Read Kaleidoscope Online

Authors: Ethan Spier

Tags: #Suspense & Thrillers

Kaleidoscope (18 page)

BOOK: Kaleidoscope
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"I can't, I'm a good man... I'm good."

"You're a child abuser and a murderer," the man said, using an almost soothing tone which contradicted his words.

"It was an accident... an accident. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Langton suddenly felt a pressure on his right leg and turned away from the carpet. The blurred figure was holding something and pushing it against him.

"Tell me where," the figure said.

Langton shook his head then there was a loud bang. He screamed as pain rippled through his calf and he reached down to where the bullet had entered.

"Please, no..." Langton screamed.

"Tell me where you put her after you killed her."

Langton saw the figure raise the gun and push it into his other leg, the dark metal suddenly clear in a world of distorted shapes. The pain in his leg reverberated up his body and came in agonising waves. He wanted to die, he wanted to kill himself and wished it would all be over but he knew that whoever this man was, he would not stop until he got his answer. He stared at Concerned Citizen's outline as he gazed back, motionless.

"Tell me."

"Please stop."

"Tell me!" The voice louder, aggression seeping through now.

"She's..." Langton sobbed again as pain surrounded him. "She's in the garden... my house in Alderidge; she's buried underneath the shed. She's there. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please

stop."

The figure retracted the gun and pushed it into his jacket then stood and gazed down at Langton. As his eyes began to clear, Langton almost thought he saw something that he recognised about the man's demeanour but it was quickly forgotten as fresh waves of agony reached up his leg.

"If you're lying, I'll come back and next time I'll make sure you tell me the truth," the man said nonchalantly.

Langton wanted to say something but didn't know which words he could use. He watched the man walk across the room and pull something from his pocket. Langton almost screamed again, thinking it was the gun, then he realised Concerned Citizen was making a phone call. His voice sounded distant again, but Langton managed to make out that he was requesting an ambulance. When he had finished, he walked back to Langton, placed two hands beneath his shoulders and began to drag him across the floor towards the hall.

"It's over for you now. You should count yourself lucky George," he said dropping him to the floor of the hallway. He stood over Langton for a brief moment as if to study him then suddenly turned and left through the door, leaving it ajar behind him.

Langton watched as the hallway turned and stretched around him and his head began to pound, almost matching the blinding pain in his leg. He felt something akin to relief which surprised him as he tried to contemplate what would happen now. His emotions morphed several times as he waited; relief was overwhelmed by horror and dread at the thought of prison. But that, in turn, changed into a strange and reluctant acceptance.

His mind lulled and he felt unconsciousness rise again. By the time the paramedics arrived, his eyelids felt like lead and confusion dominated his thoughts. As one of the female paramedics leaned over him, he whispered softly in her ear.

"Tell Michelle I'm sorry."

 
 
 
 

Chapter 19

 

Lewis

 

Lewis raised the gun in his right hand and supported it with his left, the way he had seen on the YouTube videos which he had studied the day before. The sun hung in a clear, blue sky and penetrated the branches of the trees that surrounded him. The forest was an hour's drive from his home, but he knew it was large enough and empty enough to not be heard - at least he hoped that would be case.

He raised the gun, holding it as steady as possible, and closed one eye as he aimed for a tree about twenty feet away. He glanced around, but thought that he probably wouldn't have seen anybody even if they were there since the thickness of the trees prevented a clear view. He took aim and squeezed the trigger. The gun fired and a loud thunder clap exploded around him. Lewis instinctively shrunk at the sound.

"Jesus," he said, the flicker of a smile widening around his mouth; he hadn't realised how loud it would be.

It was only after he had begun to search the internet the previous evening that he had discovered he had acquired a .22 calibre Smith and Wesson semi-automatic handgun. It wasn

t particularly powerful, but the kick he had felt as it fired seemed powerful enough and it sounded like a bomb had gone off in the quiet stillness of the forest.

