by Mel Comley
“I’ll do just that. I really appreciate your help and the speed at which you’ve got back to me.”
“Good luck, Sergeant.”
Alex looked up at Bob, her spirits raised by the forensic expert’s words. “Dare we ask Jordan if he’ll allow us to set up a search team to scan the area?”
“We could, but it will be dark soon. The odds are against it, and he’ll order us to wait until morning.”
Alex chewed her lip. “I can’t wait until morning, Bob. I have to ask. Will you come with me?”
Bob glanced at Jordan’s door and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. “Come on, then.”
As they walked into Jordan’s office, he looked up expectantly. “Well, do you have something or not?”
“Sir, the forensics expert dealing with the package has confirmed there were sand or silt particles in the box and has given us a rough idea of the area where such particles can be found.”
“Stop waffling and get to the point, Bachelor. What do you need?”
“Thank you, sir. We need to arrange for a team to search the Bristol area.”
“Oh, is that all? Are you mad? Have you any idea how vast that area is?”
“I’m aware, sir.”
Jordan let out a huge breath. “Four people, including you two. I’ll let you search the rest of the day, and that’s it. Got that?”
Alex wanted to barter with him for more manpower, but the way his right eye was twitching warned her to be cautious. “Thank you, sir. We really appreciate it.”
“You’re wasting valuable time standing around here. Go, and I hope you’re successful in your mission.”
Bob and Alex left the office. Her feet had a spring in their step for the first time that day. Bob ordered Chris and Jenny, two of the other sergeants on the team, to accompany them. Alex printed out several Google maps of the areas they should be concentrating on. Once they arrived at Portway, they split up and promised to keep in contact via their mobiles.
Their colleagues left them, and Alex pointed out, “This is definitely a possibility. Look at the banks. It must be low tide at the moment. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.”
“There’s only one way to find out. Do you want to split up or search together? What do you have in the way of weapons with you, just in case?”
“Pepper spray. That’s all.” Alex shook her head. “Sometimes, it doesn’t make sense to me that the killers have guns and knives, and we have pepper spray.” She raised her head, and her chin jutted out. “It’ll be good enough if needed. Let’s separate. Maybe stay within thirty feet of each other at all times, how’s that?”
“Sounds perfect. These shoes are old; I’ll take the area closer to the edge while you stick to the higher ground.”
“Call me if you find anything, and I’ll do the same.”
They spent the next hour or so searching every spare inch of the area, but found nothing. When Alex’s mobile rang, she answered the call immediately.
“You never cease to amaze me,” the killer said, his voice more serious than usual.
Alex covered the phone and whistled at Bob. He ran up the embankment to join her.
“So close,” the killer teased.
“What do you mean? If we’re that close, show yourself!”
“We’ll meet eventually. Have you figured it out yet?”
“Where’s my sister?” Alex demanded, tired of his game.
“In a better place. I granted her last wish.”
“If you were a real man, you’d come out and face me.” Alex goaded him, her eyes searching the area for any place he could hide.
“When I say close, maybe I wasn’t talking about the location. Maybe I was referring to the situation. I’ve decided to seek liberty. What do you think, Foxy?”
“I think you like to talk in riddles and torture poor innocent women. So why don’t you just tell me what you mean by that?”
Bob ran a hand up and down her arm to comfort her, walked a few feet away then rang the other team. “Anything? We’ve just heard from him; he knows we’re here. He has to be around here somewhere. Look in every building you come across, be it an old tin shed or a cavernous warehouse. They’re here somewhere.”
The line went dead, and Alex’s head dropped onto her chest. “There’s no way we’re going to find him in time, Bob.” She refused to believe Scarlet was already dead. He never killed his victims that quickly. He usually spent days torturing the women—and the families he’d taken them from.
“Nonsense. Since when were you such a quitter, love? Keep positive, and we’ll get this guy, I know we will. Let’s keep up the search, okay?”
“Like we have a choice in the matter.”
They continued the search. Hours and hours slipped past without a clue landing at their feet. They were just contemplating giving up for the day when Alex’s mobile rang again, notifying her that a text had arrived. Bob ran to her as she opened it.
‘I wanted to say goodbye, Foxy, and give you one last memory. My only regret is I can’t take you with me.’
The words were replaced by a video of Scarlet, her face smashed to pieces. Her nose was obviously broken, and both her eyes were black and blue. The camera angle changed to take in Scarlet’s chest, which he’d exposed completely. Deep lacerations criss-crossed her skin, spelling out the words ‘Help me’. But as her tears blurred the words, Alex noticed something far graver than the signs of torture Scarlet had endured at the hands of this madman. The video had captured the pigment slowly fading from Scarlet’s eyes... and her last breath.
CHAPTER NINE
Alex’s world disappeared into a cavernous abyss. She woke to find her three colleagues gazing down at her. Bob helped her to her feet.
“We have to find her.” Tears streamed down Alex’s face. “She’s afraid of the dark. I cannot leave her lying out here. I refuse to.”
