by Helen Fields
‘Even if you kill all three of us, the envelope on my desk contains enough evidence to convict Mr Perry here of murder, and it also proves Dimitri’s collusion. That investigation will lead directly to you.’
Trescoe raised his gun, flicked the barrel in Perry’s direction and let off a shot directly into his chest. Perry hit the floor face down, cycling his legs against the concrete for a few seconds before giving in to the damage to his heart and lungs.
‘I don’t think he’s going to be cutting any deals to give evidence against me now, and you have a form of justice. An eye for an eye. Does that feel better?’
Knuckles rolled his friend turned corpse over, checking for a pulse then risking a look in his boss’ direction, saying nothing.
‘Make the call, Callanach,’ Trescoe said. ‘I want that envelope destroyed.’ He handed over a mobile.
‘Don’t do it, lad,’ Lance said. ‘We know how this ends. The call will change nothing.’
Trescoe nodded. Knuckles stood up and raised the crowbar once again. Lively lifted his head and smiled. ‘Go fuck yourself,’ he muttered.
The bar whistled through the air and made crushing contact with Lively’s elbow, completing the devastation to the arm that had been struck before. Callanach kept his eyes open, watching Lively’s face as he registered the pain then the damage that had been done.
‘Last chance,’ Knuckles said. Callanach stared at the mobile in his hand. The truth that he and Lively were all too aware of, was that the envelope with the passwords had been a bluff to get Dimitri to comply. There was nothing on his desk for Monroe to find. There wouldn’t be any pictures of it burning to satisfy Trescoe. They had no leverage at all. ‘Do you want to see how his skull looks with the crowbar sticking out of it?’ Knuckles asked.
‘I called our position in,’ Lively bluffed through clenched teeth. ‘I know you told me not to, sir, but I did it anyway. I didn’t like walking in here without backup.’ He looked up at Knuckles. ‘If that envelope gets burned, your puppet Dimitri here gets off the hook, but the trail still leads the police straight to your door.’
Knuckles raised the crow bar for the final time.
Chapter Sixty-Three
‘Ma’am, I’m sending the address to you now,’ Janet Monroe said. ‘We’ve identified a landline number registered in Sean O’Cahill’s name that matches DVLA records. I’ve tried to call it but there’s no response.’
‘We’re only five minutes away,’ Tripp said, glancing at the address on the screen and putting on the sirens as he yanked the steering wheel hard left.
‘One of Sean’s friends from The Lost Boys tried calling his mobile but that went straight to voicemail, too. I’m assuming potential risk unless and until we can make direct contact with him. If you reach him before we do, Monroe, ask him to get to a secure location until we can speak with him in person. We’ll check his home address out.’
The street was lifeless. Ava stood at the outer door to the apartments and looked around.
‘Lights are on,’ Tripp said. ‘Can’t hear anything though.’ He stood with his ear to the glass of the apartment to the left of the door.
‘We need to get into the building without putting Sean and Bradley at any increased risk. I’m trying the other apartments first to see if they’ll give us access.’ Ava pressed the buzzer for the second-floor flat. ‘Good evening, this is Detective Ava Turner with Police Scotland. I wonder if you could …’ The line went dead. Ava rolled her eyes skywards and grimaced before pressing the button to the alternative upper floor flat. ‘Good evening, this is …’ and the door opened. ‘God help us, sublime to the ridiculous,’ she muttered pulling the outer door wide and waiting for Tripp.
He was walking along the row of cars immediately outside, running his hands over the bonnets. He paused, holding his hand higher up on one vehicle, then took out a torch and went to the windows. Taking out his mobile, he called a number. Ava heard nothing, but a faint light shone from the passenger side window.
‘Sean’s mobile is on the front passenger seat of this car,’ he said. ‘It’s not the vehicle the DVLA have registered to him.’
‘Call it in,’ Ava replied, wedging the doormat under the outer door to hold it open. ‘Then get backup here with paramedics on a silent approach basis. I’m going up to check with the neighbours.’
She took the stairs two at a time, knocking gently on the first door she came to, holding up her ID badge as the door opened.
