STRANGE BODIES (a gripping crime thriller)

by Antonia Marlowe

  Seconds later they were in front of the shimmering wall he remembered from his last visit here. Another second and they were sealed inside the safe room.

  ‘Merlin, eyes and ears, all interiors and exteriors, please.’

  ‘I see we have intruders, Dr Burne. Hello, Commander.’

  Nicholas was still trying to wake up, to come to grips with what was going on as he buttoned his shirt. His bare feet were chilled by the cool smooth floor but looking at Verity who was still clutching her clothes to her and was seemingly oblivious to her nakedness, he realised she was shivering.

  As the wall screens came to life with scenes of all the downstairs rooms and the exterior courtyard he said, ‘I think you’d better get dressed, love. It’s a bit chilly in here.’

  She looked at him blankly, then down at her self. ‘Damn, I haven’t got time for this.’

  ‘All the time in the world, I have the situation under control. I have identified the intruders as Orlando Gray and Lara Nash. They obtained access in the company of Marcus Havington.’

  Verity, dressed now in jeans and shirt, snarled, ‘Listen this isn’t some blasted Victorian drama … can we just stick to plain language for now, thank you, Merlin.’

  She added, ‘And do something about this room, please. My feet are bloody freezing.’

  ‘Tut tut, language, miss. There, warm floor coming up.’

  She suddenly realised what he had said. ‘They’ve got Marcus! Give me a precise run down on what’s happened. And why is Jeannie not responding?’

  ‘To answer your last question first, Jeannie is, how can I put it, in thrall. Mr Gray has an electronic jammer, quite a handy little device, effective enough to keep her fascinated. It’s actually a variation of his earlier hypnosis device, and quite cleverly done. He would have known Marcus had safe entry to all the houses. Came in through Adelaide’s house. She’s out with her doctor. I may be able to neutralise it … ah, yes, I see, very ingenious.’

  ‘Just find them and get them up on the screen please. Why can’t we see them yet? They must be downstairs. I want to see what they’re doing.’

  One of the screens flicked briefly.

  ‘Impatient! Yes, there they are. That jammer was a little more effective than I realised, masking their location very nicely. That’s an interesting approach he’s taken, Verity. Might be worth a closer look. Have a look at screen two.’

  Figures and diagrams started streaming across and down the screen, too fast for Nicholas to make any sense of even if he had the faintest idea of what it meant. Verity looked for a few seconds then said, ‘Just store it for now. Let’s get this wrapped up first.’

  ‘I suppose you want some heroics, bit of gung-ho stuff. Confront the villain, force a confession … that sort of thing, eh?’

  ‘Less of the badinage, Merlin, just get in closer. I want to see what they’ve done to Marcus. The picture’s still fuzzy.’

  ‘He doesn’t seem to be harmed. They’ve put him on one of the dining chairs, not restrained at all. I think he may be drugged—look at his eyes.’

  Nick said, ‘Or hypnotised? We can get them for abduction, kidnapping, undue coercion, maybe illegal drug use. The charges against this pair will take an hour to input.’

  She turned to Nicholas who was sitting at her side. ‘I think we can clear up all your backlog tonight.’ Her smile was almost feral now, eyes glowing with excitement.

  ‘Can I make a call from here?’ he asked. ‘I want to get the house surrounded, sharp-shooters in the gym and on the roof opposite, call up some sky-eyes, give it the works. This bastard’s not getting away. Or her either.’

  ‘Yes, use that comm,’ she pointed to the console to her left. ‘But first, come here.’ She crooked a finger and when he slid close enough dragged his head down for a deep kiss.

  He grinned stupidly. ‘Danger really revs you, doesn’t it. I think I’ll take you sky-diving; that should do amazing things to our …’

  ‘Never mind our sex life. Just call up the troops. As soon as you’ve done that, what say we get down there and mix it with those bloody murderers. They’ve got Marcus and I want them to pay for that. Personally.’

  He turned away to make the call, stressing the urgency of the matter, asking for stealth. His position gave him enough authority to call up whatever reinforcements he deemed necessary, for which he was thankful.

  Then he rewound what she’d just said and reacted. ‘Hey, who’s in charge here, miss!’

