Axe to Grind

by A L Fraine

  “So, I was thinking, what you said about Kate being called in early, it didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t think why until I checked my news feed.” Nathan held up his phone to show a headline.

  Kidnapper escaped. Abban Devlin has escaped from police custody while being extradited from the UK to Ireland.

  “What?” Jon asked as a deep-seated fear started to take root in his gut and tie it in knots. “He’s free?”

  “Looks that way. When I saw that, I knew something was wrong, so I called Mount Browne. They have no record of anyone calling Kate. Plus, she’s not been signed into Mount Browne for weeks now. She’s not there.”

  Jon's stomach dropped.

  26

  “You’re sure they have no idea where Kate is?” Jon asked, as a feeling of nausea settled over him. Right now, he didn’t care about Seth, and had sent him on his way with a warning not to leave the area.

  Besides, he felt reasonably sure that he had nothing to do with Harper’s death, and that this Tiana would provide him with an alibi. He could tell from Seth’s body language and how he’d been talking that he’d had the weight of the world on his shoulders and desperately needed to get rid of it.

  But no, all he cared about right at the moment was finding Kate.

  “Nope. She’s not at Mount Browne, and she was never summoned there,” Nathan replied.

  “I have a really bad feeling about this,” Jon said as he strode into the office and round to the incident room. He turned the lights on, and the whole case was laid out before him on the whiteboard, complete with photos of the first three victims. He’d not seen the board since Emily Murphy had been added to it, and seeing all three of them on there together, he felt something click. A link. A connection between all three that was just out of reach.

  As Jon stood there, staring at the dead women’s faces, he could imagine a fourth photo getting added to the board. The idea of seeing Kate’s face up there, staring out at him and accusing him of letting her down, filled him with dread. He remembered the photos back in her apartment, her smiling face beaming out of them. He’d had a similar feeling back then too.

  As he looked again at the corpses, especially Emily’s, his mind was suddenly filled with images and memories of Charlotte, dead in their home. She’d been murdered by a killer that had taken an interest in him, and he had a terrible feeling that history was about to repeat itself.

  He couldn’t allow that. He couldn’t let someone else he liked die on his watch. The thought of Kate being killed by this guy made him want to throw up and punch his way through the next wall at the same time.

  This was why he’d avoided close relationships with anyone since Charlotte. The idea of losing someone else to one of these psychopaths, he felt like that might actually break him.

  He couldn’t let her down. He had to find her. He had to push his rage and fear to one side and concentrate on doing his job and finding her before it was too late.

  “It’s him,” Nathan replied. “It’s Abban. I know it.”

  “Abban?” Jon asked, a little perplexed, but then as he thought about it, maybe that wasn’t such a crazy idea. “Okay, I mean, I get it, he hates her and wants her dead, but how does that fit into these murders?”

  Nathan frowned. “It wouldn’t. Why would it fit into this case? They’re two totally separate things. Abban has hated Kate since forever, but that has nothing to do with this killer,” Nathan replied, waving at the board.

  “No,” Jon replied as the idea gripped him ever more fiercely. This felt right. This was the link. “You’re wrong. There’s a connection here, I know it,” he replied as he stared at the board. “This is all linked.”

  “Linked? I’m not sure about that.”

  “No, this is right, I know it. There’s something about them,” he said, pointing at the victims looking over at Nathan. “I know it.”

  “You know it? So we’re going on a hunch now?”

  “I don’t know… maybe…” Jon replied, and as he turned back, he thought the board was filled with pictures of Kate for a moment. Three images of her face staring out at him, and three shots of her dead, murdered body.

  But it wasn’t. It was the three victims, and yet, the link between them and Kate suddenly got closer. If he could just somehow make that connection between them and Kate, it would all just slot into place. It felt so tantalizingly close.

  It was right there.

  He went through it again in his head. Three victims. All of them female, all young women, all with their fingers cut off, all three with…

  “No,” Jon stiffened, his eyes darting back between the three girls.

