HE WILL KILL YOU an absolutely gripping crime thriller with a massive twist

by Charlie Gallagher

  ‘Sorry. Nice pyjamas. I know I didn’t make an appointment but I figured you might be pleased to see me?’

  Maddie flushed a little. They weren’t at the point where she would wear these in front of him. Not yet. Something smelled delicious. It was coming from the white carrier bag. She suddenly realised how hungry she was.

  ‘You can leave the food,’ she said.

  ‘Fair enough. Would you like me to carry it in for you too?’

  ‘Yes. That would be acceptable.’ Maddie stepped out of the door and Adam strode in. He dumped the bags on the table, then his keys. He sat down to remove his shoes.

  ‘Oh, you’re staying then, are you?’ Maddie did her best to look serious.

  ‘Like you had better plans than a takeaway with the likes of me.’

  ‘I was just going back to work, actually.’

  ‘Dressed like that?’

  ‘Well, no. I was going to get changed.’

  ‘Come on, Maddie! I’ve never seen anyone more in for the night!’ Adam stood back up. He opened cupboards and readied plates and cutlery. The delicious smells got stronger as he emptied the carrier bag and pulled off lids. She didn’t think she could achieve much tonight anyway. She would look at Grace and any Margate links first thing in the morning.

  ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’m still getting changed, though.’

  Chapter 29

  Grace took a deep breath. She had felt the impact of falling into the chair through her arm. She needed a moment for the wave of pain to pass but the man had no intention of providing it.

  ‘Make noise and I will hurt you. Understand?’ The man was close; once more she felt his breath on her face. She turned sideways to be away from it and opened her eyes. He stepped back and his eyes moved over her whole body. ‘You are Grace?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Then I know you are one who does what she is told. You are here for Sally?’

  She nodded again.

  ‘Who else knows you are here?’

  She shook her head. A tear fell onto her cheek and she gently rubbed it away.

  ‘Do you have phone?’

  ‘Are you going to hurt me? Like you hurt Sally?’

  ‘Do as you are told. Maybe she did not.’

  ‘Are you Viktor?’ Grace said. She chastised herself inside for her voice sounding weak.

  ‘I am Viktor. Sure.’

  ‘What do you want from me?’

  ‘Where is your phone?’

  Grace was trying to think fast, trying to be one step ahead but she couldn’t think straight. This wasn’t how it was supposed to play out. ‘In my pocket,’ she said. Lying already seemed pointless.

  ‘Hand it to me.’

  She took it out. He snatched it from her and checked the screen. ‘It is switched off?’ he said.

  ‘Yes. I switched if off before I left the house, just like Sally told me.’

  ‘You did not switch back on?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘At no time did you switch back on?’

  ‘No! I didn’t need to and she told me not to.’

  ‘Give me jacket.’ Viktor said.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘GIVE JACKET!’ The sudden volume caught her out. She shuffled to pull the jacket off one-handed. She lifted it up. He snatched it off her. He searched the pockets, pulling out the make-up items she had grabbed from her house. His eyes ran over each one. He twisted out some lipstick, then twisted it back in again, he opened a tub of powder and a small mirror. He put them back into the pocket. He did the same with her purse. He threw the jacket to the far end of the longer sofa, out of her reach.

  ‘The phone’s off. I didn’t bring anything else. A few bits of make-up. I did what Sally told me to.’

  Viktor pushed the phone into his pocket. His face was a sneer. He leaned in closer again. Grace braced herself against the back of the chair.

  ‘Of course you did. Like a good little girl! You really do not know, do you? You do not know what Sally was doing with you?’

  ‘She was getting me free.’

  ‘And now — you are free, are you?’

  ‘Are you going to let me go? I just want to go. Sally said to come here and to meet you. She said I would get some money, enough for me to set up a new life. But I don’t want anything. You can keep it.’

