The Border Part Six (4 page)

“Stop,” Joe whimpered, looking past her again.

“Joe -”

“Please stop,” he continued, tightening his grip on the knife. “You don’t understand.”

“Then help me,” she replied. “Joe, I’m here for you. I want to listen.”

“You’re wrong.”

“About what?”

“You don’t understand!”

“So help me to change that,” she continued. “Joe -”

“He can’t hear you,” Caitlin said suddenly.

She turned to look over at the dead girl. “What?”

“You don’t understand,” Joe said again.

“He’s not talking to you,” Caitlin added. “He’s hearing the voice of the stag-headed man. That’s who he’s talking to.”

“But -” Jane paused, before turning back to Joe, watching as the fairy lights lit his face red, then white, then yellow.

“I don’t want to hurt her!” he shouted.

“Joe -”

Before she could finish, he twisted the knife around and lunged at her, landing directly on her chest and digging the knife down hard.

IV

“Get off me!” Bob screamed as he felt sharp little teeth biting down hard into his hand.

***

“Anyone home?” Ben shouted, standing at the door that led into the office building directly above the Border’s entrance. Reaching out, he knocked on the glass. “Hello? Come on, I know there’s always someone manning the desk. I’m here!” Raising his hands out to his sides, he turned around. “I surrender! I’ve come to turn myself in!”

He waited, swaying slightly after having finished a couple more drinks on the walk from the town square.

“Damn it,” he muttered, turning and taking a couple of steps away before spotting a trashcan nearby. Picking it up, he examined it for a moment before chuckling to himself. Turning again, he looked back at the window before carrying the trashcan over, raising it above his head, and finally throwing with all the strength he could muster.

To his surprise, the trashcan smashed the glass and crashed through into the building’s lobby.

Standing in silence for a moment, he realized that no alarm was sounding.

“Figures,” he said with a sigh, as he climbed through the broken window. “Don’t wanna attract any attention, do -” Catching his foot on the ledge, he twisted around and then fell through, landing hard on the floor and letting out a gasp of pain.

Taking a moment to get his breath back, he lay among the glass and stared up at the ceiling. He started to laugh, before finally getting to his feet. Spotting a camera in the far corner, he gave it a friendly wave before stumbling toward the steps that led to the Border’s main office.

“Mr. Packer!” he shouted, his voice echoing along the corridor. “Garland Packer, it’s me! Are you here?”

Stopping, he chuckled to himself again.

“Of course you’re not here,” he continued. “You died nine years ago, didn’t you? I should remember that of all things, right? After all, I’m the one who…”

His voice trailed off for a moment, before he started walking again.

“Mr. Crutchlow! Are you home, old man? It’s your favorite little busboy, come to see if you’ve got any more jobs that need doing!” Reaching the door to the office, he tried the handle but found it locked. He shrugged, before taking a drunken step back and then kicking the door open. “Really?” he continued, stepping through and find that no-one was around. “Could it be? Is the place unmanned for once? The one night I get drunk enough to come and deliver my sorry ass to you guys, and you’re not even here?”

Heading over to the desk, he opened the top drawer and found that it contained various papers. He pulled a few out and tried to look at them, before giving up in his drunken state and letting everything fall to the floor. Turning, he saw the door in the far corner and grinned as he stumbled over. He tried the handle, but found that this door, too, was locked. This time, even though he tried a couple of times, he couldn’t break the door down, couldn’t even make a dent.

“Reinforced, huh?” he said out loud, stepping back and spotting another camera in the corner. “Well, that’s fine. Frankly, I think it’s very rude of you guys not to come and kill me. That’s what you want, isn’t it? I…” He paused, suddenly feeling a wave of exhaustion. “I surrender,” he muttered. “I give up. I’m tired of running.”

Pulling the swivel chair out from the desk, he sat down and then leaned forward, letting his forehead bump against the desk’s surface. He began to laugh, before letting out a faint sigh. A few seconds after that, he began to snore.

***

“Get her into the ambulance!” Alex shouted as Jane was rushed past on a trolley. “Get her to the goddamn hospital!”

“I’m fine!” she called back to him, holding a compress against her injured shoulder. “Alex, I don’t need to go to the hospital, I just need a couple of stitches!”

Ignoring her protestations as the paramedics loaded her into the back, Alex turned and made his way over to the patrol car where Joe had been buckled and handcuffed into the back seat. Pulling the door open, he leaned down and saw that Joe was simply staring straight ahead, as if he was barely even aware of his surroundings.

