‘I thought as much. Now then, you take what’s coming like a good little slut. You might enjoy the first half. You won’t enjoy the second. I want you to know that I’m going to go sit in with Libby, just to give a bit of moral support. But I’ll have you up on the monitor for us both to see in there. Now, the punters . . . they like a bit of sound — it helps with getting them off, see. So I’m going to have Benny, here, turn the mics on in just a moment. You might be thinking about saying silly things — shouting out names. Before you do that, think about me sitting next to Libby. I just want to hear two types of screams, that’s it. Ecstasy and pain. Or maybe just ecstasy? We both know you’re pretty messed up. Who knows . . . this might be your biggest fantasy coming true.’
Freddie stepped away, closer to the front door. He pulled it open to reveal the darkness of the corridor beyond. ‘And if I see even the slightest attempt to open this door, Libby’s next performance is also with these two blokes. You don’t both have to die tonight, do you understand me?’
Freddie didn’t wait for a reply. He knew he didn’t have to. He moved away from the door, leaving it tantalisingly open. Benny was at the back of the room fiddling with a second laptop. Kelly could make the door easily but the fact that she even had the opportunity told her all she needed to know. She wouldn’t make it any further. Maybe they even wanted her to try as a way to start the performance. Benny turned back into the room, his grin part-obscured by the finger on his lips as he walked towards her. He was careful to stay outside the taped square until he made the open door. He gave one last look back into the room and then closed it behind him.
Kelly turned to the two men. The one on the left still held the hammer casually by his right side. He was the more muscular of the two, but both looked strong — stronger than her, for sure. The second man was holding nothing but was breathing heavier, his eyes wider. He spoke first.
‘This don’t have to be hard. We fuck you first then we make it quick. That’s the plan. You go easy and quick or you play about and we take our time. Those are your only choices, so get anything else out of your little head, you understand?’ His chest was rising harder and faster now, his excitement growing. His veins would be flushing with adrenaline.
Kelly, on the other hand, could feel her own strength sapping. She had already accepted that this was hopeless. Her eyes were dragged to movement on the monitor beyond the two men: Libby was now down to her underwear as her morose dance continued. A heavyset man in a balaclava stepped into view next to Libby. He stopped to stare right up at the camera and lingered for just a second. Kelly knew that was for her, a message: she had to accept her fate or Libby would share it.
Either way, she was supposed to die tonight.
Chapter 34
Harry grunted as Maddie gestured at the coffee cup next to her. He scooped it up instantly and slurped at it. ‘Don’t think this makes up for it.’
‘I told you not to come in. Would Chinese food help? You hungry?’
‘No. I ate already.’
The food was still wrapped up. Maddie had told herself she was leaving it packaged so it stayed hot for Harry’s arrival, but in reality she had lost her appetite. She had booted up her machine as quickly as she could, stumbling over her passwords in her excitement to run the name Victoria Long through every database she could think of. There were hits for that name but none of them stood out as likely. Then she’d checked the address book that Holly took over the cliff with her and drew another blank. Her excitement had quickly diminished and it was with some effort that she was now running each of the names listed on the Ugly Mugs list through the police system to see if any of them had associations with anyone close to a Victoria Long. Her frustration gnawed at her.
‘I can’t find any links. Nothing on our systems, nothing open source. Just nothing. I mean, I found a million social media accounts linked to that name but no reason to think any of them are currently booked into university accommodation in Canterbury. Or linked to Freddie Rickman. I could be looking right at her.’
‘At who?’ Harry growled.
‘Victoria Long.’
‘And who is she?’
‘The booking? The name the booking was in over at Canterbury Uni.’
‘I know, I get that. I just mean who is she? In all this? If we don’t have any links on the system or in what Holly left us to find, we don’t have anything. That address has nothing to do with all this.’
Maddie huffed. She had the urge to argue with him, to stand her ground, but she had nothing to offer. He was right. ’I was hoping I would run that name and doors would open.’
‘I get it. I’d have done the same.’
‘I had a look through the address book and the paper, the name doesn’t appear. Her phone, maybe — but that wouldn’t make sense . . .’
‘Her phone? Who’s phone?’
‘Holly’s phone. It was still in her pocket. It was pretty smashed up but they still got something off it — enough to show that it was back to its original settings. Someone had given it a factory reset.’
‘Holly wiped it?’
‘I don’t know. That’s what’s eating away at me here. I just got the email through today. I need to go back to Rob to see if he can find out when that happened. If it was after her death it will be very significant but . . .’ She slumped, her energy leaving her all at once. ‘I don’t think that’s likely. I saw where she was found. She must have wiped it herself.’
‘It might have given us too many answers too quickly. She wanted us to have to look for ourselves. To speak to people and to have to find them first.’
‘She did. I hate her for that!’ Maddie managed a weak chuckle.
Harry sighed, perched on the edge of her desk and fixed her with a look that suggested he felt bad for her. She braced herself to be patronised.
‘But she didn’t and here we are. This Victoria Long could have been everything. You were right to come in and bottom it out. At least now you know.’
