Paolo didn’t speak until they were back in the car.
“That went better than I’d expected,” he said. “I didn’t think Matthew would take the news like that.”
“What did you think he’d do?”
Paolo laughed. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d picked up the phone and made a complaint about us to the Police Complaints Commission right there and then.”
“He’s a strange bloke, isn’t he?” Dave said. “Won’t have us watching over him in case it violates the trust of the criminals he acts for. I’ve heard him on television loads of times and he always comes across as someone who just wants to protect human rights, but he’s a criminal lawyer, so what about the rights of their victims?”
Paolo grinned at Dave. “You know, you need to be careful. I think you’ve caught some sort of disease.”
Dave looked horrified. “What are you talking about? What disease?”
Paolo turned the key in the ignition, gave Dave one last grin, and pulled out of the car park.
“It’s called being human and the symptoms are terrible. You start to care about people. I think you’ve definitely caught it because you’re beginning to sound remarkably like a human being and less like a pillock.”
“Bollocks,” Dave said, but Paolo could see the smile on his passenger’s face in his peripheral vision.
CHAPTER 20
The police think they’re so clever, but they cannot stop the Lord’s work. They don’t even know where to begin looking for me. He frowned as he prepared for the night’s exertions. How he hated Matthew. The golden child, the special one.
He forced his mind away from thoughts of anger and retribution. He had been anointed by God. Him. Not Matthew. He dressed with care, choosing the clothes that made him look like a successful man. The whores seemed to think that going with someone wealthy would mean they were safe. All it meant was that they were stupid.
He looked around the cottage bedroom. Everything was in place. He loved Friday nights. The Lord had died for mankind on a Friday, so it was only fitting that he did the Lord’s work on His special day. He felt the Lord’s presence in the room and fell to his knees.
“I am not worthy of your love,” he cried with head bowed.
As the light of God’s blessing filled the room, he prayed for strength. The strength to choose wisely. The strength to save her soul. The strength to abstain until only the shell of the body was left. It was getting harder to wait, but the Lord had explained that he had to. If he entered a living whore he was damned for all eternity.
“I will not fail,” he cried, raising his voice above the angels singing the Lord’s praises. “I am ready to do my duty.”
He cruised the streets until he found one who matched the woman in the photograph. His mother. His mother before she took to whoring and murder. He’d been too late to save her soul, but the Lord had forgiven him. He’d sent him out to find others. Others who could still be saved.
He slowed the car to a stop and pressed the button to lower the window on the passenger side. The girl was alone in the deserted street. It couldn’t be better. She looked around, as if she wanted to run. Word must have got out. He waited. If the Lord had chosen her, she would come to the car. If He didn’t think her worthy of saving, He would make her turn away.
The girl hesitated – looked over at him. He smiled and waited. She took a step towards the car. Still he said nothing. She took another step, still looking around as if someone would call out to stop her, but there was no one else around. The streetlight made her bleached hair look yellow, which angered him. Maybe this wasn’t the one. But then she took another hesitant step towards the car and then another and another, away from the glare of the yellow light. Out of the circle of yellow lamplight, he saw that she looked very like his mother. When she was young and that picture had been taken.
He could barely breathe waiting for the Lord to show him if this was one of His chosen lambs. She stopped just a couple of feet from the car.
Still he waited. She had to come to him. It was the only way he could be sure that the Lord was giving his consent. She took another two steps and spoke through the car window.
“You wan’ good time?”
He exhaled the pent up breath he hadn’t even been aware he’d been holding and nodded. She smiled and opened the car door. As she slid into the passenger seat he slipped the photograph of his mother and brother into his pocket. The Lord had spoken. It was time to do his bidding.
He drove out of town in silence, not looking at the whore. Nervousness must have loosened her tongue because her prattle began to get on his nerves.
“Shut up,” he said. “I don’t want to hear you speak.”
“Okay. Where we do fuck? Is long way.”
He slammed on the brakes and swerved to the side of the road.
Grabbing her hair, he pulled her head towards him. “One more word and I’ll break your neck. Now shut up.”
He let her go and accelerated away, smiling as she tried to open the car door. The child lock stopped her from escaping, but even if she’d been able to jump out, he’d simply have dragged her back into the car. She was his to save. There was no other option for one who the Lord had chosen.
The car pulled smoothly into the driveway. As he stopped the car, he turned to her.
“Don’t be afraid. Come inside and we’ll dance for a while. You like to dance?”
She nodded, her eyes wide with fear. He could smell the anxiety and it excited him, but he forced his mind and body to think only of the Lord’s work. He would find his release later, but for now he had to drive the devil from her.
He opened his car door and closed it, locking her inside. Walking the short distance to the cottage, he slipped the key in the lock and pushed the door open. Reaching in, he flicked the light switch, illuminating the entrance hall. Then he returned to the car and opened the passenger door. As he did so she pushed herself past him. They all tried to run, but none of them ever escaped. He grabbed her arm, digging his nails into the soft flesh.
“Stay by my side or I’ll break your arm,” he whispered into her ear, inhaling her cheap perfume. “We’re going inside to dance. You said you like to dance.”
