The BIG Horror Pack 2

by Iain Rob Wright

  There was a long pause, then: Roger that. Secure casualties. Backup units to arrive in fifteen. Over.

  The voice had sounded sad. There was nothing further to say, so Jessica simply said, “Roger that. Over.”

  Howard stumbled out of the stable and leant against the building. “Heinz didn’t have that big a lead on us,” he said. “The gunshots were only five minutes ago. He must be close.”

  Jessica looked around at the darkness and agreed. The buildings were all lit with security lamps, but that only made the surrounding darkness blacker. Heinz could be twelve feet away and they couldn’t know it.

  Jessica shone her torch into the darkness, lighting up the muddy flower beds, bins, and benches lining the paths. Every dozen feet was a sign spiked into the earth reading: STAY OFF THE GRASS. There was no sign of Heinz, no movement at all, but Jessica did spot something. She stared down at the path; there was a small speck of colour a few feet in front of her, and as she knelt closer she saw that it was a bright-pink acrylic nail. “Howard! Howard, come take a look at this.”

  Howard hurried to join her. He looked down at the nail and shrugged. “You think it belongs to the girl?”

  “I don’t know, but Heinz mentioned something about fake nails and make-up. Plus it’s pink.”

  Howard switched on his own torch and headed a few metres further down the path. “We’ve got another one here.”

  They found another four before the trail ran dry. “She must have been biting them off as he dragged her,” said Jessica.

  “Clever girl. They stop here, though.”

  Jessica took in her surroundings. There was a café and shop nearby, but their glass fronts gave away that they were both locked and empty. A blinking alarm system made it an unlikely place for Heinz to take refuge.

  Jessica shone her torch in every direction. Left…right…

  She spotted it. The pink acrylic nail caught the light. Jessica stepped off the path and onto the mud. “They went this way.”

  “What’s over there?”

  Jessica shone her torch into the distance, spotting a familiar sign. “A block of toilets. We should check it out.”

  “We should wait for backup, but that’s not what we’re going to do, is it?”

  Jessica looked at her partner. He was soaking wet and panting, in obvious pain. “I can’t help it,” she said. “The girl…”

  Howard nodded. “I know. Come on, let’s go save her.”

  They headed towards the toilet block, spotting another pink nail on their way. The girl was smart; even in her terror and agony she was thinking pro-actively, not behaving like a victim.

  “How you want to do this?” asked Howard. He pointed his gun towards the gentleman’s entrance.

  Jessica shook her head. “He’ll choose the lady’s. He’ll get a thrill going where he’s not supposed to.”

  “Lady’s it is then. Stay back. If things turn sour, you need to take cover and wait for back up.”

  Howard crept forward, his P45 held out in front of him. There was a spotlight over the door and as he stepped into it, Jessica saw what a mess Howard was. Dirt and blood plastered his clothing which was sodden from the rain. His entire body tilted to the left, contracting around his wounded ribs.

  While they had discussed which toilet Heinz might have been hiding in, they had not considered the possibility that he might have been above them. The first shot rang out and lit up the shadows. The bullet had been meant for Jessica, but it missed and struck the dirt next to her feet. She leapt forwards and shoved herself flat against the wall, clutching her CS canister as her only lifeline. The roof overhung by a foot and gave her some cover. Howard ducked inside the entrance to the lady’s, but leant out to get her attention. He gave a hand signal: stay.

  Jessica nodded. She looked upwards and tried to pinpoint Heinz’s location. His bare feet made slapping sounds that joined the endless pitter-patter of the rain. Howard crouched down, pointing upwards with his gun, trying to find a target.

  Unfortunately, the target found them first.

  Howard’s eyes went wide, then he leapt up and pointed his gun. “Jessica, get down.”

  Jessica was facing Howard, but she felt the presence looming behind her; she heard Heinz’s bare feet slapping in the mud. She spun around, just in time to see the escaped psychopath rise up, bare-chested and bloody. He aimed the gun at her forehead and pulled the trigger.