  “What? What is it?” Nathan asked.

  “Shit, of course. Why didn’t I see it before?”

  “See what?”

  “Look, look at them. Shit, that’s not a good photo of Mollie. That’s not up to date. But still, look. What’s the same?”

  “Well, there are a few things…”

  “Imagine Kate’s photo up there. What do these three have in common with her?”

  “But, they don’t… Oh, no. Oh shit.”

  “You see it?”

  “The hair. They all have auburn hair.”

  “And so does Kate,” Jon replied. “I mean, that’s not a good headshot of Mollie, she changed her hair since then, but you can see her hair colour in the crime scene images.”

  “So, this is all to do with Kate?” Nathan asked.

  “It has to be.”

  “But what about everything else? The killings and the fingers?”

  Jon stared at the photos of the crime scenes, thinking back to the derelict factory where they found Harper, and then the tree where Mollie had been killed.

  As he thought back to Emily and how she’d been strung up, he knew it wasn’t entirely about Kate. It was about him and his past too. This was about both of them. The victim, Emily, still looked like Kate, though.

  But if the Marionette scene was about him, then the other two had meaning also, but their meaning was for Kate, not him.

  And then it clicked.

  “Of course! Look. This one, Emily, it’s a case from my past. It’s clearly a copy of the Doll Killer case I worked on. Then look here, Mollie was tied to a tree, like the first killing that Wilson Hollins did.”

  “Damn, yeah. Kate’s first case with us.”

  “Yes,” Jon replied, seeing Nathan’s expression change as he started to get it.

  “Shit, and Harper, she was killed in a derelict factory, which is like Kate’s second major case with us.”

  “Solomon Lichwood,” Jon said, remembering the name that Kate had told him the night before.

  “That’s right. So, how does this help us?”

  “They’re all important cases from our past,” Jon said.

  “But, if that’s what he’s doing, how do we know what’s coming next?”

  “They’re going back in time,” Jon replied as he looked at the order again.

  “They’re what?”

  “The killings, look. The derelict factory, Harper, was first. Then Mollie and the tree was next, which goes back earlier to Wilson. Then the Marionette relates to me and the Doll Killer.”

  “Which was when?”

  “Five years ago,” Jon replied. “So the one before that was…”

  “Fiona,” Nathan replied.

  “The Stone Circle,” Jon agreed. It all fit. It must be right.

  “You know about that?” Nathan sounded curious.

  Jon nodded. “She told me last night.”

  “Oh… I see.”

  Jon shrugged as Nathan shook his head, banishing that train of thought.

  “But wait,” Nathan said. “Solomon wasn’t Kate’s most recent case, that was the Abban case, so why would this killer start with Solomon?”

  “I think the killer is connected to Abban somehow,” Jon replied. “It has to be, and if it is, then he’s clearly just looking at cases that happened before he got caught and ignorin
g his own.”

  Nathan pulled a face. “Abban? Why do you think it’s Abban? There’s no link between him and the killings… Oh, shit, no. Of course!” Nathan slammed the base of his first against the nearby table and groaned in frustration. “Why didn’t I see it?”

  “See what?”

  “The connection to Abban. It’s obvious.”

  “Is it?”

  “The fingers,” Nathan replied. “When we moved in to arrest him, he got shot and lost two fingers on his right hand. Goddamnit, why didn’t I see that?”

  Jon’s mind raced as he started to fit it all together. He suddenly remembered Abban’s wife, Faye, and how she held up her hand in the V-for-Victory sign, mimicking the injury her husband had. Hell, she’d thrust her hand into Jon’s face making that sign. She’d shown him the clue early on.

  He’d thought she was just hoping to win the case, but there was more meaning to it than that.

  “So, he mimicking our cases, killing young women who look like Kate with auburn hair, cutting their fingers off to mimic what happened to him, and the cuffs just signify the police.”

