Dead Memories: An addictive and gripping crime thriller

by Angela Marsons

  ‘Ah, yes, John, a lovely boy.’

  ‘You met him at the prison, didn’t you?’ Kim asked, taking another step towards the straining rope.

  Mallory did the same.

  Timing, Kim reminded herself. It was all in the timing.

  ‘You saw a tall strong man who could be easily manipulated with a few gentle words. The guy only ever wanted someone to be nice to him. To treat him like a human being.’

  ‘And I did that,’ she answered. ‘It paid dividends.’

  ‘He had no clue what he was doing, did he? You told him what to do and he just did it. He got his ex-cellmate to send the blackmail email to Beckett. He had no idea what you were going to do to Billie but he lured her to those woods so you could assault her so brutally.’

  Mallory shrugged without one ounce of emotion.

  ‘He ran away like a stupid little girl,’ Mallory said, sounding uncomfortably like her father. ‘He’d served his purpose, so I dispatched him. It was the kindest thing to do,’ she said as though he was an injured animal beyond repair.

  Kim worked hard to hide her disgust but she knew she had to fight the emotion back down if she had any hope of saving Alison’s life. She had to concentrate and keep Mallory focussed.

  She took another step forward.

  Mallory followed and held out the knife. ‘Stone, I’m warning you…’

  ‘And the Phelpses were an absolute gift, weren’t they?’ she asked. ‘A respectable couple out of their depth visiting their son in prison. I bet they just loved the reassurance of someone like you; so similar, so knowledgeable about the system. Joel told me they spent more time chatting with other visitors. They were the innocent trusting couple that you could easily subdue with the quick injection and then set fire to the car.’

  ‘The higher the dose the quicker it works,’ Mallory offered. ‘From the back seat of their car it was easy enough to give them a quick prick and then cover the seat belt buttons for a few seconds.’

  Kim thought about the two of them, imprisoned by a mechanism that was designed to keep them safe.

  ‘You started the blaze inside the car so you had enough time to get out and drive away, while they sat there paralysed as the flames leapt up around them.’

  ‘Ingenious, I thought,’ she said, pleasantly.

  Oh, how Kim wanted to rush across the space that separated them and smash that expression from her face, but she had to stay focussed. She knew the time was getting close.

  ‘But why kill Ernest Beckett?’ Kim asked. ‘You’d already blackmailed him into giving you the file so?…’

  ‘Because he was a weak, pathetic specimen of a man who would have gone to the police eventually. He was a loose end.’

  ‘So, you drugged him too and then killed him? Just another body on the pile?’ Kim spat, unable to keep her feelings out of her voice, but the woman’s disregard for human life revealed just how much she was like her father.

  ‘And that’s where you got the drugs from. It’s what you used to inject your father to keep his muscles…’

  Kim’s words trailed away as something suddenly occurred to her. The drug used was a muscle relaxant.

  ‘Oh my god, he wasn’t paralysed, was he?’ Kim asked, only now wondering why someone who had no feeling would need a muscle relaxant. ‘You kept him in that chair?’

  ‘Made him easier to handle,’ she said as a distasteful look fell over her face. ‘For the first time in my life, I had control. I could treat him just as he’d treated me for so many years.’

  It occurred to Kim that during the hate crimes investigation they had uncovered many of the Preeces’ family secrets. But maybe not all of them.

  Kim took another step.

  Mallory followed.

  ‘What the hell did he do to you, Mallory?’

  ‘Nothing I didn’t repay him for tenfold once I had the chance,’ she said with steel in her voice. ‘And then I had a son who was just like him. Bart was cut from the same cloth and it was like looking at the old man all over again.’

  Kim couldn’t help the irony that struck her that she was exactly like them both.

  ‘But my Dale made everything better,’ she said. ‘He was the son I wanted, the one I really cared about. The others never mattered to me.’

  Kim couldn’t stop the confusion that formed on her face.

