by Peter Repton
‘Go on David, give me the number.’
David gave Sarah the phone number, made her repeat it back to him and said.
‘I love you, Sarah,’ then hung up. It killed him to treat her this way, but he felt it was necessary. The next part of his plan fell into action as he hurried back to his lodgings as she would be calling him back soon. David gave her the pubs land line number he had obtained before ordering his meal.
The pub called The Anchor had a call box on a wall just outside the mens toilets. David could not hear above the noise in the bar. He reasoned it was better to hide in plain sight; it was unlikely anyone would recognise him. It was a big risk, but he needed to do something.
David's idea was although the police could be listening to both his mobile phone and his land line at his house. They could not hear him on two public phone lines selected at random miles apart. He gave a ten-pound note to a young lad of about nineteen playing pool with a friend in the bar. He also gave instructions to answer the phone when it rang and when the caller confirmed her identity to give her another phone number to call. David also gave him a second tenner to promise not to tell the police. The young lad was both astounded and delighted at this turn of fortune, readily agreeing to play his part.
David knew the police would call the number themselves if they were tapping the phones. Just to find out where he was speaking to her from and attempt to arrest him there. David had already second-guessed this move.
He had previously already obtained another phone number well in advance of checking into the first boarding house, the one where old Dot lived. Five minutes passed, and a bus turned into the road a hundred yards away. As it approached, he pulled his hood up, sticking his arm out to flag it down at the bus stop just across from the Anchor pub. Jumping on board, he asked the plump driver the amount of the fare to the bus station. After paying it to the happy looking red-faced man, David sat down behind two girls, who were sitting together and constantly giggling, while repeatedly taking selfies on their phones. Looking out of the window as the bus moved off he thought.
‘This place will be a magnet for cops in a few minutes.’ The bus station was only a ten minute ride as David anticipated. A row of public call boxes stood outside the towns main bus terminal. Someone was in the phone box he wanted to use; he glared at the young woman. He noticed she was wearing a bright blue coat through the pane of glass separating them. David not anticipating this tapped his watch in front of her, mouthing.
‘Hurry up.’ The young woman scowled at him with dark eyes. She stuck up two fingers, turning her back on him and carried on talking. David was anxious now; he knew Sarah would call in a couple more minutes or so. He wrenched the door open saying politely.
‘I'm sorry, but I need to use this phone right now.’ The young woman spun around and spat at him.
‘Fuck off you prick just use another one.’
David shouted at her now.
‘I can’t, someone will be calling me on this number any second. I must take the call, look I'll give you ten quid to use another one yourself.’ The anger in the womans dark eyes seemed to fade as she weighed up the proposition.
‘Show me the money,’ she demanded. David pulled a note from his wallet, offering it to her.
‘I'll call you back later Robbie; I have to go now.’ She spoke putting the phone down at the same time as plucking the tenner from his hand. She pushed past David muttering something under her breath as she walked towards a parked bus. An age seemed to pass before the telephone rang. David imagined all kinds of scenarios of what may have gone wrong. He was relieved but still jumped at the volume of the ringing.
‘Hello Sarah, is that you?’ David asked the tension evident in his voice.
‘David, David, Oh my God yes it is. Why didn’t you tell me you gave me a number for a place you would not be at, I have been going crazy and...’
She was chattering again; David cut in with.
‘Sarah I know you have lots of questions, I will tell you everything soon if you give me a chance. God, I have missed the sound of your voice so much. I have been going crazy myself,’ he said in a soothing voice with deep felt tenderness. Sarah was sobbing now.
‘It's a bit too much for me, why don't you come home I am sure you will be able to deal with the police. Please, please just come home,’ she wailed.
‘Listen, darling. I will meet you tonight, it is evident what is going on now, I feel you will be safer with me, did anyone follow you? I warned you to be on the lookout,’ he queried.
‘No, I am sure no one followed me. The police were watching the house until last night but have not been near today,’ Sarah answered him, asking another question.
‘What do you mean I will be safer with you, do you think I may be in danger myself? Why would that be?’ she sounded worried now.
David noticed a short man wearing a flat cap look at him twice as he walked past the phone booth. The man continued walking for a few more yards, turned and now was looking back again. He met David's eyes for a moment then turned away, walking away at a much brisker pace.
‘Sarah I've been having a lot more of those visions, headaches and nosebleeds since seeing you last. Those events I see come to pass. Last night someone spoke to me called Raphael. He told me I see these things because I have a role to fulfil. That someone else is trying to destroy me, and I fear that you may be in danger too. That is why I want you to meet me tonight at midnight in Brigg outside the Angel Inn,’ Sarah was silent, quite unusual for her, as she absorbed this latest bit of information.
David could see the small man in the flat cap that had scurried off approaching a police officer. The officer was standing near the corner of the street at the other end of the bus station. It was time to move and fast.
‘David why don't you just come home,’ Sarah pleaded having regained a little composure.
‘None of what you say makes any sense to me now, just come back I am begging you.’
