Claire dropped her coat onto the living room floor and ran to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Derek knew he’d hurt her deeply. And not just that! He’d wanted to hurt her. He was hurting himself, and he wanted everyone else to suffer too. That was part of his nature. He was a nasty bastard.
Chapter 60
Derek Dagger opened the bedroom door. His wife was standing at the foot of the bed, looking at herself in the mirror. He came up behind her and put his arms around her waist. Then his hands began to wander upwards.
“Take your clothes off, my Star,” he said, kissing her in the neck. He made love to her, but the whole time, but his mind was elsewhere.
The next day, Angelica finally sent him a text message. At last, he would see her again! He missed her so! When he got to Angelica’s apartment, she was beside herself.
“Hanna Carstens is allowing Maria to associate with Eileen Evans. That’s the absolute limit! I find it impossible,” she hissed angrily.
“But we need Hanna,” Derek said. “She can take Maria off our hands from time to time.” Angelica stared at him, aghast.
“What did you just say? I don’t ask Hanna to look after Maria, just to get rid of her!”
“That’s not what I meant!” Derek said, in an effort to placate her. But Angelica was furious.
“I love my daughter! She’s just as important to me as you are!”
“And Sebastian?”
“You’re such an idiot!”
When Derek thought about it, he had to admit that Maria really was in the way! And more than that! She posed a threat to them, and it would only get worse as she got older. He was basically grateful that Hanna was there to take care of her when they needed her to.
At the same time, he was furious with Eileen Evans. He believed that she was responsible for Angelica’s rebuff. But, the real reason why she didn’t want to see him at the moment had nothing at all to do with Eileen.
Chapter 61
Over the months that followed, Derek had to devote more and more time to Claire. But she still felt neglected.
“Why don’t you understand how I feel?” she asked him one night, as they lay in bed, side by side. “One day, you’re going to have to do almost everything by yourself. I’ll be so weak that I won’t be able to do anything for myself anymore. And that could happen sooner than you think.”
Derek stared at the ceiling and said nothing for a while.
At last he said: “We’re not there yet. You shouldn’t think about it so much.”
“Will you still be there for me?” Claire asked.
“Of course I will,” he answered absently. Claire sat up in bed.
“Derek, is there another woman in your life?”
“What gives you that idea?” he asked. “I’m tired. Let me sleep now!”
The terrible consequences of the debilitating disease took their toll on Claire far sooner than expected. Derek was shocked when he realized that she even found it difficult to stand up. And the constant battle of coping with his mixed feelings for his wife and his lover took its toll on Derek too.
His wife really needed him now, and if she’d had her way, he would hardly have left her side. She demanded genuine emotions from him, and Derek had to face this dilemma every day. He became nervous, careless.
One day, he stood outside Angelica’s door. “Angelica,” he said loudly. “Why don’t you let me in. You called me just a little while ago!” The door opened.
“I can’t see you now. Maria is ill,” she whispered.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Tonsilitis.”
“I’m not afraid of catching anything from her. Let me in,” he whispered.
“Derek, stop pushing me,” she hissed through the crack in the door. “I really don’t have any time now.” He stood undecidedly outside the half-open door.
“Do you still love me?” he asked softly, but she seemed not to have heard. “Angelica,” he said a little louder, “was it a good idea moving into this building? Do you still love me?”
“Oh, leave me alone! Of course I still love you, idiot!”
Angelica closed the door, and Derek leant his head against the wooden door case. And then he realized that he wasn’t alone.
Chapter 62
“It’s no use trying to argue your way out if it,” Frederick Smith said slowly. Derek Dagger suddenly felt his temperature rising. His affair with Angelica had finally been discovered, after so many years. And he alone was to blame.
“Why should I try to talk my way out of anything?” Dagger asked quietly. “What are you talking about?” But the old man didn’t answer. He simply tried to push his way past Dagger.
“Answer me!” Derek hissed. “Why should I try to argue my way out of anything?” But he needed no answer. He was lost! Frederick Smith had found out about his affair. But how much had he heard? How much did he know? How much had he guessed?
The old man – his father – simply stared at him without saying anything.
“What do you want from me?” Derek said. He was beginning to panic, but Frederick Smith still didn’t reply. Dagger realized that his life would be in ruins if the old man revealed his and Angelica’s secret. He grabbed his father by the shoulder and shook him hard.
“What do you want?” Derek Dagger shouted desperately.
Derek shook him so violently that Frederick lost his balance. He watched, as though in slow motion, as the old man tumbled down the stairs backwards. He actually tried to hold him back, to catch him, but he was too late.
On the way down, Frederick Smith hit the stairs twice, with a sickening thump each time. Derek ran down the stairs to the old man, who was lying there helpless, his gaze darting aimlessly here and there. And Derek Dagger knew that he had no choice.
Chapter 63
Extract from a police interrogation protocol. Witness: Derek Dagger
I closed his nose and mouth with my hands until his chest stopped moving. I don’t know whether it was the fall that killed him, or me. But, either way, it was my fault.
