by Leah Murray
She bit down, tasted blood and he jerked his head back, swore, slapped her hard against the cheek.
The sudden ringing in her ears made her dizzy but she clenched her jaw against the pain, drew in a sharp breath and finally found her voice as he grabbed her around the waist, twisted her arms behind her back again.
`Fuck you! Let me go!’ she yelled, renewing her struggles and somehow finding strength she didn’t know she had, she stamped down on his foot with her heel, twisted her body sideways. The momentum of her movement caught him off guard and he fell to the ground with her.
She managed to roll free, scramble to her feet and rush back into the house, heading for the lounge and the dogs.
But the room was empty, the curtains billowing out at a rush of air. Hearing Jack in the kitchen, she bolted out the open front door, ran down towards the maize field, her breath coming in short gasps, her hands clammy with fear.
Oh God, where to now? Where the hell was Will?
She tried to force herself to be calm, think rationally. It was dark, that was an advantage. If she could only find a place to hide until Shaun showed up, or the firemen, then she’d be okay.
Looking around in desperation, she ran towards Grant and Shelley’s cottage, slid down against the wall and tried to keep her breathing steady.
`You think we’re stupid honey?’ a voice said from somewhere just in front of her and she screamed again, jumped up, tried to run, tripped as someone stuck out a leg.
Then there were hands on her again, someone hauling her to her feet and she whimpered, overwhelmed now by panic as the man pushed her forwards and she stumbled onto the driveway, grazing her hands.
She cried out in fear as he pulled her back up to her feet, wrapped his arms around her, leered as he reached for the bottom of her T-shirt, started yanking it up while she struggled to escape.
`Get your fucking hands off her.’
She started breathing again as she heard Will’s voice and made out the shape of him as he emerged from the edge of the maize field a few yards in front of her, heard the click as he cocked the hammer of the gun, pointed it steadily at the man behind her.
The sound of the shot rang out in the night and she felt the man holding her slump forward, saw him fall down next to her and she stepped back hastily, glanced up to see the surprised look on Will’s face. She looked behind her, confused, not able to see anything in the vast black that surrounded them.
Then she was on the ground, felt Will’s weight on her, his hand on her head.
`What the hell are you doing?’ she hissed.
`Shhh,’ he said, pressing her head down.
All she could hear was the chirping of crickets, her own unsteady breathing and the heavy whoosh of the blood rushing through her ears.
`Okay, get up, slowly, crawl towards the cottage,’ Will said finally and she did what he said, could sense him close behind her.
`Ouch,’ she cursed as she cut her hand on something sharp, not able to see a thing in the pitch black surrounding them.
`Shhh.’
She clenched her jaw, annoyed, her heart still pounding.
At last they made it to the cottage and she sat against the wall, waiting as Will moved away. She was surprised at how quietly he could move and couldn’t help but feel another jab of panic at being alone again. Somehow, she’d relaxed when she’d seen him, known Jack couldn’t get her so long as he was there but now, alone again, she could feel the trembling starting.
`Okay, it’s clear, let’s go into the cottage,’ Will said suddenly, close to her ear and she jumped, not having heard him come up, but managed to contain the scream as she recognized his voice.
She followed him into the cottage, slumped down against the wall in the hall as he closed the door and came over to sit next to her.
`Why the fuck didn’t you stay in the house?’ he asked, his voice low, the anger unmistakable.
`I did, someone broke the window,’ she replied, felt the tears burning in the corner of her eyes as the reality of the situation hit her forcefully, told herself to take a deep breath and try stay calm.
`What about Jess and Nemo?’
`I don’t know. They growled and I ran out the back door … he was there, waiting for me, like he’d known all along that’s what I would do.’
`Who? The guy in the driveway?’
`No …. Jack.’
They were talking in hushed whispers and she felt rather than heard the string of curses he spat out.
`Where were you?’ she asked, heard her voice break, tried to hide the accusatory tone.
