by Val Collins
‘No time. Hurry!’
Now she could see what she was doing, Aoife felt more hopeful. Because the rope was thick, the knots were much larger than Aoife had realised and untying them was relatively simple. In less than fifteen minutes she had undone all the ropes binding Orla to the table. Orla sat rigid on the bed while Aoife worked on untying the ropes that bound her wrists.
Orla was still panicking. ‘Faster! He’ll be back!’ She pulled at the ropes that bound her hands but only succeeded in yanking them out of Orla’s grasp.
‘Don’t, Orla. You’re making it harder. I’ll have you free in a few minutes.’
Orla groaned.
The last knot undone, Orla threw her arms around Aoife. ‘Thank y—’ A low click caused them both to freeze. It was the front door opening.
SIXTY-TWO
Orla looked down at the ropes that still bound her ankles. ‘Oh God!’
They stared at each other in horror.
‘The lighter! Set fire to something,’ Orla whispered. ‘Distract him, then hit him with the chair.’ She reached down and gathered up the ropes that had fallen on the floor.
The only thing Aoife could set fire to was the curtains. They were made of heavy velvety material. Would they have caught fire by the time Jack reached the door? She remembered there was a paper sheet on Orla’s bed, like those found in doctor’s offices. Aoife rolled it into a ball. She hurried to the furthest corner of the room and clicked the lighter. The sheet caught fire immediately. Aoife ran to the light switch and turned it off. The footsteps were now on the stairs. Aoife grabbed the chair and hid behind the door. Orla was still pulling frantically at the ropes binding her legs.
‘Lie down!’ Aoife whispered.
Orla’s popped the ball gag into her mouth and wrapped the ropes around her body.
The key turned in the lock. Aoife flattened herself against the wall and held her breath. The paper she had burned was now a little ball of fire in the opposite corner of the room. The carpet was beginning to smoulder. The door opened.
‘What the hell!’
Jack glanced at Orla, who was lying on her back, eyes closed. Leaving the key in the lock, he ran over and stamped out the fire. Aoife crept up behind him. Unable to reach his head, she stood on her tiptoes and used all her strength to bring the chair down on his neck. Jack stumbled but didn’t fall. He turned towards Aoife, his expression a mixture of shock and fury. Remembering the only self-defence class she had ever taken, Aoife grabbed his shoulders to steady herself and kneed him in the groin. Jack dropped to the ground, moaning. Aoife turned to flee. She banged straight into Orla.
Gripping one of the ropes that had bound her ankles, Orla shoved Aoife out of her way. Jack was still bent over, groaning. Orla put the rope around his neck and pulled. ‘Help me,’ she screamed at Aoife.
‘Are you insane! Run!’
Orla ignored her. Jack was now on his knees, grasping at the rope around his neck. Orla wasn’t strong enough to strangle him. Neither of them were. Jack yanked the rope, pulling Orla towards him. Tossing the rope to one side, his hands tightened around Orla’s neck.
SIXTY-THREE
‘Oh my God! Oh my God!’ Aoife ran towards them. What could she do? She remembered Tadhg’s lighter in her pocket. Racing to the light switch, she turned it on, flooding the room with light. A startled Jack loosened his grip on Orla, and she dropped to the ground. Panting and wheezing, she crawled out of his reach. Jack followed her. Aoife used the distraction to creep up behind him. As he was yanking Orla to her feet, Aoife flicked on Tadhg’s lighter. Jack was concentrating on Orla. Aoife guessed he wanted to apply enough pressure to subdue but not kill her. Aoife moved closer. The flame from the lighter was as strong as any candle, but it went unnoticed in the brightly lit room. Holding the flame against the bottom of Jack’s sweatshirt, Aoife waited for the fire to catch.
The material smouldered but didn’t flame. She couldn’t wait. Orla was now gurgling, her eyes wide with panic. Aoife picked up what little remained of the chair she had used earlier as a weapon and banged it repeatedly on Jack’s back.
Jack released his grip on Orla long enough to fling Aoife to one side. Orla fell to the ground. She was trying to get to her knees when Jack spotted her. He lifted his foot and aimed it at her head. His foot was inches from her face when he felt the burn.
