The Upper Hand

by A L Fraine

  Kate nodded.

  “Yes, I was here with Wilson. Terrible business all that. Can’t believe that could happen here.”

  “And Wilson was in his office all night with you?”

  “Oh yes,” she replied. “I told the other one the same thing.”

  Nathan’s eyes narrowed, Kate noticed. She turned to Stacy.

  “He didn’t leave the office at all?” Kate pressed. “He didn’t step outside this door?”

  “No. Oh, hmm. Hang on. Yes, he did. He went to the communal kitchen downstairs to get some food.”

  “Did you go with him?” Kate continued.

  “No,” the secretary answered brightly.

  “How long was he gone?” Nathan asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Not long. Twenty minutes?”

  “Twenty minutes?” Nathan asked, astounded.

  “Around that. The microwave downstairs is a little iffy sometimes.”

  “Is it?” Nathan replied, deadpan.

  “Well, Wilson says it is.”

  “Does he,” Nathan added, his voice flat as he looked at Kate.

  “You’ve never used it?” Kate asked.

  “No. We have one in our kitchen, in there.” Stacy pointed to one of the side doors in the room.

  “Of course you do,” Nathan answered. “Do you mind if we have a look around?”

  “No, no, help yourselves. Can I get you a drink? Biscuit? I’m making myself one.”

  “Jammy Dodger?” Nathan replied as he moved to a nearby door and opened it up. Between them, they made short work of looking around the small office before returning to where they had been speaking to Stacy.

  The blonde placed the biscuit tin on a table with a toothy smile, before returning to the kitchen to get her drink.

  Nathan peered into the Tupperware box and raised an eyebrow. “Fig Rolls? The man’s a monster.”

  “Oooh, I like those,” Kate said and reached inside, pulling two of them out, much to Nathan’s disgust.

  “I don’t think I know you anymore,” he commented, as he reached in and removed a chocolate hobnob. “Now this is a biscuit,” he said.

  “These are too,” Kate replied.

  “No, Kate. Those are an abomination to God, and you’ll do me the favour of keeping them away from me. Wouldn’t want to get infected.”

  “Mmm,” Kate replied, taking a bite from one and chewing it with her mouth open as she looked up at him.

  “Vile creature,” Nathan muttered, before Stacy returned, forcing them into an uncomfortable silence.

  “Oh, I forgot. I found the address of the commercial property he’s at while you were looking around. Here it is,” she said, holding out the address book. “He goes there quite regularly.”

  “Does he? Have you been there?” Nathan replied.

  “Oh, no. Never. I’m far too busy here,” Stacy answered. “Anything else I can do for you?”

  “Throw out the Fig Rolls before they breed,” Nathan answered. “Otherwise, no. Thanks.”

  Stacy looked into the biscuit box with a confused frown.

  “Ignore him,” Kate answered. “We’ll be in touch soon, I think.”

  “Okay, thank you,” Stacy replied.

  Back on the street, Kate finished her second Fig Roll and climbed into the car with Nathan as she thought about what they might find at this commercial property. “Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”

  “Probably the two Fig Rolls you just ate,” Nathan replied.

  “At least I wasn’t munching on a nob,” she replied, eyebrow firmly raised.

  “That’s Hobnob to you. Chocolate one, too.”

  “Well, la-di-da,” Kate replied.

  Nathan smiled, and then the humour fell away from his face. He sighed. “I know what you mean, though. Come on, let’s end this.”

  CHAPTER 26

  “Hello?” Kate said down her phone, answering it as Nathan drove to the Hollins’ commercial property.

  “Kate, it’s DC Rachel Arthur, I have some information you might be interested in,” the Detective answered.

  “Oh?” Kate answered.

  “Have you got Wilson in custody yet?”

  “Still trying to find him. What have you got for us?” she answered and tapped the speaker button so Nathan could hear as well.

  “We’ve been doing some digging into Naomi’s circumstances, where she lived, and who might have access to it, and we found something that we thought was interesting.”

