by Lee Cockburn
Marcus quickly put on gloves and did as he was asked but his mind was not so hopeful; that amount of blood usually meant only one thing and it wasn’t good. Even if Lucy had been alive, several hours shut in a cramped boot would certainly not help her chances of survival.
Taylor stood at the boot waiting for Marcus to reach in and open it, her heart heavy with what she knew was beneath the sealed hatch. Click! The boot raised an inch and it was now free to be opened. Taylor hesitated and took a deep breath to compose herself. She lifted up the boot slowly at first, gasping her next breath as she found herself staring into open eyes, terror and fear etched into them for ever more. What had happened to Lucy and how was now tattooed in emotion for all to see. Her eyes were the only thing that remained semi human. Her head was so swollen it was hard to imagine that sweet, pretty face in her employee photo. Blood had poured from her nose, mouth, ears and eye sockets, the brutality of her attack obvious, cerebral fluid also visible from her nose and eyes. Her body was twisted grotesquely into the small space, jammed in with brutal force and violence. There was deformity in the skull showing the massive force used to kill the young woman. Taylor reached down to her neck and checked to see if there was a pulse, knowing fine well that there wouldn’t be; Lucy’s opaque, soulless eyes said it all. Tears clouded over Taylor’s eyes, her heart sickened and sore with the what ifs. Why kill her today, why not before? How did he know she had phoned us? If we’d only come here sooner, we might have been able to save her. Taylor lifted her radio and called for a doctor; although she knew Lucy was dead, she was not authorised to confirm death unless there was a decapitation or advanced decomposition.
“Get a set to go round to the husband’s house. He’ll need to come and identify the body, and send someone with a heart and some experience. This one is not going to be easy to take in. No one could have seen this one coming. Thanks, over.”
“Has someone checked if Mr Brennan was at work today or not? We need to move on this fast,” Taylor exclaimed.
“No sign of him now but he was in earlier. His colleague said that he joked with him about looking like the photo fit on the telly.”
“Fucking great!” Taylor muttered to herself. Inadvertently he’s set the time bomb off with that innocent comment.
John had not been seen and he also had a parking space in the same section as Lucy. The picture was now becoming clearer: John was leaving and Lucy was arriving. She had called the police and he knew that his face was all over the news, thanks to Peter. Did they meet by chance? Did she act differently? What let him know what she had thought of him? Fear, perhaps? She’d read the papers and knew what had happened to John’s victims and if it was him, coming face to face with him in a secluded area must have caused her to react. He, being the beast that he was, would have sensed this and wouldn’t be prepared to take the chance he was maybe wrong. Whatever happened, their meeting was a million to one chance with the timings and information; Lucy had now paid the ultimate price for being human and showing a little fear faced with the devil before her, poor thing.
Taylor looked at Lucy’s hand and forearms. They were deeply bruised and one may even have been broken in her feeble attempt to protect herself. Marcus looked around for more evidence, signs of what had happened, just as more officers entered the basement. Taylor stopped them in their tracks and issued specific instructions for them to protect the area for the Scenes Examination Branch to attend to photograph everything in place and gather evidence. One of the officers stated that there were officers at John’s address, but it looked like he’d packed up and left in quite a hurry.
“Fuck! We’ll need a full forensic team down there too to search that house. Who knows how many he’s killed, because he’s certainly got a taste for it now, the twisted fucking bastard.”
Taylor took one more look at Lucy’s pitiful face before turning on her heels and heading for the exit; she felt nauseous because of the turn of events, more due to her failure to stop it happening than the sight before her. Death and horror was part of her job.
“We have to step this up, you know. He got lucky this time but we were close, so very close and he knows it. Maybe he’ll get careless now that we’ve rattled his cage and flung him out of his comfort zone. He can’t hide forever.”