`In the field, I went to check out the fire. How the hell was I supposed to know there’d be two of them?’ he retaliated.
They were silent for a minute, Jo straining her ears for the sound of sirens.
`Why aren’t they here yet?’ she asked.
`Who?’
`The police? Firemen?’
`They’re at the field, only Shaun was going to come over to the house. I don’t know where he is. Where’s Jack? How’d you end up with the other guy?’
`I stomped on his foot,’ Jo said, trying to bite back a giggle. For some reason she found that hilarious.
`Good girl.’
He paused.
`That must have been him who shot the guy then … I wonder why he didn’t aim at me?’
`Because you looked so cool with the gun,’ she said, laughing again, hearing the pitch of her voice heading higher, biting her lip to try stop the sound but not succeeding. Then suddenly she was sobbing, felt his arm round her shoulders and buried her head in his chest.
They only left the cottage when they heard the crunch of tires on the gravel in the driveway; saw the flashing lights of the patrol car. Jo had calmed down sufficiently by then to be aware of what was going on around her, but was still almost numb with nervous exhaustion.
Will helped her to her feet and opened the door cautiously. Once he was sure it was Shaun, he grabbed her hand and they went over to the car. Shaun was leaning over the body on the driveway, highlighted by the headlights of the car. He looked up when he saw them, his face grim.
`What the hell did you do Will?’ he asked and she felt Will tense behind her, was only half paying attention as she stared at the man in the driveway with a sort of helpless fascination.
It was the man from the beach.
`Oh no, that wasn’t me. Where the fuck were you?’
Shaun stood up, came over to them, his eyes still on Will. `Give me your gun,’ he said, holding out his hand and Will swore, handed it to him.
Shaun removed the magazine, visibly relaxed when he saw it was full.
`Happy now?’ Will asked and Shaun nodded, turned his attention to Jo and she saw him wince.
`What?’ she asked.
`What happened to you?’
Will looked down at her then, saw her face in the light from the car, and cursed again.
`What?’ she repeated, frowning.
He raised a hand, ran his finger over the edge of her cheekbone, near her eye and she flinched.
`You’re going to have a real shiner in the morning,’ Shaun said.
`Goddammit. Where the hell were you?’ Will said, turning to Shaun in sudden anger. `You were supposed to come keep an eye on her.’
Shaun clenched his jaw. `I got a flat tire. Somebody put spokes at the start of your driveway.’
`Fucking useless.’
`Hey, watch it,’ Shaun said, shoving Will backwards and Jo stepped back at the tension suddenly buzzing between the two men.
`I’m warning you Will, get yourself fucking together.’
She saw Will clench his fists as he stepped forward, could feel the anger emanating from him but Shaun stood still, glared at him, his own anger tightly controlled, their faces inches apart.
Finally, Will stepped back, kicked out at the patrol car and went over to the body, stood staring down at it.
Shaun watched him, took a deep breath then turned back to Jo. She r
aised a hand to her face and gingerly tapped at her cheekbone and he sighed, reached out a hand and squeezed her shoulder before sitting back down in the front seat of the car, calling the station and giving the address.
They waited for back-up to arrive, not talking. Jo was shivering so Shaun opened the back door of the car for her and she climbed in, wrapped the blanket on the back seat around her shoulders and sat there while Shaun went over to talk to Will.
She was relieved to see the two men back on a reasonably amiable footing, didn’t think she could handle any more trouble. At last, a second car pulled up behind them and Shaun walked over to greet a large, rotund man and his dark-haired female partner, introduced them to Will as Rob and Cherie.
Jo huddled into the corner of the car, not wanting to talk to anyone else, only stepping out when Shaun opened the door. He stuck an arm around her shoulders.
`Come, let’s go into the kitchen and you can tell me what happened,’ he said and she nodded, didn’t look at any of the newcomers. She started walking towards the house but stopped when Will didn’t come after them.
She went over to him, grabbed his hand.
