by Lauren Algeo
Peter groaned at the sight of it. He could barely keep his head up, let alone drink. He stared up at Daniel with bleary, bloodshot eyes.
‘Please,’ he begged.
Daniel leant forward until his face was inches from Peter’s and the man saw how dark his eyes were. He knew the man’s hazy mind was confused by the child in front of him. The devil was a little boy?
‘Drink it.’
He stood up straighter and watched eagerly as Peter picked up the bottle with quaking fingers and fumbled with the screw top. This time was harder – Peter was barely conscious as he gulped the liquid – but Daniel persevered. By the time the bottle was empty, there was nonsense flitting around the man’s head. He had shut himself off from the body that was slowly failing him. Daniel retreated fully with a nod of pride and sat cross-legged on the ground to enjoy the man’s demise.
It took several hours for Peter to die. His body lay trembling and moaning for a long time before he had a seizure. After that, he was still for a while and Daniel knew that he had finally been released. He got up and walked back to the hotel. The lobby was quiet now and no one noticed him head for the stairs. Their family room was silent and he slipped back into bed without his parents waking up.
Dragging Peter’s releasing out had been fun but it had lacked the pressured excitement of Izzy’s. Peter had merely slipped away with a whimper whereas he’d felt Izzy’s pain, fear and confusion right up until the end. The pleasure was greater if the intended victim was still conscious. Those panicked moments before release were what he would live for.
Daniel sat back in his chair and stared at the computer screen again. He intended to experience every moment of Beckett’s releasing. He wanted the man to know exactly what was happening to him and he would feed off that blissful terror. Daniel looked at the president’s face and sniggered. He would break this smiling man.
Chapter 27
‘Come on guys, this is important.’ Brewer was exasperated. He felt like a teacher standing in front of a room full of naughty schoolboys. In reality, there were three of them and they were grown men.
‘Sorry.’ Richards rolled his eyes. ‘Please continue.’
They were in one of the smallest Downing Street meeting rooms and Brewer was stood by a large scheduling board. The team were spread around a table and drinking tea. None of their body language was encouraging to Brewer. Adders was rubbing a hand through his wavy hair, Richards was leaning back in his chair, and Seok was flicking through the notes in front of him.
‘We’ve got three and a half weeks until the summit so we need to be prepared,’ Brewer re-iterated. ‘There are going to be so many different teams coming in and out.’
Their team would be staying with Connors for the duration but other security staff were being drafted in to cope with the number of important visitors. Many of them would have their own security and bodyguards in tow. This was one of the biggest security risks the country had seen and the police and army would be briefed too. The summit meetings were taking place in numerous locations across London and they all needed to be swept for anything suspicious and staffed appropriately.
Brewer was in charge of making sure that Connors was well protected wherever he travelled, although that wasn’t really why he’d called this meeting with the team. He’d gathered the men in the room because he wanted to learn as much as he could about the summit in order to work out what Daniel was planning.
He was still secretly hoping he wouldn’t have to be there by the time the summit came around. In case Ellen hadn’t killed the boy before then though, they would have to be prepared. Connors had given them a brief schedule of his movements for the summit that morning and Brewer had mapped it out on the board he’d borrowed from one of the secretaries. There were dozens of meetings, dinners and drinks receptions, as well as guided tours for some visitors. The overtime for the team was going to be immense, even with the extra security help.
‘We can work out shift patterns nearer the time,’ Brewer said. ‘Let’s focus on the people who are attending first… so we know the level of protection they need and size of their security detail.’
‘Bagsy working when Beckett and his wife come for dinner,’ Adders piped up. ‘That woman is hot!’
‘Of course she’d leave the president of the United States for a low-life like you!’ Richards laughed.
‘Hey, everyone loves a British accent,’ Adders winked.
‘Not a shit cockney one,’ Seok quipped and Richards bellowed another laugh.
