Текст книги "The Gift of Death"
Автор книги: Sam Ripley
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Текущая страница: 21 (всего у книги 21 страниц)
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‘Susan, what are you doing?’ said Kate. She tried to make her voice as calm as possible, but she could hear the terror in her throat.
‘Shut the fuck up!’ said Susan.
‘You do know what he’s capable of, don’t you? You know after he kills me he will kill you just like he killed Sara-Jane.’
‘I don’t care anymore,’ she said. ‘I’m so tired. I don’t want to go on anymore.’
Kate watched as Susan handed him the gun. Immediately he had it in hands his whole demeanour changed. His seemed invested with a new energy. He turned towards her and smiled.
‘This feels good,’ he said, looking at her. ‘It wouldn’t have been my tool of choice, but I suppose it will have to do.’
‘Susan – listen to me. You don’t want this to happen, I know you don’t. I know how you must feel about losing Sara-Jane. But he’s the one to blame, not me. I didn’t kill her. You know that –‘
‘I think the lady’s heard enough now,’ said Gleason, stepping towards her.
‘How would you feel if he went on to kill more children, more babies like –‘
‘I said enough,’ he said
‘He’s a monster, Susan.’
His eyes burnt with hatred.
‘Just like his father before him.’ She knew what to say to make him angry. If she could just tempt him a little closer towards her. ‘A pervert who couldn’t keep his hands off his own sister.’
‘Shut up –‘
He moved close so she could smell his fetid breath. He brought the gun up towards her face. She closed her eyes, felt its cold metal on her cheek.
‘I should have killed you when I had the chance,’ he said. ‘I came so close to it. That morning when you were here. I saw you go into the water, get the girl out. I was watching you from down there.’ He pointed towards the end of the beach. She remembered the man dressed in black. ‘I could have done it. But there were other people I had to see to first.’
She swallowed the wave of fear that surged up inside her.
‘Each of those fuckers who took my dad away. They had to be punished.’
He removed the gun from her face. She opened her eyes to see him move it down her body. She felt him push it into her throat, her breast, before it came to rest on the curve of her abdomen. He ran it over her, teasing her, caressing her with its threat.
‘Please – don’t – ’ she said. ‘I’ll do anything, but please don’t harm my – ’
‘Not so brave now, are we?’
‘I need to ask you something, before you – ’
‘What?’
‘How did you know that – that I was pregnant?’
‘I didn’t.’
‘What?’
‘I knew you wanted to – what with all those visits to that swanky clinic. And I got hold of the doctor’s laptop. Got a friend to hack into it for me. It didn’t tell me much that I didn’t know. So I guess I struck lucky. Not like you.’
Kate looked over towards Susan, who was standing there with a gun trained on Gleason. She pleaded with her eyes to do something, but her gaze was unresponsive, blank.
‘Susan – please,’ she managed to say. ‘I’m begging you.’
‘I lost a child, now it’s your turn,’ she said. Then she pointed her weapon at Gleason. ‘Do it. Do it now.’
She heard Gleason release the safety catch on the gun. It had to be now.
She tightened her grip on the round of cheese wire and whipped it out of her pocket. Although the pain seared through her body she stretched the wire out and wrapped it around Gleason’s throat. He automatically looked up towards her as he felt something tighten around his neck. She pulled the wire back towards her, feeling it dig into his flesh. It cut deeply and quickly into the skin, forming a sinister red necklace around his throat. She pressed harder, deeper, but, in that same instant, he pushed away from her, choking. She tried to maintain her grip, but he was too strong. He fell down into the sand, sounding like he was swallowing his own blood.
She looked down at her hands, dripping with blood. Some of it, she realised, was her own, where she had cut into her skin. She wiped them on her jeans, but as she looked up she saw Susan begin to turn her gun on her.
‘You don’t want to do this,’ said Kate. ‘You’re still in shock – ’
Susan raised her gun. Kate watched as her finger settled on the trigger. She began to press down, enjoying the sensation, but then hesitated as if she were frozen in time. It felt as though she was on the point of waking up from some awful nightmare. She looked around her, somehow surprised by her surroundings.
