“Is it enough to take out the whole house and the land around it?” she asked.
“It doesn’t seem to be, but the explosives may be more powerful than we think. I think we need to wait for bomb disposal”
“The only way these bombs are going to go off is if there are enough people in their blast radius,” Sarah said.
“You think he’s watching?” the team head said looking around.
“Not physically, but yes, I think he can see what’s going on here.”
“So, what do you suggest, a small team extraction?” he asked.
“Small as can be,” Sarah winked at him and she started to walk towards the house.
“Hey!” he called after, “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m going up alone,” she called back as she increased her pace. “It’s the only way this is going to work out, you have to trust me on this.” She didn’t turn back but Sarah was listening for the sound of running steps behind her. If she heard them, she was going to start running. “Stand by for my orders,” she called back. She heard the team lead curse her loudly but then he was scurrying about trying to organise his team. Directives and orders buzzed around in Sarah’s earpiece, but she was really aware that she was now on the path to the house, alone and completely unprotected. How she hoped she was right about this.
“Agent Brightwater, this is a terrible idea and I want to be on the record about it,” the team leader said angrily.
“Noted,” Sarah said. A shadow on the ground nearby alerted her to the presence of the drone flying high above her. She couldn't hear it above the talking in her earpiece, but it was somehow reassuring to know it was there.
“Stick to the centre of the path,” someone else said in her ear. “Explosives are on either side of you now.” Sarah faltered a moment but made it look like she was just making sure she was in the dead centre of the driveway road. Her stomach was doing somersaults and the sweat pricking underneath her helmet rankled her. She felt weak, almost woozy and was beginning to think perhaps she should have stayed in the hospital.
“Approaching the steps to the house now,” Sarah reported, though she knew those behind could see through her camera where she was and what she was doing. There was small whirring noise and Sarah’s head darted around for the source of it. In the corner of the porch, in a spot well hidden from the drone above, she saw a small camera swivel on a mount protruding from the ceiling. She was right, he was watching them. Sarah looked hard at the camera for a long time and she could feel his eyes staring back from somewhere far off. She waited for so long to give him a chance to be sure it was her he was looking at.
“Well played, Sarah,” Spalding's voice suddenly came over a hidden speaker. “You've spoiled my fun, but you did it in the best way. It’s nice to be proved right about people sometimes.”
“I’m even nicer in person,” Sarah replied.
“All in good time, Sarah. For now, you can enjoy your victory. Did you get the envelope I sent you? Things have been very hectic this week, I was afraid you might have missed it.”
“I got it,” Sarah said. “We’ll bring him in, and you won’t be far behind him.”
“It must have been a terrible shock for you to find out the way you did. I didn’t want to do it that way but I’m afraid our friend Tyler forced my hand.”
“And you wanted him out of the way?” Sarah tutted. “The game not going the way you want and now you're throwing your toys out of the pram?”
“The game always goes the way the winner wanted,” Spalding said, there was no trace of anger in his tone. “Take Ellie and go, but please don’t try this trick again. Next time I'll let you burn like the rest of them.”
“What about the game?” she parried.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Sarah,” he laughed. “You are not the game; you are only part of it.”
At that the door to the house fell open, released remotely by Spalding and Sarah could see inside. There at the back wall in a kitchen chair was Ellie. Her hair looked dirty and her face was streaked with dust and tears, but she was breathing. She was alive. Against all of the odds she was still alive.
Chapter 41
Megan was overjoyed when Sarah called to say Ellie had been freed once again. It felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her soul, like a death that had been on her hands had been wiped away. All she wanted to do now was to see Ellie, take her in her arms and tell her how sorry she was. Megan wanted them to be side by side from now on. Her mind floated the idea of them going to the police academy together, but she knew that wasn’t ever going to happen.
In her less emotional moments Megan felt sure that this would be the end of her relationship with Ellie now. Ellie would surely leave the country or go deep inside a witness relocation programme for her own safety. Even then she would never feel safe again for as long as she lived. How could she? Megan felt this was her own destiny too.
“Can I see her?” Megan asked when Sarah called her.
“Well, that will be up to her,” Sarah said, “And I guess it would involve some travel from you.”
“I’ll do that,” Megan said, “Where is she being cared for?”
“I can’t tell you that,” Sarah said. For a moment Megan felt stung by this answer but then she shook this hurt away, of course they couldn't tell where she was, it had to be a secret for her safety. “I’ll tell her you want to see her though,” Sarah went on, “That should make her happy.”
Since that call, Megan had wondered if hearing from her would make Ellie happy at all. Perhaps she blames Megan for everything that had happened. She agonised to her mother who told her over and over that she’d done nothing wrong and Ellie would be delighted to see her.
The phone rang the next day and Megan answered with great trepidation, something else that she felt would be with her for life.
“Hello?”
“Megan, it’s me,” Ellie’s weak voice came on the line. Megan’s eyes filled with tears.
“Oh my God,” she said. “You’re really okay?”
“I’m fine,” Ellie said. “I’ve never been more tired but I’m fine.”
