From The Shadows (Blaze series Book 1)

by David Carter

  Elizabeth stubbornly said, “I’m not telling you anything until you convince me of his guilt. Only then will I help you.”

  Ryan stood up. “All right then, everybody listen up. I’m going to lay it all out for you and then we’ll take a vote.”

  “I trust you,” said Blaze. “So let’s stop wasting time and go kill this fucker right now!”

  Ryan held up his hand, and said to Elizabeth, “I understand your reluctance believing that one of your closest friends could be such a monster. But I did warn you that the Watcher was most likely somebody close to you. So give me the chance to prove it, all right?”

  “All right.” She backed down.

  Ryan cleared his throat, and rhetorically asked, “What do we know about the Watcher so far? Well, the first thing is, about twenty-four years ago, he molested and killed a young boy by the name of George Walker. George was conceived as the result of an affair between his mother and Eric Thompson, who was the senior constable of the Glendale Police Department. We know George loved riding his BMX bike down at the track on the other side of the sports field, behind what was St Mary’s school. Please keep that fact in mind as you listen to what I have to say, Elizabeth.”

  She nodded.

  Ryan picked up a manila folder off his desk. He opened it and flipped through the reports from George’s case, and said, “We know for a fact that Eric Thompson never told a soul about the affair he and Rhonda had had and that Rhonda is a devout Catholic, attending mass and confession on a weekly basis for her entire life. The only question that remained unanswered in George’s case was, how did the Watcher find out about their affair?”

  “He most likely saw them in the act through a bedroom window as he did with Karl O’Brian and Luke Turner,” replied Hampton.

  “That’s the assumed answer,” said Ryan, “but that’s not actually what happened. There was one vital lead that was followed up and blatantly disregarded, which we will revisit in just a moment.” He paused, then said, “We know the Watcher instructed Eric Thompson to give a confession at the Glendale church, but he didn’t, which unfortunately sealed George’s fate.”

  Ryan picked up and opened a file containing reports of O’Brian and Turner’s murders. He said, “The Watcher wanted Karl and Luke to give a confession at the church, but they didn’t either, also sealing their fates.”

  “We already know all this shit. Get to fucking point,” said Blaze impatiently.

  Ryan gave him a look that told him to shut up and back off. He then opened a file containing reports of Duncan Walters’ murder, and said, “Duncan Walters stole from the church on three occasions. The Watcher no doubt gave him the option to confess, as that fits his pattern. I believe the first time Duncan stole from the church, it alerted the Watcher to keep an eye on things in the treasury. The second time he stole the offering money, the Watcher knew who it was, and Duncan, being a devout man of God, with a gambling problem, probably confessed, and the Watcher let it slide which is the whole point of the warnings in the first place. The third time Duncan stole from the treasury, the Watcher was fresh out of mercy and brutally murdered him, specifically leaving him in the treasury room for Elizabeth to find.

  “How do you know that he wanted Elizabeth to find him?” asked Danny.

  “Simple; because Elizabeth was picking up the money the same morning as Duncan was left in the treasury. And from the coroner’s report we discovered that Duncan was killed first and then placed in the treasury. The Watcher knew Elizabeth would have to give a statement to me, which gave him a quick and easy avenue to Blaze.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, the Watcher needed Elizabeth to see the body with the Bible verse on it: first-John, one, nine—and learn that the Watcher had used a dagger as the murder weapon. His plan worked perfectly, as it triggered a memory in Elizabeth’s mind of something Blaze had said to her as a young boy.”

  “Confessions and daggers,” Blaze answered for him.

  “That’s right,” said Ryan. “He needed Elizabeth to get fast access to Blaze, and sure enough, he kidnapped Trinity with a promise to return her safely, but only on the condition that we released Blaze from prison. And as the Watcher seems to be a man of his word, he did exactly that.”

  “But how did the Watcher know about Blaze telling Elizabeth his riddle? Surely he can’t read her mind?” Danny asked.

  Ryan grinned triumphantly at Elizabeth. “The same way he found out about George Walker’s biological father.”

