by M A Comley
“I’m sorry to have let you down, Auntie Gail. Something inside has been burning for years. I need to avenge my parents’ death and what they did to Daniel. Look at him. You can’t tell me he hasn’t deteriorated in the past few months.”
“I’m not denying that. The doctors are running constant tests on him, altering his medication to ease his pain. We need to give them time to find the solution, not take revenge for what shadows have blighted our past. I love you child, as if you were my own, but you’ve overstepped the mark this time. I’m not sure I want a damn killer in my life.”
Her aunt’s harsh words stung. Megan sighed and wiped away the tear that had slipped from her right eye. “I didn’t mean to cause this much pain, not to you and Uncle Sam. I need you to forgive me.”
“What you need, apart from a kick up the backside and a swipe around the head, is to turn yourself in to the police. There’s a really nice inspector dealing with the case. I have her card at home. Go home and fetch it and get in touch with her.”
“I’ve spoken to her already. She was on the news, appealing for me to come in. That’s how I knew you were all here. I’m gutted it’s come to this, Auntie Gail, but the wheels are in motion and I can’t stop them until everything is dealt with.”
Her aunt’s eyes widened and she said through gritted teeth, “What’s that supposed to bloody mean? Is it true what the inspector told me, that you’ve kidnapped a boy?”
She dipped her head in shame for a moment or two before her fighting spirit emerged from the doldrums. “Yes, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat to obtain the end result.”
“My God, have you heard yourself? I don’t know you at all, none of us do. You’ve been a stranger living amongst us all this time and none of us realised. What end result are you talking about? No, don’t tell me, I think I can figure it out for myself, you’re going to kill the boy’s father, just like the others, aren’t you?”
“I have to.”
“Don’t be so ridiculous, child. Who’s telling you that?”
Megan placed a hand on either side of her head. “Mum and Dad, they’ve been inside my head for years. This is all down to them.”
“Don’t talk such rubbish. You need to put this right, Megan, give the child back and turn yourself in to the police. I hate our name being associated with a bloody murderer. How dare you bring such shame on our family? Do you really think your brother would have wanted what you’ve set out to achieve? No, I can categorically say he wouldn’t. He’d be sick to the stomach, like I am, with the thought of those men lying in a mortuary somewhere. Their families devastated, as we were when your parents died. You’re selfish, you haven’t thought this through properly. Go to the police and give yourself up, for all our sakes.”
Megan shook her head. “I can’t. I refuse to do it. There’s two more pieces to this puzzle. I’m sorry I’ve let you down, Auntie Gail. I did it for us, for Daniel. I don’t care what you think of me. I’ll be out of your hair soon enough. A disgrace to the family, that’s what you’re saying, and you’re right. I am. But justice needs to be served. I intend to make sure that happens.”
“You’re not making any sense, Megan. These men served time in prison, justice has been served.”
“Not in God’s eyes. An eye for an eye. I’ll ensure that happens.” Megan refused to debate the matter further. “I love you all, never forget that,” she called over her shoulder as she left the ward.
Her aunt didn’t try to stop her. Instead, she remained seated by Daniel’s side as usual. If only Megan could have drawn off her aunt’s strength all these years. Her head was a mess, apparently, she no longer recognised right from wrong. Her parents lived in her head, guiding her movements. They were a constant form of comfort and demand on her at the same time.
She kept her head low and marched past the officers waiting in the hallway. One of them cast a suspicious eye her way. Her heart rate spiked until she rounded the corner at the end. Out of sight, she bolted down the hallway and jumped on the lift. As the doors closed, the officer appeared. “Wait! Megan, come back.”
Shit! They know you’re here now. You’ve fucked up, girl. Her mother’s voice chastised her.
No, not necessarily. Her father chimed in. She needs to leg it to the car. You’ve got this, Megan, we believe in you. Don’t let us down now.
“I’ve never let you down in the past, I don’t intend doing it now.”
The lift doors whooshed open. She squeezed through the gap once it was large enough and ran past the reception area and out into the fresh air. Sirens could be heard a few streets away. She had no idea if they belonged to an ambulance or a police car. Keeping her head low, she made her way back to her vehicle, casting an anxious glance over her shoulder every now and again.
Megan blew out a relieved breath once she was sitting behind the steering wheel. She drove away, her mind full of putting the final two pieces of the puzzle in place.
12
Katy and Charlie were just about to leave the station when the call came in. The desk sergeant raised a hand to prevent them from walking out the main doors.
“DI Foster, you’ll want to hear this.”
Katy took three steps and stood anxiously, awaiting further news in front of his desk. “What is it?”
She glanced nervously in Charlie’s direction. Charlie appeared to be equally anxious and chewed on her lower lip.
Katy motioned for the desk sergeant to hurry up. “Come on. What’s going on?”
He ended the call and released a long sigh. “My lads have touched base to say they believe Megan showed up at the hospital.”
“That’s great news, what am I missing?” she asked, noting his worried expression.
“She got away from them.”
“What?” Katy shouted. “They had one frigging job to do and they failed to bloody do it. How?”
