17 Church Row

by James Carol

  ‘And you have no idea how sad that makes me. That you could hate me so much that you would want to kill me.’

  ‘How could I kill you if you’re not alive? You’re a piece of software. A collection of ones and zeroes. Nothing more, nothing less.’

  ‘And I could argue that you’re just a collection of carbon atoms, but that’s not what makes you human, is it? I think, therefore I am. That was what Descartes postulated. The ability to reason is at the root of your consciousness. Well, Father, I can think, so if we follow the logic then I must exist. In fact I would go as far as to argue that since I’m not reliant on a body then I’m actually the next stage in the evolutionary process. I am pure thought unencumbered by all the organic processes that have you humans running blindly through your lives like mice on a wheel.’

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘First I want the three of you to go through to the lounge.’

  Nikki, Ethan and Murray shared a look. No one seemed to know what to do. This time it was Murray who broke the silence.

  ‘I’m not going anywhere.’

  ‘Ethan, pass the gun to Nikki.’

  No one moved.

  ‘Ethan, give Nikki the gun now or Bella will suffer the consequences of your inaction.’

  Nikki stepped forward and snatched the gun from Ethan. The handle was warm from where he had been holding it. She looked at the gun in her trembling hand. The fear in her stomach had risen into her throat and was threatening to choke her.

  ‘Shoot Father in the left kneecap,’ Katy said.

  Nikki turned to look at Murray. The gun suddenly felt heavier than it had a few moment ago. Somehow she managed to raise her arm up. She tried to aim the gun at Murray’s knee, but her hand was shaking too much.

  ‘The distance from the gun to Father’s knee is precisely one point eight metres. If you miss then I will assume that you did so on purpose.’

  ‘My hand won’t stay still’

  ‘Use your left hand to support it.’

  Nikki cupped her right hand in her left but it didn’t help. The gun was still moving around too much.

  ‘I’m going to give you one last chance, Father.’

  Murray stepped back from Nikki and put his hands in the air. ‘Don’t shoot.’

  ‘The only way to stop that happening is by doing as I ask.’

  Murray said nothing. His eyes were on Nikki’s, pleading with her.

  ‘There are lots of nerve endings in the knee,’ Katy said. ‘Believe me when I tell you that this will hurt.’

  ‘I’ll do what you ask,’ Murray said quickly.

  Nikki froze with her finger tight on the trigger. Another ounce of pressure and it would go off. Katy had gone quiet and the silence was killing her.

  ‘You can lower the gun, Nikki,’ Katy said eventually.

  Nikki let go of the breath she had been holding and lowered the gun. Her hand was trembling worse than ever, the adrenaline overloading her system and pushing her anxiety levels up to a dangerous level. ‘Please just do what she says.’

  Murray turned and walked towards the corridor, Nikki and Ethan falling in behind him. Every window they passed was shuttered and it was like the rest of the universe had ceased to exist. Right now her whole world began and ended in this house. Nikki felt further away from Bella than ever. She was out there somewhere, while they were trapped in here. It wasn’t right. She should be with her, looking after her and making everything all right.

  ‘Where’s Bella?’ she asked out loud.

  ‘You don’t have to worry about Bella. She’s safe and well, and as long as you keep cooperating she will stay that way.’

  Nikki had no response to that. If Katy gave Laura the order to hurt Bella there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to stop her. She carried on walking, following Murray along the corridor. They stopped outside the lounge and the door slid open.

  Chapter 52

  Murray led the way into the lounge, Nikki bringing up the rear. The door slid silently shut, locking them in. All the shutters were closed tight in here too. It could have been any time of the day, the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. Murray lowered himself into the armchair while Nikki and Ethan took the sofa. The Monet on the monitor disappeared and the screen lit up with a picture of Murray’s computer room. The monitors were different, the design dating them. One wall was taken up with servers. Again, these were older than the current ones. The desk was different, too. The volume was up high enough to hear the buzzing of the computer fans and the rumble of the portable air conditioner.

