The Hunter Inside (20 page)

He raised his eyes until
they were once again fixed on Todd Mayhew’s. ‘So, Todd. Tell me, how could you
have stopped it?’

Sandy Myers woke at 9AM. Her first
thoughts were of amazement at the fact she had managed to sleep at all after
the horror of the dream that had left her screaming in terror. Her second
thought was of home as she looked at the alarm clock on the small, three legged
bedside table and registered the fact that if she were at home she would
already have been up and about for two hours.

She always rose at seven
when she was at home, and made breakfast before waking the others. That way she
was ensured free passage to the bathroom to prepare herself for work, while Joe
and the kids ate their breakfast and struggled with the sleep that hovered in
their eyes.

She would give anything to
be there now.

With the dream that had
tortured her sleep still fading, Sandy went into the bathroom and rinsed her
face with cold water. The chill in her cheeks made her more alert, and she went
down the stairs towards the kitchen where Melissa sat reading the morning
paper.

She began to think of the day
ahead rather than the night just gone.

‘Good morning, Sandy. Did
you sleep okay in the end?’ Melissa had been up for two and a half hours,
worrying about Sandy and waiting for her to rise.

Sandy’s screams in the
middle of the night had been enough to convince her that something was
seriously wrong, and if it was serious enough for Sandy to keep it from her
then it must be pretty serious.

‘Yeah. Sorry about waking
you last night. I must be a little unsettled being away from home. I slept like
a baby in the end.’

Sandy was determined to not
let anything slip to Melissa. Despite the burden of guilt that accompanied
lying to her friend, she felt that it was best not to draw her into the
hugeness of the situation.

Melissa was determined to
find out why Sandy had turned up without any clothes and unannounced and asked,
‘So, how is everyone at home? You didn’t really say last night.’

‘Well, Joe’s been pretty
tired too. He’s been working long hours so we can start putting some money
together for the boys’ college fund. The boys are great. David’s good as gold
most of the time. Sean’s a villain but I don’t suppose you can have it all your
own way, can you?’ The thought of the boys made Sandy perk up a little and she
smiled as she finished her sentence.

‘Sounds great. I’ll have to
come and see you when things are a bit more settled. I’d love to see Joe and
the boys.’

‘They’d love to see you too
‘Liss,’ Sandy replied, hoping desperately that the day when things were settled
would not be too long in coming. ‘Do you mind if I call Joe? He’ll be worried
otherwise.’

‘Sure, go right ahead,’
Melissa said, beckoning towards the phone with her left hand. Sandy
thanked her, before walking through the small alcove and picking up the
receiver. The alcove would prevent Melissa from overhearing her conversation,
and she was glad of the privacy it afforded her.

She didn’t think she would
eavesdrop, but the chance that she might accidentally overhear something she
said was a worry for Sandy.

She dialed the number
without having to think and listened as the phone at home rang three times
before Joe snatched up the receiver.

‘Hello, Sandy?’ The note of
anxiety in his voice pained Sandy and she wished things were different. Her
life seemed so insecure, so full of wishes that she worried might not come
true.

‘Hi, babe.’ Sandy tried to
sound relaxed as her eyes filled with tears. It was harder than she would have
imagined being away from home; she could almost have taken the risk to her life
just to be there. While she may be safer at Melissa’s, she would be lonely
every second she was without her boys around her. They were her heartbeat. The
reason her blood flowed through her veins.

‘Are you okay, Sandy?’

‘Yes Joe. I’m fine. Are you
all okay?’ Sandy had trouble holding back her tears as she asked the question,
and knew that the telephone call would have to be a short one.

‘Everyone’s great, Sandy.
We miss you though. Where are you?’

Joe tried to ask the
question casually, knowing that she was unlikely to tell him.

‘Joe, I can’t tell you
where I am. You know that. I’m not going to put you or the boys at risk. It’s
bad enough that I am.’

‘Okay Sandy, I understand.
But listen, I want you to call me if things get too rough. I‘ll be there in a
shot, okay? Wherever you are.’

‘I will Joe. Listen, I’ve
got to go.’ She knew that if she didn’t go now she would be unable to hold her
mask together and would break down. She couldn’t let this happen. She didn’t
want Melissa to be worried. If she broke down it would be obvious that
something was seriously wrong.

But Melissa did not sit too
far away from where Sandy was speaking, and although the alcove sheltered her
somewhat from hearing Sandy’s conversation, she managed to make out parts of
what Sandy had said. What she heard confirmed her worst fears; Sandy was at
risk from something. Now what could she do? She couldn’t just come out and ask
her. Sandy had chosen not to tell her and it would be very embarrassing for
both parties if Melissa confronted her on the issue.

Sandy returned to the
kitchen.

‘Everybody okay at home?’
Melissa asked her, deciding to wait and see if Sandy was ready to tell of the
reason she was at risk. Sandy had never been able to keep things from her for
too long. She had even known that Sandy was pregnant before Joe had.

‘Everyone’s great. Joe’s
taken a few days off work to unwind with the kids.’ Sandy was thinking on her
feet once again, but she knew that Joe would not be relaxing. She knew that he
would be pacing up and down the house, aging a year for every minute that ticked
past on the clock he’d be watching feverishly, as he waited for the phone to
ring. Melissa had a fair idea of this fact herself.

‘That’s great. Listen, you
help yourself to breakfast. I’m gonna do some laundry then I have to go to
work.’ Melissa presented a mock frown to Sandy, and she grinned as she watched
Melissa turn and walk towards the laundry room.

