Mummy's Favourite (34 page)

She wondered.

She read it again. Place of birth, The War Memorial Hospital, Carshalton. It wasn't too far to check it out personally before going back to the office and it was in the right direction to fit with Purley where Dana's car had been found and Mitcham where the hire car was abandoned. She gave Hunter a quick ring to let him know where she was heading, leaving a message when he failed to answer, then she slapped the magnetic blue light on top of their nondescript Mondeo, put the sirens on and set out. If her hunch was right, Hunter would know where to come. If it was wrong, she could be back to the office within an hour or two. She had to try.

Thirty minutes later, with all the lights and sirens switched off, she was climbing a small hill at the side of a park. Through the boughs of a large horse chestnut tree, the landscape of London stretched out as far as the eye could see; the sky-scrapers of Canary Wharf bunched together in their own mini metropolis. The gates to the deserted hospital were set back to her right, out of view from the road, heavy and covered in a reddish hue of rust. A raft of notices warned trespassers of the presence of asbestos and instructed them to keep out. She parked her car up and walked across. A large padlock swung from the centre of the gates, holding them secure. She peered through a gap in the metal-work and looked into the hospital grounds. The grass all around seemed long but she could see a path worn down by vehicle tread through the centre of the overgrown interior roadway. She lifted the padlock up and examined it. It wasn't rusty like the gates; it had obviously been opened and shut frequently. The metal was smooth and worn. Somebody had been going in and out.

Her heart beat was starting to race now. She had to find a way in. Barbed wire wound round the whole of the perimeter in several razor-sharp circuits. The walls were high and secure. Circling the exterior wall she came to a large oak with one of its branches extending out towards the wire. It was precarious but she had spent her childhood with Jamie climbing trees and running through mud, moors and forests; and there was no other way. She clambered along the branch, pulling the wire back just enough to balance on the top of the wall, and thudded down on to the long grass. Nothing had been trodden down here. She inched forward using the trees as cover, trying to find her way back towards the small roadway where the grass had been squashed down.

The sun was setting and the whole place seemed dark and threatening. Trees overhung the grounds and low clouds prevented any light from the full moon getting through. Ivy had taken control, covering the walls of the buildings, hanging down off drainpipes and intertwining with weeds and thistles. She dare not use the light from her phone to show her the way, she had to let her eyes acclimatize and watch in the gloom for any movement. She moved slowly, straining to hear over the soft swishing of the grass. The roadway and buildings all led to the main entrance of the hospital, its door covered in thick metal security bars. The entrance was in darkness and there appeared to be no way in. She moved round the corner of the nearest block, to where the roadway spidered off to a separate building, it's roof partially missing. The gates to this building were pulled to one side, leaving the entrance opening into a small yard. The roadway led into this courtyard, the trampled weeds pointing into a far corner out of sight of the gate.

She tiptoed forward, holding her breath as she crossed the gap between the two buildings. She thought she could hear the sound of a man's low guttural laugh carried across in the breeze, but when she stopped moving all she could hear was the sound of a wood pigeon cooing in the silence.

She stepped into the courtyard of what appeared to be a laundry block and saw the car immediately, standing in the far corner with only the slight glimmer of the moon reflecting off its headlights and grill. It was Colin's all right; but the engine, when she touched it was stone cold. He'd obviously been here for some time. She checked the interior and was relieved not to find the body of Naz or little Dean lying across the back seat.

She was right: he was here, somewhere in the grounds of the hospital where he had sat alone and in pain as a child without the care of his mother.

Charlie shivered as a shudder of pure fear ran through her. This whole place was sinister, malevolent even; filled with Colin's evil. She could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck. She needed to get away from this building and out into the open where she could summon more help and where she wouldn't be trapped if he were to return. Sliding back away from the car, she inched out into the fresh air and round to the side of the building. She squatted down against the wall and pulled out her phone, tapping a text to Hunter explaining what she had found. She dare not speak out loud. He would know what was needed and would be straight on his way. The light from the display on the front of the phone shone bright in the darkness but she hid it behind her jacket. Standing up when she finished, she gazed out past the back of the building.

