Lily scanned the remaining twelve cameras and sensors. Everything appeared normal on the other screens. She chided herself for being on edge. There was probably a perfectly simple explanation. She allowed herself to relax a little, she’d drink her tea then go down and check it out.
Just as Lily was about to return to the kitchen, another green light flashed on her computer. She looked in horror as the image to her garage fuzzed out of focus then disappeared off the screen.
Chapter 38
Ryan was nervous as he sat in the front of Lams Porsche; they were parked on a quiet back road behind the Hotel. The cars lights and engine switched off.
Picking up on his nerves, Lam turned to Ryan.
“Don’t worry. We’ll get to him before he can get to you.” She said with confidence as she leaned across and patted Ryan on his Kevlar bulletproof police vest. “It’s knife and bullet proof.” She said.
“What if he goes for my head?” Ryan said dryly.
Lam laughed and turned back to look out the window. She had changed what she was wearing and now wore black jeans and a black long sleeved jersey; she wore the Police issue black vest over the top of her clothes with POLICE printed in bright reflective silver across the back. Ryan looked at her. To the unsuspecting onlooker the bullet proof vest went un noticed underneath her clothes, but Ryan could still see the slight tell tail shape of it underneath Lam’s top, making her look more bulky than she really was. She was also expecting a fight. Ryan thought.
Lam looked at her watch. It was already 5:50pm and they had been sitting in the car for over fifteen minutes. She could feel the weight of Harpers restlessness as though it was something that she could reach out and touch. She felt completely under control. She had plain clothed police officers situated in and around the Hotel, all streets leading in and out were covered, with two further Officers patrolling the underground car park dressed as parking attendants.
Lam had sent two Officers across the harbour to pick up Lily. She expected that she would hear from them shortly. They should have arrived at the location by now. She would give them a few more minutes and then she’d call for an update.
She glanced one more time at her watch. It was time. She turned and nodded to Ryan. His task was simple enough. He needed to walk into the Peninsula lobby and sit on one of the couches. He would be monitored from all angles. At the first sign of any danger, the Officers would swoop in, grab him and take him to safety. It would all happen very quickly. Lam would be holding back out of sight. She was worried that Ghost Face may recognize her and he would run before she had the chance to get to him. They climbed out of the car and Lam removed her vest. She didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention before getting into position. They walked into the Hotel separately and she immediately wandered off toward the Hotel shops, leaving Ryan to make his way to the agreed waiting area.
She leaned against the cool white marble wall and pretended to look at an impressive jewellery display in the Tiffany’s window. She pulled out her phone and called one of the Officers at the Gold Coast for a status update. The phone rang out. She tried another number and let the phone ring. It also rang out. Lam called through to the station.
“I can’t get hold of Tsang or Lau,” she said, irritation entering her voice. She couldn’t afford for this to go wrong now.
“Keep trying them and call me back.” She snapped as she clicked off her phone and continued to watch the window. She checked her watch again. It was exactly six o’clock. She glanced sideways across the lobby. Ryan was sitting with his legs crossed. Still in the same trousers as before, but she had forced one of the plain clothed officers to switch shirts with Ryan before they left the station, so the bloodied shirt didn’t bring unwanted attention. He looked nervous, she noted. He was fidgeting, trying to look relaxed, but she knew that his heart would be pumping as he waited for something to happen. She scanned the busy floor and one by one was able to identify each Officer in position.
Turning back to the window she waited for a few more seconds. Something’s wrong, she thought to herself. A wave of unease washed over. She checked her watch again watching as the minute hand continued to tick past the hour.
He’s not coming, she thought with a sudden flash of panic. I’ve got this all wrong. He’s going after Lily.
As soon as the realization hit, Lam raced across the lobby floor toward Ryan. “We’re in the wrong place”, she said to him breathlessly, skidding to a halt in front of him and grabbing his shoulders. The sudden movement made Ryan jump. He stared at her for a moment until the realization sank in.
