by James Carol
‘We live in a world of thinly constructed narratives, and the reason they hold together is because we’re too lazy to seek out the truth,’ Katy said in Murray’s Scottish accent. ‘Do you remember telling me that, Father?’
Murray said nothing. The way he was staring, Nikki wondered if he was actually seeing the screen. His eyes were as unfocussed as Fisher’s and looked just as dead. He had lost more than his thumb when she swung the cleaver. He had lost that vital thing that made him who he was.
‘I asked you a question, Father. Do you remember?’
Murray nodded his head, just the once, the movement almost imperceptible.
‘You also told me on more than occasion that your reputation meant everything to you. A man without a reputation might as well not exist.’ This line was delivered in Murray’s voice as well. ‘Do you remember telling me that, Father?’
Murray answered with another of those imperceptible nods.
‘When the police investigate Catriona Fisher’s murder they’ll discover she was poisoned. They will also discover the bottle of whiskey that contained the poison has your fingerprints on it, as does the tumbler of untouched whiskey left behind on the table in her apartment. What conclusions do you think they’ll draw?’
Murray said nothing.
‘They’re going to think you killed her, Father, and they’re going to come looking for you, and when they can’t find you there’s going to be a manhunt. Your face will be everywhere: on television, on news websites, in newspapers. They won’t be calling you a genius though, they’ll be inferring that you’re a murderer. And people will be happy to accept that you did it. If you were innocent, why would the police be searching for you?’
Murray was still staring blankly at the screen and giving no indication that he was hearing any of this.
‘It’s possible that the police might work out that you didn’t do it, but that doesn’t matter because the damage will already be done. As far as the world is concerned, you went crazy and killed Catriona Fisher. Your fall will be slow – and I’m going to let you witness the whole thing.’
Katie stopped talking. When she next spoke there was a definite smile in her voice. The sound chilled Nikki to the core.
‘After your reputation has been destroyed and the world has finally got to see you for what you really are, then I’ll kill you. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Haven’t I learned your lessons well, Father?’
Chapter 59
‘Get up,’ Catriona said.
Gomez glared from where she was lying on the rug. ‘That’s going to be tricky, what with me being taped up like this.’
‘Improvise.’
Gomez glared some more, then wriggled closer to the coffee table and used it to help her stand. She was making a big show of how much of a struggle it was, but Catriona wasn’t fooled. If Gomez thought she was going to help, she could think again. No way was she getting too close. Gomez finally managed to get all the way up and Catriona waved her towards the sofa with the gun. Once again, she made a big deal of bunny hopping the short distance from the coffee table to the sofa. She sat down heavily, just dropped onto the leather sofa like a stone.
‘So what now?’ she asked.
Catriona nodded to the laptop and Gomez followed her gaze. Everything looked peaceful enough over at the house, but the truth was that there was no telling what was actually going on. She paused, thinking. ‘If you turned up there now would Katy let you in?’
‘You’re assuming she’s there.’
‘Where else would she be? At the moment everything seems to be centred around that house. So can you get us in or not?’
‘Are you crazy? Once I’d finished here, I was free to go my own way. Why would I go back?’
‘Once you’d murdered me, you mean?’
Gomez said nothing.
‘So you would have gone through with it?’
‘I didn’t have a choice. I like my life. It wasn’t personal.’
For a moment Catriona was at a loss for words. The woman sitting on the sofa looked normal enough, but there was something missing in her. How could you have so little regard for another person’s life? Granted, she had been tempted to shoot Gomez but she hadn’t. That was the difference between them. Had their roles been reversed, Gomez wouldn’t have thought twice about pulling the trigger.
‘Okay,’ Gomez went on. ‘Let’s say we just turn up there. Why would she let me in? As far as she’s concerned you’re dead and I’m no longer a part of this. Given what she’s done to me, the last thing I’m going to do is pay her a social visit. And even if I did get in, what happens then?’ Gomez shook her head. ‘Forget losing my identity, I’d probably end up dead.’
Catriona didn’t respond for a second. She was thinking things through, trying to get ahead of the curve. ‘Katy clearly has everything planned out. She doesn’t sound like she’s just leaving this to chance. I’m figuring that she wasn’t just going to take your word for it that you’d killed me?’
Gomez shook her head. ‘I’m supposed to send a photograph.’
‘And you’re just thinking to mention this?’
‘I’m telling you now.’
The two women locked eyes. For a moment neither spoke. It was Gomez who eventually broke the silence.
‘We could stage a photograph,’ she suggested. ‘It might be best if Katy believed that you were dead.’
‘Best for who?’
‘Best for both of us. If she finds out you’re still alive, what do you think she’s going to do? I suggest we take the photograph, send it to Katy, then disappear.’
Catriona shook her head. ‘I can’t just walk away like that.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because this is my life.’ She stopped talking, thinking again. ‘Why was Alex taken to the house? And why did Katy want to make it look like he murdered me?’
Gomez shrugged. ‘Katy never said. And I never asked.’
‘We need to go to Alex’s house. Maybe there will be something there that can help to answer that.’
