Darker

by Simon Clark

Joey followed Michael into the boathouse. It looked as if it wasn’t used much any more. A couple of windows were broken; bird droppings spattered the brick floors in a white crust.

  Joey watched Michael unlock a metal cabinet and pull out a shoebox-sized package wrapped in white plastic.

  ‘Joey. This is for you.’

  For a chilling second Joey thought it was a gun.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘Don’t be so nervous, Joey.’

  ‘I think we should go back to the house.’

  ‘Remember at the cottage? I told you I wanted to invest in your property development.’

  Joey was stunned. ‘You want to do that now? Can’t it wait until —’

  ‘Events are going to move very quickly after tonight, Joey. I want to give you the cash now. I’m very grateful for the way you’ve helped me over the last few days.’

  Joey rubbed his forehead, confused. ‘Hell of a strange place to keep your cash.’

  ‘Call me paranoid, but I can’t always trust it to the banks. I’ve had to squirrel away cash here and there in case I couldn’t get access to the house.’

  ‘But we need to draw up written contracts, and you —’

  Michael looked straight at him, the downturned eyes unblinking. ‘I trust you, Joey. Do you trust me?’

  ‘Of course I do. But there must be ten thousand —’

  ‘Fifteen thousand. Come on, Joey. I’ll get you the rest. A hundred thousand should be sufficient for my deposit. I have your bank account details so I can transfer the balance in a few days.’

  ‘Sufficient … a hundred thousand? Yeah, fine … great, I mean —’

  ‘Come on, then, Joey. We can’t waste any more time.’

  Michael walked quickly back to the still-idling bike.

  ‘Where now?’ Joey asked, fear turning to excitement. Cash up front for the Sunnyfields development! He couldn’t wait to see Christine’s and Richard’s gob-smacked faces.

  He climbed back on to the pillion behind Michael. This time Michael left the lake path and cut across the field, scattering the herd of deer.

  Joey realized they were heading away from the house. And when he realized the direction they were headed in the feelings of panic came back hard.

  ‘Michael,’ he shouted above the roar of the bike. ‘You’re taking us up to the trees. That thing’ll come through there any minute.’

  ‘We’re not going that far. Only as far as the drive.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘You’ll see … and don’t worry. We’ve got plenty of time.’

  Joey clutched the parcel of cash to his stomach. This thing was tearing him in two. He wanted to get back to the house and wait in the car with Christine and Amy. But he also wanted that money.

  ‘Nearly there,’ Michael shouted.

  Joey looked ahead, his eyes watering from the slipstream. Where the hell was the cash? All he could see was the grass slope rising before him; the driveway, deer fence, then those two clumps of trees with the sun going down between them.

  He chewed his lip. Maybe even a hundred thousand wasn’t worth all this.

  Michael pulled the bike up just before the driveway passed through the gap in the deer fence.

  ‘Where is it?’ Joey looked around as if expecting to find the bundle of cash lying in the grass.

  ‘Right under your very nose, Joey.’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Cattle grid. Where the drive comes through the fence.’

  Joey watched Michael walk the ten paces or so from the bike to the cattle grid set into the driveway. Michael crouched down and tugged at the steel bars. He pulled again. Shook his head. ‘It’s sticking, Joey. Can you give me a hand?’

  Joey carefully rested the parcel of money on the bike’s seat, then moved to where Michael crouched on the grid.

  Joey’s sense of uneasiness increased. Hell of a weird place to keep all that cash. Basically all it was was a wide trench that ran across the road, covered by a steel grid. Vehicles and people could pass over easily enough but the bars were too widely spaced for hoofed animals so it kept cattle and deer where they were supposed to be as effectively as a gate.

  ‘Are you sure the money’s down there?’ Joey asked.

  ‘Put it there myself three weeks ago.’ Michael pointed down at the grid. ‘I had a section cut so it lifts like a trap door. It’s sticking, though. You’ll have to give me a hand.’

  Joey peered down through the bars. All he could see was shadow.

  Michael crouched down again. Joey heard a metallic scrape and a clunk as if he was maybe releasing the trapdoor’s locking mechanism, but he couldn’t see properly because Michael had his back to him.

