Play With Fire

by Solomon Carter

  “Yes,” Dan shouted. “In Jamie Blane’s apartment. I’m serious…”

  The man’s hand gripped his handset, but he paused.

  “What about Mr Blane?”

  Joanne stepped up close beside Dan and looked the concierge in the eye. Sweat shone on her forehead.

  “Two women came here,” she said. “They came here to see Jamie Blane.”

  The man rubbed his chin. He nodded. “Yes… I saw them. I did think it was a bit unusual…”

  The man seemed to be chewing over his words, deciding whether he was about to overstep the mark.

  “Why?” demanded Joanne.

  “Miss Appleby took them in with her. Miss Appleby is Mr Blane’s current…lady friend.”

  “And?” said Dan.

  “Miss Appleby, she kept looking at me. I didn’t get why, but she looked upset. I asked her if she was okay, and she said she was fine. The other two ladies were right next to her when they got into the lift… now you mention it, it didn’t seem right at all.”

  Dan looked towards the lifts and left Joanne at the desk as he went to press the button.

  “Why odd? Come on!” said Dan.

  The man started explaining fast. “One of the women was his ex. And the other was a woman who claimed to be his sister… look, what’s going on here?” He looked at Dan as he hammered his thumb on the button, summoning a lift.

  “Hey! You can’t go up there. You won’t be able to get in.”

  “You listen to me,” said Dan. “The woman you saw. His ex? She’s dangerous. She’s unstable, and she could well be armed. Mr Blane could be her target. Now help us get up there before someone ends up dead.”

  “You’re serious?” said the man. He looked into Joanne’s eyes. She nodded at him.

  “The woman’s a killer. She came here for revenge. Think about it – help us stop her.”

  The man’s eyes flared open wide. “Jeez… I’m calling the police,” he said.

  “There’s no time for that now,” said Dan. “We can still stop her – but only if you help us…”

  ***

  “Lauren, we need to call an ambulance,” said Eva. “Otherwise this girl is going to die…”

  “It’s her own fault,” said Lauren. “If she dies it’s on her. Besides, I can’t have the police interfering in all this… at least, not until I’m done.”

  Eva swallowed and glanced down at the hammer in Lauren’s hand. “What do you mean, done?”

  The woman sucked air through her teeth. “Dangerous question, Eva. And probably not the right time for it…”

  Eva shivered at the woman’s words.

  “This is what you had in mind the whole time, wasn’t it? Ever since you first texted me…”

  “Something like it. But not quite. Actually, you did manage to spoil things a bit.”

  Eva shook her head and kept herself aware of her surroundings. The corridor and the kitchen were a way behind her now. She was in the middle of the carpeted living room area, with Lauren ten or fifteen feet away… and two bleeding bodies lying between them.

  “Spoiled it?” said Eva.

  “You were supposed to do it. You know you that. You were supposed to be the one swinging the hammer through Jamie’s face, and sticking the knife in that bitch’s guts. But you kept backtracking the whole way. You kept changing your mind. I could see it. Watching your face was like channel hopping. One minute you were with me, the next you’d turned.”

  “I always sensed something was off, but in the end I suspected you as much as Blane for killing his wife. And then I realised something else. You told me about the first emails between Boothroyd and Blane about killing his wife. I disregarded the other evidence, all the stuff Blane proved you’d fabricated. But I never quite got those original emails out of my head. They never existed, but you were so insistent, in the end I think I believed you. Because that’s how you work. You lie and lie and lie until you make the lie the truth.”

  Lauren smiled. “Does it matter if a lie helps me get what I want?”

  “You wanted this?” said Eva, looking around, disgust in her voice.

  “No. I wanted much more than this.”

  “You killed his wife and then you took him as yours. Why couldn’t you just leave it there. You’d gotten away with it.”

  “But I didn’t just want that, did I? I like rocking the boat. It keeps life interesting.”

  “Lauren, I know all about France. I know you’ve been suffering. But you don’t need to suffer anymore. You could have stopped after killing his wife. You didn’t stop then, but for love of God, stop now! Stop now! While there’s still a shred of a chance of redemption. You’re still young.”

