Tom Douglas Box Set 2

by Rachel Abbott

  Still Duncan didn’t speak. He kept his hate-filled eyes on Samil, and never looked at Maggie.

  ‘Don’t do it, Duncan,’ she begged. ‘He can’t make you.’

  ‘Of course I can make him.’ Samil spat the words out. ‘I’ll start carving chunks out of you until he agrees. It looks like an easy choice, but it’s not. Think about it.’

  He said no more. He didn’t need to, but Maggie had heard enough. She remembered one of the articles she had read about psychopaths. Control was everything, so she had to break it – destroy Samil’s confidence. As a psychopath, he was a master manipulator of other people’s feelings, but was unable to experience emotions himself. She knew she wouldn’t be able to make him feel guilty, but she could belittle him. And psychopaths were planners and hated their plans to be upset or derailed. That was what she had to do. Maggie took a deep breath.

  ‘What sort of a man are you, Samil? Oh, I know. The sort that has to hide behind a pathetic fake name. The Angel of Death?’ She barked out a laugh, and hoped Samil didn’t hear the terror hovering just below the surface. ‘For God’s sake, you sound like a character out of a children’s comic. I’ve no doubt you’re an evil bastard. Let’s face it, you’ve killed enough innocent women. But what do you get off on? That’s what I can’t work out. From what I can gather you’re not getting any sexual gratification out of your kills. Or is that it? Is thinking about the deaths of these women at your hands the only way you can get it up? Or is it the thrill of the kill? Well, I’ve got news for you. Your plans are going to fail. It’s all going to go wrong, Samil, and you will be exposed for the pathetic specimen you are.’

  She had to stop before her voice cracked with the strain of trying to sound strong. She swallowed and fought to hold her gaze steady. She had done her best, but her outburst hadn’t produced any signs of the confusion she had tried to create. All she saw was a slight narrowing of Samil’s eyes.

  ‘Maybe I have a better idea,’ he said. ‘You’re a strong woman, Maggie, so maybe the choice of who dies should be yours. Duncan can kill Leo or kill you, or you can kill Duncan. But let’s make this your choice – let Duncan see what hell he has brought into your life. Remember, Maggie, your husband has fantasised about killing. Maybe he still does – have you thought of that? Maybe if we search the site to find someone who fantasises about drowning people slowly – that fantasist could be Duncan.’

  The back of Maggie’s neck tingled with a memory and she turned her head to look at Duncan. He didn’t return her stare, but the fury in his eyes as he looked at Samil was chilling.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he said, spacing out each word. ‘I was never serious. You’re the psychopath, the thrill killer. Not me.’

  Samil turned back to his phone. ‘Well, we’ll see, shall we. There are some wild fantasists on this site – and yes, the site’s still going, Maggie. The numbers swell year on year. This one that I’m looking at right now wants to kill all lesbians. A mission killer. They’re so interesting, like Peter Sutcliffe and the prostitutes. Or Carroll Edward Cole – his mission was to kill women who cheated on their partners. I think you would be a mission killer, Michael. But what would you want to rid the world of? Any ideas, wife? We can search the site, and see if we can find any more of your husband’s fantasies. What do you say?’

  Maggie was silent. She wasn’t sure her legs would hold her up for much longer. Samil stared at her for a few seconds longer, waiting to see if she responded. She didn’t, and he appeared to become bored with the idea, sticking the phone back in his pocket.

  He folded his arms and stared at Maggie, a small smile betraying his pleasure at the torment he was inflicting.

  ‘Okay, Maggie, who’s going to die here today? You, your husband or that poor scrap of a woman who hasn’t done a thing to hurt anybody?’ He pointed his taser in Leo’s direction. ‘I want an answer. Or I’m going to start hurting people.’

  Maggie had no more ideas – no other ways to deflect Samil from his goal. What was she going to say to him? Why hadn’t she absorbed more of those articles on psychopaths? She might have had a clue then.

  Duncan moved towards Samil. The taser was immediately pointed and charged. ‘Don’t even think about it.’

  ‘So give me a knife,’ Duncan said.

