'But she lives so near and you still owe her, remember?'
Robert did remember, but he felt powerless to do anything about it.
'Do you want them to catch you?'
'He said he'd come back with the pills, he said I could have as many as I wanted?'
The voice barked out a bitter laugh. 'And you believe him do you, the man who left you here with no food or water tied to a tree like a whipped dog?'
'But…'
'He isn't coming back and if he does then he won't be bringing your medication, all he'll do is cut your throat, he doesn't care about you Robert…'
'But you let him get me you didn't warn me that he was there and…'
'I warned you but you didn't listen,' the voice paused for a moment, 'you have to pay attention, Robert. You have to trust me, because like it or not I'm all you've got left.'
Robert looked up at the grizzled sky. 'I'm sick of being wet and tired.'
'So, do as I say, I know it hurts, but you can do it because you're special. Do you think I would have wasted my time on someone if I didn't think they were special?'
'Do you really mean it?'
'Would I lie to you?'
'Yes.'
Light laughter trickled through Robert's head. 'See I told you, you're special. Now twist your fucking hands or I'll leave you here with the creepy crawlies.'
Despite his distrust, Robert did as he was told.
114
'So that's it, Wilson's in charge?' Lasser was slumped onto Suzanne's marshmallow sofa. Bannister sat opposite, his face like crumpled chip paper. 'Don't make me say it again, Lasser.'
'Bastards!'
Suzanne came in from the kitchen carrying a tray full of hot drinks. 'Well, if it stops you two running yourselves into the ground then I don't care,' she said.
Medea nodded in agreement. 'Let someone else get the stick for a change.'
Lasser leaned forward. 'Yeah, but it doesn't work that way, as far as the great and good are concerned we fuc…' he stopped and raised a hand. 'Sorry, I meant to say messed up.'
Suzanne placed the tray on the coffee table. 'What about what Claire had to say, surely that helps?'
Bannister shrugged. 'We'll check it out but it doesn't help us catch Flynn. I mean, if Fleming did kill Flynn's mother then it solves a murder that happened fourteen years ago but it won't cut any mustard with my boss.'
Lasser fiddled with the fake cigarette in his pocket and looked out of the window, when he turned Bannister was watching him.
'Another couple of hours and it'll be dark.' The DCI said, as if he'd read Lasser's mind.
'What do you want to do?'
'Like I said, Wilson's in charge so from now on you take your orders from him.'
'I don't think so,' Lasser snapped.
'Let's not go over this again, Sergeant. I know you don't like the man but this needs sorting and the more people involved the greater the chances of catching Flynn before he kills someone else.'
Lasser fumed, he'd always had trouble taking orders, and of all the men he'd worked under Bannister was probably the only one he'd any respect for. Oh, he could be a pain in the arse, but at least he got stuck in and didn't simply hide behind his desk like a lot of the PhD boys did.
'I'll go and check Fleming,' he said.
'Lasser, you're not listening, you can't simply head off into the sunset, you have a job to do…'
'But he might hold the key…'
'Key, what bloody key…?'
'Alan, there's no need to raise your voice,' Suzanne sounded as if she were addressing a naughty boy who'd been caught cursing in church.
Lasser watched as Bannister spluttered, his face glowing with embarrassment.
'Look, what have we got to lose? I mean, knowing Wilson he'll have me stuck behind a desk doing sod all.'
'You don't know that, Lasser, he…'
'The man hates me…'
'And why is that?' Bannister asked with a raised eyebrow. 'Could it have something to do with the fact that you called him a ''useless bastard'' to his face?'
'How do you know about that?'
Bannister wrapped his fist around the mug of coffee. 'You're a bit of a legend on the Merseyside force. In fact, Conner Blair said you were the only non-scouser who ever fitted in.'
'I have no problems with the Liverpool lads.'
'He said you told Wilson a few home truths, he even said they threw a party for you when you transferred back over here.'
