May closed in on the running figure of John Thorpe, her teeth clamped together, the fan of light revealing the uneven ground beneath her feet, her arms pumping as she arrowed in on the man she hated above all others.
She saw Thorpe come to a slithering halt, his arms thrashing at the air for balance, the beam of light hit the red tape stretched out across the path and then Thorpe spun around as she hurtled towards him.
'No, wait, I…!'
May Linton heard the fear in Thorpe's voice, saw it in his eyes and then she hit him with her fists, slamming into his chest, Thorpe screamed and tried to grab at her, but the momentum was too great, and he fell back, arms windmilling, grasping at the wet air.
Taking the red tape with him he was hurled backwards.
The beam of light landed fully on his terror-stricken face, his mouth agape, his eyes wide and full of horror, his scream echoing out into the darkness.
May moved forward as, with a sickening dull thud, Thorpe hit the jagged rocks forty feet below, the light illuminating the splash of red that erupted from the back of his head as it exploded on impact.
She remained swaying on the edge of the drop, her eyes drinking in the sight, her heart filled with vicious joy as Thorpe twitched on the rocks below.
When she heard the clattering from behind she turned in time to see the two men slither to a halt ten feet away.
She recognised the man she had seen outside the lift and allowed herself a small smile. She had been right about him, even now she could see the determination in his dark eyes as he swiped the rain from his face.
'Where's Thorpe?' the second man asked as he took two steps towards her.
May inched back until her trainers were perched on the edge of the drop – Bannister came to a halt.
'Dead,' she hissed, her lips drawn back in a savage smile.
'You pushed him?' Lasser asked, drawing closer to Bannister's shoulder.
'I wanted him dead after what he did to me.'
'Along with the rest of them who attacked you?'
May blinked the rain from her eyelashes as she took a deep breath. 'I never knew their names until I heard Moss and Stokes at the mill.'
'What about Clark and Bartle?' Lasser demanded as he squinted against the beam of light.
'I killed them all.'
Lasser tried to see beyond the light to the woman but the glare wouldn't allow it.
'I had a good life before those animals attacked me, a happy home life, a boyfriend, a reason to try and make something of my life – but they took all that away until I couldn't look at a man without seeing the truth in their eyes.'
'What truth?' Bannister asked as he readied himself to try and grab the woman.
'That all men want to do is fuck you, deep down it's all you want and when you don't get it you move on to the next woman…'
'Not all men are like that,' Lasser interrupted. 'What happened to you was bloody bad, but…'
'''Bad''?' she roared. '''Bad''. That's all you have to say, is it?'
Lasser could feel the tension crackling in the wet air as he tried to think of a response.
'Men, all men are the same, they think they can take what they want and if you say no then you're nothing but a frigid bitch or a lesbian. Then you get the others, men who won't take no for an answer, so they gang rape you and then laugh about it before leaving you for dead.'
Bannister and Lasser stood shoulder to shoulder listening to her words, hearing the pain and anguish.
'Thorpe was going to rape me and then kill me, just like he did to Minnie Burrows.'
'He told you that?' Bannister asked.
The beam rose and fell as May nodded her head. 'Then you two turned up and he ran,' she paused, 'but he didn't run fast enough.'
They could hear the triumph in her voice, the light shone upwards as if she were tilting her head to the heavens.
Then suddenly the light vanished, and they could see her vague outline standing on the edge of the drop.
'I can't go to jail over this,' she explained flatly.
'But…?' Bannister gasped as she stretched her arms wide and leaned back.
Lasser hurtled forwards but he knew he was never going to make it.
May Linton never made a sound as she fell, but he heard the wet thud well enough, then Bannister was at his side; flicking the torch on revealed the jumbled gory tragedy below.
May had landed on top of Thorpe, the back of her head had slammed into his face, cracking her skull and spewing her brains onto the grey rocks beneath. Their blood mingling before dripping into the swollen stream to be carried away into the darkness.
'Jesus Christ,' Bannister dragged a shaking hand across his eyes.
Lasser stared down at the horrific tableau and then closed his eyes as the rain fell heavily onto his bowed head and shoulders.
150
Lasser walked down the corridor, the phone held to his ear, as he told Odette about what had happened in the rain-lashed woods.
'I was starting to worry when you didn't turn up for work,' he finished.
