by Alex Lake
He smiled. As he did, his whole body relaxed, his posture changed, his eyes took on a kind of sparkle. He was, Kate saw, a brilliant actor.
‘Colin Davidson,’ he said. ‘Nice to meet you.’
His expression changed again; the look of fury was back. ‘Lucky that I never met you back then,’ he said. ‘Or you’d have recognized me and I wouldn’t have been able to get away with this.’
So this was the man who had beaten Beth, driven her to the brink of suicide, driven her to the point where she had changed her name and moved to a new place so she could be free of him. And now he was back. But why? What on earth was he up to?
‘I still don’t get it,’ she said. ‘What do you want from me?’
‘That’s easy,’ he replied. ‘I want Beth.’
‘Beth?’ Kate said. ‘That’s what all this is about?’
‘Yes. Beth. I want to find her.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Kate said, struggling through the fear to think straight, to think at all. ‘I don’t see how this helps you find her.’
‘Let me explain,’ he said. ‘She’s been very hard to find. At first I tried everything, but there was no way I could get to her. Of course, I couldn’t ask the police, or make enquiries through the authorities – not that they would have told me – or even go to a private detective, because I couldn’t leave a trace. Not with what I planned to do. So, pretty soon I made a new plan. Took a long view. After all, I was in no hurry.’
Kate didn’t reply. She didn’t know what to say. She had no reference point for this situation.
‘So I hid out. Became Mark Stevens. Met that slut Claire. She reminded me a lot of Beth – fat, needy, easy to control – and gradually Beth faded from my mind. But then Claire tried to leave! Which was another way she was like Beth.’ He shook his head. ‘Obviously, I’d learned from what happened with Beth, so I had to stop her. And what better way than to kill her? So I came up with the serial killer idea – a brilliant idea – and got rid of her. The thing is …’ he paused thoughtfully, ‘once she was dead, I had the free time to think about Beth, and I realized that I still loved her. I’d been wasting my time with Claire; I wanted Beth back. She was my one true love.’
‘You don’t know what true love is,’ Kate said. ‘You’re only capable of some sick, twisted version.’
Mike tutted. ‘You’re jealous,’ he said. ‘Because I love Beth but I was only using you. Anyway, once I understood that it was Beth I wanted, two things came to me: the first – I’ll tell you about the second later – was that I had to figure out a different way of finding her. Which is where you came in. I had a suspicion that Beth would be in touch with you, in some way or other. If I could get close enough to you, then I could get to her. Hence going to Turkey to meet you.’
‘How did you know I was going?’
‘Facebook,’ Mike said. ‘You people plaster your lives on that thing: birthdays, travel plans, all kinds of personal information. It’s an open invitation for people who are up to no good to get up to no good.’ He laughed. ‘It’s so much easier these days.’
These days, she thought. He’s done this before, God knows how many times. ‘So you went to Turkey, picked me up in the bar.’ She fought another wave of nausea. ‘Why Kalkan? Why not do it here?’
‘Because here there would be too many people watching. And you’re not the kind of girl who does that kind of thing. Your friends would have stepped in. On holiday, though – all bets are off. You have to be even more careful on holiday than you are at home, but the strange thing is that all you idiots do the exact opposite.’ He shrugged again. ‘Bad for you, good for me.’
‘Fuck, I wish I hadn’t had so much to drink that night.’
‘You didn’t,’ he said. ‘I gave you a little something to help loosen you up. Popped it into your gin and tonic. That’s why your memories are a bit hazy.’
‘You drugged me,’ Kate said, her voice flat. ‘You bastard. You absolute bastard.’
‘I needed you to think that I was a gentleman,’ he said. ‘And what better way than to not take advantage of your drunkenness?’
‘And the text message? To May and Gemma, saying I was fine?’
‘I sent that,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t take any chances. The thing is, I was hoping you’d fall for me, but in case you didn’t – which you didn’t – I needed a plan B.’ He grinned. ‘So I told you I lived near Stockton Heath.’
