“Her husband. He had some pet shop owner import seven thousand tarantulas or something on the down low two days ago. I looked into the guy. Seen what his profile is. What he’s been doing with his time. And I’m ninety percent sure he’s our guy.”
“Why only ninety?”
Ross shrugged. He moved back around to the bar. “He’s ex-military, not ex-law enforcement. I suppose it makes sense. It could be of course the real killer is trying to frame him, but that’s a longshot. Either way … we’re closing in. This will be over soon.”
Darper shook his head, agitated. “How can you be so calm about all this?”
“Because I can see how it will play out. The husband will surface in the next couple of hours. Try to make out that he didn’t do it. He might even be real convincing like as well. A few people will buy his story. But I won’t. Because I know what this is. He wants to be caught. It’s like … he’s been so careful all these years, taking one victim at a time. The police not finding the bodies until months or years have gone by. Now, what is this. He’s ordering seven thousand tarantulas, throwing spiders in people’s faces, executing people in broad daylight – the man is out of his mind. And now he’s making it easy.”
Darper swallowed. “I guess you have it all figured out then.”
“You want a drink?”
Darper walked over to the bar. “No, I don’t want a drink. You should put that shit away.”
Ross picked up an abandoned pool cue from the floor.
He turned it over in his hand. “You want a game?”
“No, I don’t want a game.”
Ross walked back round to the top of the table. “Come on. You rack em’. I’ll break.”
He went to pry the woman off the table.
“That’s enough!” Darper shouted grabbing the cue.
Ross turned it on an angle at lightning speed, forcing it against Darper’s throat. He thrust him up against the side of the table, so he was half hanging over the body.
“Stop it!” Darper choked. “Please, stop –”
“You just remember that’s what it’s gonna feel like,” Ross said. “When Junior Miss Pretty has finished sucking my cock.”
He ripped the stick away from Darper’s throat and threw it at the bar, knocking over a bunch of glasses and bottles, smashing across the floor.
Darper staggered away from the table clutching his throat, with enough time to see Ross adjusting his coat.
He exited the room.
CHAPTER 33
Far away from all of this, back in the so-called city, and on the forty eighth floor of a hotel skyscraper, Marcus Branchay was standing at the edge of one of the balconies. The pitter patter of rain rolled down his long dark hair and onto his shirtless, muscular frame, as his gaze wandered across the city lights. The arms of a prostitute expanded and latched onto his chest with open palms. The water glided from his skin to hers.
“I’ve got you now, Marcus,” she whispered in his ear. “You’re all mine. Forever. All time. Eternity.”
Marcus turned around slowly, the woman’s arms around his neck. “That’s exactly how she said it.”
The prostitute grinned, showing her teeth. “She must have loved you!”
“That’s the thing,” Marcus said softly. “She didn’t love me.”
“No?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“But why not? You’re so handsome.”
“Are you coming onto me? Your hands are on my waist.”
The prostitute slowly lowered her hands down his body.
“You’re bending your knees. You’re pressing your face against my pants.”
“Oh Marcus,” the prostitute said kneeling at his feet. “I love you so much.”
“Take it out. Go on. Suck it. That’s it.”
He bit his teeth together. Inhaled through the nose with ferocity. Such a cold night was this. He put his fingers to the whore’s back and felt the bumps standing up across her skin. Her wet knees cradled uncomfortably into the concrete floor.
Yet there was her head.
There was her mouth.
Wide and open.
Sucking. Slurping. Licking.
Obeying.
For a moment Marcus wondered if it was as good as the real thing. If he could lie to himself just enough that it was Holly down there with her curly auburn hair. That he hadn’t been on his first or second tours. That he hadn’t been in the hot desert sand with the wind filling his eyes with blood and dust. The dead bodies all around him. The weapons in his hand. How it would have been nice. To have that back. To have her back.
To have himself back.
“Ooh baby,” the prostitute remarked breaking his thoughts. “Your dick is so big.”
Marcus’s posture swayed as the mouth was forced on once again.
And he considered telling her to stop. Letting her run off into the bathroom for a cry. He put his arms around her later. Hand over the money with a great warm hug. Tell her she was special. That he thought there was something between them.
Instead he came in her mouth.
CHAPTER 34
Dressed in a thick black trench coat, Marcus wandered the city streets at half past six later that evening. His hard boots stepping over the shallow puddles. He kept his arms wrapped around himself, fighting through the wind. He stopped at a set of traffic lights and looked down to see a woman staring up at him, batting her oceanic blue eyes. Then another moment passed, and her boyfriend moved in to stand beside her his arm across her shoulder. She looked away from Marcus. And Marcus looked away from her.
He crossed the street and continued on alone in silence. He knew where he was. In his mind. The thoughts that presented themselves there were ugly and dark. He couldn’t escape them. They couldn’t be reasoned with. He was without doubt, God’s tragic character. He did bad things to others. And others did bad things to him.
Not realizing he’d been followed, Marcus walked on towards the neon lights of the club he’d previously decided to visit. It was open mike night and Marcus felt he was ready to test out some of his material on a live audience.
