Reluctant Suspicion

by Finn, Scarlett

  ‘You kidding?’ Jason smiled. ‘We solve this one and get Ashton back, and you’re going to be happy. You, happy… I might actually be able to stomach working with you.’

  ‘Williams is on his way back,’ Blake said. ‘The FBI are already on their way. Let’s give them something to work with when they get here.’

  Molly rolled to her side and peeled her eyes open. Shooting pain consumed her head, and everything in front of her was a blur. The blindfold was gone, except she couldn’t focus and her lips cracked when she tried to open them. In need of water, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, making it impossible for her to moisten her scratched throat.

  ‘Are you awake?’ a voice came from beside her.

  Molly could only bring herself to grunt. She didn’t want to let her captors know that she was awake, but her movement would have given her away. When she had fought through the fog in her mind, she had momentarily forgotten where she was.

  ‘You were supposed to be out all night. You’re a fighter.’

  ‘Water,’ Molly croaked. She wouldn’t be able to talk without some kind of lubricant for her vocal cords.

  ‘Oh God, yeah.’

  A moment passed, and then there was a hand at the back of her head. The plastic rim of a cup touched her bottom lip, it was tipped toward her, and she sucked in as much of the liquid as she could. The cup left her lips too soon, but with what she’d managed to consume she rolled her tongue in her mouth and tried to regain some sense of what had happened.

  ‘Where are we?’ she asked, with a rasp in her throat.

  ‘It’s a little hut in Greenwood Glade.’

  ‘Melissa,’ Molly said, and tried to sit. It was only at this point that she realised she was cuffed. Her hands were together at her back. Her feet were together, and she was attached to a thick pipe that ran the length of the wall. ‘Let me go.’

  ‘She has the key. She’s been gone a while… She’ll be back soon.’

  ‘How can this be you?’ Molly asked, and clambered against her own weight to try and prop herself on the wall. ‘This isn’t you. Does Belinda know about any of this?’

  ‘No,’ Melissa said. ‘I… This isn’t me. I thought she was my friend. She spoke to me for months before any of this started. I really thought she was my friend.’

  A classic case of getting in over her head. ‘You can make this right,’ Molly said. ‘Let me go… We can go together.’

  ‘No,’ Melissa said. ‘I can’t. I can’t risk Belinda’s freedom. I am so sorry, but she’s my sister and—‘

  ‘You don’t understand,’ Molly said. ‘We can go together. I’ll take you to Blake. He won’t let them prosecute Belinda. If we explain he can—‘

  ‘How can I trust your boyfriend? How can I trust you? If what she says about you is true… If you are like your mother… If you want to screw me over—‘

  ‘Isn’t that what she is doing?’

  ‘We argued this morning, her and me… She wasn’t happy… we’ve talked about it. It’s fine now. She’s sorry for what she has done.’

  ‘If she was sorry, then I wouldn’t be here,’ Molly said. ‘Where is she now? Did you think about Joel? Or Harry, when she walked out of here? What if she is with them right now? She wants to hurt them. Do you understand that? She wants to kill. She wants to rip life from people who have done nothing wrong.’

  ‘Nothing wrong? Harry broke your heart. Joel takes sick pleasure in dominating women during sex.’

  ‘Is that how you are justifying this to yourself? You think that she is delivering some kind of divine justice?’

  ‘No,’ Melissa said. ‘Of course not… I’m just saying that no one is a saint.’

  ‘You said that you found out what had happened with everyone else. What happened with Steven?’

  ‘Steven was an accident,’ Melissa said.

  ‘An accident? Are you high? He died the same way the others did.’

  ‘No,’ Melissa said. ‘I didn’t know what she was going to do, I swear it, and… I was scared of her.’

  ‘Did you tell Steven that?’

  ‘No,’ Melissa said. ‘She picked us up, and we went back to Steven’s. I thought they were genuinely getting along. When she asked me to go, I thought she really wanted to spend time with him.’

  ‘You’re naïve.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Melissa said. ‘Yes. When I read about Steven I… I told her I was going to the police. She said she would hurt Belinda, she said that she would hurt our family. I couldn’t take that risk.’

