Dead Time

by Dead Time (retail) (epub)

  ‘Peter and Jonathan knew each other from university. They went to separate colleges but they met at that time. It’s probably how Jonathan got involved in…’ Brenda stopped, her words trapped in her throat as if understanding for the first time what had happened to her life. ‘The twins were christened in a church called St Matthew’s. Anna Saunders appeared to be a lovely woman, though I didn’t think much of Peter at the time, I guess with good reason. You don’t have to say it. I take responsibility for allowing my children to be associated with such people. I didn’t know anything but I should have paid more attention.’

  ‘How often did you see the Saunders’?’

  ‘I didn’t see them at all but as the children grew older they used to see them quite often.’ Brenda faltered again. ‘Jesus, they used to see them every month. They were always so secretive about what they got up to and I didn’t even try to push them for an answer. What did I let them get involved with?’

  Sarah pulled Lambert to the side, reminded him she’d been to Anna Saunders’ house, and that Anna suggested they look for Peter Saunders at the farmhouse in Norfolk.

  ‘How far is her house from here?’ asked Lambert.

  ‘About fifty minutes.’

  Lambert pulled Brenda to her feet. ‘We need to pay Anna Saunders a visit,’ he said.

  * * *

  He drove in a daze, hoping he wasn’t following another dead end. He glanced in the rear-view mirror at Brenda Barnes. She was still cuffed and barely moved, her vacant gaze focused on the road ahead. Lambert felt no pity for her. She’d been a serving police officer yet she’d neglected her children to such an extent while her husband had warped them into something inhuman.

  He clung on to thoughts of Sophie and Jane as he sped through the London traffic, blinking away thoughts of what he would do to Brenda if anything happened to his family.

  ‘You OK?’ asked Sarah.

  ‘I will be when we find them. Any word from Tillman?’ he asked, as an afterthought.

  ‘No, still going to answer phone.’

  Lambert recalled one of Tillman’s holding cells he’d visited during the Waverly Manor case. The place had no Wi-Fi or phone reception; even the GPS locations were masked so once inside you were untraceable. He could only hope Edmund Barnes was now conscious, that Tillman would be able to gain some information from him.

  ‘Here we are,’ said Sarah.

  ‘You’re coming in as well,’ he said to Brenda, after parking up.

  Sarah went to the back of the car and grabbed the woman. Together they walked up the stone steps, an unlikely trio, Lambert with his hand on his gun.

  Sarah knocked on the door, and shouted through the letterbox when there was no answer. ‘Anna, it’s DCI Sarah May.’

  Light shone from the hallway. ‘I can hear something,’ she said to Lambert. ‘Some sort of music.’ She knocked again and turned to Lambert when there was no answer.

  ‘Do you have a mobile phone number for your daughter?’ Lambert asked Brenda.

  ‘You can try it but it always goes straight to voicemail.’

  Lambert tried the number and got the predicted result. He recalled the gangly teenager he’d seen at the trial. Like her brother, Louise Barnes had looked lost. He would never have imagined at the time she was capable of emulating her father. Filial loyalty was sometimes hard to fathom, and the timid voice suggesting he leave a message threw Lambert further into doubt.

  He needed the see what was awaiting them behind Anna Saunders’ front door. Lacking Tillman’s burglary tools, he went to the boot of his car and retrieved his enforcer, the name given to the police-issued battering ram. He slammed the ram into the door, the lock collapsing after one hit, and led the others into the hallway.

  His gun was poised, his patience wearing thin. He didn’t recognize the distorted music blaring from the speakers in the living room. At first, the obscure lyrics and heavy bass of the music were out of place in the tasteful surroundings.

  Then he saw the body and the jarring music made sense.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Sophie didn’t even hear the footsteps. The door of the underground prison was flung open, a blinding light filling the space. She blinked rapidly, her eyes first on Jane and then on the blood-soaked apparition in front of her. The woman, or more correctly the girl, was drenched in red. Lumps of matter covered her thin frame and hair. Her eyes were wide, otherworldly. In one shaking hand she held a gun, in the other a set of handcuffs.

