by Lauren Algeo
‘I was… different,’ Brewer said after a beat. ‘But this guy relented and started making preparations. He went to the school at lunchtime on the day of the show and stowed a can of petrol backstage somewhere. The hiker assured his fragile mind that the fire would just look like an accident. A lighting or electrical fault could have caused it.’
‘So who did the hiker really want dead?’ Georgie asked. ‘I’m guessing it wasn’t the ex-wife or head of the PTA?’
‘No, you’re right. This was a very special performance for the school because the county Mayor was going to be attending. A sort of “presence in the community” and “encouraging the youth” spin on the event. The local newspaper was going to run it as a front-page story and there was a lot of excitement at the school.’
‘The kind that would focus all the attention on the stage rather than what was going on behind it,’ Georgie said as the realisation dawned on her.
‘Exactly,’ Brewer agreed. ‘Our guy was going to set the fire, ironically by the fire escape, blocking it as a way out’
‘But then the kids on stage would be closest to it?’
Brewer nodded. ‘He thought that was going to make him seem more like the hero when he saved them.’
‘What did happen?’
‘I was hoping Jonathan was going to come to his senses. That maybe his love for his two girls would overrule the hiker, except it didn’t,’ he said. ‘This guy had put the petrol backstage and he was going to go ahead with it. So I intervened. I called the police first and I gave an anonymous tip off that there would be an arson attack at the school that night. I waited at the school all afternoon to see if the show would be called off.’
‘It wasn’t?’
‘No. They sent a patrol car to the school and two officers went in, probably just a routine check, and they left ten minutes later. They didn’t seem too concerned as the Mayor had a couple of his own people there who were in charge of the security at the event. I don’t think the police took me seriously. So then I tracked down a number for the Mayor’s personal security staff and called them. They paid a bit more attention and I saw them buzzing around outside the school for a bit. They gave it a search but didn’t find the petrol. The show was still going ahead.’
‘Did you give them the guy’s name? The one who was going to do it?’
‘At first I didn’t see the point,’ Brewer admitted. ‘It would seem even more far fetched that the father of two of the girls in the show would set fire to the hall while they were on stage. People don’t want to believe crazy suggestions like that. But by 5pm I got more desperate and called the security staff again with Jonathan’s name.’
‘What did they say?’ Georgie asked.
Brewer could still hear the cruel sound in his ears. ‘They laughed,’ he said. ‘They had met Jonathan that day when he was helping set up and they thought my theory was absurd. They hung up on me.’
‘Idiots,’ Georgie muttered.
‘I don’t blame them,’ he replied. ‘I mean, who would believe a mystery bloke on the phone spouting nonsense about a parent trying to set a fire with his own children involved.’
‘So how did you stop it?’ she asked then she grabbed his arm in panic. ‘You did stop it, right? Right!’
‘Yes, I stopped the fire happening,’ he sighed. ‘But not the murder.’
She waited silently for him to explain.
‘No one would listen to me so I took matters into my own hands. I snuck into the school about an hour before the show started, and just before most of the kids arrived. It was surprisingly easy, considering I’d warned them about an attack and people should have been alert in a school. Anyone who saw me thought I was a parent or teacher, one of them. I went backstage and found the petrol Jonathan had hidden. It was wedged in a small cupboard under the stage. I concealed it in a random box of decorations and walked out of the building carrying it. No one challenged me.’
He shifted on the ground to a more comfortable position. ‘The show started at 7pm as scheduled. The Mayor arrived just before and was whisked through to the hall by his team. The hiker was still whispering to Jonathan, telling him the best time to start the fire would be midway through the first act, when everyone was settled. He had a lighter in his pocket ready. Neither of them knew the petrol was missing from the hiding place. I’d taken up a position in some bushes near the playground so I could see the road leading in and the school entrance, but no one could see me.’