Or he could throw out the material and just rant.
He paid his admittance at the door just like everyone else and slunk through the shadows towards the bar. He edged in and found himself an empty stool. The microphone stood waiting on stage. The spotlight moved across the platform. He ordered a drink and sipped it nervously, working up the courage to go on. It was still a bit early though. More people were still coming in. He decided he would wait until seven.
“Marcus Branchay, I thought that was you,” a voice piped up beside him.
Marcus turned and saw a skinny man with scrappy hair hopping onto the next stool. He didn’t recognize him. “Are you talking to me?”
“Your name is Marcus, isn’t it?”
“Do we know each other?”
“We went to the same high school. Come on. It hasn’t been that long.”
Marcus looked him up and down. There was a faint familiarity. “You’ll have to help me.”
“It’s me, Lester. Lester Halliday.”
Marcus stared at him. “Lester.”
“Come on, Marcus.”
“Oh. You were that … You were that guy with the funny walk.”
“That’s right. I fell off some monkey bars when I was eight and I’ve had a limp ever since. Which you all made fun of.”
“That’s right.”
“You used to steal my bag and beat me up and make fun of me in front of the others.”
Marcus took a drink. “You’re alright now though? Aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” Lester grinned. “Totally fine.”
Marcus looked away from him. “What did you … follow me in here or…?”
“Yeah I followed you.”
“Did you see me in the street?”
“I saw you come out of your hotel.”
“Right.” Marcus shifted on his stool. “But. Where were you?”
“Waiting for you to come out.”
“You tracked me down.”
“Uh-huh.”
Marcus stared at him sideways. “What do you want then? An apology?”
“No.”
“What then?”
“The thing is, I just fucked your whole life up. It’s a mess now. You might not know you – well, you mustn’t because you wouldn’t be here. But I just fucked it all up.”
“You’re not making sense, Lester.”
“I just wanted to let you know in person. That it was me. It’s all me. And you’re going to be asking yourself how and why and the ups and downs and lefts and rights. And you’re not going to get an answer other than, it’s me. It’s me that’s doing this to you. And no one’s going to believe you. Not one fucking person.”
Marcus put his drink down. “What did you do?”
“Nothing. I just saw you on the street and thought I’d say hello. You’re just an old friend. I knew from high school and haven’t seen you in fifteen years and that’s it.”
“What?”
“Honestly, I don’t even know the guy. I’m just visiting the city with some work colleagues. We have a big semester coming up and trying to get ahead.”
Marcus grabbed his wrist. “You crazy motherfucker. Are you having me on or what?”
Lester shrugged. “I always liked Marcus. He was a pretty good guy. I’m sorry about what’s happened to him.”
Lester waited for Marcus to let go of his wrist. Then he turned around.
And limped away.
CHAPTER 35
Now that they had eaten, tonight’s adventure for Taylor and Nadine was about to begin. Nadine had a locker the police supposedly hadn’t gotten their hands on and it was located in the central city station. They’d parked the car in a side street and had a fifteen-minute walk ahead of them.
Inside the locker Nadine said there was – among other things – a cell phone with a number on it she was supposed to message if her contact to the network, Special Agent Ardent, was indisposed. She wasn’t sure how any sort of message would be received given her capture, but it was their only shot. Nadine explained how this situation had come up before when a former superior found himself arrested.
“I texted the number,” Nadine said as they walked on foot. “William came to meet me at the building I first grabbed Elsie from. He gave me a new set of instructions. Told me to hold off any action for a while. That sort of thing.”
“So you’re expecting the same thing if we contact this number tonight. Even though you’ve been behind bars for weeks and talking with police.”
“Well, the network – as we’re calling it – they aren’t afraid of cops. They have so many already in the force if anyone talks they’re usually taken out quickly. I’ll just tell them I escaped and they should believe it one way or another.”
“And what’s the plan then if they agree to meet?”
“Well, I guess we ambush the guy. Get him to tell us what he knows. Then we’ll just be chasing lead after lead until we get to the centre. You know. Like we did in the old days.”
Taylor shot her a look of anger.
“You can’t deny the past,” Nadine said. “The same way I can’t deny what I am. You were right about me back in the restaurant. One day I will collapse. Because in spite of everything, I’m simply not that bad. It will eat me up…”
They came to an intersection.
Waited for the man to turn green.
“Can I ask you a question?” Taylor asked.
“Mmm. You’re very polite then, aren’t you?”
“Do you actually regret what you’ve done? Seriously. You can lie if you want, I’m just curious as to what you’ll say.”
“I don’t know,” Nadine said. “Can a person control what’s in their head?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means if I could choose what I think about, what the words in my brain say, then obviously I’d regret choosing the words that led me here. But at the same time it’s unavoidable. I was always going to think those things.”
“Say you can’t control your thoughts. You can still take control of your actions. Which … is what you did really. You chose your crimes.”
“Well, you got me again, Taylor,” Nadine said. “I’m not much of a mystery these days.”
Neon lights hit the path ahead.
People walked up and down. Left and right.
