Your Life or Mine

by Vicki Bradley

  ‘We’ll collect his letters for review too,’ she said.

  ‘And take Lena with you,’ Winter said. ‘Her insight might be useful. The more officers with you at the moment, Alana, the better.’ He hung up.

  Loxton didn’t like the strain in his voice. She felt like her time on the case was running out and it wouldn’t be long before he pulled her off it. And then she’d be helpless to stop the killer, instead waiting for her time to come.

  Chapter 20

  Monday 31 January, 08:50

  Loxton watched the guard unlock the elaborate security doors while she, Kowalski and Lena waited to be allowed onto Barratt’s wing. She felt her chest tighten in dread at the thought of meeting Barratt again. Kowalski, apparently sensing her unease, put his hand on Loxton’s shoulder briefly. ‘We’re with you all the way.’

  Loxton nodded; she didn’t trust herself to speak.

  ‘I’m sorry it has to be you, Alana.’ Lena sighed. ‘But Barratt is more likely to let something slip if he sees you. There’s a connection there, and he may not be able to help himself if he is involved.’

  ‘You mean he might not be able to stop himself from taunting me?’ Barratt had a sadistic and twisted mind – one she thought she’d never have to deal with again.

  ‘Exactly.’ Lena nodded. ‘If you don’t want to do this, Dominik and I will talk to him. You can wait out here.’

  ‘No, I’ll do it,’ Loxton said. ‘You’re right. He always said he wanted to see each one of us in the ground before him. If he’s involved, Barratt won’t be able to stop himself from gloating. This could work.’

  As Loxton walked down the wing, she felt like a sacrificial offering to the murder gods, and she didn’t like it one bit, but there was no other option. No one knew Barratt better than her.

  Barratt’s cell was at the end of a long, empty corridor, hidden in the basement of the high-security hospital. It was made entirely of glass except for the solid steel door and was like nothing she’d ever seen before.

  ‘Barratt, you’ve got visitors.’ The guard was well-built and in his thirties. His eyes were alert and flitted around everything, constantly checking and reviewing for anything out of place.

  There was no movement from inside until they were a few metres away, and then Barratt stepped towards them from behind the metal door to study them through the thick wall of toughened glass.

  ‘Edward, remember me?’ Loxton asked.

  The man had lost weight and his skin was sallow. His hair was to his shoulders and he had a beard hiding his once handsome jawline. Solitary confinement had been hard on him. He squinted at her, as if trying to remember, then a smile spread across his face.

  ‘I’ve not seen a woman in months. And now I’ve got two beautiful women at once; it’s a dream come true. You haven’t aged at all, Alana.’ His eyes wandered over her face and down her body. ‘And look at those curves.’

  ‘This isn’t a social visit,’ she said. ‘I need your help.’ She hoped playing to his ego would work.

  ‘I’m not really in a state to help anyone.’ He motioned at his surroundings. ‘They never have time to talk to me, only to torment me. I thought he was winding me up when he said I had visitors. They do that every few months – insist someone’s coming to see me and then no one ever does.’

  ‘We’re here and we want to talk.’ She couldn’t gauge his mood. She’d spent so many hours in the past trying to work out what drove him, before she’d even known who he was, and even after spending days interviewing him, he was still a mystery to her.

  ‘Yes, you’re here, but are you real?’ He put his hands against the glass, his breath clouding the cold surface, obscuring his face in mist. When it cleared, he was studying her again with his cold eyes. He scanned the glass, as if looking for a way through that he might have missed. ‘If only I could touch you to be sure. I imagine things, you see.’

  Kowalski threw Loxton a look, his eyes widening for a split second. He mouthed ‘bat shit crazy’ at her. Lena glared at him.

  ‘Edward, we’re real,’ Loxton said. ‘These are my colleagues, Dominik Kowalski and Lena Trawinska. Lena’s a police profiler. As I said, we really need your help.’

  Barratt glanced at Kowalski and then his gaze fell onto Lena. He frowned. She seemed to stiffen under his gaze. ‘You’re a police profiler. That’s interesting. Can you come a little closer?’

  Lena shook her head at him and smiled. ‘You can see me just fine from here.’

