Night Watcher (32 page)

‘Slow down,’ she told herself, speaking aloud to reassure herself. ‘Get the key.’ She stood up and darted over to the key box, but there was nothing in it.

She looked round the room, but could see no signs of keys anywhere.

She tried the phone hanging on the wall, but it was dead.

‘I’m sorry, Harry,’ she said as she knelt down beside him, ‘but I’m going to have to go through your pockets.’

No keys.

She sat back on her heels. Nothing else for it she would have to go back to the shop floor. Up to the first floor this time, set off the fire alarms. Why hadn’t she thought of that before? Try to attract attention. She thought of the police sitting outside in their car, so near and yet no help to her if they did not know what was going on. Hope seared through her. She was not going to make it easy for him.

With one last look at Harry she left the room and turned to go back up the corridor.

The access door opened and Scott appeared. He was in no hurry as he closed the door behind him. He leaned against it, smiled at her, and said, ‘Looking for these?’ A set of keys dangled from his fingers.

CHAPTER SIXTY

The smell of fish and chips permeated the car. Sue wiped her greasy fingers on a tissue. ‘I’ll never get the smell out of here,’ she complained.

‘You didn’t say that when I offered to nip out and get them.’ Sid popped a last chip into his mouth and screwed up the paper wrappings.

‘No, and I won’t object when you get out of the car and bin this lot.’ Sue tossed her greasy wrappings onto his lap.

‘You just take advantage of me, you do,’ Sid moaned. But he got out of the car and trotted down the street to the nearest waste bin. ‘What time is it anyway?’ he asked when he returned to the car.

Sue turned the key in the ignition to light the dashboard. ‘Quarter past seven,’ she said, switching the ignition off.

‘Is that all?’ Sid groaned. ‘Another three quarters of an hour to go.’ He leaned back and closed his eyes. ‘Wake me if anything happens.’

Sue snorted. She was starting to think this surveillance was a waste of time.

***

Julie froze, watching the keys swinging from Scott’s fingers. What the hell was she going to do now? At her back was the door to the alley, the way out. But it was locked. In front of her was the access door to the store, but Scott blocked her way.

She licked her lips with a tongue that was almost as dry, and started to retreat along the corridor, into the shadowy part where one of the fizzing bulbs had probably failed.

Scott laughed. ‘There’s nowhere for you to go, Julie.’ He started to walk towards her, slowly, tormenting her.

Still she retreated, a vague memory of a partly open door niggling away at her. Was it a memory or wishful thinking? But just as she had decided it must be wishful thinking, there it was, swinging partly open with stairs beyond that led down into darkness.

Without giving it a thought she pushed through the door and clattered down the stairs. Down and down, seemingly forever, into the dark. The place frightened her almost as much as Scott did, but it was the only place she could go if she wanted to escape from him.

Her feet skidded on the greasy surface and she slid down the last few steps into a cavernous, gloomy space filled with strange shapes that were barely distinguishable. Pipes and machinery stretched in all directions giving no indication where the walls or any doors might be. She imagined she heard breathing, but it was only the hissing of steam pipes, spurting and rattling every now and then.

The back of her neck stiffened and prickled, but that was probably a reaction to Scott who was now outlined in the door. If he came down maybe she could circle round him and get back up the stairs. With that object in mind she felt her way further into the basement. Further into the dark.

Her eyes were getting used to the dark, but it only made the vague shapes of the metal objects, machinery and pipes seem surreal and threatening in the shadowy gloom. The floor was uneven and greasy beneath her feet and, although still moving as fast as she could, she trod carefully for fear that she might slip and make herself vulnerable.

Her hearing became super sensitive. Small, scurrying noises sounded in the darkness and she imagined rats and mice everywhere. She shuddered at the thought, remembering the rat in the box. Her eyes strained to see beyond the shadows. One of the shadows moved, but she convinced herself it was her imagination. Scott was the only one in the basement with her. He was the one she had to be afraid of. And he was behind her. Her nerves tightened until they reached screaming pitch.