Screaming, Jack yanked the sweatshirt over his head and stamped on it to extinguish the flame. Aoife half lifted a wheezing Orla to her feet. The top of Jack’s trousers was now smouldering. He kicked off his shoes, pulled off the trousers and ran after his prisoners. Dragging Orla after her, Aoife made it to the door seconds before Jack. She pushed Orla outside, followed her, slammed the door and turned the key.
She hadn’t bought them much time. Jack roared and flung his entire weight against the door. It wouldn’t be long before he broke through.
Orla’s breathing had returned to normal, but Aoife gripped her arm as they ran down the stairs. She turned the latch on the front door. Nothing happened. The door was locked. There was no sign of the key. What now? There was a loud crash and the bedroom door splintered.
It wouldn’t be long before Jack broke through the door entirely. ‘Sitting room!’ Aoife shouted. She remembered admiring a lamp in that room. It had a very solid base. Strong enough to break glass?
Aoife flung the lamp at the window. It made a small hole, but it wasn’t big enough for either of them to fit through. She turned, expecting to find Orla behind her. No Orla. A few seconds later Orla appeared. She was carrying a knife block. She threw the knives on the ground, removed her jumper and, wrapping it around her arm, used the knife block to break away just enough glass for them to squeeze through.
There was a loud crash. They heard Jack thundering down the stairs. Aoife jumped through the hole and turned to help Orla. Orla had disappeared.
SIXTY-FOUR
Jumping back into the sitting room, Aoife picked up the knife block and ran into the corridor. A purple-faced Jack was pounding down the stairs. Orla stood on the bottom step, waiting for him. She clutched a kitchen knife in one hand.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ Aoife roared at her.
Jack slowed to a walk, his eyes on Orla. ‘Get out of here, Aoife.’ Orla’s voice was calm and low.
‘You’re not strong enough, you idiot. Do you want to get us both killed?’
Never taking her eyes off Jack, Orla said, ‘This is between Jack and me. Leave now.’
‘For God’s sake,’ Aoife muttered. She flung the knife block at Jack and was surprised when it caught him in the cheek. She’d been aiming for his head.
Jack screamed and covered his face with both hands. Aoife grabbed Orla’s hair and dragged her into the sitting room. Orla tried to shake free, but Aoife’s grip was vice-like. She wasn’t letting go.
‘Get off me,’ Orla shouted.
Aoife ignored her. She pushed Orla through the hole in the window and jumped after her. They ran down the driveway. Out of the corner of her eye, Aoife saw Orla turn and run back towards the house.
As Aoife turned to follow, Jack appeared at the window. He was smashing the knife block against the glass, making a hole large enough so he could fit through. He was coming after them. Giving a howl of fury, Aoife tore after Orla, grabbed her by the arm and swung her around.
Orla pulled away. ‘We have to kill him.’
Aoife tried to grab her arm, but Orla had now fully regained her strength and was determined to get vengeance. She pushed Aoife aside.
‘He killed Tadgh!’
Aoife grabbed Orla’s hair and gave it a hard yank. ‘My baby is not going to be without a mother because of your stupid need for revenge, you idiot. Now come on!’
There was a loud crash and Jack came storming down the driveway.
SIXTY-FIVE
They had barely reached the footpath when Jack caught up with them. He grabbed Orla by the arm and stuck the tip of a knife into her spine. Aoife paused. Should she shou
t for help? Would that get Orla killed?
Jack looked up and down the quiet cul de sac. Keeping his voice low, he said, ‘Turn around quietly and walk back to the house.’
Aoife took one step behind him.
‘Keep moving.’
She would delay this as much as possible. Very slowly she took another step. Jack turned to watch her. He put one arm around Orla’s shoulder and held the tip of the knife against her throat. His back was to the street. Aoife saw an elderly woman approaching. She took another step backwards, then a second, her eyes focused on the woman.
Jack heard the footsteps. He slid the knife into his pocket, pulled Orla into a tighter hug and turned.
‘Evening, Mrs Tuohy,’ he said.
‘Oh my God!’ The woman dropped her shopping and covered her hands with her mouth.
