Psychological Thriller Series: Adam Stanley Boxed Set: Behind Shadows, Positively Murder and Mind Bender

by Netta Newbound

  "Shall I bring kebabs home for dinner?"

  "Oh, that sounds nice—save me cooking."

  "Say hi to Sonya for me, if I miss her."

  "Will do. Love ya, baby."

  "I love you too, darling." He hung up, happier knowing his wife would be occupied for the evening.

  He transferred the phones over and walked back into his surgery. After gargling with the pink mouth rinse, he combed his fingers through his stylish brown hair, wrapped a tartan scarf around his neck and shrugged into his navy overcoat.

  Opening the top drawer of his equipment cabinet, he pulled out a mobile phone stashed inside. No messages, so he presumed all was still as planned. Switching the phone off he returned it to the drawer. He couldn't use his own phone. Bethany would often search for anything suspicious. She grew up in a family with a serial adulterer for a father, making her hyper-vigilant to any unusual activity. A spare phone kept his other life separate.

  One last glance at his reflection and he headed for the door.

  Joe had been a dentist for eight years and had his own practice for five of those. He married Beth six years ago and they had Chloe, the love of his life.

  He loved her with an intensity that he hadn't thought possible before she had burst into their world almost four years ago, with her bright red misshapen head, yellow-tinged skin and a set of lungs Dame Kiri Te Kanawa would be proud of. It was love at first sight. Needless to say, she grew into her head and the jaundice cleared, but the lungs she still had. He worried how he would react when she reached the age to start dating. Beth mocked him, saying he'd probably try to lock her in the bell tower. He would, if he could afford to build one on top of their townhouse.

  With a twinge of regret, he realised he didn't ask to speak to his daughter, and he wouldn't get to see her until tomorrow now.

  At the car, he placed his briefcase into the boot before getting in and heading a few blocks up the road to Green Hill Inn, a converted fun pub. Joe used to frequent the Saturday disco as a teenager. Nowadays the pub got a lot of negative press due to the violence and police presence every weekend. He didn’t think there would be much activity on a Tuesday night, though.

  The loud music wasn't his thing at all and a headache threatened before he even had a chance to order a drink. At the far end of the bar, the music didn't seem so overbearing.

  With a drink in his hand, he took a seat at the back of the lounge, giving him a perfect view of the room.

  He didn't have to wait long. Gavin arrived early. Joe recognised him from his profile page and waved a beer mat to get his attention.

  Standing up to greet him, they shook hands and exchanged a couple of blokey back slaps.

  Joe always hated the first awkward ten minutes or so. He liked what he saw though. Although older than he expected, Gavin had distinguished good looks with an amazing smile and great teeth—an essential feature to Joe.

  After a couple of drinks, they'd settled into each other's company and were chatting and exchanging banter as though they'd known each other for years.

  By seven o'clock, the bar started filling up with teeny boppers and the horrible clanging music became louder.

  "Are you ready to go?" Gavin said.

  "Thought you'd never ask." Joe, eager to get out of there, gave his cheekiest smile as he grabbed his coat and scarf from the back of the chair. He felt more relaxed than he had in weeks. In a perfect world, he would live life as a gay man, but he knew he would never have the courage to come out to his family and friends. His parents were staunch Catholics, and he knew the knowledge would probably kill his dad.

  And then there was Bethany, his rock. He doubted he'd ever find a better friend. They had a great life with regular sex. Luckily for Beth, he had a great imagination and once his eyes were closed, he could be humping anyone. Often Brad Pitt and Tom Hardy made an appearance.

  The guilt of his secret life ate away at him, but Beth suspected nothing and that's the way he intended it to stay.

  They walked the few hundred yards to the motel. Gavin opened the door and stood aside, his arm outstretched for Joe to enter.

  Joe smiled at him and when Gavin flashed those beautiful teeth, Joe felt his hard-on stir.