  “Makes sense,” Nathan replied.

  “But if we’re right, how’d he do it? He’s been in custody, under lock and key. The only thing I can think of is…”

  “He had help. Help who sprung him from custody while he was in transit,” Nathan replied, fishing his phone from his pocket and waking it up. “Listen to this, ‘Police suspect Abban had outside help who crashed into the van and freed him.’ Alright, so that’s how he did it. Then, if Fiona’s case is next, maybe he’s going to kill Kate at a stone circle?” Nathan suggested and then darted out of the incident room, making for his computer as Jon followed, full of nervous energy.

  “We need to find a stone circle that’s close by,” Jon suggested.

  “Way ahead of you,” Nathan replied as he dropped into his seat and started hunting. He pulled up a search engine and started going through links.

  “What’s that one?” Jon asked, peering at the unclear thumbnail image.

  “Hascombe Hill,” Nathan replied, clicking into the Wikipedia entry for it, and then enlarging one of the photos.

  The image revealed a mist-wreathed countryside with a circle of large standing stones on a hill, while bare, wintery trees stood stark against the morning sky.

  “That’s it,” Jon said. “She’s there. I know it.”

  “There might be others.”

  “No way, she’s there.”

  Nathan nodded. “Yeah, I think you’re right, but I also think we’re on our own.”

  Jon nodded. They needed to go now. If they delayed, Kate could die, and he would do everything in his power to keep that from happening. Justifying backup might be tricky too, given this was just a hunch, but he felt confident they could get at least one car on their way down there.

  “Alright, let’s go.”

  27

  “Tell them no lights or siren,” Nathan suggested.

  Jon nodded. They needed the element of surprise. Looking into his side mirror, Jon saw the patrol car behind them. “No blues and twos, alright?”

  “Sir,” the officer in the car replied.

  Jon nodded and ended the call before his phone suddenly buzzed again. It was Rachel.

  “Rach,” Jon said, answering.

  “They found her car,” Rachel replied.

  “Kate’s?”

  “Yeah, looks like it was rammed off the road. No sign of Kate though.”

  “Shit. Where are you?”

  “I’m on my way to the Station, what can I do?”

  “I’d like another car or two of backup ASAP, also an ambulance, just in case—you never know. But they must not get there before us. We need to keep the element of surprise,” Jon said.

  “Okay, text me when you get there, and I’ll make the calls.”

  “Excellent. Get the team in and brief them.”

  “Will do. And Jon?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Bring her back alive, okay?”

  “I will,” Jon replied. “You have my word.”

  Rachel hung up and Jon stuffed his phone in his pocket.

  “She was run off the road and kidnapped,” Jon said.

  “Damn it,” Nathan replied, accelerating along the backroad through the early morning twilight. In the east, the sky began to lighten, turning orange, red, and purple as the sun got closer to rising.

  “We’re not crazy for thinking Abban is behind this, are we?” Jon asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Nathan replied. “It all fits. I just hope we’ve chosen the right site.”

  “Are there lots of stone circles in Surrey?” Jon asked.

  “I don’t think so. Also, this one isn’t old, it’s only been there for about twenty or thirty years.”

  “Oh. Does that make a difference?”

  Nathan shrugged. “No idea. I doubt it.”

  “Mmm, yeah. This is about taunting us, I guess,” Jon replied, unable to stop the feelings of doubt that ran through his mind, along with the terrible guilt he felt. Was this somehow his fault? Had he somehow cursed Kate by working so closely with her? His mind couldn’t stop making comparisons between this and Charlotte’s murder, and wondering if somehow they were connected. Maybe they were barking up the wrong tree with this Abban thing, and it wasn’t him at all. Could it be something to do with his own past? Was the Doll Killer out, and up to his usual tricks again?

  It all seemed so surreal, like some kind of living nightmare that he couldn’t wake up from.

  “So, when did Kate tell you about Wilson and Solomon?”

