After a few moments of just standing, Ling Ling broke the silence. “What do you want me to call you?” She asked.
Ghost Face was serious now. His breathing had increased as he took in the view of her body. Her ad had stated that she was smooth skinned, and she certainly was.
Ignoring Ling Ling’s question, Ghost Face hungrily pulled her closely to him forcing her small body against his strong frame. With one hand he held her wrist tight behind her back squeezing hard so that she couldn’t move, and with the other grabbed clumsily at her bra strap pulling it down as far as he could until her firm left breast bobbed out of the lace.
“That…that hurts a little”, Ling Ling managed to say, trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice.
Ghost Face leaned in close to her face squashing his cheek up against hers. He whispered close to her ear, gripping her wrist even more tightly.
“Good.”
Fear seized Ling Ling as she wriggled her wrist to try and free herself from his tight grip. With her other hand she pushed against his upper body as hard as she could, but the attempt was futile, he was so much stronger than her.
“Stupid, stupid girl”, he snarled, starting to enjoy himself. He could feel his erection grow as he pushed his body towards hers until they reached the side of the bed.
Still with his face against her cheek, Ling Ling could hear his breathing quicken. She could feel her own heart was beating faster, and a cold panic began to take hold as she realized that she was in mortal danger. Survival kicked in as she forced herself to focus. Maybe, she thought, trying to calm herself, if I just let him do what he wants to me without fighting, then he’ll leave, she reasoned with herself. She’d had enough rough clients before and had always managed to survive the night.
Any glimmer of hope that she had at that moment diminished immediately.
“You should always double check who you let into your home.” Ghost Face rasped the last sentence. Unable to hold back any longer he pushed her down onto the bed with his one free hand as he quickly fumbled with the belt and zip of his pants with the other.
Before Ling Ling could say another word, he had covered her mouth with his hand, and pushed her legs open. Her eyes were wide with horror now as she could feel the pressure of his hand across her nose stopping the flow of air. He pushed down against her, and yanked the delicate lace underwear, ripping the elastic to one side grazing her hip in the process, and pushed himself inside her. He could feel that she was tight. He looked down at his prize. She was gripping onto his wrist with both hands trying to lift his arm away from her nose and mouth desperate for air, but his whole body weight was now against her small frame. He took pleasure from the look of sheer terror on her face; he always did like this part the most. The more she struggled to release herself, the more he pressed down and the harder his erection became. He could feel her gasping and struggling to breathe, her muffled sounds worked well as background noise, complimenting the lighting and shadows. Her grasp became less urgent now and he moved his hand away from her nose and mouth and settled his grip firmly across her throat moving the pressure to her windpipe. Ling Ling could only manage a small gasp. Her mind was in turmoil now as she could feel her lungs screaming for air. She fought unconsciousness as the black spots danced and flickered in front of her eyes, the crushing pain across her neck spiked through her whole body. Now she didn’t have the energy to fight. Her body began to submit as the black closed in around her. Her eyes became glassy as she looked up again for the last time at her killer, his face now out of focus and slipping further away. She lay still as he moved in an out of her body. Her knees flopped open wide on either side of her, whilst he continued to move back and forth forcing down on her with as much strength as he could muster. Now he had forgotten her completely, lost in his own fantasy, his eyes closed enjoying himself to the end. He could feel the odd twitch and movement beneath him, but this just heightened his pleasure.
Finally Ghost Face finished, his eyes were closed tightly, his head back. Sweat was dripping off his pale forehead falling onto her semi naked body. His hair flopped across his eyes, no longer the neat, slick back style that he had arrived with. He looked down at the girl beneath him. Her face now softened in death, her long black hair framing her head and shoulders, only her wide eyes gave away the terror that she had endured. He removed his hand from her crushed neck, leaving behind the indents of his fingers and the first signs of the familiar bluish purple bruising. Her arms dropped down to the side of her body.
