She twisted back to Lucas. He was lying on top of Wade and Weiss but got elbowed in the gut, rolled off the arm of the chair and dropped hard onto the floor.
Hazel’s attention returned to the animal and Tamara grimacing as she tried to restrain it. The mastiff barked, and its slavering black jowls whipped around its teeth.
Wade’s hands firmly restrained Hazel’s shoulders.
89
Tamara allowed the dog to stretch the chain another few links then slammed the door in Hazel’s face.
‘Let’s sit you down.’ Wade’s lips were at her ear.
He manoeuvred her over the armchair and she dropped back onto the leather seat. Lucas struggled into a sitting position again.
The mastiff’s claws scratched repeatedly at the panel as it attempted to dig its way into the room.
‘And let’s all take a breath.’ Wade returned to his post at the door. ‘Need to explain what you think you saw.’
Hazel focussed on the soiled fawn carpet. What did it matter? Sweeting had to be dead, and Wade couldn’t let them walk.
‘I think it’s really important you guys finish this movie.’
Hazel glanced sharply up at him.
Wade nodded. ‘And we still want to be part of it. Tam and me.’
Hazel tried to hide her incredulity. Lucas met her gaze but neither of them spoke.
‘We didn’t want this situation. And it’s got nothing to do with what happened to Meredith.’
Hazel swallowed. Was there really a chance he was going to let them go? But whatever he was trying to convince them of, she knew they had to go along with it.
‘That little den you found. I know how it looks. But it’s there to help people.’
Hazel was sure Wade was deranged. Did he really think any story would justify what they’d seen in there? With Wade and Tamara as parents there was little wonder Meredith had been corrupted, and she suspected whatever they’d embroiled her in at the farm had to have led to her murder at Fun Central.
The beast’s scraping at the flimsy door still hadn’t subsided.
‘It’s why people still call this place the turkey farm. Ain’t been livestock on this land since my father owned it in the nineties but people come here for a different kind.’
Hazel’s attention returned to where Wade was leaning.
‘Tam was an addict. I went through the whole withdrawal hell with her. Now we help others do the same.’
Lucas was the first to respond. ‘So… who’s locked up out there?’
‘Some city slicker. Not the first time he’s been here neither.’ Wade thumped the door with his heel. ‘Spike!’
The hound barked a couple of times then retreated.
‘After Tam got clean, a few of her friends came up here for the same, then a few of their friends. Soon people are approaching her from all walks. Don’t misunderstand me. She doesn’t do this out of the goodness of her heart. This is her specialist accommodation service. Tam gives them isolation. Monitors them while they work the junk out their system. We’re cheaper than a high profile detox clinic and they can remain anonymous. Unless a film crew rolls up. The last thing that guy out there needs is to be on the big screen.’
Hazel recalled the concrete post in the floor. ‘You imprison them inside that filthy shack?’
‘It’s never pretty. But they only need shelter – and no way of escape. I don’t think anyone will ever be writing us up on TripAdvisor though. Plus Tam’s hygiene standards probably don’t meet industry regulations. When you said the cops were going to be sniffing around here, I went out there to get it ready for Tam’s guest. Haven’t used it in around six months but I knew I could relocate him there quickly.’
From his bemused reaction Hazel could tell Lucas also thought Wade’s explanation seemed too bizarre to be a lie. ‘So, why did you run us off the road?’
‘I didn’t. Tried to catch up with you but you pulled away too fast and came off at the bend.’
Hazel had no recollection of what happened after the pickup appeared behind her. ‘So, Sweeting really is in the hospital?’
‘Told him to keep his mouth shut or you’d all come to harm.’ Wade produced Hazel’s phone from his pocket. ‘Afraid I might have ladled it on. He seemed pretty shook up when they took him in. Call him. I just need your word you’ll delete anything you’ve recorded here with your camera. Tam got spooked when she saw it. It’s why she got so heavy-handed.’
