Night Watcher

by Chris Longmuir

‘I wouldn’t do that,’ he said pleasantly, laying his hand on top of hers to prevent her lifting the receiver. ‘I’d prefer to see my own way out. As you say. I shouldn’t be here.’

  The feeling of unease niggling at Julie’s insides increased and the back of her neck was prickling again. ‘Have you spoken to the police?’ she said. ‘They were trying to contact you.’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ he said. ‘I’m seeing them on Monday. That will be soon enough.’

  Julie wriggled her hand out from underneath his. ‘I really must call security,’ she said, keeping her voice steady as she tried to mask her nervousness. ‘How else are you going to get out of the store?’

  ‘Same way I got in,’ he said. ‘I’ll hide until the store opens again and leave like any other customer.’

  ‘I can’t let you do that.’ Julie focused her eyes on his, but did not like what she saw there. She reached for the phone, but his hand slammed down on hers and he ripped the wire out of the wall.

  ‘You have no choice,’ he said, his face bland and pleasant, but his voice menacing.

  Julie’s nervousness had now turned into alarm and, pulling her hand free, she backed towards the door.

  He remained where he was, watching her and smiling. ‘You wouldn’t even get the length of the corridor,’ he said, his voice soft and gentle. ‘So why don’t you come and sit down, like a good girl, and I’ll tell you all about Nicole.’

  Julie leaned her back against the door, her fingers feeling for the doorknob. She grasped the knob ready to turn it and run, but she would need a head start, so she relaxed and smiled back at him as if she agreed. Slowly she turned the handle and as she did so her hand brushed the top of the key. With her other hand she worked it loose, blessing the day that Patrick had decided to keep the traditional features of the building.

  ‘And if I do stay here,’ she murmured, ‘what will happen to me?’

  ‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Now there’s the dilemma because you were Nicole’s friend, her confidante, and I’m sure you’ve guessed why I had to come here.’

  Julie’s hand tightened on the doorknob. She pulled the door open, shot through it and rammed the key into the keyhole at the same time as she slammed the door shut. She turned the key until the lock clicked. The door vibrated as he slammed against it and she bounced backward almost falling. For the briefest moment she stood, staring at the door, paralysed, and then she ran. Ran for her life.

  She reached the lift door and punched the button. ‘Hurry, hurry,’ she muttered, listening to the thudding of his fists on the door. Then the sound changed. He seemed to have found something heavy to batter the door with and she could hear the first sounds of splintering wood.

  Her eyes watched the lift doors, willing them to open. If the lift did not hurry she might have to run for the stairs. That was when she realized she did not have a key for the connecting doors on the stairs, she still had the lift key in her pocket, although it was not needed on the way down, however, she was not sure if the same key would fit the doors. If it did not she would be trapped on the stairs. There were fire doors, but she did not know where they led. The splintering noise of the door breaking increased and she was on the point of running to the fire doors when the lift doors slid open.

  Thankfully she got in. The doors seemed to take forever to close, and she watched in agony as they slid shut in slow motion. Feet thudded along the corridor as she pressed the button for the basement. If he caught her in the confined space of the lift she would have nowhere to go. ‘Start, start,’ she shouted, jumping up and down. The sound of fists thumping on the lift doors echoed down the lift shaft. Thinking they would slide open again, she grabbed the small fire extinguisher from the wall prepared to use it on him. But the lift was already sinking to the basement.

  She thought the lift would never reach the bottom, and then it seemed to take an age before the doors slid open. She hurried out, but not before she propped the fire extinguisher between the doors to prevent them closing.

  Julie did not even consider the phone in her old office. It was not an option for her because of the sudden aversion she had developed to small, enclosed spaces where she could be trapped. Her best option, she thought, was to get out of the store, and to do that she would need a key or her mobile phone, both of which were safely tucked away in her handbag on the executive floor. She would be mad to try and go back for them. Besides, Harry would be able to let her out, and even if he was not in his room she knew where he kept the spare keys.

  She sped through the food hall, out onto the stairs and up to the back corridor. High above her she heard footsteps thudding downwards. The connecting door to the back corridor banged shut behind her and Julie ran to the stream of light and the welcome noise of music coming from Harry’s room.