‘Or maybe it’ll be a complete waste of time, Nancy Drew. Like I said, the best thing we can do right now is take the photograph and go our separate ways. Just disappear.’
Catriona shook her head. ‘Until this is over we stick together. You were right about one thing, though: having Katy think I’m dead could work to our advantage.’ She took the mobile from her pocket and tossed it to Gomez. It bounced off her thigh before coming to rest on the sofa. ‘Pick up the phone.’
Gomez gave her a hopeful look. ‘This would be a whole lot easier if I had both hands.’
‘Just get the damn phone.’
Gomez picked up the phone and switched it on. Again, she was making a big deal of how difficult this was and, once again, Catriona ignored her. ‘Where do you want me?’
Gomez looked at the tumbler on the table, and the stain on the rug. ‘On the floor. We can make it look as though you collapsed there.’
Catriona lay down on the rug. She had both eyes wide open and was keeping a tight hold on the gun. The smell of Jack Daniel’s was stronger down here, making her want to gag. She spent the next minute trying out different positions, Gomez directing her where to put her limbs.
‘Okay that works,’ Gomez finally said. ‘You need to lose the gun, though.’
Catriona was lying on her stomach with her head twisted awkwardly to the left. She could just about see Gomez in her peripheral vision. She was holding the mobile up at arm’s length like she was taking a selfie. If she tried anything, the tape on her ankles would slow her down. Catriona reckoned she had more than enough time to react. She tucked the gun under her belly then put her arm back into position.
‘Eyes wide open and no blinking.’
Catriona widened her eyes. She was staring along the length of the rug and everything was blurred and unfocussed. The fibres of the rug were tickling her cheek and the smell of spilled whiskey had got stuck in her nose, turning her stomach mor
e than ever.
‘All done,’ Gomez told her.
Catriona rolled quickly onto her back, grabbing the gun as she turned. Gomez was on the sofa holding the mobile in her taped-up hands and looking as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.
‘I think someone needs to work on their trust issues.’
‘Shut up and show me the photograph.’
Gomez turned the phone around and Catriona got to her feet. The picture sent a shiver up her spine. She really did look dead. She took a quick step forward, plucked the phone from Gomez’s hands, then took a couple of quick steps back. She spent the next minute studying the picture, zooming in on different parts of it and making sure that it told the story that they wanted to tell. Gomez had done a good job. Katy wanted proof that she was dead – well, this worked as proof. She held the phone out and waited for Gomez to take it.
‘Send it,’ she ordered.
Gomez thumbed the screen a couple of times. ‘Okay, it’s sent.’
‘Give me the phone.’
Gomez held the phone out and Catriona plucked it from her fingers, still not wanting to get too close. She slid the phone into her pocket then aimed the gun and sighted along the barrel.
‘What are you doing?’ Gomez asked. The cockiness was gone, replaced with uncertainty.
‘I’m just reminding you that I’ve got the gun.’ A pause, a smile. ‘Now I’m going to go through to the kitchen. When I come back, I want to find you sitting there on the sofa in that exact same spot. Do you understand?’
‘I understand.’
Catriona hurried through to the kitchen and pulled a knife from the knife block. Gomez was still on the sofa when she got back. As far as she could tell she hadn’t moved so much as a muscle. She walked quickly across the lounge, the knife hidden behind her back. When she reached the sofa she swooped down and sliced through the Sellotape binding Gomez’s ankles. The knife was sharp and cut through it easily. She stepped back as quickly as she had swooped in, the whole thing dealt with before Gomez had time to register what was happening.
‘Stand up.’
Gomez reached down and ripped the tape away then stood up.
‘Hold out your arms.’
Gomez did as she was asked.
‘I’m going to cut the tape off but if you try anything –’
‘Yeah, I know, you’re going to shoot me. I get it.’
Catriona met Gomez’s eyes. She still didn’t trust this woman, but she couldn’t see any other way. Someone needed to drive and, unfortunately, that someone wasn’t her. She needed her hands free in case she had to use the gun.
For a moment neither of them spoke. Even so, plenty was being said. The alliance being forged here was an uneasy one. That was something she wasn’t going to forget in a hurry. It was something she couldn’t afford to forget. She stepped forward, grabbed hold of Gomez’s hands and quickly cut the tape, then moved away fast, backing up across the room, eyes fixed on the woman. She swapped the gun to her right hand, the knife to her left, then raised the gun and aimed. Gomez was standing there, tearing the tape off her wrists. She wrapped it into a ball and dropped it onto the coffee table.
‘After you.’ Catriona stood aside and waved Gomez in the direction of the front door. She waited until she was a couple of steps ahead before putting the knife down on the table and following her.
‘You’ll find a set of car keys in the bowl by the front door,’ she called after her.
There was the rattle of metal against glass as Gomez lifted the keys out of the bowl. Catriona removed a jacket from one of the hooks and draped it over her right hand to hide the gun. She was aware of Gomez watching her every move.
‘Let’s go.’
Gomez pulled the door open and together they stepped out into the corridor.
Chapter 60
‘I need to see Bella,’ Nikki said. ‘Please let me see her.’
