by Aj Estelliam
I looked down and saw Fee staring up at me, her eyes wide and round.
‘I’m the one with the life to lose…so I should get to make the decision, right?’ she asked, her gentle Scottish voice lilting in the quiet graveyard.
Jess stared down at her with kind eyes and nodded slowly. ‘Okay,’ she said, exhaling softly. ‘Your choice, Fee. You’re right. It is going to have to be your choice.’
She nodded ever so slightly. ‘I want to go with Alex.’
Mick made a sound of disgust.
‘Okay,’ Jess nodded. ‘Everyone clear the area. Just Alex and Fee remain.’
I sat on the snow as all around me arguments began and the bomb squad fought the decision. Thankfully, Jess held her ground and after long, tense moments, everyone began to disperse.
Soon I was left with Fee and Jess. I looked up to Jess and smiled at her. ‘It’s alright, Jess…go on…’
She shook her head, her face tense and worried.
‘Go on…I’ll be over there in a minute. I’m fine. This is the right thing to do and I’ll be back with you as soon as we’re done.’
She deliberated for a moment more.
‘Jess…go.’
She nodded, then bent and kissed me softly. ‘I love you.’
‘I love you too,’ I told her. ‘Now go…’
She turned and left me alone with Fee in her grave.
Chapter 24
Once Jess was gone, I turned to look down at Fee. I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat and smiled at her gently. ‘You doing okay?’ I asked her.
She exhaled, letting a long breath leave her. ‘Sort of…Alex, you’re sure about this?’ she asked.
I held her eyes steadfastly. ‘Absolutely. I wouldn’t risk it if I wasn’t. Now shall I do this?’ I asked her.
‘Yes,’ she replied nervously.
‘Don’t worry, Fee. It’s going to be okay.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘I’m sure.’
‘I’m going to get to have this baby?’
‘Yes. You do.’
‘And Dan?’ she asked.
I swallowed hard. ‘We’re going to find him too, Fee. Come on…let’s just get this done and then we can work on helping him too.’
‘Okay,’ she said, breathing out noisily.
‘Right,’ I said, picking up the wire cutters. I gingerly reached for the mass of wired and separated them as gently as possible. I used the cutters to encircle my chosen wire and then stopped for a second before cutting. ‘I’m ready,’ I told her, feeling my whole-body tensing. Even though I knew I was right, the whole situation was making me sweat; quite literally.
‘Do it,’ she said, meeting my eyes head on.
I couldn’t believe how brave she was being. She was so strong. ‘Okay. Here goes…’
I leant into the cutters and pressed down, frowning and flinching in preparation. It was almost as if I was anticipation a blast, even though I wasn’t.
I cut, and nothing happened. The ticking immediately stopped and my eyes flew to Fee’s.
‘It’s done!’ I exclaimed, breathlessly.
‘You did it!’ she gasped. ‘Get this thing off me!’
I scrabbled to remove it as quickly as possible and then she all but leapt into my arms. I pulled her out and embraced her tightly, holding her closely. She cried into my shoulder as her whole body shook with the release of tension.
‘It’s okay…you’re okay,’ I told her.
‘Thank you, Alex. Oh God, you saved me, Alex…’ she cried against my shoulder.
I held her closely as we were re-joined by everyone else. I was patted on the back as Fee was helped onto a waiting stretcher. A chorus of ‘well done’ and ‘good job’ sounded all around me but all I cared about was Jess. She came to be and hugged me tightly and I finally relaxed my tense muscles.
‘Oh God…’ I breathed.
‘You did it,’ she murmured.
‘Yeah! Damn straight! Next time believe me, alright?’ I said, staring up at her. ‘I couldn’t believe you didn’t back me right away!’
‘Your life was at stake! Forgive me for being cautious in those conditions.’
I frowned at her.
‘Well, wouldn’t you think twice if the person you loved was about to potentially blow herself up?’