  ‘But that’s what all this was for,’ she said. ‘You hate me because of your father and your son. Indirectly I took them away from you.’

  Mallory’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘That’s what you think? You think I did all this for those two bastards? You think that’s at the core of my rage?’

  ‘Of course.’

  The woman laughed out loud.

  ‘I don’t hate you for what you’ve done to them. They’re both dead and I hated them. I hate you for what you’ve done to the one that’s still alive.’

  One Hundred Thirty-Two

  ‘Time?’ Bryant asked as Penn brought the car to a screeching halt in front of Chaucer House.

  ‘Two minutes to eight,’ Penn said, as he appraised the scene.

  Groups of people were pointing up to the roof, some laughing as though the sight was being provided as night-time entertainment.

  ‘Fuck,’ Bryant said, as the others followed his gaze.

  ‘It’s her,’ Stacey whispered. ‘It’s Alison.’

  The woman was hanging by a rope tied to her feet. It didn’t take Bryant long to realise that she wasn’t struggling or moving at all.

  A squad car pulled up behind them.

  ‘Get everyone away,’ Bryant instructed, as the three of them rushed into the building.

  Bryant had spotted his own car parked further along the row and once again cursed himself for making the wrong call.

  ‘Fucking lifts,’ Bryant growled at the out of order sign on one and the other clearly resting below ground level.

  ‘Stairs,’ they all said at the same time, rushing through the heavy fire doors.

  A dark figure appeared in front of them.

  ‘Where yer going, blud?’

  ‘Out the way,’ Bryant said.

  He held out his hand. ‘There’s a toll…’

  Bryant reached out and closed his hand around the young man’s throat and hauled him out of the way.

  ‘Okay, who’s the fastest?…’

  Penn didn’t even bother to answer as he started to run up thirteen flights of stairs.

  One Hundred Thirty-Three

  ‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Kim asked, taking one more step towards the woman, who had clearly lost her mind.

  ‘You don’t get it, do you?’ she hissed. ‘He’s obsessed with you. He thinks about you all the time. He killed his own brother to save you and even in prison—’

  ‘He hates me,’ Kim said, trying to make the woman understand.

  ‘Damn well wish he did. I’ve been trying for long enough to make him. He’s the only one I ever cared about. My dad, Bart, I couldn’t care less. Dale is the only one of them I ever loved and all he can think about is you. You’re right there in the prison with him and you’ll be with him when he gets out. That’s why I hate you and that’s why you have to die.

  ‘Because then I’ll get him back. Then he’ll be all mine again.’

  ‘Mallory, you’ve lost your damn mind,’ Kim said, taking another step, her mind’s eye picturing Alison hanging over the side of the building.

  Mallory followed and held the knife aloft.

  ‘I told you, now one more time and I’m gonna…’

  Kim stepped forward one more time, praying she’d timed it right.

  One Hundred Thirty-Four

  ‘We’ll never catch him,’ Stacey puffed as the two of them raced up what felt like the tenth flight of steps but had probably been less.

  He agreed. Penn had headed off like a whippet. But the roof was not where they were going.

  ‘This one,’ he said, exiting the stairway. He stood for a second, getting his be
arings. He turned left, ran to the window and then headed for the first door.

  He banged his fist against it and shouted at the same time.

  ‘Bryant, what the?…’ Stacey’s words trailed away as her thoughts caught up with his. ‘Got it,’ she said, bending her head and opening the letterbox while Bryant continued to thump.

  ‘Let us in,’ she shouted. ‘Police, let us in. Come to the door.’

  The door opened next to it and a kid with low-slung jeans and a ponytail answered. ‘Hey, wassup?’

  ‘Who lives here? We need to get in,’ Stacey said, as Bryant continued to bang.

  ‘Old Mrs Thomas but Friday night, innit? Bingo till ten.’

  ‘Shit,’ Bryant said, looking around. He grabbed the fire extinguisher. He knew this was the flat from where they could try and reach her.

  ‘Stace, go in there, find a window and just call out to her. Tell her we’re gonna get her down.’

