‘So, no, I don’t think I messed up, plus–’ He waved a hand around the room. ‘–how do you think I got in here?’ There was a maniacal lilt to his laugh as he lifted the knife and made an imaginary slice through the air. ‘While I was cutting his throat, I was feeling in his jacket pocket for his keys. Then I simply waited for the right opportunity.’ He laughed louder at her horrified expression. ‘And as for your security alarm. Seriously! The year of your children’s birth. Have you no imagination?’
Keri ignored him. She was imagining Nathan, his hands full of takeaway coffees and sticky buns, smiling at Luke as he went through the door. She was glad her wonderful husband hadn’t remembered that betrayal. ‘Right,’ she said now, suddenly weary. ‘You’re going to kill me, get it over with. I’m getting tired and bored with this.’
His smile slipped away and for a second he looked unsure of his next step, then he stuck out his tongue and flicked it. ‘I might have some fun with you first.’
She bared her teeth. ‘Try it.’ Her voice was a ragged snarl. ‘I swear, I will chew you to pieces. I might die in the process but I won’t go easily.’
Stalemate. They faced each other across the breakfast bar. Keri’s breath came in noisy gusts, as he continued to wave his foul tongue. Spittle formed on the corners of his mouth. She would rather die than have him touch her.
He sucked his tongue back inside and wiped his mouth with his hand. ‘We’ll wait till your son and daughter get here. I’ve seen her photograph, she’s pretty. I wonder what she’d do for me to save her mother.’
Abbie… Keri knew she’d do anything for her mother, but her daughter was safe. ‘They’re not coming home, they’re staying with friends.’
The bottom of the knife handle crashed on the granite. ‘Stop underestimating me. I’ve seen your eyes wandering towards your phone charger.’ He curled his lip at her surprise. ‘You think I hadn’t noticed? Fucking stupid bitch. I bet your mobile is in your pocket. I’m going to plug it in, slice your PIN number out of you, then send your precious son and daughter a message telling them to come home.’ He mimicked a high-pitched voice, ‘I need you.’ He banged the counter again. ‘How long do you think before they come barrelling through the door to be with their darling mother?’
Not long. He was right, they’d ring first and when they didn’t get a reply, they’d come home immediately. Abbie would be frantic and insist on taking a taxi. Keri looked at the monster sitting opposite. He was right, Abbie would do anything if she thought it would mean saving her mother. She’d never understand there was no way out for any of them.
Keri looked straight into Luke’s eyes. ‘I’d kill you first.’
What he might have said in return she didn’t know because a sound from the hallway startled them.
59
Keri and Luke stared towards the open door to the hallway but it took one word to restart the action.
One word. ‘Mum.’ Daniel was home.
Keri turned back to Luke. He was looking confused as he tried to adjust his plans. It worked for her. She jumped to her feet, grabbed the stool she’d been sitting on and swung it with adrenaline-fuelled strength. It hit him but she didn’t wait to see what damage she’d done, taking off at speed for the door and flying through it.
Daniel was kicking off his trainers and looked up in surprise when she appeared. ‘Hi, I thought–’
Keri saw he’d put the safety chain on the front door and groaned. Of all the times he’d chosen to do what he was supposed to. Footsteps were thumping behind her. ‘Run, Daniel!’ She shoved him through the door into the small front sitting room and slammed the door behind them. Luke pushed it from the other side and almost succeeded in opening it before Daniel had recovered enough from the shock to turn and help her. They shut it, but there was no lock on this door.
‘Put your weight against it,’ she said and looked around the room for something to use as a barricade. The elegant sofa, the small side tables, all designed to look pretty in a room they never used, all absolutely useless for her need.
‘Shit!’
Keri turned to see Daniel looking at his side. Luke had shoved the knife through the panelled door and caught him.
‘Daniel, be careful,’ she yelled, seeing the door move.
He put his shoulder against it again and shut it. ‘Get the bookcase.’
