Justice for the Damned (38 page)

Margaret started to climb, followed by Tyler and Liam. As she pulled herself over the top of the ladder, the first thing she saw was an arm trailing out of a bundle of plastic and duct tape. Then she saw the blood-spattered workbench and the tools and raincoats hanging on the wall beside it. She stood stooped over, holding her stomach as if she might vomit. ‘You people are monsters,’ she said, her words coming in quick pants.

‘No,’ said Tyler. ‘We’re just businessmen.’

As Liam jabbed his gun into Margaret’s ribs again, Tyler grabbed Jim’s arms and pulled him onto the floorboards. Jim lay on his back, dragging in raspy breaths. The harness had squeezed out what little air was in his lungs.

‘Give him some slack,’ said Tyler. As Doug did so, Tyler propped Jim up against a couple of bags of feed close to the lip of the loft and loosened the harness off. ‘There you go. Now breathe. Breathe.’

Jim lifted his gaze to Margaret’s. And in her eyes he saw reflected back at him all the hope and longing, all the sorrow and love he’d ever felt.

‘That’s right, Jim,’ continued Tyler. ‘Look at her. You have the power. It’s up to you how she dies. All you have to do is answer one simple question. Other than Bryan Reynolds, who have you told about Edward Forester?’

‘What does that matter now?’ Jim asked hoarsely. ‘Forester’s dead.’

‘You don’t need to worry about why it matters. You just need to think about whether you want to watch Margaret watching bits of herself be fed to Kong.’

‘Who’s Kong?’

‘Answer my question and you needn’t ever find out.’

‘No one. The answer’s no one.’

‘Why do I find that hard to believe?’

‘I don’t know. I tried to have Forester murdered. That’s not exactly the kind of thing you want to broadcast.’

‘Enough of this bollocks!’ put in Doug. ‘Why is Reece Geary’s number on your phone?’

Jim’s eyes narrowed a fraction. So Reece was in on this too. But he obviously didn’t know the whole truth. Otherwise why would he have been searching for Melinda? ‘I heard Reece was trying to track down a missing prostitute,’ he said, choosing his words with care, aware that Reece’s life hung on them. ‘So I went to speak to him. But I didn’t tell him anything.’

Doug shot Tyler a triumphant look. ‘You see,’ he said, half laughing with relief. ‘I told you.’

Tyler stared at Jim like he was reading the lines that the long years had etched into his face. As if satisfied by what he saw, he gave a nod. He approached the wall of tools and took down a knife with a long, narrow blade. He turned to Margaret. ‘Tilt your head back.’

She hesitated to do so, her panicked eyes darting between Tyler and Jim.

‘Relax.’ Tyler’s voice was uncharacteristically soft, almost tender. ‘In medieval times knives like this one were used to euthanise the seriously wounded and sick.’ Margaret trembled as he touched a finger to the hollow where her breastbone met her neck. ‘The blade is thrust down behind the ribcage into the heart. It’s over in an instant. I promise you, you won’t feel a thing.’ He glanced at Liam. ‘Hold her steady.’

Liam wrapped his arms around Margaret. Her tear-filled eyes locked with Jim’s. Her trembling lips forming a silent prayer, she slowly tilted her head.

‘Wait!’ cried Jim as Tyler raised the knife. ‘I… I…’ His voice cracked as he fought to hold back tears. It flashed through his mind to mention the book, to use it to buy Margaret a few more moments of life. But he couldn’t do it. Forester’s name wasn’t the only one in the book. There were other abusers, other rapists, maybe even other murderers. If the book fell into the wrong hands, they would escape justice. He couldn’t allow that to happen. Not at any price.

‘Do it,’ said Liam. ‘The prick’s just stalling.’

‘Shut your mouth,’ said Tyler. He regarded Jim with his impassive eye. ‘Go on. Say what you want to say.’

I love you, Margaret.
That was all there was left to say. Jim gulped at the air, desperately trying to get enough into his constricted lungs to speak. But he couldn’t. All he could do was mouth the words silently, tears spilling down his cheeks. Margaret made a movement of her chin as if to say,
I know
. Tyler turned back towards her, and gripping the knife’s handle with both hands, gently placed its point against her neck.

Oh Christ, oh fuck
, thought Reece. There was no more time to wait for back-up. The woman was going to die unless he did something. He raised the Glock and advanced into the barn. ‘Police! Step away from the woman and toss your weapons down here!’

Every eye in the hayloft jerked towards Reece. Jim’s lungs swelled with relief, yet his eyes remained cautious, almost disbelieving. Was it possible? Were they going to be saved?

‘Whoa, Reece,’ said Doug, stepping forwards. ‘It’s me, it’s me.’