“You’ve got a lot to answer for, boy,” he muttered. “I’ve got two females on their way to hospital right now because of you, and at least two more dead and buried in the ground.”

“She could hear her,” Joe whispered.

“What’s that? Speak up.”

Slowly, Joe turned to him. “Caitlin,” he said after a moment, with a hint of shock and wonder in his eyes. “That policewoman, she… She could hear Caitlin too.”

***

“Are you okay?”

Turning to look over at the other side of the ambulance, Jane saw that Katie was staring at her with wide-eyed horror.

“I’m fine,” she replied. “It’s nothing, just a little cut.”

“Did he stab you?”

Jane shook her head. “He landed on me, but the knife only went in at the very tip. This is all just a fuss about nothing.”

“You’ve been stabbed,” the paramedic pointed out. “It’s not deep, but we still need to check you out properly.”

“I thought…” Katie paused for a moment, as her whole body trembled with shock. “I thought he was going to kill me. I thought he was going to do the same thing he did to Hayley.” She swallowed hard. “My whole life flashed before my eyes and… It was rubbish.”

“Mine too,” Jane replied. “I mean, it flashed before my eyes, it wasn’t…” She paused. “Well, it wasn’t rubbish, but it wasn’t…” Her voice trailed off.

“You saved my life,” Katie continued. “If you hadn’t come in like that, I..”

“I just did my job.”

“But if you hadn’t come in, and maybe if you hadn’t got him to let me go so you could take my place… You’re a hero.”

Jane shook her head again. “No-one’s a hero in all of this.”

“At least you got the killer,” Katie pointed out. “He’s going to be locked up now, isn’t he? Everyone’s going to be safe?”

“Joe killed Mel and Hayley,” Jane replied, “but… I’m not sure he killed Caitlin or the other girls who died years ago. He was too young back then. I think he saw something and it took root in his mind, and eventually he tried to copy it.”

“He was talking about something,” Katie continued. “He kept going on about something called the stag-headed man. I think he could really see it, he was staring up at a spot by the door.”

“He’s very sick,” Jane muttered, before spotting Caitlin sitting at the far end of the ambulance, next to one of the paramedics. “Sick people often see things that aren’t really there.”

Slowly, Caitlin raised a finger to her mouth, as if to remind her to keep quiet.

“Damn it,” Katie continued, fumbling for her phone. “I’m supposed to work tomorrow night, but I don’t…” Her fingers were shaking so much, she could barely hold the phone properly. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

“Where do you work?” Jane asked.

“Oh… It doesn’t matter. You wouldn’t have heard of it.”

Looking over at the paramedics, Jane saw that they were both busy with some paperwork as the ambulance sped along the road. After a moment, she turned back to Katie.

“If you work at the Border,” she said, lowering her voice, “you need to get out of there. Now!”

“I…” Katie paused, before also looking at the paramedics, to make sure they weren’t listening. “How do you know about the Border?” she asked, turning back to Jane. “I thought no-one was supposed to know!”

“How do you think?” Jane whispered. “I’ve been in your position. I know what it’s like to need money so desperately, you agree to go down to that place.”

“You worked there? Seriously?”

“I’m telling you, the longer you stay, the more damaged you’ll become. You might think you can handle it, everyone thinks they can handle stuff like that when they’re younger, but as you get older you’ll realize it left cracks in your soul that you can’t repair. I was lucky, I got out before there was too much damage -”

“You’re crazy,” Katie said suddenly, turning away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You have to listen to me!”

“I
don’t
know what you’re talking about,” Katie said again, suddenly refusing to meet her gaze. “I’ve never heard of the Border, and I sure as hell don’t work there. Maybe you lost too much blood or something, ‘cause you’re not making sense.”

“It can’t last forever, you know,” Jane continued. She waited for a reply, but Katie seemed determined to ignore her now. “I hope you’re saving the money you’re making, because sooner or later the Border is going to come crashing down, and when that happens, you’ll need to have a back-up plan in place.” She waited again. “I know what it’s like. You keep thinking you can go one level further down, you tell yourself you can put up with more punishment in exchange for money, but then one day you’ll go one level too deep, and…”

She paused, and slowly Katie turned to her.

“What?” Katie asked finally, with a hint of fear in her voice. “What happens then?”

“It’ll be too late,” Jane replied. “Too late to get it out of your soul, anyway. It’s not like blood on your hands, you can’t wash it off. This is something that’ll stay with you forever, something that’ll keep you awake at night when you should be sleeping. Trust me, you can go off and get a husband and a house and a family, you can do everything right, but if you work too long down there at the Border, nothing will ever make you feel normal again. You can spend hours in the shower, you can do anything to try to put your life back on track, you can -”

“I get it,” Katie said, interrupting her. “Don’t worry about me, though. I won’t end up like -” She stopped herself just in time.

