Jessica rubbed at the bump on her temple. “Palu’s going to chew me up and spit me out for losing my weapon, isn’t he?”
Howard huffed. “You have no idea, but you’ll come out the other end of it. Just learn from it. Don’t go running off on your own again. We had a woman like that in our ranks for a while once, remember? You don’t want to end up like her.”
Jessica nodded. Sarah Stone had been a temporary officer of the MCU; a raging bull of a woman, badly scarred both physically and emotionally. She’d disappeared off the face of the earth a few months ago, likely the victim of a revenge killing by the terrorist cell she’d helped decimate. Sarah Stone had been a good lesson on how being alone meant being vulnerable. If the woman hadn’t been such a loner, she might not have been singled out and abducted. It might have also given the MCU half a chance to track her down.
“I think I see light up ahead,” said Howard. He lumbered over to a towering poplar and leant against its trunk.
Jessica moved up beside him. She could see the light as well, a faint twinkle coming through the edge of the treeline. “The abbey?”
“Maybe. Sergeant Young said he had men stationed there. Heinz is unlikely to go anywhere near it.”
“He has to go somewhere,” said Jessica.
Gunfire sounded off in the direction of the lights. Howard looked at her. “Looks like I was wrong.”
Jessica pulled at his arm. “Come on.”
Howard managed to jog and they made it to the edge of the woods. They exited onto a pathway that could have originated from the one they’d started on. Before them lay a vast lake. Beyond it was the imposing stone facade of the town’s ancient abbey. Its towering spire pierced the air like an upwards facing spear.
“That place doesn’t look too cozy,” said Howard.
“The perfect place for a guy like Heinz, then.” Jessica took a deep breath. “The gunshots came from over there.”
“Maybe the local police managed to take him down.”
Jessica nodded. “Perhaps, but only one way to know for sure.”
Howard pushed himself upright from the tree trunk. “That means more walking, doesn’t it?”
Jessica helped him get moving. “The drinks are on me after all this is over. Soon as we get Heinz pinned down, we’ll find a way to call back-up. I still want Heinz alive, if possible.”
Howard no longer cared. Heinz was already a killer, but now they’d made him an armed killer. The gunshots at the abbey might not have been aimed at Heinz; they may have come from Jessica’s gun. More innocent people might be dead, and that would be on them.
They kept to the edge of the lake, eyes pinned on the abbey. The lights affixed to its stone walls lit the building from the bottom, bathing its base in shadow. It was the type of place ripe for stories about hauntings and grizzly executions, the perfect place to set a ghost story; only they weren’t heading into a ghost story, they were heading into a slasher flick. Richard Heinz was both evil and insane.
The abbey was perched on a rise. The pathway snaked round the lake and eventually led up that hill. Standing at the bottom of it now, Howard and Jessica looked up at their destination. It was quiet, still, foreboding.
Despite his pain, Howard put his arm out and placed Jessica behind him. His black t-shirt helped him blend with the shadows better than the white blouse beneath her blazer. He also didn’t want her running off half-cocked again, so he’d feel better with her behind him.
Out in the open, the rain was relentless. Thunder rumbled in the distance and the wind whistled across the lake. The dark wood seemed to close up behind them as they left it. The bullet wound in Howard’s shoulder cried out, but it was the fear in his belly that was hardest to overcome. It was only the feeling of Jessica placing a hand on his back that managed to get him moving up the hill, but once he started nearing the abbey, he knew he was heading into danger. It wasn’t his first time, but it might be his last.
5
The adrenaline that coursed through Jessica’s system when she’d first encountered Heinz was beginning to wear off, and in its place was a growing sense of dread. Howard was hurt. He wasn’t losing blood and nothing major had been hit, but she knew the pain would be enough to drop most men. Howard wasn’t most men, of course, but he was still human. He wasn’t in a fit state to take down Heinz on his own, which was why she needed to step up. Her recklessness had placed a gun in Heinz’s hand. Her gun had been used to shoot her own partner; it was negligence of the highest order.
Howard had taken point—no doubt to protect her—but he was slow and laboured. The young girl Heinz had stripped naked didn’t have time to waste. They needed to get moving, but Jessica couldn’t afford to rush off again. Last time she’d been armed and Heinz still got the jump on her. She needed to stay calm and let her brain do the thinking instead of her heart.
Modern security lamps were fixed on the abbey’s walls and green-painted aluminium benches lined the path leading up to it, but otherwise it was like stepping into the past. The harsh grey stone was the type seen only in ancient churches and ruins. Its windows were carved squares lacking glass. Its square tower looked like it could come down at any moment—yet it had stood for centuries.
