Hikers - The Collection (Complete Box Set of 5 Books)

by Lauren Algeo

  ‘Suit yourselves.’ Seok filled his own glass then put the bottle back in the middle. ‘Do you think we’ll get the same dessert?’

  ‘No idea,’ Brewer shrugged.

  His ears were trying to pick up any other whispering but all he heard was Marie and another woman’s cackling laughter drifting down the corridor. Brewer had briefly seen one of the families the Connors were entertaining when they’d arrived. He’d been hovering at the top of the stairs, hoping to get a few moments alone with Ellen.

  The couple looked to be in their mid-forties and they had a teenage daughter. Marie had embraced the woman and her daughter warmly. The Delanys? He was sure that was their family name. They were dressed smartly – the husband in a shirt and trousers, and his wife in a knee-length, black dress. The daughter had been wearing a dark pink skirt with a white top that showed off her tanned arms. They’d most likely been on holiday recently and their expensive clothes and carefully styled hair screamed money.

  Daniel’s words confused Brewer. Neither of the women he’d seen had a spare pound on them – they’d both been tall and slim. If the boy wasn’t whispering to one of them, maybe it was a waitress. Marco had mentioned that an additional girl would be covering the dinner, along with the one from last night. He hadn’t seen her yet, only the shy blond who had brought them their meal and wine with barely a word.

  Why would Daniel go after one of the house staff though? Was he that bored with the minds at the table?

  ‘There’s nothing else for it,’ Daniel spoke low and firm. ‘You’ll have to purge yourself of this food immediately.’

  Brewer’s eyes flicked back to Ellen. She was staring at her plate and gripping her cutlery tightly. Whoever the woman was, Daniel was about to make her throw up her dinner.

  Brewer stood up as casually as he could. ‘I’m just nipping to the toilet. I won’t be a minute.’

  He shot Ellen a reassuring look as he walked from the room. He would find out who Daniel’s new play thing was. He hoped the boy was just toying with her and that he wouldn’t take it any further than vomiting. Brewer didn’t want to have to intervene if the situation escalated – he didn’t need anything to jeopardise their plan for the morning. Marie had been so enthusiastic about Ellen taking Daniel’s studies outside; they needed this perfect opportunity to kill him.

  Brewer had his syringe of insulin in the jacket hanging in his bedroom and he really didn’t want to have to fetch it. There was no possible way for them to get away with murder during this dinner party. Not without a cover story or element of surprise. They would have to wait and see what transpired with this new victim.

  He walked quickly along the corridor and ducked into an empty study opposite the toilet. It was the bathroom closest to the main dining room and he was certain that Daniel would lead the woman there. The families would notice if anyone was missing for too long. He closed the door three-quarters of the way so he could monitor the corridor through the gap.

  It stayed empty for a moment then he heard the click of heels approaching on the polished wood. He saw a flash of dark pink first and knew that it was the Delanys’ daughter. Had Marie called her Cara? She marched to the bathroom and paused briefly at the door to check that no one was around. She was only a teenager and her face was young and innocent. Her brown hair hung down her back and was secured at the side with a silver clip. This girl was barely a woman and her body was thin; Brewer couldn’t understand how she was falling for Daniel’s taunts – she didn’t have any extra weight to lose.

  ‘Quick, into the bathroom,’ Daniel piped up to mock him. ‘You know what to do.’

  The language the boy was using made Brewer suspect that she had an eating disorder. ‘Purging’ herself could have been a sign of bulimia. It was the only explanation for it. She was young and impressionable and Daniel was playing on her deep-rooted fears: she had to be thin or no boy would fancy her.

  Brewer watched as she closed the toilet door and he heard the faint click of the lock. It didn’t sound as though Daniel was going to try anything more yet but he wanted to stay close to her, just to be sure.

  ‘That’s it,’ Daniel murmured encouragement. ‘Get it all out.’

  Brewer couldn’t hear anything more from his position and he waited impatiently as the minutes ticked by. Eventually he picked up the quiet flush of the toilet and a few seconds later the door opened. The girl came out dabbing at her eyes. Her face had paled considerably and she was breathing heavily. Brewer watched with pity as she headed back towards the dining room. He hoped that Daniel would leave her alone now he’d had a little bit of fun.