Bill Arnold’s morning had been quiet.
He had woken at 8AM, wondering for a moment where he was, before the events of
the previous day came flashing across his mind. An hour later his pondering had
led to him feeling slightly better about the situation he was in. While being
away from home was not ideal for him, he felt one hundred percent more relaxed
at the fact that there was no mailbox for him to check. He looked through the
window of his room at the quiet street outside and wondered what he could do to
pass the time for the rest of the day.

He had pondered the reasons
why he was still alive and had been able to come to no conclusion other than
that he had escaped detection upon leaving the cemetery at Glen Rock. If this
was not the case then surely he would be dead by now.

He wondered if his stalker
did
know his next move; it didn’t seem so at that moment, and he started to think
that maybe he hadn’t been watched. He still couldn’t explain how his mysterious
stalker knew that he would be at the cemetery though, and he had an inkling
that there was something more mysterious to what was happening to him than met
the eye.

He was going to have to be
very careful; that was one thing he
did
know.

He would have to decide
whether to buy some food and drink from the mini mall at the end of the block
of motel rooms, or get out and take in some of the scenery of Atlantic Beach.

Both Sandy Myers and Bill Arnold
felt a lot more relaxed than they had done the previous day. The change of
scenery had made both feel distanced somewhat from the recent events that had
turned their worlds upside down, and having come to no harm and not having to
read any more stomach churning letters meant that the butterflies that each
felt in their stomach decreased.

They would not be left
alone forever though, and they would do well to keep up their guard. A false
sense of security would not be good for their prospects, and if they could see
how Paul Wayans looked at that moment they would not be feeling at all relaxed.

But they would see how Paul
Wayans looked. All in good time.

Strength surged through his veins as
he rested in the old warehouse. He felt good; more complete. Never could he
have imagined just how much strength would be gained from the killing of
Wayans. He felt that he could leap a mile and run two hundred miles in an hour
and the task ahead was getting easier and easier for him with every two minutes
that elapsed.

It was only his
determination that nothing should go wrong that kept him from going for the
others at that moment. He was strong enough to kill two people at once without
being challenged; even four did not seem a problem to him. For now he would
wait and bide his time though, picking his moment carefully. He would make sure
that the right time came.

Arnold was not too far away
now, but it was Carson that he turned his thoughts to. He had begun his plan of
bringing her to him in the early hours of the morning and he knew that by
continuing his agenda, she would come running straight into his grasp. Today
would be the start of Operation Carson. Admittedly his day would not be filled
with Carson and only Carson. There would still be time to make sure that Arnold
didn’t move.

He was about to write the
final chapters in the lives of these two people, but he did not feel any
remorse for his actions past, present or future. He killed to survive and
become stronger, and he knew that they would kill him to survive if they had
to. The difference between them and him was that it was what he
wanted
to do. And now that he was so strong, he did not envisage anybody being able to
stop him from achieving his ultimate goal.

Lunchtime had arrived, but
lunch was not in his thoughts. His feast of the previous night would see him
through until next time came. It would see him through the preparation of the
last two letters which would accompany the photographs of Wayans, and which
would be hand delivered by him to his lifeblood.

In his mind he saw Carson.
She sat on a sofa, thinking. Thinking about her family and whether or not she
was safe. He saw Arnold walking by a lake. Arnold considered himself a lot
further from danger than he had been in Glen Rock.

Life was cruel.

Bill Arnold decided to get out of the
motel room and take a walk. After a week of almost constant driving, his legs
had begun to stiffen. He thought a walk might do him good, loosen his joints
and allow him to take in some fresh air. The motel room was stuffy and the
window only opened about an inch, meaning that the residents of the motel had
to rely on the air-conditioning system.

He’d been dubious about the
safety of air-conditioning systems ever since watching a television program
that outlined the threat posed by international terrorist organizations against
the United States of America, who, in their search for weapons of mass
destruction, were rumored to be planning a biological warfare attack on subways
and large companies. He had a desire to choose the air that he breathed and was
not happy in an environment where he was certain to be breathing other people’s
exhaled germs every ten heartbeats.

The motel was near to a
large lake that he felt would be a perfect place for some rest and recuperation.
His stress levels had already began to fall as the time passed, and the fact
that no attempt had been made upon his life, despite the threats being made,
spurred him on to think about the future. Maybe in a few days he would be able
to go back to Glen Rock and see if it was safe for him to return.

But for now he would go for
a long walk around the lake and take in some fresh air before night came and
his nerves consigned him to his motel room. He picked up the key that he had
placed on the table near the door and left the room, closing the door firmly
behind him. The day was warmer than the previous one had been, and he took deep
breaths of air as he walked down the relatively quiet road towards the lake. It
was not a far distance, and he was pleased to notice a diner midway through his
seven-minute walk.
That may serve a useful purpose
, he thought to
himself as he continued on, reaching the large lake within another two minutes.

Upon reaching the lake, he
was struck by its beauty and tranquility. He was not surprised to see a sign
that told him its name was Lake Tranquil. Sitting down on a bench that was
situated at the head of the long narrow lake, Bill took in his surroundings.
Large Red Oak trees were placed evenly along each side of the lake for its
entire length, giving the effect of a huge caterpillar guarding the lake.

It must be a mile long
, Bill thought to himself,
forgetting his troubles momentarily as he looked at the large green masses of
magnificently dark, almost brooding leaves above him that merged into one long
body and cast a great shadow down the left side of the lake.