With Deadly Intent

  Alex walked over as Eckley began gathering his stuff.

  ‘What can I do?’ he asked, his voice shaking slightly.

  ‘I can’t have you out canvassing, Alex. You’re too close, not to mention you look like shit. Can you stay here? Field any calls coming into the office?’

  Alex nodded with a sigh. Eckley was right, out there he’d be about as much use as a chocolate fire guard at present. He couldn’t leave though, not until they found Cass.

  He heard his mobile ring from the corner where he had been perched and quickly walked over, grabbing it from his jacket pocket.

  Alex fully expected it to be Rose, checking in on what was happening.

  When he saw ‘Cass’ flashing on his screen, he felt his legs collapse beneath him and had to grab the table edge to steady himself. ‘Eckley, wait. It’s Cass!’ he said loudly.

  He swiped the screen, his heart lodged firmly in his throat as he answered. ‘Cass?’

  The dull drone of machines was loud but there was no reply. He checked that the line was still open before speaking again.

  ‘Cass? Can you hear me?’

  ‘Clever girl,’ said Eckley. ‘Keep the line open, Alex, I need to speak with her mobile provider.’

  Realisation was slow in dawning to Alex, but then he sat down. Somehow, she had managed to call him. She knew they would be able to get a location using track and trace software.

  ‘She’s a bloody genius,’ he said to himself.

  ‘Is the line still open?’ shouted Eckley from his desk.

  Alex nodded, giving him the thumbs up. He kept the phone to his ear, listening for any other sounds. The drone of the machines sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

  ‘They’re running a trace now – they’ll get back to me in a few minutes,’ said Eckley, approaching Alex. ‘Can you put it on loud-speaker?’

  ‘Yea, it doesn’t work very loud though.’

  ‘Here, put your phone in this glass,’ interrupted Charlie, emptying her water on the floor and handing it to him.

  He looked at her incredulously. ‘Huh?’

  ‘The glass provides a natural speaker, trust me,’ said Charlie with a slight shrug.

  Alex activated the loudspeaker and placed the phone inside the empty glass. The volume almost doubled and the whirr of the machines could be heard loudly.

  Suddenly, they heard the sound of a muffled voice.

  7th November, 1420 hours - Ryhope Police Station

  He felt his anger burning, almost out of control. Frank couldn’t rein it back in. He had the feeling this was a big mistake. Bringing her here, to the station. He should have just killed her in the woods and left it at that.

  He cursed at himself loudly, his brain refusing to kick in when he begged it to tell him how to get out of this.

  What the hell am I going to do?

  He could just kill her now and leave her there in the boiler room to rot. But there were so many officers in and out of the back yard at present, he doubted he would be able to make it to the fleet car, let alone get out of the yard. He wasn’t in disguise.

  He cursed again, this was all her fault. If she hadn’t made him focus on her instead of the task at hand, then he would have been fine. Irrationally, he was now blaming her for everything.

  There was only one thing Frank could had left that he could control. He walked over, towering above her as she tried not to show her fear. He put the red toolbox on the floor in front of her and pulled it open, widening it out so all the trays were exposed.

  He’d originally thought he would use the hammer, but now he wanted something quicker that took less energy. Suddenly, he was very tired.

  He rubbed a hand across the top of his head before pulling the knife from the tray, and watching, Cass screamed through the tape covering her mouth. She felt the phone slip from her grasp as he came closer, her eyes widening as she focused on the knife. The mobile hit the floor with a dull thud and for a second she didn’t think he had heard it.

  But the sound had invaded his anger.

  She had done something.

  Viciously he pulled her from the wall, seeing the glowing phone screen on the floor, realising the implications.

  ‘Bitch,’ he screeched loudly, then he leant down towards the screen and softly said, ‘You’re out of time, McKay. Say goodbye.’ He raised his boot and smashed it down on the screen of her phone, terminating the signal forever.