  ‘Harry,’ she gasped, as she rounded the corner into the room, but that was as far as she got. Harry was slumped forward on the table, blood oozing from the gaping wound on the back of his head. She knelt down beside him and grasped his wrist thinking there might be a flicker of a pulse, but she was not sure. One thing was certain there was nothing she could do for Harry and nothing he could do for her.

  She had to get out of here, right now. There was a fluttering sensation behind her breastbone and she knew she was hyperventilating. Her breathing rasped in her chest until it was expelled in short, sharp gasps. It was a sure sign her panic was building.

  ‘Slow down,’ she told herself, speaking aloud to reassure herself. ‘Get the key.’ She stood up and darted over to the key box, but there was nothing in it.

  She looked round the room, but could see no signs of keys anywhere.

  She tried the phone hanging on the wall, but it was dead.

  ‘I’m sorry, Harry,’ she said as she knelt down beside him, ‘but I’m going to have to go through your pockets.’

  No keys.

  She sat back on her heels. Nothing else for it she would have to go back to the shop floor. Up to the first floor this time, set off the fire alarms. Why hadn’t she thought of that before? Try to attract attention. She thought of the police sitting outside in their car, so near and yet no help to her if they did not know what was going on. Hope seared through her. She was not going to make it easy for him.

  With one last look at Harry she left the room and turned to go back up the corridor.

  The access door opened and Scott appeared. He was in no hurry as he closed the door behind him. He leaned against it, smiled at her, and said, ‘Looking for these?’ A set of keys dangled from his fingers.

  CHAPTER SIXTY

  The smell of fish and chips permeated the car. Sue wiped her greasy fingers on a tissue. ‘I’ll never get the smell out of here,’ she complained.

  ‘You didn’t say that when I offered to nip out and get them.’ Sid popped a last chip into his mouth and screwed up the paper wrappings.

  ‘No, and I won’t object when you get out of the car and bin this lot.’ Sue tossed her greasy wrappings onto his lap.

  ‘You just take advantage of me, you do,’ Sid moaned. But he got out of the car and trotted down the street to the nearest waste bin. ‘What time is it anyway?’ he asked when he returned to the car.

  Sue turned the key in the ignition to light the dashboard. ‘Quarter past seven,’ she said, switching the ignition off.

  ‘Is that all?’ Sid groaned. ‘Another three quarters of an hour to go.’ He leaned back and closed his eyes. ‘Wake me if anything happens.’

  Sue snorted. She was starting to think this surveillance was a waste of time.

  ***

  Julie froze, watching the keys swinging from Scott’s fingers. What the hell was she going to do now? At her back was the door to the alley, the way out. But it was locked. In front of her was the access door to the store, but Scott blocked her way.

  She licked her lips with a tongue that was almost as dry, and started to retreat along the corridor, into the shadowy part where one of the fizzing bulbs had probably failed.

  Sc
ott laughed. ‘There’s nowhere for you to go, Julie.’ He started to walk towards her, slowly, tormenting her.

  Still she retreated, a vague memory of a partly open door niggling away at her. Was it a memory or wishful thinking? But just as she had decided it must be wishful thinking, there it was, swinging partly open with stairs beyond that led down into darkness.

  Without giving it a thought she pushed through the door and clattered down the stairs. Down and down, seemingly forever, into the dark. The place frightened her almost as much as Scott did, but it was the only place she could go if she wanted to escape from him.

  Her feet skidded on the greasy surface and she slid down the last few steps into a cavernous, gloomy space filled with strange shapes that were barely distinguishable. Pipes and machinery stretched in all directions giving no indication where the walls or any doors might be. She imagined she heard breathing, but it was only the hissing of steam pipes, spurting and rattling every now and then.

  The back of her neck stiffened and prickled, but that was probably a reaction to Scott who was now outlined in the door. If he came down maybe she could circle round him and get back up the stairs. With that object in mind she felt her way further into the basement. Further into the dark.

