by T M Caruana
“I can’t do that to him. I can’t tell you.”
“Do it to him? Heis the one doing it to you. Who is it, Karen?” Alfred asked, with more annoyance in his voice than before. “Is it Sir John?”
Karen just shook her head.
“Whoever it was, he probably killed Liz. Is he worth your protection Karen? Who is it?”
It was clear to me that Alfred needed to find out who was behind all of this to be able to break free. He demanded his answers in the capacity of the red wolf pack’s alpha, to be able to protect them. It was his first and foremost responsibility. This woman had the answers and he needed to drag it out of her at any cost.
“He loved me too much to kill me. I made him a promise, not to tell Paw,” she sniffled and again pressed a tissue to her runny nose as she shut her eyes together as if it would also shut out the world, and with it, the pain.
“Take us to Paw then,” Alfred proposed.
I could sympathise with his frustration, as I too felt frustrated.
How could someone keep their promise even after her daughter had been killed as well as all her colleagues?
Karen looked confused and shook her head. Suddenly the motion changed to a nod.
“Let me make a call…in private.”
“Sure,” Alfred agreed, and seemed happy that he at least had made some progress.
Karen walked off with confident steps and closed the door to the sacristy behind her. I sat down on the first row pews. I dug out a water bottle from the backpack and took a long sip before I offered it to Alfred, still not looking his way. I was still mad at him. I wondered how long I would be able to keep it up, as he did make me feel all tingly inside. I found it so hard to resist him and that was one of the reasons I couldn’t look into his ocean blue eyes right now. I was afraid I would drown in them.
He handed the bottle back to me and I replaced it in the bag. I looked through the bag as we were waiting and found the letters from the competitors that had never been opened or delivered. Contestants who were probably dying, as I was sitting here. I pulled out a pink envelope for a Karl Lenardsson with an address in London. I slid my finger along the top to open it. Alfred gave me a disapproving gaze as if to say it wasn’t for me.
What did it matter? Had he intended to deliver them?
I didn’t stop and he didn’t object verbally, as he owed me more than a few favours after what he had done. I ignored him entirely and pulled out the card. It pictured two teddy bears on it with a lot of hearts and flowers. I flipped open the card to read the message inside.
Ciao Fiancé,
I feel it is my turn to apologise this time. I am really sorry I left you in the heat of our argument. I only wanted to attend the competition to make a fabulous life for you, darling.
The time here has been alright. I’m starting to feel bored after having perfected every dish I could find the recipe to. I hope you aren’t starving, my lion. The lioness will soon be home.
I hope you will still marry me when I’m £500,000 richer.
Jag älskar dig min svenske Viking.
Alexandre xx
That Alexandre was the lioness in their relationship didn’t surprise me. He had been a bit on the feminine side. I felt sorry for this Karl, he would never see his love again. He had been brutally murdered; his body had been almost unrecognisable with claw scratches to the torso and face. The images emerged again in my mind. The murdered bodies in the supermarket were so similar to the way my parents had been left in their bed.
Perhaps I shouldn’t read these letters. The messages would only make me sad.
As I folded down the card I glanced at another white envelope addressed to Mary Firell. Firell was Simon’s surname. I wondered what he had written, knowing his days were numbered anyway. My curiosity took over and I opened it up to read the letter inside.
Dear Mary,
I know I haven’t been the best father and I thought I could make it up to you by winning £500,000 in a competition, however now it appears the cancer is defeating me instead. Please contact Paul at Lifetime Insurance, and he will help you to at least get some compensation for your heartache from my failure.
You were always my little princess.
I love you with all my heart. Dad.
I had to swallow hard to keep from bursting into tears. The letter was so emotional. It was someone’s last attempt at redemption with his daughter. I absolutely needed to ensure these letters were delivered. Unless Mary knew about Paul, perhaps she wouldn’t get her inheritance or the last loving words from a remorseful father.
The same would apply to Jennifer. She must have known her days were coming to an end too, and must have left a message to a next of kin before she died. I looked through the pile of letters again and swapped Simon’s for Jennifer’s.
Hi Mum,
They are not letting us out, and my MS is getting worse. I can’t stand on my legs and the food has run out. All I wish for now is a soft deathbed and to die beside my family. This can’t be legal. Can you contact the authorities to get me out?
I love you,
Jennifer
To read these letters was self-inflicted torture. Despite how much I tried to swallow my sadness I couldn’t help the tears from escaping my eyes. A human’s last death wish had been ignored for a stupid bet. I needed good news.
Please could the next letter contain something that would make the entire situation worthwhile.
I opened another letter, which I understood must have been from Nagu, as it was in a language I didn’t understand. I put it back and chose another one that had the address to a Mrs Lowman. This was written from Wallace then. I hadn’t known that he had a wife.
Dear Mother,
I keep worrying for you every day and pray that you are keeping well. I have not heard any word from you and it isn’t like you. Please can you let me know how Mickey is at the autistic care home? I will soon be home.
