Hikers - The Collection (Complete Box Set of 5 Books)

by Lauren Algeo

  ‘It’s a terrible tragedy,’ Brewer said, not acknowledging the part about Daniel being scared.

  The boy had done well to cover the death so convincingly. Brewer had no doubt that he’d waited until after John was dead before calling his mother. His tutor having previous heart problems was too much of a coincidence – Daniel would have easily been able to learn about that from his mind.

  Brewer and Connors sat in silence for a while as the car worked its way back to Downing Street through the busy city.

  ‘I didn’t get a chance to properly thank you for Friday night,’ Connors said as they neared the building. ‘You got my family away from that awful situation so quickly.’

  ‘No problem,’ Brewer shrugged. Connors would never know the real reason he’d gotten Daniel out of there so fast. ‘It’s my job.’

  ‘You’ve been a great addition to the team,’ Connors said sincerely and Brewer felt a pang of guilt.

  This man was relying on his protection but soon he would be murdering his only son. The loss of Daniel would break him but it was far better than the alternative. Daniel was capable of ruining the country and killing millions of innocent people. Brewer hadn’t forgotten that the summit was only a few weeks away. The world would be rid of Daniel’s evil before then.

  For now, he would have to endure Connors talking about the worry he felt for his ‘perfect’ son. A child who he had no clue was the devil incarnate.

  Chapter 22

  When Brewer got home that evening, Ellen was waiting with a small parcel in her hands.

  ‘The insulin arrived from Mitch,’ she told him. ‘He’s put two of his pens in there, just in case.’

  There was a handwritten note from Mitch inside, offering his support if they needed him to fly over and telling them to be careful. Brewer didn’t know how Mitch was going to explain away his two missing pens to his doctor but he was extremely grateful for the extra security. If anything did go wrong, they had back up insulin for a second shot at it.

  Brewer went to the dining room to fetch the small black case and syringes Ellen had ordered. They’d agreed to transfer the insulin from the pen into a syringe so they could easily administer the full dose to Daniel. Brewer sat at the table and carefully filled two syringes with the insulin from the two pens. He put one inside the case and slid the other across the table to Ellen.

  He stood up to see how he could carry the case around. It was too bulky to conceal under his white work shirts – the bulge of the hard plastic was clearly visible and couldn’t pass as a phone tucked in his waistband. It did fit neatly into his inside jacket pocket so he would need to wear it whenever he carried the insulin.

  Ellen watched him quietly as he tested the best place to put it. She was chewing on her lip again and fidgeting in the chair. He felt as though she wanted to tell him something but kept changing her mind.

  ‘What’s up?’ he asked eventually when she started biting on her nails too.

  ‘No. Nothing,’ she said quickly. ‘Are you hungry yet? I can put dinner on.’

  ‘Ellen…’ He forced her to meet his gaze.

  ‘All right,’ she nodded. ‘I need to say something and you’re not going to like it.’

  Brewer took a seat at the dining table beside her, pre-empting from her expression that he wouldn’t like this at all.

  ‘I’ve been thinking…’ she started then took a deep breath. ‘Ok, it’s better if I get this out quick. It’s great that you got on the team and everything but this is the second week and you’ve only seen Daniel once, at a public event. It’s going to be too hard for you to get close enough to him in the timeframe we have. The summit will be here in no time.’

  Brewer’s body stiffened as he listened to her fast words. He had a deep sense of dread about where this was going.

  ‘So I was thinking it over today and there’s a clear solution.’ Ellen reached out to place her hand on top of his. ‘John’s death, as horrible as it is, is actually an opportunity for us… well, for me. The Connors family will be looking for a new tutor and I…’

  ‘No!’ Brewer cut her off sharply and snatched his hand away. ‘No way! You are not going for a job teaching that monster.’

  ‘Scott, I have the experience,’ Ellen said. ‘It’s the perfect way for us to get close enough to him. I’d have plenty of time during our lessons to act out our plan.’

