The Secrets of the Shadows (The Annie Graham series - Book 2) (31 page)

***

They finished their drinks. It was a glorious night and sitting by the lake outside one of the nicest hotels in the area it was difficult to imagine what he was going to do in the next twenty minutes. They went back to the car and Sean opened the door for her, she giggled and stepped inside. The light was fading now which was better for him. Up to now they hadn’t passed any police cars going in either direction so he wasn’t doing too badly. He had a feeling things would go to plan. Will might be the detective of the year but he wasn’t psychic and he could only guess Sean’s next moves. He wouldn’t have the resources for a full on countywide manhunt, well not for a couple more hours. One thing Sean had learned while being a police officer was that they didn’t move fast, especially when they had no idea what they were dealing with. Every decision had to be agreed by several senior officers, it could be tomorrow before they got their act together. He drove on to Windermere without incident and when Sean pulled up outside the church and parked the car Sophie looked at him.

‘Your car isn’t here, what are you going to do?’

‘Bloody hell, he’s my friend but he can be a total pain. He’s either nipped out in it or parked it somewhere else. Come on, we might as well go and wait inside the church, hopefully it will still be open, and I’ll ring him.’

Sophie got out of the car and began walking towards the church, Sean opened the bag he’d thrown in the back seat and took a couple of plastic bags, some duct tape and a knife out of it. Stuffing them into his pocket, he jogged to catch up with her. There was no-one around and the presbytery looked as if it was all in darkness. He didn’t see the police car as Jake had parked it around the back out of sight. If the church was locked he would have to kill her in the church grounds and then go and find Father John. Sophie was one step ahead of him and already twisting the handle on the old oak door which opened and Sean smiled. She didn’t step inside on her own though and waited for him to catch up.

‘I hope we find a light switch, I don’t fancy sitting in here in the dark. That would be bit spooky.’

Sean agreed with her, he didn’t want to draw attention but he couldn’t kill her in the pitch black; he needed to see what he was doing or it could get messy. They stepped inside; it was so quiet and peaceful, there was nothing to give away the battle which had gone on earlier.

Sophie shivered. ‘It’s a bit chilly in here. I hope we don’t have to wait too long.’

Sean took a small torch from his pocket and shone it around until he found a light switch. He walked over and pressed it, bathing the church with light. ‘That’s better; I’m not too keen on the dark.’

He felt in his pocket for the thick plastic bag and pulled it out, she was too busy looking around to take any notice of what he was doing.

‘I’ve always loved churches since I was a kid, I mean I’m not into religion or anything but I just find them so peaceful.’

Sean was close by her now, his hands behind his back clutching the plastic bag. He needed her to turn away from him so he could put it over her from behind. She stepped towards a plaque on the wall, turning to read its inscription. Sean stepped forward and pulled the bag over her head, holding it tight.

***

Father John stepped inside the church to hear some muffled yelling and shuffling, then he saw the man who had been committing these heinous acts and he didn’t know what to do. The woman with him was fighting for her breath inside a plastic bag which Sean was holding over her head, John did the only thing he could do and ran towards the couple, hitting Sean from the side and knocking him off balance. He stumbled and released his grip on the girl, who managed to claw at his hands enough to make the grip on the bag release. She pulled the bag from her head, throwing it away from her and taking huge gulps of air. She began coughing and crying but didn’t stay still and began to run towards the door.

John looked at her, ‘Go to the house, there are some police officers inside.’ John turned to face Sean who was rubbing his slightly bleeding hand onto the leg of his jeans, trying to wipe the blood away. ‘It’s you and me now son, let the girl go.’

Sean looked at the priest and nodded his head. ‘I’ve waited a long time for this Father John. You killed my sister and because of you my own mother didn’t even want to be with me. She killed herself and then you let them take me away. I was bundled into a car like a criminal and driven to a place where I didn’t know anyone.’

John shook his head, ‘I was trying to help, don’t you see? I didn’t want your sister to die; I only wanted to help her. She died of a seizure; it was so sudden there wasn’t anything we could have done. As for your mother she was the only woman I ever loved and I was devastated that she took her own life. I was too afraid to tell her how I felt, maybe if I had things would have been a lot different. I’m not denying you were left broken-hearted and hurting but there wasn’t anything I could do. I’m a priest and we are not allowed to have children or I would have kept you, but it wasn’t fair to make you stay in the house where both your sister and mother died within days of each other. I was scared for you Sean, in case the shadow man came back for you and I thought that by letting them take you away I was keeping you safe.’