  ‘Oh! I can keep it! I know this! Ten million pounds is good money for me. But Sally, she thought I was worth less than half of this. She needed me. For explosives. For access to the cars — I sent boy burglar in for the keys and then set explosions. He got your keys too so I could put explosive under husband’s car. But Sally, she convinced you to be the one who set it off. She said it was easy. You hate him.’

  ‘He’s not my husband.’

  ‘Now he is nothing.’

  ‘I just wanted to be free. Sally said I could have some of the money to help me set up. To start over. She said she was getting it from Craig’s brother. I didn’t know how much. I don’t care, either.’

  ‘Give you money to start over? She did not need you. Why give you money? She was not your friend.’

  ‘She understood. She found me when I was with Craig. She was kind to me. She went through the same things I did. She knew what it was like. I was going to leave him, just like she did. But Sally made me see that there would be someone else — someone next. I couldn’t live with myself. But she made me see there was another way. She was kind. She booked me a hotel and made me go to the hospital . . . And you . . . you killed her!’

  Viktor sneered. ‘She talked with me. She uses you. Your phone. Contract has your name. She used your details. You make call to bomb from this phone. You have reason to want him dead. She make sure the police will know it was you.’

  Grace shook her head. ‘That’s not right. The diary — she knew all about it. She told me to send it to the police with pictures — to write a note saying that I was leaving him and to go to the hospital. She told me to speak to the police, to tell them everything that had been going on so they would understand. It would just look like I was leaving him. She was making sure I wasn’t involved.’

  ‘On the same day he go boom! Ha! You dumb bitch! Sally was using you, yes? She needed you to access brother’s computer. She got you to provide police with motive. You send book of bad things he does, photos too — she tells me this. He clamps you to some chair, hurts your arm. You want him dead. This is not difficult to believe. She made sure you bring your phone today, yes? She insist. And it turned off so no trace your journey here? She book hotel in your name. Uses your account you gave for money to be sent. You blow up boyfriend then spend nice night in hotel! Why not go to police. Sally tell you not to, right? This was never for you. Not for your freedom. This for her!’

  Grace was still shaking her head but she was less sure. His words were swimming around in her mind. Sally had been very adamant that she brought the phone, that she switch it off. She was clear on her instructions with the photos: she had told her how to save them straight to the memory card so she could just take that out and send it off. Most phones didn’t have memory cards; Sally had chosen it specially. It had come with a messaging application on it and Sally’s details already in it. They had talked. Her instructions were simple: she needed to make the call to detonate at 2 p.m. The time seemed really important to her. Grace hadn’t liked to ask why. She just thought it was symbolic, maybe.

  ‘She told me to keep the phone on me so we could destroy it. She wanted to know herself that it was destroyed. And for safety.’

  ‘Safety?’ Viktor laughed loud.

  ‘Your safety is not for her. She was not going to give you money. She was getting you here and I was supposed to remove you. Just like I removed boy who got car keys.’

  ‘Remove?’

  ‘Dead. All of them. This is what Sally said. She did not want witness to plan. We have agreement for half of money left. She told me it would be easy. She knew rich man would not pay to stop his wank video on webcam, but it was good test
, to be sure we had his computer and his attention. She knew he wouldn’t pay for brother either, so you would get your chance to make him go boom. But she said he would pay for his freedom and for his money. She was right!’ Viktor’s eyes lit up over a wide smile. ‘Ten million! She used you to get rich. And to kill man she hates. Then you are no use to her.’

  ‘Sally . . . she said that Frank knew what Craig did to his women. He turned a blind eye. He bought him that house. She told me he even gave him the money to buy that . . . that chair — to have it adapted into what it was. She said we would make him pay for what he did, too. She didn’t tell me how much. She said I would get enough to go somewhere else. That’s all I wanted . . .’ Grace couldn’t stop the tears. She didn’t wipe them away either.

  ‘She had you, did she not? She had you believing. This was her plan. Now she is dead. She told me about you. She told me how you would just do what you were told, how you were good at that. She would have you dead already, but me? I have different idea.’

