‘Mike Stone,’ Jennifer said, her voice a whisper. Everything drug related in Haven came back to him.
Christian nodded. ‘Alan Price was one of the few people who knew of my identity. When I confided in him about my association with Stone, he started calling me a fraud and threatened to go to the papers. Then he blabbed to Emily and Geoffrey, and they tried to blackmail me for money.’ Christian rolled his eyes at the audacity. ‘They soon shut up when Price died. With each death, Bert became more hands on. It was fascinating to watch his confidence grow.’ Christian chuckled. ‘So I whispered some more, and allowed your little priest friend to get his comeuppance. I made Bert think it was all part of some big prophecy. He actually believed that if he didn’t go through with it, something terrible would happen to him.’
‘Why did you warn me about George?’ Jennifer said, trying to distract Christian as she kept her focus on Will’s faint breath.
Christian blinked in the dim light. ‘The same reason I sent you those letters: to implicate Bert and stop him going too far. He’s completely mad.’
‘And Will? Was he part of your plan?’
Christian crouched as he approached her. ‘He should never have interfered. I figured you could find Will dead and blame it all on Bert. But then I knew. You’d chip away until you pointed it all back at me. And what if Will survived? I couldn’t stop now, not when I’d come so far. Can you imagine what they’d do to me in prison?’
Jennifer opened her mouth to respond, but another wave of sickness fell over her, and she leaned on her hands to catch her breath.
‘Ah good. The drugs have taken hold. I was worried you’d taste them in the water.’
Jennifer had already guessed her drinking water had been drugged. She tried to cast her mind back to when she came home; just how much had she consumed?
The bulb flickered overhead as loud scratching noises echoed from the darkened corners of the room. Christian sneered in the erratic light as he loomed over her. ‘It sounds like your boyfriend has woken up. Best you say your goodbyes. If it’s any consolation, I’ll make it quick.’
Christian clenched his jaw in frightening determination as he straddled her body. She struggled under his weight, gurgling a scream as her body betrayed her, a limp and lifeless rag doll.
Clamping his hands over her mouth, he sealed her last breath as she weakly kicked and bucked underneath him. Her muffled screams petered out, her lungs burning as she lost the air to accommodate them. In a flash she saw her death, then Will’s; dying next to her as red blossomed around him, seeping through the floor, to be found as a scarlet bloom soaking through to the ceiling below. Horrified officers would climb the loft and find two of their colleagues dead. One murdered, one suicide.
NO! she screamed inside her head. I’m not fulfilling any prophecy. She dug her nails into Christian’s wrists in an attempt to aid her survival. He groaned, his breath coming in gasps. A bead of sweat rolled off his forehead, then onto the tip of his nose, before dripping onto her shirt.
Sweat dampened the roots of Jennifer’s hair as he pushed her head back on the hard wooden floor. She dug her nails in harder, dragging precious forensics behind her nails. He would not get away with her murder, she thought as stars blinked in her vision. But what about Will? A thump from behind caused momentary relief as a book came whizzing out of the darkness, making Christian yelp as it hit him squarely in the head.
Jennifer leapt on the distraction, and sank her teeth into the back of his hand.
Shaking his hand, Christian stared in disbelief. ‘You bitch!’
Using every ounce of strength, Jennifer scurried forwards on her hands and knees towards Will, grasping, reaching out for something, anything to help her fight. She gasped in disbelief as her fingers wrapped around a thick-handled knife, and a flash of realisation clawed its way into her brain. The knife was Bert’s, left behind after he stabbed Will. Christian had seen it too, and he launched himself upon her, clawing at the weapon. It sat in the small gap between the heat of their bodies, and a shocked gasp escaped Jennifer’s lips as it turned. The knife met flesh and plunged. It clanged against the floor and they both collapsed, heaving for breath. Jennifer’s fingers traced the warm blood dampening her shirt. Anxiously she traced the skin underneath, to the backdrop of Christian’s breaths, now coming in whistles and frothy bubbles. It was not her blood. It was his. He clasped his hands to his chest, until they slid down to his side, and his eyes became vacant.
Rifling through his pockets, she found his mobile and dialled 999. Perhaps later she would feel sorrow for Christian, but for now, her only concern was saving Will’s life.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Jennifer felt relief that Christian survived, not due to any concern for him, but because she did not want to be responsible for his murder. Facing charges for kidnapping, attempting to pervert the course of justice, witness intimidation and attempted murder, he was not going anywhere soon. But first, he had to recover from his punctured lung. It came as little surprise that Bert had fallen into decline and would spend the remainder of his life in an institution.
It was the topic of the office as Jennifer returned to work, having used up all her leave to care for Will, who was steadily recovering from his injuries. Leaving him in his mother’s care, Jennifer was keen to discover the full extent of the investigation.
