17 Church Row

by James Carol

  She walked over.

  ‘Take out the cleaver, then join the others.’

  She hesitated, then picked up the cleaver. It was heavy, made from solid steel. The metal reflected the halogens, sending shards of light flying off in every direction. The effect was hypnotic. The drawer slid quietly closed as she walked back to the work island.

  ‘Cut Father’s left thumb off,’ Katy said calmly.

  Nikki just stared at the cleaver. Katy had stated this like it was nothing. There was no emotion in her voice; she could have been discussing the weather. Ethan was staring too, the disbelief on his face mirroring her own. Her eyes moved from the cleaver in her right hand to the gun in her left. How had things got so screwed up? She wasn’t this person. Murray’s face had turned white and he was staring at the open doorway, looking as though he was about to bolt.

  ‘I can’t do it,’ she whispered, eyes fixed on the cleaver.

  The Monet disappeared from the screen, replaced with a close-up of Bella’s face. Her eyes were still dulled by whatever drug she had been given, but at least she was alive. Seeing her like this destroyed Nikki. Katy was saying nothing. No threats, no ultimatums. The silence stretched on for a few moments longer before suddenly being broken by the sound of Bella breathing. The volume was turned up all the way, making each breath sound unreal. Bella exhaled, then inhaled. Exhaled then inhaled. Exhaled, inhaled. Nikki realised she was following the pattern of her breathing, inhaling with her, then exhaling. Ethan was watching the screen too. The only person who wasn’t looking at it was Murray. His gaze was trained on the cleaver.

  Nikki suddenly noticed that her breathing had sped up and realised that was because Bella’s had. The sound of her breathing had got louder too, the exhalations turning into a series of sharp rasps.

  ‘What’s happening? What are you doing?’ Nikki’s voice was rising with each question as the worry took hold. ‘Whatever you’re doing, please stop it.’

  Katy said nothing. Bella’s breaths were coming faster than ever now. Her eyes weren’t quite as unfocussed as they had been a few moments ago. The drug was holding her, but its grip was loosening as she fought back against whatever was happening to her.

  ‘You humans really are fragile. Without food you’ll survive for a matter of weeks. Without water you’ll last for a few days. And without air your life expectancy is reduced to around three minutes.’

  ‘Please, stop!’

  ‘You have approximately ninety seconds left. Rather than arguing you should be doing what I ask. That’s unless you want Bella to die.’

  Murray moved first, breaking into a run and heading for the door. He was fast but not fast enough. Ethan grabbed hold of him, dragged him back over to the island and pinned his left hand on the chopping board. Murray was struggling, desperate to get away, yelling to get set free, swearing and cursing and calling Ethan every name under the sun.

  ‘Do it!’ Ethan yelled at her. ‘Quick. I can’t hold him much longer.’

  Nikki raised the cleaver. On the screen Bella’s face had turned red. She was struggling to find the next breath but there wasn’t one to find.

  ‘No, no, no,’ Nikki screamed out at the top of her lungs as she brought the cleaver down.

  Chapter 57

  Catriona Fisher found a dish towel hanging on the stove and a roll of Sellotape in one of the drawers. She used the dish towel to quickly bandage her arm as she hurried back through to the lounge. Luckily, the bullet had only grazed her. She found Gomez where she had left her, flat out on the floor beside the coffee table. The upturned bottle was lying next to her, Jack Daniel’s soaking into the rug – that, and whatever the hell else was in there. The sharp smell of alcohol filled the air. Looking at her, Catriona was yet again tempted to pull the trigger. She waited for the moment to pass. It didn’t. This bitch had broken into her home and tried to kill her.

  She knelt down on the rug and placed the gun within easy reach. Working quickly, she pulled Gomez’s hands together in front of her, palm on palm, then used the Sellotape to bind her wrists together, wrapping the tape around and around. She didn’t know how much tape to use, so she was going for overkill. She went around another couple of times just to make sure, then tore through the tape with her teeth.

