Merciless Crimes: A Thrilling Closed Circle Mystery Series (Merciless Murder Mystery Thriller)

by Tikiri Herath

  I caught a pale flickering light from one of the side windows. That was candlelight.

  Someone was in there.

  I could shoot the lock on the front door with precision, if I wanted to. But I couldn’t put Katy in any more danger than she probably was, if she was inside.

  I stayed back and watched the house for a movement or a sound, looking for clues to its inhabitants.

  I knew what I had to do now.

  Instead of rushing in guns blazing through the front door, I could scramble around the building and look for weak spots to break in from the back and take them by surprise.

  I straightened up, checked my gun again, and was just about to scurry over when the front door to the manor banged open.

  I jumped back into the shadows, startled at the sight of a woman.

  She spotted me.

  “Freeze!” I shouted, stepping forward, aiming my weapon at her.

  “Here she’s now,” said a young female voice.

  I stared.

  It was Isabella.

  She was still in her school uniform, looking exactly like we saw her on the trail. She didn’t seem at all fazed by my weapon. She stood at the threshold of the manor, a sly smile on her face like she had the upper hand.

  That was when I knew she had Katy hostage.

  “Tell her to come in,” called out a female voice from the inside.

  That voice sounded familiar.

  Who was that?

  Martha May?

  No, it wasn’t her.

  Was it Ruby?

  If anyone would be up to no good, it would have to be Ruby, but she’d been under lockdown with Tom White and the other teachers on the second floor when we left.

  Did she slip out and drive up here in that truck?

  “You heard her,” said Isabella, gesturing to me with her chin. “You gonna come in or not?”

  “Step back!” I shouted.

  Isabella laughed.

  This girl had no fear. Either that, or she was banking on me not using my weapon.

  I cocked the gun to show her I was serious.

  “Where’s Katy?” I snarled.

  She laughed again, a hyena like cackle, one that told me she had me on the spot.

  A chill went down my spine.

  That confirmed they had my friend.

  I could feel my blood pressure rising with every second. If Isabella hadn’t been a minor, a kid, I’d have jumped on her in an instant.

  I had no idea what condition Katy was in. I didn’t know who was with her or if they were holding a gun to her head.

  But if I walked in, they could confiscate my weapon. Then, I’d be as defenseless as Katy.

  What’s my next best step?

  I slipped my fingers into my vest pocket and discreetly pulled my phone out.

  “If you did anything to her,” I growled, keeping my eyes on Isabella. “I will bust your head.”

  “You wanna come in and see her or not?” she snapped back.

  I took a cautious step forward, not changing my aim. But Isabella merely stepped aside and gestured for me to enter the house.

  In that second she looked away, I pressed the video recording app on my phone, glad I’d it installed on the first screen. If anything happened, at least there’d be a recording of it all.

  I inched toward the doorway.

  How many people were in here? I’d heard two shouts only moments ago when Katy had vanished. Neither of them had sounded like my friend.

  Now there was this mysterious woman inside.

  And Isabella.

  Is the entire frigging school in here?

  Keeping my Glock aimed at Isabella’s head, I stepped inside and turned my head.

  “Katy!”

  Chapter Fifty-eight

  Katy was alive.

  Across the dimly candlelit room, I saw her leaning against an old-fashioned pillar, her hands tied behind her back with a rope. In her mouth was a black cloth gag.

  She shot me a guilty look.

  Oh, my god.

  “You’re here,” said a female voice.

  I spun around to see a woman standing in the middle of the living room, holding two weapons in her hands.

  One was an antiquated silver pistol, and the other was a standard issue black handgun. I recognized the Glock. It was the one Tetyana had bought for Katy.

  I also recognized the woman.

  “Sally?” I said. “What are you doing here?”

  “You want me to tell her?” came a chirpy voice from behind me.

  I didn’t have to turn my head to know that was Isabella.

  A quick side glance told me she was standing by the closed door, a smirk on her face.

  She popped a chewing gum stick in her mouth as I looked her way. She looked as relaxed as she was when she was hanging around the school grounds with her posse.

  “The question is, what are you doing here?” said Sally, ignoring the girl.

  I stared at the nurse, trying to fit her into this puzzle. She was an eccentric woman, but she was the last person I’d suspect to get involved in anything to do with guns and kidnappings. Or murder.

  An overpowering stink emanated from somewhere. What was this house and what was she doing here?

  “Let Katy go,” I said, suppressing the urge to shout. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but you’re getting nowhere tying up her like this.”

  Sally gave me a stubborn look.

  “What do you want?” I tried again, tempering my tone. “Money? Is that it?”

  Silence.

  “Let’s talk and sort this out, shall we? Why did you take Katy? What’s going on here?”

  “You shouldn’t have come,” she replied in a dull monotone.

  Something in her eyes told me questioning wouldn’t go anywhere. I raised my arm and pointed my gun at her head.

  “Sally, cut Katy lose now.”

  Without a word, and keeping her eyes on me, Sally lifted her arm and pointed the Glock at Katy’s head.

  “Checkmate,” said Isabella, giggling.