He calmly made his way to her small bathroom, and turned on the single naked bulb using the pull cord, careful to wipe away any fingerprints from the small plastic end piece. There was just a plain, unframed mirror on the wall over the sink, a toilet and a basic shower. He carefully removed his clothes, folding them one by one, resting them on the toilet seat lid before stepping into the shower. He scrubbed his body in the hot water, ensuring that every last bit of her was cleaned away. Stepping out, he dried himself down with one of her towels and wiped down the shower cubicle behind him. Next he dressed himself, and meticulously wiped down every last surface. He walked out of the bathroom and over to the bed, and looked at Ling Ling. In that short time, deep bruises had formed across her neck, appearing like a scarf. He had enjoyed her very much. He gazed at her for a moment longer, losing himself in his thoughts, then reluctantly continued his clean up. He reached into her bedside drawer to retrieve his $1’600 dollars, careful to wipe down the handle and anything that he touched and put the money back into his pocket. Taking one last look at her body, he switched off the side lamp taking with him the red silk cloth, a small trophy. He walked over to his shoes and slipped them on, using the towel to wipe any footprints that they may have been left behind. He undid the chain and silently let himself out of the apartment taking the towel with him. He swiftly retraced his steps down the winding staircase and back again onto the main street. Satisfied that no one had seen him exit, Ghost Face crossed the road, and made his way back towards the now silent harbour and to the refuge of his apartment.
Exhausted, Ghost Face had arrived back to his apartment at 4am and managed to sleep fitfully for five hours. At 9am daylight finally stole his sleep. His mind was immediately engaged before he climbed out of bed. The previous evening was now a distant memory, stored away until he needed to draw upon it. Now he had more pressing things to focus on.
The sound of his phone ringing quickly brought Ghost Face back to the present moment. He reached across to his bedside, swiftly scooping up the phone and pressed the answer button. Holding the handset against his ear he simultaneously looked at his wristwatch whilst he listened to the caller. A few moments later, without emotion or acknowledgement, he simply ended the call, stood up and quickly started to dress.
Chapter 10
AUGUST 8: LIGHTS OUT
Ryan sat at his desk unable to concentrate. He had read and re read the same email several times, but he couldn’t stand the noise. The renovations at the Bank had been going on for weeks now. Early every morning the contractors would clear out the rubble and rubbish from the previous days work. Then throughout the morning, he would have to endure the scraping and banging. It felt to Ryan like it was his head being pounded, not the walls. It was pulling his concentration far away from his work.
Ryan looked at his calendar and sighed with despair. They had at least another 10 days to go before all of the demolition work would be complete.
Coupled with the distraction of the building work, Ryan’s morning had been continually interrupted by his colleagues dropping by to see how he was doing and to find out more details of Friday’s shooting incident. Finally, and thankfully John called him into his office rescuing him from the constant flow of people at his desk.
As Ryan entered John’s office he was pleased to see him sitting back in his chair relaxed and smiling.
“Ryan, you seem to have a gained a bit of notoriety in this office’, he spoke with a broad smile on his face. Ryan simply s
miled back, not sure whether it was meant as a jibe against his apparent lack of work or just a friendly comment. He decided to lean towards friendly comment, preferring that to any negativity generated from the event.
“I do have a bit more information for you with regards to Friday, but didn’t want to bother you over the weekend, so I thought I’d wait until now. Obviously there’s no question that there was a major mess-up with the security cameras that morning. I’m not blaming you Ryan, but of course it’s Sod’s Law that the only morning that the camera’s are not rolling, is the very same morning that someone tries to get in. It is a smudge on our faultless record. But, arguably, he didn’t get in, and that’s primarily because your guys did what they were supposed to do.” He paused.
“So all in all it’s a bit of a back handed compliment.” He finished, taking a look at Ryan to see his response. Ryan looked subdued and guilt ridden.
“Are you OK? Are you up for being back at work so soon?” John’s face suddenly looked concerned, it reminded Ryan of a look his Father gave to him from time to time.