‘Wait a minute,’ Georgie interrupted. ‘How could the hiker guarantee the Mayor would die in the fire? Wouldn’t his security people get him out immediately when it started?’
Georgie was more perceptive than Brewer had given her credit for. It had taken him a couple of hours to question that part of the plan. Although, he had been trying to work out how to save a room full of children instead.
‘I thought about it a lot after,’ he told her. ‘I think the hiker was going to get him to set the fire by the fire escape then go through the door and close it behind him. When I went through the hall to get the petrol, I noticed the double doors had top bolts on the outside so they could be locked from the corridor. I think the hiker was planning to come forward into Jonathan’s body and go round the building to bolt the entrance to the hall as the fire started to spread.’
Georgie’s mouth dropped in horror. ‘But that would’ve cut off both exits and trapped everyone inside! All those kids…’
‘It wouldn’t be the first time,’ Brewer said. ‘There have been plenty of large-scale tragedies that killed children. Plane crashes, train derailments, collisions with coaches.’
‘But surely Jonathan could have fought it; taken back control of his body like I did?’
‘I don’t think you realise how strong you were to do that,’ Brewer replied. ‘Anyway, I didn’t let it get that far so we never had to find out. Halfway through the first act of the show, I heard the hiker whispering that it was time.’
He remembered sitting frozen in his hiding place by the bushes, waiting for the hiker to discover its plan had been ruined.
‘There was silence for a long minute then I heard the hiker screaming in rage at Jonathan. It was shrieking obscenities so loud it gave me a headache. That’s probably the angriest I’ve heard one get.’
‘What did it do?’ Georgie leant forward in anticipation.
‘It panicked for a few moments, trying to work out if the vessel had done it deliberately in defiance, although it knew he hadn’t. So then it rapidly came up with plan B,’ Brewer said. ‘The hiker left Jonathan and disappeared for the rest of the show. The poor bloke was in shock. I saw him run out of the side door and throw up by the building. I think that’s when he realised what he’d been about to do. I waited until the show had finished, and all the proud parents started leaving with their excited kids, but nothing happened. No whispering. The Mayor made a swift exit in a chauffeur driven car before the crowds came out so I thought that was the end of it.’
Georgie looked him in the eye. ‘Only they always have to get their target?’
Brewer nodded. ‘That’s why intervening doesn’t really count – they just find another way to kill them. The Mayor went straight to a bar near his home after the show to meet a friend. It was very close to his house so he left alone after the drink to walk home and at the end of the road, he was brutally beaten to death in a supposed mugging. I saw it on the news the next day. It was horrific. They said his face was beyond recognition. I think the hiker took out all of her rage over the failed fire with every swing of the new vessel’s fist. They never found who did it. The hiker probably had them commit suicide after, out of spite. It would have been very bitter about missing out on so many kills at the school.’
Georgie was quiet for a long time. ‘So even if we intervene and get this guy out of the hiker’s grasp, it’ll just find an even weaker vessel to go after the target. The golfer, and maybe the wife, will still die.’ She looked so helpless Brewer felt sorry for her.
He’d had to let go of the need to do something a while ago – you couldn’t help everyone every time. An image of the young girl with her arms out wide, falling off the edge of the building back when he first began flashed up in his mind. He swallowed it down and refused to recall the sickening sound of her body hitting the ground below.
The shrill ringing of his phone snapped them out of the sombre mood. It was Marcus.
‘Hi mate,’ Brewer answered on the second chirp.
‘Interesting people you keep getting involved with.’ Marcus didn’t bother with a greeting.
‘Why? What did you dig up?’
‘Well, nothing too major compared to Rankin!’ Came the retort.
Brewer made a mental note not to ask Marcus for any favours for another year or two. He didn’t want him to think using his resources was the only reason he had gotten back in contact after all this time.
‘What?’ he pushed cautiously.
