The Controller

by Matt Brolly

  ‘This is literally your last chance for a semi-happy ending.’

  ‘Ok,’ said Haig. ‘Let me sit up.’

  McBride dragged him back again. ‘Speak,’ he breathed into Haig’s ear.

  ‘Okay. I thought there was something off about the guy. He didn’t treat Laney very well. Nothing physical but he didn’t treat her right.’

  ‘We’ll need a bit more than that,’ said McBride, pacing the room.

  ‘Mental abuse, she was his personal slave. Then Laney started telling me he would disappear for days on end with no word of warning. He wouldn’t call or answer his phone. When he reappeared he wouldn’t discuss where he’d been.’

  McBride stopped pacing and sat down next to Haig.

  ‘So you started looking into him?’ said Rose.

  ‘Can’t you take these off, this is humiliating. I don’t want the guys to see me like this?’

  ‘Answer me, Iain.’

  Haig clenched his teeth, his face full of concentration as if he was trying to break the cuffs around his wrists. ‘Yes, I started looking into him. Wouldn’t you?’

  ‘What did you find?’

  ‘Not as much as I’d have liked. Everything I found out about his work at Hanning was legit. Obviously my range of investigation was hampered as it wasn’t official. In fact, it was hard to find someone who had a bad word to say about him. His public persona was completely different to his private life.’

  ‘What aren’t you telling me, Iain?’

  Haig struggled in his seat. He was leant forward at an awkward angle, his chest pushed towards the desk. It looked painful and Rose had some sympathy for him. He’d walked into something beyond his control, his only real mistake was getting involved with the wrong people. However, it didn’t excuse his subsequent actions and she was prepared to keep him where he was until he began to speak. ‘We’ll get to the bottom of this one way or another. Cooperate now and help yourself out. Do it for Laney, if not yourself,’ she said.

  ‘Do it for the men and women who died because of Razinski,’ added McBride.

  Haig remained silent his face grimacing with pain.

  ‘This is your only chance, Iain,’ said Rose.

  Haig began shaking. ‘There was one more thing. Ah, Jesus. Three days before the Razinski incident I followed Gunn. I’d had him under surveillance for a couple of weeks. I’d been waiting for him to make one of his forays so I could find out once and for all for Laney, and my own curiosity, where the hell he went when he disappeared. So I followed him. I got a hundred miles or so when I was hit.’

  ‘Hit?’

  ‘I thought it was an accident at the time but I’m not so sure now. I was pulling out of a crossroads at a little town called Ryegate, when a car pulled out from the left and ran into me. It was minor, but enough to stop me in my tracks. Gunn drove away before I had a chance to give chase and a few days later he was dead.’

  ‘You have a plate for the car?’

  Haig clenched his teeth again. ‘I did. Full insurance details and everything. Except when I got back and checked it was all fake.’

  McBride could barely control his fury. ‘Are you fucking kidding me, Haig? You’re the Chief of Police here and you fell for that?’

  ‘I was preoccupied.’

  ‘Preoccupied?’ screamed McBride, running his hand across Haig’s desk and sending everything onto the floor.

  The office door opened and Mitch stood on the threshold. The scene was too much for the young officer to comprehend and he stood mouth agape.

  ‘It’s OK, Mitch,’ said Haig.

  ‘Do you want me to call someone, sir? The Sherriff’s not in today.’

  ‘No it’s fine. Get back to the desk.’

  Mitch glanced at McBride and Rose before retreating in haste.

  ‘Were you ever going to share this information, Iain?’ said Rose.

  ‘Don’t you think I’ve suffered too? I had to standby whilst that animal took Laney hostage and did what he did to her and the children. I had to behave as if nothing had happened. I had to see the aftermath, Sandra. Had to pretend it was another homicide, albeit it a horrific one, when all along it was killing me inside.’

  Rose shook her head. ‘That’s where you’re wrong. If you’d come clean at the beginning you could have saved yourself. You could have saved all those people.’

  ‘Jesus, don’t you think I know that. I swore to myself that I would make amends.’

  ‘And how’s that working out for you?’ said McBride.