  ‘Don’t you want to come closer?’ He leaned towards her. ‘Aren’t I fascinating to you? You’re very fascinating to me. You’re not what I expected.’ He tilted his head at her.

  ‘I read your prison file on the way here,’ Lena said. ‘It says you were inspired by the serial killer Krystian Szyman´ski. Is that true?’

  ‘Reading up on me?’ Barratt eyed her warily. ‘I feel at a disadvantage.’

  Loxton frowned. She’d heard the name Szyman´ski before, but couldn’t think where. It hadn’t come up in Barratt’s trial, but perhaps while he had been languishing in Broadmoor he’d told his psychiatrist about how his killing spree had started. She’d heard he was trying to write a memoir about his life, but the prison had been keen to put a stop to that. No one wanted to give him a platform. There were plenty of ill people out there looking for inspiration and a leader.

  ‘Krystian Szyman´ski targeted female tourists. You targeted female sex workers. Why was that?’

  Barratt laughed. ‘Isn’t it in my file? I believe they describe me as impulsive and prone to violence without considering the consequences. The truth is that I had a rather unfortunate incident with a sex worker. She was most unpleasant in the way she addressed me.’

  ‘But why did you continue?’ Lena asked. ‘You might have got away with it if you’d stopped at one.’

  ‘I suppose you could say I got a taste for it. And anyway, it didn’t really do any harm; those women weren’t living anyway. They were like the walking dead. Get a hit, come down, desperately strive for the next hit. On and on. The joke is they’d probably all have died of overdoses by now anyway and yet I’m still here serving time for their untimely deaths.’

  Loxton could see Lena was intrigued, but she felt they were getting off track and their audience with Barratt wasn’t long.

  ‘Edward, we’re here because you seem to have a copycat,’ Loxton said.

  ‘A copycat?’ Barratt moved away from the glass a fraction and the vapour evaporated.

  ‘Do you know anything about that?’ she asked.

  ‘Me?’ He placed his hand on his heart with fake sincerity. ‘This is the first I’m hearing about it. It’s nothing to do with me.’ He smiled at her again and she swore he was trying to conceal a smirk.

  ‘It might be one of your fan base,’ she said.

  ‘Fan base?’ He shook his head at her in bewilderment. ‘What fan base?’

  ‘You have quite a following. They write to you a lot.’ Had Barratt lost his mind in here? He’d had such a sharp one. It was a shame in a strange way.

  ‘I hardly get any letters.’ He frowned and the old rage stirred in his eyes. ‘Only ever from my solicitor and a well-meaning prison charity that does nothing.’

  Loxton glanced backwards towards the guard. He wouldn’t meet her eye.

  ‘You fucking toad!’ Barratt smashed his fists into the glass, his temper exploding. ‘I know you lot put excrement in my food. I can taste it! You fucking wanker. Just wait until I get to you!’

  ‘Can you give us a moment?’ she asked the guard over Barratt’s abuse.

  ‘I’m not supposed to, not after the stunt he pulled recently.’ The guard didn’t take his eyes off Barratt.

  ‘Please,’ Loxton said. ‘This is important.’

  The guard studied her for a moment as if assessing whether he could trust her. ‘Okay, but he won’t help you. Everything he says is a lie. Don’t trust a word. You’ve got five minutes and then I’m coming back.’ The guard strode off.r />
  ‘Edward, if you help us, we could help you.’

  ‘You could get me out of solitary confinement?’ Barratt’s eyes looked desperate. This was new.

  ‘You’re too high risk, you know that.’ She shook her head at him. ‘You tried to escape less than two weeks ago.’

  He rolled his eyes at her. ‘A few lousy days and they can treat me like this forever. Everyone has bad days. I didn’t even get past the woods.’

  ‘We might be able to get visits reinstated. Get some of this fan base seeing you weekly?’ He never could resist when his ego was being massaged – even when he was clever enough to work out what she was doing, and he was always clever enough.

  His eyes lit up and he smiled at her. ‘I’ve missed you. I want a change of guards too. All women. And I never want to see that macho arsehole’s face again. I’ve been looking at his face on and off for six months now.’

  ‘I can speak to the governor,’ she said.

  ‘And they say Broadmoor’s not a prison but a hospital.’ He shook his head.