  “Go on,” Kate replied.

  “Guess who owns the building that Naomi lived in?” Rachel asked.

  “Let me guess, Wilson Hollins,” Nathan answered.

  “Hi, Nathan. Yeah, got it in one.”

  “Goddammit,” Kate cursed. “He’s been planning this for a long time.”

  “Looks that way. Good work, Rachel,” Nathan answered.

  “That’s not all though,” Rachel continued. “We thought we should check out what other buildings Wilson owns, and there was one other that got flagged up as interesting.”

  “Go on,” Nathan answered.

  “Yours Kate. He owns your building.”

  “Mine?” Kate answered, the hair on her arms standing up.

  “That’s right. I thought you should know.”

  “Yeah, thanks,” Kate answered. “Good to know. I’ll bear that in mind. Anything else?”

  “No, that’s it, the DCI is happy for you to enter the property based on what Stacy Lee said. Good hunting.”

  Thanking her, Kate ended the call, feeling a shiver of revulsion wash down her spine at the thought of Wilson knowing where she lived. Then she remembered the envelope that had been pushed under her door.

  “Oh, crap. The envelope,” she muttered.

  “He knew who you were,” Nathan said.

  “Yeah, he did,” she replied and wondered just how much he knew about her. Had he been watching her? Following her somehow? This just threw up even more questions. It could all be a coincidence of course, but somehow, part of her really wasn’t sure she believed that.

  Nathan pulled the car into a maze of commercial units that made up the North Way Industrial Estate just outside the city centre and paused at a map on the large sign just inside the gate. Kate craned her neck to get a better look.

  “Got it,” Nathan said, and set off, threading his way through the units and the parked cars outside of them. It soon became clear they were heading towards the back of the site, and moments later they turned up a spur that ended in a dead end, with a unit on their right. On their left, beyond a tall metal fence with spikes on top, was a small stretch of wasteland, with houses beyond.

  Nathan turned the car around, and used it to block the exit out should Wilson get past them. He could still run past it, but he’d have trouble driving out of here.

  There was only one car parked outside this unit, and Kate recognised it as one of the vehicles that had been at the Hollins’ house when they had visited him the first time.

  “Looks like he’s here,” Kate said, peering at the windows of the unit that were covered in metal grating. The building looked like it could do with some TLC and a fresh coat of paint.

  “Maybe,” Nathan answered her, his voice flat as he turned the engine off.

  “Should we head inside?” Kate asked, those all too familiar butterflies flitting about her stomach at the thought of entering this creepy-looking building that likely housed a brutal killer. “Or maybe we should call in backup?”

  “Both,” Nathan answered, with a note of determination in his voice. “I want to get inside. If he’s got Mark Summers in there, we can’t waste any time.”

  “Of course,” Kate answered, as Nathan grabbed the radio and spoke with dispatch, requesting backup at their location. The request was confirmed, and they informed Nathan it would be several minutes before they got to them.

  Too long, Kate thought, as she remembered the photos of Mark that had been appearing for a few days now. Today had been the dead
line that the killer had given, for whatever he had planned for Mark. Nathan was already getting out the car, so Kate joined him and moved to the boot where they pulled out their stab vests. With their protective clothing in place, Nathan made his way towards the front doors, his baton in hand. Kate followed, her eyes flicking from one window to another, wondering if someone might be watching them.

  Grabbing the door handle, Nathan tried it. When it turned easily beneath his hand, he looked back at Kate. “Not too security conscious,” he said.

  “Or just very confident,” Kate replied.

  Nathan nodded and walked inside. Kate followed him into a reception area that was almost entirely empty of furniture or adornments of any kind. It looked disused but clean. Several doors led off from the space, including an open one to a side meeting room, that was also relatively empty.

  “This isn’t creepy at all,” Kate commented sarcastically.

  “I’ll put in a complaint to the Union of Serial Killers for you, shall I?” Nathan asked.