The bookcase. The only solid piece of furniture in the room. Keri tried to move it but the tall mahogany unit had been in the same spot for years, its base embedded into the deep pile of the carpet. She ignored the cries from Daniel and the snarls and threats coming through the door and swept books, ornaments, and photo frames from the shelves, sending them flying. Once empty, she rocked the unit and freed it. ‘It’s coming, Daniel. Hold on.’
She toppled it over onto its side, then got behind and pushed. Blood was running down Daniel’s arms, his face pale as he kept his shoulder against the door. The tip of the knife came through missing him by an inch. Keri manoeuvred the bookcase back on its feet and tried to slide it across the door, but the knife came through again, further this time, more anger and savagery behind it. When it was withdrawn, she shoved the bookcase into place before Luke could try again.
She and Daniel leaned against it, panting. ‘You okay?’ Keri asked.
‘I think so. Who is that?’
‘His name is Luke, he’s the man who killed your dad and Roy.’
A loud bang on the door made them jump. ‘He’s trying to get through. Ring the police, quick.’
‘It’s in my bag, Mum,’ Daniel whispered, colour rushing from his face, horror creeping into his eyes. ‘My phone. It’s outside in my bag.’
Keri turned to look at her handsome son, his unusually serious face looking so like Nathan’s she wanted to cry and drag him into her arms, protect him like she’d not been able to do with her husband. Blood was seeping through Daniel’s shirt and dripping from his fingers. One spot was directly over his heart, like the spot of Nathan’s blood she’d seen on the surgeon’s hospital scrubs. So much blood, too much loss. She’d lost enough. It was time to get clever. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Luke doesn’t know you don’t have your phone with you. Pretend to ring the police, raise your voice.’
He turned to face the door. ‘Hello. Police. We have an intruder in our house armed with a knife.’ He gave their address. ‘We’ve locked ourselves in a room, please hurry.’
There was silence from the other side, then another louder bang that made the door and bookcase shudder. ‘He doesn’t believe us,’ Daniel said.
‘He’s guessing it will take them several minutes to get here.’ Keri pushed panic out of her head. She needed to stay calm. Think. If they only had something to defend themselves with but looking around the room there was nothing. They never used the fire so there wasn’t even a convenient poker. But something did catch her eye. A bowl she’d swept from the bookshelf had scattered its contents and among them was something she recognised. The keys to the locks on the sash window.
She looked back to Daniel. ‘We’re getting out of here! I need you to stay strong for another few minutes.’ She ran for the keys, grabbed them, and hurried to the windows.
Two locks. She slotted the key in place, damp fingers slipping on the metal. The first lock opened easily, the second was tight. She rubbed her sweaty hand down her blouse and tried again, ignoring the shouts of anger coming through the door, Daniel’s cries of alarm.
The locks were open, but she still needed to remove the stops on each side that prevented the window from opening more than a couple of inches. They came away easily. She flung them to the floor and put the heel of her hand on the cross bar to push it open. It didn’t budge.
‘Shit! Daniel, it’s stuck, you try.’
She took his place pressed against the door and watched while he attempted to lever the window upwards.
He stopped, wiped his bloody hands on his jeans and pushed again, grunting with the effort. ‘It’s not budging.’ He peered c
loser, then rested his forehead against the glass. ‘Remember when you had them painted last year.’
‘It’s painted shut?’
‘Yes.’
A louder bang was followed by the distinct sound of wood splintering. It sounded like Luke had found something to use as a battering ram. They didn’t have long. ‘Quick. Try the top sash. It might be free.’ Something had to work in their favour.
Daniel stood on the window seat to reach the top sash and put his finger through the loop to pull. The window moved smoothly down.
But success came too late. With a loud crack, the door gave way and the bookcase was pushed forward trapping Keri underneath when it fell.
60
Keri was stunned, the weight of the bookcase pressing her into the carpet, pain making it hard to focus. She would have shut her eyes and given in to the creeping darkness if she hadn’t heard Daniel’s cry. Her big gentle boy crying out in fear and pain.