He looked up, frowning, then nodded and followed her into the house.
…
His hands were shaking. How could he have missed? What a fuck up. They’d be able to tie it to him now. Once they found the body they’d trace him. All those months of planning down the drain.
Holy fuck.
He’d never missed a shot. Never.
He touched his tongue to the roof of his mouth, flinched at the pain, felt the rage boiling over.
No, he must be calm. Think rationally. So they were a step closer, that didn’t mean anything. They were too far behind him now to catch up, he’d planned too well. They’d never find him.
He took a deep breath, got out the car and went back to the room.
`Hey, where’ve you been?’
He looked at the woman on the bed and smiled coolly.
No, all wasn’t lost, no need to scrap the plan, it had merely been delayed.
`I needed some fresh air,’ he said now, smiled again with a fake charm, watched her smile back and almost puked. Not long now, he told himself, not long now, but in the meantime, the show must go on.
He smiled again, walked over to the bed and tried to lose himself in her body, heedless of her cries of sudden pain.
Afterward he was contrite, consoled her as she cried and she forgave him.
Women always did.
Stupid bitches.
CHAPTER 22
SHAUN SAT DOWN WITH JO at the table and started taking notes while she told him what had happened. Will busied himself wrapping a pack of frozen vegetables in a dish cloth and handing it to her so she could cover her eye.
`Thanks,’ she said, looking up at him and he nodded and sat down next to her, his face grim. He didn’t say anything while she ran through the events of the past few hours, but she could feel the anxious tapping of his foot under the table, saw the angry tension in his jaw.
When she reached the part about Jack attacking her, he stood up suddenly, his chair scraping angrily. `I’m going to find Jess and Nemo,’ he said, not meeting her gaze, and stormed out the house.
Shaun watched him go, sighed, turned his attention back to Jo, saw the tears in her eyes and misunderstood the reason for them. `Don’t worry about Will. He … well, he has some trouble holding onto his temper occasionally. He’ll calm down soon.’
When she nodded but didn’t reply he frowned. `He’d never hurt you Jo.’
She looked up then, shook her head, sniffed. `Oh, I know. I’m not worried about that. It’s Jess and Nemo … I mean, where are they? What if …’
Shaun’s face closed, his expression blank and he looked away. She knew he didn’t have much hope for them then and she started crying again, knew all this was her fault.
Will found Shaun in the kitchen, dragged his hands through his hair in frustration and interrupted Shaun’s conversation with Cherie.
`Can’t you bloody wait?’ Shaun snapped.
`No I fucking can’t wait. I’ve found the dogs, where’s Jo?’
`She’s upstairs, said she wanted a shower. What –‘
He didn’t get a chance to finish as Will rushed out the kitchen and upstairs to the bathroom. He knocked on the door. Not getting a reply, he tried the handle, was surprised to find it unlocked. He turned it and walked in, stopped dead.
Jo was curled in a ball on the floor of the shower, her body shaking with a succession of heart-wrenching sobs. She hadn’t heard him come in.
It was an intensely private moment and for an instant he debated stepping back out and leaving her alone but he needed her for Jess and Nemo. So he walked over to the shower door, opened it, crouched down.
`Jo?’
Her body tensed but she didn’t look up.
`Go … away …. Will,’ she said in-between sobs.
The agony in her voice tore his heart into shreds and he sat there, not able to move, not sure what he could say to stop the tears.
`I … said … go … away!’ she yelled at him, looking up, the despair in her eyes an echo of Jamie’s, that last day. Every fiber in his body was yelling at him to simply get up and walk out, keep walking, not have to face this yet again.
But he couldn’t bring himself to leave her alone in that state.
So he stood up, switched off the shower and climbed in next to her, sat down on the floor and cradled her in his lap, felt the wet seeping through his clothes. She struggled initially then gave up, kept on sobbing and he simply held her against him, trying to offer what comfort he could.
