Salt

by David Chambers

  ‘How many were there?’ Dan asked.

  ‘I don’t know, they all agreed to it apart from Emma. She was the only one and I didn’t know she was underage. If you let me go now we can forget all about it. I won’t go to the police I promise.’

  Dan stood up straight and turned his back on him. He walked to the bed reached into the rucksack that previously contained the dildo. He pulled out a pair of green garden secateurs and a small black blowlamp. Dan turned and held them up for Jaz to see. Jaz tried to stand again, screaming when a jolt of pain flashed through his spine. Dan walked to him and gripped his wrist.

  ‘No, fucks sake please no. I’m begging you.’

  Dan ignored him and opened the secateurs, he put the cold steel blades around Jaz’s index finger and squeezed the handle. Jaz screamed as Dan felt the handles move easily and then stop when they hit something hard, he squeezed harder and then the bone gave. Dan didn’t hear the snap over the screaming but there had been one, he felt it through the handles. The bone felt like a hard branch, resisting and then giving. It felt like a branch, but a branch that shot hot, sticky sap onto your hands when you cut it. Dan picked up the blow lamp pressed the button, it clicked and a jet of blue flame shot from the end with a woof. He held Jaz’s hand in place, it was slippery and sticky at the same time in the way only blood can be. Dan flashed the tip of blue heat across the bleeding stump.

  Jaz screamed and tried to pull away but he had nowhere to go so he just continued to scream as the flesh turned from red and bloody to black and raw.

  Dan turned his head and gagged as the smell hit him. The stump looked like a badly barbequed sausage, the smell of burnt pork filled the room.

  Dan turned the blow lamp off again and wafted his hand in the air to clear the bitter stench.

  ‘How many were there?’ Dan asked again.

  ‘What? Fuck. I don’t know. Please let me go.’ Jaz sobbed.

  ‘How many fucking girls were there? Don’t make me take a thumb. It fucking stinks.’ Dan said.

  ’Forty-six, there were forty-six in total.’ He closed his eyes. ’Forty-six girls, I was going to stop at fifty. I swear it.’

  ‘You raped forty-six girls?’

  ‘It wasn’t rape, I told you that.’ Jaz flinched as Dan gripped his wrist and put his thumb between the blades of the secateurs. He squeezed again and felt the same snap followed by the same scream. He moved to the middle finger and repeated the operation, then to his ring finger and finally his little finger.

  Jaz’s hand was now just a blood leaking stump dripping on the plastic until Dan relit the blowtorch and roasted it black.

  The wailing turned to sobs as Dan turned the blowtorch off. He bent and picked up the digits, they felt like lukewarm sausages. Dan felt dirty picking them up but it needed to be done without showing weakness to Jaz. He switched his mind off and did his best to ignore what they really were.

  Dan stood in front of him ‘You raped forty-six girls, girls like Emma?’

  Jaz didn’t respond, his world was a world of pain. Dan dropped the cooling sausages on the floor in front of Jaz. He would see them when he stopped crying. He strapped the gag on Jaz’s mouth and walked out of the room.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX

  She was the little spoon again, lay on her left side beneath the quilt with him behind her. They were both naked and their bodies dovetailed together as if they had been designed for each other. His left arm was beneath her head and then wrapped around her breasts, his right arm was across her hips down to her tummy. He held her tight enough so that she couldn’t have escaped if she wanted to but she wanted nothing more than to feel him against her. His hand stroked the smooth skin of her stomach, circling slowly around her belly button.

  ‘How many were there?’ Emma asked.

  ’Forty-six, he said he was going to stop at fifty.’ Dan’s fingers stopped circling.

  ‘Do you think he would have?’

  ‘No chance. Even if he wanted to he’d have set himself a new cut off of seventy-five or some other shit.’ Dan said.

  ‘So, we’ve saved at least another four girls from him?’

  ‘I guess, I hadn’t really thought about it. I think he would have gone on until he was caught or stopped somehow but yes I think we’ve saved a lot of girls.’ Dan said.

