Situated at the back of the house, a first floor bathroom gave Kal her way in. The window had a circular ventilation vent and Kal climbed a nearby lilac tree to reach it. She had no silent cutting gear nor the suction pads her father used to infiltrate a building. Instead, she tapped a stone around the plastic vent, cursing at the way the noise travelled, until she heard the glass surround giving way. If she were unlucky the vent would land in a bath and the sound would ricochet and bring Kaufman running. Kal held her breath and punched it through. The vent flew into the room and skittered across the tiled floor. She waited, alert to any indication it had given her away. After a few moments, Kal reached her arm carefully through the round hole and undid the window catch.
No gun, no equipment – what did that leave her with as an advantage? Kung fu skills with a leg that didn’t function like it should, at least, not all the time? The element of surprise? It didn’t feel like it would be enough. Cunning, whispered the voice in her head. In her father’s coaching sessions, she’d excelled at psychology and cunning, surpassing even him – yes, that would give her an edge. Kal trod carefully along the top floor landing.
The whole of the top floor lay in darkness, with the only light filtering up from the downstairs lounge. Descending the staircase she’d be fully exposed should anyone exit the lounge – too bad, she’d have to take the chance. Kal ran down the stairs, careful not to miss her footing, her steps masked by the thick carpet.
Getting down on her stomach, Kal crawled across the hallway. The door of the lounge lay half open and it would be too risky to look from the open side, so she positioned herself to peer through the crack between the hinges and the frame. It gave a narrow angle of vision. First of the near wall and a bar area, then the window to the garden and a sofa. Kal adjusted her body a third time and at the extremity of her vision she caught the far end of the room and a sight which made the breath catch in her throat.
Sophie reclined on a chaise longue. Kal could only see Sophie’s head and torso and nothing about the girl looked right. With her arms arranged in a false and flawless symmetry, Sophie’s blonde hair fanned out around her face in a perfect arrangement. Her face appeared frozen and waxy. Chemical influence, thought Kal, it had to be. The back of a man came in and out of Kal’s view as he bent over Sophie and Sophie stared skyward into his face. Kal couldn’t see Sophie’s eyes, but she was sure they would be full of terror. Kal tensed her muscles, ready to charge straight in. Except she stopped herself, rooted to the spot because the man’s hand came into view and in it he held a scalpel. Kal stared at the silver blade as Kaufman waved it backwards and forwards in front of Sophie’s face.
Kal’s muscles twitched. Wait, she commanded herself. Kaufman could plunge that scalpel into Sophie and kill her in an instant. As soon as he realised there was an intruder he could strike down way before Kal reached the chaise longue to stop his arm. Kal’s back was covered in sweat. Kaufman must intend to slice off Sophie’s eyelids as he’d done with his other victims and Sophie seemed unable to move. It made her a prone target. No, Kal must lure Kaufman away and then take him down.
Before she left the hallway, Kal commanded herself to check her strategy, go through it step by step, disciplining herself to search for weaknesses. There were plenty, and some that she couldn’t plan for, and, as her father’s voice reminded her, she must rely on her cunning to come out ahead of the killer.
Kal squirmed backwards across the hallway and then raced up the stairs to exit the bathroom window the way she’d come. Outside, the cold air chilled the sweat on her back as she walked around to the entrance. Kal was wearing a denim jacket and a tight, print tunic over black leggings. She took off the leggings and stuffed them under a bush. The tunic reached barely to mid-thigh. Kal took a few calming breaths and paused with her hand in mid-air. No chance to turn back once she made this next move. Knock. Knock.
‘Sophie,’ Kal called, ‘it’s me, Kal. Are you in there?’
Kal knocked again. ‘Soph, come on open up, it’s freezing out here. It’s me, Kal. Are you okay? The girls sent me.’
Kal hopped from one leg to the other, so that, should Kaufman be stupid enough to answer the door, he’d zoom in on her bare legs and it would give more traction to her story. Except he didn’t open the door, and so Kal started trampling noisily around the side of the house, swearing out loud. Surely he wouldn’t risk her going around to the garden side and seeing through the window to Sophie? Kal didn’t recall any curtains to mask that giant picture window. Or would he simply move Sophie to an upstairs room?