He might have survived the fall, but that would have been the end of me. The end of Angelica and me. I recognized an opportunity and I made use of it. Even until today, I ask myself why nobody else heard him falling down the stairs, and how I got away with it for so long.
Finally, I jumped up and called an ambulance. Only then did I fully realize what I had done: I had killed my own father. But, by the time the ambulance got there, I had composed myself again. I told the paramedics that I had found him lying at the bottom of the stairs, and that I presumed he had fallen down.
Every single day, Derek Dagger expected to be accused of murdering Frederick Smith. When the doorbell rang at an unusual time, three weeks later, his heart dropped into his shoes. But it wasn’t the police. Much to his surprise, it was Kyle Benton. Until then, he’d had very little contact with him.
“Good evening, Derek,” Kyle began.
“Good evening. What can I do for you?”
“I need to speak to you. Do you have time now?” Kyle sounded somewhat serious.
Dagger sensed that this wasn’t going to be a brief conversation. He put on his shoes and a jacket, and the two men went outside. Then, Kyle began to speak:
Chapter 64
I married very young. I was only twenty-one at the time. Unfortunately, my wife and I weren’t able to have any children. We consulted various specialists, and eventually our family doctor made it quite clear to us, that we’d never become parents.
But, we weren’t prepared to accept our fate. “There’s always a way,” my wife said, so we decided to adopt a child. It wasn’t that easy, but finally, we were able to adopt a little girl. We fell in love with her right away, and we were overjoyed.
But our luck ran out pretty soon. About five years later, the police knocked on my door. My wife was dead. She’d simply fallen over at work, and hadn’t gotten up again. She died of an aneurism, leaving me a widower at just twenty-eight. It
took me six years to get over my wife’s death to some extent. But even now, I haven’t really come to terms with my loss entirely.
I’d lost my job meanwhile, and all I had left was my daughter. He name is Tanya. I moved here with her a few years ago. And this is where I met Angelica. The last time I Angelica and I were together, she said to me: “I can’t go on living like this, Kyle. I’m just not strong enough.”
“Then we’ll have to take our fate into our own hands,” I replied.
“He’ll kill you!” Angelica said. “Derek Dagger will kill you.”
I have fallen in love with Angelica. I wish I hadn’t. But I love her.
Kyle Benton and Derek Dagger were back in front of the building. Dagger had listened to what Kyle had to say, without saying a word.
“Why didn’t she tell me herself?” Derek asked.
“She no longer trusts you.”
“I still want to hear it from her! What else did she tell you?” Dagger was furious, and he had to make a concerted effort to control himself. He wanted nothing more than to punch Kyle in the face.
“I know everything.” Kyle Benton’s eyes flashed.
Chapter 65
Extract from a police interrogation protocol. Witness: Derek Dagger
I told Kyle Benton that I wanted to hear it from Angelica’s own mouth. I had a key to her apartment, so I unlocked the door and snuck in. It was well after midnight and Angelica wasn’t there. For a split second, I thought: “Lucky for her!” I was afraid of myself for a moment – afraid of what I might do. Sebastian wasn’t there either and Maria wasn’t in her bed. The apartment was deserted.
But they couldn’t have moved out. All their furniture and clothes, everything was still there. I knew they’d come back again, so I sat down in the dark living room and waited. As I sat there, I began to imagine, with a mixture of lust and agony, what Angelica and Kyle had done together. How far had they gone? And the more painful it was for me, the more intensive my thoughts became.
At about 4am, the door opened and Angelica and Hanna Carstens came into the apartment.
“I’ll be okay now,” Angelica said. Hanna left the apartment hesitantly, a look of doubt on her face.
Derek Dagger sat in an armchair in the dark living room. Angelica wasn’t surprised to see him. In fact, she’d expected him to be there.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Derek asked. “We were so happy! Everything was perfect.”
“Yes,” she said dully, “but it wasn’t enough!”
“How long have you been planning this?” Angelica sat down on the arm of the chair opposite the one in which Derek sat.
“I found out where our daughter was several years ago. I was just waiting for the right moment, before I made a move. I had no idea how it was going to turn out. I didn’t know that I was going to fall in love with Kyle.”
“No, I expect you didn’t,” Derek murmured.
“I love my daughter. I love both of my daughters.” Derek Dagger put his head in his hands, as though he was thinking.
“She’s your daughter too,” she said, looking at him pleadingly. Derek Dagger didn’t react.
“Come here,” he begged, patting the arm of the chair he was sitting on.
“What do you want?” she whispered.
“I said, come here,” he was barely able to suppress his fury.
“Derek, what do you want from me?” She was afraid. “It’s over, Derek!”
“No! It’s not!” he said angrily. He stood up and walked across to her. She slipped down into the chair.
“You’re scaring me, Derek!”
“I know that Sebastian isn’t here,” he whispered into her ear. Angelica couldn’t get a word out. He slipped one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders, and picked her up.
