My Heart Belongs To You: A Psycho Thriller (16 page)

‘John, what you got for us?’ responded
Myers
.

‘I need an address on a Frank Boyce, probably has form as a supplier.’

‘I’ll take that one
,
’ cut in
Turner
,
moving to a phone on the centre desk.

‘You have anything new for me?’ asked Hanson.

‘You familiar with the phrase
diddly
squat
,
John?’ came in
Myers
.

‘More than I would like Donald
,
’ Hanson’s voice softened, ‘
How
you doing
,
sis?’

‘John, are you coming to see me?’

‘Soon
,
sis, I promise.  Is Jane looking after you?’

‘I had my biscuits
,
John
.
’

‘Good, good.  Make sure you save me some
.
’

‘Have you found Tom?’

There was a slight pause, a chilled silence filling the air within the centre, ‘
No
Steph, but I will, trust me.’

‘A bad
man’s got him
,
John, really bad
’

‘I know
,
sis.’

For several seconds an eerie silence fell over the command centre.  ‘There’s something in the files
,
John
,
but…
’ Stephanie hesitated, ‘
it, it won’t come
.
I know there’s something.’

Hanson could hear the strain corrupting her voice, she was becoming stressed, ‘Jane
,
why don’t you make Steph a cup of tea and get her to sit
quietly
for a while.’

‘Yes
,
of course.’  Jane turned and guided Stephanie to the sitting area before approaching the refreshments table.

‘
Oh
,
Jane, Steph will want
…
’

‘I know
,
John, three biscuits.’

Hanson smiled to himself.

‘John
,
are you intending to visit this guy Boyce?’ came in
Turner
.

‘You have an address for me
,
Richard?’

‘I’ve got some advice.’

‘Which is?’

‘Don’t go
.
The
man is a certified psychopath
.
He
lives in a virtual fortress where the word is
that
he runs his drugs and prostitution empire.  Got form for just about anything resulting in pain or death that can be inflicted on a human being.’

‘Why hasn’t he been closed down?’

‘From what I read on his file
,
he never keeps any drugs anywhere near him or at the compound
,
and his girls are run by heavies on the streets.  He’s slicker than snot, always careful to keep layers of single
brain
cell paid muscle between himself and the sticky end of the shit stick of his business.  Seems
,
he’s been raided six times at the compound in the last two years without one shred of evidence.  He got some ambulance chaser to pursue a successful complaint against the M.E.T. last year for harassment.  Didn`t get the half million pounds he was seeking
,
but
he
got something more valuable.’

‘Which was?’

‘Breathing space
,
John
.
He
made the force very nervous about tackling him again without
ironclad
proof of his activities.  I spoke with one of the detectives at the M.E.T. familiar with our friend Boyce
. He
said he’s certain that he has been involved in a string of murders in the last ten years and responsible for a whole series of abductions from eastern bloc countries of young girls used to fill the demands of his clients.  He fills them with drugs to make them compliable and dependant
.
’

‘Nice.’

‘Like I said
,
John, some men need to be avoided.’

‘You’re right
,
Donald, and Boyce is about to find that out.  Give me the address.’

Chapter F
ifteen

13 February
-
14
:
3
5

(
L
ife remaining 28 hrs 25 mins)

‘This could take some time
,
Tom.’

‘
Toooom, Toooom
,
’  
Karen’s scream snatched Tom from a sleep enforced by exhaustion.

‘
Karen
,
I’
m here,
I’
m here,
I
t
’
s alright
,
I
’
m here.
’ 
Tom was both horrified and relieved to hear Karen’s voice.  He had tried to get through to her for hours without any response apart from snatched sobbing.  Tom ignored the pain of the
chafe
burns on various parts of his body as he struggled to see Karen.  The straps were not giving a fraction
,
and the more he twisted and turned
,
the more skin he lost as the wide strapping rubbed back and forth against him
,
each time he tried
to see his distraught
fiancé
e
.

‘
Tom, whaa
…
what in
G
od
’
s name is happening to us
? 
I
…
I thought I was going to wake up and
… a
nd all this was goin
g to be just a nightmare
,
but it’
s not it
…’
Karen’s strangled voice trailed away
with
the snatched sobbing returning to fill the darkness.

