My Heart Belongs To You: A Psycho Thriller (22 page)

“I don’t love you
anymore
,
Jam
es
, I don’t love you
.”

He remembered challenging her to deny what she had told him so many times
.
That
her heart would always be his
and
that it was filled with love, love that belonged only to him. 

‘
Things have
changed
;
I don’t feel the same way anymore.
W
e should move on
.’

However,
James Holt didn’t move on.  In his head
,
he knew that Brenda was simply confused
.
Possibly
others had filled her head with these crazy ideas, so he did what seemed the most logical thing.  He took what was promised, he took Brenda’s heart.  She kicked and thrashed as he dragged her to the bath
,
but he was strong and
he
effortlessly subdued her.  He strangled her there and cut out the organ that he knew still carried her love, his love.  He held it
,
still warm in his hands
,
and shed tears at the realisation that it was his forever
.
Her
heart and all of the love it contained was his
. 
The experience
was
of such simple purity
,
he knew right there and then
,
he would have to share that most ethereal, magical moment with
o
thers.  He remembered looking
at the clock as he held his beloved Brenda’s heart close to his chest
.
It
was 7 p.m., it was Valentine
’
s
D
ay,
and it
was the birth of Cupid.

Over the next
week,
Holt dissected the body
,
disposing
of it at various locations.  It was just a
husk.
I
t
meant nothing any more
.
All
that was Brenda was within the
heart he now possessed.  She
had no family that she kept in touch with and it became clear over the following weeks that friends she had were all aware of her intention to move on
,
so
her disappearance did not surprise them
. 
Holt scrupulously cleaned the apartment
and when the lease came up for
renewal,
he allowed it to lapse.

As far as the rest of the world was concerned,
Brenda Stiles had ceased to exist
,
and in a physical sense
,
she had
,
but for Cupid
,
her spirit, her essence would become the nucleus of his existence.  During that year leading up to the first coupling, Holt formulated within his mind how he could achieve eternal unity of a chosen couple, an unbreakable bond that would withstand time.  During that time
,
Adam came into his life by
fate’s
hand
.
He believed
he
was
sent to assist him in his quest,
and
his calling
.
So
six couples had their love immortalised, encapsulated within the impregnable folds of death, frozen,
and
protected for all time.

Holts wandering and twisted mind came back to the present.  There were still things to do before
the coupling
tomorrow night.  Maybe
,
this would be the year that the world truly understood his quest
.
Maybe
this year they would respect his work,
and
maybe this year
,
others would experience the epiphany of understanding of the purity,
the
sanctity of love and devotion through the coupling of Tom and Karen.

The time was near, Tom and Karen were ready,
and Cupid
was ready.

‘
Happy Valentine’s
,
Brenda
,
’
he whispered
,
sliding the secret shelf closed, “
Happy Valentine’s
.
’

Chapter Twenty
-One

13 February
-
18
:
55

(
L
ife remaining 24 hrs 5 mins)

‘
You need to come with me
,
Mr
.
Fuller.’

‘
Fuller
’
s getting his information from Cupid
.’ 
Hanson made the leap in a millisecond, ‘
Could
he be Cupid?’

‘Negative.  David did some digging
.
Fuller was out of the country when the third and fifth murders took place.  He has to have
gotten
information via email to be able to get the story put
together so quickly.  I’m
attempting to access Fuller’s email accounts through a contact at his paper.
’

‘I need to move
,
Sir
.
Keep
me up to speed with anything new.’

‘You got it
,
John, watch your back.’

‘Always.’  Hanson closed the line and set off for The Dragos
nightclub
.  The trip took a little over twenty minutes longer than he had anticipated thanks to traffic and a detour caused by road works.  He parked his people carrier two streets away and walked to the
nightclub
.  As he expected
,
there was heavy security at the door.  A quick reconnoit
r
e of the back of the building sh
owed securely barred windows along with
a pair of sturdy steel fire doors.

Hanson’s
B
luetooth chirped, ‘Hanson here.’

‘John
,
it’s Blue Eagle.’

‘Go ahead
,
Sir.’

‘You at The Dragos?’