“In their defence, she was dressed as a nurse. One of my guys got suspicious as she walked past them, he chased her, but she lost him in the grounds of the hospital. All I can do is apologise.”
Katy kicked out at the panel below the reception desk. “That’s all we sodding need. What now? Was the boy with her? How long was she there? Did she see her family?”
“Watson said she was alone. She came out of ICU, so I’m presuming she must have spoken to her family or at least laid eyes on them. No idea how long she was there, do you want me to call him back to check?”
“No, it doesn’t matter. The damage has already been done, she slipped out of our grasp and is probably now on the run. I just hope the boy is still alive and she hasn’t dumped his body somewhere.”
“Don’t say that, boss,” Charlie muttered. “What do you want to do?”
Katy kicked out at the panel again. “Well, that’s put paid to us going home this evening. You can, but I refuse to let this lie. I need to be out there, searching for her, we’re not doing any good twiddling our thumbs around here.”
“If you’re staying, then so am I,” Charlie insisted.
“You’re the best, Charlie. Come on, let’s go back upstairs.”
Charlie’s brow furrowed. “I thought we’d be better off out there, searching for her?”
“We’ll do that after I’ve fuelled up with coffee.”
Katy was still fuming as she neared the end of her drink. She and Charlie had spent the last ten minutes bouncing ideas around.
“I suppose, going to her place of work is out of the question,” Charlie suggested. She placed her cup on the desk and rose to her feet.
“On a Sunday, yes. Maybe we should have contacted them sooner. I’m at fault there. Everything escalated pretty quickly, catching us off-guard.” Katy stood and stretched out the knots fusing her spine together.
“Where are we going to start the search?”
Katy shrugged and pulled a face. “Your guess is as good as mine. I think maybe we should head back to the hospital, see if the aunt can give us a possible list of friends we can try.”
>
“If you don’t mind me saying, that’s unlikely, given that she was whisked away by an ambulance, she would have hardly thought to have grabbed her address book before she left the house.”
Katy kicked out at a nearby chair and caught her shin. “Shit! I must stop doing that, it was only a matter of time before the chair took revenge.” She rubbed her leg until the throbbing ceased. “We’re wasting time hanging around here, let’s go.”
They rushed out of the station. On the way, Katy stopped off to speak to the desk sergeant to make him aware of their intentions. “Ring me if the slightest thing turns up, okay?”
“I’ll do that, ma’am. Good luck on your mission.”
“Thanks.”
Katy and Charlie slipped into the car and Katy gunned the engine into life. She drove out of the car park, joined the flow of traffic and headed towards the hospital. “Keep your eyes peeled, Charlie.”
“I will. What exactly am I looking for? She’s already used several disguises to our knowledge, we don’t even have a definitive picture of her in our heads, do we?”
“That’s true. We’re floundering, that’s what we’re doing. Maybe we would have been better off going home instead. No, I refuse to believe that. We’re where we should be, out here.”
Katy’s phone rang, and she answered it on the hands-free. “DI Foster.”
“Ma’am, it’s Nigel back at the station. I thought you should know we’ve just received a call from Donna Platt.”
“The boy’s mother. What did she want?”
He sighed. “Her husband has been taken at knife-point by Megan Johnson.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck! How? I’ll head over there now.”
“There’d be no point. They left in his car. Megan had a knife at his throat.”
“Jesus. I wonder where she’s taking him. Okay, tell me you’ve put out an alert on the vehicle, Nigel.”
“All in place. If they’re out there, my guys will find them.”
“I hope so. We’ll keep trawling the streets. Ring me ASAP if you hear anything.”
“That’s a Roger.”
Katy jabbed the button to end the call. “Bloody hell, could this day get any worse?”
Charlie didn’t respond. Katy shot her a quick look and then returned her gaze to the road ahead. “Charlie, are you with me?”
“I’m thinking. All the victims were found in remote areas, right, what if…”
“What if what? Jesus, you think she’s going to take him back to where the accident happened and do away with him there?”
“Just a thought. She’s unstable enough to do it, isn’t she?”
Katy flicked the switch and the siren blared. She thrust her foot on the accelerator with enough force their heads bashed against the headrests. “I hope we’re not too late. Do you know the exact location? I know roughly the area to aim for, but we need to be more accurate if we’re going to find them quickly.”
“I’ll see what I can find out via the Net.”
Ten minutes later, and with an accurate locale to aim for—thanks to Charlie’s expert digging—Katy switched off the siren when they were within spitting distance of the site.
Charlie motioned ahead. “There’s a car parked up at the end of this road.” She studied her phone, matching it to the surroundings. “It looks similar to the photos. We’re talking about nearly twenty years ago though, things change.”
“People do as well. Right, get the pepper sprays ready and anything else you may find in my glove box.” She smashed the steering wheel with the heel of her hand. “I should have signed out a Taser before we left.”
“No time for recriminations. You’re going to have to use your negotiating skills to talk to her.”
“Jesus, I’m crap at that shite. I wish your mother was here, she’d go in all guns a-blazing, knowing exactly what to say and when to bloody say it. It can all be about the timings with something like this. Megan obviously has mental issues, if I utter so much as the wrong word, Ethan could be history.”