'I know what Wilson's like, he'll try and finish you if he gets the chance.'
Bannister blew onto the hot drink, Suzanne slid in by his side. 'I'm well aware of how he operates, Lasser, but this is no longer my call.'
'So what are you going to do, just sit there and open a bottle of wine, have a cosy night in by the fire?' He felt Medea grip his hand.
'And what the hell is that supposed to mean?' Bannister snarled.
'I just don't see why you're giving up…'
'I am not giving up. I…'
'Well, it looks like it from where I'm sitting. I mean, when your daughter went missing you didn't give a toss about the consequences, you did what you had to do to get her back.'
Bannister jabbed out a finger. When Suzanne placed a hand on his arm, he pushed it away. 'Don't you dare…!'
'You'd have done anything to get to the truth, what's the matter is it not worth the effort to catch the man who killed Marsha Rimmer?'
'You bastard!' Bannister lunged forward and Suzanne grabbed at his sleeve.
'Alan, don't, Lasser's right!'
He snapped his head around in disbelief. 'What did you say?'
'If what he says is true about this Wilson character then you have to find Flynn before he does.'
'What difference does it make who catches him?' he looked on the verge of losing it big time. If it had been anyone other than Suzanne, he would probably have blown his stack and bugger the consequences.
'It matters because he's only interested in furthering his career; he isn't interested in the victims,' she explained.
Lasser nodded and opened his mouth, when he saw Medea shake her head he clamped his lips shut.
'That's irrelevant…'
'No, it isn't, you know this town, you know the people involved. I mean, eighteen months ago I wouldn't have believed a word Lasser said…'
'Thanks for that, Suzanne,' Lasser grumbled.
She looked at him and smiled. 'But I was wrong and if he says you need to sort this, then I believe him.'
Bannister's nostrils flared, his brow like a ploughed field, a vein in his temple throbbed, and then his shoulders slumped as if someone had pricked his bubble of anger with a rusty pin. 'I don't know what we can do. Wilson has control, and like it or not what he says goes.'
Lasser stood up. 'Well, I'm going to find Fleming and you can tell Wilson to kiss my arse.'
Medea tried to keep hold of his hand but he shrugged himself free.
Lasser was halfway across the room when Bannister called after him, his voice laden with inevitability. 'Hang on, Lasser, I'm coming with you.'
Medea and Suzanne stood side by side at the front window and watched as they climbed into Bannister's Audi.
'Do you think they'll get this sorted?' Medea asked in a quiet voice.
'I don't know about Lasser but Alan takes things too personally.' Suzanne replied.
'Tell me about it.'
Both women watched as the car disappeared through the electric gates.
115
Robert couldn't believe it; his hands were free, he held them in front of his face in amazement. 'I did it,' he whispered.
'Quickly, you need to untie your legs.'
Robert wriggled his fingers. 'You said I could do it and I did, I did it…'
'Concentrate.'
Robert blew on his hands to try to generate some heat and then he began to work at the knots, the side of his face ached with pain, his wrists raw from where the rope had eaten into the flesh.<
br />
'Hurry up, Robert, it's not safe here,' the voice urged.
When he heard the distant sound of a barking dog, Robert snapped his head up in fear. 'They're coming for me, oh sweet Jesus, they're here.'
'Keep calm and untie your legs.'
'I can't the bastard tied them tight,' he was crying now as he realised he was trapped. They would come for him and when they found him they'd let the dogs loose. An image erupted in his mind, the huge animals blasting through the bushes, snarling and gnashing their diamond-sharp teeth.
'They're going to eat me!' he wailed.
'You can still do this.'
'But…'
'You have no choice, if you stay they'll kill you and what about the bitch, you still owe her Robert?'
Robert nodded, his black hair writhing. At the mention of her name, the fury came bubbling up through his mind, like sewage blasting through an unblocked drain. As the voice said, he owed her, he couldn't give up, knowing she lived and breathed while he became a plaything for the dogs.