‘Sarah I'm so sorry I have to go again, right away, meet me outside the Angel Inn in Brigg at midnight. Make sure no one follows you,’ Sarah just broke down as soon as she heard the phone click and the line go dead.
35
‘Bingo!’ Jack Ford shouted loudly startling Wilson and Roberts, as he put his mobile away in his pocket.
‘We have a definite sighting of Kempston at the Grimsby bus station just ten minutes ago. Get me over there now Roberts you bloody little ginger toe rag. Get the siren on and don't worry about the speed limits either,’ he barked.
‘It seems Kempston was seen running from a call box outside the bus station, and then jumping onto a moving bus. The police officer at the scene made a note of the buses service number, relaying the information to our Grimsby base, who immediately informed the officer in charge of the investigation.’
Ford was elated at the latest development. His blue eyes shining brightly with excitement as he rubbed his hands together with glee.
‘We are on to the bastard now lads; we will nick him tonight for sure,’ he said with an unmistakable air of confidence. His phone then rang again.
‘DCI Ford,’ he answered.
‘Yes...Yes, Good, you are sure it is him?’ he enquired of the messenger.
‘Excellent work, thank you,’ he hung up, beaming at Wilson sitting beside him on the back seat.
‘What the hell is happening now?’ Roberts asked glancing at his DCI through the rear view mirror. Then he swerved as he overtook a refuse truck with his siren blaring.
‘It just gets better and better lads. We have recovered the CCTV footage from the restaurant where Lucy Higgins works. Two cameras show Kempston dining in there the same night she went missing. He was already there when she came to work that evening on the late shift. Kempston must have recognised her from the guesthouse. Try putting that down to coincidence.’
36
David had parked the stolen car in the shadow of a large Horse Chestnut tree down a side street. He pulled his hood
up over his head. The moon shone bright through broken clouds overhead in the midnight sky, creating crazy shadows all around. The situation was getting wilder he knew.
Fleeing from the bus station he leapt onto a moving bus, travelling on it for only one stop with the driver shouting at him all the time.
David jumped off again, running down an avenue lined with Cherry trees. He spotted a pensioner with wild grey hair reverse his car out of his driveway up alongside the kerb. The old man stepped out of his car with the engine running so he could close the wrought iron gates of his driveway. Seizing the moment David jumped into the driver’s seat, speeding off leaving the pensioner gaping after him with an open mouth. Three hours later David strode to his agreed meeting place with Sarah outside the Angel Inn. It was near the Old River Ancholme running through the heart of the pleasant small market town of Brigg. The wind was blowing stronger now. David felt quite cold as he turned the corner looking down both sides of the main road to see where she was waiting.
The Angel Inn, an old public house was just a few yards ahead of him. David could see no sign of Sarah anywhere, only her white Ford Fiesta hatchback, parked illegally in a pedestrianised area reserved for market traders. His heart soared when he heard his name called out.
‘David.’
Looking where the voice had originated from David could see nothing.
‘David,’ Sarah called again. His ears sensed the voice came from a narrow alleyway across the street. Almost running across the road now, he stumbled on large cobbles. They were set into the street, gracing the small market town for hundreds of years.
‘David,’ further away now, but definitely in front of him.
‘What the hell is the silly bitch playing at?’ David asked himself, ‘It's after midnight so why is she playing games with me?’
‘Sarah,’ he shouted out loud, not caring now who heard him. Silence. No reply. He walked for over two hundred yards, calling out again. To his left but far more distant he just made out her voice.
‘David,’ Sarah's voice carried on the wind. What the hell was going on here? It was Sarah's voice and identical every time. He knew her too well; he knew she would not muck around like this. Not under the current circumstances, and certainly not after midnight in a town she did not know that well.
Something was very wrong and so he started running towards the direction of her voice. Just a few hundred yards past a timber fencing yard called Ancholme Timber Merchants. On his right-hand side, there was a big sign with the names of lots of other small businesses on it. He guessed it was the entrance to an industrial area.
This industrial area extended for about a half mile alongside the canalised side of the River Ancholme. The river was just in front of him, to his left. He knew the Ancholme split into two. A large area of the town of Brigg sat on an island between the two arms of the same river. Motor parts dealers, electrical contractors and window fitters occupied this section of the riverside.
On both sides down this road were small business units together with various storage facilities. Towards the bottom of this tarmac road was a boatyard that backed onto the river.
‘David,’ Sarah's voice called out again.
David instinctively knew this was all wrong. His name was called out from behind a tyre fitters shop fifty yards inside the compound. Despite his misgivings, he could not take the chance that she actually might be in trouble, being taken down this road against her free will. That must be the case because she would not do it otherwise. He started running again.
David heard his wife call out again, but from behind him now. He was confused as Sarah could not be both in front of him and behind him at the same time. The final time he heard her call was as he rounded a tall concrete wall. The wall was outside the boatyard on the left. The last sound of her voice seemed to come from within a large steel fabricated building with a slipway running from the back of this building down to the river. Most of the boats were back in the water since April as he knew they were all lifted out onto hard standing for the winter. Within the confines of the boatyard were still six or seven boats all raised out of the water, they were all resting on massive wooden trestles.