‘I guess. But you know me, Jess. I don’t say these things unless I’m deadly serious. That’s not something I would do.’
‘No…well, anyway-well done. I’m so proud of you,’ she said hugging me close.
‘Thanks,’ I said, feeling unsettled. ‘Come on…we still have another victim to find,’ I murmured. ‘And this time, I have no idea where he is.’
‘Shall we continue on to the rest of the churches.’
I nodded, feeling weary. ‘Yeah, I guess. I don’t have any better plans-do you?’
She shook her head. ‘No. I think that’s our best chance…’
‘And what if he isn’t there?’ I asked her.
She met my eyes, with concern etched on her face. ‘Why wouldn’t he be?’
‘Because I don’t ‘see’ it,’ I said quietly, the pit of my stomach feeling empty and strained.
‘Come on,’ she encouraged. ‘Let’s go and talk to Fee. After that we’ll go all out to find Dan.’
‘Good idea,’ I nodded.
We left the empty grave and headed over to the ambulance which was parked by the two police cars. The bomb squad were preparing to leave and the paramedics stepped aside so we could briefly speak to Fee.
I climbed into the ambulance behind Jess and sat down opposite Fee.
‘Fee-we need your help,’ I told her.
‘Dan?’
I nodded. ‘Yes. Any ideas what happened-who did this?’ I asked her, hoping she would have information.
She shook her head. ‘I don’t know who she is, but I know a woman came to my door early this morning and the next thing I knew, she had overpowered me and I was incapacitated. She injected me with some sort of drug.’
‘She does that with all her victims,’ I shared with her.
‘Well, I lost consciousness at some point and didn’t really wake until I was being dragged across the snow. She was rough with me, dumping me in the coffin. She then strapped the bomb to my stomach, laughed at me and left. I don’t know who she is and what her name is. I’ve never met her before.’
‘You don’t know anything about Dan?’ I asked.
She shook her head. ‘He had left for work early. About an hour before she knocked on my door.’
‘What was the time?’
‘Uh…about seven when she knocked. Dan left at six.’
I frowned to myself. He had gone to work at six? This seemed strange to me. ‘Six?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did he make it there?’ I asked Jess, turning to her.
‘I actually don’t know,’ she replied, frowning. ‘Thanks, Fee. Take care…we’re going to find Dan.’
She nodded, her face serious. I laid a supportive hand on her arm before leaving. ‘He’ll be alright…it’s just a case of finding him.’
She met my eyes. ‘Thank you, Alex. I mean it…thank you.’
‘You’re very welcome.’
I hurried out of the ambulance.
Jess was already half way to the car. I could hear her mind working overdrive and she was having the same thoughts as I was.
I climbed into the car and she was driving out of the church yard before I even belted myself in.
‘You’re thinking what I am,’ I murmured, deep in thought.
‘Yeah?’
‘Yeah…he went in early for a reason.’
She nodded. ‘Exactly. She called him and probably arranged to meet him. We should be able to find it all on CCTV. We should see him arriving at the station and may even be able to see how he left.’
‘I was thinking the same thing.’
‘How can this of happened to him?’ she mused. ‘He doesn’t deserve this! I
just…’ she broke off, shaking her head.
‘Don’t worry, Jess. We’re going to find him.’
‘You know that?’ she asked.
‘Well yeah! I can see an image of him and Fee with their baby on the beach. That has to mean that he lives.’
‘I hope so, Alex. I seriously hope so.’
Jess put the lights on and sped through the traffic to get back to the station. As soon as she was parked up, we hurried out of the car and back into the building. We headed straight for the security offices where we explained what we needed to find.
I watched in fascination as the men working in the office pinpointed the Captain’s time of arrival and searched the tapes for him.
I looked on and waited…patiently trying to see the man in question.
‘There,’ one of the security men called Bill said.
I squinted, looking closer. Sure enough, he was right. It showed the Captain arriving at the police station.
‘Look for her too,’ I suggested, speaking to Jess. ‘I think she would have waited for him to arrive and then gone in afterwards.’
