Grant Mckenzie

by Switch (v5)

  After the door struck the ground, Zack pushed Davey off and crawled to the opening. The tunnel beyond was dimly lit by a string of bare bulbs attached to the ceiling. It was also just as ancient and dangerous as the one they were in.

  Zack looked left and right, swallowing blood from his injured tongue, as he tried to decide which way to go. Then he heard a scream – a woman’s scream.

  Zack scrambled to his feet and rushed headlong down the tunnel in the direction of the sound, his face a mask of determined rage.

  116

  Sam walked on to the main outdoor platform that served as the introductory conduit to a series of black iron stairs and high metal bridges. The ironworks funnelled passengers across the tracks to each of the numbered platforms beyond.

  Sam stood like a rock in a stream as passengers flowed around him. He watched the crowds thin as passengers ascended the stairs, found their platform number and vanished. No one appeared to be waiting for him.

  With a sinking heart, Sam turned to his left and froze. A thin man with skin so white it practically glowed stood on the northern edge of the platform. His face was skeletal and hairless except for a triangle-shaped patch of purple-black hair beneath his lower lip and a matching pair of thin, sculpted eyebrows. His eyes were a piercing glacial blue, but his nose was so perfectly tiny, it was barely visible.

  He reminded Sam of an alabaster eel.

  Lucas stood with a brick wall at his back and no easy exits within reach. It was a private spot, unused by passengers; a place someone would pick only if they were confident no one could stop them from leaving.

  Beside him, MaryAnn trembled, her shoulders shaking as she stared unblinkingly at the platform floor. She was pale and frail, her face hidden beneath a mass of tangled, greasy hair. Her favourite nightgown was soiled and ripped.

  To Sam, she had never looked more beautiful in her entire life.

  ‘MaryAnn,’ he called softly.

  The girl lifted her head at the sound of her name, her eyes blinking into focus.

  ‘Daddy!’

  Sam gasped at the sight of her face: bruised, bloody and swollen. The bastard had beaten her. MaryAnn attempted to rush forward, but Lucas yanked her back by the nylon straps around her wrists. She cried out and every sob tore at Sam’s heart. He wanted to snatch her away, but knew he couldn’t take that risk.

  ‘Let her go, Lucas. I have your money.’

  ‘Bring it closer. But keep your hands where I can see them.’

  Sam moved forward. ‘Where’s Hannah?’

  ‘All in good time, Sam. I need some insurance.’

  ‘Why? You don’t care about the money. Hell, I still don’t understand why you feel the need to hurt me.’

  Lucas raised his eyebrows and hardened his eyes. ‘You thought you were better than the rest of us, that nothing could touch you. I proved you’re not. You’re a thief and a cold-blooded killer, Zack was a murderer and rapist, and Alan was a coward. You’re not worth following.’

  Sam stopped a short distance in front of his enemy and dropped the bags. He stared into Lucas’s eyes, searching for the madness, but finding a deep, aching hurt.

  MaryAnn struggled against her bonds again, but Lucas’s grip was iron.

  ‘I never asked you to follow me, Lucas,’ Sam said, searching for an opening, a weakness. ‘High school ended twenty-five years ago.’

  ‘And you moved on.’

  ‘Yes!’ Sam cried. ‘That’s what people do.’

  ‘You abandoned me.’

  ‘Abandon? What are you talking about? We went to a few parties together, it wasn’t a fucking marriage. I had my own plans and got on with them.’

  ‘You had responsibilities, Sam. You all did.’

  ‘That’s nuts, Lucas. The whole point of high school is the lack of responsibility. I didn’t owe anyone a damn thing.’

  Spittle flew from Lucas’s mouth. ‘I lost fifteen years and you don’t owe me?’

  Sam was taken aback. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Fifteen years, Sam. Do you know what they did to me inside? Do you think any of my plans even had a chance? I wanted to die, and where were you?’

  Sam held up his hands. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Prom night.’

  ‘I left early. My car was packed and I was hellbent on Hollywood. It wasn’t a secret.’

  ‘You made Susan lie.’

  ‘Susan? Susan Millar? What are you—’

  ‘You had sex with her.’