  ***

  When I first arrived in the area, the phone app showed me Gavin was in a large, multi-storey office block. I managed to locate his car and parked far enough away he wouldn't notice me, yet still getting a perfect view of his car.

  I sat in wait.

  Soon after five, Gavin raced from the building.

  I followed him to the same motel as last week. He only took minutes to collect his keys and drop his bag off, and then he walked to the pub a few minutes down the road.

  I kept a fair distance. Gavin had no reason to suspect I'd follow him, but I couldn't risk him seeing me.

  He'd been in the pub for over an hour when I decided to attempt to peek inside. I almost came face to face with Gavin as he walked towards the door, heading straight for me. Thankfully, Gavin's eyes never left the face of his handsome companion. I spun around and held my breath as they passed me by.

  Following at a safe distance, I watched as they entered the motel room. I sat in wait on the main road.

  Chapter 12

  When the tall, dark haired man left the motel and drove to a fast food restaurant. I checked out his car once he’d gone inside.

  My heart contracted at the pink, booster cushion on the back seat. I shook my head. How many more innocent people were going to be hurt by these selfish, disgusting creatures?

  If I’d been weakening at all, at that exact moment everything changed, as though a switch had been flicked on. I knew what I needed to do.

  Deep inside I sensed my mother relax. I had her approval.

  ***

  By eight o'clock, Joe stood in the queue at the local kebab shop. He'd called Beth. Sonya hadn’t left yet, so he ordered enough for the three of them.

  Grateful for the distraction of Sonya, he would be able to eat his supper and go straight to bed without the third degree Beth subjected him to every time he went out.

  He smiled as he thought about his night. When he met men through the website, sex was all they were usually interested in. Sometimes a meeting might be over and done within as little as twenty minutes, from hi to bye.

  But he'd enjoyed Gavin's company tonight. They had a lot in common, Joe found himself telling Gavin much too much about his real life.

  When Gavin asked to meet up again next week, Joe had jumped at it. He often refused to see a guy more than once, worried that it could cause problems. However in Gavin’s case, he made an exception this once.

  Like most of the men Joe met, Gavin was married—had been for years. So the last thing he'd want to do is broadcast their meeting to all and sundry. No, this once it should be all right. He could feel it in his water.

  As he rounded the corner of his street, Joe pressed a button on his sun visor and the garage door chugged to life, slowly lifting up. He edged his Audi inside, always wary that he might misjudge the narrow space one day and dent his pride and joy.

  Once inside, he hit the button again and the door had shut by the time he stepped from the car.

  He followed the raucous laughter and found Bethany and Sonya in the kitchen.

  "I could hear you both laughing from the end of the street." He smiled as he bundled the stack of kebabs onto the worktop.

  "Oh hello, Joe. I didn't hear you come in," Bethany said.

  "I’m not surprised!” He kissed his sister-in-law on the cheek, before kissing his wife full on the lips.

  "I'll take my food into the lounge and leave you ladies to it." He picked up one of the white paper parcels.

  "Oh, Joe, could you do me a favour first? I forgot to take Sabrina out for a widdle. Would you do the honours?" She screwed her face up, comically. “Pretty please?”

  "Go on then. But I'm not taking her to the field. As soon as she's done her business we're straight back in.”


  "That's fine."

  Joe unhooked the bright pink dog lead from the back of the kitchen door and called Bethany's pooch from underneath the table.

  "Come on, Sabby. You have to make do with me, I'm afraid."

  The Bichon Frisé groaned as Joe grabbed her by the collar and clipped on the lead. He yanked on the lead a couple of times before Sabrina lifted her pampered behind from the rug.

  "Go with daddy, sweetheart," Beth said in a baby voice she used just for the dog.

  Joe shook his head and raised his eyes to the ceiling and Sonya laughed.

  ***

  "Fuck!" I growled as the man drove into a garage. I drove past and parked a little further up the street, then doubled back on foot keeping close to the tree-line, and scooted into the driveway of the three story townhouse.