“Any sign of Heinz?” whispered Jessica.
“No, it’s quiet. I don’t like it.” Howard had his gun unholstered, risen to shoulder level.
They entered the abbey’s boundaries. Parts of the old buildings were only foundations rising three feet out of the mud, but the main tower and the attached cruciform church still stood fully erect. Further on, there was a modern bridge built over a narrow stream which seemed to lead to a crop of modern glass-and-red-brick buildings.
“Wait here while I clear the church,” said Howard.
Jessica nodded. She hovered a few metres behind Howard and watched him disappeared into a rectangle of darkness. The rain hitting the old stone made a hissing sound, making her feel like her hearing was malfunctioning. She wanted to shout out for Howard, but doing so could compromise him. She had no choice but to wait.
Eventually enough time had passed that waiting no longer was an option. Jessica pulled the CS canister from her belt and took a step towards the dark rectangle, dreading what she would find inside the abbey.
“Jessica!”
She flinched and wheeled around, wondering where the voice had come from.
“Up here!”
Jessica looked up and saw Howard staring down at her from the top of the abbey’s square tower. “What are you doing up there?” she hissed.
“The church is clear, but I saw a staircase and headed up. Seemed like a good place to recon.”
“Can you see anything? Can you see Heinz, the girl?”
Howard left then reappeared a moment later. “I don’t see…wait, hold on.”
“What is it?”
“I think I see something. I’ll be right down.”
Jessica waited patiently. When Howard returned, he was huffing and puffing. Climbing fifty feet of old stone steps probably wasn’t the best idea in his condition. “You okay?”
Howard nodded. He took a second to catch his breath, clutching his chest. “I’ll be…fine. I’m just feeling a bit…out of…breath.”
Jessica didn’t say anything. Her partner needed help, but perhaps not as much as the girl they were trying to save. It was a matter of triage.
“I saw something over there,” he eventually said, pointing past her. “There are more buildings, looks like a visitor centre or something.”
“What did you see?”
“I’m not sure yet, just…something. A light.”
There was more to it, that much was obvious. Howard looked worried and it was clear he didn’t want to waste time speculating. They headed for the visitor’s centre immediately.
They crossed over the little bridge and joined a path leading away from the abbey, towards the modern buildings. The first building they came upon was a heritage museum, but Howard didn’t stop ther
e. He continued towards a building which turned out to be a set of stables. As he’d suggested, there was a light coming from there, from inside one of the stalls. A shaft of light rose upwards and bounced off the open door.
They both took things slow. Howard had his gun at the ready and was staring hard, unblinking. Jessica had his back, her CS canister her only defence.
Howard moved up to the edge of the stall and took a ready position. He made eye-contact with Jessica and then nodded. Stepping into the doorway he thrust out his gun, then lowered it and shook his head with disgust.
Jessica stepped up beside him and looked into the stall as well, then covered her mouth. Two police officers lay inside the stall, their white shirt’s stained red. The light source came from the men’s torches. One of them lay across a lifeless leg, which was what Howard had spotted from the tower.
Jessica stepped inside and flicked on her own torch. She shone it on the two dead men and examined them. The first had died from a stab wound to the temple, clear from the screwdriver handle jutting out the side of his head. Heinz must have driven it with unbelievable force to shove it all the way up to the handle. The second officer had died from a gunshot wound to the gut. Luckily the shock would have protected him from the pain until he passed on.
Howard rubbed at his forehead with the back of his free hand. “Heinz must have gotten the jump on this first guy, stabbed him in the head, then used the gun when the other officer got alerted. Probably dragged their bodies in here to cover his tracks.”
“My gun,” said Jessica. “These men are dead because of me.”
“No,” said Howard. “Heinz had the screwdriver long before he got the jump on you. The guy’s out for blood regardless of the methods he uses. Your gun didn’t convince him to kill.”
Jessica worried she was going to throw up, not because of the gory scene they were standing in—she was a doctor, she could handle it—but because of the guilt working its way into her gut. “I need to save that girl,” she said.
Howard looked at her with understanding. “Save the girl and you balance the books.”
Jessica nodded.
Squawerk!
Sergeant Young, all units report in, over.
Howard stared down at the dead police officer and didn’t move. Jessica leapt down beside the man and patted him down. She found the radio on his belt and yanked it free. She hit the talk button. “MCU Officer Bennett responding. Your officers at the abbey are KIA, Officer Hopkins is injured. Send immediate reinforcements and medical care.”
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.
Slasher: the Escape of Richard Heinz Page 3