  ‘His last tutor died during a lesson! I do not want you alone with him.’ Brewer clenched his jaw. ‘You have no idea what he’s capable of. I’ve heard him whispering and I refuse to let you anywhere near that.’

  ‘You refuse?’ Ellen’s voice rose drastically as she challenged him.

  ‘Yes,’ he insisted. ‘I won’t let that happen.’

  ‘You can’t stop me.’ Her eyes shone with determination. ‘I’ve already been in touch with Mitch about getting some fake references from America.’

  ‘You’ve done what?’ Brewer exploded. He shoved back his chair and stood up in fury. ‘How dare you go behind my back like that. It’s too dangerous for you! This is my responsibility.’

  ‘No it’s not!’ Ellen jumped to her feet. ‘This is not just your fight Scott! We’re both part of this. They killed my daughter. They kidnapped me. This is my battle too!’

  They stood inches apart and glared at each other. Brewer was breathing hard and his mind was racing. Ellen’s face was dark red with anger. As he looked into her narrowed eyes, he knew that she wouldn’t back down.

  He turned on his heels and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut between them. He strode down the hallway and out of the front door, ignoring the call of his name from behind him. He had to get out.

  Brewer opened the front door an hour later, after wandering the village in turmoil. Ellen was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for him. Her cheeks were blotchy and he could tell from her puffy eyes that she’d been crying.

  ‘I didn’t know if you were coming back,’ she said softly.

  Brewer sat down on the step beside her. It was a squeeze with the narrow staircase and their bodies touched lightly. Brewer could feel the heat radiating from her – he’d bolted without his coat and his body was cold.

  ‘I just had to clear my head,’ he told her. ‘What you said… it sent me into a blind panic.’

  ‘I told you that you wouldn’t like it.’

  Brewer’s lips curved into a tight smile. ‘I think that was an understatement.’

  ‘I have thought this through,’ Ellen said. ‘I know how dangerous it is.’

  ‘Do you?’ Brewer angled his head to look at her. ‘You are going to be with Daniel for hours. He will have nothing else to distract him – no intriguing vessels at a charity dinner. He can dip into your mind any time he wants. Can you really guard yourself for that long, under so much pressure?’

  ‘I think I can,’ she nodded. ‘I’ve considered this carefully and I know what I have to do and how hard it will be. I’ve come up with some mental techniques to get rid of Daniel if he starts digging too deep.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Like recipes for the dinner I’m going to cook that evening or mundane housework that I need to do. Even thoughts of the menopause and periods,’ Ellen said. ‘He’s a young boy who’s looking for excitement – topics like that will bore him out of my mind.’

  ‘I suppose that might work for a while,’ Brewer agreed. ‘But what if he does get in too far and picks up any hint of our past, or Lucy?’

  Ellen flinched at the mention of her daughter’s name. Daniel latching onto her memories of Lucy would be the worst thing of all. ‘I won’t let that happen.’

  ‘It’s been years since you practiced blocking.’ Brewer didn’t want to point out that the last hiker she’d had in her head was the Master and he’d overpowered her spectacularly.

  ‘I might not have had as much practice as you but I still remember how to do it,’ she said. ‘Daniel will see me as nothing more than his tutor so why would he delve that deep? He
’s not expecting to find anything interesting in my head. I should be able to placate him with a quick search then maintain the boring topics if he ever tries to enter my mind again.’

  ‘That’s not the only thing you have to worry about,’ Brewer said gently. ‘What about physical feelings? Daniel was strong enough for you to sense through a live TV broadcast – what’s it going to be like when you’re two feet away from him?’

  ‘It’s going to be horrible,’ Ellen said honestly. ‘I will be in pain but I can handle it. I’m not as fragile as you think.’

  ‘I’m just being cautious. I want to protect you,’ Brewer said. ‘Can you be sure that Daniel won’t pick up on how bad you feel around him? He could see from your mind if you were in pain.’

  ‘Not if I bury it deep enough.’ Ellen shifted her body to face him. ‘Look, I know I can’t guarantee anything – Daniel might learn too much and I could fail – but I believe in my heart that I can do it. That this is the best chance we have of killing the last hiker.’