  Her eyes were getting used to the dark, but it only made the vague shapes of the metal objects, machinery and pipes seem surreal and threatening in the shadowy gloom. The floor was uneven and greasy beneath her feet and, although still moving as fast as she could, she trod carefully for fear that she might slip and make herself vulnerable.

  Her hearing became super sensitive. Small, scurrying noises sounded in the darkness and she imagined rats and mice everywhere. She shuddered at the thought, remembering the rat in the box. Her eyes strained to see beyond the shadows. One of the shadows moved, but she convinced herself it was her imagination. Scott was the only one in the basement with her. He was the one she had to be afraid of. And he was behind her. Her nerves tightened until they reached screaming pitch.

  Scott’s footsteps clattered on the stairs. He was coming for her. She retreated even further into the dark, into the place of machinery, hissing pipes and the scurrying noises of the unknown. However, she dare not lose sight of the small square of light that was the door at the top of the stairs because it would be easy to get lost down here and that might prove fatal.

  Scott reached the bottom of the stairs and was moving forward, searching for her. She wedged her body behind a machine and held her breath. He passed, so close to her she could have reached out and touched him. He moved on.

  ‘I can hear you breathing,’ he said. ‘You can’t hide from me.’

  But he was moving further away. Dare she move and run for the stairs. She stood still. Convinced it was a trap. He wanted her out in the open again. She huddled further into the corner. If she stayed quiet long enough maybe he would give up and go away.

  Something scurried over her foot and up her leg. She cut the scream off before it erupted, but was unable to prevent the gasp it turned into.

  Scott stopped. He was on his way back. She debated whether to make a dash for the stairs and stood up, ready to run. But he was there, blocking her way. She tried to back away from him, but the machinery at her back prevented any escape.

  ‘Ah, there you are, Julie?’ He bared his teeth in a smile. His arm reached out to her and his fingers circled her throat. ‘Such a lovely soft neck,’ he murmured.

  His fingers tightened. Julie gasped and stared at him. It was like looking into a snake’s eyes they hypnotized and fascinated her. She froze, unable to move. Cold sweat made her blouse stick to her clammy skin. She tore at his hands as they tightened even more, digging her nails into his flesh, trying to force the constricting fingers away from her neck. But it was no use. Her eyes widened and she struggled to breathe, as her airway narrowed under the pressure of his hands.

  She could just make out his shape, the gleam in his eyes and the whiteness of his teeth as he stood over her. But there was another shape behind him. It loomed up out of the gloom and swung its arm in a curving motion.

  Scott’s hand loosened from her neck and he crumpled at her feet. His hands made one last scrabbling motion towards her legs, and then he was still.

  Julie did not stop to think. There was a man lying in front of her with a knife protruding from his back and a tall thin shape standing behind him. She ran.

  She ran as she had never run before, scrabbling up the stairs, along the corridor, through the access door, down to the food hall and over to the lift. She grabbed the fire extinguisher to release the doors. Got in and sent it up to the first floor. Still holding the extinguisher she got out and, leaning into the lift, she jabbed the button to send it up to the top floor. Hopefully, whoever was following her would think she was still in it.

  There was no sound of feet behind her, but that meant nothing because this one was silent. So, bending low, Julie scuttled crab-like between the counters and over to the window displays. Her only chance was to attract the attention of the police waiting outside.

  She crawled into the display window, the one nearest to the top of the alley, because she knew that was where the police car was parked.

  The moan erupted from her throat before she could stop it. There was no glass, only wooden boards. She had forgotten about the broken window, which was not repaired yet, and there was no way she could signal the police from here.

  She was keenly aware her moan must have been heard, and did not know where her assailant was. Maybe he was behind her, waiting outside the display area. Her hesitation was only momentary. If he was there she would clobber him with the small fire extinguisher, which she still held. It might not be a lot of protection against a knife, but at least it was something. Gripping the extinguisher she held it out in front of her as she stepped out of the display window and hoisted herself into the next one.

  She could see the police car. She waved. They did not see her.

  A slight noise brought the panic streaming back through her and she screamed, although no one heard her. She raised the fire extinguisher ready to clobber anyone who climbed into the window behind her, but the noise seemed to be coming from the other window. The window she had been in only moments ago. She turned back to the glass and hammered on it with her fists, but still they did not see her.