  Michael had once told Sophie that even at close quarters it wasn’t easy to fire a gun with accuracy, especially when under pressure. The girl trembled from head to foot. Was this her chance? She could run, hope the girl either didn’t have time to get a shot off or that the pressure of the situation would force her to miss.

  ‘Put these on,’ said the girl, throwing the cuffs towards Sophie. And she was definitely only a girl. There was nothing to her. She was a fragile and vulnerable girl; but a girl with a gun.

  How could she run? The girl’s hands looked unsteady, and one accidental shot could kill Jane. ‘You don’t have to do this,’ said Sophie. ‘I know you don’t want to be here. Just leave us. Go, get out of here. Escape, but please let us go.’

  Sophie glanced past the shaking teenager at the steep staircase. They were metres away from freedom but they might as well have been miles.

  ‘It’s your last chance. Do you want to end up like the last woman who disobeyed me?’ Something changed in the girl’s voice, a steadiness returning to her hand.

  Sophie picked up the cold metal cuffs, placed one around her left wrist and clicked it shut.

  ‘Behind your back.’

  Sophie placed her hands and behind her and fastened the cuff on her right wrist.

  ‘Turn around.’

  Remarkably, Jane hadn’t stirred. Sophie turned around, the cuffs still loose.

  ‘Click the other one in place,’ said the girl with a high-pitched wail. ‘Don’t do anything stupid,’ she added, moving towards her.

  Sophie was surprised by the girl’s strength as she grabbed the cuffs and pulled them tighter onto her skin, the metal digging into the bone. It was painful, but Sophie wasn’t about to give the girl the satisfaction of hearing her cry out.

  ‘Move,’ said the girl.

  ‘No,’ screamed Sophie, as the teenager picked up her baby girl and held her in her arms like she was a doll.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Lambert rubbed his eyes and stared at the body, at the gaps where her eyes should have been. Carved into the woman’s chest was a Latin phrase Lambert knew only too well:

  In oculis animus habitat

  ‘The soul dwells in the eyes’. It was the ultimate copycat killing. Lambert had first met Sarah while hunting a serial killer known as the Souljacker. The killer removed the eyes of his victims and carved the Latin inscription into their flesh.

  Lambert moved towards Anna Saunders. Next to the inscription, pinned to the bloody remains of the woman’s blouse, was a piece of card, his name stencilled onto the front like the others. The three of them stood in shock as Lambert touched the woman’s neck.

  ‘Is this Anna Saunders?’ he asked.

  Sarah nodded.

  ‘She’s still alive.’

  * * *

  As Sarah called the emergency services, Lambert ventured further into the Saunders’ house.

  ‘Louise, are you in here?’ he shouted, trying to control his mounting panic. There was no answer but he sensed another presence in the house. In the kitchen, he pulled frantically at the cupboard doors and drawers, sending cutlery, pots and pans crashing to the ground. A side door opened into a larder area where Lambert tore the canned food from the shelves. He lifted the hessian mat on the floor and picked at the floorboards but they were solid.

  ‘Where are you?’ he mouthed to himself. He was about to run upstairs when he caught sight of the small opening beneath the staircase. It was a rectangular panel barely big enough to fit through but
when he pulled it shifted with ease. He shone his torch through the opening and found what he was looking for: a trapdoor, reminiscent of Waverly Manor.

  He pulled the door open, a cold breeze rising from below. ‘Louise, are you down there? This is DCI Lambert. Your mother is here, we have your brother in custody. It’s all over now, he’s safe. Please come out so we can talk.’

  He hung back from the opening in case she fired. ‘Louise, come out to talk so we can sort this out. I don’t care about what you’ve done, you can go for all I care. I just want to see my family again. Are Sophie and Jane down there?’

  It was the faintest of sounds but he caught it, the rumbling of footsteps echoing up the stairs beneath the trapdoor.

  ‘Sophie!’ he screamed, dismayed at the panic in his voice.

  ‘Where’s my brother?’ came a lone voice. It sounded so thin and weedy, a voice not yet matured, a voice belonging to a teenager – to the girl who’d committed the atrocity in the living room.