'I know and I'm sorry, we've been out in the middle of nowhere for the past two days and had no signal, then when I got into the car to come back the bloody thing wouldn't start to I had to get the RAC to take it to a local garage, the starter motor had gone and it took all day to get it sorted.'
'Sod's law,' he said with a smile.
'Right, well, I'm on my way in now so I'll catch you shortly.'
'I'll get the brews in.'
The phone died as he rounded the corner to find Bannister standing outside Carole Henson's office, the DCI crooked a finger before vanishing inside the office.
Quickly pocketing the phone, he followed him inside, closing the door quietly as Bannister sat down.
'How are you feeling this morning, Sergeant?' Carole asked, looking at him keenly from behind her desk.
'I'm fine,' he replied. 'I've just spoken to Odette and she had to have a new starter motor fitted in the Lakes and she said her phone signal was non-existent that's why she was off radar yesterday.'
'Is she on her way in?' Bannister asked.
Lasser nodded. 'Yeah.'
Carole eased back in her chair and sighed. 'I've been questioning Bea Viner and she admits to killing her son.'
'Well, she could hardly deny it, I was there when she stuck the meat cleaver into his head.' Bannister replied.
Carole nodded. 'Of course, but she also said a lot more about what had gone on between them. She admitted that her son was one of the gang who raped May Linton.'
'She knew about that?' Lasser asked.
'She did, and so did Frank Viner, but it seems they both kept their mouths closed to protect their son.'
'Scumbags,' Bannister growled.
Lasser relaxed back and folded his arms, the rain continued to hit the office window, running down in rivulets. 'That's how Andrew Viner managed to sponge off his old man for so long. As soon as Frank didn't turn him in then he started to blackmail his father into handing over the cash.'
Carole slid a strand of hair behind her left ear. 'I get the feeling that things were reaching a head between the father and son, Andrew feared that the money was going to dry up, so he sent Daz Black to rob the place, but you lot turned up, and well, we know what happened next.'
Bannister sat up straight. 'Hang on, there was only a couple of grand in the safe, that would have been peanuts to Andrew Viner, it wouldn't have lasted the bugger long.'
'His ex-wife told me where Frank kept the real money. It was in the cellar hidden behind the wine racks, so far we've gathered over half a million pounds from the house.'
'Bloody hell, you have been busy,' Bannister said with a touch of admiration in his voice.
Carole gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. 'We'll know more when Black is able to talk, but the mother admits that Black and her son knew one another quite well.'
'Another one of her son's cronies?' Lasser asked.
'I suspect so,'
she replied.
Lasser could imagine Viner putting Black up to the robbery and then he pictured Andrew Viner watching as Black robbed the safe and left the house. Then he would have gone in and taken the real stash of cash, leaving Black with the couple of grand from the safe.
'What about Minnie Burrows?' the DCI asked.
Carole eased back slightly in her chair, her hands folded in her lap. 'Considering what May Linton told you before she died, we'll be looking closely at Thorpe's DNA and also Andrew Viner's.'
'You think they could have been together when she died?' Bannister asked.
'Well, some of the bloodstains you found at Thorpe's house belong to Minnie, so at some stage she was in his house, but whether they worked together or not isn't really important.'
'What do you mean, ''Some of the bloodstains''? Lasser queried.
'The other set of clothing you found in the tea chest have been checked and we believe they belong to a missing woman from over Bolton way. Her name is Petra Nowak, she came over from Poland three years ago looking for work. I've spoken to my opposite number in Bolton and he says she was working as a cleaner and she vanished after a night out in town.'
'Thorpe would have killed her,' Lasser said with certainty.
'I'm having the farm and land searched so if she is there then we'll find her,' Henson replied.
Lasser sighed as he pictured May Linton at nineteen, no doubt enjoying life to the full, making plans with her boyfriend, loved by a close-knit family. All that had changed on the night of the attack, leaving her dead inside and her life in ruins.
Thorpe, Viner, Moss and Stokes had taken what they wanted, used her and tossed her aside, giving scant regard to the damage they had done.
He blinked when he realised that Carole had asked him a question.
'Sorry, I was miles away,' he admitted.
'I was saying I want you two to take a couple of days off, when Odette gets here we'll tie up any loose ends and at least we know everyone involved is either accounted for or dead.'