  Elizabeth covered her mouth in shock as she knew Ryan was telling the truth. “I told Father Meyer about the riddle during confession the day after Blaze went to prison,” she said.

  “Bingo,” said Ryan.

  Everybody in the room was stunned.

  “Furthermore,” Ryan continued, “when the Watcher, or rather, Father Meyer, returned Trinity to us, he left a note for me saying to ‘keep Blaze on ice’ for a while. Now, why do you think he did that?”

  Elizabeth quickly answered, “Because he unexpectedly got an invitation to leave for Rome to attend the International Conference of the Catholic Clergy at the Vatican!”

  “Exactly!” said Ryan. “He is also an unofficial member of the Glendale Vintage Car Club- which explains the cap that Trinity saw at his house, and why his name didn’t appear on our list of car-club suspects.”

  “And to answer your question that you asked me at the beach,” Elizabeth said sheepishly, “he does have a basement in his house.”

  “I knew he would,” Ryan replied, “and that’s why he bit my head off and wouldn’t go for a swim with me.”

  “Because if he took his shirt off, we all would’ve seen his tattoo!” exclaimed Blaze.

  “Spot on! Now, back to my point about George Walker, Elizabeth; he loved riding his bike at the BMX track every day after school, which is also the last known location he was seen. And guess where our friend, Father Jonas Meyer, lives?”

  “On John Street,” Elizabeth answered.

  “Nineteen John Street, to be precise. Directly across the road from the BMX track. And the totally insane thing about it is that I just saw in the phone directory that his address is the same as his favourite Bible Verse: Nineteen John Street. John, one, nine.”

  “He was right under our noses all this time!” groaned Hampton.

  “He was. But he’s slipped up taking Sharon. She isn’t part of the original script. Blaze is ultimately the target; this is an impulse decision.

  “How do you figure that?”

  “Because we only found out Sharon was pregnant two days ago, which is the same day he got back from Rome. Which means he heard it from someone in passing and decided it was worthy of making an unexpected detour.”

  Elizabeth felt sick to her stomach. “It was me who told him when I met him for coffee yesterday,” she admitted. “It’s all my fault! I’m so sorry! As soon as I’d told him, he left in great hurry saying he had a meeting he’d forgotten about. Oh, God! What have I done!” she started to cry.

  Ryan walked over to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “This isn’t your fault,” he comforted her. “You shared a piece of wonderful news with a friend. You weren’t to know this would happen, and you certainly aren’t to blame. I know Sharon would say the same thing.”

  Hampton handed her a tissue.

  “Thank you,” she sniffled. “I’ll tell you anything you wish to know about him,” she said to Ryan.

  “Thank you for trusting me,” he replied. He turned to Blaze and said, “Are you ready?”

  “Ready for what?”

  “To meet your destiny.”

  He looked at Elizabeth, who gave him a nod of approval, then replied, “I was born fucking ready.”

  Chapter 69

  The pelting rain drowned out the sound of crunching stones as Ryan, Blaze, and Danny crept along the path down the side of Father Meyer’s house. Ryan had left his car parked in the driveway, with Hampton’s directly behind him, blocking the exit and limiti
ng Father Meyer to a foot chase at worst if it came to that.

  Ryan had ordered Hampton and Elizabeth to stay in their car as a last line of defence, and to call for backup should they not return in the next ten minutes.

  Ryan led Danny and Blaze to the side door Elizabeth had told them about. It was made from solid wood, with two vertical, narrow panes of stained glass inlaid at chest height. He held his breath as he cautiously tried the door knob.

  “Shit,” he cursed under his breath. “It’s locked.”

  “I got this,” whispered Blaze. He peeled off his soaked black T-shirt, wound it around his knuckles and jabbed at one of the window panes directly above the door knob, shattering a hole big enough for his hand to pass through. He peered through the opening and into the hallway beyond. When his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he noticed the broken shards of glass had landed quietly on the hallway carpet. “All clear,” he whispered.

  Ryan gave him a thumbs up.