‘Your guy Rawlings came up on the database,’ Marcus told him. ‘He split up with his wife a few years ago. Very bitter. She’d left him for another bloke she’d been sleeping with behind his back and it turned pretty ugly in divorce proceedings. They have a daughter together, she’d be about seven now.’
Brewer figured that must be who the little girl, Maddy, was in the photo he’d found.
‘But back when they split up she was a toddler, and the paternity was called in to question,’ Marcus said. ‘Rawlings reacted badly to the idea of a DNA test and, on one afternoon when he had the girl, they disappeared. He wasn’t allowed overnight visits until paternity was sorted and instead of bringing her back to her mum, he did a runner with her. There’s a very scathing report from the mother claiming that her mentally deranged husband had kidnapped her daughter.’
Brewer couldn’t blame the man too much; he knew how messy things could get when there was a child involved. First Rawlings had lost his wife to another man then he thought he was going to lose his daughter too.
‘There was a major search for them. The police looked all night and eventually traced them to a grotty B&B by the seaside the next night. Rawlings had run out of cash and used his card down in Bournemouth – not a very clever kidnapper that one. The wife filed a restraining order so he couldn’t be within fifty feet of her, and couldn’t see his daughter without supervision. They dragged it out so that he didn’t actually get one of those supervised visits for nearly a year and by then the kid only knew this other guy as daddy.’ Marcus paused. ‘Sad really – I couldn’t imagine how I’d react if Ella was taken away from me.’
‘Maybe you’d handle it better than Rawlings,’ Brewer sighed. ‘Thanks for the update mate; I owe you. Again.’
‘Don’t go making a habit of it. You’re lucky I was in a generous mood,’ Marcus replied. ‘Beers next weekend, if you’re still around?’
‘Sounds good, I’ll give you a call.’ Brewer put the phone on the ground next to him.
Georgie had been hovering nearby, trying to earwig his conversation and listen to what the hiker was saying in the factory.
‘Well we know why this guy was so susceptible to the hiker now.’ Brewer gave her a quick overview of the information he’d gotten from Marcus.
‘The hiker’s playing him to think it’s all happening again. His wife cheating with another man,’ Georgie spat. ‘I hate how they can manipulate people like that!’
‘It’s easier to play on the fears of people who have already been through traumas.’ Brewer switched off the laptop and put it back in his rucksack.
They ate sandwiches for lunch and watched people buzzing in and out of the factory entrance towards a shop down the road.
The hiker was in full swing now and whispered incessantly to Rawlings. Describing in graphic detail what his wife was probably up to at that very moment with the golfer. It weaved plans of revenge expertly into its web of mental torture. Brewer would be surprised if it didn’t all blow up that night.
Chapter 18
At 3pm, Brewer went for a walk up and down the road to stretch his legs. Georgie stayed stubbornly in position. He started to explain that she wouldn’t miss out on anything by going for a walk – she’d be able to hear it – but she was insistent on sitting and listening, with her eyes trained intently on the only part of the factory they could see.
Brewer’s mind wandered as he moved his stiff legs. After this job was over, the hiker would indulge in the ritual suicide come down. Was Georgie really ready for that so soon after her own experience? Her tough attitude didn’t fool him anymore. Sure the streets had hardened her, but he’d seen glimpses of the vulnerable girl underneath. He decided to play it by ear and let her see how she felt when the time came. He’d been a wreck after that first suicide from the roof. It would either push her over the edge or make her more determined to carry on.
As Brewer passed the factory entrance and started to turn back, he noticed a man walking towards the gates from the factory buildings. It was Rawlings. He raced back to Georgie, looking around as he ran however he couldn’t see the hiker anywhere. It would be close though. The aggressive look he’d seen on Rawlings’ face had said it all – this was happening now.
He grabbed his rucksack and yanked Georgie to her feet. She started to protest but he put his finger to his lips and pointed towards the entrance. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Rawlings appear through the gates. He was moving rigidly, as though his whole body was tensed in anger.