Chapter 21: Till Death Do Us Part
Taylor stepped into John’s house along with Marcus and the Scenes examination team; there were signs of the slovenly way he lived all over the floor. Filth covered every surface that was not taken up with empty food cartons or beer cans. Black refuse sacks bulged at the back door. There was a huge collection of pornographic material, although there was a noticeable gap where he had taken the time to choose a few of them to entertain himself when he was elsewhere. His bed lay unmade and the sheets were stained brown with sweat; it had obviously been a long time since they were last changed. Countless other DNA samples were to be found on the pillows, sheets and duvet. Taylor could not believe that someone could live like this and still go to work every day and fit in as normal. It was amazing that people were socialising with him, working alongside him, talking with him and all the time his secret hobby was invisible to them all, and too hideous to imagine for those who at least felt a little uncomfortable around him; everyone knows someone that is a little different, but that does not make them serial killers who enjoy torture and sexual abuse. The Police Search Advisor arranged for the house to be gone through with a fine tooth comb once the scene examiners had finished taking their photos and samples. Every surface, every clue was meticulously gathered, bagged and labelled to be taken off to one of the labs. Taylor walked through the house several times after the examination branch had left, knowing that she wasn’t destroying any potential evidence any more. Her eyes kept going back to the makeshift table in the kitchen, an old metal drum with a table top affixed to it, very strange, she thought to herself.
“What about the drum Marcus? Even in this shithole, that’s not quite right there don’t you think? I bet there’s something inside that.”
“He’s a freak, nothing would surprise me, but it’s sealed with a good weld and the scene examiners took all the samples they could have from it, none from within it though.”
“Let’s take it in as a production and arrange for it to be opened. There’s no way we could leave that knowing who owned it.”
“Any chance we could get a couple of your strongest officers to move this so called table, please,” Marcus asked the rather large group of search officers. They looked up at him with their usual do-it-yourself look, but their Sergeant picked a couple of them and they came into the kitchen area to help, their reluctance obvious.
“Where to, boss?” the larger of the two said sarcastically.
“There’s a transit outside. That’ll do fine, thanks.”
They grunted as they lifted it to waist height and started to move towards the door, tilting it a little for it to fit.
“What the fuck is that smell,” shouted the officer at the lower end.
“There’s something leaking from this and it fucking stinks.”
“I know what that smell is and you should too!”
They put the barrel down quickly and one said, “It’s all yours now.”
Taylor was sickened to the stomach. “Who or what do you think is in there?”
“No idea! But I’m sure all will be revealed after this search.”
“Come on Marcus, let’s get back to the office and try and get one step ahead of him before he starts his nonsense elsewhere.”
They drove quickly to Fettes. Both sat quietly, not wanting to assume anything until the facts presented themselves. Marcus knew how Taylor thought although she held her cards close to her chest. He knew that she felt helpless to stop this man, this monster that was still free and out there waiting. One step behind him was not enough for Taylor. Marcus knew she would blame herself for not doing things quicker, even though there was no way she could have known that lead would be the one that w
ould reveal the killer’s identity. Had they gone the day before, the woman in the car would still be alive. It wouldn’t matter to her that there were thousands of calls and leads to follow up and any one of them could have been the one and every one of them as important as the other until proven otherwise.
Marcus drove through the security gate; he waved at couple of cops driving out, Taylor just nodded. “Come on Nicksy. We’ll get him. It’s not our fault. We’ve been close twice, third time lucky.”
Taylor got out the car, shook her hair out, pulled her shoulders up and took a deep breath. She looked into Marcus’s eyes, her eyes wide open and angry. “You’re right, we’ll work every hour we can get and we will get him. We have to.”
They walked together through the corridors, nodding to anyone who passed. When they entered the main office they could see through to the inspector’s office. He was on the phone and was clearly angry about something. Taylor sat at the desk. Files were waiting for her and numerous post-its from people wanting things.
She asked one of the other investigators what Findlay’s problem was. He replied, “What, you’ve not heard?”
“Obviously not! Come on, spit it out, what’s made him that mad?”
“Two cops stopped John Brennan on a routine stop this morning. He had bloodied knuckles and they let him go because they hadn’t seen his picture. They didn’t go to the brief in the morning.”
