by Aj Estelliam
I nodded, and smiled. ‘Thank you, but that won’t be necessary. I just like to help those I can.’
‘And you surely do,’ he said proudly.
I smiled at him as he gave a jaunty little wave before leaving. I turned back to Jess who smiled at me happily.
‘You did good,’ she told me.
‘I know.’
‘The gift is meant to be just that, Alex. It’s meant to help.’
I nodded slowly, considering that fact. ‘I have helped quite a lot of people, haven’t I?’
‘Me included,’ she said softly.
‘Yeah…I’m going to take the Captain’s advice now and just chill the hell out! I’m going to drive myself and others around me mad if I don’t!’ I chuckled.
‘Yeah, exactly. Now, how about some dessert! Look at that trolley!’
I looked over at the desert trolley which was being sent around to the tables which were ready. It did indeed look scrumptious.
‘I’m going to be as fat as a house!’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Alex! You’re gorgeous-and about as small and trim as they get!’
‘It’s all this nervous energy!’ I laughed. ‘I’m burning it all off!’
‘So, enjoy a pudding then?’
‘I will…the chocolate tarte looks amazing! Or look-there’s tiramisu! I’m in chocolate heaven!’
She grinned at me. ‘Treat yourself.’
I sat back in my chair, smiling. ‘You know something, I will.’
After dinner, we headed back to our room. As we had just eaten, we sat by the windows enjoying the view by night. We chatted infrequently; simply being there was enough for me.
After a while, we moved and got ourselves ready for bed. We cuddled up in each other’s arms and made love once more. I felt calm and content and with the sense that I was exactly where I was meant to be.
We slept afterwards and this time, it was restful. I didn’t dream and didn’t think, I just slept. When I woke early the next morning I felt incredibly well-rested. It had been restorative sleep for once and I lay there as the sun streamed in, feeling renewed.
‘You look happy this morning,’ a husky voice commented from my side.
I turned over to smile at my gorgeous girlfriend. ‘And why wouldn’t I be? I’m here in paradise with the most wonderful woman in the world.’
‘I’m taking it you slept well too,’ she added.
‘I did! For the first time in forever as well!’ I exclaimed. ‘It’s incredible to sleep the whole night through without broken sleep! I feel amazing!’
She grinned at me. ‘So, tell me…what’s on the agenda for today?’
‘Nothing,’ I said, happily.
‘Nothing?’
‘Well, not totally nothing…just quiet time. I want to sit, read, walk on the sand…enjoy the view…quiet, simple pleasures.’
She sighed contentedly. ‘That sounds like my idea of perfect too,’ she smiled.
‘Good…and we could start right now,’ I suggested.
‘Oh yeah? How’s that?’
I moved into her arms and began kissing her; long and slow. She moaned and moved closer against me. We made love slowly in the early morning light.
Chapter 20
We fell back to sleep and this time I wasn’t so lucky to avoid my gift. My head began to relax and I drifted off.
The time was right. The timing was perfect. I sat waiting, I felt like I was always waiting. I could see my target in the distance and the moment seemed like it was pre-destined. I watched with disgust curling in my stomach as the man kissed his bride-to-be. Fuck him, I thought to myself. He was going to die…he had to die, the fucking traitor. I watched him, sneering. So, fucking happy…well, not for much longer. He would die and I would make sure it happened slowly. Fucking traitor…he wouldn’t be able to smile much longer. Die; Captain Daniel D Withers.
I gasped and shot out of bed, screaming at full pitch. I whirled around, in a major panic, shouting at Jess to wake up. She was up immediately, heading towards me and holding my arms, telling me to calm down.
I couldn’t control myself for a moment and temporarily lost it. I couldn’t stop shouting, but I was incoherent and was so upset that it took a sharp, shock to stop me. Jess slapped me; full pelt around my cheek. It stung sharply and I gasped and looked up.
‘Now, calm the fuck down! Sit down and talk me through it.’