Maddie pushed away from her desk to lean back in her chair. Her eyes chased over the exhibits still laid out over her desk and floor. ‘But I still don’t. I don’t know anything. I could have just called the control room and had them run the name. I didn’t need to be driving up here to do it myself. I just feel like I’m missing something and I guess I want to be the one that spots it. You sure you’re not hungry? It might all go to waste. Suddenly I don’t fancy it.’
‘I’m sure. Take it home with you. I’m sure you’ll want it later.’
‘Are you heading off?’ Maddie hoped he wouldn’t detect that she was hoping he would. She wanted to be on her own.
‘Are you?’
‘Yeah. I’m just going to run through that rucksack one more time. Just to be sure.’
Harry looked down to where it lay on the floor. He held his breath for a moment. ‘Okay then, how about you talk me through it. Every item.’
‘Go home, Harry. I’m sure you have better things to be doing with your evening.’
‘Just humour me. At least I get to feel like I came up here for a reason. Let’s take them out of the exhibit bags and give them a thorough look. Then, if anything’s been missed, then we both missed it. Anything to help you sleep better at night.’ Harry picked out a pair of scissors from a pot on the desk he was sitting on. He held them out to Maddie.
‘You sure you don’t have to get back to Jock? Seeing as how you two are an item now?’
‘He can wait.’
Maddie giggled, feeling a little better. She reached down for the rucksack as the obvious place to start. She read from the label while she slit open the top.
‘So . . . Exhibit CM/5 . . . a child’s yellow rucksack.’
* * *
Kelly’s head was spinning. Previously when she had been knocked down there had been time to recover a little, at least to the point where she could defend herself from the next blow. This time she had been grabbed almost instantly and dragged to the mattress. She could hear hea
vy breathing and grunts through the material of the balaclava; the man’s mouth had to be close to her ear. The mattress made a crackly sound and it was cold to the touch as if the top layer was plastic — wipe clean, she thought.
She looked up. The man who had dragged her now loomed over her while the second man squatted down over her feet. He looked beyond her to where the screen was, checking her position on the camera no doubt. Then he began tugging on the bottom of her jeans. This was it. This was the point where they stopped toying with her, where they moved the show on. She could only imagine the punters at the other end of that webcam. They would be leaning in close to their screens, baying for her pants to come off, for the show to step up.
The man who had been looming over her head had moved a step to the right. He pulled his belt off quick enough for it to emit a high-pitched whoosh. She heard the buckle clang on the floor behind her. He pulled his pants down at the same time as the tugging stopped on her jeans. They had barely budged; they were too tight. The man at her feet got on top of her. She felt hands at her waistband, pulling at the buttons and zip. She moved her head up to remonstrate and moved her hands to hamper him. The blow was instant. She felt her nose crack and her head was suddenly too heavy to hold up. She fixed on a spotlight above her, refusing to let her eyes close; she couldn’t lose consciousness — not now.
She felt her jeans being tugged again. They started to give. Soon they would pull off and her one chance would be gone.
She shook her head, her focus switching to her right hand. She forced it firmly down into her jeans pocket. Instantly she could feel the solid handle of the knife. She rolled on her side as she pulled it out, concealing it as best she could.
‘That’s it, bitch!’ one of the men spoke, his voice still muffled. ‘But don’t make it too easy. Play up for the camera!’
She was pushed roughly onto her back. She pushed the knife under her leg to conceal it. Her jeans had come down a little and now he was trying to jerk them past her buttocks. The man behind her had knelt down so he was over her. She felt him lightly slap her face as he spoke to her.
‘You know what you have to do now!’ He sounded excited. She could just see a blur of skin above her; he was so close.
She edged her right hand under her leg until she could grip the knife in her fist. The man leaned forward above her. He couldn’t get any closer. It was now or never.
She threw her right fist backwards with everything she had left in a movement that was like chucking the knife over her right shoulder — only with no intention of letting go. Her fist smashed into his stomach with an audible thud right above her head and he instantly expelled air with a grunt and a wheeze. Then she felt the hot fluid slip out of him, falling onto her face, stinking instantly of blood. She jerked up to a sit, clawing at her face, temporarily blinded by the sheer volume of blood. The man at her feet shouted something and she felt him move his weight off her. He stumbled over her leg and she heard him crash to the floor. The man behind her now uttered panicked gasps.
Kelly had smeared the worst of the blood out of her eyes and she forced one open just in time to see the man in front scrabbling for the hammer while on his knees. It fell out of his grip in his haste to pick it up and clattered back to the floor. By the time he stooped again, she was on him.
The knife was still firmly in her hand. She thrust it at his back. The first blow struck something hard and gristly and seemed to bounce off him. She pulled it back and stuck him a second time and this time it went fully into the small of his back. He reared up and roared. The hammer clanged to the floor for a second time but now he was making no effort to pick it back up. The knife was still in him. She felt him try to twist around so she yanked it back out before he took it with him. He half twisted and she stabbed again. She could feel the strikes but she had no idea where they were going. The man roared for a second time and she kept stabbing until he flopped to the floor in front of her and fell silent. She pushed herself away, turning to where the man had been behind her. He lay on the floor in a foetal position, whimpering, his back to her, his legs twitching. She didn’t assess any threat. That only lasted a second.