  Blaze carefully threaded his arm between the jagged edges of glass and unlocked the door from the inside. He retrieved his arm and opened the door for Ryan, who quietly slipped inside.

  “You know what to do,” he whispered to Danny and Blaze.

  They crept down the hallway and stopped outside the first bedroom door. Ryan stood to one side and opened it for Blaze, who had the Glock 17 taken from Archer’s house drawn.

  The room was unoccupied. All that greeted him was a single bed and a rustic set of drawers. Blaze closed the door behind him and followed Ryan to the T intersection at the end of the passage. To the right was Father Meyer’s spacious, open plan kitchen, lounge, and dining area. In the corner of the room, directly opposite where they were standing, was a spiral staircase leading up to the second floor. Ryan signalled to Blaze and Danny to sweep the upstairs level as discussed at the station. He wasn’t leaving anything to chance. He wanted to search the entire house and back Father Meyer into a corner.

  Ryan waited at the foot of the stairs, his eyes fixed on the hallway, comforted in the knowledge he didn’t have to watch his back. He waited patiently as they checked every nook and cranny of the upstairs level, including the attic. He sat bolt upright as he thought he heard something. Was that a muffled scream? Is Sharon in the basement? Is she hurt? he thought. He wanted to believe it was Sharon, but he couldn’t be sure. The noise was so faint, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. But he couldn’t ignore it. Something inside him told him he had to act immediately. He made an impulse decision to check it out. He was sure Danny and Blaze would be able to handle whatever trouble might come their way, so he ran as stealthily as possible to where Elizabeth said the stairs to the basement would be.

  Up in the attic, Blaze noticed a set of binoculars on a tripod stand directed at the playground across the street. “It’s definitely him,” Blaze whispered to Danny. “We’ve found the fucker at last!”

  “Well, let’s go get him, then. He ain’t up here.”

  They came back down the spiral staircase, expecting to see Ryan where they’d left him. But he was gone.

  “Shit,” Blaze cursed under his breath. “Where the hell is he?”

  Danny shrugged. “Let’s check the other rooms and hope we find him still in one piece.”

  They left the living area and followed the hallway to the remaining rooms on the ground floor.

  “Bathroom first,” Blaze whispered, and opened the door for Danny. He held his Glock out in front of him as he boldly stepped through the doorway.

  “Nothing,” he whispered, returning to the hallway only seconds later. The toilet and spare room offered nothing either. They came to the last place to look on the ground floor.

  “The Master Bedroom,” said Blaze, waving his pistol at the dark wooden door. Danny nodded and slowly opened it for Blaze. He entered the room and froze as he heard a scratching noise coming from the inside of the wardrobe on the other side of the room. It had two tall wooden sliding doors, big enough for a person to walk through and hide amongst the clothes. He heard the noise again. Danny heard it, too. They approached cautiously until they stood in front of a door each. Blaze held up three fingers, then two, then one. Bang! The sound of both doors slamming against their stoppers startled the giant rat who scurried off down through a hole in one of the semi-rotten floorboards beneath a chewed patch of carpet.

  “Shit!” exclaimed Danny as he clutched at his chest in relief. “That scared the piss outta me!”

  Blaze covered his mouth, choking back a laugh. “Pussy,” he snickered.

  Danny shuddered as he said, “I fucking hate rats. Let’s get the hell outta here.”

  They came to end of the hallway. Danny cautiously opened the door at the top of the staircase that led down into the basement. Blaze stepped into the stairwell, where a strip of light glowed beneath the door at the bottom. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and for the final time relived the treacherous scene that took place in his dorm room all those years ago. Rage coursed through his veins. The demon within him awoke, tantalised by the prospect of inflicting twenty-three years’ worth of pain in a single night.

  He snapped back to reality. “It’s show time,” he said to Danny, before he hurtled down the stairs and savagely kicked the door to the basement clean off its hinges.

  Chapter 70

  The basement was deserted. Only a semi-crusted patch of blood remained in the centre of the floor. “Where the hell’s Ryan?” asked Danny.