  7th November, 1422 hours - Ryhope Police Station

  Alex felt the blood drain from his face – Reynolds was going to kill her.

  He looked up, helpless. Everyone in the room had fallen silent, all of their faces frozen, showing every emotion from concern to anger.

  Eckley slammed his fist on the table, making everyone jump.

  ‘We’ve still got time, people. Get back to it,’ he barked.

  Alex felt his shoulders slump, Ollie’s head resting on his knee.

  Absentmindedly he ran his hand gently over Ollie’s head and ears. Men were supposed to be strong, the police even stronger. But all he felt was emptiness, swallowing him whole.

  Chapter Thirty Eight

  7th November, 1435 hours - Ryhope Police Station

  Cass was confused.

  She had thought Frank would flip when he saw the mobile phone, had braced herself for the physical onslaught she figured would come. But he didn’t. He slapped her, hard, and then strode silently to the computer.

  It’s the calm before the storm.

  She glanced around, desperation fuelling her thoughts. She needed to find a way to get out of these cable ties. Trussed up like a Christmas turkey, she had no hope of fighting back.

  She knew that the track and trace would be useless now the phone was off, unless they‘d already done it. It was time to stop relying on other people to get her out of this mess.

  She edged along the wall a little, desperately feeling for something, anything, that she could use against the plastic restraints. Then a nail ripped into the sensitive skin on her forearm. Ignoring the stinging pain, she set to work, rubbing the ties back and forth over the sharp point.

  7th November, 1440 hours - Ryhope Police Station

  Frank sat in front of the computer screen, staring at the flickering wallpaper as his thoughts jumbled together.

  There was no way out.

  He felt a sense of calm as he considered his options. He would go to prison for a long time, possibly his whole life. They would practically throw away the key.

  Not because of the murders, but because of her.

  Everything always came back to her.

  He’d felt great satisfaction as he’d slammed his fist into her nose, grinning as the red river had freed itself, running down her chin and onto her clothes. She would be finding it harder to breathe now, the blood clotting inside her nose and sinuses, her cheeks swelling and her mouth restricted by the tightness of the silver duct tape.

  He really wished he’d taken her somewhere else. Hindsight was always 20:20. It would have been somewhere he could have taken his time, and enjoyed every iota of pain he inflicted on her.

  So far, she was proving to be resilient. She hadn’t cried, barely yelling out as he had split her ribs in two, and bruised her diaphragm. Cass hadn’t once complained despite the pain she must be feeling with every inhalation of breath.

  His mouth set in a grim line, he wanted to break her. He’d expected tears at the very least. Now he wouldn’t have that luxury. It was almost time now for it to be over, almost time to finish it.

  But he was struggling with his final decision.

  Should he stay, or should he go?

  7th November, 1445 hours - Ryhope Police Station

  The phone on the DCI’s desk rang shrilly.

  ‘Eckley. Uh huh, uh huh. That can’t be right. You ran it twice? OK.’

  His broken sentence made little sense until he put the phone down and glanced around the room.

  ‘The GPS trace is showing Cass’s locati
on as this address. She is somewhere in this police station, people – I want every member of staff in the nick pulling into this room right now. We work in groups, moving room to room. Let’s go.’

  Within seconds the room was packed. Eckley repeated the orders, quickly assigning everyone a floor.

  He paused when he came to Alex.

  ‘Don’t you dare, Eckley. I am working this. I’m gonna take Ollie – hopefully he will sniff Cass out. I am not staying in this damn office.’

  Eckley gave him a curt nod, ‘Charlie and you two, you’re with Alex,’ he said, pointing at Deena and Ben.

  Alex knelt down in front of Ollie, his grey eyes connecting with Ollie’s soulful brown ones. Gently he stroked the dog’s ears.

  ‘Find Cass, Ollie, where’s Cass?’

  Instantly Ollie jumped to his feet and ran to the door, whining loudly. Alex kept hold of his leash but let it extend to the max. Without a pause the dog ran to the stairs, quickly followed by Alex and the girls.