  ‘Yes, but . . .’ Sam shook his head angrily. ‘I was a kid, Lucas, having a good time. I never took anything that wasn’t freely given. Susan and I fooled around, so what?’

  Lucas’s eyes narrowed and he tugged on MaryAnn’s bonds to elicit a squeal. ‘She looked at me with such hatred.’

  Sam tried to bite back his fury. ‘Who? Susan?’

  Lucas’s voice broke as he attempted to laugh. ‘You didn’t even know. That’s how important I was to you.’

  ‘Didn’t know what?’ Sam’s gaze darted down to his daughter. He desperately wanted to grab her and run.

  ‘She accused me of rape,’ Lucas said. ‘But I never touched her. You touched her. Ironwood touched her. Even fucking Viking touched her. But I went to jail for it. You didn’t even show up for the trial. You could have explained what a whore she was.’

  ‘You were convicted of the rape?’ Sam was shocked. ‘No one contacted me. Not Susan, not the police—’

  ‘Everything came into alignment,’ Lucas said, cutting him off. ‘Your commercial on TV. Zack honoured for work he practised on me. Even that vicious prick Viking was being lauded as some kind of hero. Could the message have been any clearer?’

  ‘What message?’ Sam asked, exasperated. ‘We’re just living our lives.’

  ‘Lives you don’t deserve.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because you stole them. From me.’ Lucas bared his teeth. ‘Now back away from the bags.’

  117

  Zack ran down the tunnel, drawn onward by the sounds of fighting: a woman screaming; a man yelling, cursing.

  When he burst into the cell, a giant of a man was holding a woman against the wall by her throat. The woman was in deeper shadow, but Zack could see the man was in a rage. Blood poured down his cheek from a gash across his eye.

  Then, as Zack’s eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, he saw the woman was Jasmine. Her face was swollen and bruised and her eyes were bulging from exertion, but it was definitely his wife – Alive!

  Zack screamed, ‘Put her down. NOW!’

  The giant turned his head and sneered, while his hand squeezed tighter. ‘Where the fuck did you—’

  A bullet tore through Richard’s deltoid muscle at 2,600 feet per second, its cone-shaped nose widening into a flat dime as it ricocheted off a shoulder blade and hit the collarbone – shattering the bone into four pieces.

  Jasmine fell to the ground as her attacker’s arm went limp and he lurched sideways to collide with the cell wall.

  ‘What have you done?’ Richard hissed in disbelief as his knees buckled from the shock, and Zack rushed forward, the stainless-steel Pocket Nine in his hand.

  Zack knelt by the woman he loved, her face nearly blue as she clutched her bruised throat and sucked in deep, shuddering breaths.

  ‘Oh, Jesus—’ Zack’s voice broke with emotion. ‘Jasmine.’

  The woman locked eyes with him, a wave of love and understanding passing between them, and then she turned to face the wounded giant and croaked, ‘Kill the bastard.’

  Richard’s eyes went wide as Zack unhesitatingly squeezed the trigger, sending twin bullets in perfect grouping into the bastard’s heart.

  118

  Sam held up his hands and walked slowly backwards. MaryAnn began to whimper – louder and more desperate with each step he took.

  ‘Give me my daughter, Lucas,’ pleaded Sam. ‘You don’t need her any more. I’ve done everything you asked.’

  Lucas�
�s face softened into an expression of mirth. ‘It’ll be a short reunion, Sam. The robbery and murder charges should see you locked away for a long, long time.’

  Lucas bent to MaryAnn’s ear and whispered. The act was so intimate that Sam felt his insides churn with murderous rage. MaryAnn’s eyes grew large and then she was suddenly free – running across the platform and into Sam’s waiting arms.

  Sam crushed her to his chest, his whole body shaking with relief as he kissed his daughter’s face and the top of her head, his heart swelling with love and joy.

  ‘How touching,’ Lucas said menacingly.

  Sam glanced up as Lucas aimed his gun.

  ‘The devil don’t burn, Sam . . . but you will.’

  Lucas cocked the hammer—

  Sam spun and closed his eyes, his body shielding MaryAnn, as—

  ‘Freeze, fuckface!’

  Sam opened his eyes to see the two detectives who had questioned him rushing on to the empty platform with guns drawn. The one in the cowboy hat was yelling at Lucas.