  “Young enough for what? To spend the rest of my days in an asylum? You know about France? You know nothing! It was hell. Ever since you – my entire life has been hell…”

  “You’ve been unwell. I read your French psych report. Boothroyd had a copy of it in Romford. What happened between us at school caused you pain and suffering. I never knew that. I always thought I was the one suffering while you were off galivanting around with the cool girls.”

  “You never knew because you never cared, Eva. You were too busy pretending to be perfect, while I looked on. I couldn’t ever measure up to that. And after a while, I saw I didn’t even want to. All those years spent trying to be as perfect as you but never living up to the mark… they were wasted years. I want them back.”

  “Lauren? We were friends? Those years weren’t wasted. For me those old days were happy times.”

  “In your head, maybe. But I hated being less than you.”

  “Lauren? But you were the glamorous one. You were one who went out on dates and had all the fun… I was too shy for all that.”

  “Shy? It was all an act, Eva. Just an act! Look what you almost did to Jake Ellis…”

  “You put me up to that…”

  “Did I? All that rage, so near the surface, just waiting for a little encouragement. And that’s all I did. I gave you the slightest prompt and hey presto, you nearly became St Cecil’s first schoolgirl killer… it was all in you, Eva. All of it.”

  “No, it wasn’t. And you can’t play your mind games with me anymore. You almost had me kill Boothroyd and Jamie because of your manipulation.”

  “Almost doesn’t cut the mustard, darling. You’ve still been holding back. I wanted you to show what’s in your nature. The one you keep trying to suppress. It’s always there, Eva. No matter what you pretend. I read about you when I came back. I saw what you’d done, and I was impressed. The thing is, darling, even then you got away with it, but when I did what had to be done, they put me in a bloody asylum!”

  “You tried to push that couple in front of a train! You deserved what you got!”

  “They used me. He violated me, like all those little sweaty scumbags in my school years. I wish I had killed them. They were lucky. But you… you’ve done this so-called job of yours for how long?”

  Eva didn’t answer.

  “Decades, isn’t?” said Lauren. “You’ve done whatever suited you, and damn the consequences. Damn who it hurts… they even lauded you like some damn hero of the hour… you made the newspapers, television too.”

  “What we’ve done, we only ever did—”

  “Stop the lies, Eva. I’ve heard it all before. Deep down, you know you’re just like me but you can’t face it. That’s all I ever wanted you to do in the end. Admit it.”

  In the end… the words were there again. In the end.

  “Despite all that happened during our entire lives, you were no better than me.”

  “I already knew that, Lauren. I knew that before you walked away.”

  “No, Eva. I wanted you to look down and see the blood on your hands and know it was true.”

  Eva raised her sore hands. “Then you already achieved your aim. I’ve always known I was no hero, Lauren. I’ve known it my entire life. But the least I could do was try to help someone who needed it.
Sometimes we made mistakes… and people got hurt along the way.”

  “They died, Eva, and they died because of you,” said Lauren. She took a step towards Eva.

  “A few, maybe…”

  “See,” said Lauren. “You’re even beginning to measure how many is okay…”

  “No,” said Eva. “It’s not like that.”

  “Then what is it like?” said Lauren.

  Eva swallowed, the sweat prickling on her forehead, her heart thudding too hard in her chest. There was no answer which would satisfy the woman except the one she wanted.

  “Then you already know,” said Eva. You know I’m worse than you are.”

  Lauren’s smile widened.

  “And you used to think you were better than me. You thought it all the way right up until this moment.”

  The blood around Appleby’s waist was spreading on the carpet. If the woman wasn’t dead already, she could have only minutes left.

  Lauren smiled. “And now that you see it, the rest is irrelevant. You ruined my whole life, Eva. I wanted to be as good as you, and then I wanted to be anything but like you. But it was all an illusion, because we were alike the whole time. And now I’ve proved it, I don’t have to live in your orbit anymore. Now I can be free…”

  “Then put down the hammer. Stop all this and move on.”

