Authors: Helen Phifer
‘No, I mean, I feel like shit, but I don’t want to put it off. I need it to be over with today and you have to admit it, we’re so close. What were the chances of my going to the coffee shop the same time as her for a takeaway? He’s close by, Cathy. I can feel him. I’m not bothered about her. She’s just a kid. I feel pretty confident I can take her out on my own, but he’s a different game altogether.’
‘I agree with you, but I’m worried about you.’ She walked over and pressed the back of her hand against Annie’s forehead. ‘You have a temperature. Let’s get some paracetamol down you and see how you feel in thirty minutes before we decide to send you out like a sitting duck.’
‘I don’t want to take anything, but thanks. They might make my stomach feel worse than it is.’
‘Will’s pretty pissed off with you, but I think that might be a good thing for now. If he’s too busy fawning over you, there’s a good chance he’ll fuck it all up anyway. He’s in there calling out the shots like the professional he is, so keep away from him. Don’t tell him you feel like shit and keep your mouth shut. I’ll do the talking. You are just going to agree with whatever they have decided to do. Is that okay with you?’
Annie nodded, hating that Will was still angry with her, but if it made him focus and kept him and everyone else safe she would keep making him angry. Then Cathy did something that almost made Annie faint. She walked over and hugged her.
‘I’m relying on you to keep yourself and the rest of us alive. Today is not the day any of us is going to die. Kav would be destroyed if anything happened to you. He thinks the world of you and, if that were to happen, I’d be devastated, because he is the best shag I’ve ever had. But don’t you go telling anyone that; it’s our secret.’ She winked at Annie who began to laugh. All the tension from the room had gone.
Annie squeezed her back. ‘I know. He’s been like a dad to me and I’m so glad the pair of you are so, erm, compatible. You actually make a really good couple. I can’t believe it’s taken you both so long to get it together.’
Cathy pushed her arm through Annie’s. ‘Come on, when this is all over I might need you to help me plan a wedding. You know, Kav once asked me to marry him a long time ago and, like the fool I was, I turned him down. Then I ended up with the cock of the North who treated me like shit and left me anyway. I’m not waiting around for years, so that’s another reason you can’t go and get yourself killed today.’
Annie stopped at her locker. ‘I’ll be out in a minute. I need to put my kit on; and Cathy, if you so much as leave this station, make sure you put yours on too.’
‘I will. Now come on, let’s go catch our killer.’
She left Annie to get dressed and walked back into her office to see Will writing out his plan on her whiteboard. Kav looked at her and she smiled, then mouthed, ‘She’s okay.’ He nodded then looked back at Will, taking in every word that he had written down.
***
Henry drove past and saw the Mercedes. ‘Good. She’s there. Now where do you think we should go?’ He turned into the same street where Will had parked, then turned the engine off and got out of the car. ‘I’m going to find somewhere to loiter for a while and watch to see who she comes out with and what car they go off in. Then I think I know exactly what to do to get her to come to us without any risky botched jobs in the middle of a busy street in broad daylight.’
‘What are you going to do, Henry?’
‘All in good time. I’ll tell you when I’m definitely sure that will be our plan. There’s no point in confusing you, is there?’
She watched him stroll off, his black jacket zipped up. He had a big scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face and a black woollen hat pulled down low on his head. He looked like every other middle-aged tourist and blended in seamlessly. His scars were barely visible. He stopped for a moment to pull on a pair of thick, woollen gloves and then he walked off towards the station.
She looked at the cheap, black phone on the car seat. Now was her chance. She could phone 101 and tell the police that England’s most wanted man was outside one of their stations waiting to kidnap a police officer, but she didn’t know if they would take her seriously. Probably not, knowing her luck, and by the time officers had come out Henry would have realised what she’d done and killed her anyway. She tugged her own hat out of her pocket and pulled it over her head, trying to disguise herself a little. If Annie came out and saw her sitting in the van, it might make her realise something was wrong.
After twenty minutes he came back grinning. ‘We’re on. Our lovely Annie just came out of the station and got into a police car all on her own. They must be short-staffed today because she’s normally with that giant beast of a man. Which means this is wonderful news for us, Megan, just wonderful.’