  7th November, 1455 hours - Ryhope Police Station

  Frustrated, Cass grunted against the tape. The stupid nail seemed to be cutting her arm more than the cable ties. She felt wet blood adding to the friction of her movements but she kept going.

  She needed to get free.

  She was concentrating so hard she barely noticed as Frank appeared in front of her once more.

  ‘Stop,’ he said, his face inches from hers.

  ‘It’s time. You need to know something though. This is your fault. Everything that’s happened is down to you. You’ve walked around the station for years, pushing people about, bossing them and forcing them to run to do your bidding. Well no more. It just had to be you on the hill that night, had to be you attending Susan’s death. Anyone else wouldn’t have seen the slice to her neck, but not you, Cass. Little Miss CSI.’ His voice had lowered to a menacing growl, and he paused a moment, grabbing her face in his hands.

  Cass was afraid; Frank’s eyes were cold, calculating. She knew there would be no changing his mind. He intended to see her dead.

  ‘And to score you for Albert. Precious Albert, all alone in his cave. He didn’t stand a chance. You scurried around, making the officers carry your gear, calling scientists in. The little redhead was hot. I should’ve looked in on her, let her examine her own blood patterns.’

  Cass suddenly clicked. All the times she had thought she was being watched, the times the hairs stood up on her neck, it had been him. He had been watching.

  ‘It was just luck when Scott came along when he did. The jumped-up little prick called himself Andy. As if I couldn’t find out who he was. I can find out anything. I found out who he was, the bully you used to shag. I found out who he was and I took care of him. He wasn’t getting his mitts on you. You’re here for me. You should have heard Scott scream, Cass, he had tape like you. But he at least tried to scream and beg. And he cried like a baby. Are you going to cry, Cass? Will you cry as I kill you? Will those tears fall as I watch the light go out of your eyes?’

  Cass shook her head, there was no way on earth she would show him how scared she was. She had learned with Carl how to detach herself from what was happening, send her mind to another place so she didn’t have to face what was going on. But she’d be damned if she would go down now without a fight.

  She worked the ties again, hard against the nail, ignoring the pain as it scored her wrists. And she stared at Frank, making sure her eyes showed defiance.

  Even as he retrieved the knife from rusted red toolbox, she stared at him.

  Cass flinched as the knife cut through her joggers as if they were nothing more than soft butter. She felt the sting as it cut into the flesh at the top of her thigh, but still she stared into his eyes, willing him to let her go but knowing it was futile.

  He pushed the blade in deeper, and twisted it. Slowly he withdrew the knife and she felt her leg quickly grew warm as blood poured from her wound through her trousers and onto the floor. She knew that he had sliced into her artery. Her leg burning, she watched as he sat down in front of her.

  Her eyes widened as he drew the knife diagonally across both his forearms, his blood rapidly pooling beneath his fingers.

  ‘I’m not going to jail. We will die together, Cass. We’ll be bound for eternity by this very act. The final act. The curtains will soon be drawn. I’ll see you on the other side.’

  Cass watched as he seemed to fade in front of her, and she leaned forward, trying to stem the flow of blood from her leg by using her upper body. Slowly she closed her eyes, letting him think she had passed out, and for the first time in a very long time, she prayed.

  Chapter Thirty Nine

  7th November, 1505 hours - Ryhope Police Station

  Ollie dragged Alex to the door in the yard. He knew his mistress was behind that door. He’d known earlier but now Alex seemed to be listening. Sitting on his haunches, he opened his mouth and howled.

  The sound was mournful, primal.

  Alex couldn’t help but stop, lost in it for a moment, then he pulled himself together and turned back to the girls.

  ‘Deena, go get Eckley. Ben, do you know where the keys are for this door?’

  Both girls nodded and ran back to the station.

  Alex left Ollie howling and banged on the door.

  ‘Reynolds, I know you’re in there. I’m coming in as soon as I get a key. I swear to god if you’ve hurt her I will kill you myself. Reynolds!’