I struggled to breathe as she placed me into a chair, using a heavy-handed approach. ‘It’s not over…this case…I knew something was off…it’s Daniel…he’s in danger! I think this is all about him! It’s all been about him since the beginning,’ I yelled, losing my sense of calm.
‘Okay…you’re going to need to calm…’
I broke her off and pushed her out of the way. I grabbed the suitcase and started shoving clothes in haphazardly. ‘No, Jess…get packed. We’re leaving now. If we don’t leave now, I have no doubt that he’s dead…come on!’ I screamed.
Jess looked at me for a moment but then moved quickly. I saw her loading her suitcase and within two minutes we were out the door. We ran to reception, returned our keys and paid and then ran to the car. Suitcases were hurled into the back of the car and then we were off; speeding out of the cove like demons. I ached in my stomach as the visions came, heavy and fast. We were too late, I thought to myself. He was already gone.
‘Right, tell me what you saw,’ Jess demanded, as she drove fast and efficiently.
‘No, I need to call the station first-then I’ll tell you everything. Time is of the essence, Jess! We’re six hours away!’ I ranted as I dialled. ‘Six hours away and unable to help! We’re going to be too late to help!’ I wailed.
‘Hello?’
‘Hello,’ I gabbled, ‘Can I speak to Captain Withers please?’
‘Oh, he’s not in at the moment,’ the man replied.
‘Who am I talking to?’ I asked briskly.
‘Andrew Winters.’
‘Oh, hi Andy…it’s Alex Hope here. Do you know where the Captain is?’
‘Hi Alex…uh, no…but he’s meant to be here any minute I think. He’s coming in for a meeting. Everyone’s assembled.’
‘Do me a favour-get teams assembled ready…get a task force started. We’re on our way but I believe something has happened to the Captain and he won’t be turning up any time soon…’
‘I…what?’ he stuttered, sounding stunned.
‘I know, I know…just tell people what I’ve said and get people out looking for him. He needs our help…’
‘I…and how do you know this Alex?’ he asked, sounding unable to deal with the situation and completely inept.
‘Because I’m a goddamn psychic, Andy! Now tell people to start looking for Captain Withers! Someone’s got him and he needs our help!’
‘I…uh…okay.’
‘We’ll be there as soon as possible. You can contact me on this mobile at any time.’
‘Okay…I’ll go and speak to the team.’
‘You do that,’ I said, and hung up, fuming. How could I help and do what I did effectively from six hours away? I felt hopeless and ineffective. I sat back in the chair and closed my eyes.
A few moments later, Jess spoke.
‘You going to tell me what the fuck is going on?’ she asked, none too sensitively.
‘Yeah, we’re fucked,’ I said miserably.
‘I get that…you think something has happened to Dan?’
‘I don’t ‘think’ so, Jess. I know it.’
‘What did you see?’ she asked. There was no question of what I had seen being fact, she simply wanted to know we were dealing with.
‘The real killer has been waiting in the shadows,’ I told her. ‘They’ve been waiting and waiting; gleeful when Swan was arrested-laughing from afar.’
‘You don’t think it was him?’ she asked, sounding stunned.
‘I still think he is involved-maybe guided by this person-but no…I don’t think this was him. I
think this was the brain-child of someone far more devious, and far more dangerous. I also think we’ve missed the whole point of this investigation…’
‘You do? Why?’ she asked.
‘Well, the more I think about it, I think that this was about Dan all along. He’s end game. The rest was just fun along the way…’
‘Fun? That’s a strange word to use.’
‘I know, but it comes to mind because this person we’re dealing with is fucking loopy…I think she finds what she’s been doing entertaining…’
‘She? You just switched to she!’
‘I know,’ I said quietly. ‘Just a theory I’m working on…’ I murmured quietly.
‘Tell me…tell me everything from the beginning. Let’s face it, Alex. Until we get to Scotland, we can’t do anything but prepare mentally for this. Go back to the beginning and tell me about your vision. Then, we make a plan.’
‘Okay,’ I agreed, readily. It suddenly felt like we were of use. With Jess by my side, I knew we could face this bravely.
