by Lauren Algeo
Brewer stopped pacing abruptly. ‘To Chequers?’ he asked with a dry mouth.
‘Yes, that’s the place,’ Ellen said. ‘They’re going for a couple of days and want me to give Daniel a few catch up lessons while they’re there. Apparently it’s beautiful and…’
‘You can’t go!’ Brewer cut in more aggressively than he’d intended. He lowered his voice quickly. ‘I mean, it’s going to be dangerous spending all that time with him… and I’ve been asked to go there with Connors.’
‘So it’s too dangerous for me but you’re already going without talking to me about it?’ He could hear the anger in her clipped words.
‘I only just found out,’ he said. ‘I’m going with Seok as a minimal team to protect Connors. I was hoping to take the insulin with me and find an opportunity to use it.’
‘Well if we’re both there then we will have twice as many chances,’ Ellen pointed out. ‘I’m the one who can get closer to Daniel, you’ll be stuck with Seok.’
Brewer glanced around to check that no one was near him. ‘Seok being there is risky. He might notice if we’re acting suspiciously and piece things together.’
‘No, he’ll only be concerned about you,’ Ellen insisted. ‘He’ll barely see me. I’ll be the one with Daniel.’
Brewer rubbed a hand over his mouth. She was right in that sense but the thought of her spending so much time near Daniel terrified him. Sleeping under the same roof as him and eating meals together. At least in the flat it was only for short periods of time for lessons. Brewer wouldn’t be able to stay with her himself and help keep her safe.
‘I’m saying yes,’ Ellen said curtly. ‘This wasn’t a call to ask your permission.’
‘You know that isn’t what this is about,’ he said. ‘I love you, and I hate the thought of you being so close to danger.’
‘I can handle it,’ she insisted. ‘Just like I’m handling sitting two feet away from him in lessons today while my stomach is in knots. This is a perfect opportunity to end it before the summit – that’s what you wanted, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, but not like this.’ Brewer saw Adders waving from the doorway to get his attention. ‘I have to go back to the team so we’ll talk about this more later.’
‘We can talk all you want, I’m saying yes to Marie now.’ Ellen was gone before he could come back with a reply.
Brewer strode towards the building with an impending sense of dread. He’d inadvertently made Ellen angry so there would be no stopping her now – he knew all too well how headstrong she was. It looked as though they would both be spending the weekend at Chequers.
Chapter 31
‘Have you got your insulin syringe close to hand?’ Brewer asked for the second time that morning.
Ellen gestured to the handbag on the bed. ‘It’s in the side pocket for easy access.’
She folded the cashmere jumper in her hand and put it into the black holdall bag that was also on the bed. ‘Where’s yours?’
Brewer lifted up the black jacket from the dressing table chair. ‘Inside pocket. I should be able to get away with having this on most of the time, it’s not exactly warm weather out there.’
It had been raining since the early hours and there was a storm forecast for that evening. Brewer hoped it wasn’t an omen.
He would be travelling to Chequers with Seok and Connors straight from a meeting in the City. Ellen was going separately, by car, with a couple of Downing Street staff: a chef, called Marco, who was preparing a dinner party for the Saturday night, and a housekeeper. Marie and Daniel would be travelling with their driver at a similar time.
Brewer put his toothbrush into his small, navy holdall and zipped up the top. They were lucky that Mitch had sent them two lots of insulin or one of them would have been unarmed for the weekend.
They were planning to travel in to London together after breakfast then split up before they reached Downing Street, as had been their routine over the course of the week. Ellen’s lessons started later so she’d spent the extra time re-checking her lesson plans in various coffee shops.
Daniel had been a model student during her first week and only once had she felt him skim over the surface of her mind. She’d been careful to make sure her top-line thoughts were fixed solely on the lessons at hand. Daniel had left swiftly, without attempting to dig deeper, and she hadn’t sensed his presence again. She’d even become more accustomed to the painful sensation of having him so close by and she could now mute the stabbing pressure in her stomach to more of a dull ache.