  “No. I want to be free of you. And there’s a very clear way ahead for that to happen. I’m going to kill you, Eva. I was always going to kill you one day. That day is today.”

  Eva shook her head.

  “We were friends, Lauren, remember that…”

  “Never. We were only ever rivals. But that’s all over. You’ve become surplus to requirements, my dear. And the funny thing is… and I hope you really get this…”

  Eva heard a scuffing of footsteps in the outer corridor… muffled shouts.

  Lauren’s face shone with expectant delight.

  “…even after I’ve killed you, you’ll still always have blood on your hands. You may have gotten away with deceiving them all. But at least you died facing the truth. You’re a killer, Eva. You’re scum, just like me…”

  Lauren charged forward. She leapt over Suzie Appleby’s body with one foot, half kicking her with the other. A faint yelp of pain came from the woman’s unconscious lips. Lauren paused over her body, looked down at the girl and raised the hammer again.

  “Lauren, she’s bleeding to death as it is!” said Eva. “Leave her be!” Eva took a step back towards the corridor. Lauren’s caught sight of the move.

  “Yes… I suppose she is. And we wouldn’t want you getting away now, would we…?”

  Fists pounded the front door and keys jangled.

  “Eva! Eva! Are you in there?!”

  It was Dan, his voice a desperate roar.

  “I’m here!” she called.

  “Touching isn’t it,” Lauren said. “The thug has come to collect your body.”

  Eva’s eyes caught sign of movement on the floor. Not Appleby, the girl seemed lifeless. But Blane was moving. His arm – a quiver, a curl of his fingers. He opened his eyes and looked towards the ceiling. The distraction almost cost Eva as Lauren rushed at her, the hammer swinging towards her. Eva pulled away, darting around the edge of the kitchen counter, keeping distance and an obstacle between them.

  Lauren laughed. “Isn’t this fun? We should have done this years ago.”

  Eva looked to the kitchen drawer behind her back, the drawer with the knives. As she backed away, her fingers raked across the smooth surface. She edged the drawer open, and there they were; the neat set of gleaming blades calling to be used.

  “Go on then!” called Lauren. “Do it. Pick one!”

  Eva burned to pick one up, but she pulled her hand away, left the drawer open. She backed away. In the corridor the lock gave with a click, and the door swung open.

  “They’re too late, Eva,” said Lauren coming forward. “You’re trapped. And this is going to end exactly as it was supposed to. With you dead at my feet.”

  “Not yet,” said Eva.

  Eva skipped back, bursting past the far edge of the kitchen island and back into the living area. She freed herself and made for the dining table, buying herself a few more seconds. Lauren stalked after her. The hallway filled with the sound of running feet and frantic shouts. Dan appeared at the edge of the room and stopped. He saw Lauren approaching Eva… saw the hammer in her hand… the bodies on the floor… He saw Blane’s head moving. Dan moved carefully into the room.

  “Stop!” called Lauren. She aimed her hammer at Dan. “You stay there. You stay there or I swear I’ll smash her face to smithereens right in front of you.”

  There was a groan from the floor. Lauren looked down and saw Blane moving. His eyes blinked awake. A slow recognition dawned. Lauren saw Blane move and rushed towards him with sudden purpose.

  “No!” said Eva. She dashed forwards and Lauren turned instead to Eva, raising the hammer, swiping it upward to try and catch her chin. Eva dodged the blow, but the hammer struck her arm, leaving her forearm dead with pain. With what momentum she had left, Eva barged her shoulder into Lauren, knocking her backwards. Lauren’s back struck the edge of the kitchen counter. Eva pulled back quickly. She moved towards Blane, and realised she had no chance of moving him before another attack. At the living room doorway, Dan watched, caught between two impossible choices. He took a step forward and Lauren roared.

  “I’m warning you. Don’t you dare interfere! You do and someone else here is definitely going to die.”

  Dan raised his hands. “Okay. Okay. Just don’t do this. Eva only ever tried to help you.”

  “No! Eva has only ever helped herself. She left me in the gutter.”

