“There’s not even any bruising. No scar. But I saw the knife in you, and the blood.” Dennis looked nervous again. “You think it’s connected to how the faceless people are made. New skin over old?”
Max ate more of his butty but his appetite had vanished so he put it back on the plate and pushed it aside.
Dennis continued, “Has it never happened before? You must have been injured in the past.”
Max nodded, thinking back to the times Cindy would hurt him. She’d drawn blood before but it had healed normally.
“Up until today, I’ve never thought I was any different. I was as easy to hurt as the next man.”
“So, it must be about what’s happened today. It’s got to be connected.”
“I guess so. Whatever caused it, it doesn’t change the fact that we need to find Thadeus and this MI18, now perhaps more than before.”
“What if you turn into one of those things? Like Carla.” Dennis looked out the window. “I’m not sure I could stop you.”
“Let’s not think about that.”
Suddenly, without saying a word, Dennis hurried out of the cafe.
Max threw a fiver onto the table then hurried out after him. He caught up with him ducking inside the newsagents across the road, and grabbed his sleeve.
“Hey, what’s that all about?” Max said, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
“We need to buy a paper. Look at the headline.”
Max let go of his sleeve, and Dennis went inside the shop. The sandwich board on the pavement was for the Sun newspaper. Dennis must have been able to read the headline from where he was sitting in the cafe.
VILLAGE BLACKOUT
And the local newspaper had its own board alongside.
AINSDALE PHONES CAUSE BLACKOUT?
Something big had happened in Ainsdale, so big that the national press were reporting on it. Max could see now why Dennis was so eager to get a newspaper. He came out of the shop a minute later carrying editions of a handful of papers. Max took the local newspaper, the Southport Visitor and poured over the story that had taken a full front page spread.
Doctors are perplexed as to why dozens of residents in Ainsdale village were all seemingly knocked asleep at exactly the same time yesterday lunchtime. At 12:00 exactly, villagers enjoying the good weather, fell asleep in the street. Several car accidents occurred at the same time as drivers too fell asleep at the wheel.
“It’s a miracle not more people were hurt.” Mrs Burgess of Bowness Avenue told our reporters.
Police have been interviewing residents all day and in a dramatic development, have cordoned off the local telephone exchange. An ambulance was also seen entering the car park at the rear.
Is it possible that the phone network is connected in some way to the blackout?
Local residents are still reeling after an incident at the main police station in Southport. A gas explosion yesterday afternoon has seen the police force set up a temporary HQ in Crosby, and whilst the two events aren’t thought to be connected, the incident has come at a bad time for the police.
There was more and Max speed read the entire article, thumbing to the inside pages where the story continued. When finished, he took another paper from Dennis’s pile. The nationals had similar content but were by and large much more prone to speculation.
“The Sun says it was a terrorist attack,” Dennis said seriously. “The Mail agrees, pointing the finger at Islamist extremists. They’re implying a connection between the explosion at the police station and the incident at the phone exchange.”
Max finished the paper he was reading and shook his head incredulously. “The world’s gone mad. This can’t be happening.”
“You read the bit in the Visitor about the telephone exchange?”
“You think there’s a connection?”
“Don’t you? Twice you’ve had phone calls just before those close to you have tried to attack. It’s a massive coincidence if they’re not connected.”
“We should go.” Max started walking back to where they’d parked the car.
“Go? Where?” Dennis said, hurrying after him.
“To Ainsdale. We can check out the phone exchange.”
“Didn’t you read the bit about the police cordoning off the building? No one’s going to get access. Especially not you. You technically haven’t been released. You’re still a wanted man.”
Max knew he was right and it irritated the hell out of him. If he went to the phone exchange he might be lucky and remain unrecognised by the police, but he was never going to get inside. Were the blanks somehow responsible for what had happened in the village? It didn’t make any sense to Max. If it was a deliberate attack, it hadn’t been very successful. No fatalities and a handful of minor injuries.
“If we can’t go to Ainsdale, we need to find Thadeus. I’m betting they’ve got better intelligence on this than the police.”
“If you find them, what then? Do you think they’re just going to share what they know with you?”
“Believe me, if I can get my hands on Thadeus, I’m going to make him talk.”
31
Max sat on the edge of the sea wall, looked up and watched the train trundle along the pier to the cafe at the end through the gaps between the wooden boards. It had been years since he’d bothered going on to the pier. Must have been with his own family, before the fire that had damaged it, and never since it had been reopened. He had to admit it was an impressive piece of engineering and something the town should be proud of. There weren’t many left around the country any more. But that was the top side of the pier where the holiday-makers traipsed with ice creams and songs in their hearts. Under the pier it was murkier.
The struts supporting the pier rose from the sand like a gigantic skeleton abandoned to rot. Wooden pilings crisscrossed along the length forming a mesh of dark angles stretching into the distance. It was down here that Heather was found. He was sat a few feet from her final resting place. Dennis had left him alone for a few minutes, sensing that he’d want this. But Max wasn’t sure whether he did or not. His thoughts were full of darkness and anger towards those that had done this.