Best regards
Wallace
What a miserable life – turning for the worse. An elderly mother and a sick son. There was no mention of a wife.
How awful.
I heard another moan from Alfred. He seemed uncomfortable with me opening yet another private letter, and therefore I decided this one would be the last one I read, although there were many more. Wallace had written to his mother more than five times. The next one was from Tony.
Happy fucking birthday baby sis,
I hope you were spoilt rotten and that you dumped that son of a bitch of a boyfriend you have. If he has hurt you again whilst I am in here, let him know I will be coming for him when I get out.
Don’t forget to feed Miss Kitty and good luck with your finals next Friday.
From bro Tony
P.s. I will get you a present when I get out.
I smiled a tad at this one, as I had liked the hard façade, yet the soft touch of Tony. I could definitely see him as a protective older brother. It was only sad that I could have saved him – he was left behind in the supermarket, still alive.
His death will be on my conscience.
Before I decided that I had had enough of the sentiment, I noticed one of the envelopes didn’t contain a card inside it. It appeared empty. I convinced myself this one, this time, would be my last snoop. It was addressed to Charlotte Johnson. This must be a family member of Sarah then. I wondered what her cold heart had to say. Opening the envelope I found only a small post-it note stating:
I’m sorry Mum. I love you.
It appeared as if many of these individuals had had issues, and had argued with their loved ones before they had entered the competition. They would never have been able to find peace and be forgiven before they died. The grief in me became too great and I placed my head in my hands and cried inconsolably.
Alfred sat down next to me and put his arm around my back in an attempt to comfort me even though he must have been unsure whether I would reject it. I had given up the barrier of hatred though, and wanted to l
et the love in. I loved Alfred and his touch, and I didn’t want to waste another minute: I didn’t want to turn him away.
Who knew how many more minutes we would have together?
So I let him console me.
22
TURNING WINDS
We waited for almost an hour before Karen stepped out from the sacristy room, clad in jeans and a salmon pink top. She had washed her face and applied some make-up. She held a car key in her hand.
“Come, I’ll take you now,” she urged and didn’t meet our suspicious looks, but just carried on down the aisle and towards the main exit.
“Where are we going?” Alfred queried.
“To him.”
“To Paw?”
Karen didn’t answer and pressed the remote button to open a rusty white Ford Fiesta.
“What did he say?” Alfred asked.
He sat down next to Karen in the passenger seat, whilst I took the back seat.
“I want to end this now and never hear of it again,” Karen murmured.
She had clearly had a long conversation that had upset her. Our presence must have revived a situation she had long tried to escape from, and now she wanted nothing other than to bury it again.
I could see Alfred twisting and turning his head, appearing to read every sign, focused on where we were taken, as Karen wouldn’t speak of her intentions.
“Are we going back to London?” he interrogated in another attempt to make her speak.
Karen grunted something unintelligible. He turned to look at me. I was hugging the black backpack on my lap. The clear worry on his face made me wonder if he thought I would ever be safe until the people behind the project had been eliminated. All three of us sat quietly on our one and a half hour journey back to London. Terror didn’t fill Alfred’s eyes until Karen pulled in on the road leading to the supermarket.
“You are taking us back to the supermarket. Why?”
I started to twitch in the back seat and felt like an animal who was about to be returned to its cage.
“No, stop. I don’t want to go there,” I said and felt stressed, through and through.
“This is very uncomfortable for Tasha, Karen. Let’s arrange to meet Paw somewhere else.”
“We are not seeing Paw,” she harshly declared and parked the car in the loading bay of the supermarket.
Karen grabbed her handbag, got out of the car and walked around to open Alfred’s door for him. She pulled out a gun from her handbag and pointed it at his chest.
“Get out.”
“Karen? What are you doing?”
“I’m keeping my daughter safe at all costs,” she murmured, as if that is what she had been told at bargaining point.
“Your daughter is dead,” Alfred said confused, looking at her angry face and twitching hand.
“No, I lied,” she said, and hunched down to look at me. “You too, get out.”
I slowly stepped out of the car with both my hands in the air. I walked around the car and remained stood next to Alfred, who had also stepped outside. Alfred slowly positioned himself in front of me.
“Back in you go,” Karen commanded and gestured for me and Alfred to go back into the supermarket.
On our way inside I noticed barrels and barrels of petrol on the loading platform. I was sure I hadn’t seen them when Alfred had extracted me. Alfred stopped to look at them too.
They were planning on burning the place to the ground, bodies and all.
Alfred lingered, looking at the barrels and Karen pushed impatiently at his back with the gun, indicating for him to carry on. As we came to the back room, halting before the door with the grills leading to the supermarket floor, Alfred came face to face with a man who was evidently familiar to him.
“Dacry?”
“Alpha…” the man greeted. You have been busy the last few months, haven’t you?”
I detected a movement coming from the corner and looked over to see Liz tied to an office chair. She had silver duct tape covering her mouth.