‘Are we going to follow her, then?’
‘No, it’s too obvious. I think we should go to the caravan park and you can phone up to say you’ve been in a car accident on the opposite side of town. Just before she came out, two policemen came out and got into a van. Hopefully, they will send them to the accident that isn’t, and then I’ll phone again and ask for help at that big old house. If she’s on her own, they might send her, if it’s nothing that one person can’t handle. We’ll lure her in and take it from there.’
Megan thought it all sounded pretty good. Where on earth he got his ideas from she didn’t know, but if it meant that this would all be over with soon, then good.
Annie drove around aimlessly for the next forty minutes, backwards and forwards through the streets of Bowness and Windermere, hoping that Henry was watching. When there wasn’t much happening she pulled over near the café and waited to see if she could see either Megan or Henry lurking around.
Will had looked so different in his full uniform. She’d never seen him in black combats and fluorescent yellow body armour, and she hadn’t been able to stop staring. Will and Jake had gone out in the van, scouring the streets as well. A call came in for an accident, and control shouted Jake’s collar number to go to it. They couldn’t say no because, technically, Jake and Annie were the only uniformed officers on duty until the next shift started in an hour. She stayed where she was, making sure the locks were on so no one could jump in the car with her.
Her phone began to ring and she answered it. ‘Yes, Kav, I know. I’ve just parked and I’ve locked myself in. I won’t get out of the car, I promise. You don’t need to come down. I’m fine. I don’t need a babysitter just yet.’
The control room shouted her number, but she didn’t catch it until they shouted again. ‘Annie, we have a Martha Beckett on the phone from Beckett House. She’s asking if there’s any chance you could pop over and see her. She said it won’t take long.’
‘Yes, I will. Can you tell her I’ll be there in five minutes and she’s to let me in?’
‘Will do.’
Annie’s radio began to ring in her ear and this time it was Cathy’s voice on the other end. ‘Wait until Jake’s finished with this minor accident before you go there.’
‘It’s fine. I don’t think a ninety-year-old reclusive woman will be much of a threat. She doesn’t go anywhere or talk to anyone. She won’t exactly have Henry Smith hiding in her house, will she?’
‘I suppose not. Look, if you get there and anything isn’t right, get the fuck out. She can wait.’
‘Yes, boss, I will.’
‘Good, Kav’s having a shit fit. He said he’ll go with you.’
‘Tell him to calm down. It’s fine. She’s a lovely old dear. I’ll let you know when I’m clear from there, and we can regroup and try something else.’
‘Roger.’
Annie started the car, pleased to be doing something to break the boredom that was settling over her. She hated being cooped up in a car on her own. It was crap not having anyone to talk to. As long as Martha Beckett didn’t expect her to go down into that cellar and fight that monster on her own, what could possibly go wrong?
Annie drove into the now familiar drive of Beckett House and parked in front of the door. She looked around the gardens just to be sure there was no one around, but they were empty. It was so sad that such a beautiful house and gardens had been left so unloved. She got out of the car and walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Then she waited. It was a big house for one old woman to live in. Surely she’d be much better in a retirement flat.
There was no sign of Martha, and Annie began to worry. What if she’d fallen over or had a heart attack? She tried the door but it was locked, so she walked to the big picture windows that looked onto the lake and tried to peer through the gap in the curtains. It was dark inside and she couldn’t really see anything except the outline of the dark furniture that filled the room. Making her way round to the back of the house where the kitchen was, she thought she would see if that door was open. Martha might be in there with the kettle boiling and unable to hear her knocking.
She walked up to the glass door and took hold of the handle to push it down. As she did, she felt the familiar small, freezing hand that belonged to Sophie pull her own. ‘Annie, you have to run. He’s coming.’ Annie felt every hair on the back of her head stand on end as a dark shadow fell over her. Not even looking behind her, she stepped sideways and did what Sophie told her. She began to run. As she lifted her hand to press the bright orange emergency button on her radio she saw Megan step in front of her, swinging a large piece of wood. It hit her on the temple and she felt her knees give way as she started to fall towards the hard gravel. She lost consciousness before she hit the ground with a loud thud.