  Stacey ushered the lad inside as he took a swing at the door. It left a decent dent but no movement on the door.

  He swung back and then forward again with all his might and aimed right for the door handle throwing in the loudest cry of persuasion.

  The door crashed open.

  Even from the front door he could see through to the lounge and Alison’s torso hanging in front of the window.

  He wiped the sweat from his brow as he sprinted along the hall, almost falling over a metal walking frame.

  The whole window stretched from floor to ceiling and was formed of three parts: the bottom part that came up to his waist was by far the biggest – the panel behind which was Alison’s head and shoulders. The other two panels above were half the size and only one had a window handle.

  Immediately he could see that it wasn’t big enough to be able to grab the rope and pull her inside.

  ‘Shit, shit, shit,’ he said, rubbing at his forehead again.

  His only option was to try and smash the biggest panel of glass. He knew to do so was to risk showering her with shards, injuring, blinding or possibly killing her.

  Or she could potentially fall to her death, said a small voice inside his head.

  He ran back for the fire extinguisher and launched it towards the glass.

  It bounced right back at him.

  One Hundred Thirty-Five

  Mallory took the final step towards the straining rope and leaned down.

  The knife flicked across the taut strands as the heating system burst into life right beside her, bang on time at 8 p.m.

  Kim lurched forward, only needing that element of surprise to distract the woman for one second.

  Mallory managed to get one more cut across the rope before Kim knocked her backwards.

  The taut rope had been sliced not severed but Alison’s weight on the other end hanging over the side of the building was adding strain.

  ‘Get… off…’

  Kim rolled around on the floor atop Mallory who still had possession of the knife.

  Mallory struggled to get back towards the rope to give it one more slice.

  ‘Have to… kill…’

  ‘You’re killing no one else, you fucking bitch,’ Kim barked, finally able to let her true emotions out.

  Kim knew that her colleague was currently dangling over the edge of the building secured only by a rope that was suffering under the strain but she couldn’t let this woman free while she still had the knife.

  ‘It’s getting weaker,’ Mallory said, breathlessly, looking at the straining threads.

  Kim felt underneath the woman and found one hand and then the other.

  Nothing. No knife.

  Kim lifted Mallory’s head up and then banged it off the ground but she wouldn’t stop squirming and Kim had no clue where the knife was now. But Mallory did. If she gave her even a second of freedom she could reach over and sever the rope.

  ‘Where is it you fucking bitch?’ Kim screamed, rolling her slightly to the right.

  Nothing.

  ‘Aaarrrgghhhhh…’ Kim cried out as she rolled her to the left and her injured thigh got caught between them.

  But there it was, resting beneath her hip bone.

  Kim grabbed for it giving Mallory the opportunity to swing her arm back and strike Kim on the side of the head.

  Her vision clouded for a second, which was all Mallory needed to buck Kim off her, but Kim still had the knife clutched firmly in her palm.

  Mallory squirmed and scooted out from beneath her delivering another elbow blow to her head.

  Kim rocked sideways as Mallory got to her feet and took a step towards the rope. The woman didn’t have the knife but she could untie the knot.

  ‘Oh no you don’t,’ Kim screamed, lurching forward. She aimed the knife and thrust it into the back of the woman’s knee.

  Mallory cried out in agony as she fell to the ground.

  Kim instantly reached down to re-secure the rope. It snapped in her hand.

  Kim grabbed onto it with both hands as the momentum of Alison’s weight falling pulled her and the rope across the rooftop. She managed to secure both palms around the rope and was slammed against the wall.

  ‘I’m not letting go,’ she screamed out as the rope burned into the skin on the palms of her hand. Every muscle in her arms and shoulders felt like it was being ripped from her bones.

  ‘I’m not fucking letting go,’ she cried out again and prayed that Alison could hear her.

  She would allow the rope to pull her over the edge before she let it go.

  She screamed out in pain as she felt as though her shoulders were leaving their sockets.

