He is Watching You

by Charlie Gallagher

  Help was coming.

  Chapter 45

  The light was bright enough to penetrate Maddie’s eyelids and render her vision a yellow searing mass. Had she not felt the glare and the pain from just about everywhere, she might have thought that she was dreaming. She was groaning. The sound surprised her, like it was coming from someone else. Her eyes opened.

  ‘It’s okay! Calm down, you’re okay!’ She looked up at a man’s face that blocked the worst of the sun. His smile was tinged with concern. He wore an army-style helmet, but it was navy blue and it had Police written across it in white lettering.

  ‘You’ve taken a bit of a bump but you’re going to be fine. Try not to move. Do you have any pain at all?’

  Maddie couldn’t remember where she was. Her mind thrashed with confusion. The man turned his head towards voices that were muffled to her, the sunlight arched past him, back into her eyes. She slammed them shut.

  ‘Sorry! I’ll try and block the sun.’

  ‘My legs hurt,’ she managed. Her shoulder did too. Her head was aching like she had never experienced before and she could feel a burning sensation on her cheeks.

  ‘That’s a good sign!’ he said. ‘Just keep still. We’re going to get you up and moved just as soon as we can, okay?’

  Maddie didn’t reply. She licked her lips. They were dry and coarse. She had a metallic taste in her mouth. She could still hear muffled voices beside her. She tried turning towards them but her neck was being held straight. She could do nothing but face up. The man moved away again, the sun beat back down on her and she closed her eyes to it.

  * * *

  When she woke the next time, Chief Inspector Lowe’s was the first face she saw. Someone was fussing around her legs and she felt restricted. Her limbs felt like they were all bound together and she still couldn’t move her head. There was a ceiling above her now. She could see strip lighting and square, flecked tiles.

  ‘Hey, Maddie. Nice to have you back with us!’ Lowe said.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘You were in a car accident. You’re going to be fine. The doctor here, he just wants to ask you a question.’

  Maddie felt a sudden scratch on the top of her foot. She jerked her leg and snarled her disdain.

  ‘Sorry.’ It was another new voice. A woman in a blouse leaned over her. ‘I just wanted to be sure that hurt. Do you have any other pain?’

  ‘I just feel sore.’

  ‘You will. You’ve got a bit of concussion for sure. You’ve dislocated your collarbone and your knee’s swollen, but it shouldn’t be too serious. And a good few bumps and scrapes. I think we’ve been overcautious with the neck brace, though. There are no abnormalities on your spine. Hurting you was the last test!’ Her smile broadened. ‘And you passed.’

  Maddie heard a clunk and then a whirring sound. She felt a gentle pressure on her back as she was pushed to a sitting position. She was still squinting her eyes. The blurriness cleared quickly. She was in a hospital bed. There was machinery around her but none of it seemed to be plugged into her or working. There was a curtain all the way around her bed, dull white with a cheery blue pattern. She could hear people walking past.

  ‘Do you remember what happened, Maddie?’ Lowe spoke to her. He had stepped back from the bed. She heard a gurgling sound, like someone pouring liquid into a glass. Her neck tickled. Something was pulled from around it and it felt cool now it was exposed. She ran her hand over the back of her neck and moved her head gently from side to side.

  ‘No, I don’t know why I’m here.’ The doctor held out a glass of water. Maddie took it.

  ‘You and Harry—’

  ‘Harry!’ Maddie’s mind suddenly flashed with an image of Harry — he was critically injured, he was gripping her hand tightly, he looked terrified . . .

  ‘He’s going to be okay, Maddie.’ The doctor’s smile was back. She looked reassuring. ‘He’s got some recovery in front of him but he’s going to get there. He’ll need his mates around him.’

  ‘He got shot! His face! It was all such a mess!’

  ‘It looked worse than it was. We think it was a fragment of a bullet and mainly soft tissue. He was lucky.’

  ‘Do you remember anyone else being there?’ Lowe pressed.