“It’s all right, Alex. I’ve rung the station, and Jordan has arranged for a full team of PCs to come out here in the morning to conduct a thorough search. We’ll find her.”
Alex shuddered at the thought of her beloved sister lying out in the open all night. She was dead, but a person’s soul had a right to pass over peacefully, not like this. Alex’s anger resurfaced, and she welcomed it. If Jordan had sent a full team earlier, Scarlet might have still been alive. “Then I’ll stay here the night. I can’t leave her, Bob... I just can’t.”
The three officers looked at each other, their expressions full of helplessness.
Bob sighed. “Alex, we can’t let you stay out here on your own. I don’t want this to sound too harsh—and forgive me if it’s the way it’s going to sound—but, love, she’s gone. What more can you do?”
Alex’s tear-filled eyes met his. “You’re not going to talk me out of it, Bob. I’ll sleep in the car, but first I need to continue with the search myself, make use of the light still available. You go home and meet me back here in the morning. I’ll be fine.”
Bob shook his head. “It ain’t going to happen, Alex. I’m staying with you.” He turned to face Chris and Jenny. “You guys take off. We’ll see you first thing in the morning, okay?”
Jenny reached out and grabbed Alex’s forearm. “Stay strong, Alex. We’ll find her—and him, for that matter.”
“Thanks for your help today. Sleep well.” She walked away from the group, her head bowed and her shoulders slumped as grief overwhelmed her. The thought of never sharing a laugh with her sister again destroyed her. What an utter waste of a beautiful soul. She raised her head to the twilight sky. Scarlet, I’ll miss you dearly, my darling sister. I will catch the bastard. I promise.
Bob caught up with her, startling her when he stood inches from her right side. He placed an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. She broke down in tears, sobbing uncontrollably as her heart broke in two all over again. Since her mum and dad had passed away, Scarlet had been her responsibility. She felt abandoned and all alone in the world. She didn’t have a clue wh
ere any of her distant relatives lived in the UK, nor was she bothered. She had to dig deep, reach for the anger, and hold onto it. She had one reason to live, and he was out there somewhere in the darkness, watching her.
Alex wiped her eyes, straightened up and smiled at Bob. “Time to continue the search and stop feeling sorry for myself. There’s not much light left now. Let’s give it another thirty minutes.”
“Whatever you want to do is fine by me, Alex.”
They split up again, keeping within twenty feet of each other this time, aware of the imminent danger surrounding them. An uneasy feeling draped itself around her weary shoulders, as she knew the Escape Artist was watching their every move. She continually scoured the area with her tired eyes.
Two huts appeared on the horizon as Alex and Bob rounded a bend in the landscape. Bob saw them at the same time Alex did, and they raced each other, their feet sinking into the silt. Breathless, Bob prevented Alex from entering the first hut. “Let’s think about this carefully. He could be leading us into a trap.”
“You’re right. On the other hand, we could be barking up the wrong tree, Bob. Either way, we won’t know until we get inside and see.” Alex pulled out her pepper spray and aimed it head height as she pushed open the door to the first hut. Her anxiety was soon replaced by disappointment. The hut was empty, apart from a few old newspapers piled up in a corner.
They moved on to the next hut. This time, Bob took the initiative to enter the door. Like the first, it had nothing inside, except a few rusty paint cans.
Her mobile buzzed, and Alex jerked it from her pocket. Bob came to stand beside her as she read the message.
‘Again so close, and yet still so cold. A little to the right, Foxy, about three trees in.’
Alex turned to stare at the small copse of trees about twenty feet away.
“Don’t go in there, Alex.”
She buried her head in her hands. He gathered her in his arms and squeezed her tightly. Alex pulled away from him. “I have to see her. What if he’s lying, Bob, and it isn’t her? And if it is, I have to say goodbye.”
“Don’t, Alex. You’ll contaminate the scene. That should be your priority now, to make sure we get all we can to take this bastard down.”
Tempted as she was to obey him, Alex knew she couldn’t wait. She couldn’t leave her sister there alone. Her feet flew across the sand, barely touching the ground. Bob shouted as she entered the grove of trees. As Alex stopped just short of the third tree, Bob caught up to her, bending at the waist and breathing hard. “Alex, stop. We have to report this.”
Alex ignored him as she knelt beside the fresh dirt. She brushed aside a small portion, revealing a fingerless hand. Sobs shook her body as she brushed upward until she uncovered the shoulders, and finally, the head. Reaching beneath the shoulders, she pulled the body into her arms and rocked back and forth, her screams filling the silence of the night.
CHAPTER TEN
Alex had no clue how much time had passed before her screams finally ceased and her sobs subsided. Bob still knelt beside her, holding her against his chest. “You’d best call it in, Bob. I’ll tell Jordan we got separated and you didn’t know until it was too late to stop me.”
“Alex—”
“Make the damn call, Bob. I want to be alone with my sister.”