  Maggie was jolted from her thoughts of how to divert Samil.

  ‘Duncan,’ Maggie gasped. ‘Don’t.’

  ‘He won’t be doing anything until you give him the word. I’ve told you, Maggie. The choice has to be yours. You, your husband or her.’

  Maggie put her head down.

  ‘Give me the fucking knife,’ Duncan said, his jaw clenched. ‘Let’s get it done.’

  Samil waited a beat.

  ‘I will free your hands, Duncan. And you can have the knife. But the decision is Maggie’s. If you as much as move before that decision has been made, I will bring you down with this.’ He waved the taser in the air. ‘Turn your back. The taser is right up against your heart, so nothing clever.’

  Maggie watched as Samil ran the knife quickly between Duncan’s hands and stepped back. He got well out of Duncan’s reach, dropped the knife on the floor and kicked it over to him, pointing the taser all the time.

  Maggie watched her husband pick the knife up. He looked at her, but she couldn’t see any sign of her Duncan. His face was devoid of expression, his jawline rigid.

  ‘What’s it to be, Maggie?’ Samil asked. ‘If you choose Duncan, I’ll taser him first, and I’ll be only too happy to finish the job for you if you don’t have the stomach for it. That makes the choice easier, doesn’t it?’

  Maggie’s head was spinning. This couldn’t be happening. How could she choose between herself, her husband and this poor defenceless woman who – as far as she knew – had nothing whatsoever to do with any of this.

  Duncan started to walk across to where Leo lay on the floor.

  ‘Maggie, it’s an easy choice, surely?’ Duncan said. ‘She isn’t going to survive. Tell me to kill her, and then we’re done. He’s not going to stop until you choose, and what other choice is there?’

  Maggie stared at her husband. He didn’t appear to have an ounce of reluctance about killing the girl. It was a solution to a problem for him, not a young woman’s life. What did that make him?

  ‘Do you think he’s going to let us go after that? After everything we could tell the police about him?’

  Duncan closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head slightly. ‘Don’t you get it? If we do this, he will have as much on us as we have on him. Rightly or wrongly, I can’t ever go to the police. You know that. So let him have his revenge, and let’s get out of here. Just don’t watch. Then you won’t ever have to think again about what I’m about to do.’

  ‘Shut it, Duncan,’ Samil said. ‘Maggie, it’s decision time.’

  Maggie knew that if she told Duncan to kill the girl, she would never be able to look at herself in a mirror again. And she would never let Duncan’s blood-covered hands near her. But she couldn’t kill her husband, the father of her children – and he had always seemed such a good father. How would she ever live with herself if she condemned him to death?

  She was about to open her mouth and give her answer when she heard a noise. It was the sound of running footsteps on the stairs.

  The door burst open and a man stood in the open doorway. Maggie could see his chest heaving as he tried to regain his breath. His arms were at his side, but held away from his body, his legs taut. She recognised the voice.

  ‘You fucking shit.’ His voice was low, but there was no doubt about the fury.

  It was the second man, the one who had been left to guard the pipe.

  ‘You left me with no transport, no money – nothing. You treat me like shit, and yet none of this would have been possible without me.’

  ‘Stop being such a girl,’ Samil said. ‘You enjoyed the ride. You got off on killing people on Daddy’s property, didn’t you? Didn’t have the guts to do it yours
elf, though. You bottled that, didn’t you?’

  The second man advanced into the room, and it was only then that Maggie noticed he was carrying what looked like a short metal pole in the hand that Samil couldn’t see. The two men were both well over six feet tall, Samil having the edge. The newcomer’s perfectly cut blond hair was at odds with his muddy jeans and boots, and the look of fury on his face in stark contrast with the controlled arrogant stare of Samil, whose chiselled features and thick bottom lip appeared to be set in concrete. Only his intense blue eyes showed that he was alive, burning every surface they touched.

  ‘Invictus was right about you,’ the second man said. ‘You’re the real deal. The dark triad of personality disorders all combined in one person. Psychopath, narcissist, Machiavellian. You’ve got it all. But you’re a user. And I’m sick of being used.’