'Yeah, and good bloody riddance.' Bannister snapped. 'The only ones I feel for are May Linton and Minnie Burrows and the poor woman from Bolton, the rest got what they deserved.'
Carole made no comment, though they both saw the look of agreement in her eyes.
'What about Archer, do we know why he was targeted?' Lasser asked.
'Shaun Rourke has been looking into that and seven years ago Archer was beaten up one Saturday night in town. According to the records two officers intervened and managed to arrest two men though they do admit that there were more men involved. It turns out they used Thorpe's gym five times a week and…'
'They knew Thorpe?' Bannister asked.
'That's what I think,' Carole admitted.
'I bet Thorpe was one of the tossers who managed to get away. If that was the case then it would explain why Archer went into hiding, if he saw Minnie Burrows getting into a car driven by Thorpe and perhaps Andrew Viner was with him. They clock Archer watching from the corner of King Street and they would have wanted him dead before he told us what he had seen.'
'Tall tales,' Bannister said his face settling into its usual scowl.
'Well I'm sure we shall find out one way or another,' Carole interjected. 'Now go and get some sleep.'
She watched as the two of them rose and left the office, their shoulders slumped with weariness.
151
Lasser lay in the hot water, the bath full of bubbles, his eyes closed.
After leaving the station, Bannister had driven him over to collect his car from the block of flats before driving away with a honk on the horn. Without a second though Lasser had headed for the canal and parked in what was fast becoming his usual spot.
Stepping onto the boat, he had tapped at the door and waited, hearing the dog bark. Seconds later, Jackie had opened the door, her hair looked wild and unruly, her eyes shining up at him as she smiled.
'Come on in,' she said, as he clomped down the steps.
'I hope you don't mind me calling, but…'
She had moved forwards and then they were kissing, he felt all the stress and strain flood from his mind as her tongue licked across his lips.
Half a minute later, they fell onto the bed, hands tugging at clothing, Lasser's heart slamming as they were joined in a welter of pure bliss.
Now, he opened his eyes to find Jackie stepping into the bath, her breasts standing proud, her nipples erect as she sank back against him.
Lasser wrapped her in his arms, his legs encircling her as she rested her head against his chest.
He could smell the scent in her hair, feel the heat of her against his skin; he closed his eyes again, suddenly finding that he didn't need to fill the silence.
Out on the water another barge went chugging by, Lasser felt the slight side to side rocking movement as the boat moved in the wake.
By the time it settled again he was asleep, the bruises on his body soothed by the hot water and the woman in his arms.
152
Stepping off the boat, Lasser shivered, the wind tugged at his jacket. After the bath Jackie had made them both something to eat, pasta with ham and a salad on the side.
Only after he reached for his cigarettes had he realised that he had left them in the car, so now he hurried along the towpath, shoulders hunched against the wind and rain. Dashing under the bridge he ran up the small incline, clicking off the alarm as he pulled open the passenger door and opened the glove compartment.
Grabbing the cigarettes, he scowled when the phone in his pocket beeped.
Closing the door, he set the alarm and backtracked, pulling the phone out as he reached the bridge.
When he saw Odette's name on the screen he paused beneath the bridge to read the message, the wind howled under the stone arch, rippling the surface of the water.
'Where's my brew?' she had added a smiley face after the message.
Lasser grinned as he pocketed the phone and looked up.
Jackie was standing by the side of the boat, the whippet dashing around in circles, chasing her own tail.
He watched her dark hair being tossed about as Jackie looked up towards the heavens, seemingly oblivious to the wind and rain, the raindrops sparkling like tiny diamonds on her hair.
With a wide smile he walked towards her, his stride long, his footfall light, when she lowered her head and returned the smile Lasser quickened his pace, and then he had her in his arms, the rain mingling on their faces, their lips joined.
For a couple of seconds, the whippet looked up at them, tail wagging.
Even when the rain increased they remained in one another's arms, oblivious to the world.
End
Many thanks for taking the time to read the latest Lasser adventure. As always I would like to thank Val and Dan for all their hard work in getting the novel up to speed.
If you would like to get in touch then you can drop me a line at [email protected] or on facebook or if you would like to check out the website then please be my guest at https://www.robinroughley.com/
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