  He waited until the corridor was empty again then he walked quickly back to his smaller dining room. He couldn’t hear any conversation as he approached and Ellen and Seok both stared at him as he entered the room.

  ‘Bathroom was occupied so I had to go to the other one,’ he said, taking a seat at the table again.

  ‘The waitress asked if we wanted any dessert and we said yes,’ Ellen told him.

  He could see all the questions burning in her eyes only he couldn’t answer them with Seok there. She would have heard the whole exchange and be desperate to know who Daniel had targeted.

  ‘I bumped into the Delany girl,’ he said casually. It was the only way to let Ellen know who it was. ‘Cara?’

  ‘Yes, Cara,’ Seok nodded. ‘I’ve only met her once before but she’s a sweet girl.’

  Ellen raised an eyebrow to confirm that Cara was Daniel’s target and Brewer gave a brief nod in answer.

  ‘Do you think the dinner party will go on for long?’ he asked Seok.

  The less time Daniel had to play with Cara’s mind, the better.

  ‘I don’t imagine so,’ Seok replied. ‘The kids are only young and the other couple Connors invited, Mr and Mrs Chapman, they’re nearly seventy and they like to go to bed early. They once left a Downing Street dinner at 9pm because they were too tired. They didn’t even have dessert.’

  Brewer hadn’t seen the other couple arrive at the house. He saw his wife giving Seok a curious glance as he spoke – the man had barely responded to anything she’d asked him yet now he was chatting away in reply to Brewer. Perhaps he just needed to warm to people before he’d fully engage them.

  ‘Who are the Chapmans?’ Brewer asked.

  ‘Marie mentioned them earlier,’ Ellen said. ‘Eric Chapman used to be a Labour MP and he helped Connors during his campaign.’

  Seok nodded in agreement but didn’t add anything further, to Ellen’s annoyance.

  ‘I think I’ll go to the ladies before dessert arrives.’ She stood up from her seat.

  Brewer knew she wanted to see for herself if Cara was ok in the other room. Daniel had temporarily stopped whispering but he could start again at any moment. Brewer watched Ellen move across the room and hoped that the boy wouldn’t do anything while they were separated.

  Ellen’s emotions might get the better of her with a teenage girl involved. She was carrying her clutch bag with her as she left and he would bet that her syringe of insulin was safely tucked inside. There was nothing he could say to her with Seok beside him though so he was forced to watch her disappear through the door without a glance back.

  Be careful, he warned silently in his head.

  Ellen walked slowly along the empty corridor. Every muscle in her body was tensed in expectation of Daniel resuming his mental torture of the poor, young girl. She just needed to poke her head round the door and see that she was all right. Listening to Daniel goading her into throwing up her dinner had been awful. Teenage girls were already impressionable enough without the added pressure of a hiker. It had been the bullying that had started it off for her Lucy and now it was an eating disorder for this girl. She couldn’t just stand by and let Daniel keep abusing her.

  She stopped outside the main dining room and tried to come up with an excuse to go in. She’d given Daniel a short lesson that afternoon but was scheduled to spend a lot longer with him tomorro
w – they had the field trip in the morning after all. She hadn’t given Marie confirmation of the time she wanted them to leave yet, was that a good enough reason to interrupt their meal though?

  They’d wonder why she couldn’t wait until after to tell them. Unless she said she didn’t feel well and was heading to bed early… only then they might not think she was well enough to go on the trip in the morning.

  She was still deliberating what to do when one of the double doors flung outwards and Marie came through in a wave of perfume.

  ‘Oh, Ellen,’ she smiled. ‘Sorry, I didn’t know you were there.’

  ‘No problem.’ Ellen’s mind raced to come up with an excuse. ‘I was just passing on my way to the bathroom.’

  ‘Me too. I’ll walk down with you.’

  Marie’s voice was high and her cheeks were flushed. Ellen could tell that she’d had a few glasses of wine during the meal.

  ‘How was your dinner?’ Marie asked.