  She gave him a you’re-my-hero look, ‘Why, Commander, you are, of course. Did you bring a weapon with you?’ she said, so innocently.

  ‘You know bloody well I didn’t. Now you’re going to tell me you have some up here.’

  ‘Right again. Merlin, unlock the weapons vault please.’

  A section of the wall slid away revealing a large chamber, a showcase of weapons, ranging from crossbows to a small rocket launcher, semi-automatic machine guns, rifles, stun guns, laser guns, an old wooden truncheon, an ancient blunderbuss, a possible elephant gun and countless pistols, knives and just about anything else that man found it convenient to kill or damage man with.

  ‘Christ on a rocket, where did you get this lot!’

  ‘Marcus, of course. It was his father’s collection and he’s added to it. See, the newest stuff is in that case. Take your pick. I’m taking a dart gun.’

  ‘Oh, no, you can forget that. This is police work. No way you are going down there. You’ve already been injured once.’

  ‘And how do you propose to get down there?’ she asked sweetly. ‘I think you’ll find it impossible without me. Won’t he, Merlin?’

  ‘Oh, no, I’m keeping out of this. Sort it out then get back to me. But I’d suggest you do it quickly. Gray is about to force his way into your study.’

  They turned and looked at the screen then and could see a slightly fuzzy picture of Gray shoving Marcus against one of the large abstract screens in the hallway.

  ‘Can we get audio on this … and why is this image still blurry? Can you stop him from getting in there?’

  ‘I’m working on it. You’re starting to sound like Adelaide. I’ve just rescinded Marcus’ permit to enter that room, but Gray’s device just might get him in anyway. It’s quite fiendishly clever the more I go into it. Layer after layer of security and coding. What a shame the man is warped. His brain is as good as, well, almost as good as yours, Verity.’

  ‘We’ve got to get down there, Nick. We can’t wait for your men. Merlin, outside eyes please. All screens active. Any sign of the cavalry yet?’

  Nick took in the view from the sky-eyes. Even at two in the morning the traffic was busy, then he noticed the several cars turning into the street, more into the narrow lane at the back of the house. Men jumped out and rapidly set up road blocks, flashing arrows directing traffic away. Audio was on but all he could hear were muted traffic sounds. When one of the cameras zoomed in he could see Fraser and York in body armour. Jacobsen joined them, they conferred, heads together then headed to Amy’s house.

  ‘Bob is cleared for Amy’s security, Nick. She told me he’s going to move in with her after Christmas. That must be where they’re going. Come on, we’ve got to get down there. Please.’

  Nicholas sighed inwardly. He knew damned well he couldn’t get out of here without her and he was buggered if he was going to stand back on this one. ‘Fine. Let’s go.’

  ‘I promise I’ll be careful. You’ve seen me in action; you know how good I am. I’ve tossed that bastard a few times.’

  ‘Yes, and doesn’t he hate you for it. I’ve seen the looks he’s given you, while he’s pretending to be a good sport. Gives him more incentive to hurt you now.’

  ‘Well, you haven’t managed to beat him yet. So how about you take on Nash and I’ll sort out Gray.’

  ‘How about we get down there and see what happens. Verity, this is serious stuff, a dangerous situation and you’ve only fought on the mats.’

  She said, soberly, ‘Nicholas
, you are forgetting. I killed that man in the car park.’

  ‘No, my love, no. You knocked him out, disabled him—Gray killed him.’

  ‘Even so …’

  ‘Might I suggest you talk about this later. You are wasting time arguing. Somebody needs to get down there. I can’t completely neutralise that device so you are going to have to take it away from him. He’s heavily armed by the way, a Beretta stunner, a dart gun, a laser scalpel. She’s got a stunner too and a knife.’

  Nicholas looked at Verity. ‘I’ll have a word with Fraser then we’ll go. Can I get police frequency on this. Oh, silly question. Thanks, Merlin.’ When Fraser answered he brought him up to date then said, ‘I want everyone to stay in position till I give the word. You can’t get in here so there’s no point in trying, Bob.’

  Verity paced up and down impatiently waiting for him to finish. ‘I can get us into the study from here, if you like. Might give us more of an element of surprise.’

