Buried (Alex Hope Series Book 2)

by Aj Estelliam

  He came from another room, eyes wide with alarm.

  ‘Alex?’

  I ran to him and he held me fast with strong arms as I panted with exertion. ‘Yateley…the church yard at Yateley,’ I told him, shaking with fear.

  ‘Come on then! Let’s go!’ he said, with excitement.

  I felt my legs growing heavy beneath me and when he saw me falter, he ushered me to one side and into a side room where he sat me down and knelt in front of me holding my hands.

  ‘What it is, Alex?’ he asked. ‘What haven’t you told me?’

  I looked up and met his eyes with tears welling rapidly. ‘He’s dead, Dan…something went wrong this time…he’s not even under the grave-he’s on top of it. He’s lifeless though…there’s nothing left,’ I said, brokenly and began to cry.

  The Captain nodded at me gravely. ‘Alex, get a grip on this. Now come on…we need to find him fast. Will you come with us?’

  I looked up at him and lifted the back of my hand to wipe the tears away. ‘Of course,’ I said, straightening.

  He helped me to my feet and we headed out to the station to assemble a team to recover Matthew’s body.

  Chapter 7

  When we reached Yateley graveyard, I could feel the presence of evil still lurking in the grounds. I had travelled there with Captain Withers and Jess. We had explained it all to Jess on the way.

  Even though I had outlined it all to them both, I was clear that they were still hoping I was wrong but I knew I was right. I could see it clearly now.

  We climbed out of the car and this time there was no mad rush to get to the graveyard. This time, there was no-one to save; simply a body to recover-a child’s body.

  I shivered as we all make our way around to the back of the church. This church was further out than all the others to date. The perpetrator was clearly going further afield with his crimes now.

  I got to the edge of the grass where the graves lay before me. A tear slipped down my cheek as my stomach lurched violently. I didn’t want to go any further so I turned to Captain Withers.

  ‘He’s over there,’ I said, pointing.

  The Captain nodded and then went forward with his team. Jess stayed by my side as they moved on.

  I watched from a distance as they uncovered his little body. I watched seasoned police officers become sick and turn away from the horror of finding a dead child. I turned into Jess’ coat and cried for his loss. His poor parents, I mused. They would never get over this. This would change their lives forever.

  The forensic team arrived and took over. This was now a murder case. It had gone beyond kidnapping and into dangerous territory. Jess took me back to a police car and we sat in the back while they worked.

  ‘What do you think happened here, Alex?’ she asked.

  I swallowed hard. ‘I’ve been thinking about that,’ I told her quietly.

  ‘Any ideas?’

  I met her eyes and felt that connection between us that was always there. ‘I’m not entirely sure…only the sense that there is anger here.’

  ‘Anger at Matthew?’ she questioned.

  I nodded. ‘Yes-but that makes no sense, right? Why would the killer be angry at a child?’

  She shrugged. ‘I don’t understand it either.’

  ‘It’s a change in victim too, right? Don’t most killers and kidnappers stick to the same victim type?’

  She nodded, slowly. ‘You’re right…in most cases. Most serial killers stick to a type…women, men or a certain group-like gay men or black women…it’s more common to follow the same victim pattern throughout their spree. This makes no sense. Two women and then a child? Maybe he grew desperate?’

  I frowned, shaking my head. ‘Not desperate, just…angry.’

  ‘Why would he be angry at a child?’

  ‘If I knew that, I could help more!’

  ‘You’ve helped loads, Alex.’

  ‘I’ve found a dead child, Jess. That’s about as awful as it gets,’ I said feeling awful. ‘His poor parents…I feel so guilty.’

  ‘You don’t need to feel anything of the sort! You’re not to blame here!’

  ‘Perhaps if I had seen something sooner…perhaps I could have found him before it was too late.’

  She shook her head. ‘You’re not God. You’re not making miracles happen here. If you can help, that’s great-but this is not all dependant on whether or not you see something, Alex.’

  ‘I feel like it is now, Jess. Everyone is beginning to rely on me so much…I don’t know if I can stand the burden.’