“Put me down!” Angelica screamed when they reached the bedroom. Derek Dagger locked the door behind them and threw her onto the bed. He held her mouth shut, so that she couldn’t scream.
Chapter 66
The night that he raped his sister, Derek Dagger changed completely. Until then, only the death of Frederick Smith had had such a profound impact on his character. Desperate not to lose her entirely, he threatened her with violent consequences, unless she promised to remain available to him, at least sexually. Finally, seeing no other alternative, she agreed.
This new situation meant that Angelica Kline had two lovers – Kyle Benton and Derek Dagger. And she also had the added burden of making sure that Kyle didn’t find out that her relationship with Dagger was not over, after all.
Claire Dagger also suffered. She was now unable to leave the apartment at all, and she was utterly dependent on her husband’s help.
“Can you drive me to the doctor’s?” she asked a few days later.
“Again?”
“Never mind. I’ll call a taxi.” He avoided her glance. He knew he should be supporting her, but he simply didn’t have the willpower. He felt like a traitor! He hadn’t felt that way for such a long time.
Over the next weeks, Claire’s declarations of love became more and more exuberant too, and Derek became less and less able to accept the situation. But, if Claire found out about his relationship with Angelica, it would destroy her, just as her illness was doing.
Dagger tried to distract himself by doing various repairs around the building and going for long walks. He cleaned the gutters and tried to find a solution for the regular flooding that always occurred in the basement when it rained a lot.
He was only able to uphold his relationship with Angelica by means of threats and intimidation. He knew, that if the authorities were to find out about their relationship, she would lose both children, and that alone was a powerful means of manipulation.
None of the other residents of the building, including Paul Flakers and Morton Gould, seemed to know anything about the recent developments. Either that, or they didn’t want to know! Morton Gould remained closeted in his top floor apartment, just as Paul Flakers remained invisible in his ground floor apartment. Flakers could come and go as he pleased, without anyone noticing anyway.
Then, the day came when Claire was no longer able to get out of bed. It was a Saturday.
Chapter 67
“Derek, please help me. I can’t get up on my own.” He helped her reluctantly.
“Wait! Let me get your rollator,” he said. He went to fetch it, but rather than waiting, Claire tried to stand up on her own. When he got back to the bedroom, he found her lying on the floor. He walked slowly over to her and stopped right beside her head. She was looking up at him, and it made him feel uneasy. Her helpless gaze reminded him of the dreadful scene when Frederick Smith had died.
“Please help me!” she begged quietly. He noticed tears running down her cheeks. She was still as attractive as she had always been. He grabbed her under the arms and pulled her to her feet. She must have guessed what he’d been thinking, because at breakfast she asked:
“Do you still find me attractive?”
He couldn’t suppress his smile. For the first time in ages, her coquettish manner appealed to him again. He inclined his head from one side to the other and said:
“Well… You’re no longer the youngest!” She looked at him in surprise.
“But then, you aren’t that old either!” he added. They both laughed. After breakfast, they made love again, for the first time in many weeks.
Afterwards, Derek went down to the basement. There had been heavy rain the previous night, and he knew that it would be under water again. Because of the design of the building, only certain rooms were affected, namely the corridor and the room adjoining the laundry. But the laundry itself was not affected. Shortly before that last downpour, a new washing machine had been installed, and Derek had done the electric wiring himself. Connecting the cables was a rather dangerous job, for which he had to stand with his feet almost in water. And he couldn’t switch the power off, or he would have to work in the dark.
At last,
he found the right cables, but before he could continue with his task, he heard a sound on the basement stairs. He turned around and saw Claire was coming towards him, making her way through the water that covered the floor of the corridor. She was walking with a jerky motion, which seemed to drain every ounce of strength from her weak body.
“Claire,” he said, amazed, “how did you get down here? What’s wrong?”
The angry glint in her eyes was all the reply he needed. She held the digital camera in her hand – the camera that he and Angelica always used to document his appearance before and after their rendezvous. He could see the picture on the camera’s display, which showed him and Angelica lying in bed naked. They were both laughing, and he remembered how, several months previously, they had taken some pictures of themselves in bed, using the self-timer function.
Derek Dagger knew that this was the end of the road. Claire had also found out about it. It was the end of their relationship. Claire tried to walk over to him, but she stumbled over something that was hidden under the water in the corridor, and she fell to the ground. The digital camera slipped out of her hand and landed in the water.
For the second time that day, Derek Dagger remembered the look on Frederick Smith’s face as he lay helpless at the foot of the stairs. Now, it was Claire who was lying helpless in front of him. She tried in vain to pull herself back onto her feet, clinging desperately to whatever was within her reach. Derek Dagger stood in the laundry, watching her battle in silence. Finally, she looked directly at him. He saw a mixture of hate and confusion in her eyes.
Without a second thought, he reached in behind the panel he was working on, and ripped one of the wires out with a pair of pliers, then he dropped the live wire into the water, directly beside Claire. The electricity fused immediately and the basement was plunged into darkness, but the shock had been lethal. Claire was dead.
A Dark Place_Thriller Page 12