‘Oh, don’t worry about the window.’ Jack gave a wide, friendly smile. ‘I had to break it because I lost the key to the front door. I’m getting more absent-minded every year.’
The old woman didn’t reply. She took a few steps backward, eyes wide with shock.
‘It’s alright, Mrs Tuohy. These are my nieces. We’re going inside now for a nice cup of tea. Would you like to join us?’
Aoife opened her mouth to protest. A stifled grunt from Orla caused her to stop. She took another step backwards.
A young woman approached from the opposite direction, a girl of about four or five skipping beside her. The woman followed Mrs Tuohy’s horrified gaze and came to an abrupt stop. ‘What—’ She picked up the child and ran across the street. Putting the girl on the ground, she reached for her phone.
Jack frowned. ‘Mrs Touhy, what’s the—what’s the matter?’
Mrs Tuohy’s hands still covered her mouth. She appeared unable to speak or move.
The young woman could be heard talking into her phone. ‘Mummy, why isn’t that old man wearing any clothes?’ the little girl asked.
Jack looked down. ‘Oh my God! I can explain, Mrs Tuohy. There’s nothing to be frightened about.’
A siren wailed in the distance.
Jack released Orla, looked desperately in all directions and ran towards the house. As he passed Aoife, she put out one foot and tripped him.
SIXTY-SIX
Two guards led Jack to a waiting vehicle. Aoife looked away. She never wanted to set eyes on that bastard again. She hoped the police could get him to admit where he had hidden Triona’s body. It was the least he could do for her family. But he wouldn’t. Jack and his ilk were all the same. Like Buckley, he’d go to his grave insisting this was all a huge miscarriage of justice.
A crowd of neighbours had gathered on the street, and two policemen were attempting to disperse them. A young guard who looked like he was barely out of his teens was given the task of looking after Aoife and Orla.
‘I’ll drive you both to the hospital. Best have you checked out.’
‘I’m fine,’ Orla and Aoife said together.
‘We’ll let the hospital be the judge of that,’ the young guard said.
When they were seated, Aoife phoned Maura and filled her in briefly on what had happened.
‘Jack? Jack’s been arrested for killing Danny? But Jack was practically a second father to him. I can’t believe it! Jack? After everything he did for us. And he was the one who sent me the money?’
Maura was so shocked she didn’t seem to fully take in the trauma Aoife had suffered. Eventually she said, ‘I’ll collect you from the hospi—oh my God! Bridget! I’ll have to phone her. No, that would finish her off altogether. I wonder if I have a number for Elain—’
‘You take care of Bridget,’ Aoife said. ‘I’ll take a taxi from the hospital.’ She wouldn’t, of course. It would cost a fortune, but Maura was in no state to think of that. ‘I’ll come by and pick up Amy on my way home.’
‘Right, okay. Now I don’t have Elaine’s number. She’s moved several times since Danny died. I don’t think Michael’s moved. I wonder where Danny would have put his number.’
As Aoife was hanging up, she remembered she had forgotten to thank the young woman who had phoned the police. ‘Do you have her details?’ she asked the young policeman. ‘Can you please tell her how grateful we are?’
‘Sure, I’ll tell her. Good thing we were in the area. That mad lunatic would probably have killed all five of you, even that little girl. We’ve been keeping an eye out for you all day. The bulletin said to concentrate on the city centre, Dun Laoghaire and Kildare. None of them are on our beat, so we weren’t involved in the search, but we were on the alert anyway. We were about to go on our break when that young woman phoned 999. You couldn’t have timed your escape better.’
‘You were looking for me?’ Orla said. ‘My apartment is in Dun Laoghaire. Did Cian report me missing?’
‘Not you. We didn’t realise you were in any trouble. It’s Aoife we were searching for. Some detective asked all the stations to keep an eye out for her.’
‘Oh, that must be Detective Moloney. Did you tell him you were going to visit me? Aoife, why are you looking at me like that?’
‘There’s something I have to tell you, Orla. It’s about Cian.’
SIXTY-SEVEN
The hospital released Aoife. Orla was to be kept under observation until they had the results of her blood tests. There was no knowing what drugs Jack had given her.