  The worst part for Brewer was that he knew she was right. His job on the team may have gotten him into Downing Street but he wasn’t able to get close enough to Daniel. The boy was safely holed up in a flat that he couldn’t go to without raising suspicion, and he kept getting dragged out to meetings, interviews and events with Connors.

  In the short time they had before the summit, there weren’t going to be many opportunities for him to get Daniel alone. It was possible that he might not even see the boy before then, as Connors’ schedule got busier with the build-up. Ellen was right ­– this was a gifted chance. His judgement was severely hindered by his love for her and need to protect. If he wanted Daniel gone though, he would have to put those feelings aside.

  ‘Ok,’ he finally nodded. ‘I believe in you too.’

  Ellen squeezed him into a tight hug then kissed his cheek. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean this doesn’t terrify me,’ he said, untangling himself from her embrace. ‘This goes against every instinct I have but I trust you if you say you can do it. At least I’ll be in close proximity in case something does go wrong.’

  ‘I’m scared too… petrified really,’ she said. ‘But I can’t just sit by and do nothing, not when I have the power to get close to him.’

  ‘What exactly is the plan for guaranteeing that you get this job?’ Brewer asked. ‘The PM will be looking for an exceptional standard of tutor for his son – probably someone who retired from Eton, like John did. And we can’t tell them that you’re my wife, it will look too suspect. I’ve been vague with the team about my home life and I don’t want them asking too many questions.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m planning on using my maiden name. It will be safer if Daniel doesn’t link us together. He’s likely already unhappy with you after you got him out of the charity dinner so I don’t want him trying to find out about you from my head. That really would risk him learning about our past. I’m going to suppress thoughts of you and replace them with memories of Lucy’s father. A man leaving me decades ago is hardly going to interest Daniel for more than a few seconds.’

  Brewer squeezed her hand. ‘If it gets too much you can always leave the room. Use excuses to go to the toilet or get a drink, anything.’

  ‘The hard part is getting in,’ Ellen said. ‘Currently Ellen MacIntosh studied English at College, worked in a library, and tutored local children in a village in Kent. I may have teaching experience but not to the level you mentioned, and I need to appear qualified in other subjects. That’s where Mitch comes in.’

  ‘You’re going to use his IT skills to fake a new CV for yourself?’ Brewer asked.

  ‘Not just new skills, a new past too,’ she said. ‘He’s making me a quick web page with fake references and quotes from my past pupils. It will list my exaggerated qualifications in a biography that has me teaching for twenty years.’

  Brewer nodded in approval. ‘That’s more like it. As long as you look perfect on paper, they’ll get you in for an interview.’

  ‘Especially when they read my letter of recommendation from a Senator in Philadelphia,’ Ellen smirked. ‘That one was Mitch’s idea. He’s going to email it over tomorrow with some Photoshopped official logos on. I will have been splitting my time between the UK and the US for the last few years, working for high profile families. To the Connors family, I will be ideal. I just need your help to get them my details.’

  ‘How are we going to do that without arousing suspicion?’

  ‘Once Mitch has put everything in place in a couple of days, you can give my webpage address to Connors,’ Ellen said. ‘You can just say you saw an interview with me in a paper or something, and that you thought they would be looking for a new tutor.’

  ‘That could work.’ It seemed as though Ellen had thought through everything carefully. ‘I can mention you to him casually on Wednesday. I doubt they’ll be looking before then. The funeral for John will be later this week or early next week I imagine.’

  ‘That poor man.’ Ellen bowed her head briefly. ‘We’ll get justice for him, and everyone else Daniel has murdered.’

  ‘He was clever about it,’ Brewer told her. ‘Connors said that John had some previous heart problems so making it look like a heart attack was easy for him. I still don’t know what they’ll say the cause of death was officially. His prior problems might mask whatever Daniel did to him.’

  ‘I just hope he didn’t suffer for long,’ Ellen said.

  She knew all too well the terror hikers could induce when they were inside your mind. The Master had made her re-live her worst nightmares and she prayed that hadn’t been the case for John.