  The garage took up a large section of the front of the house. I peered through the front door. A hallway led to a flight of stairs.

  I took a pair of blue surgical gloves, that I’d had the sense to bring with me, from my pocket and pulled them on. Then I opened the side gate, careful not to make a sound.

  Steep concrete steps led to the back of the house making the back garden on the same level as the living areas on the second storey of the house.

  Female voices came from, what I assumed to be, the kitchen.

  I stayed in the shadows, fuming with myself for not acting sooner. I could have dealt with him outside the takeaway, but it didn't occur to me he might park inside a garage.

  As I was about to admit defeat, the back door opened and my target shuffled out into the cold night, holding a small dog on a lead.

  He walked towards the back of the garden, muttering to the dog that had turned to face me.

  ***

  The temperature had dropped and Joe wished he'd put his scarf back on.

  Sabrina whimpered.

  "I know, it's cold. So do your thing and we can get back inside," he said.

  Sabrina stood stock still and began to shake, still whining.

  "Oh, come on, you wimp." Joe laughed. He turned to see what had petrified the stupid dog.

  A metal object headed straight for his face.

  ***

  Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The first blow knocked him onto his back. The second sprayed blood all over the fluffy, white yapping dog. Yet the man continued to scramble backwards towards the house.

  My mother's voice calmly urged me on—giving me the courage I needed to finish what I'd started.

  It took three more attempts before he stopped moving, but his raspy breathing continued.

  One final, well-aimed blow to the centre of his forehead did the trick.

  I checked his wrist for a pulse.

  Nothing.

  The whimpering dog, whose blood-spatter soaked fur reminded me of a comical toy dog, sniffed at her owner.

  After one last check of the body, I retraced my steps down the side of the building and back to the car.

  I snapped off the gloves and folded them inside each other before driving away.

  You're getting good at this.

  I smiled, pleased with myself and feeling totally different than I had after Carl Pilkington. This time I was euphoric.

  Once home, I went through each methodical step, washing Gavin's clothing. This time I also paid close attention to my shoes and the cap, considering all the blood that had sprayed about.

  I rinsed the wrench and placed it in the pillowcase and back into the airing cupboard.

  After a long hot shower and a strong cup of coffee, I was sure nobody would ever suspect me of doing a thing.

  A strange shift had occurred and I had no remorse for the dead man. In fact, I felt no guilt whatsoever.

  That's my girl.

  Looking into the mirror, I saw my mum behind my eyes.

  "Oh, there you are." I smiled.

  Chapter 13

  Adam couldn't settle.

  He flicked through the television channels, but nothing appealed to him. He tried to read, but couldn't concentrate, and he kept reading the same paragraph over and over.

  He considered calling Amanda, but decided not to. A phone call at this hour would freak her out.

  Friday night couldn't have gone much better.

  A brief, awkward moment when he walked her to her front door had been diffused as Amanda kissed his cheek and gazed into his eyes, thanking him for a wonderful evening.

  He'd wanted to skip and click his heels together on his way back to the car; however, he'd never been a dancer and would probably end up face first on the garden path.

  His phone rang. "Stanley," he barked into the handset.

  "Another homicide," Frances said. "Joseph Edward Bates. A thirty-four-year-old dentist—attacked in the garden of his property this evening whilst walking his dog."

  "I'm on my way. What's the address?"

  The townhouse was in a well-to-do part of Pinevale.

  Frances met him in the front garden and led him around the back and up several steps to the rear of the property.

  She told him the victim had popped out for a few minutes with the dog and, when he didn't return, his wife found him with his head stoved in.

  The scene was particularly gruesome. The victim looked as though his head had been split with an axe, opening the forehead up in two halves.

  "Any weapon?" he asked.

  "Nothing yet."

  "And I suppose nobody saw anything?"