  Sam quickly glanced over his shoulder, expecting the impact of a bullet, but instead saw Lucas leaping off the platform and on to the tracks – escaping.

  Sam grabbed his daughter’s face in his hands and locked her gaze.

  ‘There are two detectives directly behind us,’ he said quickly. ‘Run to them. I need to find your mom.’

  The girl’s eyes widened in panic.

  ‘I’ll be back soon,’ Sam added. ‘Trust me. I love you so much.’

  MaryAnn nodded bravely as Sam released her and leapt off the platform in pursuit.

  119

  Detective Hogan cursed as Sam leapt off the platform, leaving the girl behind. He rushed to her side and saw her hands were tied behind her back.

  ‘Are you MaryAnn White?’

  The girl nodded rapidly, tears streaming down her face.

  Hogan turned to his partner. ‘Take care of her.’

  And then he, too, leapt off the platform in pursuit.

  Detective Preston radioed for back-up before he reluctantly slid his gun back into its holster and knelt down beside the girl. He smiled and saw her eyes grow large.

  ‘What can I say? You got stuck with the ugly one.’

  The girl blinked in surprise. ‘A–are you really a policeman?’

  Preston grinned. ‘I’m not only a policeman,’ he said proudly, ‘I’m also a Texan.’ He lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘Which means I will shoot any bad guy who even thinks of coming to hurt you.’

  MaryAnn smiled and her body began to relax.

  ‘Let’s get these hands free, OK?’ Preston pulled a small penknife out of his pocket and cut the plastic bonds around the girl’s wrists. As soon as her hands were free, the girl wrapped her arms around the detective’s neck and held on for dear life.

  Preston rose to his full height, the girl wrapped tight in his arms. ‘Everything will be OK,’ he said soothingly. ‘Your dad will be back soon.’

  At that moment, a porter in a smart blue uniform rushed up. ‘Can I be of assistance?’

  Preston nodded at the ransom abandoned on the platform. ‘Get a cart to carry those bags, and then show us where we can get a warm dressing gown for the young lady and a couple mugs of hot chocolate.’

  The girl lifted her head. ‘And a hamburger?’

  ‘Definitely,’ agreed Preston. ‘A Texas burger with all the trimmings. Fries, onion rings, a milkshake, the works.’

  MaryAnn hugged the detective even tighter until he croaked that he couldn’t breathe.

  120

  ‘Give me your gun.’ Davey stood outside a locked cell door just a short distance from where Zack had rescued Jasmine. The three of them had already looked in the remaining cells and found them empty.

  Zack handed over the gun without hesitation.

  Davey aimed the small gun at a spot on the wooden doorjamb where it appeared the dead bolt would lie, and pulled the trigger. The ancient wood exploded inward, leaving a hole the size of a man’s fist and exposing the iron bolt.

  Davey reached in, yanked back the bolt, and threw open the door.

  The sickening aroma of burned flesh stopped all three of them in the doorway, and the nightmarish sight in the corner made Davey recoil and Jasmine gasp.

  Zack’s reaction was different. His gaze was drawn to one of the cell walls covered entirely in repeating images of a teenage girl whose life had been dramatically altered twenty-five years earlier.

  One photo, in particular, showed three cheerleaders. Two bookend blondes and—

  Zack entered the cell and looked down at the smouldering corpse. The sight filled him with an incredible, soul-deadening sadness.

  ‘God, I’m so sorry.’ He fell to his knees beside the bunk. ‘You didn’t deserve this.’

  Jasmine grasped her husband’s shoulder as if to lend him what little strength she had left. ‘Did you know her?’

  Zack nodded, his eyes filled with pain. ‘Her name was Susan Millar. She was an old friend.’

  Lucas disappeared through a metal door marked Maintenance, which was set into a small alcove just before the station ended. Sam quickly followed, grabbed the door before it closed, and found himself at the entrance to a steep set of metal stairs.

  He descended rapidly, taking the stairs two and three at a time. At the bottom, he found himself in a tiny concrete storage room, empty except for dusty bottles of forgotten cleaning supplies and a scattering of rat traps.