  ‘It’s a shame someone didn’t do it before he got me.’ She hugged his left arm, pulling it around her like a security blanket.

  ‘I wish someone had, I’d give anything to have saved you that but I can’t and maybe we’d have never met.’

  ‘You think?’ Emma asked.

  ‘I don’t know really but I think everything happens for a reason and I’m sure we’re meant to be together.’

  She squeezed his hand tighter and nuzzled her buttocks into him. ‘You spoil me you do.’

  ‘I don’t spoil you, I just give you what you deserve.’ His body reacted to her nuzzling involuntarily.

  She pushed back against him and then turned to face him. ‘I love you.’ She kissed his lips before he had chance to reply.

  He rolled onto his back bringing her with him so she straddled him. Their mouths stayed together as they kissed more passionately. He reached down, she raised her body automatically and lowered herself over him. Her mouth pulled away from his long enough for a gasp to leave hers and a groan to escape his. Then they kissed again, their bodies interlinked and moving together as one.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN

  Jaz looked up at them when they entered the bedroom, mumbling through the gag and shaking his head from side to side as they walked closer.

  ‘Get the bag Emma.’ Dan said as he walked towards the trestle. ‘We’re going on a little trip now, it’s nearly over.’

  Emma lay the bag down on the floor beside the table, she unfastened the zip and pulled the flap back to reveal the darkness inside. There were more muffled noises from Jaz when he realised where he was going again.

  ‘You’re going in the bag, you’ve no choice in that. You just get to choose if you get more pain before you get in.’ Dan said. ‘Understand?’

  Jaz nodded his head. He had given up any ideas of escape or long-term planning, now all he wanted was the pain to end.

  ‘Good boy, try anything and I’ll get the blowlamp.’ Dan said. ‘Unfasten the rope please babe.’

  Emma untied the rope, Dan had hold of it near Jaz’s hands keeping the pressure on his shoulders. He took hold of the dog lead with his other hand and dragged Jaz like a dog to the open bag. Jaz tumbled in without fighting, the pain firing through his shoulders and back with every movement. Dan pushed him down and he knelt in the bag, he curled up as best he could and Dan pulled the bag around him like a shrunken sleeping bag.

  ‘Do you want me to get the chain?’ Emma said.

  ‘Yes please baby, then put it in the rucksack and bring it to the car. I need to talk to him.’ Dan said.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT

  ‘You know you’re not walking away from here, don’t you?’ Dan spoke to him quietly.

  Jaz nodded, he couldn’t speak around the gag if he wanted to.

  ‘You were never going to walk away from here. It was decided before we started and once it started it was never going to change. You listening fucker?’ Dan asked.

  Jaz didn’t respond, he lay still in the bag. His hand was blue and swollen and Dan almost felt pity for him.

  ‘She didn’t want to do it you know? Well I think she did a little. She always wanted some kind of revenge but never enough to go through with it. I had to push her to do it. I knew as soon as she told me that I needed to do something. Nobody should get away with what you did and since you picked on little girls the police never even got chance to mess up the case.’ Dan watched him there. He looked pitiful and anyone walking in now would be shocked. They might even try to free him. If they knew what he’d done they might just turn around and walk away.

  ‘Do you know what serendipity means?’ Dan asked.

  Jaz shook
his head slowly.

  ‘It kind of means good fortune but not expected. I guess it’s like finding money or something, but more. I didn’t know until Emma made me watch the film. Well once I started to think about what I could do to you things just dropped into place. I watched stuff on Netflix and ideas came to me. All the times I watched crime dramas and documentaries made sense. You know what I mean?’ Dan didn’t wait for an answer. ‘It all kind of dropped into place and it’s pretty simple the more research I did into it. The body is the biggest thing you know? It’s how nearly all of them get caught. No body no crime. There’s going to be no evidence to link you to us and any that is I can explain because I’ve been to your house.’

  Jaz’s only response was a sob.