He had found videos on YouTube showing how to operate a similar gun and he simply applied what he had learned with great care. He didn't entirely trust himself not to shoot a bullet in his foot before the day was out, and checked everything several times. He found that the gun was capable of holding ten rounds but it only had eight remaining; Kyle had obviously fired a couple when he owned it. Lewis decided he would make only four practice shots in the forest, since he was unsure of how to obtain more bullets and didn

t want to show up at Jonah's with no ammunition.

He looked up and saw that a fragment of bark had been displaced from the trunk of the tree he had aimed at, and he felt an unexpected pride wash over him. He raised the gun again and fired a second shot. Knowing what to expect this time, he didn't shrink away and absorbed the kick from the gun through his arms and shoulders with much more success than the first attempt. He watched as the bullet created a second hole in the tree and bark exploded from the trunk.

He lowered the gun and thought about what he was doing - something he tried not to focus on too much. Was he really going to go through with it? Lewis Foster wasn't someone who fired guns or someone who obsessed over revenge. But then again, Lewis Foster wasn't someone who'd had the woman he loved brutally murdered before. She had been taken away from him in the worst possible way. No, Lewis Foster
wasn't
someone who fired guns.

But everyone can change
, he thought quietly as he stared at the bullet holes in the tree and slowly raised the gun for a third shot.

***

 

When he returned to his flat, Lewis made himself several slices of toast and ate them slowly as he stared once again at the photo of Jonah. It was resting on the coffee table before him and he found it difficult to focus on anything else; his attention continually drawn to the thin, blurred features of a man he didn

t know, but was nonetheless growing to detest.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Lewis brushed crumbs off his shirt as he walked over.

He saw Kelly

s smiling face staring back at him as he opened the door.


Kelly

hi, what are you doing here?

"Sorry to just turn up like this, but I was in the area and thought I

d pop in to see how you were feeling." she said as he gestured for her to come in.

He sighed, "A little better, but still not great, you?" He went into the kitchen to make them both a coffee.

"The same."

He waved a hand towards the sofa and she sat down, placing her bag beside her.

"Did you hear about Craig Blaine?" she asked as he brought the coffee over and then sat down in the chair opposite.

He had seen a short section in the newspaper about Craig

s death so he didn't have to tell her about the meeting with Craig's mother - he didn't want her to know about how far he was going to get to the truth.

"Yes, I'm not sure how to feel about it to be honest," he replied.

Kelly shook her head, "No, I know what you mean. I sort of feel relieved that there won't be a trial now. I'm not sure how I would have handled that. But at the same time, I wanted him to answer for what he did to her; how could anyone do that to another human being?" She shook her head again and stared down at the coffee between her hands as steam swirled from the mug.

 
"I don't know."

Lewis thought briefly of the gun which was now resting silently in the drawer and then of Jonah.

They sat in silence for a moment and a strange unease gathered between them for a reason that Lewis couldn't quite fathom. Kelly rotated the mug of coffee in her hands idly as she looked around the room uncomfortably. Lewis noticed her eye fall on the photograph of Jonah and his two companions between them and a frown appeared on her face. Lewis went to pick up the photo, annoyed at himself for leaving it out but Kelly suddenly leaned forward and rotated the image towards her then picked it up.


What

s this?

she asked, studying the three men.


Er
…”
Lewis hesitated as he tried to think.

It

s just a picture I took. I saw the one on the left acting suspiciously around the car park in my building so decided to take a photo on my phone in case anybody

s car went missing.

He felt himself tense inside, it was a ridiculous excuse but he didn

t have time to think. He looked at Kelly, but she didn

t seem to be listening to him anyway. Her gaze was on the picture and she didn

t say anything for a long time.

Lewis shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, wishing she would put the picture down and forget about it, but he became aware that something was wrong.


What is it?

he asked.

Kelly glanced up.

I think I know this man.

Lewis felt his mouth fall open by the smallest fraction as her words sunk in and he looked at the photo in her hand.

Which one?


Him.

She pointed towards the oldest of the three men, the one with the sagging cheeks and thick glasses.

Lewis couldn

t say anything for a moment. He looked at Kelly then down to the photo and back again.

You know him?