‘
Karen
,
you have to hold on, help will come.
You just need to
…
’
Tom never finished the sentenc
e as the metallic slam of a bolt
being slid
open filled the dark void around them like a crack of lightening.  The screech of hinges telling them that one or both of the men from earlier had returned.  A distant click brought light
,
and a soft whistle brought the answer
that
Tom had posed himself.  The gorilla, as Tom had labeled him in his head, had returned
,
but what about Cupid?

‘
Tom
!’
screamed Karen,
‘
Stop
them T
om, stop them
.’

‘
Hold on
,
baby
,
’
shouted Tom, ‘
h
o
ld
on
.’

‘
Touching
,
’ sneered Adam
,
suddenly filling Tom’s world as he leaned over the strapped man
, with
his face only inches away.

Tom refused to break eye contact with the brute, his warm
breath telling him the man
had eaten something laced with garlic recently.

‘
Whoa
,
Tom
,
I can see a lot of hate in those eyes
,
’ he smirked, ‘
Gonna
see a whole lot more when I give your squeeze here a bed bath
,’
he winked
,
disappearing from Tom’s field of vision.

‘
Keep away from her
,
you bastard
,
’
ranted Tom
,
removing more skin as he thrashed wildly against his bonds.

Adam whistled
,
relaxed and happy in his work,
as Tom screamed.  He placed several sachets of Ringers fluid into the small fridge
that
he had placed
near the sink
the week before.  It would remain there until needed
the following evening.  He turned and filled the clean bucket
that
he had bought with water from the single tap
.
The
once white battered sink beneath it
was
sporting a large dirt
-
filled crack.  He had stopped at a small corner shop on his way over and bought the bucket and a new sponge.  He was looking forward to cleaning Karen as his employer had instructed.  He could just hose the couple down
,
because
his employer always made sure that the buildings
that
he rented for the couplings had running water and that Adam always brought a
hosepipe
with his equipment. 
However, today
he decided that he would hose down the man
,
but give some personal attention to the woman.  He would enjoy that
,
but not as much as the
reaction,
it would cause in the man
,
Tom.  He didn’t li
ke the defiant look in the his
eyes
.
He
needed to do something about that.

Tom could hear
the huge man lumbering back towards them.  Suddenly a stream of cold water blasted down over Tom
,
causing him to gasp and Karen to cry out in shock as the freezing water splashed over her. 
After twenty seconds or so, t
he water stopped as suddenly as it had begun
.
The
gasping pair listening as the brute behind them whistled as he pulled the hosepipe back across the floor.  Tom snorted water from his nose and blinked wildly trying to remove water from his eyes.

The whistling stopped, ‘
Bath
time
,
Karen.  I bought a nice new sponge just for you.’

‘
Please don’t let him touch me
,
Tom
…
Tom.’

Tom clenched his teeth together and closed his eyes
,
but it couldn’t stop the acid hot tears that squeezed from the c
orners
and
ran
down his
cheekbones.
  He listened as the giant man sloshed something into water and then jumped as Karen screamed. 
A high-pitched anguished sound
reached every dusty corner of the vast space,
and
every
cobweb
hidden amongst the dark voids of the raftered roof.

Adam worked the sponge over the screaming woman.  ‘This could take some time
,
Tom
,
’ he leered.

Karen screamed again as Tom shook from head to toe, the frustration raging within
,
the burning tears continuing to fall.  In his entire
life,
he had never wanted to kill anyone as badly as he wanted to kill this man.  If the Devil himself showed up right
now,
he would sign away his soul in a heartbeat to have one minute alone with this monster.

Tom continued to cry.  Karen continued to scream.

Chapter Sixteen

13 February
-
15
:
45

(
L
ife remaining 27 hrs 15 mins)

‘Mr. Jeky
l
l would take over and try a different
tac
tic
.’

Turner
’
s
warning ran through Hanson’s head once again as he looked down on Frank Boyce’s compound.  ‘
Don
’
t go, the man is a
certified
p
s
ychopath
, lives in a virtual fortress
.’
The description was accurate
.
It
was indeed a compound of sorts.  Clearly at one
time,
it had been a small farm surrounded by open fields that probably had been worked by generations of previous owners.  Now
a two-metre wall topped with razor wire and security cameras surrounded it
.  Hanson wondered what the previous tenants would have felt knowing that the place
, which was once
their home, a place where the land was tilled and worked to
provide crops to feed the surrounding villages
, was now a retreat for a drug baron with a hand in human traffic and prostitution.