‘Yes, the president.’ Brewer tried to steer the conversation back on track. ‘He will have the tightest security of all.’
Brewer knew how well Beckett would be guarded but none of that mattered when your attacker had the power of mind control and a sadistic streak. If Daniel wanted to go after Beckett, only Brewer and Ellen would know about it. It would be easy for him to turn one of Beckett’s own bodyguards against him, or use the mind of anyone in the vicinity.
Of all the visitors, president Beckett was the most prolific and the one Brewer was deeply worried about. Especially as a US president hadn’t visited the UK for a few years. If something were to happen to him during his trip over here… the fall out would be immeasurable.
‘He’ll be fine,’ Richards shrugged. ‘He’ll have some ex-marine hard arses with him.’
‘They might be game for a few drinks if we get a night off,’ Adders said. ‘Seeing as how Scott is too much of a pussy to come to the strip club with us!’
‘That’s enough!’ Brewer’s patience was wearing thin. ‘We’ve only got an hour before we need to escort Connors to his next meeting.’
There were mumbles of ‘sorry’ but Brewer knew they didn’t really mean the half-hearted apologies. This was boring and they didn’t think it was relevant to them.
‘We need to show all these other security guys how it’s done.’ Brewer tried to inject some interest for them. ‘This is our country and we have to be the best.’
It felt weak, however patriotism seemed to work on them. Richards sat up straighter and Seok pushed his papers aside.
‘Too right!’ Adders exclaimed. ‘We’ll show them who’s top dog.’
‘So back to who is actually coming.’ Brewer had a list of the NATO countries printed out with the schedule. ‘The prime opportunities for things to go wrong are with the recognised figures. No one knows what the Prime Minister of Norway looks like but everyone will want to get a glimpse of the French president, Moreau.’
‘The man is a legend,’ Adders agreed.
Henri Moreau was young and good-looking, and had so far worked his way through three celebrity girlfriends since he’d taken over: two Hollywood actresses and a British supermodel. He was another face who Brewer was concerned about. The media loved him and would be following him in crowds – giving Daniel an instant worldwide audience if he were to orchestrate an attack on him.
‘The majority of the leaders will be arriving here on Friday 28th so we’ll all need to work some extra shifts that weekend,’ Brewer told them.
There were no grumbles of protest from the team. The overtime rate at Downing Street was very generous.
Brewer studied the men as he talked about the extra support staff who would be joining them. Their body language was still relaxed yet more focussed than it had been. There was no fear of him at all from them, and hadn’t been since he’d joined. Over the years, the nervousness and apprehension that people had felt around him seemed to have faded. There were no longer curious stares and flickers of fear on people’s faces when they spent too long in his company.
He was finally free of the tinge of evil that initial hiker had tainted him with. After years of a smooth existence, he was hoping that Daniel wouldn’t tarnish him again. It was nice to be fully accepted.
‘Is Baldwin coming back to help?’ Richards asked.
It took a moment for Brewer to place the name. Gerry Baldwin had been the team member he’d taken over from… or pushed out in Richards’ e
yes.
‘I don’t know,’ Brewer admitted. ‘He’s on Royal detail so I guess he’ll stick with that.’
Richards nodded and said nothing, to Brewer’s relief. He didn’t want to come face-to-face with the man whose job he’d temporarily stolen for his own gain. The Royal Protection Branch was probably the same, and what he was doing was for the greater good – he couldn’t bring himself to feel too bad about it.
‘There are several meetings that all countries will attend.’ Brewer marked the preliminary dates on the board. ‘One is about the conflict in the Middle East and one on the wider economy. There is a defence meeting planned for the last day, which might be of interest for anyone planning to attack. Military leaders will be in attendance and tensions are always higher with security and defence.’
‘Do you really think someone would attack during the summit?’ Seok asked.
The question surprised Brewer – their job was to prevent attacks so they should expect them at all times.