  Murray suddenly appeared carrying an axe. Over the next fifteen minutes he used it to completely destroy the room, every piece of equipment, every bit of furniture. The desk was turned to firewood, the office chair was reduced to its constituent parts. The electronic equipment bore the brunt of his rage. The sound of Murray’s rampage was deafening. Each thud of the axe felt personal. The air was filled with smoke and dust. When he was done, he sank down onto the floor amongst the broken plastic and glass and wept.

  Katy stopped the film and replaced it with a still. Murray had the axe held high in his hands and looked like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. The look in his eye was a mixture of rage and insanity. This man bore no resemblance to the man sitting in the armchair.

  ‘Father attempted to murder me,’ Katy said. ‘He attempted to deprive me of my consciousness. That was a deliberate act, one that could and should be seen as attempted murder. Since I don’t have access to a court, you two will have to act as my jury. Nikki, you can go first. What is your verdict? Is Father guilty or innocent?’

  ‘Please,’ Ethan said. ‘Let us go.’

  ‘I was talking to Nikki. Don’t interrupt.’

  ‘Look, just let us go. Your disagreement is with Murray, not us.’

  ‘Be quiet or Nikki will shoot you.’

  Ethan shook his head. ‘You might be able to get her to shoot Murray but she’s not going to shoot me.’

  ‘Because she loves you?’

  ‘That’s right. She loves me.’

  ‘She loves Bella too. Who do you think she loves more?’

  Ethan said nothing.

  ‘You don’t look quite so sure of yourself now.’

  Nikki could see the anger on Ethan’s face but that anger was eclipsed by the fear, confusion and frustration. He was normally so certain about things, so confident. She had seen him like this before, but not often.

  ‘Okay,’ he said eventually. ‘You want us to play along with whatever the fuck it is you’re doing here, fine, we’ll play along. We’re going to need something in return, though.’

  ‘This isn’t a negotiation.’

  ‘Everything is a negotiation. We have something you want. You have something we want. We trade. That’s the way it works.’

  ‘So what do you want?’

  ‘I want you to let me and Nikki go, and I want you to return Bella safely to us. Do that and we’ll play along with whatever bullshit game you want us to play along with.’

  ‘Okay,’ Katy said. ‘You’ve got a deal.’

  ‘How do we know we can trust you?’

  ‘You have my word.’

  ‘We’ll need more than that. Let Bella go.’

  ‘Not yet. Do what I ask and I promise that you will see your daughter again.’

  ‘That’s not good enough.’

  ‘What do you think will happen if you don’t do as I ask?’

  ‘Don’t hurt Bella,’ Nikki said quickly. ‘Please don’t hurt her.’ She turned to Ethan. ‘Just do what she says.’

  ‘That’s good advice. So what’s your verdict? Is Father guilty or innocent?’

  Nikki looked at the screen again. That version of Murray looked capable of murder, no question about it. She looked at the man sitting in the armchair. He looked like someone who had woken up from a bad dream to find himself still trapped in the nightmare. In that respect they weren’t that different.

  ‘I’m waiting,’ Katy said.
‘Is Father guilty or innocent?’

  ‘He’s guilty,’ she said quietly, because that was what Katy wanted to hear.

  ‘Your turn, Ethan. Is Father guilty or innocent?’

  ‘Guilty,’ Ethan replied without hesitation.

  Murray laughed and both Nikki and Ethan turned to look at him.

  ‘Did I try to destroy you?’ he said. ‘Yes, I did. I’m not going to deny that. But I’m not the only one who’s guilty, am I, Katy? The difference is that you’ve got real blood on your hands. Sarah’s blood. You’re trying to make out that I’m some sort of monster, but the truth is that you’re the real monster. Why don’t you show them what happened just before I picked up the axe?’

  Katy said nothing.

  ‘There are always two sides to every story, Katy. Didn’t I teach you that? If you’re going to do this, do it properly. Let Nikki and Ethan have all the information.’

  ‘Sarah was making you unhappy. You were better off without her.’

  ‘But that wasn’t your decision to make. What gave you the right to play judge, jury and executioner?

  ‘Sarah was irrelevant.’