  “Would you? I’d appreciate that,” Kate replied as she looked at the other doors. One of them was clearly marked as a restroom, the other said, ‘Staff Only’ on it.

  “Let’s check the bathroom first,” Kate suggested.

  Nathan nodded and followed her over. They burst inside, only to find an empty and clearly hardly used collection of stalls that made up the communal restroom.

  Kate walked back out to where Nathan had waited by the door to watch the reception room. “Nothing,” she said.

  Nathan nodded. “Then we take door number two,” he replied and led the way over.

  He pulled it open and stepped through. “Hmm,” he muttered, on seeing what was on the other side.

  Kate followed only to find herself in a corridor leading deeper into the building. The hallways looked derelict, with dirty peeling walls, a messy floor, missing ceiling tiles, and trailing cables hanging from above. Dirt and dust were everywhere. It was in quite a state, Kate thought. Doors stretched along the corridor on either side and another at the end.

  “Well, this just gets better and better,” Kate said quietly. “Creepy corridor? Check!”

  “Come on,” Nathan said and started up the corridor. They reached the first door on their left, and Nathan pushed it open with his baton. It swung wide to reveal a disgusting bathroom that made Kate feel sick just looking at it. The smell didn’t help either. Inside, Kate could see some obvious bloodstains on the floor and covering several of the basins in a dull red residue that had long since dried.

  “Oh god,” Kate said with a swallow.

  “I think we found the right place,” Nathan muttered.

  “That’s a big fat yes,” Kate agreed as Nathan crept inside and checked the remains of the stalls along the left wall. Kate watched the corridor ahead and for a moment, felt sure she’d heard movement in the distance.

  Kate hadn’t done any firearms training, but it was during moments like this that the idea of carrying a gun felt like the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Nothing in here, let’s move on,” Nathan said, stepping back into the corridor. “See anything?”

  “No. Thought I heard something, but can’t be sure,” she whispered.

  Nathan replied with a curt nod and focused his attention back up the hallway. As they moved, Kate noticed what looked like more bloodstains close to the next door ahead, on their right. It looked like someone, or something, had been dragged through here. They moved to the second door, and peeked through, to find a large, almost totally empty room in as bad a state of disrepair as the corridor. The only items in here were a hook on the end of a chain that hung from an exposed iron girder above the suspended ceiling, and a single chair that stood before it. The hook was stained red. The floor beneath it was also covered in the dried remains of blood.

  “Homely, don’t you think?” Kate muttered.

  “No home is complete without a meat hook,” Nathan answered as they both scanned the room. It was otherwise empty.

  “I’ll be sure to order one from Amazon,” Kate replied as they moved back into the corridor. “Should work well in my studio flat.”

  The next room up was on their left again, with the door open, revealing a much smaller room with a desk and chair. A complicated computer workstation was set up on the desk, with a total of six monitors crowding around a single chair.

  Picturesque photos of beautiful landscapes faded gently into one another on the screens, standing in stark contrast to the derelict nature of the rest of the room.

  “What’s he need this for?” Kate asked quietly.

  Nathan narrowed his eyes. “I’m not sure,” he replied as Kate moved into the room, checking the corners in case of ambush. Confident they were alone, she walked up to the desk, stepping over the cables that snaked away from the equipment to the wall, and gave the mouse a shake.

  The screensaver flickered away to reveal the usual operating system on the bottom central monitor. Arrayed around it were feeds from what looked like security cameras. Kate didn’t recognise most of them, but she quickly spotted one showing the outside of this unit, and their car parked outside.

  “He might know we’re here,” Kate said, pointing to it.

  Nathan looked and nodded. “Look here,” he said and gestured to another feed. Kate peered at it, and it took a moment for her to recognise it.

  “Shit, that’s Jordan’s office. He’s been watching him with secret cameras?”

  “I’ll be willing to bet he’s seen Jordan and Naomi in there, during their late night meetings.”

  “It’s how he knew Jordan was at the office alone the other night.”