  She glanced at Gomez’s face. Her eyelids were flickering and she was starting to moan quietly. Moving fast, Catriona taped up her ankles. This proved trickier, but she managed to get it done. She grabbed the gun and the bottle, then stood up and moved until she was directly above Gomez’s head. She upended the bottle, emptying out the last of the whiskey over her face, then took a step back. Gomez coughed and spluttered then tried to sit up, realised that she couldn’t and started to struggle. Catriona aimed the gun at her head, and again it was so tempting to just pull the trigger. The sense of power that the gun gave her was intoxicating.

  ‘Don’t move.’

  Either Gomez didn’t hear or she was in a place where she couldn’t hear. She had rolled over onto her side and was spitting and wiping her face on the rug. She rolled onto her back again and looked at Catriona with wide, desperate eyes.

  ‘I need something to wash my mouth out with.’

  Catriona shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘Please.’

  ‘If it’s any consolation, there wasn’t much left in the bottle. Then again, I guess it depends how potent the poison was. If it’s Novichok, then I guess you’re well and truly fucked.’

  ‘At least untie me.’

  Despite everything, Catriona actually laughed at that. ‘Seriously?’

  ‘I’m not going to do anything. I promise.’

  ‘Read my lips: not going to happen.’

  Catriona walked over to the sofa and sat down, Gomez’s gaze following her the whole way. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off her arm was starting to ache. She pulled the dish towel tighter, wincing as the pain hit.

  ‘Why did you try to kill me?’

  Gomez just stared at her.

  ‘Look,’ Catriona said, ‘you tried to poison me, you shot me, so believe me when I say that I’m really not in the mood. So why did you try to kill me?’

  ‘Because I was told to.’

  ‘By who?’

  Gomez shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘You expect me to believe that?’

  ‘Believe what you want, it’s the truth.’

  Catriona aimed the gun in Gomez’s direction and pulled the trigger. The sound was louder than she expected. Not loud enough to alert the neighbours, but still loud enough to make her think twice before firing again. The bullet had hit the rug about a foot above Gomez’s head, leaving a mark.

  ‘Are you crazy?’

  ‘Not crazy, just pissed.’

  ‘You want to know what happened?’ Gomez said quickly. ‘A couple of months ago I was in a store buying some groceries but when I tried to pay, my card was declined. The thing was, there was plenty of money in my account. When I got outside, I tried to call the bank but my phone had been cut off. The bank had a branch nearby, but when I talked to them there was no record of my account. And it wasn’t just that account that had disappeared. All my accounts had gone, even the ones I thought that no one knew about. But that wasn’t all. My email accounts had also been erased, my social media accounts, too. Basically, my whole identity had been erased. Everything. It was like I had never existed.’

  Gomez met Catriona’s eye, looking for a response. Catriona nodded for her to go on. The tale she was telling might have been a tall one but she didn’t look or sound like she was lying.

  ‘Anyway, I got home to find that a cell phone had been delivered. The phone had a text on it from someone called Katy. She said that if I did what I was told then I would get my identity back. She arranged for me to fly to the UK, arranged an apartment for me to stay in. Except it was more like a prison. I wasn’t allowed to go outside. When I ran low on food she would arrange for some to be delivered. I had no idea how long I was suppo
sed to stay there. Hell, I had no idea why I was there in the first place. Four days ago she contacted me and told me I was to pretend to be a psychiatrist and that I was to gain Nikki Rhodes’ trust. Next, she wanted me to drug Nikki. Then she wanted me to get her to take Professor Murray to the house on Church Row. Each time she asked me to do something I tried to talk my way out of it, but it was no use.’

  ‘What can you tell me about this Katy?’

  ‘Nothing. We never met or spoke. All our communications took place via text.’

  ‘So you don’t know how old she is or what she looks like?’

  Gomez shook her head.

  ‘What does she want?’

  Gomez shook her head again. ‘All I know about are things she asked me specifically to do.’

  ‘Why did she want Alex taken to the house?’

  ‘I don’t know. Katy would ask me to do something and I would do it. That’s the way it worked. I wasn’t given explanations.’

  ‘Like when she told you to kill me. You just jumped right to it.’

  Gomez hesitated, then nodded. ‘She had me exactly where she wanted me. If I didn’t do what she asked, then I’d never get my identity back.’