***

Annie was passing a mug of coffee to Jake and almost threw it at him when someone began hammering on the door. Jake rose from his chair, his baton drawn, and ran towards the front door with Annie close behind. He looked through the hole and saw a dishevelled young woman screaming at him to open the door. He threw it open and she fell inside.

‘He tried to kill me, you have to stop him.’

Annie dragged her inside and slammed the door shut, ‘Who tried to kill you?’

The girl struggled to speak, but she forced herself to, ‘Sean. He’s in the church with a priest.’

Annie looked at Jake, ‘You’re okay now, you’re safe. Stay in here and shut the door and don’t open it unless you see one of us on the other side.’

Jake was frantically talking into his radio which he’d clipped back onto his body armour. They both began to run towards the church, barging through the door which was still ajar. They were greeted by Sean who had Father John in his arms with a plastic bag over his head. Jake ran one way and Annie the other.

‘Sean stop, you have to stop this let him go,’ Annie screamed.

He looked at Annie and shook his head. ‘He has to pay, it was all his fault.’

Annie stepped closer. ‘Come on Sean, this is wrong, let him go. It was no-one’s fault, it was one big tragedy.’ She pulled the broken toy that Sophie had given out of her pocket. She held it out towards him and his grip released on the bag a little, ‘Sophie wants you to stop, she’s at peace now. The only person to blame for this whole mess is the shadow man and he’s gone. I helped Father John to banish him for good.’

Jake took a step closer; he looked across at Annie who nodded. She knew what he was thinking, they would both rush Sean and make him let go. Closing the distance between them, Jake threw himself at Sean and Annie lunged for his hands to make him loosen his grip on the bag. She could hear sirens, they were getting closer, and she dug her nails into his hands as hard as she could, dragging them along until they drew blood and soon the small cut that was already there was bleeding heavily. Sean let go of John and Annie dragged him away from the two men who were now fighting. She pulled the bag from his head, but he was unconscious. There was an almighty clatter behind her as Jake landed on the altar and knocked everything off the top onto the floor.

Sean was like a man who was raging on steroids, his eyes were bulging and the muscles in his neck were straining. Annie ran over to help; taking her CS gas from her belt she aimed for Sean’s eyes and let out a jet of the liquid. He yelped but still didn’t release his grip on Jake. She looked around for a weapon and picked up the heavy gold crucifix which had landed on the floor and swung it towards his head. As it connected with his forehead the skin split open and a stream of blood began pouring from the wound, down his face. In the end it was the blood that stopped him. He lifted his hand to wipe it from his eyes and when he brought his hand back down and saw that his fingers were covered in fresh, coppery-smelling blood, his legs gave way and he collapsed to the floor. Annie didn’t pause for a second, she pulled her cuffs from her belt and snapped them onto his hands before he realised what was happening. Jake sat on his legs and wrapped his black velcro leg restraints around his calves and ankles but all the fight had left him.

Outside the police cars screeched to a halt and half a dozen car doors slammed at the same time. The sound of footsteps as many pairs of boots ran along the gravel path and into the church was the most comforting one Annie had ever heard. She looked up to see armed officers running towards them, closely followed by Will and the DI.

Jake pulled himself up off Sean’s legs, stepping to one side, then he grabbed Annie and hugged her. ‘Bloody hell that was a bit close, I thought he was going to overpower me then.’

Will looked at the pair of them, relieved they were relatively unharmed and grinned. ‘Thank Christ you two are okay. I almost had a heart attack on the drive up here.’ He looked at Annie’s pale face with specks of blood on her forehead. ‘Good effort officer Graham, did you know our Sean has a fear of blood? It’s just a shame you didn’t plant the cross so far into his head it bloody killed him and made everyone’s life a whole lot easier.’ Will kicked Sean’s foot. ‘You prick.’

Annie turned and knelt down next to John who had opened his eyes. ‘Is it over, did you stop him?’