The grounds seemed to spread out behind the main blocks. She had no idea how far they went or how many other small outbuildings were tucked away. All she knew was Colin Butler was somewhere out there and he was the only one who knew the fate of his victims and whether they were alive or dead.

The darkness was just what he needed now. He revelled in the cloak of invisibility it gave him. He knew this place like the back of his hand, every tiny outbuilding, every pathway through the trees; he even knew drains where the lids came off and he could access the corridor of sewers that lay beneath the hospital. He'd spent his life coming back and forth, back and forth, both as a child when it had been open and now, in the last few years, since it had been closed. It was here where he loved to be with his memories.

He'd checked on both his latest pairs when he returned; Naz and Dean safely tucked away, Naz's eyes shooting pure hate at him as he'd looked down at her. She was more like his mother than even he had realized. Fuck, it turned him on at just the thought.

Dana lay silently, so demure, so afraid; her eyes blank with pain. He had shown her no pity; she was a bitch who had chosen her favourite daughter over poor Aiden. Gemma lay cold beside her now. He had enjoyed killing her, her long neck slit from ear to ear within the last few hours. Dana's eyes had screamed at the awful sight she was witnessing. The temptation to finish her off too was strong but she, more than the others, deserved to lie next to her dead daughter for as long as it took for them to find her. She deserved to live long in the knowledge that she had caused this by her overt favouritism. Hopefully they wouldn't find her straight away, but he knew that his time was limited. Charlie was already here.

She was squatting just within his sight now and she would no doubt have told the others where they were. They would know he was the person they were hunting, he Colin Butler, innocuous, hard-working, oh so hard-working, keeping up with the investigation down to every last enquiry; meek and mild Colin, who everyone talked down to, who everyone ignored and disrespected, who nobody listened to. Well they would be listening to him now, wouldn't they? They would have to, if they wanted to see Dana and Naz and Dean and Charlie alive again? He intended to make the most of every second.

His eyes and ears were so attuned to the atmosphere that he'd felt her presence immediately. It had only taken a few minutes to find the freshly trodden grass; he knew every inch of the hospital grounds and then he'd just followed the track, like a predator following a scent. Now he had her in his sight. Charlie's phone had given her position away, when it had suddenly blinked into action and she'd taken it from her pocket to read the incoming message. He guessed that she'd have sent a message out first, probably being careful not to show its light, but when a message had come through to her she hadn't been so careful in her hurry to read it. If she was here she'd obviously worked out the last piece of the jigsaw.

He'd known the game was over when Olga from Dover had been walked through the office. Even though she'd obviously aged, she still bore a remarkable resemblance to the woman he had bribed to help him all those years ago. The bitch had ruined his plans. It was all her fault. Another bitch was here now, spoiling things for him, but he wouldn't let her stop his fun. No, the fun was about to start.

He shrunk back behind a tree and pulled out his own phone. She was obviously confident that he wouldn't know she was there. What a fright she'd have, in a few seconds. He chuckled to himself.

Pressing her number, Colin waited for the phone to show that it was ringing then he shoved it down deep in his pocket and started to creep through the grass towards where she was wedged against the wall. He grinned to himself as she glanced down into her pocket, the thin chink of light illuminating the shock on her face. She was stock-still, clearly not daring to move while she decided what to do, her whole body tense and rigid. He wasn't expecting her to answer; she wouldn't risk her voice being heard but he guessed that she would be itching to.

She was still staring down into her pocket at her phone when he pounced, pulling his knife out as he did so. By the time she realized he was there it was too late. He had the blade pressed up to her cheek while his arm pinned her against the brickwork.

Deftly he pulled her hands up behind her back and wrapped twine round both wrists, pulling it tight.