“Oh No,” he said simply.
Lam pulled the radio from her belt and spoke quickly.
“Everyone else back to the station, Wong, take Harper back to Wan Chai under police protection, and he stays there until I get back”, she pulled a startled Ryan up by the back of his shirt collar and still keeping the radio fixed to her ear whilst talking, she frog marched him out of the lobby and down the street. She reached the corner of the road and a man that Ryan didn’t recognize stepped out of the shadows. “Ryan, you’re safe now. Go with Wong.” She said releasing him and picking up her walking pace to a run.
“Where are you going?” Ryan yelled after her.
Lam flung herself into her car, pleased that she hadn’t opted for a slower staff car. She pulled away from the curb and worked through the gears. The traffic was always congested along the harbour front and already the lights were starting to change unfavourably. She leaned across to the passenger side and flicked open the glove compartment quickly pulling out the police siren. Winding down her window, she slammed it onto the roof. She could see the reflection of the light on the cars in front of her. The siren now doing its work as drivers started to make way for her car. It took her five minutes to work through the myriad of drivers and pedestrians before she found herself clear enough to put her foot down.
Lam estimated that she had at least a fifteen minutes drive before she would reach the Gold Coast. She called through to the station and asked again about Tsang and Lau. No one was able to locate them.
“I’m going to need back-up”, she said, as she pushed her foot to the floor and opened up the throttle.
Chapter 39
Lily was blinking hard. She was trying to keep the tears from flowing down her cheeks, willing them not to come now of all times. She flared her nostrils as she tried to draw as much air into her lungs as possible whilst the duct tape across her mouth tugged at the delicate skin on her lips. She lay looking up at her bedroom ceiling; the spotlights were bright and burned her eyes forcing them shut. She could feel the heat that they generated on her eyelids. The back of her head felt sticky against the pillow and throbbed where he had hit her. Her wrists were bound by thin rope and tied to the bedpost stretching her body to its full limit. She tried rotating her wrists in an effort to relieve some of the pressure, but it didn’t work. She only succeeded in making the skin even more raw and bloody.
Lily wondered when he would come back again. It had been at least five minutes she estimated. She wriggled her arms again. It was futile. She was so tightly bound that there was no way for her to escape. She turned her head from side to side scanning her bedroom, but knew that there was nothing close at hand that could help her. She closed her eyes and lay back for a moment trying to relax the muscles in her body.
She had been such a fool to think that only the Police would be concerned with tracking her location. She hadn’t considered for a moment that Ghost Face was smart enough to even think about it. She had underestimated him entirely. His desire to kill her and have her removed from the Society was immense. Ryan would just be something that he would deal with later.
He had used her own technology against her. She had naively thought that she would be completely protected in her safe house. But he was clever. He had managed to not only trace her cell phone and pin point her location, but, with the help of her own loyal employee, she thought bitterly, he had managed to hack into her securit
y systems remotely rendering her motion sensors and alarms useless. Ghost Face had simply walked into her home completely unchallenged.
The door of Lily’s bedroom opened and Ghost Face calmly walked across the plush white carpet to the edge of the bed and looked down at the woman before him. He was dressed in his usual attire; black shoes and pants, white shirt and black jacket. His black tie was loosely knotted around his neck. His hair, perfectly slicked back and freshly dyed, looked even darker against his pale white skin. Lily thought that he looked almost dead as she considered him from where she lay.
His eyes devoured her body as he traced her shape through her clothes with one hand. Lily moved and wriggled, using her free legs to push his hand away, causing him to laugh dryly.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.” He said taking a step back, out of reach of her long legs.
“I have wondered what this moment would feel like.” He smiled at her, an ugly dark smile.