‘Police,’ she said. ‘Please speak quietly. Have you seen anyone come or go from the flat below this evening?’
‘Been watching the telly all night. Heard them, though, slamming the bloody door earlier. What’ve they done?’ the woman asked.
‘We’re just making enquiries at this stage,’ Ava said. ‘Can I ask you to remain in your flat with the door locked until you’re told that the situation is resolved?’
‘Can you ask them downstairs to keep their voices down? I hear every bloody word at this time of night. Soon as I turn my TV off their nattering keeps me up for hours,’ she said.
‘Is it like that right now?’ Ava asked.
‘Listen for yourself,’ she said, stepping backwards and letting Ava in.
The voices weren’t clear but they were audible, both male, with one dominating the conversation. ‘Could you get me a glass please?’ Ava asked, putting it to the floor when the woman handed it to her. She placed it upside down on the wooden planks and knelt to put her ear to it.
‘Why are you doing this?’ Brad asked.
‘Because you need me to,’ Christian said. ‘I’m here to comfort you. Sean wasn’t right for you anyway, you told me that yourself in a hundred different ways.’
‘I don’t understand why you have a gun,’ Brad said. ‘He needs a doctor. Let me go.’
‘Sit down,’ Christian said. He pulled the syringe from his pocket and held it out towards Sean. ‘If you don’t sit down with me, I’ll put this in him and he’ll be gone in seconds. The way I had it planned was much more humane. He’ll fall asleep forever hearing our voices as if he were just drifting into sleep. Wouldn’t you prefer that?’
Bradley tried sitting, his shaking legs betraying him in the last second and dumping him onto the sofa. ‘What did you do?’ he asked.
‘Don’t speak to me so accusingly,’ Christian said, perching on the arm of the settee near to Sean’s feet. ‘You wanted me to come here. If you’d agreed to go to The Lost Boys with Sean, none of this would ever have happened. I’d have known he wasn’t meant to be taken from you. Sean didn’t look after you properly anyway, going out with his friends, leaving you alone. I’m here for you, Bradley. I know how loss feels. I’m not going to let you suffer alone.’
‘I don’t want to suffer at all,’ Bradley said. ‘This isn’t you, you’re gentle and kind. Whatever you’ve gone through, we can talk about it after I’ve called for an ambulance.’
‘That’s not how this is going to work,’ Christian said. ‘It has to work like it did before. Sean won’t suffer. My mother didn’t suffer. I watched her. She just sort of faded. It took hours. I think it was hours but I was very young. Perhaps I lost track of time.’
‘What happened to her?’ Bradley whispered.
‘Heroin overdose,’ Christian said. ‘Then I didn’t have to go to school anymore.’
‘That must have been an accident,’ Brad said. ‘You don’t want the same thing to happen to Sean, do you? I’m sorry for your loss but we can still save him.’
‘I’m afraid Sean’s had a larger dose already than most people survive,’ Christian said. ‘I can hold you if you like?’ He reached out the hand in which there was no gun, putting the syringe down on the sofa.
‘Hold me? You are totally insane,’ Brad said. ‘I don’t want you to hold me, or touch me or to be anywhere near me. I don’t know how you got to Sean but you’re sick and dangerous. This isn’t some role-play where you get to use the man I love to reenact your twisted fantasy.’ Bradley
stood up. ‘You’re going to have to get out of my way, because I’m going through that door and I’m getting help.’
‘You have to watch,’ Christian shouted. ‘That’s how this goes!’
‘I’m not going to sit here and do nothing.’ Bradley moved to Christian’s left, ducking to pass. The pistol came down hard on the back of his head, opening his skin with a stream of blood that he stared at as it dripped to the floor. Christian pushed him back down onto the couch.
‘Police,’ Ava shouted at the door. ‘Open up immediately!’
‘We need help!’ Bradley shouted. Christian raised the gun to Brad’s face.
‘Stay away from the doors and windows,’ Christian said. ‘No one comes in or goes out. I have a gun.’
‘You need to let me see Sean and Bradley,’ Ava said. ‘Once I know they’re both still alive, we’ll back off.’