  ‘Ok, let’s catch up with Mitch tomorrow then and see how he’s getting on.’ Brewer got up from the stairs and held out a hand to help Ellen to her feet.

  ‘I’ll get some food in the oven for us.’ Ellen headed for the kitchen and Brewer wandered through to the living room.

  His feet automatically took him to the drinks cabinet and he found himself reaching for the new bottle of Jack Daniels Ellen had picked up while shopping that afternoon. It was a replacement for the one he and Marcus had finished. There was a painful knot in his stomach at the idea of her getting close to the boy and he needed to dull his mind for a while. He’d sworn not to drink as much but this new development called for it. He needed help to come to terms with this dangerous plan.

  He took a fresh glass from the shelf above the bottles and poured out a large measure. He downed the strong liquid quickly, barely grimacing at the taste, and re-filled his glass. The alcohol burned its way down his throat and warmed the chill in his bones.

  When Ellen came into the room ten minutes later, she glanced at the third full glass in his hand but didn’t acknowledge it. She knew why he had turned to his old comfort. At least he had talked it through with her and not stayed out all night, wandering the streets in anger. He could have gone to the local pub to drown his sorrows, instead he’d come home to her.

  She sat quietly on the sofa and they both pretended to watch the news on TV, with Brewer taking a sip of his lifeline every few seconds.

  Chapter 23

  ‘I am a genius.’ Mitch beamed out from the laptop screen. ‘You can hit me with the praise now.’

  ‘Thanks Mitch, this is brilliant!’ Ellen grinned.

  She and Brewer were huddled around the laptop at the end of the dining table. Brewer checked the details on the screen again before flicking back to Skype.

  ‘I can’t believe you pulled this together so quickly,’ he said.

  ‘Pah, it was nothing.’ Mitch waved his hand flippantly. ‘It’s only a couple of pages on a website.’

  ‘But it looks… professional,’ Brewer started.

  ‘What do you think I do for a living?’ Mitch laughed.

  ‘You know what I mean. Official. Like this is actually Ellen’s life.’

  ‘You said you wanted it to be perfect,’ Mitch shrugged. ‘And this Connors guy would need i
t that way.’

  The website was simple – a light grey background with clearly spaced type and a photo of Ellen alongside some testimonials. There was a separate biography tab, detailing her experience and education, then a page for getting in contact. It was ideal to hook Connors.

  The real draw was the letter Mitch had sent them with it. It was a reference from a Senator on official US Government stationery. Brewer had no idea how Mitch had done it but he couldn’t tell it was fake and he was scrutinising it for flaws. They could print it out for Ellen to take to an interview with Connors to seal the deal.

  ‘The letter is brilliant,’ Brewer told him. ‘They can’t not give her the job after reading a glowing report which basically says she got his son into college.’

  ‘Carmen wrote it,’ Mitch grinned. ‘She thought it would go down well.’

  ‘She did an amazing job,’ Ellen said. ‘Thank her for us. How is she feeling?’

  Brewer checked over the letter again at the side of the screen as Mitch filled Ellen in on Carmen’s growing baby bump.

  ‘I think you made a mistake at the bottom,’ he suddenly cut in. ‘It says the letter is from Mitchell Sampson. Shouldn’t it be your surname?’

  Mitch rolled his eyes. ‘Check Google old man.’

  Brewer typed Mitchell Sampson into the search bar and laughed when he saw the results. ‘There really is a US Senator in Philly called Mitchell Sampson.’ He stared at the photo of the middle-aged man in front of him.

  ‘Yep.’ Mitch looked pleased with himself. ‘Had to make it authentic if Connors checks who the Senator is. The only fake part is the contact phone number on the letter, which comes straight to me. He will just think he’s talking to that guy.’

  ‘Mitch, you’re incredible!’ Ellen clapped her hands. ‘Thank you so much.’

  ‘I told you I was a genius,’ he smiled.

  They chatted for a few more minutes then ended the call, promising to let Mitch know how his fabricated work went down.