  Sam spun around, scanned for other exits and found none. He ran back to the stairs, heard someone banging on the door above him, and cursed.

  Lucas had vanished.

  ‘We have to move,’ Davey said urgently. ‘Sam will need us.’

  Zack wiped tears from his eyes and rose from the ground with the aid of his wife. Jasmine looked into his eyes with such love and kindness that Zack hated to break the spell.

  But he couldn’t take another step before she knew the truth.

  Panicking from the sounds above, Sam ducked underneath the stairs, his feet colliding with chunks of broken mortar. He spun to face the wall, found where the mortar had fallen from between the bricks and inserted his fingers. When he pulled, a hidden door swung open to reveal a dark crawlspace.

  Sam ducked his head and plunged into the darkness.

  ‘Kalli is dead.’ Zack’s voice cracked.

  Jasmine’s face aged before him as she tried to shake away his words.

  ‘How can . . . ? How can you . . . ?’

  ‘I was there. Lucas made me watch while the house she was in exploded. I thought you were inside, too, but . . .’ Zack’s voice drifted.

  Jasmine wiped at her eyes and straightened her shoulders, her face set in stone. Zack could tell that although the news stabbed deep, it wasn’t something she hadn’t already suspected on her own.

  ‘Are you positive?’ she asked.

  ‘The police confirmed it.’

  Jasmine’s lips tightened and her eyes folded into angry slits. She turned to Davey. ‘Get us out of here. We’re not finished yet.’

  121

  Sam had only crawled a few feet when the passageway opened into a natural cavern and he was able to stand.

  He moved forward blindly when suddenly the cavern blossomed in light from strings of bare bulbs hung haphazardly along the walls. The unexpected illumination caused an angry screech to ignite from the ceiling. As Sam shielded his eyes and looked up, hundreds of bats flapped leathery wings before vanishing into dozens of blunt-mouthed air holes.

  When Sam lowered his hand again, Lucas was waiting, a gun aimed directly at his chest.

  ‘Tired of your daughter already?’

  ‘Where’s Hannah?’

  Lucas laughed without mirth. ‘Didn’t Zack tell you?’

  ‘Tell me what?’ Sam felt the cold worm stir in his belly again.

  Lucas’s lips curled upwards. ‘And you thought he was a trusted friend. Just goes to show, Sam, you’re learning the same lesson I did
twenty-five years ago. You can’t trust anyone.’

  ‘I know what you made him do, but he never betrayed me. You didn’t—’

  Lucas pulled the trigger.

  Sam spun from the impact, his right shoulder on fire as the bullet cut through muscle before exiting flesh. He fell to the ground and fought the pain to draw his own weapon.

  He fired without aiming. The bullet smashed uselessly into the cavern wall.

  Lucas laughed and fired a second shot. The bullet tore through Sam’s right wrist, breaking bone and making his trigger hand useless.

  ‘You son of a bitch!’

  Lucas walked closer and pointed the gun at Sam’s face. ‘Never knew my mother, Sam. But I am definitely the son of a bastard.’

  ‘A dead bastard, though. Right, Luke?’ said an unexpected voice.

  Davey appeared from the shadows of another tunnel. He was breathing heavily as though he had been running hard.

  ‘I wondered when you’d show up,’ said Lucas. ‘I was saving him for you.’

  Sam’s eyes narrowed, the pieces he hadn’t wanted to join finally clicking into place. ‘You were both in jail.’

  Davey’s face lost its mischievous innocence to be replaced by something much, much harder.

  ‘We survived together,’ Lucas explained. ‘I wanted to die when they locked me away. Do you know what they do to people who look like me, Sam? The freaks? I didn’t think I had the will to survive until Davey showed me how to use my strengths to make the other prisoners fear us. And fear they did.’

  ‘Once you got a taste for it you just never knew when to stop though, did you, Luke?’ Davey added.

  ‘Why would I want to stop?’ Lucas grinned as he turned the gun back on Sam.

  The bullet slammed into Lucas like a sledgehammer, dropping him to the ground as a wide spray of blood erupted from his side. He gasped for air, his mouth opening and closing like a dying fish.

  The tiny bullet had caused mortal damage and as his chest heaved, his lungs began expelling pints of bright arterial blood at a rapid pace.