  Grace suddenly lifted her eyes. They met with Viktor. He had been pacing. He was stopped in front of her now. He was running something through his hands. For the first time she noticed he was wearing skin-coloured gloves. What he was holding looked like strips of plastic — cable ties.

  ‘You don’t need me either, do you?’ Grace’s voice was a whisper. Resigned. The boy who had helped him set the bombs, the woman who came up with the idea in the first place . . . If he was to be believed, they were both dead and by his hands. She was the only one left.

  ‘You are wrong. I have job for you.’

  ‘What job?’

  ‘Sally, she make plan for you to be blamed — for the police to come for you. This was a good plan.’

  ‘You want me to take the blame? For everything? They’ll know. They’ll ask questions I can’t answer! I can’t take the blame for you!’

  He held his hands up for her to stop. He was smiling and shaking his head as if telling her not to worry, that everything would be okay.

  ‘I help you disappear if you do what you are told. If you do not — if you are bad — then I will not help and I will get angry. You do not want me to get angry. Sally, she make me angry. I choked her until she was dead. I used cable tie. I used this cable tie. I tie this around your hands — your DNA yes? Yours and Sally’s. You came here and you killed her. You killed husband with your phone. You got access to computer at brother’s place and you set bombs. Everything pointing at you. You understand?’

  ‘I . . .’ Grace couldn’t find any words. She was trying to make sense of it all, trying to work out how she had got into this situation.

  Suddenly he took hold of her good arm. He was rough and she cried out in surprise. He slammed his hand over her face again, silencing her instantly.

  ‘We stay here until early morning. The building is busy now — people come and they go. We leave first light. I cannot be seen here. We take Sally. You will be silent. Unless you would rather I tie down the other hand?’

  Grace shook her head into his hand. She could taste the rubber from his gloves. He pushed off her, turning her face as he did so. She closed her eyes as he grabbed her arm again. She felt the cool plastic wrap round her right wrist then it was yanked across to the radiator. The plastic was pulled tight and he stepped away. She was now pulled tightly against the radiator; it was solid. She looked away from him, down at her left arm. It was still tight against her chest in the sling she had been given by the kindly nurse. She couldn’t get it out, not with one hand. And even if she could it was totally useless. She hung her head. She was back in a modified sofa, back under the control of another. And back in a situation that she was convinced would end with her coming to harm.

  Chapter 30

  Saturday

  Grace took a few moments to realise who and where the voice was coming from. As her eyes fluttered open and she made eye contact with a stranger, her panic was instant. Her right hand twitched against something, it was restrained, tied tightly. Her left hand flashed with pain as she tried to lift it in her panic.

  It came back to her at once: this was no stranger; it was Viktor. He had secured her to the radiator. She must have finally fallen asleep. The room was still dark and Viktor was an outline. He had said he wanted to leave at first light. It clearly hadn’t quite arrived yet. He clicked on a lamp up on a shelf that she hadn’t noticed before.

  ‘Leave time. We must be silent. I warn you not to cause me problem. You know what I can do.’

  He pulled a knife from his pocket. The blade folded out of the handle in a slick movement. He cut the cable tie. She was trying to think. She couldn’t just accept that this was it, that she had come so far and been through so much for it all to end with him. Her eyes moved to her jacket, lying in a heap on the floor on the other side of the room.

  ‘I need to freshen up. I can’t go out like this!’ she blurted.

  ‘We do not have time. This is the time to go, before people wake.’

  ‘You want me to blend in. Look at me! I should at least stick a bit of make-up on or people will stare — and not just at me. I know I look pale and rough. People have called the police before when I was out with Craig and I looked like this. He never let me wear make-up. Let me have a shower and put some make-up on. A few minutes!’

  Viktor’s eyes ran her up and down. ‘A few minutes.’

  ‘My coat — the make-up things from the pocket. Can I have my coat?’ She pointed to where it lay. He walked over to it and scooped it up but he seemed to change his mind. He threw it back down immediately.

  ‘She will have. You can use what you find.’