Charlie touched her forearm. “You’ve just got to do the best you can. You’ve got this, Katy. You’re better than you give yourself credit for, take my word for it.”
“Thanks, I appreciate you having a considerable amount of faith in me.”
“You’re welcome. It’s definitely them. I can see two people close together. Maybe we should pull up here and walk the rest of the way, it might be less threatening to her.”
“You’re right.” She indicated and pulled into the kerb, then they both got out of the car and walked over to where Megan, still dressed as a nurse, was holding a knife to Ethan’s throat beside the vehicle.
“Come any closer and I’ll give him an extra smile,” Megan warned, her eyes narrowed with intention. “What are you doing here?”
Katy and Charlie stopped and Katy raised a hand. “Megan, there’s no need for this. Let him go.”
“Who are you to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do?”
“I’m DI Katy Foster.”
“Ah yes, you were the one I spoke to earlier.”
“That’s right. I’m so glad we’ve found you before you make yet another mistake.”
Megan’s eyes narrowed further. “A mistake? Is that what you think this is? He was driving a stolen vehicle and killed two people, my parents, I suppose you’d call that a mistake or an error of judgement too, would you?”
“I’m sorry, how many more times do I have to say it?” Ethan whimpered.
Katy saw Megan’s hold tighten around his neck, suppressing his windpipe until he started gasping for breath. “Megan, please, listen to me. We can get you and your family the help you need to combat any lingering issues you have concerning the accident, if you’ll give me the chance.”
“Any lingering issues? There are no issues. We’ve gone on to lead our lives as normal as possible, despite my brother’s disabilities. I’m doing this for him, Daniel is getting worse. He should never have been put at risk in the first place. You weren’t there, I was. This fucker deliberately drove at us, didn’t you? I saw you, thought you were Mr Big in front of your friends. That day you had eight people’s lives in your hands when you made the decision to play chicken with your own life.”
Ethan choked a little and murmured, “I’ve regretted my decision ever since. I swear I have.”
“Have you? You’ve gone out of your way to make contact with us as a family, to offer financial support? I don’t think so. We’ve heard nothing from you and your so-called mates throughout the years. We’ve had to deal with coping with Daniel all this time alone, with just the crappy system to back us up. A system which is in desperate need of extra funding. No, all that went by with you lot, none of you were bothered. All you were ever concerned about was getting the best brief available to get you off on a lesser charge. I bet you’re still paying off his fees now, aren’t you?”
The knife nicked Ethan’s throat and Katy found herself mesmerised by the trickle of blood running down towards his shirt collar.
“Megan, let’s talk about this rationally. Don’t be like them, you’re better than that. What’s done is done, it’s time now to live your life the best you can.”
“It’s too late, I realise I’ve gone too far now. I have one more task to perform and I won’t let you or anyone else prevent me from doing it. To this day, my family are still suffering. Daniel in particular.” She angled Ethan’s head to look at her. “Do you know he’s in hospital right now?”
“No. I’m sorry, what more can I say?” His face belied his words, there wasn’t an ounce of remorse visible in his expression.
“If I thought you meant those two simple words, then none of this would have happened, it’s too late to feel sorry now. The only reason you’re saying it is because I’ve got you pinned down and in a corner.”
Katy noted how Megan’s voice was tainted with hatred. Keep talking to her, I have to try and make her see sense. “Megan. Let him go. I promise you we’ll do what we
can to address the issues you have with the system. What will Daniel think of what you’ve done? Do you really believe he would want you to take retribution for something that occurred almost two decades ago? I doubt it. He needs you. What if your uncle doesn’t make it? Your aunt is going to need your help even more then, isn’t she?”
Megan appeared to pause for a second or two. “It’s too late. I know what you’re trying to do, to disarm me, to make me let this fucker go, it’s not going to happen. He needs to die, just like the other three. They deserved it, but their deaths were quick. I wanted to prolong his death, his suffering, to make him really consider how much he’d wrecked all of our lives. My parents died when I was four, can you imagine the trauma I had to endure when I realised they’d gone for good? My brother died that day too, not physically perhaps, but mentally he did. My whole family wiped out because of this shithead.”
Katy witnessed the darkness fill Megan’s eyes. She sliced Ethan’s neck wide open and let him drop to the floor.
Ethan gurgled and thrashed about for a few seconds.
Charlie gasped.
Crap, I know where this is leading. I have to step in. “Give me the knife, Megan,” Katy ordered. She took a step towards the young woman, but Megan instantly placed the blade against her own throat.
“Come any closer and I’ll do it. I need to watch him die, like I watched the others. You have no idea how satisfying it is to see. It’ll never make up for losing my family, but it has gone a long way towards it, I can tell you. You should go now, there’s nothing you can do for either of us.”
“Megan, I’m pleading with you to think about your family, they need you, don’t do anything rash. Think of them.”
“I do. Every waking minute of the day, I’m thinking about them. You need to back away. To go. There’s nothing for you to see here, not now.”