‘If you try to come in, I’ll shoot them,’ Christian said.
‘Just open the curtains,’ Ava said, ‘so we can see that both of them are all right. Then I can give you more space and we can talk this through.’
‘If I open the curtains, you’ll shoot. You think I’m that stupid? I don’t want to talk this through with you,’ Christian shouted. ‘This evening was meant for me. You weren’t supposed to be here.’
‘You don’t need to hurt anyone,’ Ava said. ‘Just let me in on my own. You can lock the door behind me. No tricks, I promise. If you do that I can get the others to let the evening run its course.’ She looked behind her to where twenty men and women in weapon resistant vests stood at various points around the property. She waved them back a few feet.
‘Jacket off,’ Christian shouted. ‘Nothing except a t-shirt. Shoes off too. I’ll unlock the door and open it, but you come in alone. Try anything and you’ll get a bullet in your head. When you come in, turn around to face the door, get down on your knees and lace your hands behind your head.’
‘Ma’am, you’re just handing him an extra hostage. It’s against protocol,’ Tripp said.
‘We need eyes in there to see what state those men are in and I can’t negotiate with him shouting through a locked door. There’s no choice. I’m putting you in charge out here. Keep all officers clear of the windows in case shots go through. Close off the road. No press. No one in or out. And no heroics, okay?’
‘With respect, that feels like the speech I should be giving you. Are you going to conceal a weapon?’ Tripp asked.
‘No. If he finds it, he’ll lose the plot. I’m going in,’ Ava said.
The door to the apartment opened. Ava saw a pale-faced man with his hands in the air, his eyes darting between her and an unseen figure who must have been standing behind the door.
‘Walk forwards,’ a voice commanded. Ava did as she was told. ‘Now get on your knees,’ he said. She knelt down. The door slammed behind her and was locked. She attempted a reassuring smile at the man still stood with his hands in the air, noting the tears in his eyes. ‘Take your clothes off.’
‘Jason, my name’s DCI Ava Turner. With respect …’ Ava started.
‘You don’t respect me,’ Christian said. ‘Let’s get one thing clear. I’m not Jason. I shed that skin a very long time ago. People move on, DCI Turner. They evolve. Please don’t expect to come in here brandishing details of my past, that will suddenly make me break down and open my heart to you. This isn’t some crappy B movie. It’s real. The things I need are real. Right now, I need to check what’s under your clothes, so strip down to your underwear. You can put everything straight back on as soon as I know there’s nothing hidden.’
‘Okay, that’s fair,’ Ava said. ‘In your situation I’d make the same request. Could I just take a look at Sean first, to make sure he’s breathing?’
‘Clothes off, then you look.’
Ava stripped off her shirt and trousers, turning around slowly, getting a look at the man pointing a gun steadily at her head. He appeared remarkably calm. There was no shake to his hands, no looking away when she met his eyes. His brow was dry. Ava chose her tack as she got dressed.
‘Is that Sean on the sofa?’ she asked. ‘Can I check him now?’
‘Go ahead,’ Christian said. ‘You’ll find his pulse is weak. I think the word is thready. Don’t expect any response from him at this stage. He’s too deeply unconscious.’
‘You’re something of an expert,’ Ava said, laying her fingers across the inside of Sean’s wrist. ‘His pulse is extremely feeble. How much time do you think he has left?’
‘Less than an hour,’ Christian said. ‘Of course, I had planned to spend that time privately with Bradley, but now we’ll have to do things differently.’
‘Don’t worry on my account,’ Ava said. ‘What’s Sean been given?’
‘Heroin,’ he said. ‘I’m going to need you to sit on the floor, facing the wall. Hands laced on your head.’
‘Jason, you’re holding the gun. There’s nothing to be gained by me sitting with my face to the wall. I think Brad will remain calmer if I keep eye contact with him. I’ll sit on the floor though, if that’s what you want.’ She sat down next to Sean’s head and laced her hands over her hair.
‘His name’s not Jason.’ Brad sniffed. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘It’s all right, I’m still Christian to you, Bradley,’ Christian said. ‘That’s who you need.’