‘Before you tied us up and scared the living shit out of us.’ Lucas readjusted his leg and grunted. ‘And where is my camera?’
‘Short, sharp shock treatment is how we roll here. I had to have your undivided attention.’
‘Just keep that dog away from us.’ He turned to check on Weiss.
‘Besides, I could have smashed it up.’
Lucas flinched. ‘But you care too much about the movie, right?’
‘For Meredith’s sake.’ Wade respectfully nodded. ‘It’s safe.’
‘Look, I promise I’ll delete everything I shot here. Right, Haze?’
But her fear had swiftly been supplanted by anger. ‘So as well as helping people out of addiction, are you still helping them into it?’ She remembered what Wade had told her about Meredith dealing.
Wade shook his head at her, as if it were a naïve question. ‘Like everyone else, we’re just trying to make ends meet.’
‘Like everyone else—’
‘Want me to untie you or not?’
90
After Wade released them and they revived Weiss, Hazel immediately called a petrified Sweeting and assured him they were all safe. He’d discharged himself from the hospital, had made his way to Broomfield Police Station, and was just standing outside it, deliberating whether or not to go in.
‘That fucking psycho told me if I breathed a word, he’d cut your faces off and swap them around.’
‘Don’t bother the cops. Just get yourself back to base. We’ll meet you there.’
‘Positive you’re all OK?’
‘Yes, shaken and still a little sceptical.’
‘As of now then I’m out. I didn’t sign up for this shit.’
‘Sweeting—’
He hung up.
She tried to call him back, but got his answering service. ‘Sweeting’s not coming back.’
‘And there’s a trace of surprise in your voice because? … ’ Lucas lightly touched his bruised scalp.
Wade was hovering. ‘Better let me put your minds at ease.’
While Tamara kept the mastiffs in the kitchen, Wade led them out of their temporary prison to the outbuilding across the yard. He produced a key and released the padlock securing the corrugated doors.
A sinewy, tanned man in his thirties with dark dreadlocks, wearing only a pair of Speedos, was lying motionless on a mattress at the back of the empty poultry shed. His clothes were strewn about the floor, and a black bucket lay on its side to the left of him.
‘Jesus.’ Weiss was still unsteady on his feet and supported himself in the doorway.
Wade went inside and righted the bucket. ‘Hey.’
The figure eventually stirred.
‘You’re doing good. But these people need to know you’re OK and here of your own free will.’
He slowly sat up and used his hand to shield his lean face from the daylight.
‘Quiz him if you want.’
Hazel bent to her knees. ‘Do you want to come with us?’
‘No,’ he said weakly.
‘Are you being harmed?’ Lucas asked.
He shook his head then looked up at Wade. ‘What is this?’ Aggression ballooned. ‘This isn’t a fucking freak show. Get them out of here!’
‘They might wanna talk to you some time soon.’
He started curling into himself. ‘Get them the fuck out of here.’ His voice had wilted again.
Wade patted his bare shoulder and walked back to Hazel, Lucas and Weiss. ‘I don’t know these people. Tam looks after them. She�
�ll have a cell number. You can contact him when he’s done if you need to. He’s not going to remember any of this.’
91
Rena didn’t know if she was limping back to Fun Central or heading deeper into the forest. She thought daylight would be an ally but realised she might go around in circles until it fell dark again or her body succumbed to exhaustion. Not having the first clue about navigating by the sun, she was suddenly regretting being so inattentive on the myriad camping trips her parents had forced her to go on.
Her neck was getting stiffer, and she could only rotate her right arm from the elbow down. Either her humerus or shoulder was broken. Rena’s right leg was also delicate to walk on. She’d unwrapped the bandage from her hand and wound that tight around her tender ankle but her hip smarted as well.
She was dehydrated and low on blood sugar and had expended most of her energy crawling out of the ditch and looking for the machete. Rena hadn’t found it and had had to rest behind a fallen tree for some time before continuing. That had been a mistake. She’d almost lost consciousness again.