  6

  Jessica managed to leap aside just as the gun bucked in Heinz’s fist. The sound was deafening and the muzzle-flash blinded her. All she could do in her frightened desperation was press the release on her CS canister and hold it out in front of her.

  Hissssssss!

  Her legs gave out and she tumbled onto her hands and knees. Her palm slipped on the wet mud and a jolt of pain ran up to her elbow. She screamed.

  There was more gunfire. Jessica looked up to see Heinz dodging back, firing blindly as he covered his eyes with his forearm. Howard was taking cover in the toilet’s entrance, but he returned fire as best he could. Jessica considered getting up and trying to take Heinz down, but when she tried to push herself up, she instantly yelled out in agony.

  Heinz continued firing blindly, his face a mask of agony as the CS gas burned his sinuses. Jessica had managed to save her own life by holding on to the canister. Turned out that it had been a match for a gun.

  Click click click!

  Heinz thrust the gun out, trying to make it fire, but it was empty. He tossed the gun aside, wiped at his eyes madly, then sprinted away into the shadows. Howard leapt out and took a shot at the fleeing killer, but his gun too was empty. “Damn it!” He reached into his pocket and pushed another clip in, but Heinz was already gone. He rushed over to Jessica and propped her up. “Are you okay?”

  “I…I think my wrist is broken. No…no wait, it’s just a sprain. Did you manage to hit him?”

  Howard shook his head. “The rain, the wind, the dark…”

  Jessica nodded. Trying to hit a target in conditions like this was a challenge. She marched forward and shouted into the darkness. “You better give yourself up, Heinz, because if I have to come and find you, you’re going to regret it.”

  “Jessica?”

  Jessica was breathing like a wound-up pitbull. She spun on Howard with fury, but it wasn’t meant for him, so she reigned herself in. “We need to catch him, Howard. He’s a monster.”

  Howard was leaning in the doorway of the lady’s toilets. In the entrance light he looked ghostly and pale. He was holding his palm up to her, which appeared black.

  “What is it?” she asked him.

  “I think it’s blood.” He indicated a glistening wet streak on the wall. Jessica got close enough to see that it was, in fact, a fresh blood stain. The tangy, metallic odour was unmistakable. The real question was did the blood belong to Heinz?

  Jessica wiped the rain from her face and blinked. They were going to have to step inside the toilet block, but she didn’t want to. Something in her guts told her to run the other way. “The girl,” she said.

  The lights inside came on automatically, presenting the scene like a crime scene slide suddenly appearing on a projector screen. Jessica went still, her eyes the only thing moving as they took it all in. The girl lay on the bloody tiles, her underwear completely missing. Her exposed flesh was grimy with mud and mostly unharmed, but her face was a ruined mess. As Jessica glanced to her left, she saw a shattered mirror above one of the sinks. The spiderweb of jagged shards were bloody and lined with chunks of flesh. Heinz had smashed the poor girl’s face into the glass over and over again, until her features had turned to putty. Then, obviously in a hurry, he had taken the time to quickly violate her. The slender tree branch still poked out from between the girl’s legs.

  Jessica couldn’t blink, couldn’t swallow. “We didn’t even learn her name.”

  Howard felt for a neck pulse, then looked over his shoulder at Jessica and shook his head. “Looks like he killed her in a
hurry,” he said.

  “He didn’t want to risk us saving her,” said Jessica. “Us chasing him probably lessened her time. Damn it! If I hadn’t let Heinz get the jump on me…” She suddenly lost control of herself, booting the door to one of the stalls, sending it crashing open on its squawking hinges.

  Howard jumped up. “Hey, this is a crime scene. Keep your shit together, Bennett! This girl’s family is depending on you now. We still need to bring Heinz in. He’s out there, unarmed and tired.”

  Jessica clenched her fist. “We don’t even know who this girl was, so we don’t know she even has a family. As for Heinz, we’re as weak and tired as he is. You can barely stand and my wrist is useless.”

  Howard was hunched over and made no attempt to straighten. “Maybe, but there are two of us and we have guns.”