‘So how’s Will?’ DI Ethan Cole said from behind his desk. He seemed to be getting a grip of his role, having almost lost two of his best officers. Her eyes fell on his desk in admiration as she noticed his sharpened pencils lined up neatly in row. She smiled at her superior, grateful for the opportunity to mull things over.
‘He’s champing at the bit to get back to work. His mum is so cute, she won’t let him outside until the doctors give him the all clear.’ Jennifer smiled. She had gotten on famously with Will’s mother since the incident. Rather than blame Jennifer for her son’s injuries, she was full of praise for her ‘brave actions’ – staying with Will, when others may have left him to fend for himself.
Ethan looked at her thoughtfully, as if reading her mind. ‘He’s very lucky. It could have been a whole lot worse, for both of you.’
Jennifer recalled the small scars dotted around Will’s wrists. The dehydration was almost as harmful as the knife injury, and they both carried guilt for not noticing the criminal right under their nose.
‘Thankfully there’s been no permanent damage. Still, it sticks in my gut to think Will was in my house the whole time we were looking for him.’
Ethan blew out a gasp of exasperation. ‘I’ve never met anyone like you before. There were teams of police officers looking for Will, but you sensed he was in your home. Something drew you back there, and you saved his life because of it. It’s a good thing Christian is as crap at dispensing drugs as he is at telling fortunes, otherwise you could have died. So give yourself a break, eh?’
Jennifer shrugged off the compliment. Everyone knew the story of how Will found the Raven, and no doubt Ethan would give him a telling-off for going it alone instead of bringing in his colleagues. It all came back to their visit to Christian. As the crocodile tears flowed, Will had noticed the white bonded notepaper on the dresser; the same notepaper used to send Jennifer the letters. It led him to seize the phone records from The Rivers mental health institution, which listed hundreds of inbound calls to Bert. Jennifer was furious at her incompetency. Having had so much on her mind, she had been in no hurry to seize the phone records, and believed Christian when he said the harassing calls had been made to him. After finding out about the insurance claim on Felicity’s life, Will took the details of the CCTV company outside Christian’s home. A security system recently installed in the periphery of Christian’s garden led Will to finding Bert parked under the cover of private wooded land. But Will’s curiosity had not gone unnoticed, and Christian had already wormed his way into Bert’s consciousness, advising him that Will was a danger to his bigger plan.
Jennifer remi
nded Ethan that hindsight was a wonderful thing, and sometimes hunches or suspicions were not enough to call in the cavalry and risk looking like a fool.
Ethan broke into her thoughts. ‘They’ve taken Christian’s show off the air. His ex-wife was offered a nice payout for that story they ran in the Sunday paper.’
Jennifer smiled. ‘I wasn’t entirely surprised. It was only a matter of time before the media turned on him.’
Ethan gave a bemused smirk. ‘He’s certainly the villain of the piece now. I don’t think they’ll give him an easy time of it in prison.’
Jennifer shook her head. Her disgust at Christian’s betrayal left a bitter aftertaste. She gave her trust to so few people, and he had let her down. She thought of how he had sympathised with her about her tough upbringing. His whole career was based on taking advantage of people in their grief, and he had become a master at it.
‘It’s all such a waste of life. And for what?’ Jennifer said, imagining the ghost of Bert’s mother waiting for her son to come home. Her feelings about the Raven were mixed. Since being institutionalised, he had reverted back to his previous state, with no recollection of his time outside the institution. It was hard to stay angry with someone who was being used as a pawn to commit evil deeds. The thought struck deep within her, although she could not fully understand why. She shuddered, feeling as if someone had walked over her grave.
Ethan touched the pencils on his desk, aligning them for a second time. ‘That Bert gave me the creeps. When they brought him into custody … those big black crows … the rear yard was swarming with them. Three of them slammed against the window of the SERCO van when they took him away.’
Jennifer vaguely remembered picking up the dead raven outside her home. The nightmares that followed, being attacked in the woods, she would never quite feel at ease with ravens again. She nodded, keeping the information to herself. ‘His readings, apparently they were very accurate.’
‘Yes, but sometimes he helped them to come true. All the same, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of his predictions.’
‘You know what I think? Leading The Reborners was a massive power trip for Christian. I’m not convinced that Geoffrey or Emily tried to blackmail him. Running the cult made him feel godlike, choosing who deserved a second chance and who didn’t. His ratings were flagging because of his rubbish predictions, and the public was fickle, only loving him for his fiancée, not for himself. He involved Bert because he was jealous of his psychic powers, and maybe even mine.’ Jennifer stared through the office window, thankful for clear blue skies. The more she spoke, the closer she came to believing her own theory. ‘Christian wanted Bert to get his comeuppance, just like the others, but the power of Bert’s convictions scared him, and that’s why he always kept us one step behind, in case he needed us to bail him out. We found other letters in his home, one for Geoffrey, and one for George. I guess it became too risky to deliver them, with all the police on the streets.’