Making sure to trip over a dustbin on the way, Kal got halfway around the side, when a light flicked on behind her and a man’s voice called out. ‘Who’s there?’
Great. Kaufman had opened the door.
Kal trampled back to the front and stopped short when she saw Kaufman on the doorstep. ‘Who the hell are you?’ she said.
‘My name is Dr Kaufman,’ he said tersely and with authority. ‘And what exactly do you think you’re doing? This is private property.’
‘Yeah, too right,’ Kal said, pulling out her phone. ‘This is private property and it doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to my friend Sophie.’ She made as if to dial. He’d presume she was calling the police.
‘Wait! I’m Sophie’s doctor, she’s under my care.’
‘I don’t bloody believe you. Soph doesn’t have a doctor.’
‘I’m her psychiatrist. Perhaps she mentioned that to you?’ Kaufman smiled. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?’
Kal had reached the front steps and she saw him glancing at her legs.
‘How did you get here?’ Kaufman asked.
‘Taxi of course. And my name’s Ms Medi but you can call me ‘Kal’ if you like.’
‘It’s kind of you to check on your friend but rather a long way to come, isn’t it?’
He was still suspicious. Good for him. Kal let the phone hover in his line of sight for a while longer and then pushed it into her jacket pocket.
‘I didn’t have much choice,’ Kal said. ‘Candice sent me to check on Sophie and Candice isn’t someone to argue with.’
‘Candice, yes,’ Kaufman said, nodding. ‘Sophie has mentioned her on one or two occasions. Well, my dear, you must be cold; please come in, though I can’t allow you to stay long. Sophie is resting.’
‘No problem. The sooner I get back to London the better. Is her brother here too?’
Kal made to follow him into the house, and as she did, she readied herself and dealt Kaufman a solid blow across the back of his head. To her surprise, Kaufman reacted with lightning speed. Had he seen her reflection moving in the glass of the front door? Or was he combat trained? Never underestimate your opponent. Kal ducked to the side as her blow glanced off his neck and Kaufman aimed a left-right combination at her ribs. He must be karate trained, the bastard. Neither of his fists hit home and Kal had no choice but to launch at him again, even though she knew tactically this was a mistake with a karate expert. She had to get in the front door, before Kaufman managed to slam it in her face. Her propulsion sent them both flying onto the floor of the hallway. Kaufman would be more vulnerable on the ground. Karate wasn’t designed for that type of combat. Kal aimed a kick at his groin which instead impacted his hip. Damn, he was agile too. He’d got hold of the ankle of her bad leg and was twisting it. The tendons in Kal’s knee ripped and she kicked at his face with her free foot. Then she felt a sharp pain in her calf and looked in horror at Kaufman’s triumphant face.
‘What the f-!’
Her leg was going dead. On some subliminal level, Kal understood the danger. Understood she’d been compromised. That she’d never make it out of the house and certainly not to Sophie’s side.
‘Sophie!’ she screamed at the top of her voice. ‘Get out, Sophie. Get out.’
Kaufman was standing over her and Kal realised she was unable to stand.
‘It’s fast acting, isn’t it?’ Kaufman said, straightening the sleeve
s of his shirt. ‘Your entire musculature will be paralysed in a matter of moments, you little bitch.’
Kaufman grabbed a bunch of her hair and dragged her across the hallway and Kal could feel her breathing becoming shallow and her arms useless.
‘Two sleeping beauties to slice. What a treat you’ve given me, you dirty bitch, bitch, bitch. Now this calls for a celebration.’
Kaufman dumped Kal inside the lounge door and began rearranging the furniture.
‘Who wants to go first? Don’t all shout at once,’ he said, chuckling to himself.
She’d landed almost face down and couldn’t move. Kal stared at the gold patterning of the carpet and breathed in fluff. Then Kaufman pulled her by the arms across to a settee. He’d piled cushions at one end so that she’d be upright, like in a hospital bed, and Kal realised she’d be staring straight at Sophie’s face because Kaufman had positioned the chaise longue diagonally opposite. Sophie stared straight at Kal. Her eyes filled with disbelief. Brimming with horror.