  ‘Joey, just get a hold of the bars there and pull.’

  Joey crouched down beside Michael. Again the uneasiness wouldn’t leave him. He glanced back at the redbrick house. It seemed a long way away.

  And the two clumps of trees looked far too close for comfort. Probably less than two hundred yards separated him from them.

  ‘Hold tight, Joey … That’s it. Perfect.’

  ‘Hey, what the hell are you doing? Stop it. Michael … Michael! Stop it!’

  Chapter 78

  Nearly There

  ‘For Christ’s sake, Michael … What are you playing at?’

  Michael rose and walked back to the bike.

  ‘Michael. Take them off me … please.’

  Michael slowly shook his head.

  Joey stared down in horror and disbelief at what Michael had done. The handcuff around his wrist gleamed pink in the setting sun. He tugged hard. He managed to lift his hand no more than five inches before the chain pulled tight, rattling the other cuff where it had been clamped around one of the cattle grid’s solid steel bars.

  Why’s he done this to me? thought Joey, panicking. Why’s he handcuffed me to the cattle grid?

  That thing’s coming …

  … it’s coming soon …

  Time?

  What’s the friggin’ time?

  He tried to look at his watch. His hands shook so much he couldn’t pull back his shirt sleeve with his handcuffed hand.

  ‘Want to know the time, Joey? I make it … let’s see. 8:15.’

  ‘Michael … Take off the cuffs now … please, Michael.’

  Michael stood with his hands on his hips, gazing thoughtfully up at the gap that ran between the clumps of trees.

  As if only just registering what Joey had said he replied, ‘Why should I do that, Joey?’

  ‘Because I helped you.’

  Michael shrugged. ‘It’s a cruel world, Joey.’

  ‘Let me go … please. I’ll do anything you want.’

  He nodded. ‘You would as well, Joey. But …’ He sighed, pretending to sound regretful. ‘But you’re more use to me here.’

  ‘But what on earth for? What good am I up here?’

  Michael walked up to the cattle grid, checked the handcuffs were holding, then, straightening, rubbed Joey’s head as if he was rubbing the head of a dog.

  Chained so he couldn’t straighten beyond a crouching position, Joey twisted to face Michael. The man’s face was expressionless.

  Joey was sobbing now. ‘Michael … Why are you keeping me up here? I’ve done nothing wrong … I … I told you about Christine. I told you all about what … Michael, unlock it. Please, unlock it …’

  Every so often Michael would give the tiniest hint of a smile. Then Joey’s hopes would soar. He’s testing me, he’d think frantically … just testing me. Any second now he’ll unlock the cuff, smile and say ‘Just joking, Joey.’ Then they’d be back on the bike and heading back to the —

  ‘Michael … Where are you going? No …’

  Michael had climbed back astride the bike. He revved it. Blue exhaust swirled around his legs.

  Then, letting the machine idle softly, he looked back at Joey with his downturned gentle eyes.

  ‘Michael.’ Joey’s voice dropped into a low plea. ‘Why are you le
aving me up here?’

  Michael smiled. ‘Bait.’

  Joey’s heart gave a thump and seemed to stop. He froze there, crouched on the grid, not even blinking as he stared at Michael rocking the bike off its stand.

  Michael looked back at him, smiled again and said, ‘What’s wrong, Joey? Devil nicked your tongue?’

  Then he accelerated downhill, back towards the house.

  Joey shook his head. Why couldn’t he breathe? Why couldn’t he speak?

  Then it came blasting through in a long full-blooded scream.

  ‘You can’t leave me here! You can’t! Bastard … BASTARD!’

  Michael’s white shirt stood out against the grass. A single speeding white spot that flew down the hillside, by the lake, then back up across the lawns to the house.

  Joey sobbed like a bullied child. ‘You can’t leave me here … I’ll tell, I’ll tell … I’ll tell!’

  * * *

  ‘When is this forest going to end?’

  Richard crashed the gears as he followed the track uphill.

  ‘Do you know where the house is?’ Rosemary asked.

  ‘No. But I know roughly where the village is. It can’t be that far away.’ He shot Rosemary a look. ‘You think you’ll recognize the house when you see it?’