‘Okay…can you go forward slowly, please?’ she asked.
We all watched and followed the next few minutes of tape. Sure enough, after exactly four minutes, she appeared. She was wearing a black power suit and she headed in to the building with a determined stride.
‘Fuck,’ Jess murmured.
‘He got here after all.’
‘And she must have got him here,’ Jess said, looking at me.
‘The question is…where did she take him? We need to watch them leave.’
‘Yeah.’
We sat down as they went through the tape. It seemed to take hours and hours and when we finally reached the cut off where we arrived back from Devon, we stared at each other stumped.
‘Did we miss him?’ Jess asked, looking confused.
‘We watched the whole thing frame by frame. He wasn’t there,’ I murmured.
‘But that makes no sense,’ she replied.
‘It doesn’t…unless he never left,’ I said slowly.
Her eyebrow rose as she looked at me. ‘What are you saying, Alex?’
‘I’m saying-what if he’s still here. What if he’s being held in the building somewhere? Wouldn’t that be the ultimate trick? To keep him so close it’s almost impossible to figure out?’
She stared at me. ‘But we got the note…for him too…he’s still meant to be with death… death upon death.’
‘Yeah,’ I said, thinking fast. ‘Where’s the one place in the police station where that would apply?’
She rose to her feet as her eyes widened in shock. ‘The morgue?’
I nodded, standing. ‘He’s in the morgue.’
We rushed out of the security offices and up to the main task room. We quickly gathered a group of trusted officers and then went to put protective clothing on. The officers prepared themselves as I stood back wearing the protective vest they had handed me.
‘You’re going to need a gun,’ I told them after watching them for a moment.
‘We don’t carry firearms anymore,’ Jess told me.
I frowned at her.
‘We have tasers. I am licensed to carry a weapon but only in exceptional circumstances.’
‘Well, she has a gun trained at his head so I would say this counts,’ I told her clearly.
She stared at me for a long moment before nodding and turning to open the safe. I watched as she armed herself, and then straightened up to full height. I could see her strength and determination to get Captain Withers back to us as soon as physically possible and I admired her for that.
‘You’re coming?’ she questioned.
‘Without a doubt…there might be something you need to know.’
‘Okay,’ she nodded. ‘Let’s get going. He’s already been down there too long.’
I nodded. ‘Agreed.’
We fell into step together and as we walked out to the lifts, I felt a sense of foreboding overcoming me. This was it, I knew. Something was about to happen and it was going to be big. I didn’t quite know what it was though.
As we rode the lift down to the basement where the morgue was, I slipped my fingers into my jeans pocket. I felt for the cufflink and moved it into my palm. As I felt the cold, hard metal, I felt the energy of the man himself come into my body. He was so tired, I knew. His whole body ached and strained and he was fighting sleep. She had cut off his ring finger and the loss of blood was making him weak. He wasn’t ready to give up by any means but he was struggling. ‘Hold on,’ I whispered in my head to him. ‘We’re coming.’
The lift arrived and we all stepped out into the cold, darkened corridor. The lights had been put out and the sterile air seemed colder than normal. I walked down to the door which led to the entrance to the morgue and stopped.
‘What is it?’ Jess asked.
‘I can see them,’ I told her.
‘Yeah?’
‘Yes…’
‘What’s going on? What are we facing?’
‘He’s still tied to the chair. He’s had his left ring finger chopped off so he’s losing blood fast. She has a gun at his head and she’s waiting. She’s waiting for us, I think. She’s feeling…excited, possibly?’
‘Does she intend to kill him?’ Jess wondered.
‘I think so, yes. She hates him and everything she believes he has done to her. She is slipping from being coherent to fantasy world though. I don’t know the best way to get through to her…she’s an utter sociopath so I don’t know what would work.’
Jess exhaled shakily. ‘We’ll just have to make our move, Alex. We can’t leave him in there any longer.’