“Like me?” Jane asked. “Well, maybe not, or maybe -”

Feeling her phone vibrating in her pocket, she pulled it out and saw that Jack was trying to get in touch. She debated not answering, before accepting the call and holding the phone against her ear.

“Hey,” she said, “I can’t -”

“What’s going on in the town square?” he asked. “I heard sirens. Are you there?”

“I’m not,” she replied, “I… I was, but now I’m…”

For a moment, she considered telling him everything, but finally she realized she didn’t have the energy. He’d only twist things and try to find a way to implicate Ben further, and she felt she had to keep a clear head and focus on the task at hand. Besides, she was worried she might start crying. Looking over at Katie, she saw that the girl was already messaging someone on her phone.

“I’ll be home later,” Jane said finally. “I’m just heading to hospital to make sure a girl is okay.”

Katie glanced at her, clearly not impressed by the lie.

“And then everything’s going to be okay, right?” he asked. “I mean, you’re not still mad at me, are you? It’s all blown over?”

“No,” she replied. “Nothing’s blown over.” Cutting the call, she tossed her phone aside and then leaned back, wincing slightly as the ambulance raced over a bump in the road.

“You’re married, right?” Katie said after a moment.

Jane turned to her and nodded.

“Does he know you worked at the Border?”

“He doesn’t even know the Border exists.”

“Huh.” She paused. “Then I guess I can see why you’re upset, but… I’m sorry you made mistakes, but you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine.” She looked back down at her phone. “Thanks for saving my life, though. I owe you.”

***

“What?”

Sitting up suddenly, Ben looked around the bare office. He could have sworn someone had been speaking to him a moment ago, but now he realized he must have been dreaming. Feeling a little dizzy, he got to his feet and made his way around the desk, heading to the door. His plan had been to cause a scene and to provoke the people from the Border into doing what they were going to do anyway. He knew they’d come for him eventually, he’d known from the moment he returned to Bowley that they’d want revenge, but they sure seemed to be taking their sweet time.

He gave a drunken salute to the nearest security camera before stumbling out into the corridor.

V

“No,” Alex muttered, exhausted as he downed another coffee, “I don’t think I’ll be home any time soon, honey. I’m gonna have to stick around here until morning. With Jane out of action, it’s just me manning the place. I’ll let you know when I’ve got some news. Don’t worry, though, everything’s fine now. It’s over.”

Setting the phone down, he paused for a moment, feeling as if he was on the verge of dropping in his tracks and just sleeping on the floor. Finally, however, he staggered over to the sink in the corner and poured some water into a plastic cup, before heading out to the main office and then over to the door that led to the cells. He wasn’t much inclined to make Joe comfortable, but he figured he needed to at least keep him alive. As he reached the farthest cell, he didn’t even bother to look inside as he opened a small hatch in the door and placed the cup on the ledge inside.

“You should drink,” he drawled, glancing through the bars. “At least -”

Stopping suddenly, he saw that although Joe was still sitting on the opposite side of the cell, on the edge of the bed, he had Caitlin sitting right next to him. She had an arm around his shoulder and was gently stroking his hair, as if to comfort him, although her eyes were fixed firmly on Alex. From her expression alone, it was clear she was warning him not to come closer, so he held back, shocked by the scene before finally turning and heading back to the office without saying another word.

“It’s okay,” Caitlin whispered, kissing the side of Joe’s head. “I’m going to make all the pain go away.”

***

“Here’s that coffee,” the nurse said, handing a steaming plastic cup to Jane. “Sorry it’s not the best in the world.”

“Thanks,” Jane replied, taking the cup with a shaking hand and holding it close to her face, so she could feel the warmth. Shivering slightly, she was sitting on a plastic chair in a hospital corridor, waiting for a doctor to come and give her the all-clear. Her shoulder hurt like hell, but she knew it would be fine and she just wanted to get back to town and deal with the aftermath of the night’s events.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call someone?” the nurse asked after a moment, clearly worried about her.

She shook her head.

The nurse paused, as if she was trying to think of something else she could do to help, but finally she smiled and headed off along the busy corridor, stopping after a few paces to talk to one of her colleagues. After a moment they both glanced at Jane, as if they were worried about her.

“Doctor Mackenzie to room five, please,” a voice announced over a speaker. “Doctor Mackenzie to room five.”