  ‘Yes. With a gun. He just kept shooting at the car.’ She suddenly inhaled a sharp breath. ‘I think I ran him down! Did he . . .?’

  ‘You did. He’s here, too. He broke some bones but he will be standing for his sentence, we’re sure of that. We’re still piecing it together down there, but you saved Harry’s life — and your own. We also found an injured woman. Seriously injured. She would have died. You should be very proud.’

  Maddie took a few moments. She let the information sink in. She peered around the room. No one spoke to her; they let her take her time.

  ‘Can I go home?’ she said.

  ‘To your hotel?’ Lowe replied. ‘I would rather you stayed in here overnight. I would rather you were with someone.’

  ‘I can call someone. I won’t be alone.’ As much as she hated hotels, she was damned sure she hated hospitals more. No way was she staying here. She fixed her gaze on the doctor.

  ‘I mean, I would rather you were with someone like your colleague here says. But if that can be arranged then we can’t stop you discharging yourself. The concussion is our only lasting concern. I have made a bed available.’

  ‘I’ll go.’

  ‘Okay then!’

  ‘Who are you staying with Maddie?’ Lowe asked. ‘I’ll arrange for a call to be made or we’ll get someone round to pick them up.’

  ‘No!’ Maddie was aware that she had snapped her reply. ‘It’s fine, thank you. I’ll make a call. It won’t be a problem.’

  ‘Are they close?’

  ‘Yes. If you can get me to my hotel they won’t be far behind.’

  ‘I’ll run you back myself. We’ll need to take your account. It will be a full debrief. I know you’re injured and you’ve had quite a day, but I would want to do that sooner rather than later.’

  ‘I’ll see how I feel. Not tonight, boss, with respect.’

  ‘Goodness, no. Not tonight, Maddie. We’ll see how you feel in the morning, maybe.’

  ‘Can I see him? Harry, I mean?’

  The doctor answered, ‘He’s in surgery. He’ll be in and out of procedures for a few days, I would expect. He needs a bit of a rebuild. It might be later in the week.’

  ‘But he’s going to be okay?’

  ‘He should be. Just focus on you for now.’

  Lowe was nodding. ‘I’ll be seeing him the second we’re allowed, Maddie. I’ll make sure you’re with me.’

  ‘Thanks. Is there a phone I can use?’

  The doctor’s hand fell to her belt. She lifted up what looked like a landline. ‘We’ll give you a minute.’

  Maddie waited while they stepped out. She could see silhouettes against the curtain. She waited until she couldn’t anymore.

  The call was answered on the second ring.

  ‘Yeah.’ The tone was hard and suspicious.

  ‘Adam.’

  ‘Mads! What you ringing me on?’

  ‘It’s the hospital’s phone, I think.’

  ‘Hospital? You okay?’ Maybe it was his voice softening so quickly, maybe it was the sound of any friendly voice at all, or a combination — she broke down. She could barely speak. ‘Can you come? I just need someone.’

  ‘I’m just two hours away.’

  Chapter 46

  Maddie braced herself at the door. The nurse who had shown her through turned quickly on her heels to walk away. Maddie didn’t move. When she glanced to her left the nurse was looking back over. She smiled and gestured with her hands.

  ‘Go on, now. He’ll be happy to see you!’

  Maddie rested her good hand on the metal handle. Her left was supported in a sling. She took a breath and shook her head, trying to shake away the images of that day and the lingering feeling that she could
have done something different.

  She turned the handle and had to lean on the door a little; it was sticking on the thick carpet. Harry Blaker was in his own room on the private wing of the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford. It was a brand-new addition and it looked it. The bed was directly in front of her.

  Harry was sitting up. He was bare-chested, with suckers covering much of his torso. Wires trailed from each one to bleeping machines. His head was wrapped in a tight white bandage that had oval chunks missing for his eyes — like some sort of bandage balaclava. His jaw was covered with metal struts sticking out from under it and converging to a plastic pad that rested on his chest. There were more metal struts at the side, too, and she guessed around the back. His eyes fixed on her and he jutted out a thumb in greeting.