“You’re kidding me?”
“Nope, not a word of a lie, the older cop was a bit suspicious but there was an assistance shout and they had to let him go.”
“Shit, no wonder he’s mad. Poor buggers, that was a fucking big missed opportunity, but it’s not their fault they weren’t at the briefing and couldn’t detain him.”
The door from the office swung open and slammed against the wall. Findlay stormed past Taylor’s desk. She winced and watched him disappear out of the office, face red and flustered.
“Serves him right, it’s about time he took some of the flack, the lazy git. If he’d get off his fat ass and do his bit then maybe he’d get more support.”
Taylor logged on to her computer, and started to input some of what had happened to date, her mind flashing back to Lucy’s eyes, desperate and lost, the stench from the barrel, the fact he was still out there and even more dangerous than before because he was on the run and being hunted. She felt vulnerable, a little broken and disturbed at this enquiry; Edinburgh had never had to deal with anything like this before. Murder, yes! A serial killer, no! They were something that you read about, not had to face on your doorstep. She stopped for a moment, her heart starting to race as Kay came into the main office at the far side. Taylor’s eyes fixed on Kay’s face. She hoped that she would look over, glance up, anything that would let Taylor back in to her heart. Kay talked with several of the officers and other people and carried on through the office, her eyes never close to where Taylor sat. Taylor knew that Kay had seen her, but had not let on, and she felt deflated, the pain inside ached through to her finger tips, a feeling she had never felt before; it was sore, her heart actually felt sore and she was sick to the stomach.
The door closed slowly behind Kay as she left the office, her hair lying on her shoulders, her figure sleek and alluring. It wasn’t just Taylor who watched her; Findlay was back in the office and he too watched but with no affection only sleazy depravity.
Taylor’s phone vibrated; her heart flat with the disappointment of Kay’s lack of attention, she wasn’t going to look but curiosity got the better of her. She lifted the phone. It was an unknown caller. “Hello, Taylor Nicks.”
“I know who you are. Meet me in the interview suite.”
Taylor’s heart raced, her face flushed and she stood up and moved quickly through the office, hoping her exit wouldn’t be noticed.
She leapt up the stairs in threes to the top floor and rushed to the third door on the left. Taylor pushed the door open and stepped inside. As the door closed behind her, she felt a hand on her shoulder, then it stroked down her back slowly. She felt warm breath on the back of her neck and Kay’s hands came round her waist, pulling Taylor close. Kay’s hands swept up onto Taylor’s breasts and back down to her waist. She turned Taylor round by her hips and their faces met. Kay’s kiss was so deep, so intense, that Taylor could not catch her breath; their tongues touched and the power of the kiss sent ripples of arousal coursing through both of their bodies. Taylor’s thigh pushed sharply up between Kay’s thighs. She moaned and pushed back hard against it.
Taylor rubbed against her firmly. Kay spoke softly into her ear, “I missed you so much, so much my body aches for you.” Taylor moved Kay in front of her, and from behind she pushed her hands down the front of Kay’s trousers, stroking over her. Kay moaned softly as Taylor’s strong hands moved over her again and again. Kay wanted her so bad it ached. She gripped hold of Taylor’s wrists and stopped her. Taylor asked, “Do you want me to stop?”
Kay gasped back, “God no!” and took Taylor’s hand and pushed it down inside her trousers, and inside her panties.
Taylor’s fingers slipped over her and into her. Kay was so wet, so turned on that she came almost instantly as Taylor’s hand freed her orgasm, which was gripping, powerful and hungry.
Kay wanted more. She pushed Taylor’s fingers deep inside her, whispering, “Fuck me, Taylor, please! just fuck me.”