Two of the motor boats appeared as if they were having their hulls repainted while out of the river. This building had two large red painted steel sliding doors facing the road. David could see a small side door open on the wall nearest to him; and a dim light glowed within.
David was terrified now, both for Sarah and for himself, he had absolutely no idea what to do next. He shouted out aloud again.
‘Sarah, for God's sake darling where are you?’ all David could hear was the wind whistling through a riverside willow tree at the water’s edge. Bracing for whatever may happen next he strode towards the dark doorway that someone had left open. He prayed it was Sarah as he stepped over the threshold, his heart racing in his chest.
Then David’s head was full of pain; his world descended into darkness.
37
David awoke in semi-darkness and felt weird inside his head. It was as if his brain was pressing against his skull on all sides and trying to get out. Sitting bolt upright with a start as his mind gradually cleared, David recalled what happened.
He remembered Sarah’s voice and the panic of trying to find her in the darkness, but what was going on now?
David was sitting with his hands and feet tied up. Then he heard a voice again, not as soft as Sarah's by a very long way. But he recognised it immediately, as he struggled to raise his head up off his chest. David trembled with fear when he heard the voice of the crazy biker say.
‘He is coming round now, so it is time for you to leave.’ David strained his eyes through the gloom and then was dazzled by a bright light. David could see the thin-faced Hells Angel with the goatee beard and piercings glance at him before he strode out of the door of the boatyard with the Satan's Servants emblem visible on the back of his denim jacket. In front of David now with his legs spaced apart and his hands on his hips, the crazy biker called Sammy grinned and then laughed as he said.
‘I told you that you would not be a match for me didn't I?’ he asked the question as he clapped his hands together in delight. Without waiting for him to reply Sammy giggled. Walking across the room to a tarpaulin covered boat that was raised up upon a wooden trestle. He continued while not taking his eyes off David.
‘I also said I would kill someone you loved as well if you remember,’ he raised his black eyebrows to emphasise his question then paused dramatically for and added effect. David confused and concussed, struggled to comprehend what he meant. Then the sudden realisation hit him hard.
‘Oh my God, please not my Sarah!’
Sammy grabbed hold of the lower edge of the tarpaulin and with a flourish threw it aside at the same time as he announced.
‘She is MY Sarah now!’ David howled.
‘You bastard what have you done?’ he gasped for breath, and his heart hammered at the shock of the vision before him. His lovely wife Sarah was hanging upside down with her legs splayed apart.
Each leg was tied up by the ankle with a blue nylon mooring rope to the upper part of the large X-shaped trestle. This trestle and others behind it held a large blue and white motor cruiser. The wide hull held aloft sat in the crossed timbers. A further rope secured her waist to the middle of the large wooden X next to the keel of the boat. Both of Sarah's arms pointed straight out from her shoulders at a right angle to her torso, fixed to another piece of planking nailed to the trestle especially for this purpose. David wailed out loud again.
‘NO!’ when he saw Sarah's hands were nailed through the palms to the planking. He struggled to take it all in, noticing a piece of rag over her crotch protecting her modesty. The crazy bastard had nailed her up to the plank. David's despair turned to partial relief as Sarah let out a low moan.
‘Oh thank God she is still alive,’ he thought. The relief that welled up inside him turned quickly to anger. He screamed at the biker at
the top of his voice.
‘Let my wife go you fucking bastard, or I will kill you!’ he had never used language like it in his life before. But Sammy just laughed again in David's face, spitting the words.
‘Hollow threats little man, the only person killing anyone around here is me. But at least you will have the best seat in the house to see it,’ Sammy again cackled out loud revelling in his mastery.
‘Your little lady passed out when the first nail went in, but she was screaming her little head off right up till then. I expect you are wondering how I got her here and ruined your cosy little reunion party yes?’ David was too stunned to reply he felt drained and called out.
‘Sarah, Sarah can you hear me, darling, please wake up.’ No response from Sarah.
‘Oh she will be awake when the real fun starts but come on you must be curious how I got you both here? It was brilliant, just fucking brilliant,’ stunned silence from David.
‘No, well I'll tell you. I got that Chisel Faced skinny sod to stake out your big fancy house without getting himself spotted by the cops. He had instructions to contact me immediately if she left the house so we could grab her as bait. Chisel Face then stalked her when she went to a call box and when he told me about it I just knew you had to have arranged a meeting with her. As soon as she got off the phone, we snatched her. After a little persuasion, she told me about your midnight rendezvous with her planned out here at the Angel,’ Sammy laughed out aloud again.
‘The Angel, the fucking Angel, oh my how that cracked me up! Instead of meeting at the Angel, she met up with the Angel instead ha! We strung her up in here and got her to shout your name into her phone and mine, and we recorded it. Chisel Face dumped her car near up at the Angel. We both lured you back here in turn by each of us playing her voice out loud on speaker phone. And you, hollow threats little man fell for it!’