  ‘This will only happen if you help us first.’ She held his gaze. He was still the most powerful man she’d ever met. The way he looked at her, as if she was the only other living thing on the planet. As if he were a god who could either crush or save her.

  ‘I want guarantees.’ He stepped closer to the glass. Closer to her. ‘From you. I don’t trust those two.’ His eyes flicked from Kowalski and Lena back to Loxton.

  ‘I can’t give you them today.’ She was sweating. She could feel her shirt becoming damp.

  ‘Well, in that case I can’t help you today.’ He shrugged sadly and turned away.

  ‘Emma Robins is the victim.’

  Edward eyed her suspiciously. ‘DC Emma Robins?’

  ‘Yes.’ She was annoyed at herself for conceding that information so early, but with Barratt you could never win. He was stubborn. All you could do was try to cajole. Humiliation and pain usually turned him on to your way of thinking.

  Kowalski stepped forward, his face almost touching the glass. ‘Was this you, Barratt?’ he asked, his voice a low growl.

  Barratt stepped back, surprised, and for a moment Loxton was sure he looked alarmed. Then he laughed. ‘If this was anything to do with me, which would be impressive even for me seeing as I’m trapped in here incommunicado, do you really think I’d tell you? Alana, get your dog on a chain or I won’t say another word.’

  Loxton glanced at Kowalski, in her head pleading with him to back off. Kowalski shook his head but stood his ground.

  ‘Have a think about it,’ Loxton said. ‘I’ll leave you the case file. We’ll come back tomorrow. I should have finalized everything by then.’

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ he said, his eyes narrowing.

  ‘I’m being straight with you here.’ She pressed her lips together in frustration. All this time and she’d never told him a single lie, but still he was suspicious.

  ‘Answer me one question and it’s a deal,’ he said.

  ‘I’ll try,’ she replied.

  He motioned for her to move forwards to the hatch. ‘I don’t want your henchman and his girlfriend hearing.’

  ‘I don’t like this,’ Lena muttered to Kowalski.

  ‘Alana, don’t go near that wicket.’ Kowalski stared at her, the concern obvious in his eyes.

  ‘No deal then.’ Barratt smirked at Kowalski, as if Kowalski had made a mistake.

  ‘Can you both just give us a minute?’ Loxton asked. ‘I won’t open it.’

  ‘I don’t want you on your own with him,’ Kowalski said.

  ‘Scared, Kowalski?’ Barratt stepped towards Kowalski. ‘You should be.’

  ‘I’m not scared of you.’ Kowalski stepped closer to the glass.

  ‘Dominik, I’ll only be a minute,’ Loxton said.

  Lena shook her head, but Kowalski hesitated for a moment, looking at Loxton, and then nodded. ‘Come on, Lena. We’ll be just over here, Alana.’ He walked briskly up the corridor with Lena following him, then he turned and stood by the door facing her and Barratt.

  Loxton realized Kowalski wasn’t going to take his eyes off her. It hurt that he didn’t trust her not to open the hatch. But he was right. If he hadn’t been there, she probably would have taken the risk for Sarah’s and Gabriella’s sake.

  She moved nearer to the glass. ‘Ask away,’ she said.

  ‘Which was your favourite murder? Come on, in your whole career you must have had a favourite. The standout one. I did.’

  ‘I’m not like you,’ she said.

  ‘You’re alive, aren’t you?’ He frowned at her. ‘We’re predators, you and me. We like to hunt.’

  ‘I want to protect people.’

  He laughed. ‘You crack me up. You want to know the thing we have in common? You and me, we like the thrill of the chase, and we don’t care who gets hurt along the way. Neither of us like people. We know that they’re all just overhyped animals, capable of unspeakable horrors when they think no one’s watching.’

  ‘Do we have a deal?’

  ‘No.’ He snapped the word out, angry. ‘Not until you admit you’re like me.’

  She hated his power games. It always came down to this. He wanted to control her. ‘I’m drawn to murder investigations.’

  ‘Was I your favourite case?’

  She thought for a second. ‘You scared me the most. Catching you was the pinnacle of my career. I don’t think I’ll ever better that.’