  ‘Positive. Very big. Three stories. Red brick with tall chimney stacks.’

  He checked the time. ‘Twenty past eight. Christ, we’re cutting this fine. We should be there by now. Amy’s …’ He shook his head. He didn’t know how he’d do it, he only knew, somehow, he’d take his family away from Michael.

  If only he could find a way through this endless wood.

  Michael arrived back at the terrace as Mitch Winter brought Amy out of the house. She carried the Rosemary Snow doll in one arm as if it was a baby.

  Mitch was smiling and talking to her. He looked more like a favourite old uncle than a battle-scarred mercenary. Amy appeared happy enough in his company and Michael watched her explaining something to Mitch that involved a lot of gesturing with her free arm.

  ‘How we doin’, sweetheart?’ Michael said, holding out his arms. She ran happily toward him and held out her arms to be picked up, dropping the Rosemary Snow doll.

  ‘Oops,’ Mitch Winter said, bending down to pick up the doll. ‘Nearly lost little Rosemary Snow there.’

  ‘What’s Rosemary been doing now, sweetheart?’ Michael gently brushed her hair from her face.

  She shrugged. ‘Don’t know, don’t care.’ Then she grinned, her eyes twinkling. ‘Michael. I want to whisper you something.’

  ‘Whisper away, Amy.’

  He carried her towards the armchair. She whispered, excited and breathless, into his ear. ‘Mitch has told me you’ve got a surprise for me.’

  Smiling, he whispered back into her ear, ‘Sure have.’

  ‘What surprise is it?’

  ‘Wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you,’ he whispered.

  Again her hot breath ran into his ear. ‘Is it a surprise for later … or for now?’

  ‘Now.’

  He felt a tremor of excitement run through her. ‘Where is it?’

  ‘You’ll just have to wait a minute.’

  ‘Just one minute?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What’s the big chair outside for?’

  ‘So you can sit and wait for the surprise, Amy.’

  He sat her down in the chair. ‘Just stay there a second. I want to tell Uncle Mitch something.’

  ‘Uncle Mitch.’ She giggled, her hands over her mouth.

  ‘How long now?’ Mitch asked.

  ‘Until what?’

  Mitch glanced round the terrace at the unusual arrangement of the armchair and long dining room table with the laptop computer placed in the centre. ‘Until you do whatever you’ve planned?’

  ‘I thought you didn’t know anything about tonight.’

  ‘I don’t and I’m happy for it to stay that way. All I want to know is when you want me to make myself scarce.’

  ‘You can go now.’

  He nodded. ‘Oh, by the way. You ought to know that …’ He glanced at Amy and dropped his voice. ‘Young and Snow. They’ve just gone and spread Murten and Kramer all over the Tarmac.’

  ‘I thought you said those guys knew how to handle themselves.’

  ‘Even they can’t handle being hit head-on by a Volvo.’

  ‘Richard Young? He did that?’

  ‘The word we’re picking up from eyewitnesses is that Young turned the car round and rammed it into them head-on.’

  Michael rubbed his jaw. ‘You promised me they wouldn’t be a problem, Mitch.’

  ‘And they won’t. I’ve men posted all around the perimeter of the grounds. They’ll pick them off if they get too close … and don’t worry, Amy won’t see a thing from here.’

  Michael nodded. ‘I can rely on them not to screw up?’

  ‘You can.’

  ‘OK. See you later, Mitch.’

  Mitch started to walk away, then something occurred to him. ‘Michael,’ he said in a low voice. ‘What you’ve got planned for tonight. It doesn’t involve hurting the little girl does it?’

  Michael smiled, but his eyes were hard. ‘Go check your men, Mitch.’

  Mitch Winter, stone-faced, walked away.

  Chapter 79

  Static

  Michael crouched beside Amy, smiling and chatting. The sun had all but set; already the sky was turning darker.

  A tiny earpiece linked to the radio in his pocket relayed streams of information from his team in the house. He knew they would be watching the two clumps of woodland from the upper windows. No doubt they could see Joey Barrass tugging at his handcuff chain on the far hill. Michael could even draw a mental diagram of Joey’s position between the house and those clumps of trees through which the Beast would pass.