  He continued to advance. It wasn’t until he was about six feet away that Samil seemed to notice the metal bar. He didn’t hesitate. The taser came up, and Maggie saw the laser sight light up the other man’s chest. The two probes came flying out and there was a scream as the man fell to the floor.

  Duncan flew across the room, the knife in his hand, running towards Maggie. She drew in a breath and closed her eyes. This was it. But then he was behind her, behind the pillar to which she was attached, and suddenly her hands were free.

  ‘Go, Maggie. Go now,’ he whispered urgently.

  Maggie wanted to ask what he was going to do, but she knew their best chance was for her to escape and raise the alarm. Samil would have to reload the taser, and Duncan might be able to get to him first. If they both made a run for it, he would be after them like a shot.

  She couldn’t see Samil and the other man; the wide pillar she had been tied to shielded them from her view. She walked backwards across the vast expanse of open floor as slowly and silently as she could, keeping the pillar between her and the two men.

  Duncan had moved to the far side of the room, and she knew he would distract Samil if he needed to. The man on the floor was groaning, which helped cover any sound Maggie made. Samil thought she was safely tied up, and he had enough to contend with, dealing with his partner and Duncan, who still had the knife.

  Maggie made it to the far side of the room. Flattening herself against the bare brick walls and keeping to the shadows, she made her way on tiptoe across to the staircase. She wanted to run, but knew she mustn’t. Even if he didn’t hear her, the atmosphere in the room would change somehow and he would know. So she took it slow and steady. If he turned she would run. She was far enough away to make it. Duncan was goading Samil while the taser was useless and he had the knife. What he planned to do with it, Maggie didn’t know. Samil was a good five inches taller than Duncan, and he had the metal bar that the other man had brought with him. Even with the knife, she didn’t think her husband would come off the better of the two.

  She reached the top of the stairs and turned to go down backwards. She didn’t want any surprises. This way, she could watch to see if Samil came after her. But there was nothing more than a yell from above. She thought it was Samil’s voice, but she couldn’t be certain.

  With a sigh of relief she reached the bottom of the stairs and turned.

  Outlined against the backdrop of the open loading bay door stood a man, arms by his side, legs apart, ready to catch her if she ran.

  60

  Every nerve ending on Maggie’s body was prickling with fear. Surely there wasn’t another one? But what about William – the man Duncan had been chatting with all these years on the site, the man who Maggie was sure had led Samil back to Duncan.

  The man in the entrance raised his hand, and she realised that he was putting a finger to his lips, as if to say ‘Shh.’

  Maggie stood still, not sure what to do. Suddenly and silently the empty loading bay filled with people dressed in black, moving stealthily towards her. All she could see were their dark silhouettes. The one she had seen first crept towards her. She bit back a scream.

  ‘Maggie,’ he said, his voice so low that she could barely hear it, but not a hissing whisper that would travel further. ‘It’s okay. Police.’

  She wanted to run towards him, but he held up his hand, palm out, to stop her. She understood why. The floor was scattered with detritus accumulated over the years. She couldn’t afford to make a noise.

  The man made his way silently across the floor, using the faint beam from a shielded torch to show the way without lighting up the room.

  ‘Josh is safe, Maggie.’ With the first words he spoke to her she knew instantly who this was and how much he understood. She bit back a sob of relief.

  ‘They’ve got a girl up there,’ she said, her mouth pressed against his ear. He nodded and she realised he already knew. That was why they wanted to be so quiet. If the two men heard them coming, they could use Leo as a bargaining tool to get out of there.

  His head came back down to hers. ‘We’re waiting for a backup team. We need the place surrounded and there are too many windows. Five minutes, and they won’t be going anywhere.’

  Maggie felt a jolt of shock. Duncan was in there. What was going to happen? If they caught him now, everything was going to have to come out. She felt helpless and no longer knew what outcome she was hoping for.

  The man she now recognised as Tom Douglas put his arm gently around her shoulders and led her towards the door. A thought flashed through Maggie’s mind. If only she had told him everything when he had come to see her, perhaps all of this could have been avoided. But it was too late to think like that. Behind her, she heard nothing but sensed the movement of bodies, climbing the stairs silently to the room above.