  ‘And what was Joseph? Or Alex?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Melissa said. ‘I wasn’t a part of that.’

  ‘They were horny!’ Choker announced.

  Molly lifted her face from the jagged wood at her cheek. The room was small. It only held a couch with an old throw over the back of it and a couple of wooden chairs. There was a small table in one corner with a candle on it. Two other doors flanked the back of the room, but she had no idea where they led.

  Molly blinked through the haze that still fogged her and got a proper look at Choker for the first time. The breath that filled her lungs reeked of a foul stench, like putrid flesh and wet dog.

  ‘You,’ Molly breathed.

  ‘Yes, it’s me.’

  ‘Shona?’ Molly said.

  ‘You can’t be that surprised,’ she said as she sauntered in.

  She threw off her dripping poncho and wandered to the table in the corner. Molly couldn’t see what she was doing, but suddenly the room was filled with that macabre tune.

  ‘Where were you tonight?’

  ‘You’ll find out all in good time,’ she said, and glanced at her watch.

  Melissa rushed over to Shona’s side and mumbled something that Molly couldn’t make out. She squinted to try and make out the voices, but they were too quiet.

  ‘Who did you kill tonight?’ Molly asked.

  ‘It’s still early,’ Shona said over her shoulder. ‘There is time yet.’

  Molly was startled when she heard the sound of a car door close. Then the slop of footfalls on new muck. When she concentrated, she could hear the heavy raindrops fall onto the corrugated roof above her. The door to the hut opened, and she held her breath. It was too much to hope that rescue had arrived. Shona was far too calm for that. All of a sudden something was thrown forward, and it was only when she shook herself back to her senses that she realised it was a person. A man. And she wasn’t sure if he was breathing.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  ‘Joel!’ she screeched. He was rolling in a sodden brown mess on the floor, blood dripped from his head, creeping in webs through the rain and muck on his face. She wanted to get to him and check to see if he was alright, but she couldn’t, her restraints held her fast. ‘Joel!’

  He didn’t respond, but he did move. He just wriggled on the floor trying to free himself from the bindings securing his own hands at his back. Rolling back and forth, he left a damp, wet stain seeping into the wood floor.

  ‘What have you done to him?’ Molly screamed. ‘Why is he here?’

  ‘We thought you might like some company,’ Shona said. ‘Take him!’

  Molly wondered who Shona was talking to, but she didn’t have to wonder long because two heavy footsteps crossed the threshold. Her eyes crept up from the dirty black boots to the entrant’s discoloured jeans. He wore a shirt and a loose, wet jacket. But it wasn’t until she reached his sandy brown hair, which was webbed with water, that she could absorb the truth.

  ‘You,’ she breathed. ‘Why?’

  ‘Why not?’ he said and leant over to grab Joel by the scruff of the neck to haul him up onto his feet.

  ‘You always had an evil streak, but this… this is this is unbelievable. How can she have seduced you into this?’ Molly screamed, but he just continued dragging Joel toward the door furthest from her. ‘Harry! Talk to me!’

  ‘What?’ he snapped, and dropped Joel to the floor with a thud. ‘What is it, Mol?’

&nb
sp; ‘I can understand Melissa being scared and blackmailed into this… but you?’

  ‘What?’ he said. ‘You thought I was a saint? No, you didn’t… You never wanted to be with me. You were with me because you had to be. I was never enough for you.’

  ‘Oh my God!’ Molly said, trying to shake herself to her senses. ‘How does she do it? How does she brainwash you all? Can’t you see this is wrong?’

  ‘You’re right, it is,’ he said. ‘This was supposed to be Mason… but your relationship with the cop changed things. Joel was protected, he was with Vanessa and we couldn’t risk being seen by her.’

  ‘Where is she? Where is Vanessa?’ Molly demanded.

  A slick smile spread to Harry’s face. ‘At your precious bar,’ he said. ‘She doesn’t even know that you’re missing. She thinks you’re with the cop. She thinks she is doing you a favour. She left Joel at her place to open the bar for you… Ashton’s will remain open another night.’

  ‘What did you do with Mason?’ she challenged him.

  ‘He’s still lying in his bed… right where my sweetheart left him.’