At the far end of the corridor, a drunk man was being helped toward a room, although he seemed reluctant to follow orders.

“Jesus,” Jane muttered, looking down at the cup in her hands as she realized she could barely hold it still. She had no idea why she was trembling so much, she felt fine in her mind, but for some reason her body seemed to be having its own individual panic attack.

“What the hell do you think you were doing tonight?” she imagined Jack snapping at her. “You could have died!”

“I was fine,” she’d tell him.

“This doesn’t change anything,” she heard him say at the back of her mind. “Sure, Joe killed a few people, but the root cause of it all is Ben. He killed Caitlin all those years ago, and the others too.”

She winced as she felt a heavy sense of nausea churning in her gut.

“Jane?” she heard Bob’s voice say suddenly. “What are you doing here?”

For a fraction of a second, she frowned, wondering why she was imagining Bob’s voice at all. A moment later, feeling the chair shake as someone slumped down next to her, she turned and saw to her surprise that he was really there. Sweating and obviously half drunk, half hungover, he looked to be a complete mess, with his right hand heavily bandaged and specks of blood on his shirt.

“Bob?” was all she could manage to say, so shocking was the sight.

“Rough night, huh?” he replied with an exhausted smile. He leaned back, resting his head against the noticeboard on the wall and briefly closing his eyes as if he was about to take a nap. “So did you get attacked by a raccoon too?”

“A what?”

“A raccoon.” He held his bandaged hand up for her to see. “I swear to God, the little monster just leaped out of the dark at me.”

She stared at him. “What?”

“I was having a night on the town,” he continued, “with a friend from work. My boss, actually. And then he had to go, and I had one more drink, and then I decided to walk home instead of trying to drive. Responsible, huh?” He sighed. “And I stopped to take a pee in a bush, and as I was tinkling away, I realized something was moving in there. And then, just after I was done, something small and dark jumped out at me and crunched down on my fingers.” He stared at his hand for a moment, as if he could barely believe what had happened. “I never actually seen a raccoon before. I mean, I knew they existed, but I’d never seen one. And then this happened.”

Jane frowned.

“Anyway,” he muttered, “it hurt like a bitch, so I figured I’d better come here. I called Beth and told her, but she didn’t believe me. I guess she’ll have no choice when she sees the wound.” He paused. “Do you think, if I get the doctor to write me a note confirming I was attacked by a raccoon, Beth’ll
have
to believe it? I mean, a doctor’s note counts for something. Kids use them at school all the time.”

She paused, before slowly reaching out and prodding his arm.

“Huh,” she muttered. “I’m not imagining this.”

“What happened to you, anyway?” he asked, spotting the bandage on her shoulder. “It wasn’t the raccoon, was it?”

She shook her head.

“Just when you think Bowley is a safe place,” he continued, leaning back again, “a goddamn raccoon comes at you and reminds you that the world is filled with danger. First the Border, then this.”

She turned away, ready to ignore him as usual, before realizing what he’d just said. Turning back to him, she saw that he was starting to fall asleep.

“Did you say the Border?” she asked, nudging his arm. “Bob, this is important. Did you just say something about the Border?”

“No, M’am,” he replied with a grin, miming zipping his lips shut. “Seriously, forget it.”

“I know about the Border, you idiot,” she hissed, keeping her voice low as a patient was wheeled past. “Do
you
go there?”

He paused, eying her with suspicion. “How much do you know?”

“Are you a customer?” she asked. “Seriously, Bob,
you
? Of all people?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Why wouldn’t I be a customer?”

“Well, it’s just… I mean, they have…”

“Standards?” He hiccuped. “I’m a member. I go every night.”

She stared at him for a moment, watching the twitch on the side of his face. “Liar,” she said finally. “You’ve heard of the place, though, which means you probably had an application interview, and the fact that you’re drunk…” She paused again, running through the possibilities. “You got turned away, didn’t you?”

He shook his head.

“You failed the interview,” she continued, “and… It happened tonight.”

He shook his head again.

“Yes, it did,” she replied, “and that’s why you ended up drunk.”

“Absolutely not.”

“And the so-called raccoon attack…” She paused, trying to work out what had really happened to his hand, before realizing the truth. “Well, that part maybe happened,” she muttered. “I could totally see you getting attacked by a raccoon. Bob, in fact I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before. If you -”

“Listen -”

“You’re an idiot.”

He raised both eyebrows.

“You should be so monumentally glad that you didn’t get accepted,” she continued. “Believe me, whatever you think you’d gain from that place, it would have messed with your life. Be glad, be very glad, that you got to walk away.”