  ‘Hey, Harry!’ She moved into the room and peered around. She knew it was going to be a one-sided conversation but she still hadn’t come prepared with the right thing to say — whatever that was. Harry had been communicating using written notes when he wanted to. The pad was to his left. He didn’t even pick it up.

  ‘I have to admit, I’ve not had too much practice at talking to people who can’t answer back. The boss . . . he just said to give you an update. I think you might have had it already. He’s been better with me, by the way — Mr Lowe. I’m not sure we’re friends yet, but you getting shot seems to have improved our working relationship no end. So, thanks for that!’ Maddie chuckled. She hesitated.

  ‘I’m rambling, aren’t I? So, an update . . .’ She paused again to try and organise her thoughts. Just a few days had passed; it was all still very fresh but it was also very jumbled. She didn’t know where to start. She knew Harry had asked for an update. She also knew that he had insisted that it came from her.

  ‘We did good, Harry. Overall. Lisa Simpkiss was there. She was badly injured but she’s going to be just fine. One of the coppers, too — he’s just fine. And me and you . . . we’re still here. I’ve been told often enough that we should call it a good result.’ She took her time with the next bit. There was a tall-backed seat beside the bed. She stood behind it and rested her hand on its top. ‘My girl didn’t make it — Lorraine Humphries. They don’t reckon she’d been dead long when we got there. The pathologist reckons she might have died when he moved her. She was a fighter, though, Harry — oh my goodness, did that girl fight. A week or more with her own intestines hanging out of her gut. He slashed her throat too, then left her for dead in that stinking box. He must have thought she was dead. But she wasn’t going that easy. The post-mortem . . . They reckon he missed the main bits in her throat and when he wrapped her tight it compressed her stomach wound.’ Maddie fought her emotions to be able to continue. She took a minute. She rubbed at the chair and focussed on the feel of the material through her fingertips. It was cool and smooth. A grounding technique she’d been taught for keeping calm. Different to the one she had used on Olive Simpkiss, but just as effective.

  She raised her eyes again to meet with Harry’s. His attention hadn’t shifted from her. ‘That house . . . where we found him . . . He was setting it up for who knows what. There were cameras in all the downstairs rooms. He had tinned food and water, enough to last them both a while. We’re pretty sure the sick fuck was going to play with that girl and then who knows how many others. He was keeping her alive and in pain while he watched it all. She would have died though, in the end. Just like all the others. He seemed happy to talk in the first round of interviews. Your theory was almost spot-on. We thought he was going to those AA meetings to prey on the vulnerable. That wasn’t quite right. Seems he went there because he was vulnerable himself. An addict. He just happened on a source of perfect victims. That woman we found at the chicken farm was a Polish girl last seen in Brighton seven weeks ago — Eva Makowitz. She’d come here for a better life but it didn’t work out. She got into the drink. No one even reported her missing.’

  Maddie peered around the room.

  ‘Do you mind?’ She pointed at a jug of water and a stack of plastic beakers on his bedside table. Not waiting for an answer, she took one and poured herself a drink. She took a long swig.

  ‘The two coppers . . .’ Maddie hesitated. She had voiced her concerns at telling Harry the whole story. Maybe he didn’t need to know the ins and outs at this point. Lowe had insisted that he had been asking for it, that he wanted to know everything, so she continued.

  ‘The firearms skipper, he didn’t make it. There’s a bit of a story around that but I’ll let the lad he was with tell it to you. He tells it right. Ollie Craddock was the sergeant’s name, and it sounds like he really stepped up when he needed to. His mate’s alive because of what he did, no doubt about that. Seems our offender was dressed up to look like a Eurotunnel worker. They dropped their guard and he took one of them out with his own weapon. The same one he fired at us.’ She took another swig. She swilled the water this time. Harry’s eyes were still fixed on her. His breathing seemed to have deepened, his chest rising and falling with more prolonged movements. She could sense his emotion building. Maybe that was enough of an update.