  ‘I’m not. I’m not… I’m not,’ she said to herself as Mallory managed to stagger back to her feet.

  The woman reached down and pulled the knife from her knee and limped forward, crying out with every movement.

  ‘Stay back, Mallory,’ Kim cried, knowing there was nothing she could do.

  She couldn’t defend herself and hold onto the rope that held Alison.

  Blood was oozing from the wound in her knee but Mallory barely seemed to notice as she advanced on Kim.

  ‘And now I’m going to finish it,’ Mallory said, just three paces away from her.

  Kim held tight to the rope.

  She would not let go of Alison.

  She met Mallory’s hate-filled gaze defiantly.

  ‘I’m not letting her—’

  Kim’s words were cut off as the roof door burst open.

  The noise distracted Mallory for as long as Penn needed to sprint towards them and throw her back across the roof.

  Never had Kim been so pleased to see anyone in her life.

  ‘I’m not losing her, Penn,’ she said, as the rope bit into the cuts on her hands. ‘I swear I’m not letting her go. I’ve got her.’

  Penn placed his hands on the rope above hers.

  ‘I know, boss, and now I’ve got her too.’

  One Hundred Thirty-Six

  Even by Hollytree’s standards they were providing quite the floor show.

  Six squad cars, four ambulances and a fire engine that had been called when Alison was spotted dangling over the edge of the building. Thankfully, Bryant’s second attempt to break the window had been successful and he, Stacey and a kid named Brad had hauled her to safety.

  ‘You okay?’ Bryant said, as they watched the first ambulance containing Mallory Preece leave the scene.

  Two squad cars followed and Penn was close behind, insisting on attending the hospital to ensure the woman was properly guarded during emergency medical treatment to her knee.

  ‘I look ridiculous,’ she said, holding up her bandaged hands. A local injection had numbed the pain for now but had done nothing for the agony in her shoulders. Thank God Penn had arrived when he had, helping her to hold on to Alison until Bryant pulled her in.

  ‘You stole my car,’ he observed, drily.

  ‘Borrowed,’ she corrected. ‘I always intended to give it back. I mean if I was gonna nick somet
hing I’d go for—’

  ‘Hey, leave her alone, she does okay.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘Seriously, though, you couldn’t give us some kind of clue?’

  She shook her head. ‘The message said come alone and I couldn’t risk Alison’s life. Enough people have died this week.’

  ‘Guv, how many more times are we going to have this conversation?’

  She smiled. ‘Oh, lots, I should think,’ she said, pushing herself up from the rear of the ambulance.

  ‘I swear, one of these days…’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, where is she?’ Kim asked.

  ‘Ambo on the left,’ he said, following her.

  ‘Hey,’ she said, opening the ambulance door. She wasn’t surprised to see Stacey sitting beside the behaviourist.

  Alison’s face had regained some colour but a sheen of terror remained in her eyes.

  ‘Getting any feeling back?’

  A slight nod confirmed that she was. ‘A lot of tingling,’ she said in a husky voice. She swallowed and a tear formed. ‘If you hadn’t come…’

  ‘But we did, Alison,’ Kim said, reaching over and taking a glass shard from her hair. ‘We all did.’

  The tear slid over her cheek as the female paramedic leaned over.

  ‘We’re taking her in to get her checked over but should be okay in a few hours.’

  ‘I’m going with her, boss,’ Stacey said.

  Kim was not surprised.

  ‘Inspector…’

  Kim moved closer.

  ‘I don’t know what… there are no…’

  ‘Save your energy,’ Kim said.

  Kim couldn’t imagine the terror she’d experienced in the clutches of Mallory, having full control of her brain but no control of her body. It would take a while until she felt normal again.

  ‘Okay, go and get checked now and, for God’s sake, Stace, as soon as you can, get her something to eat.’

  She was rewarded with a chuckle from both as she stepped back on to the gravel.

  ‘Hey, Stone,’ she heard and didn’t need to turn to know it’s source.