Scott’s footsteps clattered on the stairs. He was coming for her. She retreated even further into the dark, into the place of machinery, hissing pipes and the scurrying noises of the unknown. However, she dare not lose sight of the small square of light that was the door at the top of the stairs because it would be easy to get lost down here and that might prove fatal.

Scott reached the bottom of the stairs and was moving forward, searching for her. She wedged her body behind a machine and held her breath. He passed, so close to her she could have reached out and touched him. He moved on.

‘I can hear you breathing,’ he said. ‘You can’t hide from me.’

But he was moving further away. Dare she move and run for the stairs. She stood still. Convinced it was a trap. He wanted her out in the open again. She huddled further into the corner. If she stayed quiet long enough maybe he would give up and go away.

Something scurried over her foot and up her leg. She cut the scream off before it erupted, but was unable to prevent the gasp it turned into.

Scott stopped. He was on his way back. She debated whether to make a dash for the stairs and stood up, ready to run. But he was there, blocking her way. She tried to back away from him, but the machinery at her back prevented any escape.

‘Ah, there you are, Julie?’ He bared his teeth in a smile. His arm reached out to her and his fingers circled her throat. ‘Such a lovely soft neck,’ he murmured.

His fingers tightened. Julie gasped and stared at him. It was like looking into a snake’s eyes they hypnotized and fascinated her. She froze, unable to move. Cold sweat made her blouse stick to her clammy skin. She tore at his hands as they tightened even more, digging her nails into his flesh, trying to force the constricting fingers away from her neck. But it was no use. Her eyes widened and she struggled to breathe, as her airway narrowed under the pressure of his hands.

She could just make out his shape, the gleam in his eyes and the whiteness of his teeth as he stood over her. But there was another shape behind him. It loomed up out of the gloom and swung its arm in a curving motion.

Scott’s hand loosened from her neck and he crumpled at her feet. His hands made one last scrabbling motion towards her legs, and then he was still.

Julie did not stop to think. There was a man lying in front of her with a knife protruding from his back and a tall thin shape standing behind him. She ran.

She ran as she had never run before, scrabbling up the stairs, along the corridor, through the access door, down to the food hall and over to the lift. She grabbed the fire extinguisher to release the doors. Got in and sent it up to the first floor. Still holding the extinguisher she got out and, leaning into the lift, she jabbed the button to send it up to the top floor. Hopefully, whoever was following her would think she was still in it.

There was no sound of feet behind her, but that meant nothing because this one was silent. So, bending low, Julie scuttled crab-like between the counters and over to the window displays. Her only chance was to attract the attention of the police waiting outside.

She crawled into the display window, the one nearest to the top of the alley, because she knew that was where the police car was parked.

The moan erupted from her throat before she could stop it. There was no glass, only wooden boards. She had forgotten about the broken window, which was not repaired yet, and there was no way she could signal the police from here.

She was keenly aware her moan must have been heard, and did not know where her assailant was. Maybe he was behind her, waiting outside the display area. Her hesitation was only momentary. If he was there she would clobber him with the small fire extinguisher, which she still held. It might not be a lot of protection against a knife, but at least it was something. Gripping the extinguisher she held it out in front of her as she stepped out of the display window and hoisted herself into the next one.

She could see the police car. She waved. They did not see her.

A slight noise brought the panic streaming back through her and she screamed, although no one heard her. She raised the fire extinguisher ready to clobber anyone who climbed into the window behind her, but the noise seemed to be coming from the other window. The window she had been in only moments ago. She turned back to the glass and hammered on it with her fists, but still they did not see her.

The noise was nearer now, behind her. She turned. Froze for a second as she stared into his ice blue eyes. There was death in those eyes, and they were staring at her. He took a step towards her. She raised the fire extinguisher over her head and brought it down with all the force she could, on the plate glass of the window.

***

The window exploded out onto the pavement.

Sid’s eyes snapped open. ‘Bloody hell! What was that?’

Sue was already out of the car and running to the window. ‘Phone for reinforcements,’ she shouted over her shoulder to a still dazed Sid. ‘And get Bill.’