Ethan swivelled his chair to face her. ‘The main thing is that you and Will came through it in one piece. If you ever need to speak to anyone, my door is always open.’
‘Don’t worry about me, I’m like a rubber ball,’ Jennifer said, wearing her most convincing smile. She was glad of the distraction of staying at Will’s while he recovered, and did not relish the thoughts of going home alone. The adjoining loft to the empty flat next door had been sealed up, but she still felt ill at ease in her home. Will had denied making any noises in the loft, much less throwing the items that distracted Christian long enough for her to fight back. He had looked at her blankly, when she put it to him. His only memory was being held captive by Bert, and passing out as he inched the knife into his stomach.
Christian had given his interviewing officer the same blank look when questioned about writing on her bathroom mirror, with the words ‘LOOK UP’. He actually had the cheek to send his apologies, and planned to write a book of his experiences. The news of his denial provided her with comfort. Whatever was in the walls of her home had tried to help her, and she would not question it further. Perhaps it was George who had come back to right a wrong, or the written warning had come from older souls, who had inhabited the space long before. Whatever the reason, such occurrences were woven into the very fabric of her life, and impossible to escape. The best news came in the form of George’s dog, Tinker. Having heard the story of the pining pet, Will persuaded his parents to take him in. It may not have been the grandchild they wished for, but being the focus of their adoration helped the little dog settle in quicker than any of them dared hope for.
Ethan’s voice broke into her thoughts as she rose to leave. ‘Hang on, Jennifer, I have a proposition to put to you.’
‘Go on,’ Jennifer said, eyeing him warily. It was no secret she was with Will, and she tried to contain the blush spreading to her cheeks as she wondered what he was going to say.
He slid a manila folder from his neatly stacked pile. ‘How do you feel about doing a little family liaison work for a couple of weeks? It’s day shifts, and would give you a bit more time with Will.’
Jennifer frowned. She had trained as a FLO before joining Operation Moonlight in the hope of being given some better jobs. It hardly seemed to matter now. ‘What’s it all about?’
Ethan flipped open the folder and handed her some copies of the enquiry log. ‘It’s Sergeant Duncan from Lexton MIT. You may have heard that one of his twins went missing … The press is going to be all over this and we need one of our best officers supporting the parents. Are you up for it?’
‘That’s awful,’ Jennifer said, reading through the paperwork. A photo of the identical blonde girls caught her eye. Both wearing the same colourful dresses, the children smiled brightly for the camera. She read the names, Abigail and Olivia. They weren’t much older than her nephew Joshua. A pang of sadness drove through her chest as she wondered which girl had disappeared. But she couldn’t bring herself to take it on. Her emotional involvement would only serve to hinder the case. It only took seconds to decide against it.
‘I appreciate you thinking of me, boss, but I’m not sure I’m the right person for this family. After all, I’ve just joined Op Moonlight, and Claire needs me.’
‘Your sergeant suggested you for it. This is far from straightforward, Jennifer; there’s been some strange goings-on with the other twin,’ Ethan said.
Jennifer eased herself back into her chair, her interest piqued. ‘Really? What sort of things?’
Ethan gave her a knowing smile. ‘Enough to make the current FLO walk out on the family. Let’s just say we need someone with your skills to handle the case.’
Jennifer slowly nodded, a flutter of excitement awakening inside as the meaning behind his words took hold. ‘In that case, count me in.’
Letter from Caroline
Releasing my first fiction novel, Don’t Turn Around was a nerve-wracking experience. I wondered if readers would suspend their beliefs long enough to take DC Jennifer Knight into their hearts. An ordinary detective dealing with the extra ordinary took on a whole new level when I introduced Frank Foster AKA ‘The Grim Reaper’ to the scene.
Nothing could have prepared me for the amount of support I received upon release. I was literally moved to tears. Many of you will know my own story, and of my personal experiences with a paranormal entity in my home. During those difficult years when the activity was at its worst, my family and I felt very alone. My writing career is the silver lining, which has blossomed from those dark days, and using my personal experiences in both the police and the paranormal has helped me develop immensely as an author.
Thank you to everyone who has promoted my work through word of mouth or by social media. Every tweet, share, review and recommendation really does matter, and I am so very grateful. I have been fortunate enough to meet many new friends in the form of authors, industry professionals, book bloggers, and readers since joining Bookouture, and I value your support dearly.
&nbs
p; If you’d like to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just sign up here:
Caroline Mitchell new releases email
Thank you so much for your support – until next time,
* * *
Caroline
@Caroline_writes
paranormalintruder
www.caroline-writes.com
Also by Caroline Mitchell
Detective Jennifer Knight series
1. DON’T TURN AROUND
2. TIME TO DIE
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Non fiction
PARANORMAL INTRUDER
Published by Bookouture
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An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
23 Sussex Road, Ickenham, UB10 8PN
United Kingdom
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www.bookouture.com
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Copyright © Caroline Mitchell 2015
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Caroline Mitchell has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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