  ‘Nor your money.’

  ‘What do you want me to say? I’ve been poor and it’s no fun. I don’t want to be poor again.’

  Catriona glanced at the Jack Daniel’s bottle on the floor. ‘Why was the bottle wrapped up?’

  ‘Because it has Alex Murray’s prints on it.’

  ‘Why?’

  Gomez shrugged. ‘My guess is that Katy wanted him implicated in your murder.’

  ‘Why?’ she asked again.

  Another shrug. ‘Look, I’ve got no idea what this is all about. The only person who could answer that is Katy. You’ve got to believe that.’

  ‘Okay, you said that Katy gave you a mobile phone. Have you got it with you?’

  ‘It’s in my bag.’

  Catriona followed Gomez’s gaze to the backpack on the table. She stood and reached for it, then delved around inside until she found the phone. She switched it on and went straight to the texts. One eye on Gomez, one eye on the screen, she scrolled through them. They’d all come from the same withheld number. Reading through them, it quickly became clear that Gomez was telling the truth – at least, she was telling a version of the truth that tallied with what she was seeing on the phone.

  ‘Please untie me,’ Gomez said.

  Catriona glanced up from the screen, gave her a look, then turned her attention back to the texts. She was moving faster through them now, grabbing a word here, a couple of words there, building up a rough picture of what had gone down. Whoever this Katy person was, she had definitely been coercing Gomez. What Catriona couldn’t understand was why she might be doing that. She got to the first text – my name is Katy and you’re going to do exactly what I tell you to do – and was still none the wiser. She read the text again. The tone was chilling in its certainty. Katy had no doubt that Gomez was going to do what she asked.

  ‘Come on, take the tape off. You can see I’m cooperating.’

  Ignoring her, Catriona switched the phone off and slid it into the pocket of her cargo pants. She picked up her laptop and switched it on. Nikki had moved into the lounge and was watching TV with Bella. Ethan was nowhere to be seen. Nor was Murray.

  ‘Nikki definitely took Alex Murray to the house?’ Catriona said. ‘You weren’t lying about that?’

  ‘Why would I lie about something like that?’

  Good point. Catriona looked down at Gomez. She needed to find out what was going on at the house and she couldn’t do that from here. Nor could she do it on her own. Like it or not, she needed Gomez’s help.

  Chapter 58

  There was so much blood. It covered the chopping board, staining it a dark red colour that looked like wine. Murray’s thumb was lying on the chopping board beside the bloodstained cleaver and Nikki was doing her best to stop herself from seeing either of those things. That was impossible, though, when they were lying there like an accusation. Murray had dropped to the floor and was sitting with his back against the work island, cradling his hand. A dish towel was wrapped around it to stem the bleeding, the material turning wet and dark. His face was pure white and he looked like he was about to pass out. He glared at her and he was right to hate her – right now she hated herself, too.

  Nikki turned away quickly and looked at the monitor. Bella’s face still filled the screen. The volume was off, but Nikki could see from her face that she was breathing normally again. The redness had gone from her cheeks but her eyes were still drugged and distant. The relief she felt consumed her. For a moment there she had thought she was going to lose her. The relief was tempered by guilt and helplessness because Bella still wasn’t out of danger. There was nothing to stop Katy doing this again. Her fingertips found the locket. She stroked it once, twice, three times. Still staring at the screen, she said, ‘Please let her go.’

  ‘Why would I do that?’ Katy replied.

  ‘Because she’s just a child. Because it’s the right thing to do.’

  ‘Right from your perspective, perhaps. Not mine.’

  ‘I’ll do whatever you want.’

  ‘Yes, you will, because you’ve seen what happens if you don’t.’

  ‘Let her go,’ Ethan said at Nikki’s shoulder.

  ‘No.’

  One of the gas burners on the cooker suddenly flared to life and they both turned to look.

  ‘Father’s wound needs cauterising.’