Max stared at a spot on the beach and wondered if this was where Heather’s body was found. A strand of forgotten police tape blew in the breeze. Footsteps had crisscrossed the sand over and over, leaving no clear sign of where the police had been working. It didn’t much matter of course where she was found; one spot was as terrifyingly dreadful as any other. Her hair had been fair and she’d loved playing with it, twirling it over in her fingers as they’d sit together curled up on her sofa. It would have ended up full of sand and mud and whatever insects would have found her on the beach, crawling over her pale, freckled skin.
He hated whoever had done this. Heather was beautiful and kind and warm, to everyone she met. No one deserved to die the way that Heather did but it seemed the cruelest way to end a life of someone so beautiful. Had Cindy been involved? He pondered on this and knew that there was a strong chance she was. Thadeus tried to take her from the hospital and she knew who Heather was, and had a strong reason for wanting to harm her.
The CCTV footage he’d been shown had his van in it. That had been parked at his office in town on the night of the murder, but Cindy could have gone to pick it up whilst he was unconscious. Drove to Heather’s house and attacked her. His imagination, once his prized possession, kept coming back to curse him. He found it impossible to imagine Heather being attacked without replaying a scene in his head again and again about how it must have looked.
“Are you OK?” Dennis clambered up onto the sea wall and sat down beside him on, letting his legs dangle.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really. I don’t think I’ve got anything to say. Thanks though.”
Dennis grunted an understanding and they sat in silence for a while, looking out towards the horizon, trying to ignore the sounds o
f cars on the main road behind them.
“This is where they found her,” Max said eventually. “Down there on the sand.”
“I’m sorry.”
“The murderer would have had to act quickly. There were still cars around. The McDonalds on the new estate back there was still open.”
“Maybe the police have found out more. There could be some more witnesses that have come forward.”
Max shook his head. “But it doesn’t matter does it. They’ve got all the evidence they need. They’ve got CCTV footage of me and my van right here. Why would they bother looking for more witnesses?”
“I don’t know. But they might have seen something not on the camera.”
Max supposed he had a point but it was a minor one. The police were far too busy now with the incident at Ainsdale and the attack on the police station. He guessed there was going to be very little additional investigation around Heather’s murder.
“You said Ben was meeting people at the boatyard?”
Dennis nodded.
“Let’s go and take a look.”
Max helped Dennis to his feet and they both set off for the boatyard. It was only a short walk and as they approached they could see an event of some kind. People milled around the water’s edge close to the clubhouse. It was a group of model makers and they were racing model yachts on the lake. A couple of dozen at least were stood at the water’s edge with remote control units in hand. Max and Dennis walked down the slip road and past the cars in the car park. No one bothered them as they wandered around.
Dennis seemed to be in his element as he watched the racers. It was the first time Max had seen him smile, but bearing in mind the trauma he’d been subjected to in the last day, it was little wonder. Max felt sorry for bringing the events of the past back to him in such a forceful way. If he hadn’t gone looking for Ben, Dennis and Carla would have carried on their lives, maybe not entirely happy, but at least not in danger.
But then, if faced with the choice of danger or a life not knowing what had happened to his child, Max would have taken the danger without hesitation. Perhaps, then, this wasn’t such a bad thing to happen to Dennis.
Max suddenly spun around and ran over to the parked cars. Dennis loped behind him. “What is it?” Dennis asked.
Max stopped. He’d been right. It had taken a little while but he knew there was something irking him the moment he’d entered the area.
He pointed at a silver Mazda. “That was at the hospital earlier. Parked on the slip road.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I walked round it just before I found Cindy.”
“You think it might belong to Thadeus? It could just be a coincidence.”
“Could be. Let’s see.”
And Max walked over and peered inside. “Look at the crowd. But try not to look like you’re looking at the crowd.”
“I don’t understand.”
“See if anyone’s bothered by this.” Max went to the boot and pressed the catch. It didn’t move but he tried again and made a show of trying to get inside. “Anyone looking?”
“I can’t tell. There’s a few people heading back to the clubhouse.”
Max walked around the car and stopped at the driver’s door. The back windows were tinted but he could see through the glass on the driver’s door that there was nothing of any consequence there. He looked up at the crowd and tried the driver’s door but it was locked.
And then he saw her. A woman on the edge of the crowd. Tall and thin, dressed in a smart brown coat, blonde hair flowing down the back.
“Don’t stare at her, but there’s a woman to the right of the modellers, close to the jetty.”
Max gave Dennis a minute.
“You’ve got her?”
“Uh-huh.”
“She’s not liking that we’re by this car.”
Max went to the boot again and held the boot by the lip. “Keep watching,” he said as he bounced the car as hard as he could.
The alarm sounded and the hazard lights blared. Everyone around the water’s edge looked round. Some of them looked nonchalantly and went right back to their boats. A couple looked like they might start coming over, but only one actually moved. The woman Max had pointed out was running over as best she could. She was wearing the wrong shoes for running over the gravel surface of the car park.