Georgie felt her heart start to race. She wanted to do this, had forced Brewer into letting her, but her determination wavered at the sight of this possessed man. The hiker was going to make him murder someone, and maybe even his own wife as well. She felt a stab of fear – she didn’t want to witness someone get killed. She’d seen enough horrific acts in her short life.
Brewer was already starting along the pavement to follow Rawlings. Georgie braced herself for the events that were coming head on towards her, way too fast. Seeing how the hikers operated was the first step in her finding a way to kill them. She needed to understand them in order to find their weaknesses. Plus, she could practice strengthening her mind against them at the same time. She had to do this.
Georgie looked at the small G inked on her wrist and thought of her dad. She’d sworn she would make him proud one day and working out how to rid the world of murdering hikers was one way to do it. She’d done plenty of things she hadn’t wanted to in the past, only this time she couldn’t switch off her mind. She needed it fully engaged for this.
The first step away from the shelter of the building was the hardest, but then she found her legs followed each other as they always had. Right, left. Right, left.
Brewer was moving slowly, cautiously, ahead, his head turning from side to side, hunting for the hiker. He was whispering to Rawlings so fast now all the words ran together.
‘…bastardsgoingtopayandthebitchshould…’
It was gathering pace as it built to the inevitable climax.
‘Are you ready for this?’ Brewer eyed Georgie as she fell in step beside him.
‘Yes,’ she replied more assuredly than she felt.
Her stomach was twisting into painful knots and it was difficult to catch her breath.
‘He’s left his car at the factory so we can trail him on foot.’ Brewer said. ‘We’ll keep a safe distance in case the hiker’s following closely.’
They hesitated at the corner of the road and checked it was clear. Rawlings was a fair distance in front now yet they hung back until he disappeared from sight. They could track him by listening instead. From the odd words they could pick out in the endless stream, they learnt that Rawlings was heading straight for the golf club.
‘We should call the police,’ Georgie said. Her unstable voice betrayed her high emotions.
‘The golfer will still die,’ Brewer replied without breaking his stride. ‘Just by some other, more brutal, method.’
‘But we might save his wife!’ Georgie cried, almost begging now
.
‘We don’t even know if he’ll kill his wife. The hiker might be satisfied after the death of the golfer is achieved and leave the wife out of it.’
‘As if that helps!’ She was hysterical now. ‘She’ll see her husband murder a man, then he’ll go to prison for life for it! Their lives will be ruined unless we stop it!’
‘Look, Georgie,’ Brewer said sharply. ‘You don’t have to come along. If you do, you need to keep calm. It’s not safe for us near hikers, and it’s definitely not in our best interest to interfere with their jobs.’
He was beginning to regret having her tagging along with him. It wasn’t that he was cold-hearted and unaffected by events – he was – he’d just been through all of these feelings a long time ago and he didn’t like reliving them.
Georgie tried to calm the rising panic inside her and she kept walking. She had to do this; truly see what they were up against.
‘If we can help in any way we will,’ Brewer sighed, half a mile of silence later.
‘Thank you,’ Georgie whispered.
The walk to the golf club was grim. It was several miles away and they had to endure the incessant ranting of the hiker. From what they heard, Rawlings had the large slicing blade with him. The hiker still had him under the illusion he was just going to use it to threaten the golfer – make him scared enough to never go near his wife again. They both knew that was a lie.
It played out worse than they had imagined. A twisted fate timed it so the golfer had just pulled up to the clubhouse car park when Rawlings arrived.
‘There he is,’ the hiker cried gleefully.
Brewer and Georgie were still walking up the lane to the club when they heard that and they broke into a run. Georgie could feel chills pulsing through her body at the hiker’s excited tone – it was looking forward to killing.
They heard a man shout as they came around the corner, and stopped dead when they saw the two men up ahead. Brewer dragged Georgie behind some trees to keep them safely out of sight. Neither of the men had heard them come up the drive, and they could see and hear everything from their hiding place.