  Jessica was about to argue but then realised that Heinz had tossed her Glock when it ran out of ammo. She went back outside and shone her torch where Heinz had fled. She found her Glock buried in the grass. Pulling a new clip from her belt, she loaded the handgun and suddenly felt more confident. The thought of unloading the entire magazine into Heinz’s forehead gave her impetus to carry on.

  Howard joined her in the rain. His P45 was freshly loaded and ready to fire. If they couldn’t take down Heinz now, they didn’t deserve their roles protecting the public. One way or another, Heinz was leaving in custody, either in cuffs or a bodybag; Jessica didn’t care which.

  In the distance, she spotted several lights. It didn’t take long to realise that they were torch beams.

  “Back-up’s here,” said Howard. “I hope somebody brought painkillers.”

  Jessica watched the silhouettes of police officers rushing up the hill and wished they’d arrived five minutes sooner. She headed down the path and met Sergeant Young at the head of the pack. He looked at her eagerly, his rotund belly heaving as he caught his breath. “Heinz?”

  Jessica shook her head.

  “How about the girl?”

  Jessica chewed at her lip. “We were too late.”

  Young let his head drop. “Bugger it!”

  The small group of arriving police officers let out a collective moan. It was then that Jessica noticed a man out of uniform: he was mildly handsome with wavy hair and dark eyes. He looked nervous and sick, not dejected and angry like the police officers. “Who’s this?” Jessica asked Sergeant Young.

  “This is Blake Price. He’s an author, one of Heinz’s original victims.”

  “You mean his wife was,” corrected Jessica.

  “Yes, my wife was a victim,” said Price. “I wasn’t there to protect her.”

  “So what are you doing here now?”

  Sergeant Young interjected. “When Heinz escaped, we informed Mr Price that he was in danger. His family have gone to stay with friends, but Mr Price was insistent on helping.”

  Jessica frowned. “Help how?”

  Price pushed his way to the front of the group. He kept his voice low, almost a whisper. “Heinz is obsessed with me. He thinks we’re friends. If I can get close to him, I might be able to talk him round. He’s delusional, but I’m a big part of those delusions.”

  Jessica didn’t like it. “Pretty risky. Why not leave it to the police?”

  Price stared hard at her for a moment. “Six months ago, my brother died. He was a brave man and died trying to protect other people. At his funeral I promised him that I would do my best to honour his memory. Believe me, my first instinct is to get as far away from this place as possible, but if I can help bring an end to this before anyone else is hurt... Heiz might have information about a missing girl, right?”

  Jessica saw a deep sadness in Blake’s eyes, especially at the mention of his brother. She trusted his convictions; Price really did want to help. “Okay,” she said. “Just stay with Sergeant Young until I call for you.”

  Sergeant Young bristled. “I think your time calling the shots is over. Two of my officers are lying dead in a stable, your own man is injured, and now Heinz’s hostage is dead.”

  “You’re right, I made a complete pig’s ear of this entire thing, which is why I’m not going to allow any more of your men to risk their lives. Office Hopkins and I will get you your man, even if it kills us. You have my word.”

  Sergeant Young went to argue, but ended up sighing. “So far, all this is on you. Less I get involved the better, but if Heinz escapes the nature reserve, it’s over to me and my men. We’ll maintain a perimeter until then.”

  Jessica nodded. “Don’t worry, Heinz is done escaping.”

  She checked on Howard who’d taken a seat in the mud. He was taking slow, steady breaths, but he managed a grim smile as he noticed her approaching. “Hey,” he said. “The cavalry here to take over? I was hoping we had a little more time to fix our screw-up.”

  “They’re going to maintain a perimeter while we bring him in. MCU still have the lead.”

  Howard raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “How’d you talk the Sergeant into agreeing to that?”

  “I used my Southern charm. Okay, maybe it had something to do with Young not wanting to put his name to our mess. We have one last shot to bring Heinz in, and this time we have an added advantage.”

  “What’s that?”

  Jessica pointed at Blake. “You may have heard of him: his name is Blake Price.”

  7

  Howard was torn between passing out and wanting to salvage what was left of the MCU’s reputation. When it came to terrorists, Howard knew what to expect: they were maniacs with rules and beliefs. Monsters like Heinz had no rules or beliefs, entirely unpredictable, which was why a half-naked serial killer leaping from the roof of a toilet block had taken Howard by surprise.