Nurses and doctors fussed around them, but eventually they were alone.
They looked at each other for a few seconds, then Orla said, ‘We must be the world’s worst judges of character.’
Aoife tried to smile.
‘I know. It’s not funny, but if you don’t laugh at these things, you’ll go off your head. I never would have believed Jack was a serial killer. Even in the beginning, when I thought he was a bit odd, I never suspected him of murder. And Cian!’
‘We couldn’t have been expected to know, Orla. Jack spent a lifetime building up a front, and Cian had been working on it for a few years too.’
‘Tadhg knew. Well, not about Jack obviously.’ She bit her lip. For a moment Aoife thought she was going to cry, but Orla was determined to put a brave face on everything.
‘You know, Cian’s been getting on my nerves since Tadhg died. I knew I wasn’t myself, and I thought when I felt normal again, I’d want to be with Cian, but deep down I knew that wasn’t likely. I’m glad he’s out of my life. I suppose he can’t be charged with bank robbery, but he must be an accessory, surely? And he’ll definitely be charged with kidnap—’
There was a loud commotion, and Orla’s parents almost skidded to a stop outside the hospital room in their rush to see their daughter. They threw their arms around Orla, both talking at the same time. Mid-sentence they noticed Aoife, rushed over and hugged her, telling her again and again how grateful they were that she had saved their precious daughter. Immediately forgetting Aoife’s existence, they flung themselves on Orla again, demanding she tell them every detail of her ordeal. They interrupted her every few minutes with gasps, shudders and the occasional shriek.
*
Aoife’s head pounded. She dug her nails into the palm of her hand to try to stop the tears that threatened to fill her eyes. It didn’t work. Blinking was more effective. She had to get out of here. Watching Orla’s parents fuss over their daughter was too much. She didn’t need reminding of how alone she was in the world. It wasn’t as if she was likely to forget there was nobody she could turn to for support. Maura was consumed with her own issues. Orla had a family to help her through the bad times and, knowing Orla, once she recovered, she’d never want to speak about it again. Aoife would have to work her way through this alone. There wouldn’t be anyone to help when the nightmares came.
She must have sighed too loudly because Orla glanced at her. Aoife took the opportunity to mouth goodbye and slip outside.
*
Aoife was almost at the taxi rank when she saw him. She hadn’t been aware of it, but now she realised that in the back of her mi
nd she’d been hoping he’d collect her. He walked towards her slowly, unsure of her reaction. All her anger towards him, all the feeling of betrayal disappeared. She almost ran the last few steps. He put his arms around her. Neither of them spoke. There wasn’t any need. The tears flowed freely now, but this time they were tears of happiness. Everything was going to be just fine. Much, much better than fine. Perfect.
*
They held hands as they walked up the driveway. Maura must have been watching out for them, because the front door opened before they reached it. ‘Aoife, thank God you’re alright.’ Her eyes widened when she noticed their clasped hands, but she recovered quickly. Stepping back to allow them to enter, she said, ‘Detective Moloney, please come in.’
Hi,
Thank you for choosing my book. If you enjoyed it, I would be very grateful if you could spare a moment to click on the link provided by Amazon. Any review, however short, would be very welcome.
Only Lies Remain is my second book. My first thriller, Girl Targeted, covered an earlier time in Aoife’s life. It is available on Amazon and is now free on Kindle Unlimited. Check it out here: https://amzn.to/2Gyy56G
If you’d like to get in touch, you can find me, and all my social media links, at my website https://valcollinsbooks.com/. I’d really love to hear from you.
Val
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to my editor, copy editor & proofreader and my designer. It’s my second time using Debz Hobbs-Wyatt, Eliza from Clio Editing and Patrick Knowles. As usual, they all did a marvellous job.
Thank you also to Elizabeth Psaltis and Beverly Bambury who helped with marketing and promotion.
I would also like to thank my friends:
Tina – The first person outside my family to read my book. Tina, as always, provided great support and advice.
John – For the second time, John allowed me to pick his brain about the workings of the Irish police force. Without him I would have to leave detectives out of my books entirely.