  ‘The best thing is that it’s you. Serendipity you see? You never advertised how you raped girls, so just like they hid what they did from their parents, you’ve hidden what you’ve done. There’s no motive. There’s no link between us and you. And you being you means you aren’t Maddie McCann. You aren’t a cute little blonde girl. Missing kids are always news because people can relate to it but you? You’re just a guy who vanished. You’ve got no family to keep the case alive or in the press. You’ve lived a life of secrecy because you’re a rapist and maybe a few friends will wonder where you went but not enough to keep the case running. Do you know there’s a quarter of a million people who just vanish each year in Britain? Quarter of a million. All those cases for police to handle. All that paperwork and hassle and they won’t be focusing on you. So, you’ll be on someone’s desk for a week or maybe two, then in a filing cabinet, buried. There’s nothing to link us so we’ll just be two people in sixty million on this little island. You made this easy for me you see. When I started thinking about it, you made it so easy it would be a crime not to kill you. Anyway. I just thought you should have an idea of what’s going to happen to you. Maybe give you a chance to do some praying, because if you have a God, I can’t imagine he looks too fondly on child rapists.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE

  Dan took the next junction, Emma leafed through his hand-written directions. The roads were busy. Dan was finding the driving tiring, the last thing he needed was for them to be caught because of a silly mistake.

  ‘Do you know the route?’ Emma asked.

  ‘Yeah, pretty much. Just keep the notes handy in case I get lost. I need the garage and stuff.’ Dan said.

  ‘Ok. Where is it?’

  ‘Just a bit further.’ Dan drove on. He missed the Audi, the Transit just didn’t have the same appeal. He followed the lanes, driving from memory.

  He saw the sign for the garage before he saw the garage, it stood high above the hedges and still had fuel prices that needed changing manually. It was somewhere he only used when desperate because they were more expensive than the big chains and the only thing worse than the coffee machine was the toilet. The toilet was almost as bad as the coffee machine. Today it was perfect. They were around thirty years behind number plate recognition cameras and on his last visit their one security camera had a spider’s web across the lens.

  Dan indicated and pulled onto the forecourt, the Transit bounced over the pitted concrete.

  ‘Do you want anything?’ Dan asked.

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘I don’t know, water or something? The coffee’s shit though.’ Dan said.

  ‘Oh ok, just water or something then please.’ Emma said.

  ‘Ok babe.’ Dan said climbing out and walking to the back of the van. He opened it and took out the green plastic fuel can he bought the week before. He walked to the pump and held the bottle up to show the girl working inside, he shook it and heard the pump turn on. He raised his thumb to her and filled the container with unleaded.

  ‘It’s just along here somewhere.’ Dan said leaning forward to peer through the windscreen.

  ‘Oh, is that it up there?’ Emma said pointing further up the road.

  ‘Err yeah, that’s it.’ Dan said settling back into the seat. He checked his mirrors and slowed before bouncing the Transit over the dropped curb. He pulled to a stop and reversed behind the trees and bushes lining the road.

  ‘What is this place?’ Emma said squinting to see in the mirror.

  ‘I don’t know, it’s like a layby but I think they planned on connecting a road or housing estate or something. I’ve stopped here for a piss break a couple of times.’

  ‘Nice.’ Emma said.

  ‘I know and I’m sure other people use it, we need to be quick though and I need you on lookout ok?’ Dan asked pulling to a stop.

  ‘Ok I’m ready.’ Emma said.

  ‘Good. Now just stand at the front of the van and let me know if you see anything ok babe?’

  ‘No problem.’ Emma said biting her nails.

  Dan opened the back doors and pulled out the sheets of MDF, trestle and dustbin bags they’d packed earlier. He carried the MDF as far as he could before he ran out of hard surface, it was over grown and cracked but secluded. He put them on the floor and carried everything else over to them. The van blocked the only other view and Emma would warn him so he felt secure. He ripped open the black plastic bags tipped them onto the MDF, lay the trestle on the pile and stood the bat on top. He walked back with the petrol and unscrewed the cap. He carefully poured it over the detritus having learned from his crime shows that many people burn themselves during arson when they splash petrol around believing what they see in the movies. Dan took a rolled newspaper from the van and dipped it into the spreading pool of petrol. It lit as soon as the flame from the disposable lighter touched it and he stood holding the paper like a cheap Olympic torch. He smiled at his absurd thoughts and tossed the paper down into the pool. The petrol caught immediately with a whoomph as the fire sucked in as much oxygen as it could find. He stepped back, the heat growing. He smiled as the evidence connecting them to Jaz vanished behind the orange glow of destruction.

