Dr Thadeus was glaring across the open space towards her.
Shit. Why did she have to look?
He smiled. Then he started to run.
Cindy resisted the urge to scream and instead put her energy into running. She pulled the doors to the ward open, nurses were shouting at her, asking what the matter was. She ignored them and pelted out into the corridor. Foolishly, she took a quick glance behind her and saw the man thundering towards her.
Cindy ran like she’d never run before. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest it felt like a fist punching her from the inside. She wanted to cry. Her eyes were already wet with tears. She wiped them on the back of her fist, they were making her vision misty. Thadeus was behind her, catching up.
She knew him.
There was something familiar about him. Her brain had recognised him immediately, then shut down that part of her memory and he became a stranger again. Why did he want her?
The main corridor was fairly quiet as was often the case here. People quickly moved off the main corridor into the wings leading off it. It meant there was little she could do to hide from sight; as long as she was in the corridor she was an easy target. She had always been a fast runner but she didn’t think Nurse Davies had been. She was carrying a lot more bulk than before and to make things worse, her side was throbbing after the injury; it felt like something was tearing at her insides. No time to think about that. Just run.
At the first stairwell, she headed downstairs, eager to get out of the hospital complex and take her chances outside. They were close to the main road into Southport, and the local supermarket. If she could make it there, she’d stand a better chance hiding in the crowds.
He shouted after her to stop.
That voice again. So familiar. But it was impossible to run and concentrate on that locked off part of her memory at the same time. She kept going.
The doors clanged open on the floor above her. His footsteps were loud on the stairs. Cindy kept going until she reached the ground floor, almost slipping on the steps a couple of times in her haste. Her hand reached for the door handle and she had the door open before she realised there was another option. The stairs continued behind her, going to a lower floor that was badly lit. It didn’t look like it was used very much. It could be perfect.
She turned and ran down the last section of stairs, yanking open the door at the bottom. It smelt strongly of cleaning materials down here and the air was staler. The ceiling lights weren’t as bright and the lack of windows made this space feel unwelcoming. Perfect.
She hurried down the corridor, checking out the rooms as she passed. There were plenty of cages filled with linen. The air was much warmer now. Pipes ran along the ceiling, chasing each other along a chaotic network, branching across each other like a massive root system. She followed the passage, her feet pounding on the thick lino. Her abdomen sending sparks of pain across her body. She rounded a corner, just as she heard the door she’d used to enter this area open again.
“Cindy! Are you down here?” Then footsteps. Quick. Nimble.
She turned another corner, following the main path through the basement route and saw a pair of double doors fifty metres ahead of her. As she approached the doors she made out the sign above them: Loading bay. That meant a way outside. She powered through the pain and slammed through the doors.
Cindy sized up the loading bay in a heartbeat. The main loading bay doors were open but the back end of a delivery lorry was wedged in pretty tight. There was some space around the edges and a normal pedestrian door alongside. An idea formed: escape into the hospital grounds wasn't going to be enough. But here was a van. A good way out. She could get some distance between herself and her pursuer and then work out what it was she was going to do. The police might have been an option if she hadn't had to steal this nurse's body to escape. Now, that was an impossibility.
A security guard was leaning against one of the metal cage trolleys still waiting to be rolled off the van's delivery lift. In another situation the security guard could be considered cute despite the extra couple of stone he was carrying.
First things first though: the room had plenty of cages filled with dirty laundry and she wheeled a couple of these in front of the double doors. Cindy took a step back and realised it made a pretty useless barricade so she dragged a couple more over. When she'd finished, she thought there was a good chance it would stop someone coming through, although her pursuer had already shown himself to be pretty determined.
“What's the matter? Can I help?” The security guard was speaking. He'd moved away from the van and was crossing the room towards her. “Why you down here? You lost your way to the ward?” He was smiling but her appearance had definitely confused him. Cindy realised it was the outfit she was wearing; he thought she was a nurse.
There was another person in the room, a small dark-haired woman in a grey delivery uniform that had to be the driver. She was hanging back, reluctant to get involved.
“He's after me.” Cindy said as the guard reached her.
“Who?”
But Cindy didn’t bother replying. She'd wasted enough time here already. The man claiming to be a doctor was hot on her tail.
Cindy sprinted to the woman who recoiled.
“That your van?”
The woman nodded. Her name badge said Adelina.
“Give me the keys,” she snapped, holding her hand out in readiness.
The guard answered for her. “Now just wait a bloody minute love. You're not taking the van anywhere.”
“I've no time to ask nicely,” Cindy snarled, grabbing the woman's wrist and squeezing tightly. “Give me the fucking keys.”
The driver gasped and tried to yank her arm away but Cindy exerted more pressure until she could feel the shape of the driver's tendons on the inside of her grip.
Adelina howled and her face contorted in agony. In that moment she reminded Cindy of the pet cat her parents had kept for a short while.
A powerful hand grabbed Cindy's shoulder. “Get your hands off her,” the security guard said coldly.