  She swallowed. I saw her jaw work. ‘Maybe you’re right…we have been looking to you a lot lately for solving these crimes.’

  I looked at her, wide-eyed. Whether or not they knew it or not, they had been looking to me for the answers. Traditional police work wasn’t quite cutting it with these two latest cases. They had needed my intuition and knowledge and without it, many more lives would have been lost.

  ‘Here comes the Captain,’ I murmured.

  Jess turned and we waited for him to reach us.

  ‘Hey,’ he said grimly.

  ‘Hey,’ I said softly. ‘What have you found out?’

  He breathed deeply and let out a shuddery breath. ‘The boy is dead…there’s no getting away from the fact that this was a brutal and horrific attack on this young boy. It looks like it was carried out in a fury…’

  I frowned at him. ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘Because of the injuries to the lad. He was attacked with what I suspect was a shovel-his face and upper body caved in through repeated blows. I wonder if our killer was going to bury him like the others but somehow couldn’t restrain himself. Maybe he’s angry because the other two were saved? I don’t know-do you?’ he asked me, meeting my eyes.

  ‘I don’t know…I only sensed what you did-anger. Deep rooted, intense anger.’

  He held my eye contact and looked at me closely. ‘Are you doing alright?’ he asked gently.

  I shook my head. ‘No, not really.’

  ‘Jess, do you want to take Alex home?’

  ‘I think it would be a good idea,’ she murmured. ‘Alex is feeling a little overwhelmed. Remember she’s not used to all this,’ she said, somewhat pointedly, meeting his gaze and sending unspoken messages to him.

  He nodded, looking grim-faced. ‘Go home. I’ll phone later.’

  She turned and offered her hand to me. I took it gratefully and she led me over to another police car. She climbed in and drove me away from the horrible scene of death.

  As we drove, I wept. I wept for Matthew and a short life lost. I wept for his parents who would soon be told the news which would change their lives forever. It broke my heart to imagine the moment in which some poor soul gave them the news. I assumed it would the Captain…what an awful job, I thought.

  ‘Try to put it out of your mind,’ Jess said softly beside me.

  ‘How can I?’ I questioned. To that, she had no reply.

  ‘We need to focus now. Find the person who has done this and put them away.’

  I nodded. ‘Definitely. I’m going to try anything to figure out who is behind this…meditation, hypnosis…anything!’

  ‘Good idea. I’d do whatever helps too.’

  ‘I know,’ I murmured softly.

  We pulled into Jess’ drive and got out of the car. We headed into the house only to hear the phone ringing.

  ‘It’s my Dad,’ I told her as we went in.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said, hurrying over to pick up the phone. ‘Hey Dad!’

  ‘Oh hey, Alex! I’ve been trying to call for ages,’ he told me.

  ‘Sorry…things have been…hectic, you might say,’ I told him softly.

  ‘I can imagine. We saw the news, Alex…anything to do with your police department?’

  ‘I, uh, yes,’ I said regretfully. ‘I’ve been involved in it since we got back.’

  ‘Oh dear…it sounds terrible…burying people alive is
just not the work of a sane person,’ he commented.

  I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. ‘I know. I’m struggling too, Dad,’ I told him quietly, moving to sit down on the sofa. ‘I can’t seem to figure this guy out…I can’t hear him, I’m seeing no visions…it’s no good.’

  ‘Well, I don’t want to offer advice where it’s not welcome…’ he began.

  ‘No, go ahead, Dad. I always value your opinion. You know that.’

  ‘Well, it’s like I said, Alex. If this person is burying people alive, he’s not going to be your average Joe. It’s likely he’s sociopathic and perhaps lacking in the emotions of a normal human being. Maybe you’re not tapping into him because he doesn’t have that part of him left. I’d be looking at criminals with known mental health problems and known sociopaths in the area if it were me.’

  I nodded to myself, taking his point on board. ‘That actually makes a lot of sense, Dad…’

  ‘I thought so,’ he murmured.

  ‘Anyway-how are you?’ I said, changing the subject. ‘I miss you both already.’

  ‘We both miss you and Jess too. It’s so quiet here without you.’