  Nicholas had given up trying to second guess her, just figured she had escape hatches all over the place but it wouldn’t surprise him if Merlin simply magicked them out of thin air. He thought for a few seconds. ‘If Jeannie is out of action, can we open the study door? Doesn’t she control the house electronics and security?’

  ‘I’ll take that. Yes, that’s true but locks are easy to override. Just your palm print will open that door from the inside.’

  ‘Can we split up? One of us in the study, one coming from behind them. I don’t know where all your escape hatches are.’

  ‘My wormholes,’ she laughed. ‘Unfortunately only space not time.’

  As Nicholas looked at her blankly, Merlin started an explanation.

  ‘Einstein-Rosen bridges, or Schwarzschild wormholes connect areas of space theoretically allowing near instant travel between …’

  ‘Save it, Einstein. It was a joke. Yes, I have a direct access to the study from here. Merlin, bring up the schematics, please. Let’s see which would be best to use.’

  A three-dimensional holo plan of the house appeared in the air between them showing a cylindrical tube hidden in almost every room. Looking at it he realised how … most walls had either built in cupboards or shelving which disguised the extra space needed for the tubes. He pointed to the one in the dining area, which offered concealment until the hallway was reached. The three figures were still in the hall trying to gain entry to the study.

  ‘If you take that tube,’ he pointed to it, ‘you can come up behind her. She’s got a knife but it’s sheathed. With a bit of luck you can stick the dart gun in her ribs, take her by surprise. Merlin, can you activate the screens in the study down there, give me a look at where they are?’

  ‘Done. And I’ve re-activated Jeannie, she’s un-thralled, as it were, but I’ve kept her in stealth mode for now, she’ll respond only to the three of us. You know, I could probably find a way to zap that pair, save you the bother.’

  ‘Where’s the fun in that,’ said Verity, with a gleeful grin. ‘Let’s get going.’

  ‘Just one thing before we go.’ His turn to crook a finger. She stepped across to him, a question in her eyes. His arms wrapped around her as he said, ‘I love you. Let’s get them,’ then swooped down for a kiss before she could speak.

  It was quiet downstairs. As Verity worked her way along the dining room wall towards the hallway she heard Gray.

  ‘Dammit. It’s one of these screens. One of them opens, which one is it? Come on Marcus, I know you’ve been in there. How do we get in?’

  ‘I think you’ve taken him too deep—he’s really out of it. And I don’t think stickin’ the gun in his neck is gonna help either.’

  ‘When I want your bloody opinion I’ll ask for it, which will be never! So shut up.’

  Adams could see and hear them from inside the study. He used the sub-vocaliser to contact Verity. ‘He’s put the gun in his waistband and I can’t see a knife in her hand.’

  She pressed the stud on the earpiece to acknowledge but she was too close to them to risk the slightest sound.

  He said, ‘I got Merlin to release all the outside locks. The front door is closed but unlocked. I’ve told the men to wait till I give the signal. Now I’m going to open the study door and try to take them by surprise first. Ready? On my count … 3, 2, 1. Go!’

  Verity leapt around the corner, pain in her ankle forgotten, screaming loudly as a distraction. And it worked as they both turned shocked faces to her as she seemed to appear from nowhere. The wall panel Gray had been trying to open slid aside and Nicholas stepped quickly out of the study to take the gun from Gray’s waistband but the man seemed to sense something and whirled. He was quick, much quicker than Nick had anticipated.

  Verity had her weapon trained on Lara whose reflexes were almost as fast. She aimed a kick at Verity who grabbed for the foot and just got fingertips to it before Nash recovered and sent a lightening fast chop to her neck. Verity avoided it but was off balance for the next blow, a savage punch in the ribs. This time it was Nash who was off balance and Verity grabbed her shirt and spun her around. Bad move. Lara bumped into Marcus, holding him front of her as a shield and had her knife out and at his neck as she backed against the wall.

  ‘Keep away,’ she screamed frantically, eyes darting from side to side, seeking an escape route. ‘I’ll kill him!’

  ‘Lara, shut up, we need him alive for now. We have to leave … now.’

  Calling her seemed to jolt her back to a realization of their position. She turned to speak to him. ‘Shoot her, shoot her, full stun. She’s too close!’

  Gray calmly took a step towards her and reached out a hand, grasping Marcus by the arm, saying, ‘I told you to shut up,’ as he deliberately shot her in the neck.