The scene turned chaotic within fifteen minutes of Bob placing the calls. As more people descended upon the area, Alex got shoved back. She’d said her goodbyes and made her promises, but still, frustration caused her to pace the area. She wanted to sit alongside her beautiful sister until they whisked her away to the mortuary. Bob stood close by, saying nothing.
Something out in the strip of water caught her eye. It was around a hundred feet away. She started running down the silted area once more, towards the small flickering light. Bob was on her heels, trying hard to keep up with her.
“Alex, slow down. You’ll give yourself a heart attack.”
As if that matters now. She was determined to see what the light was. She heard the roar of an engine. Then the light exploded into a thousand lights as the vessel lit up. Her mobile rang, and without breaking her stride, she answered it. “Why? Why Scarlet?”
“I told you, love. If only you had backed away. Do you really want to be a copper so bad?”
“What I want is you,” Alex grunted out between clenched teeth. “No judge, no jury. Just you and me.”
“Your jurisdiction ends with the border. Perhaps in time, I’ll come back to visit, and we can do this again.”
“I don’t care where you go,” Alex said, reaching the edge of the water. “You’ll be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life, because I will find you. Take my word on that.”
He laughed softly. “I’ll look forward to seeing you, then. Seek liberty, Foxy, and you’ll find me.”
The line went dead, and the boat sped up even more. “Bob, we have to stop him. Call someone, please.”
Bob quickly scrambled for his mobile as Alex’s heart sank. The boat had reached the open sea, and she realised how pointless it would be sending border control after him. Her legs gave way, and she settled on the damp silt beneath her. Fear that she would never fulfil her promise to track the bastard down swept over her.
Bob knelt beside her. “I know that look. Don’t beat yourself up, Alex. We’ll catch him.”
She smiled a weary smile. “No, Bob, we won’t. Not unless he wants us to.”
He led her back to the chaotic group dealing with Scarlet’s body. Her mind, instead of having wonderful thoughts about her sister, was riddled with the Escape Artist’s words. The months they had chased him, he’d taunted them with his riddles, but her mind raced after only his latest words. I dreamed a dream... Seek liberty, and you’ll find me. She punched herself in the thigh. “I’m such a fucking idiot.”
Bob stopped her pounding fist. “Alex, what on earth are you doing?”
“I’m so stupid. He was giving me clues all along, and I missed them.”
“About what, love?”
“When he rang me the other night, he was telling me that he had Scarlet. He uttered the words, ‘I dreamed a dream’. It’s only dawned on me now what he was referring to. Isn’t that a song from Les Mis?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen it. What difference does it make now, love? No reason to beat yourself up so.”
“It was his way of telling me that he was going after Scarlet. If I’d put aside my pride and listened to the bastard, I might have saved her.”
“I’m so sorry, but I really don’t think it would have made a difference, Alex.”
“Wouldn’t it? Now I have to figure out what he meant by ‘find liberty, and you’ll find me’.”
Bob hitched up a shoulder and stared out across the vast water. “Bloody bastard. The only thing that comes to mind is the Statue of Liberty in the United States.”
Alex followed his gaze. So that was what he had meant when he’d said she wouldn’t have jurisdiction. We’ll see about that... “He’s going to America, Bob, and I’m going to bloody follow him.”
EPILOGUE
Alex knelt beside the freshly covered grave, her hair dripping water on the turned earth. Bob had tried to stand near her with an umbrella after the others had gone, but she’d shooed him away. She wanted to be alone. She didn’t want their pity or the hugs they’d tried to lavish on her. Her fingers caressed the headstone words ‘In loving memory’.
Unbeknownst to Jordan, she’d saved her text files and the video from her mobile before he’d reclaimed it and fired her. She would make sure she never forgot what Scarlet had endured at that bastard’s hands. “I’ll find him, Scarlet,” she whispered. “Chief Brown says he can help me with a job, and he has a friend that I can stay with.”
She rose and wiped the mud from her knees. It was her fault. He’d made sure she knew that, and she would never forget that. Not until she’d made him pay.
Bob came to stand beside her once again. “
Let me take you home, love. The weather is only getting worse.”
“I could use a ride to the airport, if you’re up to it.”
“Don’t be daft, Alex. You can’t go after him on your own.”
Alex stared up at the gentle face of the man who had stood beside her for the last five years. She would miss Bob. She was only glad Jordan had believed her and not dismissed him, too. “I have to, Bob. For Scarlet’s sake, and all the others who died because we couldn’t stop him. He isn’t done, and when he starts up again, I’ll be there... this time, I’ll be ready.”
Bob tutted. “Let me talk to Jordan. He was angry, but you’re too good a sergeant for him to just write you off. He’ll let you back on the team.”
She turned her face to the sky, letting the rain wash away the last of her tears. “I’m going to America, Bob. I’m going to find him, and I’m going to kill him.”
THE END
Thank you for reading CLEVER DECEPTION; we sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this novel as much as we loved writing it.
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Table of Contents
Titles page
Copyright
Other Books by the Authors
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Table of Content