  Kate looked at the feeds with greater interest and quickly spotted one that showed the outside of Naomi’s apartment block. She showed it to Nathan before she spotted one that made her blood run cold.

  “Oh, shit,” she said, as the bottom fell out of her stomach. She felt utterly sick as she stared at one of the feeds and the room she knew all too well.

  “What?” Nathan asked.

  Kate pointed at the image. “That, is the inside of my apartment.”

  “He’s been watching you,” Nathan said, stating the obvious.

  “Yeah,” Kate replied, wondering what he might have seen over the last few weeks. From the angle of the image, she felt sure the camera was hidden in a vent that she knew was on that wall.

  “Nice décor, by the way,” Nathan said.

  Kate gave him a look. “Piss off.”

  She heard a thud come from another room and spun to look at the door behind them. Nathan did the same.

  “This isn’t over yet,” he muttered and approached the door back out into the corridor. The hall was empty, and they continued up it, another room opening up on their left. It was similar to the one with the meat hook but was instead furnished with a single, soiled bed. The ancient mattress was covered in dark red, brown, and yellow stains, while sturdy leather straps hung from the metal bed frame. A single chair sat beside it, with a small, empty table beside that.

  There were more bloodstains on the floor beside the bed. These fresher splatters of blood led away from it to the door they stood in, and along the corridor to the door at the end of the hallway. Some of the small pools of blood looked like a wheel of something had been pushed through them, leaving long tracks along the floor showing the progress of a wheelchair, or something on casters.

  “This is going to give me nightmares for weeks,” Kate muttered as they scanned the rest of the room, but found nothing.

  “Only weeks? Wow, lucky you.”

  “Come on, he’s in here somewhere,” Kate said, and they both stepped back out into the corridor, following the fresh bloodstains. Two more doors lay ahead of them. One on their right, and the final one at the end of the hall.

  The right-hand door led to an empty room with little of note inside, but the final door stood closed. Nathan stepped up to it and carefully tried the handle, but the door wouldn’t move. It was
locked.

  “Crap,” he whispered and stepped back. “Let’s do this the hard way.”

  Nathan kicked the door, slamming his foot against it close to where Kate assumed the lock would be. The derelict nature of the building worked in their favour, and the door slammed open as wood splintered from the broken frame.

  Nathan rushed inside, and Kate followed.

  The room beyond was another big one, and in the middle of it was what looked like a tree, made from hundreds of dead branches and sticks, lashed together to form a large tree trunk.

  Brown, dead leaves covered the floor, a few of them soaking up the blood that had been dripped on them. Strung up onto the tree, the remains of Mark Summers hung from the strange creation, his hands out wide in a pose that mimicked Christ on the cross. Mark’s body had been flayed open, revealing his ribcage and the organs beneath it. Intestines hung like wet ropes from his stomach to the floor where they piled in the pool of blood beneath him. In front of him, a man kneeled on the floor, topless, facing the tree and the corpse, a dagger in one hand, his arms spread wide. Nearby, a bloody gurney stood discarded, no longer of use.

  Nathan extended his baton with a flick of his wrist. Kate did the same.

  “Wilson?” Nathan yelled.

  The man laughed.

  “Gary Wilson Hollins?”

  “Aaah,” the man said, his laugh stopping as he stood up, and turned to look at them. “You figured it out then?”

  It was Wilson, Kate thought, recognising him. He was covered in blood, with strange symbols finger painted on his body drawn in the sticky red plasma. He had a wild expression on his face, but she recognised him none the less.

  “Wilson Hollins, you’re under arrest…”

  “Shut up, you pitiful little creature. You can’t get to me now. You’re too late. The ritual is complete, and I am so much more now. I’ve seen so much. There is nothing you can do to me because I have been set free.”

  “You’re under arrest,” Nathan continued, “on suspicion of murdering Jordan Donaldson, Naomi Sawyer, and Mark Summers. You do not have to say anything,” he continued, making his way through the wording for the Police Caution, while Wilson continued to rant about how he’d somehow ascended.