‘Well, fancy seeing you here, Charlie. Have you come to rescue Naz?'

He sneered towards her, his teeth yellow in the moonlight.

‘Doesn't look like you've done very well now, does it? And there was I thinking you were a bit stronger than most of the others; the great Charlie fucking Stafford who single-handedly tackled a handful of robbers and nearly lost her life at the hands of that vicious arsehole, Keith Hubbard. Yet now you've walked straight into my arms. Do you think you're better than us men? That you don't have to take care? You can do it all on your own?'

‘I'm not on my own.'

‘Well it certainly looks like it to me. Only one set of tracks and you hiding here scared to death while you wait for the cavalry to arrive. I'm sure you must have called them by now. But it's going to arrive too late for you all. I've got nothing to lose now.'

‘You mean the others are still alive?'

‘Only the ones that need to be punished.'

‘And who are they?'

‘The mothers.'

‘But why are you punishing them, Colin?

She didn't understand. Nobody ever understood him. He could feel his temper rising.

‘They deserve to be punished for having a favourite. They shouldn't have a favourite. They need to know that it is because of their favouritism that their child has been killed. Their punishment is to live while “Mummy's favourite” dies.'

He laughed suddenly, enjoying the sound of his voice in the silence.

‘Do you want to know why, Charlie?'

She nodded.

He would have told her anyway because he would soon be dead himself.

‘My mother had to live after my brother died but she hated life without him. She always loved Tommy more than me. He was her favourite. Always. Even when I did everything for her. I even had to fuck her when she wanted me too.'

He laughed again at the flash of revulsion that crossed her face. ‘She beat me so many times when I was little. I thought that when Tommy was gone she might love me, but she hated me even more. It killed her to know that he had died so tragically. She despised me even more for taking him away.'

‘What happened to Tommy?'

‘He slipped from the top of a cliff when we were playing. I'll always remember the look on his face when I pushed him. Shock and horror, just like you now.' He stared straight at her. ‘I love that expression.'

‘But surely it wasn't his fault that he was your mother's favourite?'

‘He revelled in it, like they all do. Mummy this, mummy that. He loved it when he saw me getting beaten. He never tried to stop it. None of them do. They feed off it and grow stronger while their poor siblings remain downtrodden. All of them are the same.'

‘What have you done with the kids, Colin?'

He could hear the fear in her voice now, fear and disbelief at what she already knew.

‘What do you think I've done?'

He pulled the knife out and made a cutting action across the front of her neck with it.

‘I've slit all their pretty little throats.'

‘Oh my God, Colin. How could you do such a thing?'

‘Oh I've done much worse than that, Charlie. It's easy for them because it's so quick. One slice and within a few seconds they're unconscious, bleeding out all over the place. No, they're the lucky ones. Really I should have made it harder for them.'

‘So what have you done with their mothers?'

‘What the bitches deserve. What my mother deserved. To watch their favourites die right in front of their eyes while they're powerless to stop it happening. To lie next to them as their children's bodies decompose and the insects feed on them, for as long as they can last before they starve to death. Oh, I give them water. I'm not that heartless. I don't want them dying too quickly. They need to suffer, just like I did.'

‘And your mother? What happened to her in the end?'

‘She took an overdose. I gave her the choice, even though I had a knife: “tell me you love me or keep swallowing.” She kept on washing the tablets down with vodka until she died. She refused to tell me she loved me, even right to the end. She knew that I had killed Tommy because I wanted her to love me, like she'd loved Tommy, but she chose to die rather than tell me so. She wouldn't even pretend to love me to save her own skin.'

‘I'm sure she must have loved you too.'

‘No, no, no, she didn't. She hated me. All I wanted was her love.' He turned away from her, his teeth and fists clenched. Tears stung at his eyes but he brushed them away angrily with the back of his hand. ‘She won't make me cry, the bitch! She won't ever upset me again because I have the power now. She's gone and it is my destiny to make these women pay for their choices.'