She nodded her head and helped him to sit up then moved to the side so he could see Sean, who was surrounded by armed police.

‘I don’t know what to say Annie, that’s twice in one night you’ve saved my life. I owe you big time; whenever you decide to get married it’s on the house.’ He winked at her and she laughed.

‘What a team we are and I mean this in the nicest possible way but I hope I don’t ever have to set foot in this church again.’

John laughed, ‘So do I Annie, so do I.’

The paramedics arrived and one came over to check Father John, who shooed him away telling him the only thing he needed was a stiff drink which made both Annie and Jake smile. Jake was next, he had a cut above his eyebrow and his right eye was swollen; he let them fuss over him until they has stripped the cut back together again. As they walked away he whispered to Annie, ‘See, I’m a proper hero now. I have the injuries to prove it.’

She poked him in the ribs, ‘Yes Jake you are. But then you’ve always been my hero.’

He wrapped an arm around her and squeezed her tightly. Will, who was standing in between the Task Force sergeant and the DI, looked at his boss. ‘Well then, I suppose once he’s been checked out by the paramedics we’d best get him back to custody. Are we taking him to ours or letting someone else deal, Kendal?’

Dave looked at Will. ‘That bastard has caused me more heartache and stress this last week than twenty years of marriage. He will be coming back to ours and we will be dealing and if anyone has anything to say, send them to me. I’ll tell them where to get off. I want to know exactly how much of a fucked up copper Sean Black is and how the hell he got in the job in the first place. I’m not having someone from Kendal come in and take over when it’s almost killed me.’

Will nodded, ‘It’s going to be a long night then.’

Annie suddenly remembered the girl they had left back in the house and, grabbing Will, she made him walk her back to the presbytery. ‘Come on I want you to meet someone.’

‘Who?’

‘Your star witness, his last victim that he didn’t manage to kill. She got away from him because of Father John.’

‘Really, Annie you’re a bloody star.’

He turned and kissed her on the lips and she felt a jolt of static electricity shoot straight into her heart. She pushed him away. ‘I missed you Will.’

His hand reached out for hers and he squeezed her fingers. Not as much as I’ve missed you.’

They reached the front door and Annie knocked on it gently. ‘It’s okay, it’s only me, the policewoman from before. You’re safe, we caught him and he’s in handcuffs and being guarded by men with very big guns.’

The bolt slid back and the door opened. The girl let out a sob and Annie stepped forward to hug her. ‘You’re okay, I promise. I’d like you to meet Detective Sergeant Will Ashworth. He will need to talk to you soon but first let’s get you checked out by the paramedics and make sure you’re okay.’

‘I don’t need checking, I’m fine. Well apart from a broken nail and he’s messed my hair up.’

Annie laughed, ‘We are going to get along just fine.’

All three of them went into the house and into the kitchen.

‘How’s the priest? He saved my life.’

‘He’s a bit shaken up and bruised but he’s fine.’

‘Phew, that’s good. I’ve had some weird dates but tonight beats them all. I’m never going for a drink with a stranger, ever again.’

Chapter 37

Annie had butterflies; she had spent ages looking around town this afternoon trying to find the perfect outfit to wear, she wanted something which was sexy yet very understated in a Audrey Hepburn kind of way. She had been into every clothes shop and hadn’t found anything suitable. Her last resort was the expensive, one-off designer shop in the little side street off Dalton Road. She knew everything in there would be far more than she could afford but she wanted to make a good impression on Will. After being apart for three months she knew what she wanted more than anything in this world was to get back together with him and not just for the time being, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. He was a changed man since she’d met him; the misunderstanding that Laura had caused had been cleared up and Annie didn’t like to think ill of the dead.

The shop was empty apart from the assistant who was having an intense conversation with someone on the phone at the back of the shop, so Annie was left to her own devices. On the rack directly in front of her was a black lace dress, it had a low-cut neck and it was gorgeous. The black silk slip underneath it gave it a touch of class and she knew that this was the one, it was the only one. She picked it up and looked at the size on the label and felt her heart sink, it was a twelve. It wouldn’t fit over her hips never mind fasten up. She must have looked devastated because the woman on the phone smiled at her. ‘Megan I have to go, I have a customer.’ She put the phone under the counter and walked towards her. ‘Can I help you?’