‘No,’ I said slowly, trying to figure out how this was meant to play out.
‘Get to the back of the group,’ she told me.
I moved as she asked and stood behind the task force of officers.
‘Ready?’ Jess asked, turning to face everyone.
Nods came from them all. I swallowed hard.
‘Let’s go,’ she ordered.
As the door was opened, I held my breath.
Chapter 25
The officers moved forwards and from the back, I could see little. As I moved with them, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I knew she was beyond the door. She felt like evil to me; her whole energy was off…I didn’t like it.
The officers went on to the next door and after a silent count of three, stormed the room. With guns and tasers lifted towards their target, they screamed at her to drop the weapon. I moved to the side to see what they saw. Dan was tied to the chair, completely incapacitated. His eyes were wide and round, fear laced him as she held the gun at his temple.
The woman herself stood there smiling. She was pleased with herself and glad for our arrival. She wanted the world to know of her crimes and she already imagined herself as the subject of many articles, books and films. Her narcissistic side was manipulative and evil. I shuddered as I watched her.
Her eyes flew back and forth amongst the front line of men as they screamed and hollered at her to drop the gun. I moved, unseen around to the side of the room. Not a person in the room tracked me; aside from my Captain. I had seen him clock me as I had heard him. I moved stealthily, sure now how to end this. It wasn’t going to be pretty, but I was entirely necessary.
‘Stop the fucking weapon, Zoe!’ Jess yelled.
‘Drop it! There’s no way out! Save yourself a few years in prison and drop the damn weapon!’ Pete growled.
‘Too late boys,’ she told them with a confident tone. ‘He has to die.’
‘No-one needs to die here, Zoe,’ Jess said, her voice pleading with her to listen.
‘Of course he does! He must die! He can’t live after treating me with disrespect! The man is a disgrace!’
‘Zoe, listen!’
‘No, I’m fed up of listening. The only reason I waited was to have an audience. Ready to watch your leader die?’ she
asked, smiling in an evil sinister fashion.
‘Bye bye, Daniel.’
‘Stellio,’ I said clearly from behind her, poking her hard in the back.
She whirled and the gun was immediately displaced from the Captain’s head. I grasped her and tried to gain access to her arm and get the gun. We wrestled for it, falling this way and that until we toppled and fell, the gun exploding in her grasp as we landed on the floor. I lay beneath her, winded by the heavy fall. As I moved to fight for my life, I looked up and saw her eyes change above me. A sickly-sweet warmth spread over my stomach and chest and I realised what had happened. As blood poured out of the cavity in her chest, she died. I watched the life leave her and heard the voices stop. As the officers swarmed to protect me, they wrenched her from my body. She was already dead. It had happened again. How was it that it ended up like this again, I asked myself? I had killed again, once more in a wrestle for a gun. I lay back against the floor feeling despair and relief. Death was an awful thing, and yet here it was wonderful. I had no doubt that she would have killed the Captain given the chance. I had saved him. I was his heroine.
I was helped to my feet by Jess who was immediately checking my bloody shirt and looking to see if I was bleeding.
‘I’m fine, I’m fine,’ I said, pushing her hands away. I moved from her grasp and over to where Dan still sat, tied to his chair. I bent to my knees in front of him and met his eyes. ‘You’re safe. Fee is alive and well. The baby is fine. This is over,’ I told him, reaching to remove his gag.
‘Thank you,’ he managed brokenly, his voice strained and cracking.
I nodded, lifting my hand to his bloody cheek. ‘I’m so damn, glad you’re safe.’
Unshed tears sprang to his eyes and he blinked against them. ‘I thought I was dead.’
I shook my head. ‘You have a long life ahead of you with a wonderful family. Now, let’s get you the fuck out of here, okay?’ I said, eyes wide.
‘Hell, yeah,’ he agreed, weariness bringing him down. He was exhausted and dehydrated. He was losing blood fast but I knew he would be fine-although first he needed some medical attention.