  ‘He’s safe, Louise. He’s in custody and he wants to talk to you. We all do. I know it’s been hard and I can only imagine what you went through with your father, but it’s over now. Let Sophie and Jane come up and we can talk, everyone can be safe again.’

  ‘I want to see him.’

  ‘He’s in custody, Louise. I have a second officer with me and backup is on its way. Anna Saunders is still alive. Once the backup arrives, there will be no negotiations. Armed police will be here and they’re not renowned for their negotiation skills. Please, I don’t want anything to happen to you and I don’t want my family to be put at more risk. Your mother’s here, Louise.’

  ‘I don’t want to speak to that bitch,’ said Louise.

  Lambert found himself biting his nails. ‘I understand. Are Sophie and Jane OK?’

  ‘They are for the time being but they won’t be if you don’t get out of here.’

  ‘I have a car outside, Louise. Bring them up and we can do a deal. If you want you can take the car and take your chances but there’s no other way out for you. You have my word I won’t try to stop you.’

  Lambert’s chest rose and fell, his heart smashing against his ribcage. He was in a desperate situation. He didn’t know what Louise would do. He had no real understanding of why she was in the situation in the first place. Like her brother, she obviously wanted to get back at Lambert. Had she achieved that now with Anna Saunders almost dead? Or was there more to come?

  Hopefully Edmund’s capture had thrown their plans into disarray. It was conceivable Louise was acting under her brother’s instructions. Now he was captured would her resolve fail?

  ‘This is your last chance, Louise.’ Lambert tried his best to hide his desperation. ‘I can’t take the risk any more. If you’re not coming up, I’m coming down.’

  Sarah followed him into the hallway with Brenda in tow. She shook her head but he was ready to go. What did he have to lose? He scuttled forward and dangled his foot, placing it on the first stair.

  ‘Wait,’ said Louise, sounding uncertain. ‘Wait, we’re coming up. Be warned, I’m carrying your little girl. I have a knife to the back of her neck. You know what I’ll do if you try anything.’

  Lambert retreated. He was close to breaking, a scream of panic caught in his throat. No amount of training or experience could have prepared him for this. He grimaced, fighting back the emotion threatening to overcome him.

  ‘Stand back,’ warned Louise, as footsteps echoed up the stairs.

  Sophie appeared first. Ghost-like, she stepped into the light staring vacantly in front of her.

  ‘Sophie, are you OK?’ asked Lambert, standing his ground. He was alert now, too focused on events to allow emotion to affect him.

  Sophie barely responded.

  ‘She’s drugged,’ said Sarah.

  ‘Sophie, keep coming,’ said Lambert.

  She took tiny steps as if she was sleepwalking. She was wearing a soiled nightgown stuck to her skin, but Lambert couldn’t see any marks on her. He helped her out of the opening and grabbed her with his free arm. She didn’t respond, her body limp in his embrace. Sarah took her hand and guided her away.

  ‘I’m coming up now,’ said Louise. ‘Remember what I said.’

  Lambert closed his eyes, fighting a wave of nausea as Louise appeared at the top of the stairs. As threatened, she was carrying Jane in her arms.

  ‘What have you done to her?’ said Lambert. His little girl’s eyes were closed. He took one step forward, searching for a sign of life.

  ‘She’s alive, she’s sedated,’ said Louise. ‘Stay back.’

  Lambert stood firm, energy returning to him as fear transformed to anger. He let out a sigh as he noticed the shallow breaths coming from his daughter.

  ‘Give me the child,’ he said.

  ‘What about our deal?’

  Lambert reached into his coat pocket with his left hand and held out a set of keys.

  He placed the keys on a tabletop in the hall. ‘It’s outside waiting for you.’

  ‘I need to take the child with me.’

  ‘Absolutely no way,’ said Lambert. His right hand was twitching. He was sure he could reach for his gun in his jacket and take her out before she had a chance to use the knife, but how could he take that risk?

  ‘Put Jane down, take the keys and go. They’re going to be here within seconds,’ said Lambert.

  Louise gazed anxiously at the keys on the table, two metres beyond her reach. She looked at Lambert and Sarah, weighing up her options, and appeared to be about to place Jane on the ground when her attention was distracted by another presence in the hallway.