  Haig sat back on his chair, moaning as the cuffs dug into him. ‘I was waiting for the heat to die down but there’s one thing I haven’t told you.’

  ‘Here we go,’ said McBride.

  ‘Speak,’ said Rose.

  ‘Yeah, about that. First, I want to make a deal.’

  47

  Lynch used his imagination to fill in the missing information. A female of indeterminable age lay on the prison floor, her figure skeletal-like. She stared towards him, her hollow eyes sunken deep into her skull. She was cast in darkness and Lynch was glad of the fact. He couldn’t fully see the patterns on the walls, or what he imagined were the markings on the helpless girl. He turned away but Mallard pushed him back towards the opening. ‘Look,’ he heard the man say as he closed his eyes. ‘This is how you get an honor mark,’ said Mallard, whispering into Lynch’s ear.

  Lynch pulled back and vomited on the gravel floor. Mallard stood over him as he retched, hauling him to his feet when he’d finished. For the first time since meeting him, Mallard was angry. Was he somehow disappointed in Lynch’s reaction?

  ‘It takes a will of iron to live like this,’ said Mallard, lost in an internal reverie. ‘An acceptance of what you are, the limit of your capabilities.’

  ‘It takes an utter lack of sanity,’ said Lynch, wiping his chin on his shoulder.

  ‘Do you remember the first person you killed, Mr Lynch?’

  Lynch exhaled, his throat dry. He anticipated where the conversation was going, awaited another pathetic rationalization he didn’t want to hear.

  ‘I’m sure you do. I imagine it’s a kind of release in your world. To jog your memory, his name was Ferdinand Rodriquez. You were aged twenty-three.’

  Lynch lowered his eyes, remembering the gang member who’d drawn a weapon on him. He’d been little more than a boy, his eyes wide and confused.

  ‘Your first official kill anyway,’ said Mallard, lowering his voice. ‘It was initially hard to accept, yes? The power you held. The guilt of taking another man’s life despite the fact that he would have taken yours in a heartbeat. We never forget our first kill, Mr Lynch, do we?’

  Mallard’s words drifted towards him, out of sync as if they were being pumped through speakers rather than from his captor’s lips. ‘But that second kill? We remember, yes, but it doesn’t resonate as much. Isn’t that true, Mr Lynch. I’ve met many killers, thousands, and they all concede that point. Do you, Mr Lynch?’

  Lynch struggled to stand still. The vomiting had weakened him and he felt drained and dizzy. He could have quite easily fallen asleep to Mallard’s words.

  ‘Kill three, kill four. Who cares?’ said Mallard, with a relentless intensity. ‘Each kill becomes easier until it no longer matters. The thrill never completely vanishes, does it Mr Lynch, but it fades.’

  ‘What is it you want, Mallard?’

  ‘I have so much to offer you, Mr Lynch. However, perhaps you need some time to think.’

  Lynch wasn’t sure if the train had been there all along but he found himself back in the carriage. He was disorientated, as if the blood pumping around his body was weighted with lead. He couldn’t remember taking anything but he felt some form of poison in his veins.

  The train chugged along the line, past countless versions of prison forty-nine, occasionally letting out a puff of steam. It was an absurd dream Lynch was desperate to wake from.

  ‘Here we go,’ said Mallard, as the train stopped before a container etched wi
th the number One Hundred and Thirty-Seven.

  Lynch stumbled as he was dragged from the carriage. Mallard uncuffed him but he was too tired to fight. A guard waited by the entrance, an open door welcoming him to a stone floored room with nothing for company save four blank walls.

  ‘Enjoy your stay,’ said Mallard, as the guard pushed Lynch into the room.

  Lynch collapsed on the stone floor and turned back in time to see a grinning Mallard usher him into darkness.

  48

  ‘This is bullshit,’ said McBride. ‘Let’s just take him in. We’ll get the answers we need.’

  McBride paced the room again like a caged animal whilst Rose tried to put the pieces together. Had Haig unwittingly come close to finding something he shouldn’t? Had Gunn been eliminated because of Haig’s proximity? If so, why did the rest of the family have to suffer? Maybe if the officer hadn’t accidentally been patrolling the area at that specific time, Razinski would have eliminated Gunn and disappeared; though recalling her brief meetings with the man she doubted this was the case. Razinski would have eliminated the whole family even if he hadn’t been holed up in the house, for the fun of it.