After talking Jess through everything I had seen, my phone rang. I jumped and quickly pressed the green button, my hands shaking violently.
‘Hello?’
‘Alex?’
‘Yes, who is this?’ I demanded.
‘It’s Pete,’ he told me.
Pete was one of the senior detectives, who often worked alongside Jess. ‘Oh Pete, thank goodness-someone who will see sense.’
‘Yeah…look, Alex, I won’t mince my words. You’re right. He’s got the Captain…we’ve just received a note.’
‘A note? What? What does it say?’
‘Same as the others…same calling card. D U D.’
‘Death upon death,’ I murmured. ‘He’s going to be buried like the others…’
‘What? You think this is linked to the Swan case?’
‘Listen, Pete-I don’t think Swan was the only one involved in the case. I think there was someone else involved…someone more evil and sinister than Swan ever was.’
‘Like who?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know…I’m trying to figure it out…we’re on our way but we’re like five hours away! Even driving like a crazy bat out of hell, we’re still hours and hours away.’
‘Don’t panic, we’re on it…any advice or direction in where to go with this?’
‘Yes…can you go to the board?’ I asked.
‘Yeah sure…what am I looking for?’ he asked.
‘Okay, this is going to sound odd, but bear with me…’
‘Okay. Give me one second; just walking across.’
‘Thanks, Pete.’
‘Right. Can you look at the first victim-Rachel?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, I want to know the name of the grave she was buried in.’
‘The name on the gravestone?’ he questioned.
‘Yes, exactly. What was the name of the gravestone?’
‘Doris Knight,’ he told me.
‘Okay, good,’ I said, writing that down. ‘Can you write Doris Knight in big letters on a blank area of the board?’
‘Yes, okay. Right…done,’ he said, after a moment.
‘Okay…then it was Gina. What was the name on that gravestone?’
‘Give me a minute,’ he murmured. ‘Okay-Alan Humphreys.’
‘Okay. Write it down,’ I said, as I scribbled the name into the notepad on my lap.
We continued on, going through the victims one by one and naming the grave they had been left in. When we were through I looked down at the list in my hands. It read-
Doris Knight.
Alan Humpreys.
Nora Turner.
Ingrid Ramone.
Edward Battersey.
Leonard DeCamparnard.
I stared down at it, knowing I was right. How hadn’t I seen it sooner? How hadn’t any of us seen it sooner?
‘What am I looking at, Alex?’ Pete asked me.
‘Read the first letter of every name downwards, Pete,’ I instructed.
He went silent for a moment and then a low utter of, ‘Fuck…’ sounded down the phone.
‘Daniel,’ I said, unnecessarily. ‘And the final victim, is the man himself. He will be the ‘W’ at the end.’
‘You think he’s been taken and buried?’
‘I don’t know…I think he’s been abducted for sure. I don’t know what else at this stage. Maybe you should try and contact his girlfriend,’ I suggested, my mind running haywire.
‘What girlfriend? Dan doesn’t date!’
‘He has been…he has a girlfriend called Fee. Send someone out to his house-she’s been there with him for a while now.’
‘Blimey, I had no idea,’ he murmured.
‘And she’s pregnant, Pete. You’ll need to look out for her well-being.’
‘Oh Christ, Alex! Why are you not here right now?’ he muttered.
‘We’re coming…Jess is speeding up the motorway as we speak. We’re likely to be there in an hour based on her rate of driving. She’s scaring me stupid!’
‘Tell her to get you two here in one piece-safely. She’s a good driver but she’s fast.’
‘I know that!’ I exclaimed, looking up as she manoeuvred out into the far-right lane once again.
‘Okay…well, we’re going to follow this up now and see what we can find out. I’ll phone you when we know more.’
‘Okay. And I’ll phone if I see any more bits of information too.’
‘Good-let me give you my mobile number.’
He reeled off his number and I wrote it down on my pad. ‘Talk to you soon,’ I promised, and hung up.
Once my phone was down, I stared at the list of names I had written down.
‘So, this was her plan from the very beginning?’ Jess asked.