  "Not up to now. It's pretty secluded up here—not overlooked at all. I've called for a team of officers to question the neighbours. Maybe one of them noticed something or somebody out of the ordinary."

  Adam nodded. "Fill me in on the wife."

  Frances checked her notepad. "Bethany Bates, a thirty-two-year-old housewife. They have a young daughter. Nothing much more to tell. We've not been able to question her—she's in shock and pretty out of it."

  "Anything else?"

  "Her sister was visiting when it happened. They're both inside," she said.

  Bethany Bates was disoriented and unable to string a coherent sentence together.

  Bethany's sister, Sonya Owens, a pretty redhead with a killer figure, followed him into the kitchen, leaving her sister in the lounge.

  "I came to spend a couple of hours with Beth. Joe had gone out for the evening but came back early with takeaways for us all."

  "Where had he been?" Adam asked.

  "I'm not sure, Beth didn't tell me. He was home no later than 8.30pm. He wasn't drunk, but he's never been a big drinker."

  "What happened once he came home? What kind of mood was he in?"

  "He was in a great mood, not that I've ever seen him in a bad one, but I remember thinking he was particularly jovial tonight."

  "And then?"

  She shrugged. "Beth asked him to take the dog out for her. She normally does it herself." Her words came out in a whine as she poked her fingers in the corners of her eyes. "What if … I can't bear thinking if she'd …"

  Adam shook his head. "Luckily for her, she didn't, Miss Owens." He patted her arm before continuing. "What type of man was your brother-in-law?"

  "Kind, funny, everybody loved him. He's a dentist with his own practice, quite well off, but not flashy. Just down to earth, they both are." She began to cry. “I'm sorry, Detective, but it's a lot to take in."

  "That's okay, take your time."

  She wiped her eyes with a piece of kitchen roll, smudging mascara down her cheeks, and took several deep breaths. "I'm all right, go on, Detective."

  "Did either your sister or her husband have any enemies that you know of? Any feuds or arguments?"

  "No, nothing. I don't think I've ever known them to fall out with anybody. Especially Joe. He would always go out of his way to avoid confrontation."

  "I see. Well, thank you, Miss Owens. We will need you to come to the station tomorrow, to make a full statement. Your sister too. Maybe she would benefit from a visit from the doctor."


  "He's been called. Hopefully, he's on his way."

  "That will be all for now, Miss Owens. Thanks for your time."

  "I just hope you find whoever did this. Our family will never get over it."

  "I can imagine. If you think of anything else in the meantime, please call." He handed her his card.

  ***

  I had gone straight into Vonny's room and crawled under her bed. I didn’t need to waste time pretending to sleep in our bed. I'd zonked out until this morning.

  Feeling refreshed, I decided to do some much-needed cleaning. I made a start on the kitchen cupboards, cleaning inside, outside and on top, scrubbing with a scouring pad.

  Why do you keep your glasses in that cupboard? You should keep all your baking things next to the cooker. The glasses are better off over there.

  Although I couldn't see where ‘over there’ was, I instinctively knew where she meant. I nodded, agreeing with her.

  Once the cupboards were cleaned and rearranged to suit my mother, I began all over again in the lounge. I threw out stacks of old magazines that I'd been keeping for goodness knows what. I washed the light shades and skirting boards, and removed all the cushions from the three piece suite, vacuuming underneath.

  Your couch is too big along that wall. Why don't you swap it with the chair? At least you wouldn't bump into the arm every time you walk into the room.

  I laughed. "I suggested that but Gavin likes to lie on the sofa while watching the TV, without the glare from the window."

  Stuff Gavin.

  "Yeah, stuff Gavin." I laughed again.

  By the time Gavin arrived home, everything had been cleaned and rearranged.

  "What's been going on here?" he asked, looking around and a frown on his face.

  "Oh, you know—bored. I needed to change some things in my life."

  He gazed at me sideways, his right eye squinting, clearly unsure how to respond to my strange mood.