Killing Kate

by Alex Lake

  She followed him out of the room, her knee aching, her back in agony. For a second she considered charging at him, knocking him down and trying to overpower him.

  But she didn’t. She had an alternative plan.

  36

  He led her to the barn door. It was not yet dark, the time of the evening that her dad called the gloaming, when the sun was still there but was dimming fast. There was a chill in the air, and she shivered. In her mouth the leather strap shifted and she winced as she bit down on it to keep it there. The last thing she needed now was for the strap to fall onto the dusty ground.

  He bent down and clipped the chain to a hoop on the thick wooden post that framed the door. He wound it around until it was tight, then secured it, then he walked to the far side of the barn and sat on an old armchair. The red cloth was faded; the stuffing coming out of the arms. It reminded Kate of a couch that she and her university friends had kept outside their halls of residence. On sunny days, they’d sit on it and drink beer and smoke cigarettes; often it was not fully dry and the rain from a day or two before would seep upwards into their clothes.

  She ran through what was going to happen: Beth would arrive and walk to her. She would then go to the car and let Beth’s son out, so he could go to meet his mum. Then, Mike would get to meet his son, and, a few minutes later, Beth would walk to the car and they would leave.

  Mike was to stay seated, a safe distance from Beth and Dylan. If he stood up, Beth would run to the car; she was much closer than him. That was her insurance.

  Except that wasn’t what was going to happen. Mike had told her what he was going to do, and there was no way that Beth was leaving here alive. It was all a trap.

  And she couldn’t believe that Beth thought it was anything else. Of all people, she should have known better, after what he’d put her through. But like Mike had explained: people made bad decisions. Beth thought there was a way to rescue her friend, thought she could handle it, thought it was a risk worth taking.

  But it wasn’t.

  And that was the final piece of the puzzle, the piece that even Mike didn’t know about.

  As soon as she stepped out of the car, Kate was going to open her mouth, spit out the broken gag and tell her friend to get the hell out of there.

  She heard the sound of an engine in the distance, then headlights appeared on the dirt track that led to the barn. There was a gate about twenty yards from the barn door; it was closed and padlocked, and that was where the car would have to stop. The side gate was wide open.

  It didn’t matter. Beth would never get through it. Kate would warn her first.

  The car approached slowly, bumping over the rutted surface. As it came near, Kate could make out the driver’s head. Hair scraped back; a familiar silhouette.

  It was Beth. There was no doubt.

  The car reached the gate and did a three-point turn so it was facing away from the barn. It was a good idea; easier to get away. Kate would have smiled had she not been clenching the gag between her teeth.

  Through the rear window, Kate could see a DVD screen on the headrest. So he was here, Beth’s son. She’d hoped that Beth wouldn’t do it, that she wouldn’t put him in harm’s way, but that hope was gone now.

  This was really going to happen.

  But not how Mike wanted. She was going to shout out to her friend, tell her it was a trap, and then she was going to watch her drive away.

  And it would be the last thing she ever did. She didn’t doubt that. Mike would kill her immediately. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose, tasted the sweet summer air. She was ready. And she had no choice. This was a cycle of pain and blood, and it had to end. She’d read the stories: it would continue until a sacrifice was made to end it, and if she was the sacrifice, then that was the way it would have to be. Better her than Beth’s boy.

  When she looked again, the car door was opening.

  37

  Beth climbed out of the car. If Kate hadn’t seen her silhouette she wouldn’t have recognized her; her hair was different, her stance was different, but, most of all, her body was different. She was lean and muscular and languid.

  She was wearing yoga pants and a tank top; the only thing in her hands was her phone, which she held covering her palm.

  She stood up, and closed the car door.

  Kate opened her mouth; the leather strap dropped to the floor and she started to shout.

  Or, rather, she croaked. Her throat was so dry that the words would not come out; she worked her jaw up and down and swallowed, then tried again.

  ‘Run!’ she said. ‘Beth, it’s a trap! Run!’

  She glanced at Mike; he was staring at her in disbelief. She watched as a look of anger washed over his face.