  ‘I’ll bet,’ I laughed. ‘We did have a nice time, didn’t we?’ I asked.

  ‘We sure did. You must come back soon.’

  ‘We will-and more importantly, come up here! Scotland is beautiful! Serial killers aside, it’s a great place to live.’

  He chuckled at my joke. ‘We’ll arrange it. We’d both love to come up.’

  ‘Great-well just let me know and I’ll plan to be off work.’

  ‘Okay…well, I imagine you’re busy. I’ll leave you to it,’ he told me.

  ‘Dad?’

  ‘Yes, honey?’

  ‘Keep phoning,’ I told him. ‘It’s nice to hear your voice. It’s very settling for me.’

  ‘Of course, sweetheart. If you ever need me, I’m only a phone call away.’

  For some reason, I suddenly felt like crying. ‘Thanks, Dad,’ I said quietly.

  ‘Alex? Are you okay?’

  ‘Yeah…’ I sighed. ‘Just a really, rough day.’

  ‘Okay. Well, talk to you soon?’

  ‘Yes, absolutely. I love you…send Mum my love too!’

  ‘I will. We love you too, honey! Bye now!’

  ‘Bye Dad,’ I said and then hung up.

  After placing the receiver back in the cradle, I went to the sofa where Jess sat and cuddled up next to her side.

  ‘You okay?’ she asked.

  I shook my head. ‘Not really, no.’

  ‘You’re not regretting coming here, are you?’ she questioned.

  I looked up at her and met her gorgeous eyes. ‘Not exactly, no…’

  ‘Not exactly doesn’t sound that convincing, Alex.’

  I pursed my lips. ‘I just…this is pretty awful, Jess. The things we’ve seen in the past week…’ I trailed off.

  ‘Yes. I know, Alex. The thing is, you can’t discount the fact that there are two women alive today because of you. I know we lost the little boy, but we saved two others. You need to focus on the positive.’

  ‘I bet his parents don’t see it that way,’ I commented.

  Jess sighed. ‘Look, Alex-this is hard…it’s so hard. Especially when there’s a child involved.’

  ‘He was only ten, Jess…just a baby still. He had a whole life ahead of him and it was taken in anger.’

  ‘So, focus on that anger and find out what it’s all about. That’s your only way left to help Matthew.’

  I met her eyes once again and realised she was right. ‘What would I do without you?’ I murmured.

  ‘You never need to find out,’ she told me gently and leant to kiss me on the lips.

  I sighed and kissed her back, glad I had someone like her in my life. I could cope with anything as long as Jess was by my side.

  The rest of the day was spent in quiet contemplation by me. I tried everything I could think of to try and make the visions come; to be able to see the reason that a small boy had died.

  I meditated and listened to a CD, I tried yoga by following a tutorial online and then I simply sat in the quiet and rested my eyes. Nothing seemed to bring me close to any kind of answer.

  Just as I was about ready to give up, Jess’ phone rang and I hurried down the stairs to see who it was.

  ‘What was that?’ I asked Jess when I saw that she had already hung up.

  ‘It was the Captain,’ she said, looking stunned.

  ‘Oh yeah? Don’t tell me something’s wrong? Not another victim?’ I questioned, feeling very worried.

  ‘No,’ she said, but frowned.

  ‘Then what, Jess? You’re worrying me!’

  ‘It’s just…he’s asked us to dinner!’ she exclaimed.

  I tilted my head and listened while her mind worked on overdrive. It appeared in all the time she had known him; the Captain had not asked her to join him socially for any kind of occasion. To her, this was most strange. ‘Well, that’s nice, right?’ I replied.

  ‘It is…’ she began.

  ‘But?’

  ‘But, it’s out of character! What does he want?’ she questioned.

  I sighed. ‘I don’t think this is about what he wants, Jess.’

  ‘You heard me! He just asked us to dinner! He wants us to join him for dinner.’

  ‘Yes, I know…but I doubt he’s planning on coming alone, right?’ I said, pointing her in the right direction.

  It dawned. ‘Oh!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘It’s Fee,’ I told her. ‘Fee wants to meet me…’ I revealed.