‘Don’t you fucking move, Doug,’ warned Reece, keeping his eyes and the gun trained on Tyler and Liam. ‘You two, do as I say or I’ll shoot.’

Neither man moved. A thin line of blood ran from beneath the point of the knife. ‘Go on, do as he says,’ urged Doug. ‘This is just a misunderstanding. I’ll handle it.’

Tyler’s eye swung uncertainly between Doug and Reece. He retreated a couple of steps from Margaret. ‘Not that way,’ said Reece, suddenly aware that if Tyler ducked down at the rear of the loft he would be out of his line of sight. ‘Step towards me.’ Tyler obeyed, but didn’t put the knife down. Liam did likewise.

‘I won’t tell you again to toss your weapons!’ barked Reece.

‘Easy, Reece,’ said Doug, spreading his hands. ‘I’m going to reach into my jacket and get something. Don’t shoot.’

‘Slowly,’ cautioned Reece.

Doug took out a pistol, holding it by the barrel. He threw it into the mud behind Reece. ‘You see, like I said, this is just a misunderstanding. We’re all friends here. You know Liam. And this is Tyler. They’re our business partners.’

‘They’re no partners of mine. Neither are you, you murdering piece of shit.’

‘We didn’t want to kill anyone, Reece, but you forced us to. I warned you, didn’t I? I warned you not to waste your time looking for that whore.’

‘And what about Grace Kirby? What about Amy Sheridan?’ Reece jerked his chin at Jim and Margaret. ‘What about them?’

Doug’s face twitched into a grimace. ‘OK, so things got a bit out of control.’

‘A bit out of control?’ Reece repeated incredulously. ‘Amy’s dead, Doug. Her children have got to grow up without a mother because of you.’

‘I know, and believe me, I feel like shit about it. It wasn’t meant to happen, but it did, and there’s nothing we can do about that now.’

‘Yeah there is. You can spend the rest of your life in prison.’

‘Fuck you, Reece,’ snarled Liam. ‘If we go down, you go down.’

Doug held up a placating hand. ‘No one’s going down. Reece is upset because a friend of ours was killed. That’s understandable. But I think I know how to make him feel better about it.’ He pointed towards the farmhouse. ‘There’s a suitcase in there with two million quid in it. We took another million or so off Bryan Reynolds. That’s three million to divide between us. You can take your share and walk away. Or you can come in on this with us. And we can get rich together. It’s up to you, Reece.’

Reece shook his head. ‘It’s too late for that.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘He means your colleagues are already on their way here,’ Tyler stated calmly.

‘You fucker!’ exploded Liam, eyes bulging at Reece as if they were about to burst out of their sockets.

‘Drop the gun, Liam.’ Reece’s tone was forceful, but with a note of pleading. ‘Don’t make me shoot!’

‘No, wait, wait,’ Doug said desperately. ‘It’s still not too—’

His voice died as Liam jerked his gun towards Reece. A shot echoed through the barn and surrounding hills. Liam staggered backwards a couple of steps, staring at Reece with a sort of dumb disbelief. The gun dropped from his fingers. As if feeling for a heartbeat, he put his hand to his chest where the bullet had entered. His mouth opened and closed, but all that came out was a wheezing, ticking sound. His knees buckled and he collapsed to the floorboards. The ticking rapidly wound down into silence.

‘Oh Jesus, Reece,’ gasped Doug. ‘Oh Jesus Christ, what have you done?’

Ignoring him, Reece trained his gun on Tyler. ‘You’ve got ten seconds to drop that knife or I’ll put a bullet in you too.’

Tyler dropped the knife, cupped his hands to his mouth and let out a high-pitched, ‘Sooee!’

‘Pack that in,’ demanded Reece.

But Tyler called out again, ‘Sooee!’

‘This is your last warning—’ Reece broke off upon hearing a distant squeal. He shot an uneasy glance at the barn’s doorway. The squeal came again, louder. Others joined it.

‘If I were you, I’d put your gun down and climb up here,’ said Tyler.

Reece looked at him incredulously. ‘You’re the one who’s going to climb down here.’

‘That’s not going to happen.’

‘Look, either you do as I say or I’m going to put one in your leg.’

‘You do what you’ve got to do.’