  ‘He lied,’ she called. ‘You need to get away from here.’

  Beth stood, immobile, by the car. She gave Kate a strange look; it was almost disappointed, as though she wanted her to stop, then she looked at Mike, and her eyes widened.

  He was on his feet, a sawn-off shotgun pointing at Beth.

  ‘Don’t move,’ he said. ‘Don’t move a muscle. Or I shoot. And the shot from this could scatter anywhere. Like through the back window of that car.’ He gestured with the barrel. ‘Put your hands up.’

  Beth slowly raised her hands.

  ‘Turn around. All the way. Three-sixty degrees. Slowly.’

  Kate felt like crying. She’d fucked this up. Her one chance and she’d fucked it up. Beth – and her son – were trapped. Mike had won.

  Of course he had. She’d known all along that he would.

  ‘Beth,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have come. Not for me.’

  Beth caught her eye. She gave her a nod, and a small smile. She looked, Kate thought, oddly calm.

  ‘Shut your fucking mouth,’ Mike said, glancing at Kate. ‘I don’t want to hear your stupid fucking voice again.’

  ‘Don’t speak to her like that,’ Beth said. ‘I don’t like it.’

  ‘Yeah?’ Mike said. ‘And what are you going to do about it?’ He looked her up and down. ‘Looking good, Betsy. Remember how I used to call you that? Betsy? You liked it. You liked my little name for you.’

  ‘I hated it,’ Beth said. Her voice was flat and emotionless. ‘I hated you.’

  He ignored her. ‘Where was that body when I was fucking you?’ he said. ‘You were such a pudgy little thing back then. It was handy, mind you. You had a bit of self-loathing, didn’t you? Lacked confidence. Useful. The confident ones are much harder to break. Your type, though: you’re so grateful that anyone gives you a second look you’ll put up with just about anything rather than risk being left on the shelf. Any attention will do. Even a good beating.’

  ‘There’s no such thing as a good beating,’ Beth said. ‘Only the shit that bastards like you dish out.’

  ‘Ooh,’ he said. ‘You’re not the lacking-in-confidence type now, are you?’

  ‘As it happens, I am,’ Beth said. ‘What you did left deep scars. They’ll never go away. But I’ve learned that I’m wrong to lack confidence. That’s the trick: you can’t stop yourself wondering whether you’re worth someone’s love or whether you can achieve the things you set out to achieve or whether you have anything to give your friends or not, but you can stop yourself letting it get in the way. You can learn to keep in mind all the people who do love you and all the times you did achieve something and all the friends who thanked you for helping them in many, many ways, and then you can silence that doubting voice.’

  She smiled a calm, peaceful smile. ‘And you know the ironic thing, Colin? The single most important thing in learning that was my son. He loves me, so very, very much. When he wakes up in the morning, all he wants is to get in my bed and feel the warmth of my body, bathe in my scent, let me fold him in my arms and make everything in his world right. Being with me is all he needs. I am everything to him and I’m reminded of it every single moment I spend with him. He’s the same to me, of course.
He’s my world. But I am his too. And that is enough for me: to know, deep down, that I am special, that I’m wrong to question myself. And the funny thing is, you gave him to me. You, who did more than anyone else to break me apart, were the person who gave me the means to put myself back together again.’

  ‘Yes,’ Mike said. ‘The boy. My son. What’s his name?’

  ‘You’ll never know.’

  His face darkened. ‘I think your confidence – hard won and well deserved as you might think it is – is misplaced.’

  ‘You’d be wrong.’

  ‘I wonder,’ he said. ‘If I should let him watch when I kill you? It could be a valuable lesson for him. Show him exactly what his mother was made of.’ He laughed. ‘Literally!’

  ‘You think I would ever let you near him?’ Beth said. ‘Do you honestly think that I would ever let you – you – near my son.’

  ‘He’s my son, too.’

  ‘No, he isn’t. He doesn’t even know you exist.’

  ‘He will soon.’

  ‘No,’ Beth said. ‘He won’t.’

  ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ Mike said.

  Beth nodded at the car. ‘Come and see for yourself.’

  38

  He started to walk towards Beth, the shotgun at hip height, the barrels pointed at her. Kate hadn’t ever seen a gun until today; there was something shocking about being in such close proximity to an object designed with the sole aim of wreaking physical damage on another living being. Who was it who had first thought that what the world needed was for them to focus their efforts on creating then refining a means of killing people in a quick, efficient way? What would have happened if they had decided, instead, to write a poem or invent a flower-growing device that everyone could use to surround themselves with fresh blooms?

  Nothing, she thought, because there would always be people like Mike, and they would always find a way to harm other people.

  Beth watched him approach. She didn’t move. She stood, hands in the air. Kate couldn’t imagine what she was going through, what kind of effort it was taking for her not to react to the presence of the man who had nearly destroyed her.

  And who was now threatening to destroy her son.

  Except that wasn’t what was happening. There was something else going on here. Kate didn’t know what it was, but it wasn’t what Mike had been expecting.

  And she could see that Mike knew it too. He glanced at her as he walked towards Beth. He held her gaze for a second and she saw something in his eyes that she had never seen before. Not fear; she didn’t think he felt fear, but the closest thing to it he could experience.

  He looked uncertain.

  Beth was not doing what he expected. She was not cowering, not simpering and giving him what he wanted. She was defiant. And Kate, too. She’d managed to warn her friend, and now Mike’s plan was unravelling.

  Halfway to the car, he stopped.

  ‘Get the boy out,’ he said. ‘I want to see him.’

  He was trying to take control of the situation again, but Beth shook her head.

  ‘No. That’s not what we agreed. We agreed that she’ – she pointed at Kate – ‘would be free first.’

  ‘Fuck what we agreed. She’ – he too pointed at Kate – ‘changed that when she opened her mouth.’

  ‘You were planning a trap,’ Beth said. ‘You broke the deal.’

  He shrugged dismissively. ‘I don’t care. Deal, no deal, I don’t give a fuck. I’m holding this’ – he waved the gun – ‘so I call the shots. Get him out, or I use it.’

  ‘Then you’ll never know what I know,’ Beth said.

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  Beth nodded at the back seat of the car. ‘Come and find out.’

  ‘Is there something wrong with him?’ Mike said. ‘Did you give birth to a freak? It wouldn’t surprise me. Nothing you did would surprise me.’

  He was getting more and more uncertain. Kate swallowed.

  ‘Beth,’ she said. ‘Get out of here. Leave me. I’ll be fine.’

  Beth’s eyes flicked to her for a second and she gave a small shake of her head.

  Stay out of it, she was saying. There’s more going on than you know. Leave this to me.

  Mike swung around so the shotgun was pointing at Kate. ‘Another word and you die,’ he said. ‘One barrel for you, the other for that bitch. Don’t give me a reason to do it. I’m tempted enough as it is.’

  He turned back to Beth.

  ‘Step away from the car,’ he said. ‘Stand at the front.’

  Beth nodded. She moved a few paces away from the headlights.

  ‘Keep your hands in the air.’

  He took another few steps in her direction.

  ‘Pull your pants down,’ he said. ‘I want to be sure you’re not concealing a weapon.’

  Beth lowered one hand, keeping the other – the one with the phone – raised. She put her thumb in the waistband of her yoga pants and pulled them over her hips. She turned a full circle.

  ‘OK?’ she said.

  He nodded, and she pulled them back up.

  ‘Now your top,’ he said.

  She pulled up her tank top, exposing her lean midriff. She had a tattoo above her hip; Kate couldn’t make out what it was. She was wearing a sports bra. Mike gestured to it.

  ‘And the bra.’

  She lifted it, exposing her breasts, then turned through another circle. When she was facing him again, she pulled her bra and tank top back into place. The she raised her arm so that both were back above her head.

  His eyes locked on hers, he started walking again.

  39

  He walked through the side gate, making sure he was facing Beth at all times. When he reached the back door of the car, he grabbed the handle.