  Jon did his best to keep his face neutral but struggled to keep any kind of grimace off his face entirely. He’d wondered if Nathan would end up talking to him again when he found out about them going on another date.

  Little did he realise how far things had gone, last night.

  “We went for another drink last night after we found Emily’s body.”

  Nathan sighed. “Yeah. Damon told me about the Doll Killer. Sorry about your girlfriend.”

  Jon nodded, feeling awkward. “Thanks.”

  “I didn’t know.”

  “I didn’t expect you to. It was a long time ago, and I’m over it for the most part.”

  “Yeah. Those moments aren’t easily forgotten.”

  “Nope.”

  “I think I would’ve needed a drink too if I were in your shoes,” Nathan said. “I hope Kate was able to… help in some way?”

  “She did,” Jon replied. “Hopefully, I can return the favour now. I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

  Nathan nodded. “Me neither. I’m with you all the way.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  “No problem. Anytime.”

  “Do you think we’ll find her?”

  “Hope springs eternal,” Nathan answered before he looked over. “We’ll find her.”

  Jon nodded, and for the next few moments, they sat in silence as Nathan navigated the roads through the countryside south of Guildford, making for the Hascombe Stone Circle.

  “Look, up there,” Nathan said, pointing out his driver's side window. Jon leaned down to look. He could see some flickering light, and what looked like tiny dark dots on the side of the hill.

  “That’s it, isn’t it?” Jon remarked, staring at the lights. They looked like flames from their colour and how the light seemed to dance in the half-light. “Do we stop here?”

  “No, I think I can get closer.”

  “Hurry up,” Jon said and kept his eyes on the target as Nathan continued up the road, past the hill, before turning right. Heading up, Nathan drove along a back road that angled back towards the monument.

  Eventually, on their right, Jon spotted a barn that looked like it was owned by some kind of business. There was a small gravel car park outside with a lone white van occupying it. Nathen pulled in, skidding to a stop.

  Finishing up his text to Rachel, Jon jumped out and moved to the boo
t, pulling out a stab vest. Donning it as quickly as he could, he looked over at the van and noted the churned up gravel at the back of it, and pulled a face. It suggested a scuffle by several people, perhaps as they forced Kate out of the back of the van, over the fence, and up the hill to the stone circle. Jon shivered, there was just something about white vans that was incredibly creepy, and the thought of Kate in the back of it, possibly injured and terrified, chilled him to the core.

  As he finished securing the vest, he looked over at Nathan and the two uniformed officers that had joined them.

  “Ready?”

  “Yep,” Nathan nodded.

  “Ready,” one of the officers replied.

  “Good. No heroics. Let us handle them, and you back us up.”

  “We’ll follow your lead,” the man answered.

  “Excellent. Then, let’s go,” Jon replied.

  He turned and moved to the nearby fence without another word, vaulting it, and making for the fields beyond the barn. Hopefully, the building had hidden their approach, and they retained the element of surprise.

  Out here, away from the streetlights, it was still quite dark, even with the growing light in the sky. The clouds were shot through with crimson and tangerine that faded to indigos the further away from the rising sun it got. It was both beautiful and ominous.

  The kind of sunrise that a photographer like Kate would love to try to capture.

  Ahead, beyond several lone trees and a couple of bushes, he could see the flickering light of flames. As they ran in silence, coming out from behind the last overgrown bush, the stones came into view. They stood proud on the hill, silent monoliths watching over the surrounding countryside without passing judgement.

  Within the circle, two campfires had been lit on either side of the central stone. The glow from those fires lit the three figures inside the circle, and the scene made Jon feel sick to his stomach.

  Two of them stood, facing the third who had been bound to the central standing stone by ropes so that she faced the rising sun. He could see the familiar ponytail that Kate always wore and knew it was her.

  Jon put on a final sprint, pushing as hard as he could to reach the circle, and as they approached, it became clear that they’d been spotted.