  A slow smile spread across his face. ‘Which one of my victims was your favourite? I have one. I know I shouldn’t. I should love them all the same. But it would be a lie.’

  She shook her head at him.

  ‘Come on.’ His voice was so quiet she wasn’t sure if she’d heard him right. ‘I won’t tell anyone if you don’t. I’ll take it to my grave.’

  ‘The last one. That was your best work.’ She hated herself.

  ‘Snap.’ He slapped the glass hard at the same time and startled her. ‘You have a deal, Alana.’

  She took a moment to recover herself. ‘I’ll pass the file to the guard and he’ll give it to you. Tomorrow you can tell me your thoughts.’

  ‘Tomorrow I’ll play the role you’ve assigned me. But who knows? Maybe one day you’ll get to play the role I assign you. Just like Emma Robins did.’ He stroked the glass, running his hand down it, smiling at her.

  ‘Did you have something to do with this, Edward?’ She stepped closer to the glass. ‘You’ve got nothing to lose. They can’t do anything else to you. Why not just tell me? Don’t you want me to know?’ She prayed his desire to show off would make him let something slip.

  ‘I merely meant that I told Emma she’d get what was coming to her and it turns out I was right. That’s all.’

  ‘Who tried to get you out of here?’ she said.

  He smiled at her. ‘Now that would be telling.’

  ‘So there was someone else?’ she asked.

  A flash of anger crossed Barratt’s face but was quickly replaced by indifference. ‘I didn’t say there was anyone else. I acted alone. I’ll have a look at your file and tell you what I think, but it won’t help you. You’re not going to be able to stop it. The wolves are out of the cage now and they’re coming for you.’

  She forced herself to turn away and not to react to his bait. She walked down the corridor, refusing to look back at him, but it was like turning her back on a grinning tiger. She wanted to know where he was at all times.

  Chapter 21

  Monday 31 January, 19:42

  The hotel Loxton and Kowalski found for the night was cheap and functional and on the outskirts of town. Loxton hoped it was far out enough that the night revellers wouldn’t be coming back after the nightclubs kicked them out.

  Lena had travelled back to London with all of Barratt’s letters. Loxton wanted to get her and the team researching the senders straight away, to see if any of them seemed like a likely candidate to be avenging Barratt by murdering Emma and abd
ucting Sarah and Gabriella. If Loxton didn’t know better, she’d think Barratt had spooked Lena.

  ‘We could drive back to London now too,’ Kowalski said. ‘It’s only forty miles away.’

  ‘Winter wants me out of harm’s way.’ Loxton sighed. ‘That’s why he sent us here.’

  Kowalski shook his head. ‘If he wants you out of harm’s way, he should have sent you abroad. This guy isn’t going to stop.’

  ‘I know that.’ Her voice was sharp. She didn’t need him reminding her.

  ‘I won’t let anything happen to you,’ Kowalski said, his eyes full of concern.

  ‘What shall we get for dinner?’ She changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on Barratt any longer tonight.

  ‘Room service?’ He passed her the menu from the coffee table. ‘I don’t feel like eating out.’

  ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’ She scanned the menu, seeing a salmon salad and thinking a side of chips would go well.

  ‘Alana, I don’t mean this in the wrong way, but can you do me a favour?’ He looked serious.

  ‘Sure,’ she said, putting the menu down.

  ‘Can I sleep in your room tonight? I won’t sleep otherwise, knowing you’re on your own.’ Kowalski was rattled. Barratt always knew how to get under someone’s skin.

  ‘I’ll use the internal chain as well as lock the door and I’ll keep my baton by my bed. I’ll be fine.’

  ‘Please, just listen. Barratt was right. I am scared. The idea of losing you…’ He wouldn’t look at her. ‘I’ll sleep on the sofa.’ He patted the sofa he was sat on.

  She didn’t want him to mother her, but she had to admit she didn’t really want to be on her own either. ‘All right, but if you snore, you’re out.’

  He grinned at her. ‘Done. I’ll just grab a few things from my room. Can you order me a steak and chips? Medium rare.’

  She rolled her eyes at him. ‘If this is just so you can order the most expensive meal and charge it to my room, I won’t be happy.’

  ‘I’ll be two seconds.’ The door banged behind him.