Her right arm was useless. From the searing pain, she guessed it was broken. She tried to push upward to move the bookshelf but it wouldn’t budge or maybe she was simply too weak and useless. Ms Fix-it. She couldn’t save her son.
More yells and shouts came from a distance. Daniel’s voice. He was alive. She still had a chance to save him.
She wasted precious minutes trying to push the unit off her. It wasn’t moving so she tried to shuffle sideways to slide out from underneath. The pain was excruciating but she kept going, fighting off the nausea and the constant desire to shut her eyes and fade out. Then her hand was free. Almost there. Another few inches.
Then she was out. Her face was still pressed to the carpet. Grimacing in pain, she pushed to her knees.
It was the silence that struck her first.
The room was empty. A breeze blowing through the open sash window, the curtains fluttering almost merrily. Nothing merry about the smashed door or the blood that was splattered around, drops on the floor, a spray across the wall.
‘Daniel.’ Her voice was a broken whisper, her breath catching as she struggled to her feet. Her right arm was hanging uselessly, and a grating sensation as she breathed told her that she’d cracked some ribs. Carefully, she stepped over the smashed door, reaching for the door frame when the pain sent her swaying. She couldn’t pass out; she had to find Daniel.
The silence was almost overwhelming. The stink of blood and fear catching in her throat, nausea making her weak. Daniel’s bag lay slumped on the bottom stair, his phone sticking from the top. She grabbed it and slipped it into her pocket, then slid a hand along the wall and followed the blood trail to the kitchen. The breakfast bar stools were strewn about, the kitchen window shattered.
Keri staggered into the room and gasped when she saw her son slouched on the living-room sofa. ‘Daniel!’
His open eyes were unblinking, his T-shirt blood-sodden.
A cry was wrenched from Keri’s heart. Not Daniel. This was too much loss, how could she survive this? Sorrow bent her over, physical pain lost in a deeper soul-destroying agony that would never heal. Still doubled over, she staggered past the breakfast bar, stopping with a cry when the full scene was exposed.
The heavy glass coffee table that sat in front of the sofa had been Nathan’s idea. To justify its frankly ridiculous price, he’d insisted it would be an investment.
It wouldn’t be now. It lay in pieces.
But perhaps it had been an investment because the body that lay across it, was most definitely dead.
61
Keri gazed from Luke’s body to her son’s. Nathan, now Daniel. How could she possibly endure such pain, such loss. Such catastrophic sorrow. The knife… it was on the floor, a few feet from Luke’s body. It was tempting to pick it up, to remove herself from the pain, but her daughter would need her. Keri dropped to her knees and sobbed at the thought of having to tell Abbie her twin was dead.
Then she saw Daniel blink.
The police arrived not long after Keri’s call. She’d stressed the need to inform DI Elliot and was relieved to see him come through the door on the heels of grim-faced uniformed constables.
She was sitting on the bloodstained sofa, her arm around Daniel who looked stunned and shocked. He’d barely spoken a word since she’d sat and pulled him into her arms.
Elliot had a word with one of the constables before crossing the room to her. ‘An ambulance is on its way.’ He looked at the body lying prone on the broken table, a piece of glass jutting through its back, blood pooling underneath.
‘It’s supposed to be unbreakable,’ Keri said, indicating the table. ‘Looks like they lied.’
‘You were lucky they did.’ Elliot hunched down to try to see the man’s face. A frown creased his brow when he straightened and turned back to Keri. ‘You know who he is?’
‘Yes, Luke Crocker. Jim Cody’s son. He said he was trying to get revenge for his father’s death.’ She remembered the evil, malevolent face. ‘I think he was a psychopath. A monster. He killed Nathan, Roy and Sylvester. He got what he deserved.’
Daniel lifted his head from Keri’s shoulder. ‘He was coming at me. I don’t think he saw the table and fell forward.’ He pointed to the bloodstained knife that lay on the floor a few inches away. ‘I think he cracked it with the butt first, then the weight of his body, I suppose finished the job.’ His voice trembled. ‘I stood looking at him for a long time, waiting for him to get up and come at me again.’
