The Killing Moon

by Michael Robinson

  Just then, there was a knock at the door. The door opened and Chris Daniels stood there. "Now then, my fellow squaddie, you ready to take your first ground leave? You can get off the ward for a bit."

  Within a second, Rob was on his feet. Rob knew this was his chance to get away. "Sounds like a nice idea," said Rob, "I could do with some fresh air."

  "OK then, be ready to go in half an hour."

  Rob just smiled. "I'll be ready all right."

  Chapter Forty-seven

  Rob was going to make a break for it. He quickly looked around his bedroom to see if there was anything in there that would be useful to him on the run. All he could find was an old red sweater. He put this on underneath his jacket. Also, he found some loose change on the side. There was one more thing he needed to do before he left the Humber Centre. He quickly took one last glance around his room and shut the door behind him.

  Rob then made his way up the corridor to use the phone outside of the staff room. He picked up the receiver and dialled in the number for Annie, hoping that only Annie would answer the phone. The tone rang three or four times before it was picked up. Rob recognised Annie's voice straight away as she said hello, then he quickly dispensed the loose change into the phone. "Annie, it's Rob, don't hang up."

  "Rob, what are you doing? You know you're not supposed to contact me," was the response.

  "I know," replied Rob, "but just listen. I want you to know that I'm sorry I fucked up everything."

  Annie remained silent.

  "Also, I'm going to sign over the house to you and sign the papers for the divorce as soon as I can."

  Annie knew something was wrong but she could not put her finger on it.

  Rob continued, "Annie, I want you to know that you were the best thing that happened to me and I wish so much that I could change things so we could raise Noel together as a family. I don't have a lot of time now, babe."

  "A lot of time for what?" replied Annie.

  "Look, listen, I just want you to know I love you and Noel very much," then Rob paused. "I had a good thing and I blew it."

  At that point, Rob looked up to see Chris Daniels coming out of the office with a form in his hand.

  "I've got to go now," Rob said. "I'll see ya, babe."

  Rob could hear Annie's voice on the line as he replaced the receiver.

  Chris Daniels approached Rob and told him to fill in the form before they went on ground leave as he gave Rob a pen. It was a simple questionnaire. Before any patient went on ground leave, they had to fill in a form detailing how much money the patient had on them, what clothes they were wearing, whether they had a lighter or not. Rob just filled this in as quick as he could; he wanted to be making tracks. Once the paperwork was done, both patient and staff nurse made their way through the airlock.

  At the same time as Annie was on the phone to Rob in the hallway, Sue was stood, listening, in the kitchen. As Annie replaced the receiver, Sue began to go to work on Annie. "Who was that?" demanded Sue.

  "Nobody," replied Annie sheepishly.

  "Who was it?" questioned Sue again.

  "Mum, just leave it."

  "It was him wasn't it?" said Sue spitefully.

  "Mum, he was just ringing to say he would give me my divorce that's all," then Annie added, "He's also going to let me have the house."

  "And so he bloody well should!" cried Sue. "After all he's put you and this family through and anyway, he shouldn't be ringing here at all, the court demanded it."

  "Mum, can you just leave it!" protested Annie.

  "No, I cannot just leave it! He's a sick bastard that should be locked away for the rest of his life, in fact, hanging is too good for him. How on earth has he got access to a telephone in order to bother us?"

  Annie knew she was not going to win and so picked up Noel from the high-chair in the kitchen and retreated toward the living room. At the same time, Sue shouted to her husband Norman, "What's the number of that inspector you know from the Conservative Club?"

  "It's in the book, why?" he replied.

  Within a second, Sue was on the phone protesting to the inspector that her family were all in fear because of a vicious, psycho killer that was bothering them from a mental hospital. Sue made a point of adding that Rob was already breaching a zero-contact restraining order. The inspector took all the details and quickly tried to reassure Sue that he would make a phone call straight away.