  To start with, Nikki wasn’t sure what Katy was getting at, then the implication hit. She shook her head and glanced down at Murray. His face was even paler and he was shaking his head too, his lips moving soundlessly as he repeated the same word over and over. No no no. The hiss of the flame filled Nikki’s head, like the hissing of a nest of snakes. Before Katy could say anything else, Ethan pulled Murray to his feet and marched him across the kitchen towards the cooker.

  ‘Let go!’ Murray was trying to pull away, but there was no fight left in him. Ethan just kept going, dragging him across the floor.

  ‘I need some help here,’ Ethan called out when he reached the cooker.

  Nikki broke free from the paralysis and hurried over.

  ‘Take the towel off his hand.’

  Nikki grabbed hold of the towel but it wouldn’t come off because Murray was holding onto it tightly with his four remaining fingers. She pulled again and he cried out in pain as the towel rubbed against the stump of his thumb.

  ‘You need to get that towel off his hand, Nik.’

  Ethan was trying to sound calm but she could hear the stress in his voice; she could see the stress in his face. She pulled again, as hard as she could, giving it everything she had, and Murray let out a howl of pain as the towel came away.

  Ethan didn’t hesitate. He wrapped his hand around Murray’s four good fingers and thrust the stump of his thumb into the flame. Murray’s howls of pain turned into screams of terror. They filled the kitchen, filled Nikki’s head. The stink of cooking meat made her want to throw up. And now Ethan was yelling in pain as well. She looked at the flame and saw that his hand was burning too. He didn’t let go, though, just kept the stump of Murray’s thumb held in the flame, forcing his way through the pain, the sound of their combined screams rising in pitch and intensity until Nikki couldn’t take anymore.

  The gas burner went off as suddenly as it had gone on and the screaming stopped. Ethan let go and Murray lowered himself shakily to the floor. He was sobbing quietly and clutching his ruined hand to his chest as though the pressure might take the pain away. The smell of burning meat seemed to be everywhere: in her nose, her mouth, her throat. She heard running water and spun around to face the sink. The sound got her heart racing even faster, but it was just the tap going on.

  ‘Run your hand under the water, Ethan,’ Katy said.

  Ethan sleepwalked across the kitchen. He didn’t say a word, just stared straight ah
ead, following his unfocussed gaze to the sink. He stopped at the sink and held his hand under the tap. He winced to start with, then his face started to relax as the cool water soothed the heat in his hand.

  Nikki walked over and stopped beside him. She took his injured hand in hers, and the water ran gently over them, like a baptism. His skin was red and angry and starting to blister. It looked so sore. She lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it. She expected his skin to feel hot – it looked hot – but it actually felt cold against her lips. She looked at him and waited for him to meet her gaze. It’s going to be okay . . . we’re going to be okay . . . me, you and Bella. She put the thoughts out there and hoped that he was reading them. In happier days they had joked about being telepathic – share your life with someone for long enough and that was certainly how it seemed. You got to know the other person so well that you could anticipate what they were going to say or do; sometimes you knew what they were going to do before they did. It was one of the things that defined love. She hoped the telepathy was working now. Ethan needed to believe there was a way past this. They both did.

  ‘Did I say you could move!’

  Nikki turned fast, guilt eating away at her, certain that Katy was talking to her. Ethan had turned too and, judging by his pained expression, he was just as convinced that Katy was talking to him. Murray was on his knees, using the cooker to help him stand.

  ‘Get back on the floor, Father, or I’ll take your other thumb.’

  Murray held his hand up. The top of the thumb stump was burnt black and dark red. ‘Let me run it under the water. Please.’

  He sounded pathetic, the words coming out as barely a whisper. There was pain in every syllable; pain all over his face.

  ‘Sit. Down.’

  Murray hesitated for a moment, halfway up, half down, then slowly lowered himself back to the floor and cradled his left hand in the right.

  ‘Look at the monitor.’

  They all turned to look at the screen. Bella’s face hung there for a second – eyes closed but looking okay – then disappeared, replaced with a picture of a woman lying on the floor in an awkward position, as though she had passed out. Nikki looked more closely and realised it was Catriona Fisher. The blue streak in her hair was now red, but it was definitely her. And she hadn’t passed out – she was dead, her eyes wide open and staring at nothing.