“Karen, what’s this supposed to mean?” Alfred barked.
“You see, Alfred,” Dacry said, with his voice truly malicious. “This is the proof of the lack of love you say doesn’t exist in the world. Karen was my childhood sweetheart. As I grew up I wanted only her. And so did Sir John. But what happened? She fell in love with my best friend Paw.”
Karen averted her eyes, which were filled with guilt. Her body-language showed a woman haunted by this event since young.
“Please Dacry,” she begged, as if she couldn’t bear to hear the story again.
“When the Project Team, for the Green Skyway, first started planning its agenda, we were all in The Ukraine on a natural resources data collection mission. After having spent ten bloody months in the wretched place as a result of the accident at Chernobyl, we were almost done. This is when we were notified by Anne’s father, Henry, that the project wasn’t going to go ahead, as the stakes were too high. Well, apparently you read the report, Alfred,” he explained as he started putting a black glove on his right hand.
He pulled out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and started polishing a gun that he pulled from the back of his trousers.
“Paw didn’t want to listen to Henry. Paw, Henry, Sir John and I had been best friends since preschool and Paw didn’t like taking orders from anyone. Understandably, since Paw was the alpha heir. Loyal to my alpha, I ensured that Henry was kept quiet. He was an easy kill as he trusted me and never saw it coming. To ensure none of the project team members would talk or raise suspicions of Henry’s death, to the government or Paw, I killed everyone in the team. Paw would have never rated our work to be more important than lives. He didn’t understand the importance of the project. I did what I felt was necessary. But I couldn’t kill Karen. I granted her a sanctuary, for her and her daughter if they kept quiet. Liz was only newly born then and didn’t pose a threat. My problem arose later, when Liz came to know about the project.”
While Dacry was talking, I edged closer to Karen. When Dacry mentioned Liz a frown came over Karen’s face and she opened her mouth to speak what I assumed would be objections. This is when I took the opportunity to jump her and to snatch her gun out of her hand. I pointed it at her, keeping a steady grip with my finger on the trigger.
“I will kill Karen if you don’t let us go,” I threatened, to prompt Dacry to put his gun down.
Dacry looked angry, yet focused. Without hesitation he pulled the trigger at Karen. The bullet hit her in the middle of her chest and she collapsed to the sounds of muffled screams escaping from Liz’s taped-up mouth.
“There, that solved that problem,” he stated without remorse.
“Paw will kill you for this!” Alfred shouted.
“You mean he will kill youfor this. Who do you think he will believe, his best friend or the alpha of his rival pack? Although, I will be doing the killing as a favour for my alpha.”
“I see,” Alfred stated. “For years, you have tried to void the treaty and bring down the red pack.”
“And look what it came to. Killing the alpha’s wife. You should have surrendered when you had the chance and maybe he would have let you live.”
I didn’t wait another second, as it was obvious Dacry wouldn’t let us live, and pulled the trigger first. The bullet hit Dacry’s shoulder, and he caved onto the floor.
“Hurry!” I shouted at Alfred, who stood wide eyed staring at me. “We need to untie Liz and open the door to let the others out of the supermarket.”
“You untie Liz,” Alfred instructed, as he was already in possession of the keys to the supermarket.
Before I knew it, I could hear him shouting.
“Hello! Anybody there!”
We didn’t have to wait long before Jaden, Tony, Joanne, Jolie and Sarah poked their heads out from behind the empty metal shelves.
“Hurry! Come on!” Alfred shouted again, and beckoned for them to come.
As I ripped the tape off Liz’s mou
th I turned my head to see that Jaden was supporting Joanne under her shoulders and Tony was helping Sarah. I saw that Alfred had realised Jolie was weak, and had to run to give her a helping hand. As he reached her she fainted and he had to lift her in his arms and carry her out of the supermarket.
To shove eight people into a Fort Fiesta would be more than challenging, but it was the only way to survive and it had to work. As Jolie was unconscious, Alfred gently placed her in the boot, before he closed it carefully. He took the driver’s seat and I saw him clenching his jaw, as he saw me sit on Tony’s lap on the passenger seat. Joanne sat on Jaden’s lap in the back, and Liz was in the middle so that Sarah could sit on the side, leaning her tired body against the door.
“What happened to Connor?” I asked as we sped off.
“He thought that the bread cutting machine looked cool…he bled to death,” Jaden confirmed, without detailing it further.
This made me suspicious, as Alfred had already explained that Jaden had killed Alexandre and Wallace. Additionally, Connor was from the red wolf pack and Jaden the grey. I met Alfred’s questioning gaze, as he must have had the same suspicion. If it was true, that a grey wolf had murdered a red wolf, that would add to the complications between the packs.
“There is an abandoned warehouse not far from here. Maybe we could stop there to regroup and get some food. I don’t think Dacry will search for us so close to the crime scene, as I’m sure he will think that we’ll try to get as far away from here as possible?” Liz suggested to Alfred, leaning towards the front seats.