‘Oh, thank God, thank God,’ Julie screamed, as she jumped from the window and collapsed into Sue’s arms.

Sue put her arms round Julie’s shoulders and helped her into the car. ‘You’re okay,’ she said, ‘you’re okay.’

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Bill’s car skidded to a stop. He jumped out, his feet crunching on the glass littering the pavement, and ran to Sue’s unmarked car parked just in front of him. ‘Is she okay?’ Ever since he had received the phone call he had been afraid. Terrified that Julie had been hurt and blaming himself for not taking better care of her. His chest heaved with the effort of breathing.

‘A few cuts and bruises, but she’ll live.’ Sue had her arm round Julie who was shaking and panting. ‘I think she’s in shock though, so I’ve sent for an ambulance.’

‘She doesn’t look okay to me.’ Bill leaned into the car for a closer look. ‘Julie,’ he said. ‘Can you tell us what happened?’

She looked back at him, her eyes wide and frightened. ‘In there,’ she whispered. ‘Scott . . .’ she covered her face with her hands.

Three police cars arrived, sirens blaring and blue lights flashing. A crowd was starting to gather, gaping at the shattered window and the police activity.

‘It’s all right, take your time.’ Bill turned to Sue. ‘Check out who’s here. Get someone on crowd control. Station someone at each exit and then organize a search of the store. Apprehend anybody at all who is inside, doesn’t matter who they are, even if it’s the big boss himself.’

Sue climbed out of the car and Bill got in the back seat beside Julie. ‘It’s okay, Julie,’ he said putting his arms round her. ‘You’re safe now.’

Julie took her hands away from her face. ‘I didn’t think I was going to get away.’

Bill uttered soothing noises, holding her close. ‘I know you’re upset Julie, but I need to know who’s in there. What are my officers looking for?’

‘Help Harry,’ she whispered, a pleading look in her eyes.

‘Was it Harry? Is that who we’ve to look for?’

‘No, you don’t understand. Harry’s been hurt. I don’t know if he’s dead. Help him. Please.’

Bill beckoned to Sid who was standing close to the car. ‘Julie says the security man’s been hurt, maybe dead. Get someone to look for him.’

Sue returned to the car. ‘I’ve checked every door and exit, but they’re all locked tight. Had to move a courting couple out of the alley,’ she laughed. ‘Believe it or not they never heard a thing. Found an old tramp sleeping down there as well, poor sod, so I moved him on. Told him the Cyrenians would give him a bed, but he didn’t seem to be interested. We’re ready to go in and search now.’

Julie looked past Bill to Sue. ‘You must get help for Harry before it’s too late.’ Her voice was clearer than it had been earlier.

Sue bent over so she could lean into the car. ‘Is Harry the only one we’re looking for?’ Her voice was urgent. ‘It would help us if we knew what’s in there.’

‘Scott.’ Julie shuddered. ‘I think Scott’s dead. He was chasing me. I think he would’ve killed me, but there was someone else.’ Julie’s eyes widened. ‘I don’t know who he was. I only saw a shape, tall and thin with icy blue eyes. They reflected the light, but they were flat and dead.’ She shuddered. ‘He stabbed Scott just as he was going to . . . going to . . .’ She shuddered again and covered her face with her hands. ‘He saved me from Scott,’ her fingers muffled her voice. ‘But then,’ she took her hands away, ‘I ran, because I knew he didn’t do it to save me. He wanted me himself.’ Julie burrowed her face into Bill’s jacket.

‘Just one more thing,’ Sue said. ‘Where do we look?’

Julie raised her head. ‘The back corridor, Harry’s in the porters’ room. The sub-basement, there’s a door leading off the back corridor that takes you down. Scott’s down there.’ Her body shook. ‘The other one was right behind me when I came through the window. That’s when I saw his eyes. I don’t know where he is now.’

Sue patted Julie’s hand. ‘We’ll find him, don’t worry. And we’ll get help for Harry.’