Marie’s behaviour had been the thing that surprised her the most over the last few days. The woman she’d seen previously on TV and in newspapers had always seemed so together and confident, however behind closed doors it was a different story. Marie flitted around constantly, never seeming to sit still for long, but her actions were aimless. She would wander in and out of the dining room during Daniel’s lessons, offering drinks and snacks and checking that everything was going ok. Her body language was twitchy – she fiddled with her clothes and jewellery incessantly – and she always seemed eager to please.
Ellen was warm and friendly to her although she found her behaviour very needy. There was a hint of desperation in how much she tried to engage with everyone around her. Perhaps it stemmed from having Daniel for a son? The boy was distant to his mother’s attempts to connect with him, and to Ellen, he visibly resented her touching him. It probably didn’t help that Connors was absent a lot so Marie latched on to Daniel more.
Her manner made Ellen fear for the woman’s safety and she grew to feel nervous every time Marie entered the room when she was with Daniel.
‘Don’t antagonise the boy.’ She wanted to warn her but instead she would just smile tightly and keep her mouth closed.
The more Marie annoyed Daniel, the more likely he was to retaliate. She didn’t want him to vent any of his anger towards Marie. The woman was clingy and in need of a lot of attention yet she was harmless. With any luck, Daniel would be too focussed on the upcoming summit to bother with his mother.
‘Do you think this dress is ok?’ Ellen held up a black dress with a scooped neckline. ‘Just in case I bump into the people coming to the dinner party tomorrow night and they invite me to have a drink with them or something.’
‘It’s perfect.’ Brewer kissed her cheek and shrugged on his suit jacket. ‘I don’t think it’s too formal. Seok said there’s a family called the Delany’s coming but I’ve never heard them mentioned before, maybe someone else too. At least you might get to have a nice glass of wine, I’ll probably be eating leftovers in the dark kitchen.’
Ellen laughed and Brewer smiled at the sound – it had been rare over the last few, tense weeks. They’d been snappy with each other at the start of the week, over the issue of Ellen going to Chequers too however Brewer had slowly come to terms with the idea. She was under strict instructions to keep her phone with her at all times in case anything happened and she needed him to get there fast.
They were likely to be in close proximity over the weekend but wouldn’t be able to spend any time together. No one could find out that they were really married or there would be serious consequences. Brewer presumed they would bump into each other in the house while he was with Seok and he would need to be careful about what he said. Only small talk no hint at familiarity. He was never supposed to have met her; in everyone else’s eyes they were strangers.
Ellen packed the last of her clothes into her holdall then perched on the edge of the bed. ‘What should we do if Daniel starts whispering to someone in the house?’ she asked quietly. The worried expression had taken up its position on her pale face again.
Brewer paused for a moment and leant against the dressing table. ‘It depends what his intentions are. If he’s just messing with someone’s mind for fun then we’ll listen and do nothing. If it’s to someone vulnerable who he intends to harm or kill then I don’t think I’ll be able to stand by and let it happen.’
‘
That’s what I was afraid of,’ Ellen nodded. ‘I know we have the insulin and are waiting for a perfect opportunity to use it but we haven’t actually discussed what that consists of. How are we going to get away with murder?’
‘I don’t know,’ Brewer said honestly.
They’d both been avoiding the topic and he didn’t have any definitive answers. An insulin overdose would kill Daniel swiftly, that he was certain of, it was the aftermath that was hazy.
Chequers was going to be much quieter than Downing Street but the boy’s body wouldn’t stay undiscovered for long. They could try and sneak into his room during the night to inject him although he was likely to be awake – all the hikers he’d encountered before didn’t need much sleep. It was the best plan for making sure no one found him for a few hours, his parents would think he had died suddenly in his sleep, but that would lead to meticulous post-mortems and questions. There was no element of surprise there either and Daniel might pick up their minds approaching before they got to his room.