  ‘Go on,’ Beth said. ‘Take a look.’

  As he opened the door Kate could see the light from the DVD player reflecting on the glass. Mike rested the barrel of the gun on the top of the door, then, keeping it pointed at Beth, he turned to his right and looked into the car.

  He let out a roar of anger, then reached in and grabbed the boy. He dragged him out of the car and flung him into the hedge on the side of the road.

  Kate gasped, horrified at what he had done, until her brain processed what she had seen and she realized that it wasn’t a child, couldn’t be a child, it was too light, no one could toss a five-year-old boy so easily.

  And she looked at the figure trapped in the hedge and she saw what it was.

  A dummy. A crude, basic dummy, hastily thrown together but good enough to be convincing at a distance and through a car window.

  Of course she wouldn’t bring her son here. Of course she wouldn’t put him at risk.

  So why had she come? Why had she shown up, unarmed, when all that could happen would be that Mike would get pissed off and kill them both?

  ‘You fucking bitch,’ Mike shouted. ‘You’re fucking dead.’

  ‘Then you’ll never see him,’ Beth said. ‘He’ll be gone for ever. I’ve made arrangements. If I don’t come back, then there’s a family he’ll go to. A family that you’ll never find. So go ahead. Kill me.’

  He marched towards her, bellowing with rage. When he got to her he jabbed the barrel of the gun hard into her ribs. She grunted, and bent double. When she straightened she smiled at him.

  ‘Go on,’ she said. ‘Do what you do. Hit me. As much as you want, you useless bastard.’

  He swung the gun in a wide arc, slamming it into the side of her head. She collapsed to her knees, her hands on the ground in front of her.

  ‘Get up,’ he said. ‘I’m not done with you.’

  She staggered to her feet and faced him, only a foot separating them. He pressed the gun into her stomach.

  ‘Give me the phone,’ he said. ‘You won’t be needing it. You’re probably recording this, or some bullshit like that, but it won’t help you. I think I’m going to kill you anyway. I don’t think I could stop myself ev
en if I wanted to.’

  ‘As you wish,’ Beth said, and held out the hand with the phone in it.

  He reached out and plucked the phone from her hand. As he did, she lifted her free hand and knocked the barrel of the gun away from her stomach, then lunged forward, pressing the hand that had held the phone against his ribs.

  His eyes widened; the gun fired. Birds flew up from the hedge, alarmed.

  ‘What?’ he said. ‘What have you done?’

  Then his legs crumbled under him and he fell to the ground. He lay there, convulsing.

  Beth put her hands on the car, her legs shaking.

  ‘Holy shit,’ she said. ‘Holy shit.’ Then she vomited. When she looked up at Kate, there were tears running down her face.

  ‘Kate,’ she said. ‘It’s over. It’s over.’

  40

  Beth unclipped the chain from the leather strap and undid the handcuffs – the keys were in Mike’s pocket – and hugged Kate.

  ‘What did you do to your mouth?’ she said. ‘Does it hurt?’

  ‘I’ll tell you later,’ Kate said. ‘And yes, it bloody does, but I don’t care. Not now.’ She swung her arms, enjoying the freedom to move. She looked at Mike’s body, motionless on the ground.

  ‘What did you do to him?’ she said. ‘Is he dead?’

  Beth shook her head. ‘Tranquillizer,’ she said. ‘A very strong one. It was the only thing I could hide. I held the syringe behind the phone.’ She looked at Kate. ‘Once you warned me, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it. I had to get close to him, but I couldn’t, not after you’d said it was a trap.’

  ‘Shit,’ Kate said. ‘I’m sorry.’ She gently touched her cheek ‘And that’s what I ruined my teeth for. To warn you, when you didn’t need warning. What a waste.’

  ‘Don’t be,’ Beth said. ‘You were so brave. And it worked. When he pulled out the gun—’ She shook her head. ‘I thought it was over.’

  ‘Which is why you told him to come and look at your son?’

  ‘Right. I needed him near me. So I told him to come and see Dylan.’