His fingers pulled and twisted at the Nylon cord, the dog barked again though this time he managed to block it out, head bent, his forehead running with sweat, he carried on and almost cried out with joy when he felt the cord slip. Robert thrashed his legs and then miraculously he was free.
'I did it,' he whispered in disbelief and looked up as if he expected to see the owner of the voice standing before him, but the light was starting to fade as the weak winter sun vanished behind a bank of scuttling clouds.
'You have to get up, you have to move from here.'
There was urgency in the voice, a subtle underlying thread of uncertainty as if even the voice was unsure of the outcome.
Robert rose slowly, his legs felt incapable of moving, he shivered as the cold breeze whispered through the trees.
'Are you ready?'
'I don't think I can move.'
'I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter.'
The dog barked again, this time it sounded closer a huge booming sound that seemed to rattle the branches above his head.
Robert was amazed to find that he could run after all.
116
Shaun ran until he felt as if his lungs would implode, the rucksack slammed against his back, the rain lashed his face. As he came to the bridge that spanned the canal he slowed to a walk, halfway across he stopped and looked along the arrow-straight stretch of water. To his left he could see the huge lake, tiny sail boats bobbing up and down on the water, a couple of windsurfers, braving the weather, zipped back and forth across the choppy surface.
Sliding the pack from his shoulder, Shaun fumbled inside before pulling out the bottle of water, tilting his head to the sky he drained it before tossing it into the water.
Placing his hands on the metal rail, he tried to block out the voice in his head, the voice that insisted this was a mistake. The voice that told him he was a fucking coward, Shaun shook his head but the voice wouldn't budge, you should have kept your promise, it hissed.
'I will,' he snapped back.
'What if Flynn manages to untie the ropes, what if he gets free?' His conscience threw back at him.
'He won't,' Shaun felt the sliver of doubt lodge in his brain. Though if he did, Flynn would no doubt kill again, perhaps he'd try to get to Sarah and her friend, unfinished business.
Turning, Shaun looked back along the towpath, suddenly unsure of what he should do. If he went to see Fleming, then what did he hope to achieve. The doctor would deny any knowledge of Robert Flynn or his mother and then what would he do? He could beat the truth out of him but what if Flynn had been lying, what if Fleming was innocent of any wrongdoing?
Shaun hesitated and checked his watch, if he went back it would take him over an hour to reach the place where he'd left Flynn shackled to the tree, and Red Rock was only fifteen maybe twenty minutes away. Dragging his hood back, he let the water swill onto his upturned face. Then he turned and set off running, he would go and see Fleming and take it from there. Robert Flynn was going nowhere.
117
When Bannister saw the name flashing on the screen, he frowned. 'It's Wilson.'
'So, what're you going to do?' Lasser asked.
Bannister tossed it onto the dashboard. 'Ignore it.'
The phone stopped bleating and Bannister got his foot down, the car bulleted forward beneath an iron-grey sky. Suddenly the rain blasted down forcing Bannister to ease off the gas, flicking on the wipers, he fumbled out his cigarettes.
'Do the honours,' he tossed the packet at Lasser who lit them both a cigarette. 'You do realise that if this goes tits up then we'll both be signing onto jobseekers.'
Lasser's smile was bleak. 'Well, like you said earlier, maybe it's time for a change.'
'Oh aye, so what will you do?'
'Well, Medea says she likes a man in uniform so I thought I might be a lollipop man.'
'You're a moron, Lasser…'
'Hey come on, it might be the best thing that's ever happened to me.'
'Knowing your luck you'll get knocked down by a joyrider, have you thought of that?'
'You know me, I like living on the edge.'
Bannister sighed, 'Like I said – moron.'
The rain suddenly stopped as if it had been nothing but a figment of their imagination. They swept past the hospital and over the Cherry Tree roundabout.
'I don't even know why we're going to see Fleming. According to you the man lives on a boat so it's not as if he can make a quick getaway.'