  Katy struggled to break out of her rope.

  I knew my friend well enough to realize she was more upset at herself for getting into this situation than anything else. I was sure she’d have choice words for Sally if that gag hadn’t been in her mouth.

  Sally’s eyes were hard as rocks.

  I had underestimated this woman. I had felt sorry for her, an orphaned girl with a sad past, but there was a dark depth to her I hadn’t seen. Those eyes weren’t just filled with anger, but with a hatred I didn’t know she possessed.

  “I don’t want to do this,” she said, “but if you make my life difficult, I will.”

  “How the hell did you get Katy?” I growled, glaring back.

  Isabella laughed out loud.

  Katy shot her an angry look. She was fuming. They must have manipulated her. A quick look over her told me she wasn’t injured, other than a red scratch on her neck.

  “We saw you come through the woods,” replied Isabella, who seemed to have appointed herself as the spokesperson. “You guys were running around like two little FBI agents. We came around the back way. We know the woods better than you.”

  Isabella moved closer to Katy and leaned against the wall, chewing her gum loudly. I didn’t know if she realized she’d just made my life a tad easier. I didn’t like having her behind me, but I now had both Sally and Isabella in my line of sight.

  Good.

  “We just waited for you two to separate a bit, then Sally put a gun on my head. I pretended I was being kidnapped, and Katy believed me. She tried to help.” Isabella turned to Sally and grinned. “I did good, didn’t I?”

  Sally didn’t smile back.

  That was when I realized what I’d got myself into. They knew they couldn’t tackle both of us together, so they took one of us first, hoping the other would follow, which I had done blindly.

  Now they had us both on the spot.

  Katy
was still alive and kicking. Her safety was my priority. As much as I wanted to shut Isabella down, she was a child. I had to get through this with minimum damage all around.

  Diplomacy first, then combat, I reminded myself.

  Without moving my head, I glanced quickly around the room to take stock. It was an old manor with high ceilings, but tight spaces. The kitchen must be just around the corner, and where there was a kitchen, there was a back door.

  A whimper from the corner of the living room made me turn.

  I gave a start.

  I would have recognized that girl’s face anywhere. That short spiky hair and the badly smudged goth eyeliner.

  Brianna.

  She was lying naked on an old and faded couch next to the wall, with a thin sheet that barely covered her body. Her head was on her black leather jacket with the broken chain. She moaned as she moved from side to side, like she was in pain.

  I wondered if she’d been living in this hovel with no electricity or running water all this time.

  Her eyes were closed, like she was sleeping, but if I had to guess, I’d have said she was heavily medicated.

  Or drugged.

  Next to her was a low wooden table, and on it sat a Cannon camera and a laptop. Beside the laptop were two dark yellow bottles, like you’d get from a drugstore. I wondered what they contained.

  “Brianna Madison,” I said, turning to Sally. “So, you’re the one who took her. What have you done to her?”

  To my surprise, Sally let out a laugh.

  “You’re so concerned,” she said. “You’re always so worried about everyone and everything.”

  I stared at her, wondering if my miscalculation had been even more off than I thought. Maybe this woman was completely and utterly unhinged.

  Maybe Katy was right. She was the crazy random serial killer.

  “Brianna has been gone for almost four days now,” I said, “I find her in this state and you’re wondering why I’m concerned?”

  Sally sighed. “This was none of your business. We told you not to come here, but you didn’t listen, did you?”

  “We?” I said. “Who’s we? Are Ruby and Tom in this too? They seem to have no qualms drugging the girls. Kidnapping is an easy next step.”

  Sally pursed her lips. That was a slip up, and she knew it.

  My eyes flitted across the room, looking for signs of more people. Were Ruby and Tom somewhere in the back? Doing untold things to other girls? But Brianna was the only student who’d gone missing.

  I turned back to Sally.

  “You came to my bakery, and you handed me Martha May’s letter that invited me to find the girl. Why did you do that if you didn’t want us to come?”

  “I was under duress,” replied Sally in a quiet voice. “If I didn’t, she would have suspected and everything would have blown open.”

  “She?”

  “Martha May.” Sally said those words with venom.

  “What would have blown open? Your kidnapping scheme?”

  Isabella let out a guffaw.

  “You call yourself investigators,” she said, using air quotes for that last word. “But you know nothing.”

  But I knew one thing now. The principal wasn’t part of this, whatever it was.

  “You came to see me because you thought we were just bakers with a little side business, didn’t you?” I said, keeping my eyes on Sally. “You didn’t expect us to come. You also didn’t expect us to go after that truck behind the bakery. If it hadn’t been for Tetyana, I wonder what the driver would have done.”

  Sally merely glared.

  “It was the driver who called to threaten me anonymously, right? The same who tried to kill Jayden. Who is that man?”

  Sally wasn’t giving anything away, but Isabella’s more open face told me I was on the right track.

  She was leaning casually against the wall, looking like she was enjoying the show, pulling that disgusting gum out of her mouth and snapping it back inside. This was a spectacle for her, a live reality show made just for her entertainment.

  “Why did you take Brianna?” I asked, still grasping at loose threads. “Did she have something you wanted? When were you going to call her parents for the ransom?”