‘You don’t?’
‘No, of course not. That would be a ridiculous coincidence. But it gave me the excuse for bumping into you, if I needed to. I wasn’t sure I would need to; I thought that I might find what I needed in your house, but it wasn’t there.’
Kate stared at him, his words barely registering. ‘In my house? Were you in my house?’
‘Of course. I got into your house while you were at work. Had a good look around. But I couldn’t find any trace of Beth. She’s not in your address book, for example. Or your diary.’
‘You went through my diary?’ Kate said. ‘Please, no.’
‘It was pretty fucking boring, I have to say. Phil this, Phil that, got a crush on a guy at work, flirted with someone in a bar and feel a bit guilty but also proud of myself for not doing anything. God, you’re like a crap version of Bridget Jones. At least she had some spirit.’
‘Fuck you,’ Kate said. ‘How’s that for spirit?’
‘Very good!’ he said. ‘Bit late, though.’
‘So it was you? Who switched off the computer? And went through the files?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It was very convenient that you had Phil and his key to blame it on.’
‘How did you get into the house?’
‘I let myself in.’
‘How?’
‘With the key I stole from you in Turkey.’
Kate sank back into her seat. The memory came back: her, standing outside the house the night she came back from Turkey, realizing she had lost her key somewhere. And all the while Mike had it.
‘I found it when you were sleeping,’ he said. ‘Helpfully stashed away in your bag. Anyway, back to the story – this is a good bit. When I couldn’t find any trace of Beth, I realized that I needed you to tell me where she was, which meant I was going to have to bump into you. Which would be a lot easier if I knew what you were up to.’
‘So you fucked with my emails?’ she said. ‘Is that it?”
‘Got into your email account and set it up to forward me your emails. It’s easy, if you know what you’re doing, and I know exactly what I’m doing. That’s how I knew where you’d be, and that you had a profile on the dating website.’ He smiled. ‘Then we met and you fell for me – and for my story about the shelter. I knew that would get you to share with me.’
‘Was that bullshit, too?’ Beth said.
‘Oh yes. Total rubbish. My parents are alive and well in Scunthorpe, living the most boring life you could imagine. Dad’s a Methodist teetotaller. I made all that up so you’d think I was someone who understood what Beth had been through and could be trusted to be told about her.’
‘I would never tell you about Beth,’ she said.
‘Oh,’ he replied. ‘But you already did.’
‘I didn’t. I didn’t tell you anything about Beth.’
‘You did,’ he said. ‘You told me everything.’
The nausea hit her again. Kate shook her head. ‘I don’t get it. I said nothing.’ As she spoke she started to feel a growing nervousness. What had he said? And, as of this morning, I have what I need, so the end was coming anyway. Had she given it away somehow? Had he drugged her again?
‘You said that she had contacted you on Facebook,’ Mike said. ‘That she kept her profile hidden and didn’t post pictures, but that you’d been in touch.’
‘So? You can’t see her. Her public profile is hidden, and there’s nothing on it anyway. She’s very careful.’
‘Right, but if I had access to your computer, then I’d be fine. Because you don’t l
og out of your Facebook account. Anybody who can use your computer can see whatever they want. So I was very pleased when you gave me all the access I needed.’
‘I didn’t give you anything. No passwords. Nothing. I’d remember.’
‘Oh, but you did.’ He paused. ‘I was reading your emails, but I didn’t have access to your Facebook account. The night Phil showed up at the pub and you told me you thought he’d been on your computer – which was me, of course – I saw an opportunity. We set up password protection, but remember how I turned away when you put in your new password? Well, I was watching. It’s a skill I have. And, since you’re stupid enough to stay logged in to your Facebook, all I needed was a chance to spend half an hour alone on your computer, and I’d have what I needed.’
Kate let out an involuntary moan. What had she done? How had she been so stupid?
‘So this morning – which was my first opportunity, since you changed the locks – while you slept I took a look through your friends. Found one that was added around three years ago, who shared minimal information. And there she was. Andrea Berry.’