  He was verging on hysteria as he banged his fists on metal door, hoping Ben could find the key. This was one door that wouldn’t be forced using an enforcer – the metal structure and frame probably ten times stronger than the UPVC doors the tool was normally used on.

  Footsteps sounded behind him as the yard filled with his colleagues, Eckley at the forefront.

  ‘Someone get me a damn key for this door,’ said Eckley. ‘I need floor plans for this station – there must be another entrance to the boiler room.’

  ‘The keys are missing. They were in the handy man’s office. But there is another entrance, Sir,’ said Ben. ‘There’s an access door from the old cells. It’s never used but it’s there.’

  ‘Eckley, stay here and bang on the door, let him think we are coming from here. I’ll head to the other entrance and try and get in that way. My team, you’re with me.’

  Without waiting for Eckley to respond, Alex sped off back into the station.

  7th November, 1510 hours - Ryhope Police Station

  Cass half-opened her eyes, trying to fight the feeling of darkness dragging her down.

  Frank was in front of her, his eyes vacantly staring into the darkness, and she knew he was dead. It wasn’t fair – he’d got off too easily. It wasn’t fair to his victims.

  A hysterical giggle burst from her lips.

  Victims? I think I count as one of his victims now. Where are you, Alex?

  She could hear banging, somewhere in the recess of her mind, and for a moment she begged it to shut up. Her leg was burning, it felt almost as if it were on fire.

  That’s a good sign right? That I can feel pain?

  Cass felt tears well in her eyes, this was it. There was no way to let Alex know where she was, no way he was going to get to her in time.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Alex,’ she whispered as the curtains finally closed, and she felt herself drift into oblivion.

  7th November, 1515 hours - Ryhope Police Station

  Unnoticed by Eckley, Ben had left with Alex and his team. As they entered the cell block, she pushed her way to the front.

  ‘Here, it’s over here,’ she said, pointing to a door.

  Alex placed his ear to the door. The only sound from the other side was the drone of machines.

  ‘Ben, stay well back, we don’t know what weapons he has but you can be sure he has some. On second thoughts, head back out to Eckley and tell him we are here. Do you know if it’s locked?’

  ‘I don’t know. Sorry, Alex,’ said Ben.

  ‘It’s fine.
You did great, Ben, thank you.’

  Alex tried the handle quietly. The internal latch clicked off and the door loosened from the grip of its frame. He could hear Eckley banging on the exterior door and prayed that would be enough to mask any sound.

  ‘Charlie, stay here in case he comes out, Bill and Pete head left. Darren, Mal, you’re both with me. Batons out guys, we don’t know what he has on him, and I’ll be damned if we’re waiting for armed response.’

  Silently they entered the boiler room, their eyes taking a minute to adjust to the darkness.

  Alex paused at the electronic set up – Eckley was full view on the screen, banging hard on the door. He felt his heart go cold as he saw the notepad application open, the words as dark as Reynolds himself.

  ‘You wanted her. You found her. Too late.’

  Slowing his breathing, Alex stepped around the whirring machines and felt his heart leap into his throat at the horror that stood before him.

  Tears filled his eyes; he was too late. He’d never seen so much blood. It glistened in the dull light, and the metallic stench assaulted his senses. He knew he had to be the one who checked Cass.

  He heard the external door click open, heard the rush of footsteps and the lights clicking on just as the room flooded with light. He heard a scream as Deena saw Cass. Someone herded her outside, and he felt the hush fall over his colleagues.

  Reynolds was inert, backed against a machine, his eyes glassy and open.

  Alex ignored him, making a beeline for Cass.

  She was hunched over, almost in two, blood pooled beneath her. Her hands were stretched behind her back, and he bit his cheek as he saw the cable ties cutting into her pale skin.

  Forcing himself to breathe, he gently placed two fingers against the side of her neck.

  His eyes widened as he picked up the faint beat of her pulse.