  “It was your choice, Lauren. No one else. You’re the one making this happen. And you’re making it worse right now!” he called.

  Eva looked at Dan, saw the intensity in his eyes. Her eyes lingered on his for a fleeting moment saying everything she could possibly convey. It amounted to three final words. I love you. Dan gave her a single nod. But he wasn’t accepting Eva’s goodbye.

  “Eva knows what I’m doing,” said Lauren. “This is how it ends… She dies a killer, just like me.”

  Lauren left the counter and charged. As she moved, Dan ran in, helpless to stop her, unwilling to do nothing. Mark and Joanne came in after him, Mark at his back. Joanne looked around, her desperate eyes falling to the gleam of the silver knives in the open drawer.

  Lauren charged at Eva with the hammer raised. Eva reached back for something, anything to help – and managed snatch up the heavy handbag from the dining table. She raised it over her head with the good arm, supporting it with the weak one. The hammer clattered into the handbag, and the contents came spilling out, raining to the floor. Along with a small bundle of clothes, came scores of knives, large and small. Eva watched them fall, unable to catch or use them. And then the empty bag was no longer of any use. Lauren grinned at Eva and raised the hammer again, this time certain of her target.

  “Always so pretty, Eva” said Lauren. “But not anymore.”

  Eva raised her arms above her head and turned her face away to avoid seeing the killing blow. Dan roared and charged into Lauren’s back. She staggered forward, smashing the hammer down on the table, leaving a dent in the wood beside Eva’s head. Eva gasped as the hammer pulled away. Dan dragged Lauren back but she swung the hammer again, wild now, teeth bared, hair flying about her face. Dan tried to restrain her, but she yanked her hammer arm free, spun around and smashed him on the bicep.

  “I warned you! And now you’ll see it!” she shouted. “You’re going to see her die!”

  Lauren spun back towards the dining table. As she stepped past Blane, he reached for her ankle to trip her. His grasp slowed her down. In pure rage the woman swept the hammer through his restraining arm, and it fell to the floor like a snapped twig. Joanne looked at the silver knives. She looked back at Lauren Jaeger moving towards Eva like prey almost ready
for the kill.

  Lauren raised the hammer one more time. Eva reached up to block the blow knowing she could do no more to stop it. Dan moved in… too little too late. The hammer hung in the air. Sunlight gleamed off the round edge as it reached its zenith. It promised death, but death never came.

  Lauren Jaeger gasped, and her fingers loosened on the handle grip. Her eyes opened wide as she watched it fall, crashing onto the floor before her feet. She looked at Eva, her lips yammering silently, her face a mask of agony. She staggered forward and toppled over onto Eva. Their faces brushed past each other, and Lauren’s chin landed on her shoulder. And for the first time in a long time. Eva let the woman slip down into her arms. For the first time in a long time, the only light gleaming in Lauren Jaeger’s eyes was fear. The woman slid out of their embrace and twisted to the floor. Halfway down Lauren’s back a knife was lodged deep beside her spine, the handle protruding. Eva recognised the handle. She looked up at Dan. Not guilty. Dan looked back across the kitchen at Joanne. She stood beside the open drawer with her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide in silent horror. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

  “Call an ambulance,” called Eva. “Call one now. Dan, check on the others.”

  Mark ran to Joanne’s side and he held her a moment, before racing to the phone by the sofa. “You had no choice, Joanne,” called Mark as he dialled. “You had no choice!”

  But the words didn’t seem to help. As Eva knew well, words never cut any ice. Eva looked at the girl with a deep, sad knowing. There had been no choice? Of course there had been. There always was. But the choice was never good.

  “What have I done?” said Joanne.

  Eva laid Lauren down on her side. The woman looked at her with pain in her eyes and Eva watched the colour drain from her face.

  “Who did it…? Who killed me…?” she whispered.

  Eva didn’t answer.

  “The girl…” said Lauren, answering her own question, a hint of a smile in her eyes. “Well done, Eva. You’ve made her one of us.”

  “You’ve had your say,” said Eva. She propped Lauren’s head on a cushion and stood up. Dan checked on Blane.