Someone beat on the door.
She knew who it had to be. She tensed back up. The man’s moaning seemed louder suddenly but all her attention was aimed at the door. The handle was dipping and jerking like someone was trying to open it in a hurry while fumbling over the mechanism. She pushed herself back and lifted to her haunches. She glanced over the monitor. The bottom row was black. Someone had stopped her live stream. Libby’s room was still showing but there was no one in view of the camera.
She fixed back on the door, the knife still gripped tightly in her hand, her jaw locked shut, her mind racing with thoughts of Holly, with thoughts of freedom. Freddie would have seen what had happened; he would know what she did. The element of surprise would be lost and he was going to come in. But maybe he expected her to run, to be already trying to force herself through the window. She was done running. This was maybe her only chance to catch him off guard. But it needed to be the instant that door pushed in.
She wiped her face with her free hand, trying to clear her vision. It made it worse, smudging more blood into her eyes. She lifted her hand to wipe them again. There was no time. The handle dipped again, then the door flew in and a blurred and broad shape filled it instantly.
Kelly propelled herself forward, hand raised, the blade pointing in front and a scream forcing its way through her clenched jaw. She heard a shout — she had no idea if it was words. She made the door before anyone stepped in, thrusting the knife at the shape. But it moved faster than she expected and she missed. Her momentum took her out into the darkened corridor where she crashed into the wall on the far side. More shouts came but she couldn’t make anyone out. She felt a blow to her right arm, close to where she still gripped the knife. She tightened her fist around it and backed away from the direction of the blow. She could sense movement all around her. There was more than one person in the corridor. Of course Benny would be here, too! She slashed out with the knife, aiming for the shadows and movement, her eyes still stinging. Someone grabbed her right arm firmly. She reacted by swinging with her left and missed. Almost instantly she felt a strong blow to her chest and a grip to her throat like a vice. She threw another punch with her left and felt it hit something but it was weak and had no effect. Her ability to breathe was gone, her ability to fight gone with it.
She felt a tugging at her right arm, then the sound of the knife dropping to the floor. There was more shouting but it was quickly becoming distant. She was starting to shut down. She squinted in the darkness. The light from the room she had just left leaked out in a bright sliver across the forearm that held her. She could make out a jagged scar going up the wrist until it was hidden by a sleeve. She focused on it and, in a moment of clarity and acceptance, she realised it was to be the last thing she would ever see. A shrill voice penetrated her darkening haze.
‘You’re going to kill her, Harry!’
Another hand appeared, this one rested on the scarred forearm and was more slender. And then she was falling. The darkness seemed to close in again as she hit the floor. She could still hear the shrill voice sounding just as urgent.
‘Kelly! Kelly Dale! Can you hear me! It’s the police, Kelly!’ A cheek appeared. ‘She’s still breathing. Can you hear me!’
Kelly tried to speak. Her lips moved and bumped but it sounded like her voice was only coming out inside her head.
‘Police?’
‘Police, yes! It’s Maddie. We met last night. It’s okay now. You’re safe.’
‘Libby . . .’
‘Libby? Who’s Libby? Are there more here?’
‘They’ll kill her.’ Words were agony. Kelly swallowed a couple of times — she had to force the words. ‘In . . . another room. Saw her.’ She heard movement almost instantly. It sounded like something big moving away, and the corridor echoed. The woman called Maddie spoke again bu
t sounded scared.
‘Be careful, Harry!’
* * *
Harry grunted and moved away from the door. His eyes were pretty well adjusted. He’d looked for a light switch on the way in and couldn’t find one. The lights in this sort of place would normally be automatic and the fact they didn’t work meant they were either faulty or someone had disabled them. The moment he and Maddie had stepped through the communal entrance from the car park he had felt uncomfortable. The darkened corridor had only added to the discomfort.
He paced to the next door. He had racked his baton when they had heard the shouts from behind the door where they had found Kelly. He had tucked it back in his belt to get hold of her but he pulled it back out now. His arm, chest and shoulder flared in pain. He knew he was bleeding. It was only a slash; he didn’t think it was too deep.
He pushed himself up against the next door he came to. He couldn’t hear anything.
‘POLICE!’ He bellowed at the surface as if his voice alone might force it in. There was no reaction at all. He tried the handle. The door was locked. He stepped back to get a firmer base to push off from. The door took two kicks to go in this time. The room behind was pitch black. He reached in to flick on a light that revealed a university dorm that was untouched. He moved on to bellow at the next door. There was no reaction from this one either and it took three kicks to put in. It was on the other side of the corridor and, as before, the light revealed a made-up room waiting for new guests. There was no sign of anything untoward and it had the smell and feel of a room undisturbed.
The next door moved inwards an inch. He pulled it closed, leaning back with all his weight to keep it closed. He peered back towards the block of light from Kelly’s room. The hall was empty now. Maddie must have gone in. Kelly, too. He had to go in.
‘POLICE!’ he roared at the door, pushing it firmly inwards as he did, his baton raised to rest on his shoulder, his whole body tensed.
He Knows Your Secrets Page 31