  “I told you this is none of your business,” said Sally, shaking her head. “Why do you have to nose around like this? It just makes things so difficult.”

  That was when it dawned on me.

  Sally was stalling.

  There was a reason she hadn’t shot Katy already. Or me.

  It wasn’t my gun pointing at her head, or a concern about a fatal gunfight that was motivating her right now.

  I needed to be prepared for company.

  Chapter Fifty-nine

  “By the end of the day, you both will be gone, and no one will find you, anyway,” said Sally.

  More vague threats.

  I had to change tactic.

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked, softening my voice.

  Silence.

  “You were a student in this school once, right? You were bullied back then, weren’t you?”

  Something dark flickered in Sally’s eyes.

  “Then your best friend disappeared.” I paused, hoping if I kept talking and pushing the right buttons, she’d soon forget I was holding a Glock to her head, just like she was holding one to my friend’s head.

  “That must have been heartbreaking,” I said.

  “She was like a sister to me,” replied Sally in a low voice.

  Gotcha.

  “What a terrible thing to happen. Poor Clara,” I continued. “Did she run away because she couldn’t stand the bullying anymore?”

  Sally’s face went red and her eyes bulged angrily.

  “She didn’t run away!” she screamed, her spittle flying. “They killed her!”

  When she looked back at me, her eyes had welled up in tears, and the hand pointing the weapon at Katy was trembling.

  I took a discreet step forward. If there was a good time to move in and throw Sally to the ground, this would be it.

  I stopped.

  Sally was unstable. Angry and lashing out one moment. Sad and crying the next.

  Isabella was unreliable too. I had no idea how either would react to me jumping on Sally. I also didn’t know if anyone else was in this house. Listening, watching, waiting.

  Sally’s eyes hardened again.

  “Those evil witches,” she said, giving a nasty look at Isabella, who blew a bubble at her.

  “Don’t look at me,” said the girl, pouting. “It wasn’t me who did it. I was starting elementary school back then.”

  “I’m not looking at you,” said Sally, her voice wavering. “It’s just every time I see that uniform, all I can think of is how those mean, sick girls killed Clara.”

  A movement from Katy made me glance at her momentarily.

  For a second, I thought she was performing a strange gymnastic gyration, but she was intensely focused on something. Her right knee was bent backward, her boot behind her, pushed against the pillar.

  The Tanto knife!

  We kept them in our boots. She was going to pull it out so she could cut herself free.

  Atta girl.

  I looked away quickly, so no one else’s attention would land on her. This wasn’t the time to play cowgirl. I had to keep the conversation moving.

  “Who killed Clara?” I asked Sally.

  “The biggest bitches to come to this school.”

  “How did they kill her?”

  “How do you think they killed her?” she said, as if I was supposed to know.

  I looked from Isabella back to her, trying to think.

  “Drug overdose?” I asked, thinking of Sam. “A shot in the head? Poisoned tea?”

  Isabella hissed as if I’d attacked her directly.

  So I was right. Or at least close enough. That was how Sam, Jayden, and Cathy had died. The question now was who killed the three of them. Sally? Isabella? Nick? Tom
and Ruby? Someone else?

  “They drowned Clara in the lake,” said Sally, wiping a tear from her cheek.

  “I thought the police searched the lake,” I said. “But they didn’t dredge it up, did they?”

  She shook her head. I noticed her lips were quivering. “You don’t understand.”

  “Help me understand, Sally,” I asked, softly. “What happened the day Clara died?”

  “It was a Tuesday night during curfew. We were all supposed to be in our rooms. Those girls told me Clara was in trouble by the lake, so I ran down. I didn’t know they told her the same thing. When Clara came to the lake to find me, they took her out in the rowboat and pushed her out.”

  Sally took a raspy breath in, like she was trying not to fall apart.

  “Clara struggled to get back in the boat. I saw her, but they kicked her like she was a dog. One of them put the oar on her back and held her down. They were giggling, like it was a big fat joke. I was at the shore. I can’t swim but I waded in as far as I could. I screamed at them but it was over just like that and she was gone.”

  The room went silent for a minute.

  The only sounds I could hear were the low moans from Brianna as she moved restlessly on the couch. I wondered how much drugs that girl had been given.

  Katy stopped moving when the conversation paused, and I kept my eyes away from her corner.

  Focus, girl. Focus.

  I needed to give her time to get out of those ropes.

  “How come the police didn’t find her body?” I asked.

  “When the girls realized she wasn’t breathing anymore, they panicked, and looked for a place to hide her.”

  The white cross next to this building and the red chrysanthemums flashed into my mind.

  “So, they brought her through the woods and buried her here,” I said.

  “That’s her grave next to the house.”

  “The police never checked here?” I said.

  “If you think the cops in this town are that smart, you’re stupider than I thought,” said Isabella.

  “They pretended to make a big fuss at the lake, but they didn’t look close enough,” said Sally. “Martha wanted the case to shut down and for everyone to forget it had ever happened. She kept talking about the media blowing things up, about her school’s reputation.”