  The next surprise might kill him. His ribs felt like broken glass, stabbing into him with every movement. The more time that passed, the harder it became to breathe. If he was forced into action one more time, he feared he might lose consciousness.

  Jessica was busy checking in with Sergeant Young. It was surprising how much she’d changed in only the last few hours. She’d gone from being his reluctant back-up, to throwing herself into the task with gusto. She’d started to resemble the headstrong woman he knew from MCU’s headquarters. He just hoped her impulsiveness wouldn’t lead to any more mistakes.

  The truth was that MCU had been tasked with bringing in Heinz to show that they could operate within a broader spectrum than only domestic terrorism. If they succeeded in bringing the escaped killer in, the MCU’s remit might grow, along with its prestige. There was a lot riding on their success; Palu was counting on them. Sending Jessica into the field to help Howard had been unavoidable. The MCU was recruiting and most of its senior members were recuperating from a previous mission. Jessica and Howard were all that was left, and Howard himself had only just recovered from a fractured radial bone.

  Now, Jessica came hurrying over, her eyes lit. “They have Heinz,” she said.

  Howard frowned. “They’ve captured him?”

  “No, but they have him surrounded at the abbey. They found him there, trying to shake off the effects of the CS gas.”

  Howard rolled onto his side and tried to get up. Jessica assisted him, grabbing him under the armpit. “You need to sit this out?”

  “I’m good for now. I’ll quit when I pass out.”

  “Okay, great, because we’re going to finish this now. I want that crazy son-of-a-bitch locked up for the rest of his life. Either that, or—”

  “I know,” said Howard. “I want to put a bullet in the guy too, after what he did to that innocent girl, but he’s sick, right? You said that he belongs in a hospital.”

  Jessica nodded, but she was obviously angry. “Let’s get back down to the abbey.”

  They headed down the hill and slowly the abbey emerged. This time the harsh stone walls were surrounded by a dozen police officers. Sergeant Young stood in front of the large square tower, waiting for them. “Heinz is inside. He managed to attack one of my men,
but it’s nothing he can’t walk off. It’s pitch black in there, though, so it’s going to be risky for whoever goes in there.”

  “Is Heinz still unarmed?” asked Howard.

  “No, he’s managed to get hold of a metal spike. He may have pulled it from one of the signs in the ground. There’s a ton of them dotted around the park.”

  Jessica grunted. “Great. Is there no way we can get this place lit up?”

  Young nodded. “Sent some men to fetch a spotlight. It’ll probably take about twenty minutes.”

  Howard shrugged. “We have twenty minutes. Heinz isn’t going anywhere.” He folded his arms and shivered. He was covered in mud and soaked through. His reward, once this evening was through, would be a soaking hot bath; but with the endless briefings required after an incident like this, that would likely still be hours away. Dawn would be near by the time he made it back to his flat in London.

  Howard took a short stroll and stopped in front of the black rectangle that led inside the ancient abbey. Somewhere inside, Heinz took shelter. Was the man cowering like a trapped animal, or was he beyond fear? Was he waiting inside with no other instinct but to harm the first person to come in after him?

  Jessica came up beside Howard and shouted. “Heinz, we have you surrounded. You’re not going to hurt anybody else. You’re going back to the hospital. Throw down your weapon and come on out.”

  Silence.

  “Richard Heinz, you will be returned to the hospital tonight. The only question is whether or not we have to shoot you first.”

  “Whore! You speak to me no more.”

  “Oh, I’m going to speak to you, Heinz. I’m going to speak to you like the sad little boy that you are.”

  Howard looked at her. “Jessica, what are you doing?”

  She shrugged. “What harm will it do? If he runs out to attack me, I’ll shoot him. If not, we’re no worse off. Until then, I want Heinz to know what a piece of slime he is, mentally insane or not.”

  Howard wanted to say it was a bad idea winding the psychopath up, but he just sniffed and said, “Fair enough.” Jessica was right, what was the harm?