  As she fell he turned back with Marcus tightly grasped, a dart gun now pressed to the side of the dazed man’s neck. ‘Your precious uncle is alive … for now. If you want him to stay that way you’ll do as you are told. You,’ he gestured to Verity, ‘get over there with your boyfriend where I can keep an eye on you both. I’ll be needing a car. Dr Burne, yours will do.’

  Verity answered calmly, ‘My car is programmed for me only, my voice and prints. You’ll have to use one of the others.’

  ‘In that case I’ll have to take you too. Any nonsense and Uncle Marcus will suffer a serious injury. Or I might just give him some Zombie III. You’ve seen what a large dose can do.’

  Nicholas spoke. ‘You, it was you. You sent that man to kill Verity in the car park, didn’t you? So you must have been there and injected him with a fatal dose.’

  ‘Very clever, Sherlock. But if you think you can delay me by getting me to talk, forget it. That only works in books. Come on, move it.’

  Nicholas said, ‘No, don’t take her, take me. She’s programmed her car for me too. You don’t have to take her. She’s still recovering from your attacker.’

  ‘How very gallant,’ Gray sneered. ‘And nice try but no thanks.’ He raised his free hand and to their shock they saw that he had the stun gun in it, the dart gun still pressed to Marcus’ neck. ‘You can stay here and let your useless troops in when we’re gone.’ He fired quickly, one shot from the stunner on full charge.

  Nick fell back against the wall, clutching his arm, his gun falling uselessly to the floor. Verity cried out in shock and tried to go to him.

  ‘Don’t bloody move,’ said Gray, gesturing at her with the gun.

  ‘No, just go with him, do what he says and try to keep yourself and Marcus safe, Verity. It will wear off.’ Nicholas was desperate for them to turn and walk away. As soon as they were out of the back door and in the courtyard he was going to give the signal to his men. He just prayed that Fraser had had time to organise a sharpshooter for the roof.

  He had seen the look on Verity’s face and knew she was going to try something the first opportunity she had. He had also seen the ruthlessness in Gray, the pure malevolence that seemed to shine from his eyes. No way he was going to let them live
… as soon as he thought he was safe he would kill them both, Verity and Marcus. Look at what he had done to his supposed lover without a second’s hesitation.

  Gray herded the pair through the hallway, across the living area and to the back door.

  Next second they were gone. Nicholas allowed himself to sink down then, the pain from the shot much more severe than he had let on. His right arm was quite useless; he knew he was going to pass out any second but managed to press the button on his watch, his signal to take action.

  The front door opened and Fraser, Jacobsen and two officers burst in, guns at the ready. Nick smiled at them weakly. ‘Ah, the cavalry. Bob, sniper, gym?’ he managed between clenched teeth, clinging to consciousness.

  As Fraser opened his mouth to speak a shot rang out. The other men rushed to the back, then one turned back, thumbs up and a big smile. ‘Got him,’ he said, triumphantly.

  Fraser activated his phone. ‘Officer down. Ambulance and doctor needed here.’ As he knelt down beside the now unconscious Adams, Verity came running and flung herself down beside him, cradling his head against her breast.

  ‘Oh, Nick, Nick. Please don’t die. I love you.’

  Fraser said dryly. ‘More likely to be smothered the way you’re holding him.’

  She looked at him, tears pouring down her face. ‘Oh, Bob, I was so scared. Scared for Marcus, scared for Nick. Did you see what he did to Lara?’

  She laid Nick’s head on her lap and smoothed his hair. ‘When he turned and shot Lara, the one who had been with him through everything, all the murders, I knew he’d have no compunction about killing the rest of us.’

  Fraser glanced over at the still form crumpled against the wall a few metres away. ‘She’s not dead, you know. I just saw her breathing.’

  ‘What! But he shot her in the head! I saw him.’

  Nicholas was in a warm comfortable place but something was dragging him out of it. He groaned and tried to move, then opened his eyes to see Verity anxiously looking down at him. ‘Thank God, you’re alright. What happened?’ he said weakly.

  Jacobsen said, ‘Explanations can wait. Here’s the ambulance. Let’s get you and Nash off to hospital, Commander. And Sir Marcus, too.’