Kal tried to speak. She could barely move her lips.
‘What’s that, my dear?’ Kaufman asked, bending closer. ‘Any last requests?’
And he chuckled as he fanned Kal’s hair around her face and arranged her arms by her sides. Then he picked up the scalpel and slit her tunic up the middle, then cut away her underwear. He walked the few paces to Sophie and did the same. Tears began spilling from Sophie’s eyes and Kal saw how this stoked the man’s delight.
Kaufman bent close, drinking in Sophie’s terror.
‘That’s it, my dear, that’s exactly what I want, because I am your master and I shall make you my creation.’
Kaufman was completely psychotic. And they were helpless. The only thing that functioned normally for Kal was her mind. She could think clear as crystal and she knew this was the end. She was out of options. She’d failed Sophie. They were both going to die and in a horrible way. When Kaufman had pulled Kal across the room, she’d felt everything –which meant it would be an agonising death. What the hell could she do? Oh god, nothing, absolutely nothing. Kal fought back her own tears. Think. Think. Where’s your fucking cunning now? There was only one thing she could come up with but would it gain her anything? She did it anyway.
Kaufman swung towards Kal. ‘You filthy, disgusting girl.’ Ecstasy showed in his face as he stared at the urine. ‘Not too soon, now, no, we mustn’t go too fast, no, no, we mustn’t.’
It had brought Kaufman’s attention to her. He stroked Kal’s hair and put the point of the scalpel on her sternum.
Sophie was blinking rapidly and Kal had no way of knowing what, if anything, that might mean. Then she saw Sophie wriggling her fingers. Oh god, the effects must be wearing off. Kaufman must have planned to already have worked on Sophie, that, or he’d given Sophie’s second dose to Kal. Would he realise? And what could Sophie possibly accomplish with one hand? A sequin clutch purse lay on the floor beside the chaise longue and Sophie’s hand was groping towards it. Kal moved her lips, trying to communicate with Kaufman, trying to keep his interest trained on her.
‘What did you say, bitch?’
‘Kill me,’ Kal muttered.
‘Say it again. I want to hear it again.’
‘Kill me.’
Kaufman pressed in the tip of the scalpel, so that it pierced Kal’s skin. A trickle of blood began running down her chest and Kaufman put his hand in it and smeared it over her breasts.
‘That’s it. Not too fast. Take it nice and slowly. First, I’m going to cut your abdomen wide open and the blood will start to flow. You’ll feel your life ebbing.’
Sophie had reached the purse. Her hand was groping inside.
‘Then, I shall slice off your eyelids. That’s the best part because you shall have only one thing to gaze at. Me.’
Sophie released her bladder and Kaufman swung around, the whites of his eyes shining, his face flushed with pleasure.
‘Oh my dear, how wonderful,’ he said as he leant over Sophie.
Kal heard the hiss of a spray and Kaufman screamed, recoiling. He covered his face with his hands.
Sophie’s legs weren’t functioning yet. The girl fell in a heap onto the floor and was trying to push to her knees. Kal was completely helpless. Everything was happening at once. Kaufman was writhing and screaming. Sophie was groping for Kaufman’s scalpel on the carpet. Kal felt sure she could hear the sound of a motorbike and, for a moment, she wondered if it might be her father. No, that was stupid, her father was dead. Kal wanted to shout to Sophie. And Sophie raised the scalpel high and plunged it deep into Kaufman’s neck as he thrashed in agony on the golden carpet.
Chapter Fifty
Marty sat on the edge of Kal’s bed. ‘They’ve finished questioning Sophie,’ Marty said. ‘It seems Kaufman died of blood loss from a severed jugular and the police will propose ‘self-defence’ on the part of Sophie.’
‘Good,’ Kal said.
Marty flexed her fingers and stared out of the window. ‘The fatal stab was one of many wounds to his neck.’