Taylor didn’t see all the faces.
But there was one she did see…
“Hey … Hey Lester, is that you…?”
The man in front of them stopped. His hands sunk into his jacket pockets.
He squinted. “Taylor? Taylor Shandling?”
Taylor suddenly felt a rush go through her. She didn’t need this happening now.
“You know this guy?” Nadine asked.
“Went to school together,” Lester murmured. “I’d hug you but I think I’m coming down with something.”
“That’s alright.”
“What you been up to?”
“This and that. Life.” Taylor rolled her eyes.
“Wait,” Lester muttered. “Didn’t you become a cop or something?”
“Something like that,” Taylor said.
“Oh gees. Well you won’t believe this.”
Nadine cleared her throat.
“Oh,” Taylor said. “Uh… Lester this is my…”
“I’m Taylor’s best friend, Nadine,” she beamed. “Tell me. What was Taylor like at school? Was she one of the popular girls?”
“Listen, Lester,” Taylor said quickly. “We have to get going. Sort of important.”
“Oh no,” Lester said. “You see. I have this massive problem I need to talk to someone about. It’s police related. Only a couple of minutes, I promise.”
“It’s okay,” Nadine said. “We have time.”
“Oh great,” Lester said, sounding relieved. “Can we go somewhere warm? I’m bloody freezing out here.”
“Yeah sure,” Nadine said taking both Taylor and Lester by the arms. “Taylor’s big on problem solving.”
Taylor found herself being pulled along to the coffee shop with a look of disorientation stapled to her face.
The words in her head were starting to lose control.
CHAPTER 36
Lester paid for the coffees. Nadine was all over him at the counter probably much to Lester’s confusion, but of course Taylor knew exactly what Nadine was up to. She was trying to piss Taylor off. It was interesting in a way. Here they all were out in the free world where Nadine’s diabolical mind would surely have no trouble inventing a scheme whereby she escapes from Taylor. Was this part of it? Taylor didn’t think so. Nadine appeared to have something of an infatuation with Taylor. She enjoyed their ongoing discourse. Taylor didn’t enjoy it, and she didn’t appreciate being overrun like she was at the moment. At the same time she knew she was allowing it. Even if it wasn’t a conscious decision.
“Over here, by the windows,” Nadine was saying, dragging Lester along with her. Taylor walked sideways, keeping her back to the shop’s entrance. Lester motioned for her to join them at the table. To which she reluctantly obliged…
“So what do you do with yourself, Nadine?” Lester asked. “You’re not a detective too, are you?”
“Actually,” Nadine laughed, “that’s exactly what I am!”
“Isn’t there something of great importance you had to be telling me,” Taylor said cutting through their exchange.
“Right,” Lester said, his eyes shifting. “I just had this really weird run in from another old friend from school. Sort of a coincidence, seeing you five minutes later. Quite strange actually. You might remember him. Marcus Branchay.”
Taylor reflected. “Yeah. I remember him. Sort of.”
“I hadn’t seen him in fifteen years or whatever,” Lester explained. “But I’m in the club and he just sort of grabs me. Pulls me up to the bar. Says, ‘Lester? Lester Halli
day?’. Right. Took me a while to recognize him. So we sat down together eventually and he just starts going into this random spiel about his wife cheating on him, how much he hates her. I didn’t think anything at first, but then he tells me to check the news on my phone, and there’s reports about her being murdered. I asked him, ‘Did you kill her?’ And he just says, ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about.’ But he’s grinning. And I just felt really bad about it. I had to get out of there.”
“Do you have those news stories on your phone?” Nadine asked.
“Sure,” Lester said. He handed it to her.
Taylor watched as she scrolled through.
“Oh my God,” Nadine exclaimed. “Taylor look.”
The phone was passed round to her. She scanned the headlines.
Man and woman feared dead in Spider Jack bloodbath
“This is supposed to be Marcus’s wife? It doesn’t give her name.”
“It does, somewhere,” Lester muttered.
“So Marcus is supposed to be Spider Jack then? Is that what he said?”
Lester shrugged. “I got the impression that after the new murders last night, Marcus may have seen it as an opportunity to frame the serial killer for his crime. Just an idea.”
None of that made sense to Taylor.
In truth, she had no idea what was going on.
This was one instance where she couldn’t be on her own. She needed a partner. Someone to stay with Lester while the other one went to fish Marcus out.
It could be that it was time to call for backup.
But then her little caper with Nadine would be over.
“It’s weird running into you out here,” Lester went on. “It’s like a sign or something. Especially after this stuff with Spider Jack.”
Nadine looked up. “Why especially?”
“Oh. Well.” Lester chuckled. “Taylor and I made a pact back in school. That we’d be the ones to catch Jack.”
“Shut up, Lester,” Taylor muttered.
“No, I want to hear this,” Nadine beamed. “You and Taylor were – budding teenage sleuths then?”
“Oh yes,” Lester said. “Do you remember the stakeouts, Taylor? How you made us go to that weird reserve with the treehouse –”
Spider Jack (Guess The Killer Book 2) Page 8