He wagged his head from side to side, as though thinking to himself.
‘Interesting that she swapped this shithole of a town for Wolverhampton,’ he said. ‘Useful to know that. She shouldn’t have told you, but there it was, right in front of my eyes in a message she sent you a couple of years ago.’ He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. ‘That’s all I need. And it means I don’t need you.’
‘So all this was a sham?’ Kate said. ‘A scheme to find out where Beth is?’
‘Yes,’ Mike said. ‘Exactly. I was pretty sure that she would have been in touch with you – she’s a loyal soul, Beth – and so all I needed to do was to get the information from you somehow. And, thankfully for me, you obliged.’
‘So now what?’ Kate said. ‘Where are we going?’
‘To a place I have where I can keep you hidden until I kill you. The Strangler’s last victim. Then I disappear, and, after a while, go and re-introduce my Beth to the only man who ever truly loved her.’ He grinned. ‘Then kill her, the fucking bitch.’
‘So that’s it?’ Kate fought back tears. She didn’t want him to see her cry. ‘After all this, you’re going to kill me? Just like that?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Not just like that. First I’m going to make you suffer, the way you made me suffer.’
15
She was silent while the words sank in.
‘What do you mean, like I made you suffer? I’ve never done anything to you.’
‘Oh, you have,’ Mike said. ‘And that’s why this is only half about Beth. If all I needed was information about Beth, I could have got it and then dumped you. But the other half is about you. The other half is the reason you have to die, and the reason the Strangler had to exist.’ He grinned. ‘That was the second thing that came to me after I killed Claire. I could use the same method to deal with you. Once you’d led me to Beth, I could create a new serial killer – which is always tremendous fun – and get him to kill you.’ His grin vanished and his face twisted into a scowl. ‘That way, I’d get Beth and my revenge. So Claire turned out to be very useful, in the end.’
Claire, Beth, revenge: Kate had the sensation that he was spinning out of control; it was a struggle to keep track of his mood swings and the different directions the conversation was going in. She tried to focus.
‘But why?’ she said. ‘How is it about me? What did I do?’
‘You don’t get it, do you?’ Mike said. ‘You don’t even know what you did.’ He banged his fist against the dashboard, hard, with a loud, shockingly loud, report. He turned to her, his face screwed up in fury. ‘You don’t even know what you did,’ he shouted. ‘That makes me so fucking angry!’
‘OK,’ Kate said. ‘OK. I’m sorry. I probably do know. Tell me and I might remember.’
‘I love her!’ Mike screamed. His face was puce, his eyes bulging. ‘That’s what you don’t get! I love her! Still! So much that I have to kill her. Don’t you understand?’
Kate didn’t get it. She didn’t get it one little bit. She had no idea what kind of love would prompt her to want to kill the person she loved, but then she wasn’t crazy. And Mike – or Colin, or whatever he was called – was clearly as crazy as they came.
Suddenly he was calm again, the smile back on his face, the light back in his eyes.
‘So,’ he said, his tone calm and rational. She almost preferred the shouting, out-of-control version. At least with that she knew what she was up against. ‘This is why it’s about you. I love Beth. And she loved me, back then. Back then she loved me and we were together and she was going to have my – our – baby, a baby which would have cemented our love for each other.’ He turned and stared at Kate, not even remotely watching the road. ‘And then you interfered,’ he said. ‘You turned her against me and got her to kill my child. You might not have wielded the knife – that was some shithead of a doctor – but you are responsible. You’re a murderer, Kate. A child murderer.’
‘That’s not what happened,’ Kate said. If she was going to die – which looked, she had to admit, not unlikely – then she was going to damn well tell the truth before she did do. ‘She hated you. She came to me for help.’
‘That’s your story—’ Mike began, before Kate interrupted.