`His hands …. were on me …. again. I … can’t … get rid of … that feeling,’ she said eventually.
He felt her trembling at the memory and frowned, pulled her closer.
She started sobbing again and he decided that perhaps it was better to give her something else to focus on so he stood up, pulled her to her feet and dragged her out the shower. She stood shivering on the bath mat while he grabbed a large towel and started drying her off.
`What … are … you … doing?’ she said, hiccuping for air.
`I’ve found the dogs. You need to come see them.’
Her eyes welled with tears again. `What … did … he … do?’ she asked.
`It looks like tranquilizers. There are darts in the field behind the cottage. Both dogs seem fine, they just look like they’re sleeping but you need to come check.’
She stopped shivering. `They’re alive?’
The sudden hope in her voice cut him to the core, made him realize just how down she’d been only seconds before.
`Yep so hurry. You need to come check them out. The police wouldn’t let me move any of them.’
He smiled as she pushed his hands away, grabbed the towel and wrapped it round herself, suddenly self-conscious again.
`Okay … but go … go wait outside,’ she said with a final sniff and he left the room, waited for her in the passage.
Jo dried her tears, somehow pulled herself together and went to find Jess and Nemo, was relieved to see that they were still breathing but heavily sedated. She frowned when she saw the darts, forced herself to be calm and focus on what needed to be done, not on what had happened.
`Okay we’re going to need to get them to the surgery and do some blood tests. I need to see what’s been used,’ she said, hearing the hoarseness in her voice and clearing her throat, trying not to notice the resulting pain.
She looked at her watch. `I’d say they’ve been out about an hour already. Given the duration and the fact they’d probably have used something fast-acting, I’d guess it’s Telazol, which means they had access to veterinary supplies of some sort. That’s a pretty common sedative.’
`So it wasn’t Jack. Must’ve been the other guy. Although with the distance that other shot must have been fired from in the dark and the fact that he got the guy with a single hit, I’d say Jack has experience shooting, w
hatever he told you before,’ Will said.
Jo tensed, took a deep breath before replying. `Well he was in the back with … with me when the dogs were shot with the tranquilizers. So it must have been the guy in the driveway. That’s why he found me at the cottage when I got away from Jack. I don’t know why they used the darts though; they could simply have shot them.’
She stood staring down at the dogs, Will and Shaun mirroring her posture.
Then Shaun sighed. `Well one good thing is that once we ID the body we’ll have a lot more to go on. Plus there’ll be a lot more resources on the case now,’ he said.
Will frowned but didn’t reply and Jo knew he was probably thinking the same thing she was. Why did someone have to die before anything could be done to stop Jack?
`Right, well let’s get going. I may need to give them something else to ensure recovery. We don’t have a lot of time,’ she said, changing the subject.
Both Will and Shaun nodded and once they’d been cleared to move the dogs, Will drove her to the surgery. She busied herself conducting the necessary tests, confirmed the use of the Telazol combination and gave both dogs an injection to counteract the effects. Then she asked Will to help her settle them down into two cages, wrapped them in blankets and started tidying up. Once she’d finished, she turned to Will. He was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, resting his elbows on his thighs, legs apart, hands laced as he stared at the floor.
`I’m going to have to stay and check on them for the next few hours,’ she said. `You can stay or go back home if you like, get some rest.’
He scowled. `Like I’d leave you alone here.’
She pulled a face, went and sat down on the floor next to him, stretched her legs out and touched the corner of her eye gingerly. She knew it was beginning to swell, had had a quick look in the mirror when she got dressed.
`God knows what I’m going to say to Ian and Laura tomorrow,’ she said.
`You mean you haven’t told Ian what’s going on? Didn’t he ask about Nemo last time you brought him in?’
Jo sighed, shrugged her shoulders. `Yes, they know about that but I kind of made out it was a one-off thing, not likely to happen again. I didn’t tell them Jack’s … well that he’s been after me for so long or what he did.’