***
Jake drove up and down the street where the accident had been reported, but didn’t see anything. He slowed down and Will put his window down to ask a couple sitting outside one of the cafés if they’d seen anything. Both of them shook their heads and Will felt his stomach flip. ‘Where’s Annie? Where did they send her when they gave her a job ten minutes ago?’
‘Beckett House, but Martha’s a sweet old woman who lives there on her…’ Jake didn’t finish the sentence because Will was shouting ‘Annie’ over the radio and getting no reply. Jake took out his phone and rang her, but it just rang out.
His radio began to ring and a breathless Kav gasped, ‘I don’t know where the fuck this house is, Jake. Come and get us now.’
Will looked across at Jake. ‘Don’t you dare. Get your lights on and get us there now. They can find their own way to it. I’m not wasting any time.’
Will felt his hands shaking, and his head began to feel as if it was full of cotton wool. Jake put his foot down. Turning on the lights and sirens, he began to drive way too fast to the house by the lake. The whole time he kept shouting for Annie on the radio with no response. He heard the control room asking Cathy if they wanted reinforcements to help search for Annie and she screamed, ‘Hell, fucking yes,’ back at them, making Jake wince.
‘There was no accident. It was a decoy. The crafty bastard knew you’d have to go to it.’ Will slammed his hand against the dashboard.
Jake couldn’t think of a worse road to travel along at break-neck speed and hoped to God they made it in one piece without taking any pedestrians or other motorists out.
***
Cathy was zipping up her body armour as she was running for the door. ‘He won’t pick us up. They’re not going to waste any time. Come on, Kav, I’ll drive.’ She plucked a set of keys off the board in the small office and they ran out to the van.
‘Fuck, fuck, fuck. You told her I’d go with her. Why didn’t she wait for me?’
‘We might be panicking over nothing yet, Kav. For all we know she could be sitting having a cup of tea with this old bird and might not be able to get a radio signal. You know how these mountains and hills make the signals drop out all the time, don’t you?’
‘Let’s hope so.’
***
Henry and Megan half carried, half dragged Annie into the kitchen of Beckett House. He was fuming with Megan for hurting Annie like that, but she would have hit her emergency button if she hadn’t, so he understood why she’d done it. But still, he didn’t like that she’d grinned when Annie had dropped to the ground.
‘As soon as we get her into the cellar I want you to go, get away from here. You’ve served your purpose. This is personal. Do you understand what I’m saying, Megan?’
She nodded. ‘What about her?’ She pointed to the old woman who was semi-conscious on the floor and tied up. ‘I’ll take care of her as well. Take the van and go. Thank you for all your help.’
Megan looked at him in disgust, clearly annoyed that he was just dismissing her like a naughty child after everything she had done for him, everything she’d given up. They picked up Annie again, who was a dead weight, and began carrying her towards the cellar. He’d taken the key chain from around the old woman’s neck and had already unlocked the bolts and padlocks while waiting for Annie to arrive. He swung the door open and tugged on the cord, illuminating the stone steps. The smell of earth and a much stronger one of decay, which he recognised, hit his nostrils and he wondered what the old woman had been keeping down here. They struggled to get Annie down the steps – they were so steep – without dropping her, but they managed it and set her down on the damp, cold floor at the bottom.
‘Thank you, Megan, now go and leave me to do what I have to do.’
She stood up, her face a mask of anger and whispered, ‘Fuck you, Henry,’ between clenched teeth. But she turned and walked up the steps. As she got to the kitchen she saw the flashing blue lights illuminating the drive and heard the police van skid to a halt on the gravel outside. She heard two voices as one shouted at the other to go around the back.
Picking up one of the large carving knives from the draining board, she wondered at how heavy it felt in her hands. Then she wondered what it would be like to actually stab it straight through someone’s flesh. She fell to her knees by the sink seconds before one of the coppers pushed the back door open and walked inside the house. A man’s voice shouted ‘Annie’. There was no reply because she was out for the count, about to be slaughtered like a pig in an abattoir.