  ‘It was lovely,’ Ellen smiled. ‘The beef was perfect. You’ll have to thank Marco for me.’

  ‘He’ll probably be out for a drink after, if you’d like to join us?’ Marie asked.

  Ellen could think of no worse punishment than being close to Daniel while he tortured that young girl. ‘Thank you but I’m planning to have an early night,’ she replied. ‘I’d like to head out early with Daniel on our trip tomorrow, if that’s ok? Maybe 8am? I’m going to take some snacks with us for a bit of a picnic if it stays dry.’

  ‘That sounds lovely,’ Marie beamed. ‘I’m sure Daniel will be very excited.’ She glanced down at the expensive gold watch on her slender wrist. ‘Gosh, it’s after 9pm already. I better make sure Daniel goes straight to bed after dessert.’

  ‘That’s probably wise,’ Ellen agreed. ‘We’ll be doing a lot of walking.’

  They reached the bathroom door and Ellen stepped back. ‘You go in here and I’ll go down to the next one.’

  ‘Great, thanks.’ Marie reached for the door handle. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’

  ‘Enjoy the rest of your evening.’

  Ellen waited until Marie closed the door behind her then she turned and walked briskly back down the corridor. She would have to let Scott know that she’d succeeded in cutting Daniel’s evening short. Marie would be sending him up to bed in the next half an hour or so, which didn’t give him enough time to do much more to Cara. He might be able to keep the pressure on her mind from up in his room but if the other couple at the meal liked to go home early then the Delanys might leave soon too.

  Ellen could head up to her room in a little while in case she bumped into Marie again and she wondered why she wasn’t having an early night. That way she would be close to Daniel just in case he did try anything more. She was determined not to let him kill Cara – even if that meant taking her syringe to his room instead of waiting until tomorrow. There might only be a slim chance of her getting away with killing him if he stayed undiscovered all night however that was a risk she would have to take if he did try to kill the girl. She couldn’t have another dead teen on her conscience.

  Scott would never understand but she still blamed herself for Lucy’s death. She should have known that something was seriously wrong with her daughter. Now she was in a position to help someone else, save another mother the grief and anguish she’d suffered, and she would do it at any cost.

  Brewer’s eyes flicked impatiently to the door as he waited for Ellen to come back. Daniel hadn’t whispered once since she’d left and he hoped his wife hadn’t done something drastic. His heart swelled with relief as he saw her appear in the doorway. She gave him a triumphant nod as she walked back to her seat and he could only frown in response. What had she done?

  The waitress came into the room with their desserts before he could think of a clever way to ask her. He smiled politely as the waitress put a slice of lemon tart in front of him.

  ‘Thank you.’ He picked up his fork but didn’t use it.

  ‘I’m going to eat this then have an early night,’ Ellen said as she tucked into her tart. ‘I bumped into Marie in the hall and I’m going to take Daniel on his field trip early tomorrow.’

  Brewer nodded, knowing that comment was for his benefit. She was hinting that Daniel would be going to bed soon too. That wouldn’t give him time to do much damage to Cara.

  ‘I’m happy to escort you both tomorrow if you want?’ Seok offered.

  Ellen’s eyes widened briefly in panic. ‘No, that’s ok thank you,’ she said quickly. ‘I’m sure we’ll be fine.’

  The last thing they needed was Seok hanging around when they were trying to kill Daniel. Brewer forced himself to eat some of his dessert; the quicker dinner was over, the sooner tomorrow would come around. He couldn’t wait to get it out of the way so they could get back to their normal lives. All this tension and planning was exhausting.

  ‘Why are you stopping?’ Daniel piped up in the back of his mind. ‘Have another bite.’

  The boy was goading Cara again. Ellen’s shoulders stiffened across from him but she carried on eating. His words meant that they had nearly finished dessert in the other room so Marie would be sending him to bed very soon.

  ‘That’s it.’ Daniel’s voice was low and encouraging. ‘Eat it all. Make yourself even more disgusting.’

  Ellen put down her fork with a sharp bang. ‘That was lovely.’

  She gestured to her empty plate. Brewer had never seen her eat so fast. His own tart was sticking in his throat.