“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed at Max, as she arrived at the car. “Get away from my car.”
Max ignored her and continued trying to peer inside the vehicle.
She pulled her hand from her jacket pocket and pointed her keys at the car. The alarm stopped.
“I’m looking for someone. I thought maybe this was his car,” Max said. “Maybe I got it wrong.”
“I’m not going to ask again. Get away from the car, or—”
“Or what? Call the police?”
She hesitated.
“No, I didn’t think you would want to bother with them.”
Dennis interrupted. “So, it’s your car then?”
“Obviously,” she said, scowling at Dennis. Max looked up and saw the woman discretely unbutton her jacket.
Max spun round and grabbed the woman by the wrist. She gasped in surprise and tried to wrench free of Max’s grip. Swiftly, Max reached inside her jacket and felt a familiar shape. He withdrew the same styled weapon that Thadeus had been using outside the hospital. Her expression changed as soon as he retrieved it. No longer the innocent bystander, her features were stony.
“What the hell?” Dennis asked but Max silenced him with a gesture.
“Who are you?” Max asked the woman, holding the gun tightly against her ribs, checking that none of the racing bystanders were looking in his direction. He held his finger against the trigger, ready to fire.
The woman stayed quiet. Max saw the ugly look in her eyes and knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere by being gentle with her. He dug the weapon harder. She winced. Dennis was about to say something but thought better of it when he saw the determination in Max’s eyes.
“Where is he?” Max hissed.
She stayed quiet.
“Tell me where he is. Why are you protecting him?”
Again, no response.
“I’m a wanted man. The police want to put me away for murdering my girlfriend. I’ve got a bunch of faceless hunters after me. My wife is quite possibly a raving lunatic. Don’t think for a moment I’m going to stand here all afternoon and try to persuade you. If you don’t tell me what you know I’m going to get serious.”
The woman’s cold face broke a sliver of a smile. She knew Max wasn’t going to hurt her.
“I’ve been getting phone calls. A lot of them.” Max reached inside her jacket again, and nothing there, patted her down before pulling out a mobile phone from her jeans pocket. “I don’t know who they’re from, but they’re pissing me off. I had to lose my last phone because of it.”
“I’m so sorry for you,” she said, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
The phone started ringing. Max checked the number and wasn’t at all surprised to see that it said ‘Caller withheld’.
“How did I know it would start to do that? I can’t seem to go near a phone without it ringing.”
The smile vanished from the woman’s face.
“But I don’t like answering them as bad things happen to those that answer them. Why don’t you answer this one?” He lifted the phone.
“Don’t,” she said, a note of fear in her voice.
“Don’t what? What do you think will happen to you?” Max replied.
“You know what. Put the phone down.” She brushed his arm aside and tried to twist out of his grip but Max was fast and responded by tightening his fingers and swinging her against the door. She winced as she hit the metal. A couple of kids coming out of the clubhouse saw them and hesitated; not sure what to do when seeing an act of violence like that. In the end they looked away and walked briskly back to the water’s edge.
&n
bsp; The phone stopped ringing.
“It’s Thadeus I want to speak to. Right now, I don’t have any reason to hurt you, but keep delaying me, and I’ll learn how to bear a grudge.”
Dennis coughed. He looked worried. People were starting to pay attention to them from the side of the lake.
“You don’t know what you’re getting into.”
“I wasn’t given a choice. I’m already in it up to my neck.”
“If I take you to him, he might not let you leave. This could be your only get out clause. If I were you, I’d take it, grab it in both hands and run. You say the police are after you? Run faster. Forget your life and start again somewhere new, somewhere far from here. Another country. It’s the only chance you’ve got. And that’s a chance I’m giving you. Thadeus doesn’t give out chances.”
Max heard every word. Let them resonate. But he didn’t need time to consider. She talked about chances like she was giving him an option. But there was no option. He had a death to avenge. He would do this for Heather.
“You’re scared of him.”
“I’m not afraid.”
Max didn’t blink. They looked into each other’s eyes and Max saw something.
“Take me to him,” he said finally, lowering the gun very slightly.
“It would be a pleasure.”
She led them away from the car, away from the clubhouse and into the realms of the boatyard proper. In here, wooden and fibreglass hulls were lined up in rows. Ahead of them, a large corrugated workshop honed into view. A white haired man was pottering about, half carrying, half dragging a bagful of tools along behind him. He whistled as he walked and raised a hand to the approaching party.
“Emma! What are you doing here today? Thought you’d be taking the weekend off at least.”
“No such luck. Got to earn a living right?” she laughed convincingly enough. Max had kept his weapon concealed under the edge of his jacket but it made walking naturally quite difficult. He didn’t want the old guy getting any closer or he would see that something was up. The man, Max guessed it was old Joe, looked quizzically at Dennis and Max. Emma took the hint. “Just showing these a couple of the Morrison boats. They said they might take both of them.”
The Face Stealer Page 18