‘John, really I’m fine. Really. In fact Rob’s been baby-sitting me pretty much all weekend. I’m actually fine. I was a little shaken up on Friday, but OK now.” Ryan still wasn’t sure if that was true. However, he didn’t want John to think that he wasn’t man enough to deal with it.
“OK, good. On Friday the Police were all over the Bank. They think the old man could be from the mainland. Working for someone else, but they don’t know who yet and definitely not an inside job. Which is always a relief.” He smiled a half smile, taking small consolation in that fact.
“The Police think that it was just a bad attempt at a bank robbery.” John said, his smile shifting into something more serious.
“You do know it’s impossible to break into this bank. With the new camera’s and our security measures. Anyone would be a fool to try.” He said to himself more than to Ryan.
“Busy day with this Lights Out thing tonight, Bloody protesters got their way.” John sighed and looked at his watch, notifying Ryan that he had more important things to be getting on with.
“Thanks John. I have to do a report for RSG in London by end of day, so I’ll send you a copy once it’s complete.” Ryan said.
“Thanks Ryan, I’d be interested to read it”.
Ryan stood up and made his way back down the corridor and to his own cluttered and busy desk. As he arrived, his next visitor was already waiting for him.
“Hey buddy” Rob was sitting in Ryan’s office chair pushing it around in a circle.
“Just thought I’d check in and see how you are?”
“I’m good. I’ve just had John asking me the exact same question.” Ryan perched himself on the edge of his own desk. Ignoring Ryan, Rob continued his own line of questioning.
“So tell me lover-boy, how’s it going with the lovely Lily?” Rob teased.
“You know I don’t kiss and tell.” Ryan replied. “Suffice to say, she’s a biscuit.” He gave Rob a wink and a broad smile.
“C’mon man, don’t leave me in the dark.” Rob said pouting. “I need to know.”
Ryan laughed, “don’t you have some stocks to trade or something?” Ryan checked his watch.
“I’ll leave you to your sordid thoughts whilst I go for a run.”
Ryan stood up from the desk and lent down to grab his sports bag next to Rob’s feet, as he stood up he pulled on the back of the chair that Rob was sitting in and gave it a hard shove. Leaving Rob spinning in the chair.
‘I’ll have to prime you with a drink, if I’m going to get any gossip out of you.” Rob responded with a laugh. ‘I don’t give up that easily.’ He leaned back with his arms across his chest as the chair slowed to a stop.
“Well, you are persistent, I’ll give you that”, Ryan said gripping his sports bag and giving Rob one last smile as he headed off down the corridor.
It was 12.30pm. The hottest time of the day for running, but the only chance that Ryan had would have that day. The air felt humid, which made it hard for it to reach Ryan’s lungs. He breathed in again, sucking the sticky air through his nose and expanding his chest. It was sweltering, around, 32 degrees. There was no breeze, just the wet heavy atmosphere making the sky appear lower than normal. Ryan breathed in one last time, stretched his arms above his head and slowly stepped into a gentle jog.
Increasing his pace Ryan tried to focus his mind elsewhere. His feet were pounding hard on the pavement; his breathing was loud and heavy. He could immediately feel the heat on the back of his neck, reminding him that he had no sun protection.
Ryan always ran on the same road. Hidden away half way up the mountainside it was a running and walking path. It spanned a total of eight kilometers weaving and snaking around the mountain. Trees hung over sections of the path offering some shade, but the majority of the run was open to the elements. Along the road there were just two exit paths forking off down the left side of the mountain, offering those less fit or willing to take an early exit.
When Ryan ran this path in the mornings he would often see old Chinese men and women doing their early morning exercise. Stretching their bodies as best they could trying to remember old Tai Chi moves that they could no longer do effectively.