‘Affirmative
,
but security is tight.  I could force my way in
,
but it would get messy.  I need to
stay
below the radar to get to Fuller.’

‘You see a tall
,
black
,
security guard at the front door?’

Hanson’s gaze swept past the small crowd of chosen guests filing into the club, ‘Got him
,
Sir.’

‘He’s ex-regiment.  He’s expecting you
.
’

Hanson checked his watch,
twenty-three
hours and fifty
-
five minutes of life remaining.  Tom and Karen’s lives were slipping away.  ‘Has Simpson arrived at command centre yet?’

‘Affirmative
,
’ cut in Jane, ‘Donald’s working with him now.’

‘Any
more from Stephanie?’

‘Yes, she has discovered that all of the ring sizes of all the female victims were not standard sizes.’

Hanson made the leap, ‘S
o all the rings needed to be altered,’

‘Exactly
,
w
e know that none of the women used the same jewellers to purchase their rings
.
We
also know that most jewellers farm out alterations of items of jewellery
,
rather than employ full time staff, so we are trying to cross reference to see who they use
,
but most outlets are closed for the day
,
so it’s slow going,’

‘Tell Stephanie well done.’

‘Will do
,
John.’

‘I’m going in after Fuller
,
so
I
will be out of comms for a period.’

‘Why don’t we just get some of Richard’s people to pick him up
,
John?’

‘We follow procedure, he’s gonna get himself lawyered up and start bleating about his rights.  We don’t have time for that.  I’m bringing him into headquarters.’

‘Roger that.’

Hanson approached the tall burly
black
doorman.  There followed a brief
eyeball-to-eyeball
exchange
,
where not a word was spoken
,
but an understanding of crystal clarity passed between them.  The security guard simply gave a curt nod and stood to one side to let Hanson pass through into the club.

The interior
was themed on a medieval dungeon with mock
stone
walls
, plenty of heavy chains and softly lit cells with wrap
a
round seating and a central table that created privacy for secret rendezvous.  Hanson swept the club in less than five minutes
,
tracking Fuller down to a small bar at the rear
,
away from the thumping music of the main dance floor at its centre.  The journalist was wandering from group to group
,
interviewing on the fly, a photographer shadowing him snapping away as he asked questions of the low level celebrities all too willing to answer a few questions
,
if it meant getting some free coverage and a photo in the tabloids.

Hanson eased up behind Fuller who stood a little over five feet six, nearly a foot shorter
than
he stood,
and leaned down to speak close to his ear.  ‘Mr. Fuller
,
I
need you to come with me please
.
’  The author
it
ative
tone and firm grip on
Fuller’s
arm
seemed to persuade the journalist to go with him
,
but as Hanson turned to lead him towards the front door
,
the smaller man stopped in his tracks
,
his easy smile disappearing, ‘What exactly is
this about?’

‘I’ll explain outside
,
Mr. Fuller.’

Fuller pulled his arm free from Hanson’s grip
,
his sixth sen
s
e sending him a warning,
‘
I don’t think so
,
pal
.’

Hanson watched small ferret like eyes flicking around
,
looking for any of the club security staff.
He closed
in
on the smaller man who took a step backwards.
‘
You need to come with me now
,
Mr
.
Fuller
.’

‘
You need to tell me what this is about
,
’
Fuller
’
s voice was louder than it needed to be
.
He
wanted others to be roped into what was taking place, his features showed that he felt safe, comfortable.
After all, despite the fact that the man trying to take him outside was a formidable figure, he was inside of a busy club on its opening night with security staff all over the place.

Hanson had had enough.
He wasn’t about to stand here
,
while his friend
’
s life slipped away
,
trying to persuade
this hack that
going with him voluntar
i
ly would be the least painful option of choices A and B.
  He stepped quickly for
ward
,
grabbed Fuller by the
shirtfront
,
and spun him
a
round
,
taking hold of the reporter
’
s right wrist with his left hand and bending it back against the joint
,
causing the smaller man to wince as he danced on tiptoe trying to ease the pressure.
  ‘
Move to the main entrance
,
’
hissed Hanson
,
increasing the pressure
.