Cindy released Adelina. But she had no intention of submitting so quickly. She raised her left arm and drove it backwards as hard as she could. It made contact with something soft and the guard’s hand dropped from her shoulder. Spinning on her left foot she brought her right fist round as if to deliver a punch but changed her mind at the last minute. Her open flat hand connected with the security guard's windpipe.
He collapsed onto his knees, gasping for air.
“Keep your hands to yourself,” she hissed.
The barricade of cages clattered as something thudded against the other side of the doors.
He'd found her.
Breathlessly, realising that time had just about run out, Cindy whirled around. Adelina was holding out the keys.
“Don't hurt me,” she said quietly.
Cindy grinned and took the keys.
Another clattering of metal made Cindy glance at the doors. Whoever this man was, he deserved bonus marks for determination.
The security guard rose to his feet slowly. He looked at Cindy with a murderous look in his eyes, his cheeks and throat a deep crimson. His breathing was laboured and when he spoke it was hoarse and clearly took some effort. “You're going to pay—for that. I don't take—shit like that—from nobody. I don’t care if you’re a bloody nurse.”
“Open up, Cindy. I only want to talk.” Her pursuer’s voice was muffled through the door.
The guard looked over at the doors. “You in trouble?” he croaked.
“None of your business. I need to get out of here.”
“What the hell have you done? Who’s after you?”
“I haven’t a clue,” she said.
The cages by the door weren’t going to keep her pursuer out any longer. Cindy started to run for the door that would take her outside when with what must have been a herculean effort on Thadeus’s part, the cages slammed against each other. H
e slipped through the gap he’d made himself, and quickly navigated his way through the cages on the other side.
“Cindy, stop!” he shouted at her but she was already at the exit.
The van driver screamed a warning, and suddenly the wooden frame splintered inches from where her head was.
She turned, spinning around, confused until she saw the strange-looking gun in his hand. A silver tube with a severe looking business end. Lights glowed from within the weapon like it was full of destructive energy waiting to be unleashed.
“Wait,” he said calmly, hardly out of breath despite the chase. “I want to talk to you, that’s all.”
The other two figures in the room were rooted to the spot. Thadeus gestured at them casually with the gun. “You two, get down on the floor. Sit on your hands.”
As they complied, Thadeus grinned at the driver. “Don’t worry love, I’ll be out of here in a mo. Just need to take my friend with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Cindy replied frostily.
“I’m not giving you the choice.” The gun was pointing solidly in her direction. The arm holding it was unwavering. Cindy looked in his eyes and saw the cold calculating look of a man who wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger.
“What do you want?” she said finally.
“A chance to talk, that's all.”
“About what?”
“You mainly. I know who you are Cindy. I can help.”
“I don't need any help.”
He smiled. “Of course you don't. Stupid of me. Well how about listening to what I've got to say anyway?”
“I'm listening.”
“Not here,” Thadeus flicked a glance at the security guard and driver, still huddled together at the back of the room.
“Where then?”
“I've got a quiet place. Somewhere safe. Away from any distractions.”
“I don't trust you.”
“Do you trust anyone though?” Thadeus frowned.
Cindy's mind was racing, she was stalling and he must see that. But right now, she couldn’t see a way out of this.
Then help came from an unexpected source.
The security guard came running at Thadeus with a metal rod behind his back ready to swing. Thadeus saw him coming and brought his arm up to fend off the blow. There was a crunch as the rod slammed into bone and Thadeus fell to the floor, clutching his arm and grimacing in pain. Cindy saw her advantage and ran forward, kicking out at his gun arm. The gun flew out of his grip and skidded to a stop by a laundry cage. Disarmed, and down on his knees, Thadeus shouldn’t have stood a chance, but to Cindy’s horror, he grasped her ankle and tugged her down to the floor.
Her chin hit the ground and she felt the skin tear. She twisted on her side and used her free leg to kick out at Thadeus’s hand. He let go, but the security guard started dragging him by the shoulders away from her. She scrambled to her feet. She felt wetness dripping down her chin and used her fingers to wipe away the blood. Something was wrong.
Suddenly the driver screamed. Cindy looked at her, and saw the driver stepping away, her finger pointing at Cindy. “What are you? Your face!”
Cindy knew then that she’d lost the nurse’s face. During the scuffle, her concentration had been distracted. The clothes were much looser around her now.
The security guard paused in dragging Thadeus away, and looked up at Cindy. Confusion set into his face. “I don’t understand.”
A fist struck out from the floored Thadeus. Cindy heard something crunch in the guard’s face and he yelled in pain. Thadeus pressed his advantage and shoved the man aside, racing for the felled gun.
“Watch out!” Cindy shouted to the guard, but Thadeus had the silver weapon in his hand and fired it at the guard. A sizzling bolt of blue light flashed from the muzzle, and hit the guard full on. He shuddered like he’d just been electrocuted, and then fell to the floor still.
“You’ve killed him.”
“No,” Thadeus said as he got to his feet. “We don’t have time for this Cindy. The rest of security will be looking for us now. They might even have the police on their way. And after seeing what you left for them in your bed, I don’t think you can afford for the police to apprehend you. Believe me, I’m the best offer you’re going to get.”