  Blaze observed the entire room. Against one wall was an old washing machine with an equally ancient wash tub standing next to it. A woven washing basket full of dirty laundry sat neatly in the corner. A pair of bloodied gloves was in a small plastic rubbish bin—along with a green, disposable hospital gown. The large bookshelf directly opposite the doorway seemed innocent enough, but as he turned to look back at the stairwell, something jumped out at him. There, peeking out from beneath the door he’d just destroyed was the handle of a shovel. He dragged it out and instantly noticed the smear of blood on the cutting edge of the blade.

  “Who do you think was on the receiving end of that?” Danny asked.

  “If I had to guess, I’d say, Ryan. Only a criminal would use such a crude weapon like this.”

  “Shit, man, he could be badly injured or worse...”

  Blaze knew they were running out of time. He gave his cell phone to Danny, and said, “Update Steve on the situation. Tell him we need another ten minutes. If we don’t show up by then, tell him to call for backup.”

  “You sure we don’t need it already?”

  “What? And blow my one and only shot at retribution by handing Father Meyer over to the pigs? Fuck off...”

  Danny understood. He walked back up the stairwell to get a signal on the phone.

  Blaze set about finding the secret room. Where would I hide a secret door? he thought.

  He started randomly pressing spots on the walls, hoping to trigger a mechanism. Nothing happened. He picked up the shovel and tried tapping the walls instead, listening for a hollowed-out sound. Still nothing.

  Hampton answered Danny’s call. “What’s going on in there? I was just about to call in the cavalry.”

  “Ryan disappeared when Blaze and I swept the top floor.”

  “Did you find Sharon?” Elizabeth butted in. “And where’s Bobby?”

  Danny explained about the shovel and patch of blood in the basement, and let them know Blaze was still searching for the secret room. Then he relayed Blaze’s request for a further ten minutes to find and break into it.

  Hampton reluctantly agreed. “Ten minutes, and not a second more,” he said sternly.

  Danny clicked off and was startled as he heard an almighty crash at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Fucking asshole!” he heard Blaze scream.

  He high tailed it down the stairs to find water gushing from where Blaze had ripped the washing machine hoses from their taps in a fit of rage.

  “I can’t find fucking anything!” he shouted at Danny
as he saw him approaching.

  “It has to be here somewhere,” replied Danny, “there’s no way they could have slipped past us.” He turned the taps off on the wash tub. “Why don’t you just calm down so we can work this out together; we’ve got ten more minutes.”

  Blaze was about to swear at him, but something caught his attention. “Look!” He pointed at the floor in front of the bookcase.

  “What am I looking at?”

  “The water!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t notice until you turned the taps off!”

  “Notice what?”

  “It’s draining away! Under the bookcase!”

  Danny saw he was right. They instinctively grabbed an end each and tried to heave it over. It wouldn’t budge.

  “Fuck!” screamed Blaze. “There must be a way to open it!”

  Danny took charge. He swiftly raked every book off the shelves until only one remained. It wouldn’t budge when he tried to turf it onto the floor.

  “The Holy Bible,” said Danny.

  “Of course! That makes total fucking sense!” exclaimed Blaze. He reached up and pulled the book out from the shelf. They heard a click as he triggered the mechanism, followed by a rush of cool air as the bookcase swung open, revealing the hidden passageway beyond.

  Blaze turned to face Danny, and said, “No matter what happens from here, Danny-boy: he’s mine.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way, brother.”

  They both drew their pistols and headed down the passageway to the Watcher’s lair.

  Chapter 71

  “Stay here in case everything turns to shit,” Blaze whispered to Danny, then took the final step around the corner into the lit-up room. He saw Ryan shackled to a wall by his wrists and ankles, with enough chain length for him to lie sprawled out on the floor. Blood oozed from a nasty gash on the back of his head. Sharon lay passed out on the bed, her abdomen covered with a fresh dressing after Father Meyer had successfully completed her C-section. Blaze instantly felt guilty. If I’d never come back to Glendale this would never have happened, he thought.