‘You don’t have to be Christian tonight. You can let Brad go, let Sean live. I understand what you must feel. We’re all trapped in the moments in our past when our lives changed forever, and you suffered a trauma no child should ever have to experience. You were so young, Jason, the night you lost your mother. You don’t have to keep reliving the awful things that happened,’ Ava said.
‘I didn’t lose my mother,’ Christian snarled. ‘I was relieved of her. Is that why you were so keen to come in here? You wanted to talk me through my pain, let me know that you empathised about my mother’s tragic death? What image did you have of her? Of someone who cuddled me at night, baked cakes and put plasters on my bloody knees? You and I didn’t grow up in the same street, DCI Turner. I doubt we grew up on the same planet.’
‘No parent is perfect, but seeing her die must have been awful. I understand there was no one there to protect you from Christian Cadogan. I read the police statements about the state of the place. Every child is entitled to expect better. The school, social services, your health care workers, someone should have realised something was wrong much sooner than …’
‘You know what, you ignorant bitch, you talk a lot but you don’t seem too capable of listening.’ Christian walked across to stand above her. ‘My mother didn’t feed me for days on end because every penny in the house went on alcohol and drugs. She used to whore in front of me when she got short of cash. You think I was too young to remember that? The day Cadogan killed her was the best day of my life. He held me as she died. He talked to me. That evening, he went out and bought me fish and chips. He didn’t hit me when I asked to go to the bathroom.’ He grabbed Ava by the hair and hauled her up to standing, pushing the gun into her neck. ‘Then you bastards hung him. He went into a police cell and he never came out. You took away the only person who was ever kind to me.’
Bradley began sobbing behind them. ‘His breathing’s slowing down. I can’t hear it properly. Please, please, can you do something? Sean needs an ambulance. He’s dying.’
‘He’s supposed to die!’ Christian shouted. ‘He was no good for you. He didn’t value you, or treasure you. Can’t you see that, even now? I was there when you wanted someone to talk to. I was coming here when he was off out with his friends. What the fuck is wrong with you?’ He dragged Ava towards Sean’s prone body, keeping the gun pressed against her as he picked up the syringe he’d left on the cushion.
‘Christian, please don’t,’ Ava said quietly.
He swung his gun around to point at Bradley, shoving Ava roughly away. ‘DCI Turner, make one move towards me and both men die. Stay back and there
’s a possibility that one of them might survive.’
Ava took a step further away, raising her hands and softening her face. ‘No one has to die. Listen to me. You have a chance to turn this around. It’s too late for Lily and for Cordelia, but you can still do the right thing for Sean.’
‘He’s turning blue,’ Bradley shrieked.
‘I was helping them,’ Christian shouted. ‘Do you have any idea how unhappy Randall Muir was when I met him? He wasn’t getting what he needed from his family. They weren’t encouraging him, weren’t recognising his potential. And Lily? Perfect Lily who was happy to let her sister languish in her shadow. I helped Mina and Randall escape, and their grief was beautiful. They cried in my arms and clung to me. They needed me. You’ll never understand how that feels, to be right there in that moment of loss.’
‘Families are dysfunctional, Christian. Lily and Cordelia didn’t need to die. The grief you witnessed never needed to exist. Don’t do that to Bradley too. There shouldn’t be any more victims,’ Ava said.
‘Are either of you even listening?’ Bradley yelled. ‘Sean is dying, right now.’
‘Last chance, Christian,’ Ava said. ‘Let the medics in. You can keep me in here if that’s what you need for now.’
‘That’s not what I want,’ Christian said. ‘It’s over for me anyway, isn’t it?’
Bradley screeched and threw himself forwards towards Sean. Christian raised both arms, sidestepping to intercept Bradley’s manoeuvre. Ava launched herself in response, shoulders down low, aiming to push all the forward momentum of her body into Christian’s stomach. A misstep caught her ankle on the low coffee table and she twisted, her body falling towards the writhing mass of bodies. Bradley on top of Christian, both of them on top of Sean, hands flung out, grappling, wielding a gun and syringe of heroin.