'You think it's a waste of time?' Lasser asked.
'Well, how is he going to help us catch Flynn?'
Lasser sighed, chances are Bannister was right, according to Claire Oxbury, Flynn had said that Fleming was responsible for the death of his mother. Then again, it could all be part of Flynn's twisted mind and Fleming could be completely innocent. Running a hand across his eyes, he tried to think, but the truth was that there were no secrets to be uncovered. They knew the identity of the killer and the only thing they had to do was catch the man, and it was their inability to do this one thing that was eating away at them both.
'Could we have done anything different?' Bannister asked as though he'd read Lasser's mind.
'Yeah we could have more bodies out on the street…'
'We have ample manpower…'
'Now we do, but when we needed it early on we were spread too thin.'
'I told you that won't wash.'
'It's the truth whether it washes or not.'
Bannister swung a right and headed around a series of tight S-bends before turning right at a mini roundabout, then the car began to climb out of the steep valley, trees swayed to the left and right, the surface of the road slick with fallen leaves.
'Turn onto the pub car park.'
Bannister nodded and indicated before turning onto the small patch of ground. 'I didn't know this place had closed down,' he said looking up at the derelict building.
Lasser slid out of the seat belt. 'This town is like the force, closing down a bit at a time,' he mumbled before stepping out into the rain.
118
'Keep moving!'
Robert did as he was told, ploughing his way through a patch of nettles, wincing as the leaves stung his hands.
'Where are we going?'
'You need your medication, don't you?'
Flynn grinned in the gloom. 'You mean it?'
'Of course I do, now stop talking.'
Robert ravaged his bottom lip in excitement, he was going to get the pills and then he'd come back here but this time he'd make sure he listened to the voice, he would control his emotions and do whatever was demanded of him.
'At last, Robert.'
Flynn frowned. 'At last, what?'
'You've decided to put your trust in me.'
'I promise,' Robert gasped, his voice full of quivering rapture.
'I know you do, if you follow me, I'll make sure you have a lifetime of fun and games, would you like that?'
>
Robert nodded vigorously and suddenly he could a see lights in the distance, houses, streets, somewhere far behind a dog barked. 'Am I going to be safe,' he asked.
'Safe as houses, Robert, now move it.'
This time there was no hesitation, no doubt, Robert set off across the open field. It felt wonderful to have the decisions made for you, all the pressure, all the worry evaporated. At last, he felt truly invisible and once he had the medication he would be unstoppable.
119
As soon as Shaun spotted the boats in the distance, he started to run. The towpath was a trough of sludge but he ploughed through, the grey water spraying up as he ran, a couple of Canadian geese squawked as he dashed past.
Smoke trailed from one of the narrowboats stunted chimneys; a figure decked out in waterproofs was busy yanking a plastic sack from the roof of the boat. As he drew level, he pulled the hood down on his jacket, and plastered a smile onto his face.
'Excuse me, I wonder if you could help me?'
The woman turned and smiled, she looked to be in her late twenties, her black hair sprang out from beneath the hood, she reminded him so much of Gemma that it took his breath away.
'Are you lost?' she asked, as she pushed back the hood.
Shaun tried to concentrate but the resemblance was uncanny, when he saw the flicker of a frown cross her face, he cleared his throat and took a backward step. 'Actually I'm looking for someone.'
'What, all the way out here?'
He tried the smile again and was relieved when she smiled back. 'I'm looking for someone called Fleming?'
'I'm afraid you've missed him, he set off about an hour ago.'
Shaun couldn't hide his disappointment. 'Oh right.'
'Was it important?'
He shrugged. 'Not as such.'
'You must be wet through,' she said, her eyes taking in his sodden clothes.
'Believe it or not when I set off the forecast said light showers.'
She nodded in understanding. 'I've stopped listening to the weathermen, they never seem to get it right.'
Twisted Page 29