‘I just mean that it’s such a high profile situation and security measures are extra tight.’ Seok clarified before Brewer could answer. ‘It would take a lot more effort for someone to try to infiltrate it. They’d need inside information and man power.’
Daniel wouldn’t, Brewer thought. ‘If someone wanted to attack, this would be the perfect time,’ he said out loud. ‘Opportunities to get all of these leaders in one place are rare. Anyone who is dedicated enough won’t be put off by the extra challenge. There are some complete psychos out there.’
‘I wasn’t sure if you really believed it,’ Seok shrugged. ‘There are rarely ever large-scale attacks reported in the media these days.’
‘That’s because people like us stop them,’ Brewer said.
Deep down he was only referring to himself. The number of bizarre deaths in the country had reduced dramatically compared to the mass killings that hikers used to be responsible for. He and Georgie had put a stop to that in this country.
Seok nodded and looked back at the schedule notes in front of him. Brewer wondered what had prompted that strange exchange. Was Seok still wary of what he was bringing to the team? Or was he subtly hinting that he didn’t think Brewer’s heart was in security? They’d known that he was an ex-Detective but that didn’t mean that he was one of them. With Seok, it was always hard to tell what he was thinking.
Brewer shrugged off his comments and attempted to carry on the meeting, although there wasn’t much else to say. The finalised schedule for Connors wouldn’t be ready until the following week and the team weren’t interested in hearing any more about who else was coming. This was just another job to them and they were only keen on hearing about the generous overtime pay.
After a few minutes of reading out names and stats from the other NATO countries who would be attending, Brewer called it quits.
‘Let’s have something quick to eat before we escort Connors,’ he sighed.
The team jumped up with more enthusiasm than they’d shown during the whole meeting. Brewer shook his head in despair as he picked up the board and followed them from the room. This may just have been run of the mill to them but the summit was more important than they would ever know.
If Ellen didn’t manage to get rid of Daniel before it started then there was a very real chance that some world leaders were going to die. Wars could be started and thousands of lives could be put at risk. If Ellen failed then the weight of responsibility would once again land on his shoulders to put a stop to it.
He would need to end this and he had no idea how with so many security staff and police around. He just had to hope that Ellen would be as strong as she believed she was and get the job done. Daniel had to die before the summit.
Chapter 28
‘Thank you very much,’ Ellen smiled as Marie put a steaming cup of tea on the table beside her.
‘Let me know if you need anything else,’ Marie said. ‘I’ll just be next door in the living room.’
She wandered out with a ruffle of Daniel’s hair as she passed him. The boy was sitting on the chair beside Ellen with a glass of blackcurrant squash in front of him. Seeing him again had been daunting and she’d barely slept the night before through worry.
Scott had tried to practice her trial lesson with her after dinner but she couldn’t sit still. They’d downloaded a science lesson plan from the internet that she could take Daniel through and hopefully win over Marie and Connors.
Marie had greeted her warmly but Connors was at Westminster for the afternoon. The rest of the flat seemed eerily quiet although that might have been her wired mind playing tricks on her. Surely Daniel wouldn’t have cleared out all the staff so he could kill her? No, she was being overly paranoid. Daniel hadn’t even been inside her mind yet to suss out who she was.
The boy was gazing at her quizzically with his dark eyes and she realised he was waiting for the lesson to begin.
‘I thought we’d start with science as your parents mentioned that you wanted to advance further with it?’ Ellen forced her lips into a thin smile.
Daniel was so close to her. Could he hear the slight waver in her voice or pick up the tremble in her fingers as she pushed across the papers?
He nodded and looked down at the mock case studies and questions. He’d only said ‘hello’ since she’d arrived and thanked Marie for his drink. He was dressed in clothes that were too adult for a ten-year-old boy: a perfectly fitted blue shirt and smart black trousers. With the shiny tan shoes he looked like a miniature version of Connors, all that was missing was the jacket and tie.