‘That’s the story,’ she said. ‘I saw the bruises. I saw what you did to her.’ She laughed sarcastically. ‘You know, the funny thing is – like I told you – I thought she’d fled you so she could have the baby, but it was the opposite. She hated you so much she was prepared to give up her child to make sure she wasn’t reminded of you. That’s the truth, Mike – or Mark or Colin or whatever your fucking name is. She would have found a way to leave you, you know,’ Kate said. ‘You can’t blame me. She hated you.’
‘We’ll never know, will we? But what I do know is that you took her – and my child – from me. And you’re going to pay for that. Don’t you see? That’s why this is the perfect plan. I get to find my Beth and I get to destroy you.’ He grinned at her. ‘It was very hard to fuck you, Kate. Very hard. It was like fucking an animal. But I did it because I had to. Because it was in the service of something beautiful.’
‘There’s nothing beautiful about you, or anything you do,’ Kate said.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Don’t say that. You know it’s not true.’
They were driving along a country road, passing high hedges and farm gates. Kate looked around, seeking something familiar. If she did get away from him, she needed to know where she was.
‘Nearly there,’ he said.
‘Where are we going?’
‘To my barn. I rent it from a farmer. He thinks I keep vintage MGBs and MG Midgets in there, that I restore them. I’ve had it for a while; he’s used to me coming and going. Not that he’s around much.’
‘You’re sick,’ she said. ‘You know that, don’t you? You are sick. Anyone who wants to do something like that – God, it’s disgusting. I don’t know what goes wrong with people like you, but you are very, very ill.’
‘Does it make you feel good, to try and hurt me?’ Mike said. ‘I hope so, because you’re going to pay for it. You’re going to pay in pain.’ He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. ‘Maybe I’ll try waterboarding,’ he said, back in his grandstanding mode. ‘You know? The torture thing they do? Where they hold your face underwater just long enough that you think you’re drowning, you’re sure you’re drowning, you know it’s about to happen, and they pull you out at the last second. Then they do it again. Doesn’t even leave any marks. You can do it as many times as you want.’ He gave her a friendly grin, as though they were two friends discussing some high jinks they’d got up to. ‘Of course, they don’t need to, when they’re using it to get information out of someone. Apparently, after one or two rounds, hardened terrorists are begging to tell their secrets rather than face it again. Doesn’t apply to you, though, does it? I already have yo
ur secrets, so I’ll be doing it purely for fun.’
He sniffed. ‘But you can’t die by drowning. You have to die by strangulation. Then I – the Strangler – will cut out your eyes and fuck your dead body and dump you somewhere.’ He leaned towards her, his face contorted in a leer. ‘And you know what? I think I’ll enjoy that more than fucking you when you were alive.’
This time she did vomit again. She retched three, four times, until what little had been left in her stomach was gone.
He tutted and shook his head. ‘What an awful mess,’ he said.
16
The barn was at the end of a rutted farm track. Kate had lost all sense of where they were – somewhere in the Cheshire countryside was all she knew. She had never noticed how rural it became so close to Stockton Heath; once you were south of the urban belt that ran from Liverpool to Manchester there was a lot of empty space.
More than enough to hide someone for a while.
The barn doors were open; they drove in and, as they slowed to a stop, Mike reached onto the back seat. He grabbed a roll of bungee cord, which he fastened around her ankles. He climbed out of the front door and threw his leather jacket onto the empty seat.
‘You’ll be staying in the car,’ Mike said. ‘I don’t want traces of the barn on your body. Too many clues for the police.’
Kate ignored him. She ran through the situation in her mind. It was pretty hopeless; Mike / Mark / Colin had spent weeks – years, maybe – planning this. For her, it was hours old. And she had no idea what to do. She didn’t have even the first idea what her options were; as far as she could see, she didn’t have any.
She stared at the dusty walls of the barn and the reality – the absolute undeniable reality – of the situation hit home: she was going to die here.
And she was overcome with a feeling of utter terror.
‘Understand?’ he said. ‘Stay here, and don’t try anything. You’ll only make it worse for yourself.’
Then he got out and closed the barn door and, for a moment, it was pitch-black.