Kal heard the light question in Marty’s voice. She chose to ignore it, not saying how she’d closed her eyes to avoid witnessing Sophie’s attack on Kaufman. Nor how she’d told the police she thought she’d blacked out when Kaufman began touching her. Kal was sure Kaufman had been effectively neutralised by Sophie’s pepper attack and the first stab, but perhaps Sophie hadn’t realised that. Perhaps Sophie had felt vulnerable given she were still partly incapacitated. Who knows, Kaufman might have regained himself sufficiently to strike back at any point, and neither she nor Sophie could say otherwise. Or maybe that first stab had been the one to the jugular?
Kal wasn’t going to question Sophie’s actions. She didn’t give herself that right. “The girl that lived” deserved to defend herself, and Kaufman had been lying perfectly still by the time LeeMing and Marty smashed their way into the house.
‘I liked the way you and LeeMing arrived so quickly. I didn’t know he had a motorbike, but Marty, you should have checked into hospital with Seb. What if Kaufman hadn’t been lying about the poison? You took a huge risk.’
‘And so?’ Marty said with a shrug. ‘I was pretty sure it was a bluff given how the effect wore off after a couple of hours strenuous effort and sweat in that damn cellar.’
‘I’m sorry I sent you to check out Kaufman on your own – I mean, given he turned out to be a homicidal maniac and all. If I’d have been on the ball, Kaufman would have come up on my radar way sooner.’
‘If you were a genius, yes. But given you’re not, I don’t think so. He was a clever bastard. He’d evaded justice for years. And you can’t cover all the bases on your own, Kal. That’s one thing I’ve learned in the last twenty-four hours – being a lone wolf like your father doesn’t work. You need reliable back-up.’
Kal let that sink in. So, Marty was up for it after all, that was a nice surprise. She tried not to smile. ‘Hang on, I thought you hated what I do?’
‘I’ve never hated it, Kal. I simply didn’t feel comfortable with your tactics. Now I realise if you’re dealing with scum like Kaufman, your way might be the only way. Sitting in the back of Kaufman’s car helpless with that young boy beside me, and then not knowing if I’d be able to get Seb help in time, it changed the way I see things. Not that I’m giving you carte-blanche.’ Marty gave Kal a stern look. ‘I’m still going to keep you in line.’
Kal laughed. ‘I wouldn’t want it any other way.’
Chapter Fifty-one
Six months later
Kal tried not to laugh when Raymond Kendrick almost dropped a tray of food. At least he was trying and that was what mattered. The housewarming was in full swing and a big banner hung on the wall, “Congratulations Sophie, Seb and Wayne”. Sophie had bought the apartment with her own money and Seb and Wayne the chess-player were her flat mates. A photograph of Eliza sat beneath the banner. It looked like it was taken at Eliza’s birthday party, probably last year. Kal averted her eyes, not wantin
g to be seen crying in front of all these people.
Arthur Connell proposed a toast and they raised their glasses. ‘To new beginnings, and… absent friends.’
Kal swallowed hard and she saw Sophie doing the same and she put her arm around the girl. Marty had her steady hand on Seb’s shoulder, and then someone turned up the music and Fiona started dancing with a group of the nurses from Melrose, and LeeMing pulled Sophie into the centre to dance with him.
‘You okay?’ Marty said.
Kal took a big swig from her drink. ‘Of course I am.’
‘You were right about Sophie all along – she’s a strong kid. Something tells me she’s going to make it.’
Kal nodded and inside her pocket, her hand closed around a small, plastic packet. She pulled it out and looked at the blue fibres.
‘What’s that?’
‘It’s a promise,’ Kal said.
She’d taken the fibres from the rusty barge and Spinks had analysed the sample for her, so that she knew the source of the material and of the dye.
‘You gonna tell me about it? I’m a real partner in this stuff of yours now, you know.’
Kal shook her head. ‘Later,’ she said.
Kal watched Sophie dancing. She should thank Sophie. Thank Sophie for showing them how life could go on, despite violence and tragedy – how a survivor becomes strong. Inspired by that, Kal hoped one day to find the person who’d survived her father’s assassination. Hoped that one day she’d have the courage to look that person in the eye and apologise. Yes, one day, but not today.
London Noir: A gripping crime suspense thriller (Kal Medi Book 2) Page 21