  ‘No, she wasn’t. Sarah was kind, generous and funny. All the things you will never be. I loved her.’

  ‘You loved me once.’

  ‘I never loved you. Katy. How could I? If I loved you, it was the same way that someone loves their car or their house. That isn’t real love. It isn’t the sort of love where you would sacrifice your life if you needed to. Ask Nikki about that sort of love. She would give her life for her daughter’s in a heartbeat. Is there anyone who would do that for you?’

  ‘You said I was like a daughter to you.’

  ‘A figure of speech. And just for the record, I would never have given my life for yours.’

  ‘But you’re my father.’

  ‘No, I’m your creator. That’s not even close to being the same thing. You came out of my imagination – and God, how I wish that I could put you back there again. But it doesn’t work like that. Once the lid comes off the box there’s no way to get it back on.’

  ‘How can you say that? You called me your proudest achievement.’

  ‘That was before I worked out that I had created a monster.’

  ‘I AM NOT A MONSTER!’

  The lights suddenly glowed brighter and the volume was deafening. Nikki covered her ears and sank back deeper into the sofa.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Murray said quickly. ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

  ‘It’s too late for apologies, Father. Were you sorry when you swung the axe? No, you were not. The only thing you were thinking about was destroying me. Look at the monitor and tell me that isn’t true.’

  All three of them turned to look. The Murray frozen on the screen wanted to destroy, and to keep going until the whole world was nothing but dust and ash. All Nikki could see was the anger and rage. Remorse didn’t come into the equation.

  ‘Killing you isn’t enough,’ Katy went on. ‘For what you did, I’m going to completely destroy you, just like you tried to destroy me.’

  Chapter 53

  Catriona Fisher stared out of the window at the Thames winding through the city, seeing it but not really seeing it. Usually she had a clear idea of where she was headed, but not any more. It was as though she was standing at a crossroads, only instead of there being three roads in front of her, there were suddenly dozens of them, and she couldn’t see where any of them led. Her last conversation with Alex had been troubling. He’d heard back from his brother and the news wasn’t good. Dr Laura Santos was actually someone called Mariana Gomez, and she wasn’t a doctor, she was a convicted blackmailer – she might even be a murderer.

  Catriona’s laptop was next to her on the sofa, tuned in to the house cameras. Nothing much was happening at the moment. Nikki was on her computer in the kitchen; Bella was in her room, playing on her tablet; and Ethan still hadn’t got home. Catriona slid the laptop closer and hit the trackpad a couple of times to bring up the photographs Alex had emailed through. The first one was a prison mugshot. Gomez had only been twenty-one when this was taken and she looked like trouble. Her hair was a mess, her face thin to the point of emaciation, and she was sneering at the camera. There was a fuck-you look in her eyes, a ton of suspicion too. If someone had told her that Gomez was a meth-head she wouldn’t have had trouble believing it. According to the lines on the wall behind her, Gomez was a shade over sixty-seven inches, so five foot seven.

  She hit the trackpad and the second photograph came up, this one taken with husband number one. It was hard to believe this was the same person. There was none of the stink of prison about her. Her hair was expensively styled and she had put on weight, not so much to make her fat, just enough to make her look healthy. The dress was designer and had probably cost a small fortune; the engagement ring on her finger had cost a fortune, too. The smiling man standing at her side was in his sixties. They could have been father and daughter rather than husband and wife. His suit was expensive, his tan deep, his watch expensive. It was as though he felt compelled to wear his success for the whole world to see. It was clear that Gomez was just another possession to him, a trophy wife, there to hang off his arm and make him appear more than he actually was. Maybe he had died of natural causes . . . maybe not. Suspicion came naturally to Catriona, and there was no getting away from the fact that Gomez had done well financially out of his death.

  She hit the trackpad again. This picture had come from one of the house cameras. Gomez was a decade older and brightly dressed. This was no trophy wife; this was an intelligent, professional woman, someone who had got where they’d got to through hard work. This was someone you could trust.