  ‘Come on, Viktor. It will be quicker. Girls have their own — you know how it is. There are different skin tones and—’

  ‘Okay!’ He snatched the jacket back up from the floor and threw it onto the sofa next to her. ‘Skin tones! Like I care about this. Be quick. I check bathroom already. The window is very small. You might make it out . . . then you have three-storey fall. Keep window closed. I will be listening. If I hear window open I come in and maybe I will help you get through!’ He laughed heartily. Grace struggled to her feet. ‘And leave your make-up things in bin in there. This will be good. Police will find them. They will know you were here even more. You take nothing with you.’

  Grace nodded and turned towards the corridor. The bathroom was the furthest door from the living room. She shut the door and exhaled loudly. She could feel her heart racing. She didn’t have long. She turned the shower on as hot as it went. It came through quicker than she expected. By the time she had struggled to get herself undressed, the room already contained a heavy mist.

  * * *

  Harry moved to the back of the briefing room. That suited Maddie; she followed him, keeping her head down until she found a seat. She had been in since just after 6 a.m. The intelligence system had shown nothing to link Grace with Margate. She hadn’t called Ian Hughes yet; she would give it an hour or so. Harry himself had suggested she wait until after the meeting, saying that it would be worth waiting until she had all the information. Other than that, he had told her nothing about what might be contained in the early morning briefing. She had heard rumours the previous day, that the CT team were taking a step back, having found nothing to link the bombings with any known terrorist organisations. It was suggested that Gold Command would soon be handing the lead back to Major Crime and, from a conversation she had overheard at the coffee machine just a few moments earlier, this meeting was expected to be part of that.

  Looking around the room that could make sense. She recognised a couple of officers who had shown up in the last couple of days and had made it clear they worked as part of Counter Terrorism — as if that made them special. Their body language this morning was relaxed. The man in the row in front of her sat with his arms stretched out along the back of the chairs on either side, his legs were crossed towards the man with whom he was laughing. The only coppers looking tense or even interested were detecti
ves she recognised from Major Crime. Some worked in Canterbury Police Station where the briefing was taking place, others were from further away. They all had their books open, ready to take notes, and they all sat up straighter as someone walked to the front of the room and asked for attention. The man in front of Maddie was still laughing; the only change in him was that his laughter was a little quieter.

  ‘Good morning. Thank you all for coming.’ The man now stood at the front was tall, in his late fifties, and wore a sharp-looking suit. He embraced the group, looking relaxed and authoritative at the same time. Maddie didn’t think this was his first attempt at addressing a room full of police officers. ‘Some of you will know me and may know the content of this briefing. I make no apologies for that; you are here to receive an update on Operation Minotaur and for those who have already been involved, to make sure that nothing is missed.

  ‘I’m DCI Ian Clark. I work in Counter Terrorism and I have been the SIO to this point. Operation Minotaur is the ongoing investigation into the detonation of three explosive devices in the Roundhill Tunnels, just outside of Langthorne. It has been a massive operation from a resource and investigative point of view and at this point we are able to state that there are no links from this incident to any known terrorist organisation or activity. We have had the usual crackpots calling in and claiming responsibility on behalf of numerous terror groups, but nothing has been confirmed. We did have someone claim the attack on behalf of the independent nation of Glaucoma, but we’re not looking into that one too seriously.’

  He paused for a smattering of nervous laughter.

  ‘So, with terrorism no longer suspected to be the main motivation, this operation will be led by Lennockshire Police from this point and specifically Detective Chief Inspector Julian Lowe.’ DCI Lowe stepped in from the wings. Maddie hadn’t noticed him to that point. He nodded. He had his hands thrust firmly in his pockets and wore the expression of a man suddenly under pressure. Ian Clark still had the floor and he continued.

  ‘DCI Lowe is fully up to speed — he has been involved throughout — but we deemed it right that we provide you all with an update as part of any handover. It is important to understand that the resources of my team remain available. We still have search teams carrying out their work and they will continue to do so until finished. We also have our expert in all things explosive here and he will remain available too. He is perhaps the best man to provide the update at this point. Mark, if you would.’