Sue organized the search of the store. They soon found Harry who was suffering from a severe concussion, but not able to find any keys, the ambulance men had to stretcher him out through the broken window. Julie was taken to hospital, in the same ambulance, suffering from shock.

Scott’s body lay in the sub-basement. The police surgeon certified his death, apparently by stabbing, although no knife was found. His body was removed to the police mortuary.

No trace was found of the mystery man.

Patrick was informed and asked to come to the store, but he delegated the task to Ken who made his reluctance plain to everyone who was there. ‘Sulky bugger,’ Sue said to Bill later when she was reporting back. ‘I don’t know what the women see in him.’

***

Hospital sheets, white, cold and unnaturally smooth, never felt like any other kind of sheets. That and the myriad of hospital sounds, scurrying feet, swishing doors, trolley wheels and the muted sounds of nurses chatting and comparing notes, meant that Julie’s sleep was fitful. There was also the smell, a mix of antiseptic, cleaning fluids, and that other indefinable smell peculiar to all hospitals.

She woke to a bleak, grey day, but Julie’s private room overlooked an inner courtyard with a square of sparse grass, so even the brightest sunshine would have looked grey in this room. She closed her eyes trying to remember her dreams, confused dreams where she was running away from Dave through interminable corridors. There was something or someone, which she could never quite reach, just out of sight.

The door creaked open. ‘You’re awake then.’ The nurse approached the bed, her white uniform straining tightly over her hips. The nurse’s fingers were short and fat, but they held Julie’s wrist in a professional grip while she checked her pulse rate. ‘You’ll do,’ she said, a smile breaking the severity of her features. ‘I’ll ask your visitor to come in. He’s been waiting quite a long time for you to wake up.’

Julie pulled herself up in the bed, pushing one of the pillows into a more comfortable position, and wishing the nurse had given her the opportunity to comb her hair.

Bill tentatively peeked round the door. It was as if he expected her to tell him to go. ‘I would have got you flowers,’ he said, entering the room, ‘but it’s Sunday and the florist in the hospital concourse isn’t open yet.’

Flowers reminded her of hospitals and death and Dave. She did not want to be reminded of these things and she would be out of this place as soon as she could escape. ‘What would I want with flowers?’ she said. ‘They’re not really my scene.’

Bill pulled a chair close to her bed. ‘I don’t really know a lot about you,’ he said.

‘That’s not what I heard,’ she said, a bitter tone in her voice, ‘when you were giving me my life history the other night.’

‘Ah, that, yes.’

The silence that descended was oppressive. Julie stared out of the window, wrestling with her feelings for Dave and her feelings for Bill. The two men were so unlike each other, but then that was a good thing because she knew that Bill would never be simply a replacement for Dave.

‘You asked me why,’ she said after a time, ‘and I never gave you an answer.’

‘It’s not important,’ Bill said. ‘It was just that I couldn’t get my head round it because of Nicole’s murder.’

Julie hooked herself up on a pillow with her elbow. ‘Did you think I murdered Nicole?’ Her voice was very quiet.

‘It was a possibility,’ he said, not looking at her, ‘but in my heart I knew you could never do such a thing.’

‘I’m not sure I deserve that,’ Julie sank back onto the pillow. ‘You see the reason I came to Dundee . . .’

‘I don’t want to know.’

‘You need to know because I don’t think I’m the nice person you think I am.’ She looked away from him. ‘It was revenge,’ she said. ‘I wanted to punish Nicole for taking Dave away from me and for making him do what he did.’ I should not have told him, she thought, he won’t want me now. ‘I had to be honest with you,’ she said. ‘Although God only knows I haven’t been honest with myself. If you want to leave I’ll understand.’

‘I don’t want to leave, Julie. What’s in the past is in the past and I know you couldn’t have done anything really bad. The only thing I want to know now is where do we go from here?’ He reached over and clasped her hand in his.

‘You have to give me time, Bill. It’s too soon.’

She saw him smile. ‘Anything you want. And Edinburgh’s not too far away.’