I nodded to myself. ‘I think this was very carefully planned from the beginning and prepared carefully too. It was like you two said at the beginning-how could you dig a grave in the winter? You couldn’t! She had prepared all of the holes in advance over the months and maybe year before…’
‘But who? And why?’ Jess asked, sounding confused.
‘Well, who is the one person who would have issue with the Captain? Who could he possibly have upset?’ I asked her, willing her to come to the same conclusion I had.
‘I…well, surely every criminal he helped put away?’
‘Yes,’ I agreed, ‘but who personally?’
‘Female?’
‘Yes.’
‘I…’ she began and then as I watched her, I saw her comprehension. ‘Oh my God…her!’ she said, picturing the woman that I knew now was the one who was guilty of the crimes.
‘Yes. Zoe…’
‘But…but…she was a victim!’
‘I don’t think she was, Jess. I think she planted herself in the situation in order to maintain her alibi and to keep suspicions away from herself-not that we were anywhere near even considering her as someone who was involved in this!’
‘But she couldn’t bury herself in the ground!’
‘Which is why she had someone helping her…she had an accomplice.’
‘Swan,’ Jess uttered.
‘Yes. I’m sure of it now. He is a vulnerable adult. Somehow, she managed to manipulate him into not only helping her, but also into taking the blame. He’s heading to prison and he’s not the one behind this! She is!’
‘But why?’
‘Because Dan hurt her…I think he hurt her more than he ever realised. Perhaps she knows he has met someone else…perhaps she even knows that she is pregnant. She’s a journalist, right? She delves deep and finds out information. Maybe this has pushed her buttons a little too far…it would explain Matthew’s death.’
‘How?’
‘Because she’s so angry about the idea of Daniel becoming a father. So angry that she lashed out at the first child she came across…’
‘And the finger,’ Jess said softly.
‘Oh yes! It was the ring finger, wa
sn’t it? Another message…she doesn’t want him to marry someone else!’
‘I think you’ve figured it out,’ Jess said, as she drove fast.
I nodded to myself, my mind going through the whole sequence of events and analysing them. ‘I’m right, Jess. I know I am.’
‘So, what now? We know who and why but we don’t know how to find him.’
‘Exactly, and I don’t have any idea where either. I’m assuming she’ll want to bury him like the others but I can’t see where yet. Nothing is coming to mind.’
‘Perhaps it will. The one thing we do have is time. It’s the only thing we have in our favour right now,’ Jess said softly.
‘Yeah…but I don’t think that’s quite so good for Daniel, Jess. The woman is crazed. I hate to think what she could do to him.’
‘Do you think he’ll come through this?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said honestly. ‘I mean, I could see him with his baby son in an image a while ago but now it’s gone. I can’t bring it back in my mind. I hate to think what that means.’
‘Don’t even consider giving up on him, Alex.’
‘I won’t!’ I replied, vehemently. My hands in my lap shook. ‘But I have to tell you, Jess…I’m absolutely terrified.’
She reached over with one hand and laid it on mine supportively. ‘I know. But Alex?’
‘Yes?’ I answered, glancing over at her as she drove.
‘You’re the best chance he has at coming through this. Be strong and focus on finding him…not the other alternative.’
I took a deep, shuddery breath in and then released it shakily. ‘You’re right. I’m going to meditate a little…try and find him in my mind.’
‘Good idea. I’ll concentrate on driving and you concentrate on finding Captain Withers. We can’t lose him, Alex. I won’t.’
I nodded, resolute now. ‘We won’t, Jess. We won’t.’
Chapter 21
I closed my eyes and focused in on my boss; Captain Daniel Withers. I could see him in my mind’s eye and yet he was distant…blurry.
I breathed slowly, trying to calm my nervous disposition. It did no good though. I still felt completely unsettled and as if I didn’t know what I could do to help. I took deep breaths, in and out and then in and out. I kept my eyes tightly shut and I willed for him to connect with me. All I saw in the blackness was fear. It was my own. He was gone from my head and I didn’t know how to get him back.