  ‘If you gentlemen will excuse me, I’m going to get a drink and head up to my room.’ She stood up again.

  ‘Goodnight,’ Seok said, lifting a forkful of tart to his lips. ‘See you tomorrow.’

  Daniel started to whisper again as she walked towards the door then he cut off abruptly mid-sentence. ‘You should have another…’

  Ellen’s steps faltered briefly but Daniel didn’t resume his goading. Had Marie put an end to his night?

  Brewer watched Ellen leave and waited for Seok to finish his tart. There was no point continuing to choke down his own so he pushed his plate away. A few moments later, he heard footsteps in the corridor and he glanced up in time to see Marie escorting Daniel past. She was a step in front of the boy and a little unsteady on her heels. Brewer guessed that the wine was flowing freely at their dinner table.

  Daniel turned his head as he crossed the doorway and Brewer met his gaze for a split second before he disappeared from view. The boy had a sullen expression on his face and his eyebrows were creased down into a frown over his moody eyes. He was not happy about being carted off to bed early, not when he’d barely begun his torture of Cara.

  Brewer’s lips curved into a smirk as he reached for his wine glass. Ellen had successfully ruined the last night of the boy’s life and tomorrow he would end it for good. He deserved a drink.

  Chapter 36

  Ellen awoke with a start and her heart thudded in her chest. She’d been having a nightmare about Daniel and his whispering voice but suddenly she was fully alert. Had something woken her up?

  She was lying on top of the bed with an open book on her chest. She’d been reading and hadn’t expected to fall asleep with so much going on in her mind. She must have drifted off while she was reading. She glanced groggily around the room but couldn’t tell how long she’d been asleep for – the bedside lamp was on and the area behind the curtains was still dark. She listened carefully and couldn’t hear any sounds from the house. Perhaps everyone was asleep?

  She sat up, disorientated, and stretched out the crick in her neck. Daniel’s voice had been so real in her dream and the fear was still lingering. Her body was on edge and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Maybe it was just her imagination working on overdrive to combat how scared she was about tomorrow? She couldn’t hear anything now and Daniel would have been sent to bed hours ago.

  She stood up and padded barefoot across the room to the chest of drawers, where she’d put her mak
e-up and jewellery. She picked up her watch to check the time and was surprised to see that she’d only come up to bed an hour and a half ago. She’d expected it to be the early hours of the morning but it was only 11pm.

  Ellen was wearing navy pyjama bottoms with a short-sleeved t-shirt and her arms were covered in goose bumps, even though the room wasn’t particularly cold. She took the guest dressing gown from the back of the door and shrugged it on. The white cotton was thick and padded, and she tied the belt securely around her waist.

  She stood uncertainly in the middle of the room, not sure if she should get into bed or not. Her mind felt too alert to sleep again yet she couldn’t just go wandering around the house in her dressing gown, checking that everyone was ok. The dinner party was likely to be over by now and Cara would be safely on her way home. It was all just irrational tension from her nightmare.

  She took a couple of steps towards the bed before Daniel stopped her in her tracks. ‘Look at the bright flames,’ he urged in her mind.

  Ellen gasped at his words. The boy hadn’t gone to bed at all; he’d found someone new to focus his energy on. The voice in her nightmare had been his real one filtering through her sleeping mind. Who had he targeted? And what flames was he talking about?

  She walked swiftly to the door, pausing only to retrieve the syringe of insulin and tuck it into her dressing gown pocket. She pulled open the door and peered into the corridor. The lights were on and there was no one around. She looked from left to right, debating whether to go round to Scott’s room first and see if he’d heard Daniel too, or head straight to the Connors’ wing. She didn’t know if Daniel was up here or stalking a victim downstairs however his room was the first, logical place to check.

  She made her decision and turned left, straight to the source of the voice. If Scott had heard him as well then surely he would be heading in the same direction as her. She’d probably find him lurking in the shadows near Daniel’s room.

  The blood was still pumping furiously in her veins and her right hand snaked down to her pocket. She gripped the syringe tightly in her fist yet felt little comfort from the weight of it – this was not going according to their careful plan.