  The noise was nearer now, behind her. She turned. Froze for a second as she stared into his ice blue eyes. There was death in those eyes, and they were staring at her. He took a step towards her. She raised the fire extinguisher over her head and brought it down with all the force she could, on the plate glass of the window.

  ***

  The window exploded out onto the pavement.

  Sid’s eyes snapped open. ‘Bloody hell! What was that?’

  Sue was already out of the car and running to the window. ‘Phone for reinforcements,’ she shouted over her shoulder to a still dazed Sid. ‘And get Bill.’

  ‘Oh, thank God, thank God,’ Julie screamed, as she jumped from the window and collapsed into Sue’s arms.

  Sue put her arms round Julie’s shoulders and helped her into the car. ‘You’re okay,’ she said, ‘you’re okay.’

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

  Bill’s car skidded to a stop. He jumped out, his feet crunching on the glass littering the pavement, and ran to Sue’s unmarked car parked just in front of him. ‘Is she okay?’ Ever since he had received the phone call he had been afraid. Terrified that Julie had been hurt and blaming himself for not taking better care of her. His chest heaved with the effort of breathing.

  ‘A few cuts and bruises, but she’ll live.’ Sue had her arm round Julie who was shaking and panting. ‘I think she’s in shock though, so I’ve sent for an ambulance.’

  ‘She doesn’t look okay to me.’ Bill leaned into the car for a closer look. ‘Julie,’ he said. ‘Can you tell us what happened?’

  She looked back at him, her eyes wide and frightened. ‘In there,’ she whispered. ‘Scott . . .�
�� she covered her face with her hands.

  Three police cars arrived, sirens blaring and blue lights flashing. A crowd was starting to gather, gaping at the shattered window and the police activity.

  ‘It’s all right, take your time.’ Bill turned to Sue. ‘Check out who’s here. Get someone on crowd control. Station someone at each exit and then organize a search of the store. Apprehend anybody at all who is inside, doesn’t matter who they are, even if it’s the big boss himself.’

  Sue climbed out of the car and Bill got in the back seat beside Julie. ‘It’s okay, Julie,’ he said putting his arms round her. ‘You’re safe now.’

  Julie took her hands away from her face. ‘I didn’t think I was going to get away.’

  Bill uttered soothing noises, holding her close. ‘I know you’re upset Julie, but I need to know who’s in there. What are my officers looking for?’

  ‘Help Harry,’ she whispered, a pleading look in her eyes.

  ‘Was it Harry? Is that who we’ve to look for?’

  ‘No, you don’t understand. Harry’s been hurt. I don’t know if he’s dead. Help him. Please.’

  Bill beckoned to Sid who was standing close to the car. ‘Julie says the security man’s been hurt, maybe dead. Get someone to look for him.’

  Sue returned to the car. ‘I’ve checked every door and exit, but they’re all locked tight. Had to move a courting couple out of the alley,’ she laughed. ‘Believe it or not they never heard a thing. Found an old tramp sleeping down there as well, poor sod, so I moved him on. Told him the Cyrenians would give him a bed, but he didn’t seem to be interested. We’re ready to go in and search now.’

  Julie looked past Bill to Sue. ‘You must get help for Harry before it’s too late.’ Her voice was clearer than it had been earlier.

  Sue bent over so she could lean into the car. ‘Is Harry the only one we’re looking for?’ Her voice was urgent. ‘It would help us if we knew what’s in there.’

  ‘Scott.’ Julie shuddered. ‘I think Scott’s dead. He was chasing me. I think he would’ve killed me, but there was someone else.’ Julie’s eyes widened. ‘I don’t know who he was. I only saw a shape, tall and thin with icy blue eyes. They reflected the light, but they were flat and dead.’ She shuddered. ‘He stabbed Scott just as he was going to . . . going to . . .’ She shuddered again and covered her face with her hands. ‘He saved me from Scott,’ her fingers muffled her voice. ‘But then,’ she took her hands away, ‘I ran, because I knew he didn’t do it to save me. He wanted me himself.’ Julie burrowed her face into Bill’s jacket.