  She signalled to the detective that he needed to bend his ear to her lips. ‘Ambulance,’ she said softly. He looked at her as if to ask where she was hurt. ‘Not me,’ she mouthed. His eyes grew wide and strangely frightened. But she had no time to query that as he handed her over to a uniformed policeman, squeezed her arm and moved silently back into the loading bay, heading for the stairs.

  The young policeman walked Maggie outside towards a police car, speaking quietly into his radio as he moved.

  ‘Let the family know that we’ve got the mother. Yes, Mrs Taylor’s with me. Let them know she’s safe, will you.’ He disconnected as they reached the car.

  ‘Tell me about Josh? Do you know where he is?’ she asked, pulling at the policeman’s arm as his attention was diverted by some activity at the end of the street.

  ‘Sorry, miss,’ he said. ‘I don’t know anything about Josh, but as soon as we’re sorted here I’ll find out for you.’

  He glanced back towards the end of the street where a crowd seemed to be gathering, clearly interested in what was happening. Two officers were manning a temporary barrier, but one or two people had broken through, phones at the ready to take photos.

  ‘Can I put you in the police car?’ the policeman said. ‘I need to see what those idiots are doing at the top of the road. We could do without their interference.’ He opened the car door for her.

  ‘Thanks, officer,’ Maggie said. ‘I’m going to stand in the fresh air for a moment. It seems a long time since I was able to breathe.’

  ‘Shit. I’m not supposed to leave you, but I can’t let that lot near the building.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere. I’m the victim, the one who escaped, remember.’

  ‘I know.’ He started to reverse down the street, talking to her and checking over his shoulder. ‘Well, stay there, and if you see anybody, get in the car and lock it. I’ll be right back,’ he said, turning round and jogging down the street.

  Maggie leaned against the side of the car, watching the policeman as he ran towards the onlookers, but thinking only of Josh. Tom Douglas had said he was safe, and she had to believe him. Thank God. All she wanted now was to get home to her children and keep them safe.

  She thought back to the decision she had been about to make. Kill me she had been going to say. She had known she
couldn’t watch Duncan kill somebody else, but equally she wouldn’t have been able to watch Samil kill Duncan. She had been going to take the coward’s way out.

  She felt her legs turn to jelly and pulled the car door wide to get in. Before she had the chance to move, a hard body slammed into hers, flattening her against the police car, a hand whipping up to cover her mouth. Maggie felt strong arms dragging her back into the shadows. She couldn’t breathe. The hand clamped over Maggie’s mouth felt rough and hard.

  ‘Ssshh, Maggie it’s me.’

  It was no more than a harsh whisper against her ear, but a voice she recognised. She froze, unable to resist or to move away from his grasp.

  ‘Quiet. They’ll hear you. I got away down an old fire escape before they surrounded the place. The police don’t need to know I was here. Don’t say anything, Maggie. I love you. Trust me just for a little longer. Please, Maggie. For our children.’

  Maggie saw the policeman turn back towards where he had left her. He stopped, stared and then started to jog back.

  She felt a small push in the back as Duncan let go of her. Maggie stumbled out of the shadows back towards the waiting police car, then turned briefly to look over her shoulder.

  There was nobody there.

  61

  Pleased as he was that Maggie Taylor was safe, Tom was filled with a sense of hopelessness. If an ambulance was needed so urgently, Leo had to be in a bad way. Why hadn’t he done more?

  He had quickly pulled a team together as soon as they had realised that of all the places Adam Mellor might have chosen from his family’s portfolio, one stood out as the most obvious of the small number of currently deserted properties. No buildings opposite, right by the canal, and it had what appeared to be a loading bay. They could have searched them all, but Tom had taken a punt by bringing the team here and sending a couple of uniforms to check the other buildings from the outside. He had been right.

  Now the team leader was at the top of the stairs, trying to get a visual on the two men. If they were too close to Leo, who knew what they would do. There was shouting coming from the room – it sounded as if they had noticed Maggie Taylor had gone and they were blaming each other.