Tyler’s voice was as coolly calm as if he was exchanging the time of day with someone in the street.
Who the fuck is this guy?
wondered Reece. His gaze was drawn towards the yard again by the rising cacophony of squeals and grunts. Something was heading towards the barn. Fast. It sounded like a herd of pigs. But why should he be concerned about pigs? Then he saw them, and he realised why. They rushed into the barn in a rolling mass, headed by the biggest pig he’d ever seen. Locking its beady red eyes on Reece, the monstrous animal lowered its head and charged. Reece swung the Glock towards it and squeezed off a shot. As the bullet bit into its hairy flank, the pig let out a bellow that revealed a set of huge, curling brown tusks. But it didn’t slow its advance. Reece sprinted towards the ladder and leapt on to it. There was a splintering sound as the pig’s head connected with the lower rungs. Reece’s legs were swept from beneath him. He managed to cling to the ladder, but the Glock fell from his grip into the seething herd. He drew his feet up out of reach as the pig barged into the ladder again, breaking the legs, leaving it dangling by the bolts that attached it to the hayloft.

As Reece lunged for the top of the ladder, Tyler loomed into view, holding a handgun. In that instant, Reece knew he was dead. There was no time to think, no time to feel. There was only time to close his eyes.

Margaret and Doug stared at the pigs, her gaze transfixed with horror, his with leering triumph. Jim barely afforded the pigs a glance. He knew this was Tyler’s chance to make a decisive move. His gaze sought out Tyler in time to see him draw a gun and stride towards the ladder. Jim had nothing to draw but his breath. He hauled it in, sucking up all the strength, all the anger that remained in him. As Tyler neared the ladder, Jim pushed himself to his feet. His legs trembled, but held. Teeth clenched, he drove himself towards Tyler’s blind side. Tyler was taking aim at Reece.
I’m not going to make it
, thought Jim. But then his shoulder hit home, and without even a grunt, Tyler toppled over the edge of the loft.

There was a crack, audible even above the clamour of the pigs, as Tyler hit the ground head first. A numb paralysis seized him from the neck down, and he knew his spine was broken. The pigs scattered, momentarily startled. Then they turned their glistening snouts curiously towards him. Kong was the first to move in closer. Tyler hammered his head against the mud, vainly trying to knock himself unconscious as Kong loomed over him. Kong opened his jaws, exhaling a rotten warmth. Tyler closed his eye as the jaws snapped shut around his face. He felt the tusks piercing his flesh. He felt his bones breaking. He let out a single, muffled scream, then was silent.

Shock wiped the grin from Doug’s mouth. He lurched forwards and punched Jim in the face, sending him sprawling. As Reece came into view at the top of the ladder, Doug kicked him. Reece’s head snapped back, blood bursting from his nose.

‘We could have had it all!’ Doug spat, aiming another kick at Reece. ‘But you had to go and fuck it up!’

Reece flung up an arm, partially deflecting Doug’s foot. Dots of light were dancing in front of his eyes. He was losing his grip on the ladder. Another blow would surely send him toppling to the same grisly fate as Tyler. Doug drew his foot back to deliver it, but then stiffened as if he’d touched a live wire. Eyes bulging, mouth agape, he turned around, revealing the knife that Margaret had buried in his back.

‘Fucking bitch.’ Doug’s voice came in a strangled rasp. His hands shot out to grasp Margaret’s throat. She pulled away, but he clung to her with grim determination. Like drunken dancers, they staggered backwards.

‘No,’ panted Jim, struggling to stand. He collapsed back against the bags of feed, tears of frustration springing into his eyes as he realised his final strength had been spent on Tyler.

Margaret’s breath whistled out of her as she collided with the workbench. Doug thrust her onto its blood-encrusted surface. His fingers pushed deeper into her flesh. She fought desperately to prise them off, but they were clamped onto her like a steel trap, crushing her breath away. Reece hauled himself into the loft and reeled towards Doug. He wrenched his partner’s hands off Margaret and thrust him away from her. Doug stumbled and fell backwards. The breath heaved from his lungs as the knife was driven so deeply into him that its tip protruded through his chest, tenting his jacket.

Reece helped Margaret upright. ‘Are you alright?’

She nodded, hauling in ragged gasps.

Doug coughed up blood as he vainly tried to find his breath. His eyes wet with fear, he stretched a hand towards Reece, not in hostility but in appeal. Squatting down, Reece took it and silently watched his partner dying.

Margaret rushed to Jim, dropping to her knees at his side. They stared into each other’s tear-filled eyes. There was blood on Jim’s cheek. Margaret reached out to dab it away. Then she lowered her head against his chest. Her shoulders quaked as sobs pushed up from deep inside her. Jim stroked her hair and held her weakly to him.

It didn’t take long for Doug’s last breath to leave his lungs. Reece straightened and approached the edge of the loft. The pigs were still feasting on Tyler, fighting between themselves over his entrails. A throbbing, vertigo-like nausea filling his head, Reece turned to Jim and Margaret. ‘They’ll be here soon.’