Rena had forgotten her state of undress and was fixated on recognising something from the night before, like the hollow she’d hidden inside. If she spotted that, the pond would be near.
But every direction she turned seemed to offer the same vista of trunks and mulch pools. And, any moment, she anticipated running into the person who was still probably hunting her. If they caught her now, Rena didn’t have an ounce of strength to fight back.
She pushed herself off the dirty white bark of a tree and listened again for any sounds that could lead her back to civilisation, but knew there was slim chance of hearing any traffic on the road up to Fun Central. The crew were alone there, and she wondered if they were in more danger than her. She strained her ears for crows squawking about the jetty, but there was little noise except for her wheezing breath.
Rena’s right foot sank deep into marsh, and the action of tugging it clear was excruciating. But she covered her mouth to stifle a scream and began hobbling along the boggy channel between the birches.
Resting again would be fatal because Rena knew that, if she did, her injuries wouldn’t allow her to get back up again.
92
Wade dropped Hazel, Lucas and Weiss at Fun Central in the pickup and said he’d drive to the Mazda crash site and assess the damage. If it were roadworthy, he’d tow it back that evening and leave it outside. Hazel’s car keys were still in it.
They observed him accelerate across the parking zone and bounce down the ramp.
‘What are we going to do about the turkey farm?’ Weiss spoke first.
Hazel rubbed the red chain indentations around her wrists. ‘There’s nothing to do. What they get up to on their property is none of our business. We were trespassing. Nothing’s changed.’
‘Apart from emotional trauma and me needing a rabies shot.’ Lucas put down the camera and examined the wound to his calf that Tamara had grudgingly dressed.
‘I’ll get Rena to drive you to the hospital.’ Hazel was focussing on logistics but was as shaken as the other two after their ordeal. She attempted to slide the entrance doors apart, but they were shut tight.
Weiss sighed. ‘Rena’s still not back?’
Hazel felt anger burn through her empty stomach. Extracting the key from her pocket, she unlocked and rolled one open. ‘I thought Keeler was getting her in gear.’
Lucas picked up the Lumix and followed Hazel and Weiss inside.
‘Appears our associate producer might have eloped with him.’ Weiss lightly touched the congealed cut on his left eyebrow.
A thud came from overhead, and all three of them looked up and waited. It was followed by a slam and footsteps.
‘Is that her?’ Lucas turned to the others.
‘Sounds like they were in the production office.’ Hazel’s eyes settled on the entrance to the stairs.
Feet stomped down them and the door opened. Griff Needham emerged.
‘Jesus!’ His startled expression confirmed he wasn’t anticipating company.
‘What the hell are you doing up there?’ He was the last person Hazel expected.
‘You scared me half to death.’ Griff put his palm against his chest and made a performance of breathing a few times. He contemplated Lucas’s bandage and then Weiss’s injury. ‘What happened to you guys?’
Hazel suspected he was playing for time. ‘Answer the question.’
He tugged off his beanie and ran a hand through his flattened mousy hair. ‘I was looking for you.’
‘How did you get in here?’ Weiss paced towards him.
Hazel touched Lucas on the elbow. ‘Record this. We might have to show it to the police.’
Lucas put the viewer to his eye.
‘Wait, the police, why?’ Griff took a step forward.
‘The doors were locked.’ Weiss shifted sideways to block his route to the entrance. ‘This is breaking and entering.’
‘Got in through the back of the burger joint,’ he casually explained.
Hazel wondered if he’d make a run for it that way. ‘Why? What are you doing here?’
‘You wanted me here.’
‘I didn’t send for you.’
‘You did. I got a text this morning.’
‘No, you didn’t.’ Hazel watched the side of his mouth twitch.
‘Well, your assistant sent me a text and told me to be here this afternoon. I asked her what time, but she didn’t get back to me.’
‘Rena sent you the text?’ Weiss glanced dubiously at Hazel.
Griff nodded. ‘Yeah, that’s who I was looking for. When nobody let me in, I thought you might all be busy shooting in a different part of the building.’