  Chapter Forty-eight

  Rob breathed in the fresh air when he left the airlock at the medium secure hospital. For the first time in about six months, Rob's lungs felt alive as he breathed in the sweet smell of summer. Both Rob and Chris headed toward the field behind the hospital via the car park however, Rob knew time was of the essence as he only had half an hour before the hospital staff reported him missing.

  As both patient and staff member crossed the car park, the lights flashed on the Subaru that was parked in the car park. It was Chris's Subaru and he made a point of showing it off to Rob as he opened the car door and retrieved his cigarettes.

  "Good little runner this," bragged Chris. "I overtook this bird the other day on the inside lane on the motorway and I could tell by the way she looked at me that she was gagging for it."

  Rob just ignored the comment but at the same time, made a mental note of where Chris put the key in his pocket.

  PC Holland and WPC Emary received a call to visit the psychiatric hospital. Whoever had made the call, was pretty adamant that Rob Foster was bothering people. Having just finished a routine patrol of Cottingham, the local village, they made their way towards Willerby. WPC Emary could not stand working with PC Holland. For a start, he was constantly making lewd comments about the women police staff. Not only were they derogatory, they were sometimes aimed at her. However, having only been in the police service for two years, WPC Emary knew better than to rock the boat and make a complaint against her superior. As both officers travelled to their next appointment, PC Holland began preaching about their next assignment. This was the norm and the WPC just remained silent.

  "The trouble with these fruit-loops, is that we can lock them up but the hospitals just let them out again." He added, "What they should do, is give 'em a minimum of ten years without parole. That would free us up to do our jobs without these sickos bothering the public."

  As he spoke, bits of pastry flew out of his mouth whilst he was eating a sausage roll he got from Greggs. As WPC Emary looked at him, she felt more repulsed by her colleague than ever.

  PC Holland continued, "The fact is, all these psycho 'ead cases are all sexual deviants."

  WPC Emary stopped him there. "You don't know anything about him." she protested.

  "I know how to do my job love, trust me, I've been a copper now for seven years, I'll be going up the ranks soon, love. You might want to remember that cause there's a good chance you'll be taking more of your orders from me. In fact," he added, "I could show you a thing or two," and at the same time, he removed his hand from the steering wheel and placed it, unwelcomely, on WPC Emary's thigh. WPC Emary felt almost sick.

  Making their way across the open field, Chris Daniels began to brag again about everything that he had done in the military. In fact, from the way he talked, it was almost as if he had won any war by himself. At the same time, Rob just made little conversation and nodded. It was only when Chris started talking about the SAS, Rob started to get annoyed, Daniels bragged, "Yeah, after I'd done a two-week course in Catterick, they asked me if I wanted to join the SAS."

  Rob stopped walking just there. Rob replied, "The SAS is a volunteer force, nobody ever gets asked to join."

  Chris blew smoke out of his mouth as he answered, "Yeah but not with me it wasn’t, someone from the SAS saw me when I was on exercise and they saw how good I was. He came up to me at the end of the weekend and said, 'I think you'd be good for us, I want you to join'." Then he continued, "I turned it down though, weren't for me that."

  "You know something," Rob replied, "y
ou're talking a load of shit. In fact, you talk so much shit, that if you opened your mouth, all I could smell would be a dog's arse."

  "Right then, Foster," said Chris annoyed, his pride damaged. "I'm cancelling your leave and I'm writing you up, you're aggressive and you're not playing ball. You wanted it the hard way and you've got it, things are going to get very difficult for you from now on, sunshine, forget about seeing deathbed daddy."

  Before Chris had chance to say anything more, Rob punched him squarely in the forehead, totally disorienting him, with Daniels falling to the ground. As he was on the floor, Rob stuck his hands around his antagonist's throat and began to squeeze. He wasn't trying to kill him, he just wanted to stop the flow of blood to Daniels's brain until he fainted. Chris's eyes widened in terror as he struggled against an adversary for whom he was no match. At the same time, Chris struggled to free Rob's hands from his throat but it wasn't long before he succumbed to asphyxiation and fainted.