She opened her mouth and screamed as he dragged her towards the open doorway. The countryside was in darkness, the only light coming from the cottage itself.
“There’s no one to hear you,” he said. “No one to care about you. But don’t worry; the Lord and I are here to save you.”
As they reached the cottage he shoved her hard. She fell over the threshold and he kicked her away from the opening before locking the door. He slipped the keys into his pocket and took a good look at her. She scrambled away from him, her face disfigured by black mascara-stained tears mingled with snot, but she still looked enough like the girl in the photograph to excite him.
This was the test. Making him want her while she still lived was the devil’s way of tempting him, but he had the Lord in his heart, so could never be corrupted. He kicked the whore in the stomach and she doubled over.
“Get up,” he said.
She didn’t move, simply screeched in her foreign tongue as the devil took deeper root inside her. He reached down and grabbed her hair, dragging her to her feet.
“I said, get up. I want to dance. My fucking whoring mother liked to dance. She said so when I found her. It was too late for her, but I’m going to save you. You should say thank you.”
The girl’s eyes darted from side to side.
“You’re looking for a way out. There isn’t one.” Still holding her hair he shook her head backwards and forwards. When he stopped, he pulled her face close to his. “I said, say thank you.”
“F... fank you.”
He let her go and she slumped to the ground.
“That’s better. I’m going to put on some music and you can dance for me. We’re going to have such a nice time.”
He left her in the hallway and went into the lo
unge. As he switched on the light, the figure of the Lord on the giant crucifix against the far wall smiled in encouragement.
“You have done well, my child,” Jesus said.
He dropped to his knees before his Lord and prayed. This was always the hardest part. He had to keep himself clean and not enter her too soon, but already he could feel his excitement ready to betray him. To make him defile his body.
“Give me strength, Lord. Don’t let me fail you.”
The Lord’s light filled him and he rose to his feet. He was ready.
He woke early on Saturday morning sprawled on the bedroom floor. Unbidden, an image of her disfigured face swam into focus. As his erection rose, he was filled with disgust. Even in death the whore continued to entice him. His lust had been sated during the night over and over, yet still his body craved release. This was surely the devil at work. He crawled away from the bed where the whore’s body lay spread-eagled and opened the cupboard against the far wall. Even as he reached in for the whip and promised the Lord not to touch the whore again, he knew he’d fail. He’d continue to anoint her until the stench became too much to bear.
He knelt and put out his left hand to steady himself against the wall. Raising his right hand he flicked the lash over his shoulder. As the barbs bit into his skin his erection subsided and he found a measure of peace. He’d keep her for the next few days and then dump the body at a different illegal refuse tip. Fortunately for him, the inhabitants of the town found new places to tip their rubbish faster than the council could clean them up.
His glance fell on the camcorder he’d set up. When the whore was gone he’d still have the memories to see him through.
***
Paolo pulled up outside Lydia’s house and felt a sense of relief that he wouldn’t be coming here for much longer, just a few more weeks. He couldn’t wait for the day he would be able to move into his new flat. It would mean seeing less of Lydia, but with her forthcoming wedding that was just as well.
He walked up to the front door and was about to ring the bell when the door flew open and Katy came hurtling into his arms.
“Dad, you’re late!”
“I am not. We said ten and it’s only twenty past, so how can that be late?”
She punched his arm and yelled back into the house. “Dad’s here. We’re going now. Bye, Mum.”
Although Paolo hadn’t wanted to see Lydia, he felt cheesed off that she hadn’t even come to the door. Katy must have picked up on how he felt because she dragged him towards the car.
“Believe me, Dad, you don’t want to get in her way today. Bad mood doesn’t come into it. She’s been planning... stuff.”
Paolo stopped halfway to the car and felt the familiar gaping hole in his stomach. “You mean her wedding?”
Katy nodded. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s fine, kiddo,” he said pointing the keys and pressing the button to unlock the car. “I’ll have to get used to the idea. So she’s planning the wedding and getting into a state? Your mum has always been a manic planner.”
“Tell me about it! Actually, no, don’t. Let’s just go.”
Paolo smiled. “Suits me. Where to?”
Katy leaned on the passenger door and grinned at him over the top of the car. “Bowling. Let’s see if you can get anywhere near my score this time.”
“You’re on. I have a feeling I might have a few strikes,” Paolo said and climbed into the driver’s side.
As she slid into the passenger’s seat Katy laughed. “Why not? There’s a first time for everything.”
Afterwards, as they settled themselves at a table overlooking the bowling lanes, Katy was still smirking over her incredible score and Paolo’s dismal attempts to match it.
“You really are pretty bad at this, Dad.”
“Don’t rub it in, kiddo, or we won’t come back here again. What do you want to eat?”
“I’ll have a burger and chips, please.”
Paolo went to the counter and ordered their food. He was dreading having to tell Katy what he’d found out about her friend, but couldn’t put it off any longer. As he sat down he decided to attack the subject head on, but would have given anything to avoid having the discussion with his daughter.
“Katy, you know you asked me to find out why the girl from your school has been missing for a while? I’m afraid the news isn’t good.”