Running always made Ryan feel relaxed. He was in his own world here. The running path was close enough to the City to still feel the hustle and bustle. Overlooking the high-rises and the skyline, but far enough up the side of the mountain to block out the drilling, shouting, honking and chattering. It allowed him to lose himself for a short while. Today there was no view. The clouds hung low and sat like hats on top of all the high-rise buildings. Ryan just focused on the path and his breathing.
Lost in his own reverie, Ryan jumped when Detective Lam unexpectedly paced herself next to him.
“Hey, sorry if I startled you”, Sarah said, slightly breathless.
Ryan looked at Detective Lam. He was surprised to see her running here, and impressed that she could keep pace with him.
“Hi, no problem, I was in a world of my own” he said embarrassed by his sudden reaction to her arrival.
“It helps me to get out of the office for a while. The renovations are really distracting.”
“Oh”, Sarah replied simply. “Me too. Running helps me to clear my head and arrange my thoughts. It’s a good working process.” She glanced sideways at Ryan. He looked uneasy with her running there beside him.
They ran alongside each other for some time in silence, each concentrating on their own thoughts.
Ryan spoke first.
“Any closer to finding out who the dead guy is?”
Sarah knew that they weren’t, but didn’t necessarily want him to know that they had no new leads yet.
“Yes, we are making headway, it may be a while before we can announce or confirm anything.” She said slightly breathless using her professional police response rather than the truth.
‘Oh” Ryan replied, not knowing what else to say.
He started to feel a bit awkward running alongside a Police Detective. Had she followed him here? He started to wonder if this was just a coincidence.
“So, I guess you’ll just let me know if you need me for anything else?”
Sarah picked up the hint from Ryan. This wasn’t her usual style, bumping into a witness on a social level, however incidental.
“Yes of course.” She said. “Enjoy your run, I need to start heading back.”
Sarah swiftly turned around and stepped up her running pace, leaving Ryan running in the opposite direction bemused by their encounter.
Before Ryan had a chance to respond she had disappeared around the side of the mountain.
Sarah felt irritated as she ran back toward her apartment. She was frustrated that she couldn’t close the bank case. The Chief was still getting pressure from the top, so likewise he was re-directing his frustration down to her and her team. As for Harper, there was something about his involvement that made her
feel unsettled; she couldn’t put her finger on it. She just had a feeling that things were not as they seemed with him. Or maybe she was just imagining it. She chided herself for letting her thoughts run wild. Facts. That’s what she needed, facts and leads, of which she had precious little of either.
Ryan finished his run, but didn’t feel any better for it. Hoping that the run would free up his mind from the noise at the Bank, all he had managed to achieve was to fill his head with thoughts of the dead Chinese man. Flash backs of his pale waxy skin, the soaked overalls, wet with blood, the coffee cup slowly rolling across the floor, spilling the brown liquid content onto the white marble. He couldn’t shake it. He wondered if it was like this for everyone who had ever seen a dead body. Constantly appearing at inappropriate and unwelcome moments.
Ryan stood under the hot shower in the staff changing rooms for a few minutes. Finally thoughts of the old man began to wash away and were replaced by thoughts of his afternoon ahead. Suddenly his head was filled with deadlines and reports pleased that he had something that would keep him busy for the rest of the day.
He grabbed his towel and dried himself down, then pulled out his clothes and sports bag from the locker.
Once dressed, Ryan made his way back to his desk and listened to the scraping and banging of the renovations.
Chapter 11
AUGUST 8: 1:00pm
Officer Chow was sitting at his desk carefully going over the case files that Lam had placed on his desk before lunch. He was supposed to go through every one in fine detail to see whether they had missed anything, any detail, no matter how small. He had read and re read the files, but there was nothing. He could sense that she was under pressure. She was generally very non-communicative at the best of times, but when she was under pressure from the Chief, she became snappy and irritable and it was normally down to him to bear the full brunt of it. Finally, to his relief, she had gone for a run to clear her head and would only come back to the station later in the day.
Lights Out Page 6