  Jess smiled at me knowingly. ‘Why do I feel like I’m always going to fade in comparison to you?’

  ‘Don’t be silly, Jess. I just happen to have a special talent…and it intrigues people.’

  ‘I’ll say…you intrigue me and I know you pretty well now!’ she exclaimed.

  I smiled at her. ‘Say that again and you’re going to make us late,’ I said, grinning.

  ‘You intrigue me…fascinate me,’ she tempted, ‘you absolutely make me yearn…’ she said, stepping into my personal space.

  I moved towards her and lifted my face to hers. ‘What time is dinner?’

  ‘In an hour…’

  ‘Perfect,’ I murmured, kissing her softly. ‘Make love to me, Jess.’

  She covered my mouth with hers.

  Chapter 8

  We made it to dinner-just. Knocking on the Captain’s front door felt odd to me. For Jess, I knew it felt even stranger as this was her boss and he never usually mixed business with pleasure.

  ‘Relax,’ I told her as she waited on the doorstep. ‘It’ll be nice.’

  ‘It’s just weird, isn’t it?’ she mused. ‘This feels a little off!’

  I smiled at her and squeezed her hand. ‘It’ll be fine.’

  The door opened then and Captain Withers stood before us. ‘Ah! Come in!’ he welcomed.

  ‘Thank you,’ I said, stepping in. ‘This is a welcome surprise, Dan!’ I commented.

  ‘Yes well…the lady insisted,’ he muttered, looking ever so slightly uncomfortable.

  ‘Let’s come and meet her then!’ I insisted, encouraging him to move.

  ‘Yes, yes…come on in.’

  We walked through the elegantly furnished house and into the living room where a woman stood waiting. She looked homely and yet beautiful; at ease in her surroundings.

  ‘Fee-this is Jess, my colleague and Alex, who I told you about.’

  I stepped forward as Jess was being a little awkward. ‘It’s nice to meet you, Fee,’ I smiled, shaking her hand warmly, and learning a lot more about her in the process.

  ‘And you,’ she said, smiling happily. ‘I’ve been anxious to meet you,’ she revealed.

  ‘Well, uh…why don’t you two get to know each other?’ the Captain suggested gruffly. ‘Jess? Do you want to help me…in the kitchen?’

  She nodded. ‘Sure.’

  They left and I sat down next to
Fee where she gestured.

  ‘I have a lot to thank you for,’ she began hesitantly.

  ‘You know?’ I asked.

  She nodded. ‘Yes. Dan and I share everything,’ she murmured, ‘well, at least now we do,’ she smiled, covering her stomach gently with her hand.

  ‘I…I hope you don’t mind my involvement-I could just see what you were torn. I knew if he knew, everything would be alright.’

  She nodded. ‘I can’t thank you enough. Now everything is going to be fine,’ she said, with wonder in her eyes.

  I gazed at her and felt a wonderful maternal feeling settle over me. She would make a wonderful mother and it would come easily and naturally to her.

  ‘I’m so intrigued by you, Alex! How do you do it?’ she asked.

  ‘What-the psychic element?’

  ‘Yes!’

  I shrugged and looked away for a moment. ‘I have no idea. It just happens. Sometimes I have visions where I just see things-like you would in a dream. Other times, I just know things…’

  ‘Like where to find those missing people?’

  I nodded. ‘Yes.’

  ‘It must feel wonderful to help people like that.’

  I swallowed hard. ‘It feels wonderful when it’s helping people like you, Fee…but the cases I’ve been involved with…well, that feels anything but wonderful.’

  ‘You’ve found missing people though!’

  ‘I know,’ I said quietly. ‘But I’ve also had to see things I never thought I would ever witness in my life. I don’t think I’m cut out for it…there’s a reason I didn’t join the police force,’ I muttered with a grim expression.

  ‘I suppose this chose you though,’ she said thoughtfully.

  I looked at her with interest. ‘I’ve never thought about it like that.’

  ‘I like to look for purpose and meaning,’ she said quietly. ‘Maybe this was something you were supposed to develop in order to help.’

  I nodded and glanced away. ‘I wish it wasn’t so hard though…’