  ‘You two,’ Molly said, gawking at them.

  ‘Hang on a minute,’ Melissa said. ‘I don’t understand… what has he got to do with anything?’

  Molly saw Melissa’s fear and confusion. She obviously hadn’t been let in on this part of the plan. It was a shame to watch. The naïve Melissa didn’t know it, but her fate was sealed. Shona wouldn’t want loose ends, and that was exactly what Melissa was. Choker had been smart to recruit someone that the boys would trust. They would never have gone anywhere with Harry. After his fight with Andrew they all vowed never to talk to him again, and he was ostracized from the group.

  In that respect, it made sense that Harry had an axe to grind with his high school buddies. He was cut out of everything and everyone he had known his whole life when he cheated on Molly. The guys had all grown up together, and suddenly Harry wasn’t a part of it anymore. All he had done was Molly. Andrew wasn’t excluded for sleeping with her, but Harry was. Except it wasn’t sex with her that had got him into trouble, it was sex with Flora.

  She knew the pain it had caused him to be banished. Shona had picked her partner well. It wasn’t love. Harry might think it was, but it wasn’t. He was another tool for Choker.

  Harry would never have done anything like this on his own. He didn’t have the stomach for it. But with a woman like Shona he would have been easily persuaded to leave his quiet brooding and take action. All she would have had to do was question his manhood, and he would have jumped to it.

  ‘Harry is here to help us,’ Shona said, and slid her arms around his neck.

  The song still played on repeat in the corner, and it was already driving Molly mad. She averted her eyes as the pair slobbered over each other.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Shona said. ‘Jealous?’

  ‘You’re welcome to him,’ Molly said. ‘You’re welcome to each other. Just let the rest of us go.’

  ‘Why would we do that? Don’t you see that this has been the plan all along?’ Shona said. One side of her mouth tipped up, and Molly saw the bright twinkle in her eye.

  ‘What? What plan?’ Molly asked.

  ‘You, you will be found here with Joel and Harry. Completing your final act of awfulness. Melissa and I will be nowhere near here.’

  ‘I’ll be found how? How will they find me?’

  ‘My magnificent Harry has spent the best part of the day giving the performance of his life.’

  ‘To who?’ Molly asked.

  ‘Your beloved detective,’ Shona spat.

  ‘You’ve been with Blake?’ Molly asked. Worry for Blake’s safety made her heart rate increase.

  ‘He now has enough information to piece together the case… Of course, Harry couldn’t point the finger directly at you. You ruined that when you seduced the detective, and he is still in the stupor of your seduction.’

  ‘Much like Harry is in yours,’ Molly growled.

  ‘Harry told him about his suspicions, and how you keep your unstable side hidden.’

  ‘Blake knows I didn’t do this. He’s my alibi for Joseph’s murder.’

  Shona laughed. ‘And how much credibility will he have when the prosecutor finds out that he’s been having sex with the chief suspect? We didn’t anticipate that, and it changed our plans, but it worked out perfectly. The jury won’t believe a word he says. Harry will testify to the truth. That you always had a hatred of your brother’s friends. You blamed them for the accident which took your brother and blamed Andrew for ripping Harry from your life. You’re a troubled woman with a grudge to bear.’

  ‘They’re not going to believe it,’ Molly said.

  ‘They won’t have a choice,’ Shona said, ‘when you are caught here with two more victims. One dead and one fighting for his life… none of them will have a choice.’

  ‘They know I didn’t kill Joseph.’

  ‘One subject won’t hold up in court. He lay there long enough that the time of death was only estimated. And Blake will be suspected of covering for you. His career will be ruined.’

  ‘Why would you do this? Why would you care?’ Molly asked.

  ‘You ruined my life. I want to ruin yours,’ Shona said.

  ‘Why not just kill me? Get it over with?’

  ‘Death is too easy,’ Shona said. ‘You have to live knowing what you caused, live with your liberty taken away at the mercy of those who may or may not choose to take pity on you.’

  ‘You are sick!’ Molly snarled.

  ‘Perhaps,’ Shona said. ‘But this was your own doing! Take him, sweetheart,’ she commanded Harry.