Katy stopped sucking on the straw and put her can of lemonade on the table.
“What’s happened to her, Dad? Is it Father Gregory? He’s been missing for ages as well.”
Paolo shook his head. “I don’t know where he is, but he has nothing to do with your friend’s problem.” As Katy opened her mouth to speak Paolo put up a hand to stop her. “No, let me finish. I’ve had to call in a few favours to find out, so don’t you dare tell anyone what I’m going to tell you. I’m trusting you on this, Katy. Give me your word.”
She nodded. “Dad, you know I wouldn’t blab to anyone about anything you tell me. I can’t believe you asked.”
“I know, but this isn’t my story to tell – and it isn’t yours either, but it’s bound to come out when the court case starts.”
“Court case? Why? What’s happened to her?”
“You know her mother has a drink problem?”
Katy nodded. “Everyone knows that. Sometimes her mother could hardly walk when she came to the school. We just pretended not to notice.”
“Well, it seems that while her mother has been passed out drunk her new boyfriend has been over friendly with Valerie. That’s why she was hiding out in the lockers after school. She didn’t want to go home.”
“So where is she now?”
“She’s been taken into care. The boyfriend has been arrested and so has her mother, but it’s not likely the CPS will be able to bring a case against the mother.”
“Why not? If she let it happen then-”
“Because the boyfriend used to ply her with drink until she passed out. Valerie says her mother didn’t know. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t, but unless the CPS can prove she knew, there isn’t a case to answer. They may not be able to convict her of encouraging or allowing child abuse, but social services are going to make sure she gets sober before they allow Valerie back into her care.”
“So when will Valerie be coming back to school?”
“I don’t know, Katy. I don’t even know if she’ll be returning to your school. It’s possible that she’ll be placed in care outside the school catchment area. If that’s the case then she’ll go to the nearest school.”
“And it’s nothing to do with Father Gregory?”
Paolo shook his head. “Nope, nothing. No need to look so disappointed.”
“I’m not. Well, I am a bit disappointed. I still think he’s a creep. I wonder where he is.”
CHAPTER 21
Paolo ripped Tuesday’s page off his calendar with more force than was necessary. Wednesday had come round faster than he’d have liked. If there was one thing he hated about his job it was taking part in television broadcasts. Fortunately they didn’t come up too frequently, but once Liverpool had supplied them with a useable picture of Sean Andrews, the request to the public had been organised.
He looked down at the photograph on his desk and was amazed once again at how alike the two brothers were. The only difference he could see was that Sean had the slightest sign of a harelip on the right-hand side of his mouth. It was a pity it hadn’t been on the left, as then one of the witnesses might have spotted it, but being on the driver’s right, there was no way it could have been seen from the street. But would that have made any difference? He would still have known the witnesses had described someone who looked very like Matthew Roberts, with the exception of a harelip. Would he still have looked into Matthew’s family history? Possibly not without the DNA Matthew had supplied.
Dave tapped on the door and came in.
“The chief sent a message to say they need you upstairs in
ten minutes, sir.”
“Thanks, Dave. I’ve just been looking at this picture and wishing they’d found some DNA to go with it. That would have made it much neater, but I suppose we can’t have everything.”
“I know, sir. It seems the girlfriend kept the valuable stuff in case he came back for it, but ditched all the personal goods. I can’t say I blame her. I wouldn’t have held on to someone else’s toothbrush or comb, would you?”
“No, I wouldn’t. Apparently all she kept was the playstation, games and blu-rays. She donated his clothes to charity shops after a few months and binned everything else.” Paolo looked at his watch. “Okay, Dave, let’s go and get this over with.”
As they left the office Dave grinned. “Are you taking the lead, or is the chief doing the talking?”
Paolo sighed. “He wants me to do it. God knows why. I suck in front of a camera.”
They headed for the stairs leading to the conference room where the press had set up their equipment. Paolo still held a copy of Sean’s photograph. The harelip was barely noticeable, but he wondered if it had been more so when Sean was younger.
“Do you think his harelip might have been why he was passed over so many times and yet Matthew was adopted?” he asked Dave. “I’ve been trying to work out why a toddler was placed, but the baby wasn’t. It usually works the other way round, but maybe it was enough of a disfigurement to put off prospective parents.”
By this time they’d reached the next floor. Dave held open the door to the conference room to allow Paolo to go in first.
“Could be, sir. I believe people want perfection when they adopt.” He grinned. “A bit like me in my search for the perfect girlfriend.”
Paolo decided to let the comment pass. He was almost certain that Dave said it just to see what sort of reaction he got. Maybe he was developing a sense of humour at last.
They approached the long table set up with mikes and a few of the leaflets that were going to be passed out into the community. Paolo’s nerves got the better of him and his hands started shaking. He’d have to remember to keep them out of sight when he spoke into the cameras. He hoped the sudden onset of nausea didn’t show on his face. Dave moved to the side of the room. Paolo walked up to the table and sat on one of the two chairs that had been put out for them. Putting down his notes, he looked over to where Chief Constable Willows was chatting to one of the camera men. Paolo nodded to show he was ready to begin the ordeal and Willows came to sit next to him.
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