Ellen saw him smooth down his hair as he read over the papers, making it immaculate again after Marie had tousled it. The unconscious gesture from a mother to her son had put Ellen on edge. Daniel wasn’t likely to approve of people invading his personal space.
She kept her mind alert for any signs of intrusion but so far she hadn’t detected any. In her eyes, Daniel was making her sweat before he finally took a peek at her thoughts.
‘Do you want to try this first question on gravity?’ Ellen asked to keep up the pretence of the lesson. ‘I believe John had begun to cover it with you but let me know if you want a recap?’
‘No, thank you.’ Daniel picked up a pen and skimmed over the question.
Ellen knew this lesson was as much of an act for him as it was for her. He had no interest in studies or science, unless it somehow helped him to cause people pain. His intelligence would be far higher than he was letting on and she was doubtful the questions in front of him posed any real challenge. He just couldn’t reveal how clever he really was for fear of exposing himself to scrutiny.
A faint scratch at the back of her mind caused her to freeze. He was finally coming for her. She knew what she was supposed to think about to put him off, she’d practiced a dozen times over the last couple of days, yet suddenly her mind wouldn’t cooperate. She could only think of him.
She dug her fingernails hard into her left palm and clung onto the sharp pain to clear her head. She took a shallow breath as Daniel fully entered her mind and let all of the ideas she’d decided on float to the surface.
She wanted to do a good job in the trial to impress the Connors family. She was hoping to go through a contract with Marie to detail pay and holiday entitlements if she got the role. Were the questions she’d brought for the lesson the right ones for Daniel’s learning style? What methods had his previous tutor used?
Underneath all the mundane babble her face was growing hot and her body felt clammy beneath the suit jacket she was wearing. She reached for her cup of tea and took a sip of the hot liquid in an attempt to disguise her discomfort. Feeling a hiker in her mind once more was awful and she struggled to keep all of the bad memories buried deep down. If Daniel stayed in much longer one of them might come bubbling to the surface.
‘Would you like to talk through the question?’ she asked, hoping to snap him out of her thoughts.
‘I’ve almost got it,’ he smiled sweetly althoug
h it didn’t reach his eyes. They remained cold and hard.
His presence didn’t waver in her mind. He was lazily skimming over the surface and didn’t appear to be in a hurry to leave. There were only so many job-related topics she could think of in a row. It had only been thirty seconds or so since he’d first entered her head but it felt like hours.
She turned her thoughts to after the lesson and what she should pick up from the shops for dinner. Her mind flitted through a lasagne recipe while she fought to swallow down the panic. It was no good, Daniel was nudging deeper to find out about her home life. What if he latched onto thoughts of… no!
She couldn’t help herself. She blocked her mind from him and the intrusive rummaging sensation was gone in an instant. Her wide eyes flicked to Daniel and she tried to keep her face neutral and her body composed. His reaction was barely discernable – one eyebrow rose slightly then he glanced back down at the paper.
To anyone else, it would have looked like nothing more than a twitch but to Ellen, that minute gesture was petrifying. She had pushed him from her mind and he’d felt it. What the hell would he think that was? She shouldn’t know about blocking or strange presences in her mind. Had she given herself away?
She strained to pick up any further intrusion but there was nothing. Daniel simply wrote an answer on the page then pushed it towards her for approval.
‘Very good,’ she nodded, barely registering the word he’d written. It could have been completely wrong for all her muddled brain could see.
‘I think I’ve figured out the next one too.’ He angled the paper back towards him and filled out the next three questions with alarming speed.
Ellen fought every instinct she had to bolt from the room and watched him. He can’t know anything she tried to reassure herself. He’d seen nothing. She was simply someone who was sensitive to the alien presence. Scott always said some people were – surely Daniel would have encountered people who’d resisted him in the past? Why should he suspect her of being any different to them? Him filling out these answers wasn’t him displaying his mental power.