  When Rob knew Daniels was no longer a threat, he quickly frisked his body and removed the radio and the car key from Daniels's trousers. He then checked Daniels's neck for a pulse and when he found one, was quite pleased that he did not kill this prick. Within a second, he looked around the field. There was nobody in sight and he doubted very much that anyone would have noticed anything from the hospital windows.

  Soon, Rob had crossed the field leaving Daniels where he lay and was crossing the car park. Rob had always fancied taking a Subaru for a spin. As Rob was getting in the car, he looked up to see a police vehicle approaching. Rob knew he had to play this one very carefully. He watched the police car stop outside the entrance to the hospital as a WPC and a fat male PC, made their way to the entrance.

  Rob turned the key to start the engine which revved like a wild cat and within a second, loud hip-hop music blasted from the radio. At the same time, both police officers looked to see where the noise was coming from. Rob wasn't prepared to make his escape listening to gangster rap and as the African-American rapper sang about all the guns, money, bitches and drugs he had, Rob retuned the radio.

  Running across the car park was Chris Daniels, as the police looked up, just about to enter the airlock, Daniels was shouting, "Stop him! Stop him! He's got my car!"

  WPC Emary was the first to notice Foster sat in the vehicle at which point, both officers tried to run to apprehend the culprit. Rob remained calm throughout, soon he found 'Planet Rock' on the radio, he heard the welcoming sound of an A-flat power chord. Rob suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the song Wheels of Steel by Saxon kicked into life.

  Rob put the car in first gear, aggressively pressing the accelerator and quickly drove past his pursuers, looking in the rear-view mirror, Rob could see Daniels, waving his arms and stamping his feet. At the same time, both officers made their way back to their vehicle in order to pursue Rob. Rob quickly made his way out of the hospital site, reaching a roundabout on Beverley Road and took a quick right turn. Chris Daniels was telling the truth, this car could move and it was more than enough to get Rob away. At the same time, WPC Emary and PC Holland were in pursuit with the blue lights flashing and the sirens screaming.

  "Are we gonna ring it in?" questioned the WPC to her colleague.

  "No way," replied PC Holland arrogantly. "I don't like anyone getting away from me."

  Further up the road, Rob spotted queuing traffic ahead. At the same time, Rob felt alive, aggressive and dangerous. Within a second, he'd reached another roundabout but instead of slowing down, he overtook the cars on the outside lane before using the handbrake to slow him down, whilst at the same time, changing the direction of the vehicle in a doughnut. Rob then accelerated as hard as he could whilst other vehicles beeped and flashed.

  All the time, Rob was thoroughly engrossed in the music. Both police officers saw Rob's manoeuvre and tried their best to pursue without endangering any civilians. In less than ten seconds, Rob passed the exit of the hospital he had escaped from. Soon, the guitar solo was blasting but Rob knew he would have to lose his pursuers before they called for reinforcements. Aggressively, he used the Subaru to clip oncoming vehicles just like when he had been trained during selection.

  As a result, traffic slowed, almost confused at this mad man in a fast car. He quickly crossed over a third roundabout and saw a pitch in the road which veered off toward the Wolds Way. Rob almost slowed to allow his pursuers to catch up. As he took the junction, Rob slowed to a halt, waiting for the police to be within striking distance. At the same time, the music died to a middle eight, almost a pause. Within the space of a couple of seconds, the blue lights of the police car approached from the bend. Rob knew this was a great opportunity to disable the police car.

  Quickly, he put the Subaru in reverse and again, aggressively, put his foot on the accelerator aiming straight for the front of the police car. WPC Emary screamed as she realised what Rob was doing. At the same time, she shouted at her colleague, "For fucks sake slow down!" Within a second, the impact was felt fully by the police vehicle as the Subaru disintegrated the radiator and the rest of the police car, making it impossible for the pursuit to continue. Despite the fact both airbags deployed in the police car, it did not stop both WPC Emary and PC Holland from colliding with the dashboard. Emary suffered a broken nose whilst Holland smashed his teeth against the steering wheel.