‘Staging an accident is probably the best cover,’ Brewer said out loud. ‘If we managed to sneak up when he was out and inject him then he happened to take a tumble down a steep drop or something, his injuries could mask the real cause of his death. A tragic accident would be far more favourable than suspected murder.’
Ellen nodded slowly. ‘That sounds sensible. I’d been thinking about pinning the blame on someone else if the police started asking questions and had no idea who, or what their motive would be. I mean, Marie is mildly unhinged but not capable of killing a son she dotes on.’
‘That would be too messy and unpredictable,’ Brewer agreed. ‘So would my other idea of making out Daniel had done it to himself by mistake. I thought we could say that he found a syringe someone had left lying around and used it on himself, not realising what it was, but that’s even more far fetched than blaming someone. The “accident” cover is more feasible.’
‘We’ll need to scope out the house when we get there,’ Ellen said. ‘See if there are any places where Daniel could have an accident. I know it has large grounds but it’s unlikely there are any sharp drops. There could be a river or stream nearby, where he might slip on some wet rocks, hit his head and drown?’
‘Maybe,’ Brewer nodded. ‘We’ll know more when we get there. We can text or call each other whenever we can get away with it. I think it might be too risky to try and talk face-to-face. The other issue is making sure that Daniel goes somewhere alone… and I’ll need to find a way to lose Seok in order to follow him.’
‘Does he have to be alone?’ Ellen asked slowly. ‘I mean, I could go on a walk or something with him then we split up, or Daniel wanders off while I’m distracted and this tragic accident happens. No one would really blame me for it.’
Brewer didn’t want her to be a key part of a plan that could go horribly wrong but it might be their only option if Daniel wasn’t going anywhere by himself.
‘What if we didn’t need the accident?’ he suggested as a last resort. ‘What if the boy simply went missing? We could kill him with the insulin then hide his body somewhere so no one could find him. Connors would suspect a kidnapping or something and there would be no immediate murder suspicion – Daniel would simply never be found again.’
‘That’s even worse.’ Ellen shook her head. ‘We don’t know the area and have no way of transporting a body. If we bury him near the grounds, the police will find him immediately. It would be a huge manhunt for the Prime Minister’s missing son – sniffer dogs, helicopters and people combing the area – we’d never get away with it. The accident is still the best plan we have.’
She stood up from the bed and walked across the room to embrace him in a brief hug. ‘It’s no more dangerous for me to take him on a walk than it is for me to sit next to him in a lesson. There will be some way for us to do this safely. I promise.’
‘Ok.’ Brewer kissed her lightly on the lips. ‘We’ll suss it all out when we get there later.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘We better get our breakfast on the move, we’re running late.’
‘I’ll be five minutes.’ Ellen headed for the bathroom to finish getting herself ready while Brewer carried their holdalls downstairs.
They could make a solid plan over the next two days then act on it on Sunday morning. Connors and Marie might be sluggish after the dinner party on Saturday night and be happy to let Ellen take Daniel out for the morning.
If there were some woods nearby, it could be an ideal secluded spot to carry out their plan. If they were skilled enough at blocking their minds then Daniel would never see it coming. A quick injection and this would all go away in a matter of minutes. They could hurt Daniel while he was dying to give him convincing, life-ending injuries.
What if he fell and hit his head on a rock or tree stump? Could he cut his throat on a barbed wire fence? Surely there would be something dangerous they could use to stage the accident. Their recon on Saturday would tell them more.
If the cause of death was obvious enough to the police then the investigation afterwards would be brief. It could be ruled as an accident and Brewer and Ellen would be able to move on with their lives.
Brewer stood by the front door and waited for Ellen. For the first time in weeks, there was hope in his heart. Over the course of the weekend they might actually be able to pull this off.
Chapter 32
‘Guys, I’d like you to meet Ellen MacIntosh,’ Connors gestured to her. ‘Ellen, these are two of my security team: Scott Brewer and Gi Joon Seok.’