Lily’s mind was racing. She couldn’t bear for him to touch her and wanted to bite him and spit, but the duct tape pulled firm against her mouth. She only had her legs free, but knew that ultimately he would be too strong for her. She watched him through narrowed eyes as he paced at the bottom of her bed, like a big cat stalking it’s prey. As he paced he slowly loosened his tie and removed it over his head, throwing it onto an adjacent chair and shrugged off his jacket, letting it drop to the floor. Then he slowly undid each button of his shirt.
Lily felt the nausea rise in her throat as she realized what this was leading to. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to think of something else, wishing that she could transport herself to another place until it was all over, or until she was dead.
Ghost Face was enjoying himself. He was in no rush this time. He could take his time and savour every movement, touch and taste. He wanted to remember it all, so that later he could draw on it at his leisure.
Before Lily could react, she felt the pressure on her lower legs. She opened her eyes to see Ghost Face sitting on her pinning her down to the bed. His hands worked quickly as he fumbled with the belt on her jeans as she struggled against him, desperate to stop this.
He was stripped to the waist now. She could see his smooth upper body was as pale as his face. He tugged the clothes off her lower half dropping them onto the floor, her phone falling out of her pocket and thudding silently onto the plush carpet. Lily clamped her legs together as tightly as she could. She was screaming at him now from behind her tape, but all that he could hear were muffled cries. Nothing that he wasn’t used to, he thought. Pinning her down again with his body, he lay on top of her until his face was pushed hard against hers. Lily swiftly moved her head to the side, trying to push her neck as far away from him as she could. She could feel his rancid hot breath against her cheek. The throbbing in her head increased now, and she wanted everything to black out, she wanted to faint, to sleep, to die. Anything that would take her away from here.
He whispered in her ear, and she could feel his cold lips against her face as he spoke.
“Your parents didn’t suffer”, he said, breathing heavily between words.
Lily tried to move her face further away from him but he lay heavily on her, restricted her movement.
“I made sure of that.” He continued, ignoring her writhing.
“It was easy to kill them, he breathed. Their routine was always the same. Dinner at the Mandarin every Thursday, so predictable, that I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it sooner.”
“It took just seconds to steer them off the bridge. A gentle nudge in the rear, and your Father lost control. The impact probably killed them”, he mused, now oblivious to Lily twisting and turning beneath him, hatred oozing from every pore in her body.
“Although I’m sure I recall a verdict of death by drowning. It’s supposed to be so painful. Your chest burns as your lungs scream for air, then your brain forces you to suck in, and all you can do is breathe. The cold liquid rushes in and the pain rips through your body. It can take up to three long, long minutes before you stop breathing, before your mind releases you from the pain.” He finished his monologue, bringing himself back to the moment.
He gazed sideways at Lily, enjoying the look of horror and pain on her hot wet face.
Pulling himself up onto his knees, he slowly placed both hands around her neck and applied pressure. Immediately the blood rushed to Lily’s head stopping her ability to breathe. She started to gasp, her body pushing back against him as hard as she could in an attempt to free her throat from his vice grip. Slowly darkness started to engulf Lily as she fought helplessly. The more she moved, the harder his grip became. Her muscles now weak and starved of oxygen were helpless against him. Panic flushed into her mind as she realized that she would die like this. She felt her eyes bulging. Flashes of light darted in front of her as her chest burned, desperate for air. She began to fall deeper into a dark abyss dimly aware of the man above her. His white face flowing in and out of her vision, shrinking until she could no longer see him. A loud buzzing noise was all that she could hear now as she felt her body finally submit. The fight in her ebbing away.
Lam pulled up to the house and saw the lights on. She had switched off her siren and lights a few miles back, not wanting to signal her arrival. She could just make out a police car to the left of the driveway. Poorly hidden among some trees and bushes.