Thadeus heard movement on his right. The driver was at the desk and had a phone in her hand. Thadeus pulled the trigger and a second bolt of blue shot out of the device and hit the woman in the middle of her shoulders. She fell to the floor; the phone clattered to the floor beside her.
Cindy stared at the gun pointing at her.
His expression was grim. Lines had appeared on his forehead. “I’ve finished messing around. You’re coming with me whether you like it or not.”
He gestured to the exit door and walked towards her. “Turn around, and start walking. One false move and I’ll knock you out as well. I’ll drag you out of here if I have to.”
Cindy did what he asked and started walking, hitching the now baggy trousers up as she did so.
13
Max watched the man sitting on the bench chomping enthusiastically on a sausage roll. It could only have been a couple of hours since his last meal at the police station but his stomach was telling him otherwise. He guessed it was hardly surprising given the events of the last few hours, but he didn’t have any money on him for lunch. He’d jogged from the police station to the hospital and had collapsed gasping on one of the benches outside the main entrance. His throat had been parched, but he’d found a water fountain just inside the reception area of the hospital and had drunk until his stomach felt full.
Now, he was back sitting outside, on a bench in a shaded area outside the main entrance. Cars came and went with regularity, dropping patients and visitors off. There was always a handful of patients hanging around the area, cigarettes in hand. A few patients he’d seen had been puffing away on a cigarette held in one hand, whilst they steadied their drip in the other. It was a ridiculous sight but Max couldn’t help but crave a cigarette himself right now. On one occasion he’d been so desperate he’d been about to ask a female patient for one, that was until he saw a couple of security guards talking agitatedly on their way past.
“—ward 11. Yeah, a woman found in a bed.”
“Is it true about the face?”
Then they’d passed him, rushing on their way into the hospital.
A horrible, sinking feel gnawed at his gut. If he’d interpreted that correctly—and looking at the bewilderment on the guards’ faces, he thought he had—the police would be on their way here soon—presuming they could spare someone after what had just happened at the police station that is.
Max knew it would be foolish to take that chance. He had to get off his arse and find his wife and make her tell him what she’d done to him last night when he was unconscious. And, if she didn’t want to talk, well he would deal with that as well.
What had the guards been talking about? A problem with the patient’s face. Coming so soon after what the police had shown him about Heather and the attack on the station, he knew there was a connection. The guards had mentioned ward 11 so Max intended to start there. A plan on the wall showed him that the ward sat at the back of the hospital on the North side. Thinking there could be a way in around the back, he set off at a brisk pace.
Only a few people happened to pass him on his way around the building and Max began to relax. The paranoia that he would be stopped at any moment hadn’t evaporated completely but if it happened, he would just have to deal with it.
At the corner of the north wing, he spotted fire escapes but he was wary of using those in case alarms sounded. Further along seemed a better bet as he saw a van with its end backed up against a large garage door—an entrance for deliveries. That might be easier to get in.
He approached cautiously, senses on full alert and it was this that saved him walking into the middle of trouble. A few metres away from the entrance, he heard the sounds of struggle
. He held back, loitering around the side of an industrial sized bin whilst he tried to get a feel for what was happening in the loading bay. The van blocked his view so he crept closer.
His heart missed a beat when he heard Cindy shouting from just inside the loading bay. “Watch out!”
He panicked, then realised she was talking to someone else, and he hung back, looking for something to use as a weapon. An old pallet board leant against the side of the building and he grabbed a loose board, twisting it free. A little clunky but it could be pretty useful if he could get a good swing on it. Cautiously, he approached the side door besides the big opening where the van was parked. He heard two voices he didn’t recognise, but as he reached for the handle the door opened, and Cindy walked out followed by a stranger: a tall man wearing a suit and a scar running down his cheek.
“Max!” she said surprised.
Even as the stranger raised a weapon to fire, Max smashed the salvaged piece of wood onto the arm holding the gun which clattered to the floor. Max swung again and whacked the man against the stomach. Winded, the man fell to the ground, clutching his abdomen. Max lunged for the gun, but Cindy was closer.
The pent up rage he’d harboured against Cindy unleashed and Max cannoned into Cindy, knocking her down. He scrambled on top of her and grasped her arms, pinning her to the ground.
“What the hell did you do to me last night!”
Cindy tried to wrestle free but the adrenaline was racing through Max and he held her easily.
“Let go of me! I didn’t do anything.”
“The police think I killed Heather. They’ve got a video.” He spat the words at her, feeling her wrists crush beneath his grip, using his knees to pin her legs down.
Cindy stopped resisting and looked straight up at Max. Her eyes were cool brown daggers, boring through his face.
“She’s dead? Good. Serves you right for having the affair.”
Max roared, his nostrils flared. Things started to go blurry, either too fast or too slow, but the next thing he saw were his hands tight around Cindy’s throat, squeezing the life out of her. Her hands gripped his wrists, ripping at the flesh, trying to loosen his deathly hold.
The Face Stealer Page 8