  As the seconds rolled by, the music came to life again with the singer screaming 'talkin' about my wheels of steel'. Rob quickly put the car in first gear and did not hesitate in making good on his escape whilst driving away in the dusk of a summer evening. Rob was pleased with himself but the fact was, now, he had work to do.

  Part Two

  Edinburgh

  Chapter Forty-nine

  The red Corsa pulled up outside the high-rise flats in the notorious Muirhouse estate in Edinburgh. Inside the car was a woman known as Jessica and sat next to her was Amy although Amy's working name was Roxy. Jessica turned to Amy and said in a cockney accent, "You know the score with this job, love, remember once he's paid ya, to get the package. I'll be sat 'ere just going through my Facebook."

  Amy replied in a soft Glaswegian accent, "So when are we getting a new driver then, boss? I'm not being funny but I'd feel a lot safer with a driver who wasn't a woman."

  Jessica was slightly annoyed and replied, "Look I'm fackin' workin' on it and I don't see you turnin' down the money." Then Jessica changed tack. "You've done this job before loads of times, in fact he asked for you, you know it's an easy gig. Once you get paid, ring me to do the safe and happy, if there's any problems I'll ring the police."

  Amy said nothing as she left the vehicle and made her way to the intercom. Quickly, she was buzzed through by the client all the time saying to herself, 'it's just a job'. However, she wished she had not spent so much on getting her hair done that day in town. As she entered the lift, the smell of stale urine was prominent on the lift floor however, fortunately, no one else was in the steel box. Amy, or Roxy as was her working name, was not your run of the mill escort.

  A lot of girls on Jessica's books were hard party girls and drug users. It was only her roommate Sophie who had advised her that this was a quick and easy way to make money. Both Sophie and Amy were at university and Sophie had nearly finished her accountancy degree whereas Amy was just two years into a law degree. It was only when the debts mounted up she considered quitting and going back to Glasgow to be with her six-year-old son who was being looked after by Amy's mother. The debts were mounting and the bills needed paying but this type of work meant that, in theory, she could leave university without any debt and continue on a path as either a barrister or a lawyer.

  When Amy first started escorting six months ago, not only was the money good, which meant she could go back to Glasgow to see her son occasionally, but also the job itself was exciting, sexy, a taboo, even if it was dangerous at times. Amy would not have believed what she had done if she had not have seen it through her own eyes. To be fair, most of
the jobs were basic, bog standard. They were just single men that wanted a good time but didn't want the hassle of a relationship. These jobs were the norm but then there were other jobs. Sometimes it was couples, other times it was certain fetishes, and by all accounts, the fetishes were weird.

  On one job, she was even asked by the client to act like he was a baby and she would literally have to bath and nappy change a forty-year-old man. Other jobs meant working with Sophie if a guy wanted a threesome and although she did not mind this per se, as she had always been bi-curious. However, she would not work with any other of Jessica's girls. Simply because of her own sexual health. It was rumoured that some of the girls had hepatitis C.

  As the lift stopped on the fifth floor, Amy became Roxy. She looked at herself in the large metal mirror in the lift, Roxy was by all accounts attractive, although she would never admit it to herself. Twenty-six-years-old, five foot two, size eight, nails polished and dark hair in a neat bob and well dressed in an expensive suit. This particular client was a smack head through and through. How he got the money to pay for Roxy's services was anyone's guess although it was obvious drugs were involved.

  The client's name was Billy and she had to make sure that Billy thoroughly enjoyed himself by making out that Roxy was having the best sex of her young life, all the time surrounded by stains on the walls, empty pizza boxes of takeaways all over the floor and the putrid smell of stale cigarettes. However, Roxy drew the line at kissing. Not necessarily every client but certainly with this one. All the time, Roxy just concentrated on the money and the end game.