She quietly stepped out of the car and pulled out her gun. She scanned the area and then ran quickly to the car. The two Police Officers lay slumped on the ground. She knelt down to feel their pulses, but they were already dead. Without wasting any time, she moved around to the start of the driveway. It was dark, so she quickly maneuvered herself up the side of the wall trying to offer some protection from the security camera. She reached the front door and tried the handle. It was locked. She looked around her and saw the garage to her left. She quickly ran to it and tried the handle. This time it opened. She lifted it until it was high enough for her to roll under. She closed the door behind her and felt her way through the darkness to an internal door. Her foot connected with something hard and she knelt down to pick it up. It was a piece of wood. She stood again feeling for the handle. She slowly pressed on it relieved when it clicked open. She stepped through into a bright hallway. She looked at the wood in her hand. It was covered in blood at one end. Not a good sign, she thought as she pushed it against the wall. It felt eerily quiet. She strained her ears and thought she could hear faint talking. She moved toward the staircase and listened again. Yes, she could definitely hear something. She tried the first step, but her boots creaked noisily. She stepped back and worked her boots off quickly leaving her in just her socks. She padded silently and quickly up the staircase, the sound of the voice getting louder as she did so. When she reached the top she scanned the landing and located what she thought was the master bedroom. Now she could hear the voice clearly and it sent a chill down her spine.
“Although I’m sure I recall a verdict of death by drowning. It’s supposed to be so painful. Your chest burns as your lungs scream for air, then your brain forces you to suck in, and all you can do is breathe. The cold liquid rushes in and the pain rips through your body. It can take up to three long, long minutes before you stop breathing, before your mind releases you from the pain.” The voice said.
“Unless you want a bullet in the back of your head, I suggest that you stop right now”, Lam said slowly, her hand steady, and her gun pointing at Ghost Face.
Before she could react Ghost Face had reached down for his ankle knife with his left hand and deftly threw it across the room as hard as he could toward Lam. She moved and twisted her body out of the way of the knife but it caught in her right arm, forcing her to drop her weapon as she landed hard on her feet. Seeing the gun land, with the pain searing through her arm, she bolted across the room, but Ghost Face was too quick. He was off Lily and already crouching down picking it up when she got there. His eyes gleaming and sharp, his body swea
ting as he stood and pointed the gun toward her.
“Interesting turn of events” he said as he watched the blood drip down Lam’s arm.
“A knife is faster than a bullet.” he quipped.
Lam remained silent. She glanced across at Lily’s still body, fearing the worst. She was too late, she thought.
“I should have killed you when I had the chance.” He said now, teasing her with the gun.
“It was foolish of me, but.” he trailed off.
“At least I get the chance to kill you thoroughly this time.” He finished.
Lam’s arm was burning with pain. The knife was pushed in deep and she suspected that if she looked it would be protruding out the other side.
“You think you are so clever. Fooling everyone around you, all the while building your own empire based on nothing but fear, becoming your own Master.” She said, trying to buy time. “But to be a Master, you need respect.” She continued getting into her stride. “Respect and loyalty.”
“I have respect and loyalty,” Ghost Face boomed. Laughing at her pathetic parry. “You understand nothing,” he said
“You are as worthless as your partners.” He said cruelly, “And you will die just like them. Without honor and without….”
The loud raspy gasp took them both by surprise, as they turned to look at the bed. It was the opportunity that Lam needed. With her good left hand she ripped the knife through her upper arm ignoring the tearing pain as she did so. As hard as she could, she threw the knife toward Ghost Face. This time his reaction was too slow.
The sharp point of the knife pierced his throat just below his adams apple. He gasped as he felt the cool rush of air force itself into his windpipe. Dropping his gun he frantically tried to pull the knife out. Blood was filling his mouth now. He could taste the warm metallic liquid as it started to bubble inside him. He was on his knees, his hands slipping on the blood soaked handle, losing his grip as his head started to swim. Then he tumbled onto his side. He was weak; life was ebbing away from him second by second, unable now to remove the foreign object from his body. He watched in disbelief as the blood changed the white carpet to red until he could see no more, until his breathing finally stopped.
Lights Out Page 27