“I thought the Border was a huge secret,” he replied, with a hint of a whine.

“It is,” she told him, “so keep your mouth shut.”

Sighing again, he leaned back and looked up at the flickering electric light. “Do you ever think,” he said after a moment, “that sometimes life isn’t turning out the way you expected? Do you ever wonder if you’re doing it all wrong?”

“I think
you’re
doing it all wrong,” she told him. “You’ve got a wife and a beautiful little girl at home waiting for you, and instead you’re drunk in the emergency room, with a raccoon bite on your hand, and you’re feeling sorry for yourself because you didn’t get accepted into the Border. If you’ve got even a shred of sense and dignity left in your body, Bob, you’ll go home and you’ll set things right. Oh, and you’ll stop seeing that little trollop you’ve been sleeping with.”

“I have no idea what -”

“Don’t lie to me,” she replied, getting to her feet. Checking her watch, she paused for a moment. “It’s Christmas Eve. Right now, it’s Christmas Eve, do you realize that? I guess that means that, in about twelve hours’ time, you and I are going to be at a big family gathering and we’re going to have to act like nothing’s wrong with the world. Try to be sober by then, okay?”

He paused, before nodding.

“I have to speak to a doctor about my shoulder,” she added, “but then I’m heading back to town. Do you want to share a cab?”

“I would,” he replied, “but I think I have to stick around for a few more hours. Something about checking for rabies.”

“You’re an idiot,” she muttered, turning to walk away. “Try to sort yourself out by tonight, Bob.”

***

As gently as she could manage, Beth turned the handle and opened the door a little. Peering into the room, she saw that Lucy was sleeping soundly. She allowed herself a faint smile, before closing the door again and heading downstairs.

Everything was a mess, but at least her daughter was fine.

On the kitchen table, Lucy’s Christmas gifts were all wrapped and ready to be placed under the tree. Gathering them up, Beth headed through to the front room and began to arrange everything. She’d wrapped something for Bob, too, although as she set it in its place she couldn’t help looking up at the angel at the top of the tree, which was still impaled on one of the branches.

“Hey there, Candy,” she muttered. “I hope you’ve got a nice headache there.”

Checking her watch, she realized that it was only twelve hours or so until her entire family would descend on the house for a Christmas Eve gathering, and the thought was vaguely terrifying. She had no idea where Bob was, but she figured he was most likely enjoying a quick night with his bit on the side. Sighing, she turned to head up to bed.

Her phone buzzed briefly, indicating that a message had arrived.

She was almost too tired to bother looking, but nevertheless she sloped over and grabbed the phone. Finding no messages in the usual folder, she was about to write the buzz off as a figment of her imagination when she noticed that the dark-net browser was flashing. Tapping the screen, she saw to her horror that she’d received an email from someone at Metal Pill Terminations.

After looking over her shoulder to make she was still alone, she opened the email. Her hands were trembling with anticipation as she read the message, which turned out to be terse and to-the-point:

If you’re serious, meet me at the Bowley diner at 9am on Christmas Eve. Terms as outlined in advert. Luke.

She froze, reading the message over and over, before closing it and setting the phone down. Stepping back, she felt as if simply by opening the message, she’d somehow come into contact with a different world, with a kind of darkness that existed out there in the world. Looking at the door, she almost expected armed police to storm into the room and drag her away, even though the dark-net messaging app claimed to be anonymous.

At the same time, her heart was pounding. For a moment, she allowed herself to imagine what it would be like if she actually went ahead with the whole thing. Bob would be gone forever, and his life insurance policy would cover Lucy’s dance lessons and college fees, allowing her to pursue her dreams. A whole perfect life filled Beth’s mind, and all of it would be facilitated by the simple removal of one man who, frankly, no-one really liked that much. She tried to imagine herself showing up at the diner to meet this mysterious Luke guy, and although the idea felt insane and impossible, there was still a part of her that was tempted. In fact, the idea of getting rid of Bob seemed ludicrously simple.

She knew she should go to bed, but instead she picked up the phone and read the message again and again, while fantasizing about what it would be like if she actually went through with the plan.

***

Climbing out of the taxi, Jane tried to ignore the twinge of pain in her shoulder. She had a clear plastic bag in one hand, filled with several boxes and bottles of pills that had been prescribed to manage the swelling and stop the pain, although she felt the pain really wasn’t something she wanted to ignore. She needed the pain in order to stay alert.

She turned and handed some cash to the driver, before stepping back and watching as the taxi drove off into the night. Turning, she headed toward the police station.