  ‘Ready babe?’ Dan asked walking back to the van.

  ‘Yeah.’ Emma said.

  ‘Get in then.’

  They arrived at the harbour a little after eight in the evening. It was a clear crisp night, there were people around but none payed them any particular interest. Dan dragged the big North Face bag from the rear of the Transit, it dropped to the ground with a thump and muffled moan. Emma took the Jack Wolfskin bag and they walked across the car park.

  ‘Off out for a spot of fishing?’ A voice from behind them called as they reached the jetty.

  Dan turned and saw Alf waving to them from a bench, his bench, on the sea front. Alf had retired here a few years back and sat in the same place every day. He had always been friendly in the way people with lots of time on their hands are.

  Dan stood the bag beside Emma, she took the handle to keep it upright.

  ‘No need to get up Alf.’ Dan called back as he jogged towards Alf to stop him getting too close to Emma and her cargo.

  ‘It’s ok I could do with stretching my legs.’ Alf said.

  ‘No fishing tonight, just going out for a little bit.’ Dan had reached Alf and kept him far enough to avoid the muffled moans.

  ‘I get it. No fishing but you might get your worm wet anyway.’ Alf had an old school way about him although he would never make a joke like this where Emma could hear him. He winked at Dan.

  ‘That’s the plan.’ Dan said with a smile.

  ‘Well if you don’t hurry up I might take her out for a spot of maggot drowning myself, never keep a lady waiting.’

  ‘True, see you soon Alf. She’ll kill me if I leave her standing there too long.’

  ‘Have fun.’ Alf said returning to his spot on the bench.

  Dan jogged back to Emma.

  ‘Everything ok?’ She asked, stepping from one foot to the other.

  ‘Yeah, he just wanted to say hello.’ Dan said.

  ‘Will he remember us being here?’ Emma said as they began walking along the jetty.

  ‘Alf remembers everything but he wo
n’t be a problem.’ Dan said.

  ‘How do you know?’ Emma asked.

  ‘You worry too much princess.’ Dan said.

  ‘Maybe but how do you know he isn’t going to ring the police and say we are acting suspiciously or something.’ She stopped now looking him in the eye.

  ‘He thinks we are going out for a night of floating and fucking.’

  ‘Really?’ Her cheeks started to turn red.

  ‘Yes really, he thinks we’re just heading out to have some sex on deck and then come back. I was kind of hoping he was right.’ Dan said.

  ‘Oh Jesus.’ Her face shone red now. ‘I don’t know what’s worse, him calling the police or thinking I’m out there doing that.’ She walked faster than usual, her head down.

  Dan followed, a smile spreading across his face. He felt amazingly relaxed considering what was soon to happen. It was as if the decision had been the difficult part, now they were just following the plan.

  CHAPTER NINETY

  They’d passed a few boats out for similar evening trips but now they were further out they were alone. The bags lay at the stern of the boat, one lay motionless while one squirmed.

  Dan turned off the engine and stepped out on deck, he looked through his binoculars but could see nobody else nearby.

  ‘This is it princess.’ Dan said as he laid down his binoculars. ‘Do you want to talk to him first?’

  ‘I don’t know, I don’t know what I want. Maybe just get it over with.’

  ‘Well I think yours should be the last face he sees but I can do it all if you want.’ Dan said.

  ‘I think I’d like that, he was my first so I should be the last for him.’ Emma said.

  ‘Good. Let him see what started all this.’ Dan was beside the bag now and unzipped it, a pair of large white eyes stared up at him filled with tears. ‘Stop crying. You earned this forty-six times over.’