‘It’s nice to meet you, Ellen.’ Brewer reached out and shook his wife’s hand.
She smiled politely then moved on to shake Seok’s hand. They were standing in the entrance hall of the Chequer’s house. Ellen had been coming down the main stairs when Connors had opened the front door with Brewer and Seok in tow. It was just after 6pm and everyone else had arrived nearly an hour before.
‘This is a beautiful house,’ Ellen told Connors. ‘Thank you for having me.’
‘Not at all.’ Connors waved away her thanks. ‘I just hope your room isn’t too cold overnight. It’s a nice place but it’s old and the heating doesn’t seem to reach everywhere.’
‘I’m sure it will be fine,’ Ellen smiled. ‘Marie and Daniel were in the terrace room last time I saw them.’
‘Great,’ Connors nodded. ‘I better go and say hi before I get settled.’
‘I’ll take your bag up to the room, sir,’ Seok offered. ‘Then I can show Scott around.’
‘Perfect, thank you.’ Connors headed towards the back of the house.
Seok picked up Connors’ smart, black holdall with his free hand. In the other, he was holding his own overnight bag, which looked equally as well cared for. Brewer tucked his old, battered bag further behind his leg.
‘Let’s get these upstairs.’ Seok nodded at Ellen. ‘It was nice to meet you.’ He walked towards the stairs carrying the two bags.
Brewer gave Ellen a wink as he passed her to follow Seok. Her smile widened briefly then she turned and walked slowly down the corridor. It felt odd to pretend to be strangers, they had no other choice though. Maybe he could steal her away for a brief chat somewhere later.
They’d agreed to mainly communicate by text and phone calls but there had to be the odd private moment where they could talk. He wanted to find out if she’d managed to scope out much of the house since she’d arrived.
It was getting dark rapidly as the grey clouds filled the sky and the storm would prevent him from scouting around outside until morning. Ellen might have seen more from the windows if Marie had given her a tour of the place.
Brewer reached the top of the stairs and followed Seok along the corridor to the left. The house had a musty smell under the initial fragrance – as though no amount of polish or air freshener could mask the age of the furniture. It was another place that needed modernising and redecorating but there would be no budget for that.
Connors couldn’t be seen to be
spending money on such trivial matters when most of the country was in financial crisis. That would lead to a very violent backlash if he were hiring decorators while people were losing their homes and more banks were crumbling.
‘We can use these smaller bedrooms.’ Seok stopped by four closed doors at the end of the hall.
Brewer opened the door nearest him and put his bag on the single bed inside. The room was compact and every inch of available space was taken up with a wardrobe, dresser and bedside table. There was a square window, framed by heavy burgundy curtains, and Brewer noted that they were at the side of the property. He could see the side of the driveway and gardens alongside the house but not much beyond a row of tall evergreen trees. He would need to move to the back of the house to get a decent look at the rear gardens.
Seok had put his holdall in the bedroom opposite Brewer and was stood in the hallway again, waiting for him.
‘There’s a bathroom just down the hall,’ Seok told him. ‘Connors is in a bedroom on the other side. You’ll see the size difference when we get to that part of the house.’
Brewer trailed him along the cramped passages, trying to take in all the rooms they passed. Most doors were closed however a few were ajar and he glimpsed other bedrooms, several bathrooms and a couple of studies. He knew that other politicians and members of the government could use the house too but Connors had priority. The place had cleaners and caretakers although they didn’t live at the property.
‘Ellen seemed nice,’ Seok said as they twisted and turned down the hallways.
‘Mm hmm,’ Brewer nodded. He didn’t want to say too much in case he made Seok suspicious. He would stick to non-committal rather than gushing about his wife.
‘She should be thanking you really,’ Seok carried on. ‘You’re the one who put her name forward for the job. Maybe she can show you how grateful she is later.’