  ‘Louise?’ Brenda had made her way into the hallway.

  ‘Mum, what are you doing here?’

  ‘Louise, did you really do this?’ Brenda, like the rest of them, appeared to be in shock.

  ‘You don’t understand, Mum.’

  ‘How could you do this? Did you do that to Anna?’

  ‘I did it for Dad.’

  ‘You did it for Dad? For that man who did all those awful things to those poor…’ She couldn’t even say the words. ‘Give the man his child back, Louise.’

  Something changed in Louise at the request. A spark of light appeared in her eyes, forcing her into action.

  Lambert reached for his gun as Louise hoisted a sharp object high above her and held it for a split second, its intended target the gap between Jane’s shoulder blades.

  Lambert was quick but not quick enough. Louise’s movement sparked Sophie into action. Lambert saw it in the same split second as he raised the gun. Sophie charged sideways with everything she had into the teenage girl. The impact sent her crashing into the wall, loosening the grip of her left hand, Jane falling from her arms. Lambert didn’t hesitate. He covered the short distance to where she was falling in a millisecond. He was about to lead with his left foot, to kick Louise where she fell, but Louise reacted and swung her knife, slicing Sophie’s Achilles tendon with one swift movement.

  Lambert grabbed his daughter, still mercifully asleep, and pushed her behind him as Sophie crashed to the ground next to Louise.

  Louise held the knife, now coated with blood. Her eyes held the same blank look he’d seen on Edmund and glared at him before bringing the knife down once more, this time towards Sophie’s heart.

  Lambert wasted no time, four bullets leaving his gun and entering Louise’s chest before the knife could find its target.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  The gunshots woke Jane. Sophie picked her up and stumbled out of the room into the road. Lambert held his arm out towards her but she dodged his touch as if avoiding an assailant.

  As sirens wailed in the distance, Brenda crawled to her daughter, wailing. Lambert looked at Sarah, both of them in shock.

  The scene resembled a horror movie. Blood splattered the walls behind Louise Barnes, and in the corner Anna Saunders still struggled for life.

  Tillman was the first to arrive. ‘What the actual fuck?’ he
said, glancing from Lambert to Sarah, from Louise and Brenda, still in handcuffs, to the mutilated body of Anna Saunders.

  ‘She’s still alive, Glenn. Where are the paramedics?’

  Tillman looked at him like he was stupid. ‘Who is?’

  Lambert pointed to Anna Saunders. Tillman was momentarily confused, as if suspicious of being caught in a joke, before springing into life. He began barking orders, summoning his section’s medical team and instructing two of his guards not to let anyone else in the house as a third took photos of Anna Saunders as she was lifted out of the house.

  ‘Get her out of here,’ said Tillman to his guards, pointing at Brenda Barnes.

  ‘I will get you for this,’ screamed the woman at Lambert as she was dragged from her daughter’s corpse.

  Tillman shook his head, disgusted at the former police officer, compassion far from his mind.

  ‘Who shot her?’ he asked, when Brenda had left the scene.

  Lambert stepped forward.

  ‘Give me the firearm,’ said Tillman, holding out a piece of cloth. He wrapped the gun and placed it in a small plastic bag. ‘On the twenty-seventh December we met one another in Woolwich. You raised concerns over your family, and the transfer of Jonathan Barnes. At that time, I authorized the use of your firearm. Think you can remember that?’

  ‘You honestly think that is going to work?’ said Lambert.

  ‘You risked your life and found the killer or killers of three men, one of them a police officer. Tanner mistakenly took your badge. If he pushes this I will make sure he loses his job for gross incompetence.’

  Lambert appreciated the loyalty but didn’t share Tillman’s convictions.

  ‘You OK with that, DCI May?’ asked Tillman.

  ‘Whatever you agreed,’ said Sarah.

  * * *

  Sophie was sitting in the back of an ambulance, arguing with the paramedic placing a breathing mask over Jane. ‘It’s just a precaution,’ said the woman, as Sophie watched her every move, her eyes wild.