  And from here, no one could hear Joey’s screams.

  Amy pointed at the tiny black radio mike clipped to Michael’s shirt pocket.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Oh, just a little badge.’

  ‘Funny-looking badge.’

  ‘Would you like me to take it off, Amy?’

  ‘No, it’s OK.’ Amy gave a sudden grin and knitted her fingers together. ‘What’s the surprise, Michael?’

  ‘Oh, but as I said a minute ago, if I tell you it won’t be a surprise.’

  ‘Tell me … please.’ Her eyes shone brightly in the last rays of the sun.

  ‘Well,’ Michael whispered, leaning closer towards Amy. ‘It’s a … oh, I don’t know if I dare tell you.’

  ‘Go on, please.’

  ‘It’s a … puppy.’

  ‘A puppy?’ Her face blazed with happiness. ‘A real puppy?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘One to keep for ever and ever?’

  Michael smiled broadly. ‘For ever and ever. Amen.’

  ‘Oh, I’ve got to ask my Mum if it’s OK to keep him.’ She wriggled towards the end of the armchair, ready to rush inside the house.

  Michael gently laid his hand on her arm. ‘Tell your Mum later. She’s having a sleep at the moment.’

  Amy’s face fell. ‘But she might not let me keep the puppy.’

  ‘Oh, she will, Amy. I’ve already asked her. She says tomorrow we can buy the puppy a basket, and food …’

  ‘And some toys. Puppies like rubber bones and things.’

  ‘Of course we can.’

  ‘And a blanket to sleep on.’

  ‘And a collar, and we – oh … Amy …’ Static cracked through his earpiece. ‘Amy, I think I can hear that puppy. He’s on his way.’

  She twisted round in the armchair so she could look down on to the lawn. ‘Where, Michael? I can’t see him.’

  ‘Now, Amy. This puppy is very special. In fact, he’s a magic puppy.’

  Amy’s eyes went large.

  Michael smiled. ‘So, we have to play a special game to make him stay. Do you understand?’

  She no
dded, grinning excitedly.

  ‘Now, Amy, listen to me and do exactly what I tell you.’

  Joey tugged at the handcuff. He screamed as he tried to snap the chain that held him to the cattle grid by his left wrist.

  The chain links weren’t even bending.

  He paused, chest heaving. Sweat ran down his face.

  Something rattled through the branches of a tree.

  He shouted in fear, looked up the hillside toward the trees.

  A pigeon flew from a chestnut tree. Another followed, wings clacking against the twigs.

  Jesus …

  He breathed deeply.

  Getaway-Joey-getaway-Joey-getaway-Joey … The head-voice rattled … getaway-Joey-getaway-Joey …

  He wiped the sweat from his muddy brown eyes with his free hand. The sky was growing darker.

  Shit, Joey … Get away from here …

  … getaway-getaway-getaway …

  He braced his feet against the cattle grid bars and heaved, trying to snap the chain.

  … bad thing coming, Joey … bad thing coming …

  Static electricity crackled through his hair. The fillings in his teeth tingled.

  He tugged until the skin broke on his wrist. Blood flowed. He shook his head, like a bear caught in a trap. And he screamed and screamed …

  Then something terrible happened.

  On any other hot summer’s evening it would have been welcome.

  Not tonight.

  A breath of air moved down the hillside.

  It ruffled his hair and chilled the sweat on his face.

  Joey stared, eyes bulging.

  THE BEAST WAS BACK.

  Deeply unconscious on the bed, Christine felt it too. She moaned. In the drugged dream she had dreamed she’d been looking for something important. She’d searched her home from garage to attic.

  Now something in the dream found her.

  Something dark.

  A great coldness swept over her. She moaned and struggled to wake.

  As Richard drove the car along the woodland track he heard Rosemary moan.

  ‘Oh, did you feel that?’ she whispered, her eyes wide with shock.

  Richard nodded. It had been like some great dark star passing in front of the sun. He shivered. Ice points pricked his spine.

  The engine began to miss. The digital clock blanked.