‘Show me.’ Hazel extended her hand.
‘What?’
‘The text.’
‘I left my phone back at the motel.’
‘Very convenient,’ Lucas snorted from behind the camera.
‘You took it off me the last time I was here so I thought I’d leave it charging.’
‘You’re full of shit,’ Weiss snapped.
‘Frisk me if you want.’ Griff hoisted his arms.
‘OK. Turn around against the door.’ Weiss gestured.
Griff hesitated before complying.
Weiss patted the pockets of his oatmeal hoody. His fingers paused. ‘So, what’s this then?’ When Griff didn’t reply he pulled it out and held it up for the lens. ‘One phone.’
Griff faced them again. ‘I meant to leave that behind. Give it back.’ He snatched it from Weiss.
‘Show us the text then, Griff.’ Hazel joined Weiss, and Lucas hovered.
He pocketed it. ‘No point. I deleted it.’
Lucas came in closer. ‘Jesus, Griff, have you ever seen World’s Dumbest Criminals? That’s the only place this footage is going.’
Hazel folded her arms. ‘After it’s been to the cops. Why are you lying to us?’
‘OK. I didn’t get a text. I just wanted to come up here and snap a bunch of photos for my Facebook page.’
‘Why d’you think I asked you to sign a non-disclosure agreement?’
‘I know, and I’m sorry. But when I got here and there was no one around, I figured it wouldn’t do any harm.’
Hazel indicated the Lumix. ‘Is this how you want to be portrayed? I’ve got your permission to use any of this.’
Griff looked mortified. ‘Don’t do that.’
‘I’m going to have to ask you to give me your phone until we’re finished.’
He reacted as if she’d just asked him to hack off a limb.
‘That’s the deal. Otherwise we’re done with you.’
Griff reluctantly fished it back out and surrendered it to Weiss. He slipped it into his jacket pocket.
Wind juddered the roof of the concourse.
Hazel listened for other sounds of movement. ‘And you haven’t seen anyone else since you got here?’
He shook his head.
Hazel found Lucas training the camera on her. ‘OK, I suppose, as he’s here, we might as well make good use of him.’
93
‘In our first interview, you told me you feel no animosity towards Henrik Fossen.’
Griff Needham fidgeted in his pink plastic oyster chair as green and blue fish shapes gyrated on the walls. Despite Weiss protesting, Hazel had chosen the location to disorient him.
‘Maybe now you can tell me how you personally felt after your stepsister’s death.’
He slightly relaxed. ‘Sure.’
Hazel guessed Griff was relieved she wasn’t going to interrogate him about his trespass but it was that behaviour which was going to drive her interview. ‘Were you close to Denise?’
‘I’d say so.’
‘But you obviously didn’t grow up with her.’
‘Lived with her for about a year after my dad remarried. She moved out soon as she got her nanny post.’
‘So, you weren’t really that close.’
‘I shared a house with her for a year.’ He regarded her blankly, as if his response was sufficient.
Hazel held his eye. ‘What was your reaction when you were told she’d been gunned down?’
‘I wasn’t. I found out online.’
‘Your parents didn’t tell you?’
‘Dad had walked out.’
‘What about your stepmother?’
Griff thought about it. ‘I left her to deal with it in her own way.’
‘You didn’t grieve with her?’
A laugh scraped his nose, as if it was a ludicrous concept. ‘She locked herself in the bedroom for three straight days.’
‘And you didn’t talk about it to anyone else?’
‘First thing I did was put an announcement on Denise’s Facebook page.’
‘That was the appropriate thing to do?’
‘I think so.’
‘And did that act as a positive introduction to Denise’s network of friends?’
He hesitated, knew where she was leading him. ‘So, you’re going to tell me how much I’ve benefited from her death as well. Like Henrik Fossen did when you were interviewing those cops.’
Be My Killer: A completely UNPUTDOWNABLE crime thriller with nail-biting mystery and suspense Page 20