“I’m so sorry for everything Ellie,” Megan gushed. “Just so sorry.”
“It’s alright, you don’t have to be sorry or anything,” Ellie said and now they were both crying. “I’m the one who should be sorry,” Ellie croaked.
“Can I see you?” Megan asked when they were able to talk again.
“That’s what I was calling about,” Ellie said. “Sarah told me you wanted to see me, and I want to see you too.”
“Great!”
“Can you travel?”
“I’ll get my mom to drive me to you.”
And so, it was that the next day Megan and her mother made the journey to the medical centre that housed Ellie. Megan was too excited to drive so she let her mother do it all the way for the close to three-hour journey.
Ellie was in a room looking out onto the landscaped lawns to the rear of the building. Megan was surprised to see that Ellie was fully dressed when they came in. She got up from the bed and the girls rushed to one another and hugged, Megan quickly pulling away in case she might hurt her friend.
“Are you hurt?” she asked.
“No, no injury,” Ellie said, and they embraced again and wept on each other's shoulders.
“Hello, Mrs Stanver,” Ellie said.
“Hello Ellie, I’m so glad to see you again,” Melissa said, a tear welling in her eye. “I’ll leave you girls alone for a few minutes while I use the restroom,” she said and then smiling, walked out of the room.
“I was so scared I’d never see you again,” Megan said to Ellie.
“Me too,” Ellie said.
“What will you do now?” Megan asked. There were a million questions she wanted to ask about Spalding and her captivity but those could wait until Ellie wanted to talk about them. Ellie shook her head,
“I just feel like there is no next. This is i
t,” Ellie said and there was a cold look in her eye that frightened Megan. It was like Ellie was no longer in there.
There was a movement at the door and Megan looked to see what looked like two orderlies converse for a moment. They both looked into the room and then one walked away.
“What's going on?” Megan asked. It looked like one of them had been left on guard duty.
“Nothing to worry about, girls, there’s a knife missing from the kitchen down the hall so we’re just taking a quick precaution while we find it,” the orderly said. He looked nervous. Megan thought it would have been better if he’d lied for a moment instead of scaring them like this.
“Can you close the door please until it’s found?” Ellie asked. The orderly nodded, leaned in and pulled the door closed but they could still see his outline through the frosted glass.
“It’s going to be fine,” Megan said to Ellie, turning to face her again.
“It’s never going to be fine,” Ellie said. She wasn’t crying now, and Megan saw that same blank look deep in her eyes. She was about to ask if Ellie was okay when suddenly tears came back, life came back and Ellie’s face crumpled, “I’m so sorry Megan,” she said.
Hot pain shocked Megan and white flashes obscured her vision. Before her, Ellie's tearful face recoiled in shock and then she took a step back and looked down. Megan looked down too and saw the knife in her stomach, the long handle greasing with her blood as it ran freely out. She looked back to Ellie in shock, unable to do anything else. Ellie pulled the knife from her stomach and then lifted it to her own throat. “There’s no other way to be free,” she said, gushing through tears.
“Ellie, no!” Megan screamed but her knees gave out then and she dropped to the floor. She felt the mist of Ellie’s blood spray over her and heard the knife fall to the ground. The door opened and after that Megan didn’t understand anything at all. She lay down on the floor face to face with her crying friend and they made eye contact one last time.
Chapter 42
Sarah called Freeman to thank him for his help and for saving her once Ellie was safe and they were all away from the site she’d been held.
“You got her out safe?” Freeman asked, passing over her thanks without comment.
“Thankfully,” Sarah replied. “Did you get to talk to your witness?”
“No, scheduled for tomorrow morning. You want to join me?” he asked.
“Yes, I would,” Sarah said. Though she was very tired and still in pain from her treatment in the hospital, she felt she owed him one. It would also be nice to be in on the conclusion of the case. Freeman seemed sure this was going to solve it and it would be nice to share that with him.
“I’ll swing by your place and pick you up,” he said, and it didn’t sound like an offer but a fact.
“Sounds good,” Sarah replied. “I’ll be ready whenever you get here.”
When she got off the phone, Sarah realised she had no idea where Freeman lived or where the man they were going to interview lived either. She had no idea if she was really putting him out making him come to collect her. But then, it hadn’t been her decision. He was pretty adamant on what was going to happen.
When she got home that night, it was hours later than she’d intended, and she went straight into bed without doing anything else. She needed a few hours before Freeman arrived and she felt if she started anything else, even a late-night snack she would wind up being awake all night. As it was, she found it hard to sleep anyway. Despite her exhaustion she couldn’t help running over the moments leading up to getting to Ellie today and how sure she was she was about to be killed. It had been such a risk and only now, after the fact, was she finally afraid of what she’d done and saw how stupid and reckless it must have looked to everyone else who was there. But then, she knew that didn’t she? That was why she didn’t warn anyone of her intentions before she did it.
Sarah felt like she had only just closed her eyes when her phone began to buzz by her bed. She leaned over wearily and looked at the screen. It was Freeman and another glance at the time told her it was 7.34am.