  ‘What can you possibly have to bargain with?’ she asked Haig.

  ‘I know where Gunn was going on all those occasions. I imagine you want to know as well,’ said Haig.

  Rose stared at the man. ‘We already know,’ she said.

  ‘If that’s true, then we have nothing else to discuss,’ said Haig, calling her bluff.

  ‘You’ve been there?’

  ‘Not yet. I planned to go there and get some answers once this had all died down.’

  ‘You know what’s there?’

  Haig smiled. It wasn’t malicious, more resigned. ‘If you’ve been there, you’ll know all this. I’m not saying another word until I have something in writing.’

  ‘What fucking world do you live in, Haig?’ said McBride, moving behind the Captain and leaning down heavy on his shoulders.

  Haig grunted. ‘I have what you want, now give me what I want.’

  ‘Which is?’ said Rose.

  ‘Immunity and relocation.’

  McBride lent harder onto Haig’s shoulders. ‘Sure, we’ll arrange a lovely new job for you whilst we’re at it. Somewhere by the sea perhaps?’

  ‘Listen, son, your bully-boy tactics aren’t going to work with me. I’ve seen it all, experienced more than you can ever throw at me. Make this deal or I’m not going to talk.’

  Rose recalled Haig’s file, how he’d escaped from capture during combat. He’d suffered prolonged torture during the twelve days he’d been missing. ‘How do you know where he was going?’ she asked.

  ‘I can’t answer that without a deal.’

  Rose slammed her fist on Haig’s desk. ‘Enough of this. If you want your deal, you tell me now how you know where he went. You tell me now, or any chance of a deal evaporates.’

  Haig closed his eyes as McBride hovered behind him ready to strike. ‘I placed a tracking device on his cars. His company car and that monstrosity of a people carrier he used.’

  ‘The Land Rover?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Bullshit,’ said McBride.

  ‘Come on, Iain, you know we have those vehicles in custody.’

  ‘Of course I do. After I checked the insurance credentials of the guy who ran into me, I realized something was wrong. When Gunn got back home, I removed the device.’

  Rose hesitated, concerned they were wasting time. Was Haig testing them, working out how much they knew?

  ‘I’m not speaking any more. Get me the agreement and I’ll talk. What have you got to lose? If I don’t give you anything, I don’t expect anything in return.’

  ‘I’m sure you don’t,’ said McBride.

  McBride led Haig out into the silent bullpen, followed by Rose. The large deputy, Check-Shirt, who’d nodded to Rose earlier stood in protest. ‘What the hell is going on, boss?’ he said, blocking their path.

  ‘It’s okay, Chester. A simple misunderstanding. I’m going with these good people to clear a few things up.’

  ‘Do you want me to call anyone?’ said Chester, standing firm.

  ‘No, everything is in hand. I’ll be back shortly.’

  Rose had allowed Haig the opportunity to call his lawyer who’d arranged to meet them back at headquarters. She’d followed this call by contacting Miller who set up proceedings to offer Haig a deal. They bundled the Captain into the back of the car. ‘We need to search his place,’ said Rose. ‘You stay here and arrange a warrant. If he does have anything, I’d like us to find it before he signs any papers.’

  McBride sneered. ‘You’re not really going to deal with this cretin, are you?’

  ‘It’s not my first choice but if he knows anything about Lynch’s whereabouts then we have little option.’

  ‘Do we really need a warrant?’ said McBride, under his breath as Rose entered the car.

  Rose pretended not to hear. ‘Let me know when it’s done,’ she said, shutting the car door and diving off.

  Two hours later, Rose was back at headquarters. After a debrief with Miller, she sat in on the negotiations with Haig’s lawyer. The man was out of his depth and when she showed the contract to Haig, he was unimpressed. ‘It’s a little vague,’ he said.

  ‘I will be back in exactly sixty minutes. If the document isn’t signed the deal is off,’ said Rose.