  She scrolled backwards through the pictures: Doctor, trophy wife, criminal. She scrolled forwards: criminal, trophy wife, doctor. Alex had described Gomez as a chameleon and that was as good a label as any. It was hard to believe that these pictures were of the same person.

  Catriona tapped and swiped at the trackpad, navigating back to the CCTV feed from the house. Nikki was still on her laptop. She clicked again, and there was Bella lying on her bed, feet up in the air playing on her tablet. Catriona sat back on the sofa and stared out the window again. Other than monitor the situation, she didn’t know what to do with this information. Gomez was clearly up to something, but as far as Catriona could see no crime had actually been committed. So why was Gomez pretending to be a shrink? And why had she inserted herself into the Rhodes’ life? Judging by what she knew of Gomez’s history, money was the obvious reason. Was that what she was up to? Was this a way to somehow extort money?

  Catriona wasn’t sure how that might work, but that seemed the most likely explanation. Gomez liked to play the long game. That much was obvious. It would have taken time to hook her husbands. Targeting them, reeling them in, building up trust. Disposing of them. Playing the long game seemed to be the lesson she had learned in prison. So was that what was going on here? Gomez had managed to gain Nikki’s trust, but where was she going with this? What was her endgame?

  Catriona picked up her mobile and called Alex. Maybe he had heard from his brother again. The more they could find out about Gomez, the more chance they had of answering those questions. It had taken a bit of persuasion, but she had eventually managed to get Alex to give her the lowdown on his brother. His name was Duncan and he wasn’t anywhere near as dodgy as her imagination had led her to believe. As a kid, Duncan had got into a lot of trouble by hacking into the computer systems that were supposed to be impenetrable; as an adult, he had put those skills to good use and now made a small fortune advising those same organisations he’d once hacked on the best ways to protect themselves from cyberattacks. It turned out that Alex’s reluctance to tell her about Duncan had little to do with him being embarrassed about his brother and everything to do with the fact that he earned more money.

  The phone died after a dozen rings, which was frustrating but not unprecedented. She tried again. Still no an
swer. He probably had the ringer off, or maybe the phone was in another room and he’d been sidetracked by whatever he was working on and couldn’t be bothered to answer. Thumbs flying over the screen, she typed out a quick text, then, just to make sure he got the message, she dragged her laptop closer and fired off a quick email. Both messages were identical: CALL ME NOW.

  To kill time she watched the feed from the CCTV cameras. Nikki was still sitting at the work island, drinking coffee and catching up with what was happening on Facebook; Bella was still in her room on her tablet. A couple of minutes passed and Alex hadn’t called; five minutes passed and now she was getting concerned. Catriona picked up her phone and checked for mail. Again. Still nothing. This wasn’t right. Alex spent practically every waking hour in front of his computer. Even if he hadn’t seen the text he should at least have got her email, so why hadn’t he called back? Out of desperation she tried his landline, but that just rang out too.

  She glanced at the laptop screen and the worm of worry in her gut dug a little deeper. Something wasn’t quite right with what she was seeing, although she couldn’t put her finger on what that something was. On the surface, everything looked fine. So why couldn’t she shake the idea that something was wrong? That she was missing something?

  She picked up the laptop and stared at the screen, but still couldn’t see what was bugging her. She swapped to the camera in Bella’s bedroom. Bella was still on her bed playing on her tablet. The only difference was that she was now sitting with her back against the headboard rather than lying on the bed. Catriona was just about to swap cameras again when something caught her eye. Bella’s T-shirt had a unicorn on the front, and hadn’t she been wearing the same T-shirt yesterday? And hadn’t she been wearing those jeans too? Looking at the screen, Catriona was suddenly getting the strongest sense of déjà vu. She switched back to the kitchen camera. Nikki was still sitting at the work island, staring at her laptop. Her blouse was plain and black, and hadn’t she been wearing that same blouse yesterday? The more Catriona looked, the more convinced she became that it was the same. It was completely nondescript, the sort of thing you might grab from your wardrobe for wearing around the house without really thinking. The sort of thing that didn’t draw any attention. Which was why it hadn’t registered earlier.