  He grabbed Joel from the floor and dragged him through one of the doors at the back of the room.

  ‘But wait,’ Melissa said. ‘You said someone had to be sacrificed.’

  ‘I did,’ Shona said and turned her attention to her protégé.

  ‘But you said that Molly has to live with what she has done,’ Melissa murmured.

  ‘She can ramble as much as she likes about me and Harry. Harry will appear to be a victim. Joel will be dead and Ashton will be the only one here. She will be caught with the smoking gun… so to speak. Everyone will just believe that her words are the ramblings of a crazy, desperate woman. Harry will testify that there was never anyone else here.’

  Melissa took a step backward. ‘So why? Why am I here?’

  ‘You were wonderful,’ Shona said. ‘Truly brilliant. You did your job well… to the absolute best of your ability, but you knew it was never going to last.’

  ‘Shona,’ she murmured.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Shona said. ‘It will be painless.’

  ‘No!’ Melissa said, and tried to run for the door. Shona grabbed her arms and pulled her backwards to throw Melissa down onto the couch, forcing her arms to her sides. Shona clambered above her and knelt on Melissa’s hands, straddling her hips. ‘No! Please! Don’t! You can’t! We—‘

  ‘I’m sorry, Missy,’ Shona said. She snatched a pillow from beside her and held it across Melissa, who kicked and screamed beneath the weight of her captor.

  ‘Shona! Stop!’ Molly screamed. ‘Stop it! Stop! No one else has to die! Please!’ She yanked and pulled at her chains, but it was fruitless. She was going nowhere.

  At that moment, a brilliant white light shone through the front window and lit up the whole place. Shona sat bolt upright and Molly scanned left to right, listening to the whoop of rotor blades.

  ‘You’ve been surrounded!’ a megaphone rang out.

  ‘What?’ Shona screamed. ‘No! Harry!’

  Harry dashed through from the back room. ‘What the fuck?’ he screamed.

  ‘It’s too early! What did you tell them?’ Shona demanded.

  ‘Nothing!’ Harry screamed back, poking his fingers into his ears.

  Shona ducked to the floor away from the light and Melissa flopped onto the floor beside her. The faintest movement in Melissa’s chest to
ld Molly that she still had a chance.

  ‘They don’t know we’re here,’ Shona screeched. ‘They’re guessing.’

  ‘Damn good guess!’ Molly shouted over the noise of yelling and slush outside the door. Car engines rumbled and the white light was intermittently broken with blue lights. ‘I think you’ve been found out! Maybe the music gave it away!’

  ‘You!’ Shona shrieked and crawled across the floor. ‘You did this!’

  ‘How could I do this? Do you think that Blake is psychic?’ Molly mocked.

  ‘You and your detective!’ Shona snapped.

  Snatching her bag, Shona fumbled inside until she produced a shining new revolver. ‘You’re going to fix this!’ Shona demanded, pressing the barrel into Molly’s temple. She proceeded to unlock Molly from the pipe and pull her onto her feet, then drag her to the front window.

  ‘Throw your weapons out of the door, and come out with your hands up!’ the megaphone squealed.

  Shona wrapped her arm around Molly’s throat and hid behind her. Molly tried to struggle free but with her hands and feet still chained it was hard enough to stay upright.

  ‘Stop struggling!’ Shona hissed into her ear and pressed the gun into her neck. ‘Open the door.’

  Molly was barely allowed to touch it with her fingertips and only just managed to get it open. As it swung open Shona pulled her back and slammed both of them against the wall inside the door.

  ‘You’re going to confess!’

  ‘Excuse me?’ Molly yelled. The sounds around them were dying down now that those surrounding the building had seen movement. The rotors stopped and some of the car engines died. All shouts dulled to nothing but whispers. ‘They’re not going to believe it.’

  ‘You are going to ask for safe passage for yourself and your hostages.’

  ‘Why would my hostage have me at gunpoint?’

  ‘There is no way out of this,’ Harry bawled, and began to pace. ‘We can’t win now! Oh my God, what have we done?’

  ‘Shut up!’ Shona snapped. ‘You tell them that we want out of here or you, Melissa, and Joel can all say goodnight. We want safe passage out of the country and half a million.’