Taylor undid Kay’s trousers and pulled them over her hips. She pushed her on to the chair, opened her legs and pushed up inside her, over and over again. Her mouth caressed and licked her as she thrust into her, Kay gripped Taylor’s back and moved with her, their bodies working together to feel the release. Moaning and wanting, Kay’s hips bucked up as the orgasm took hold of her. Her knees gripped Taylor’s arm and stopped her hand for a second letting Kay gain some control of the overwhelming power of her desire. She let go and Taylor’s fingers slipped deeper into the milky heaven as waves of pleasure took Kay to the point of no return and Taylor’s tongue continued to push Kay further into her frenzy of passion, until she couldn’t keep going. Taylor came up on top of Kay and kissed her open mouth, her mouth wet from being down on her, this turned Kay on all the more. Their kisses were so in tune with each other, hot, wet and desperate, but perfect.
Kay looked into Taylor’s eyes, held her face and said, “I love you.” Taylor stopped, and just looked back, her heart open and alive and her ears not believing what she had just heard.
She did not reply; I love you was not something Taylor would say. She took hold of Kay’s head and pulled her into a swirling kiss. They both felt it from their heads to their toes, a kiss of passion and of love. Taylor felt it; she felt love for this woman. The feelings were so powerful they consumed them both, their breathing fast and heavy, their eyes fixed on each other’s; love was definitely there with them.
Footsteps fell heavy on the corridor outside, both Kay and Taylor jumped up. Taylor helped Kay pick up her clothes and they pushed their way into the cupboard at the back of the room like a couple of naughty school kids, although they would be in real trouble if they were caught.
“Taylor, Taylor! Where are you? The boss is mad for you,” Marcus called. Taylor and Kay kept silent as the office door opened.
“Marcus, you ever hopeful voyeur. Thank god it’s you. What’s up with wobble butt anyway?” Marcus scanned the room looking for someone else but Taylor took hold of his arm and guided him out and down the stairs. She said, “Let’s see what he wants, shall we?”
Chapter 22: Watching
Smartly dressed with a well groomed beard and wearing glasses, he moved casually through the hospital, carrying a large colourful bouquet of flowers. He knew where he was going and what he wanted. He needed just a glimpse, a little information or maybe even a chance of discovering where he could find her. A week or so had passed. There was no longer a police officer present 24/7 so he could walk the corridors during visiting hours relatively unchallenged, although he was easily able to deflect attention with
a very convincing résumé of reasons and excuses for being there. He did not look like himself anymore, almost coming across as charming; totally the opposite of the truth. His heart started pounding when he looked up at the admission boards; beside Susan’s name was a release date - less than a week. The smile that came over his face was wide and demonic and if anyone had been watching him they would have felt instantly uncomfortable. His heart started to race with the anticipation of the hunt that now awaited Susan.
He didn’t need to stay any longer; he didn’t have to take the risk of ambushing her in the hospital any more. He could now have her where he had failed once before, where she should feel safe. Not anymore though, he would make sure of that. He turned on his heels with an inner sense of victory. He would win in the end.
He walked towards the entrance of the hospital and stopped to look up and stare at the CCTV camera, his eyes wide and focussed in a gesture that showed no fear, just utter defiance and arrogance. He turned to walk out but stopped dead in his tracks; just past the entrance door, Susan stood outside. She seemed relaxed and was talking to a young man wearing sports clothes. John almost growled in rage and disgust at how well she looked and he could see in the way the two of them were together that there was some sort of affection there. He wanted her to be swallowed up with fear, totally consumed in terror and unable to move on. He wanted her to fail to regain her confidence, to be trapped within his web of terror until he ended it permanently. He strode towards them, confident that she wouldn’t recognise him. He walked almost through them, only allowing a couple of metres’ distance as he passed, his stride heavy and full of purpose. Susan and Andrew barely looked up and their conversation didn’t stop. He walked across the busy car park and stopped 50 metres away from where they stood. He faced them and stared, his eyes fixed on Susan’s back, his mind focused on his next meeting with her and what he wanted to do, his hatred consuming him to the point that he began to rock back and forth. Susan’s mouth went dry; an eerie sensation crawled slowly up her spine, her eyes narrowed and Andrew asked what was wrong?