Yes, I

m sure it

s him. I mean he

s a lot older than the last time I saw him. But it

s definitely him.

She stared closer at the print out.


Who is it?

Kelly lowered the picture and looked up to Lewis.

He was a teacher in my school

Mr Langton.


He

s a teacher?


Well, he
was
, I mean that was a long time ago and
…”
Kelly

s voice trailed off and her eyes began to glaze over.


What is it?

asked Lewis.

The frown on Kelly

s face distorted slightly and she began to mumble something to herself. "Mr Langton, Mr Langton... George Langton..."

"What is it?" repeated Lewis, barely able to stop himself from shouting.

She looked at him. "Nothing

it

s just I was speaking to a friend a few years ago and her mother was Mrs Benedict, the art teacher from my school." She placed the picture on the table and drew her attention back towards Lewis as her voice lowered conspiratorially. "Anyway, we got talking about old teachers and she mentioned Mr Langton, his first name is George... I don

t know how we got onto him. Well she told me that her mother found something out about him. I remembered that he left our school quite suddenly while I was there, although I didn

t know why at the time

no one did."

Lewis nodded, squeezing his hands together as he listened intently.

"Well my friend's mum said that he was sacked because he was touching the younger girls. It was enough for a few of them to feel uncomfortable and some of them told their parents. Apparently he was forced to resign, but the school never reported it officially since they didn't want the embarrassment. My friend's mum was appalled when she found out and quit her job shortly afterwards." Kelly sipped her coffee, her eyes wide and enthusiastic as she spoke. Occasionally she glanced back down to the print out of George Langton.

The school covered it up and convinced the parents not to take it any further if Mr Langton was dismissed. The police were never involved."

"What happened to Langton?" Lewis asked.

"He moved away, my friend told me that her mum said it was to a village in
Somerset
somewhere, I don't know where though."

"I guess he must have come back," Lewis said.

Kelly nodded, "I wonder if he's still working as a teacher? God, I hope not."

Lewis shrugged and drank his coffee then placed the empty mug back down.

"Did he ever touch you?" he asked, not really thinking and regretted the question immediately.

"No! No way, I wouldn't have let him. I didn't have him in any classes anyway. What a sicko."

She regarded Langton

s slightly blurred features in the photo then said,

That

s really strange how I walk in here and you have a photo of him.

Lewis forced an uncomfortable smile.

Yeah, I was just taking a photo of the other guy, the long haired one

just a coincidence I guess.

Kelly nodded slowly, unconvinced, but she appeared to brush it off. They chatted some more about work and about Hannah before the conversation slowed and trickled to an eventual stop. Finally, Kelly stood up and they hugged then she thanked him for the coffee.


Anyway, you seem a little brighter than last time we spoke. I hope things will get better for you

for both of us,

she said as Lewis showed her out.


Thanks Kelly, me too. Speak again soon.

Lewis washed the empty mugs in the sink as his mind churned. As the days had passed and he had discovered more and more information about Jonah and the people he had met with, it only raised further questions: why would Joseph Hellam be meeting with someone like Jonah and why would an old school teacher somehow be associating with either of them? Lewis was getting tired of all these questions; he needed some answers.

He went back over to his chair and turned the laptop on. He started internet explorer and typed 'people directory
uk
' into Google. A website called 192.com was displayed as one of the sponsored links and Lewis clicked on it. He did a search for George Langton in the
UK
and a list of around thirty names was displayed on the screen. He scrolled down the list slowly and saw that one of the addresses was in Surrington, although the full address could only be found by paying a fee, which didn

t interest Lewis for the moment. The Surrington entry was for a Mr George R. Langton who had been registered on the electoral role from 2002. The listing also showed previous owners for that address but this also didn't particularly hold much interest.

He cleared the search box and typed in 'George R Langton' then hit the enter key. This time three items came up - the first being the one in Surrington, but below this there was a listing for George R Langton in a village called Alderidge in
Somerset
. The column next to the listing showed that he had been on the electoral role in Alderidge between 1993 and 1998.

BOOK: Kaleidoscope
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