  ‘Oh! I got your instructions too. You have terrible handwriting!’ Maddie lifted a carrier bag that she had been swinging absently under her arm. She carefully took out an intricately carved, wooden bird.

  ‘A robin, right?’ She cast her eyes around the room, looking for the best place to put it. Harry became more animated. He made a noise from his throat and when Maddie looked up at him he reached out his right hand, palm up. She stepped close enough for him to take hold of the wooden bird. He took it gently. His fingers curled round its little body. He moved it closer to his face and seemed to inhale its scent. His eyes closed completely and he breathed out in a long sigh. Maddie suddenly felt awkward. When his eyes opened again they looked to be heavy with emotion.

  ‘As lovely as this water is, I’m gonna pop out and find a cup of tea, okay? I’ll be back.’ She walked to the door. She stopped on the threshold. Harry’s big hand was still wrapped around the ornament. His eyes had fallen closed again.

  ‘Oh, the doctor . . . she said you’ve got some recovery to be making, but she reckons you’ll be back to full fitness. So there’s no reason why we can’t get this partnership back up and running again. That’s what this is, see — in case you didn’t know. That’s why the instructions were for me, right? That’s why you had me go to your house and pick up your stuff — you didn’t trust anyone else, did you? You can’t answer that, Harry, so it means it’s true! The doctor also said that you’ll need to build up the strength in your jaw and it will be painful for a while. She said I should expect you to be a man of few words and to be a bit grumpy too. I told her I think I can wait it out, you know, until you’re back to talking incessantly and being so damned chipper!’

  Maddie saw wrinkles appear around Harry’s eyes, as if he was smiling under all that padding. She chuckled to herself then stepped back out of the door to give him a few moments. And to give herself the same.

  THE END

  OTHER BOOKS BY CHARLIE GALLAGHER

  LANGTHORNE POLICE SERIES

  Book 1: BODILY HARM

  Book 2: PANIC BUTTON

  Book 3: BLOOD MONEY

  Book 4: END GAME

  STANDALONES

  MISSING

  THEN SHE RAN

  HER LAST BREATH

  RUTHLESS

  Don’t miss Charlie’s next stunning thriller, join our mailing list:

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  Book 1: BODILY HARM

  https://www.amazon.co.uk/BODILY-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01MR94IP5/

  https://www.amazon.com/BODILY-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01MR94IP5/

  An edge-of-your-seat crime thriller starts with a vicious stabbing of a pretty teenage girl and her boyfriend on a local bus. She happens to be the mayor’s niece. It’s the final straw for the community. The police are desperate to get results and decide on a risky course of action involving
undercover infiltration of the notorious Effingell Estate.

  Detective George Elms knows this hellish place extremely well, and his sharp investigative mind is put to work to solve the crime. The police are under immense media pressure and conveniently a local lowlife confesses to the attack. But George is not convinced. There are many layers of criminal and police motivation, and few people are what they seem.

  BOOK 2: PANIC BUTTON

  https://www.amazon.co.uk/PANIC-BUTTON-gripping-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01N4WATRV/

  https://www.amazon.com/PANIC-BUTTON-gripping-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01N4WATRV/

  Someone is killing the officers of the Langthorne Police one by one. And in a sadistic twist he makes each victim push their radio panic button before they die, thus broadcasting their last moments to the entire force.

  Book 3: BLOOD MONEY

  https://www.amazon.co.uk/BLOOD-MONEY-gripping-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B06XYNY624/

  https://www.amazon.com/BLOOD-MONEY-gripping-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B06XYNY624/

  What would you do to save your dying son? Imagine the doctors told you there was a cure, but only if you had the money. What would you do to get the money to save your son’s life?

  FROM CHARLIE GALLAGHER

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