Elliot eyed the blade: it looked lethal. He cocked his head as the sound of a siren grew louder. ‘That sounds like your transport. If it’s okay with you, Keri, we’ll be in to take statements when you’re feeling up to it.’
‘That’s fine.’ She looked down at her arm. ‘It’s broken, so I’ll probably be in plaster. Daniel has some nasty gashes that will likely need stitches.’
‘You won’t be able to come back here for a while.’
Keri looked around the room. It had been filled with so many memories but it was time to move on. ‘I don’t think we’ll ever want to come back. I’ve phoned my brother-in-law, Philip, we’ll be able to stay with him until we get sorted.’
‘What about your daughter? You were lucky she wasn’t here.’
Keri hugged Daniel closer. ‘Neither were supposed to be here. Daniel came home to pick up a book he needed.’
‘Lucky for you he did.’
‘It seemed like nothing was working for me at one stage but maybe when it came down to it, the good guys won.’
‘It’s important to know they often do.’ Elliot looked back to where the body lay. ‘He was a nasty piece of work.’
‘He lived by the sword and died by the sword,’ Daniel said. ‘Seems fitting.’
The paramedics put paid to further conversation. Soon Keri and Daniel were strapped on gurneys heading from the house into the back of two ambulances that blocked the road.
The paramedic gave Keri something for the pain and before they arrived at the hospital she was asleep. It wasn’t until she was transferred to a trolley that she woke and then it was only a brief opening of the eyes, before drifting off.
When she woke again, she was in a small quiet room and her arm was in plaster.
‘Hey.’
She turned her head to see the worried face of her brother-in-law. ‘Hi.’
There were tears in his eyes. He bent and pressed a kiss to her cheek. ‘We could have lost you and Daniel. Doesn’t bear thinking about.’
‘We were lucky. That monster was going to kill us all. I’m not sure where he was going to stop.’ She sniffed and shook her head. ‘Have you seen Daniel?’
Philip pointed to the door, tilting his hand to the right. ‘He’s two rooms down. He’s okay, a couple of stitches to the deeper lacerations but nothing broken. He’s pretty shook up but Abbie is in with him, making him talk. He’ll do okay.’
‘Abbie must have got a shock when you called her.’
‘She’s pretty pissed with you for trying to deceive them. She was here for a while but wh
en you didn’t wake, she thought she’d be better sitting with Daniel.’
‘She’ll be good for him. But I’ll get him professional help–’
‘And you too,’ Philip interrupted. ‘You’ve not had a chance to grieve for Nathan and now all this on top of it.’
‘That man talked about getting revenge for something that happened over twenty years ago, but I didn’t believe a word of it. He was simply an evil monster who enjoyed causing pain and chaos.’
‘But now the monster has been slain and you can grieve for Nathan, then get on with your life.’ Philip squeezed her hand. ‘I’m making that sound simplistic but I know it won’t be easy. Nathan was special. Together, we’ll get through it.’
Together. Without Nathan.
But if she’d learned anything that day, it was that she could survive whatever was thrown at her.
62
A week after Nathan’s funeral, Keri walked back into the offices of Metcalfe Conservation. A woman she didn’t know stood at the reception desk. The employment agency had been suitably horrified to learn the truth about Luke and had reassured her they’d make up for it by sending the best they had. According to the other staff, they’d lived up to their promise.
‘It’s Gina, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, Mrs Metcalfe.’
‘Keri is fine. Everything okay?’
‘It only took me a couple of hours to get sorted. Roy was good at what he did, everything was efficiently organised so it was easy.’
Keri left her to it and with a glance towards Nathan’s office headed for her own. She’d have to stop thinking of it as Nathan’s office. Especially now that someone else was sitting in it. She sat behind her desk and dropped her head back.
The funeral had almost broken her, grief overwhelming, loss an exquisite pain. The sadness of others, her children, his brother, their friends was unbearable. The constant need to be polite, to put on a brave face, to listen to the anecdotes. It had all been too much.
The Couple in the Photograph Page 21