  Leaving, she called McBride who’d managed to obtain a warrant from a local judge and had already started coordinating a search through Haig’s home.

  ‘We’ve secured a couple of laptops. I’ve sent them back for analyzing. Nothing looks out of place. If he does have anything I don’t think he’d be stupid enough to leave it in the open.’

  ‘I agree,’ said Rose. ‘Keep going though. I’ll be speaking to him shortly. He knows something, McBride. I’m sure of it.’

  ‘Let’s hope he speaks,’ said McBride, hanging up.

  The contract was signed by the time she returned. Miller insisted on being part of the interrogation, as did the head of the legal department. Rose handed the documents to her counsel and began the interview, acknowledging the presence of Haig’s lawyer for the tape.

  ‘There’s no preamble here, Mr Haig. You need to tell me everything you know about Edward Gunn.’

  Haig nodded. He sat straight-backed on his chair, the worry having vanished from his face. ‘I wasn’t completely honest with you before,’ he began.

  ‘From what I can tell, Edward Gunn was a decent enough man. He didn’t abuse Laney, physically or mentally. He was somewhat of an absent husband, hence my… relationship with Laney, but there didn’t appear to be anything malicious about him.

  ‘What I said about him disappearing for days on end was true though. Laney had mentioned it when we first met, but the days away were becoming more frequent. Laney told me each time he returned from being away it was like meeting with a different man. She described him as a ghost. She said he had dead, soulless, eyes, every time he returned. When she tried to approach him about it, he would clam up. In the end she came to me for help.’

  ‘To the man she was cheating with?’ said Rose.

  ‘That’s a rather naïve way of looking at things. Yes, we were lovers but she still loved her husband. I could respect that and promised to help.’

  Rose wasn’t convinced but played along. ‘So what did you discover?’

  ‘I started doing some surveillance work on him. Naturally, it had to be part-time. I followed him about, watched if he was up to anything unusual. This went on for a few weeks but nothing came from it. I trailed him to a couple of business meetings but nothing more interesting than that. He didn’t go on any of his long haul jaunts and I couldn’t spend all my time watching him, so I decided to put a tracker on his cars.’

  Rose thought about Lynch’s tracker device and realized she hadn’t checked it in the last few hours. She nodded, waiting for Haig to tell her something of interest.
<
br />   ‘Then one weekend he disappeared. Laney called me, told me he hadn’t returned from work and had taken the Land Rover.’

  Rose was confident what he would say next.

  ‘I checked the tracking device and discovered his location. Otisville, West Texas.’

  Miller glanced at Rose. ‘The ghost town?’

  Haig turned his focus to the senior agent, enthused by having a response. ‘I’ll say. I drove to the location but there was nothing there. Just endless roads, electrical pylons, the occasional lone dwelling.’

  ‘We already know this,’ said Rose.

  ‘I thought as much,’ said Haig. ‘Obviously this anomaly piqued my interest. I guess you’ve checked that area and discovered there’s no phone signal and that somehow GPS signals are jammed?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I drove a few miles in all directions, looking for a sign of civilization. I found a few small farm holdings. Old cattle ranches mainly, long ago deserted by their owners. It would be impossible for one man alone to even start trying to find where Gunn had gone. I imagine it’s proving impossible now.’

  Rose didn’t answer, nodding for Haig to continue.

  ‘I decided I could follow him the next opportunity I had but two months went by and he hadn’t made a move so…this is incriminating,’ he said, turning to his lawyer for advice.

  ‘I think we’re beyond that now, Iain,’ said Rose, interrupting.

  ‘Yeah, I suppose so,’ said Haig, gazing into the distance. ‘I accessed his laptops one day when I was seeing Laney. One of my…someone I knew gave me a USB device and I managed to download the contents of two of Mr Gunn’s laptops. I had the data analyzed but it was all work stuff, work for Hanning. Nothing incriminating, nothing suggesting why he was going to Otisville and beyond.

  ‘Then, three days later I get a notification that the Land Rover is moving and I decide to follow, only for me to be ambushed with the car accident. Now I’m convinced something is wrong.’

  ‘It took that incident for you to know something was wrong?’ said Rose.