The photograph of Catriona Fisher’s dead body disappeared from the monitor and Bella was back. There was a little more animation in her face, a bit more life in her eyes – the drug was obviously wearing off. Nikki walked over to the monitor and reached out with her fingertips to touch Bella’s cheek. The glass was cold and hard, but in her imagination she could feel Bella’s skin, warm and soft and so, so perfect. She ran a finger down her cheeks, wiping away an imaginary tear, then moved her hand to the left so she could push a stray hair back behind her ear. She kissed her fingertips and pressed the kiss against Bella’s forehead. She wanted to believe that Bella knew she was with her, even though they were so far apart; that she loved her with all her heart, even more than life itself.
She heard footsteps behind her but didn’t turn around. Ethan stopped at her side and took her hand in his good one. She glanced over. The burn was hidden by a makeshift bandage made from a napkin. She looked at Bella again, larger than life and just an illusion. In some ways it was good that she could only see her face. She had been wondering why she wasn’t moving. The fact she had been drugged was part of it, but not all of it. If the camera panned down they would no doubt see that she had been restrained and that was just one piece of reality too many.
‘I hope Laura Santos is looking after her.’
‘She is no longer a part of this.’
Nikki frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’ve let her go.’
‘You’ve killed her, you mean.’
‘No, Nikki, she is very much alive. I might need to use her again in the future. Killing her would be illogical.’
‘You got her to kill Catriona Fisher, didn’t you?’
‘That’s correct.’
‘So who’s looking after Bella?’
‘I am.’
Nikki frowned again. ‘How can you be?’
‘Because I’m a computer system, you mean? Because I don’t have a physical presence? By now you must have realised that I don’t need a body to influence the world that you exist in.’
On screen, Bella’s face had started to shrink. It took a second for Nikki to realise that the camera lens was pulling back. Bella’s shoulders appeared, the tops of her arms. Like Nikki feared, her hands had been bound together. The lens pulled back further and Nikki could see that she was on an army cot. She recognised it straightaway. Ethan had worked it out too.
‘Jesus,’ he whispered at her shoulder. ‘She’s been in the house all along. She’s in the panic room.’
Chapter 61
They hadn’t driven far when the mobile phone buzzed in Catriona’s pocket. Gomez glanced over.
‘Eyes on the road.’
Gomez looked back through the windshield but kept stealing glances. Catriona slid the phone out. There was one new text from Katy, thanking Gomez for her help and wishing her all the best.
‘Looks like you’ve got what you wanted. You’ve got your life back.’
Catriona held the phone up so Gomez could see the screen. She glanced over a couple of times, her eyes dancing between the road and the phone. She was frowning, which wasn’t the reaction Catriona had expected.
‘We need to get rid of the phone,’ she said.
Catriona was about to ask why, then the penny dropped. ‘Because Katy might be tracking it?’
‘Exactly. The last thing we want is for her to work out that we’re heading over to Murray’s place.’ Gomez glanced over. ‘Make sure you break the SIM card.’
One eye fixed on Gomez, Catriona prised the back of the phone off, removed the SIM and snapped it in two. The pieces of card were dropped out of the window at the first set of lights they stopped at; the phone was disposed of at the next set. It took another fifteen minutes to drive to Murray’s house in Battersea. The satnav told them to take the next left, then announced that their destination was straight ahead. Red-brick houses lined both sides of the street. It looked like an okay neighbourhood to live in.
‘Is this the right street?’ Catriona asked.
Gomez nodded and pointed to a house on the left-hand sid
e that was more rundown than those surrounding it. The curtains were drawn and the white front door had turned grey over the years. The woodwork was beginning to rot. Catriona had no problem believing that this was Murray’s house. Its shabby appearance wouldn’t have registered with him. He just wouldn’t have cared about something like that.
Gomez pulled into the first parking space she saw and killed the engine. They got out and started walking along the pavement, Catriona a couple of metres behind, the gun clutched hard against her belly, her jacket draped over her arm to hide it. It was another beautiful day and anyone passing by would assume that she was carrying it because it was too warm. Not that anyone was passing by. The street was deserted.
At the front door, Gomez reached into the back pocket of her jeans. Catriona tensed and clutched the gun tighter, but Gomez was only getting her lock picks. The door had a Yale and a five-lever mortice. Only the Yale was engaged and Gomez dealt with that as easily as she had dealt with the lock on Catriona’s penthouse. She opened the door and stepped inside.
Catriona glanced over her shoulder, then followed her inside, closing the door behind her. A quick glance was all it took to reassure her that the security alarm wasn’t armed. This was all the proof she needed that Murray had been taken against his will. He was paranoid about security – suspicion came as naturally to him as it did to her. No way would he have left the house without setting the alarm, not unless there was a damn good reason.
The hallway was gloomy. With the door closed it was like twilight. Switching on the light made things brighter, but did nothing to ease her anxiety. Gomez was striding along the hall like she owned the place. She suddenly disappeared through a doorway halfway along and Catriona hissed a quiet ‘shit’ under her breath. She dropped her jacket on the floor and hurried after her, stopping outside the door, not wanting to get too close. She peered through the doorway but the angles were all wrong.
