk and Disorderly, six cases. ABH… two cases, GBH… two cases. Arrested on three occasions for possible Child Abuse and placed upon the sex offenders list.

The pattern slowly emerged, the vision he had of the man in his head turned into a beast, an animal that forced his aggression and self-loathing upon the weak minded and fragile.
He read on.

Sarah Crane, ten years old, withdrawn from schooling upon father’s request. No reports of criminal offences to state.

Russell Crane, sixteen years old, expelled from two schools on accounts of violence to teachers and pupils. Missing from the crime scene, located at uncles, Mr Adrian Crane, remained at the relatives location.

The picture came to life, two children left at home for all hours of the day. Their father, a drunk and beater, comes home and decides to unleash his fury upon them.
The boy attacks, striking his father repeatedly, the built up anger he stored inside him being released. The man falls from the blows, takes down the girl. The boy stabs and unknowingly strikes the girl.

‘Holy shit’ spat Nathan

‘What?’ Malcolm jumped, the hot drink spilling to his trousers.

This was ten years ago, the boy, Russell Crane will be twenty six now. He killed his father, a beast, and accidentally took his little sisters life, she was ten years old. It’s got to be him, has to be. He removed his sister
’s life by killing the heart. The Wolf collects hearts, he is of late twenties, he abducts and kills ten year old girls……it’s fucking him!

He flipped through the pages, searching for the uncle
’s address. There were no details on locations in the file. His heart stopped, his pulse died as the panic crept in.

Lillian, I have to ask Lillian.

He stood from the bed, the decision to act now had overwhelmed him.

‘Malcolm, we need to go to Heathrow Airport’

‘Why?’

‘I’m leaving’ he stated. He checked his phone for Lillian’s number and walked from the room. He would call her on route, hopefully she had an address for him,
the only problem was, who he would give it to first, Jack or Richard.

***

The bag of accessories was placed in the foot space of the passenger side. The van door slammed closed. Russell headed back inside the house, the preparation was complete. He waited for the time of departure, the sun fell around four thirty, the night at its blackest
around eight. The location was forty minutes away, a nice quiet wood with a nature trail running around the outskirts. The scene was perfect, the body would be found by a walker who was out for a fresh morning stroll. He decided to wait until six to leave the house, it would take him thirty minutes to drug and move the girl. He checked the status of the full moon timings on the internet. The site offered the exact time it had several days ago, nine o’clock. He smiled as his plan stayed the same.

***

It had passed midday and Jack felt the weight of tonight’s event upon his shoulders. He hadn’t seen Lime all day, nobody had heard from him. He decided to send a vehicle to his flat, the constables were instructed to bring him back to the station, no matter what. The interview he was giving today would ruin one man’s life and end the career of the other. He wanted him next to him, to chain him to his side and not let him out of his sight. The officers reported that they were on route to the location, it was roughly ten minutes from the headquarters, Jack waited impatiently for an update.