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes,” he said. “Is that okay for you?” It wasn’t but what could she say- I want to spend another whole day in bed and then I’ll be ready?
“Yeah, I'm just jumping in the shower now,” she lied and then as an afterthought added. “Can you get coffee and croissants on your way?”
“Sure,” he said, and she thought she could feel a grin in his voice.
Once off the call, Sarah jumped out of bed knowing that if she didn’t, she would fall back to sleep in seconds without even knowing it. She showered quickly and dried her hair before applying make-up and getting dressed. When Freeman called to say he was outside, she had to admit she had done a good job and didn’t look like someone who’d had a rough night with very little sleep.
“It’s a forty-minute drive to this guy,” Freeman said, handing her the coffee and a small bag of mini-croissants. “Get that into you on the way.” He was smiling and Sarah couldn’t help but feel like a teenager getting dropped to school the morning after a party by a mocking parent. It was only missing the ‘You shouldn’t have stayed out so late on a school night’ mantra. Still, Sarah was very happy for the bounty he’d provided. She thanked him and set off on their drive.
“I was meaning to ask,” Sarah said. “Why is this guy here, I mean nearby? Didn’t you say they did this in New York or something?”
“Dumb luck,” Freeman said. “He’s here visiting his dying aunt. This whole case has come down to dumb luck on our part and dumb unluck on theirs.”
“If only they all went down like that,” she said. Freeman glanced at her.
“You doing okay?” he asked. She felt her face redden in anger and shame.
“Listen,” she started, not quite sure what she was going to say next. “I don’t know what happened that night, it was a mistake, I don’t think I really intended anything to come from it. It was a very bad moment in my life, and I didn’t handle it well.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I think most people in the same position might have the same reaction, cops anyway.” Though she knew he was trying to lessen how bad she felt about trying to kill herself, Sarah found it impossible not to notice how bad Freeman thought the reason for her attempt was. No doubt she would be the talk of the precincts all over the state by now. How was she going to get past this? Active collaboration with a serial killer! Having a sexual relationship with a serial killer! Hunting serial killers for a profession and not seeing one right under her nose! It was all so terrible. “Look,” Freeman went on when he saw she wasn't answering. “Shit like this happens all the time, we can’t be on twenty-four hours a day and you can believe me, if someone clever wants to fool you, you’re going to be fooled.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence. Freeman watched the road and the world going by and Sarah read though the case file he'd brought with them. She did her best to read the handwritten notes Freeman had made but it was hard going. She admired how much work he’d put in to bring the case to where it was all the same. She saw the pack contained older photographs of each suspect that had been collected during searches of their apartments. He really wanted to nail this one home.
“This is the place,” Freeman said as he pulled the car up to the curb side outside a single-story house. It looked like a very quiet place, boring even but that was probably what the people who lived here wanted.
They had only vacated the car a few seconds when the door to the house opened and a man of about sixty came out and marched towards them like he had some kind of complaint he wanted to make. Sarah looked to Freeman, but he never took his eyes off the man approaching.
“Mr Gerrard?” Freeman asked?
“Yeah, that’s right,” the man said. “You’re Detective Freeman?” The detective nodded and the men shook hands.
“This is Agent Brightwater from the FBI,” he introduced her.
“FBI?”
the man said shaking her hand. Sarah nodded but didn’t elaborate. Mr Gerrard nodded and said, “The reason I came out is just to ask you to be quiet when you come in, Aunt Jackie had a rough night and she's sleeping now.” She’s not the only one, Sarah thought but she nodded along with Freeman’s assurances that they would be quiet and would be out of his hair before he knew it.
They were shown into the house and Sarah was surprised by how strong the feeling of impending death was. The woman was off unseen in a bedroom somewhere, but her end was thick in the air. She wondered if Mr Gerrard could feel it too?
“We’ll keep this as quick as we can,” Freeman said in a low tone as he opened the file on his lap. “You say there were some murders committed in the house up the street from you and you saw the people involved?”
“Yeah, little shits, I couldn’t believe it when I heard what had happened and they got away with it!”
“Did you know these people at the time?” Freeman asked.
“No, I’d never seen them before, that’s why they stood out. I thought they might be looking for a car to steal or for a house they could break into.” Gerrard sounded angry at the recollection of them.
“Did you know the victims?” Freeman asked. Gerrard shook his head,
“No, the house they were found in had been vacant for a long time, no one lived there.”
“They were outsiders to the neighborhood too?”
“Yes.”
“You gave the police a description at the time and a sketch artist made up some drawings,” Freeman said as he took these from the file and laid them on the table. “Are these the drawings?” Gerrard looked on for only a second and nodded,
“Yea, that’s them all right and I thought it was a good likeness.” Freeman nodded and then took out the current photographs of the three suspects.
“Can you look at these please and tell me if you think you recognise any of them?” Gerrard looked at the three photographs on the table without touching them. He was silent for a few moments but was nodding as he looked to each one.
A Clamour of Rooks (The Birdwatcher Series Book 4) Page 16