‘What the -?’ she said to herself. This wasn’t right. She didn’t want to do this.
But then, just as she started to release the pressure on the trigger, the sound of gunshot pierced the air. A spurt of blood arched from Susan’s head. She dropped to the floor, her body twitching and shaking, a pool of blood darkening the sand.
Kate dropped to the ground, looking around her. Gleason, still clutching his neck, raised himself up with a deep groan and tried to run for cover. Another shot hit the beach near his feet, sending sand up into the air. Gleason grabbed the gun and quickly took hold of Kate by the neck. A moment later, he had the gun pressed up against her head. Although she had injured him, badly, he still had enough strength to exact his revenge. Blood dripped from his throat onto her, seeping into her shirt, slowly trickling down her spine.
This was it, she thought to herself. This was how it was all going to end.
‘Okay, whoever’s there better come out,’ Gleason shouted. ‘Otherwise I’ll shoot.’
Nothing happened.
‘Okay. I’m gonna count to five.’
Kate felt the end of the gun dig into her neck. Gleason started to count.
‘One. Two.’
Why was no-one stepping out to reveal themselves?
‘Three.’
Where was Josh? Surely he must have got her message by now?
‘Four.’
She felt powerless. She had no energy left to fight. She looked down at the body of Susan Gable. Soon she would join her in death, bleeding into the sand.
‘Okay then,’ said Gleason. ‘Here we go. F –‘
There was the sound of a rustle of some branches. The noise seemed to be coming from the jacaranda tree by the terrace.
‘Stop!’
It was a man’s voice. But it wasn’t Josh.
She opened her eyes. She recognised the man. He was a cop, she was sure. But she couldn’t remember his name.
‘Drop your weapon,’ shouted Gleason.
The man hesitated.
‘I said, drop it!’
He threw his gun towards the ground.
‘Do you have any more weapons?’
The man shook his head.
‘Okay, come down here. And – slowly.’
As Kate watched him walk down the steps towards the beach she was certain that, the last time she had seen him, he had been wearing his uniform. Had he been off-duty, simply driving by with his window open, when he had heard the sound of firing and had chosen to investigate? If so, he surely must have asked for some kind of back-up.
‘Where’s your partner?’ asked Gleason.
‘Sorry?’
‘Your partner. Where is he?’
‘I’m – I’m off-duty,’ said the man, slightly covering his mouth with his hand.
‘What’s wrong with your voice?’
‘Nothing.’
‘What’s your name?’
‘Urm –‘
‘Who the fuck are you?’ he shouted, quickly lifting the gun away from Kate and pointing it at the direction of the cop.
‘Do I know you? I know your voice. Tell me your name.’
‘I’m no-one.’
Gleason, possessed by a sudden rage, ran towards him, almost as if he wanted to get up close so he could have a better view of his face.
‘It was you, you fucker,’ he said. ‘I know who you are now. You’re the one who –‘
Something moved in the periphery of her vision. She turned her head towards the terrace. It was Josh.
‘Stop!’ he shouted. He had his gun aimed directly at Gleason’s head. But he knew if only he got a little closer he would have a better chance of hitting him. He moved quickly down the steps, trying to keep his gun trained on Gleason. Kate was covered in blood. There was a dead woman on the beach.
‘I’ve got you covered,’ said Josh. ‘Now, drop the weapon.’
Josh fired off a shot by his feet, spraying sand into the air. Gleason let the gun drop.
‘This is just great,’ said Gleason, beginning to laugh.
‘On your knees,’ said Josh. ‘Drop to your fuckin’ knees.’
‘You don’t get it, do you?’ said Gleason. ‘You just don’t get it?’
‘What you’ve got to say you can say to your lawyer,’ said Josh, moving quickly towards him and picking up his gun. He threw the gun over to Peterson.
‘You know and I know I’m never gonna have a lawyer,’ said Gleason, pressing his hand over his throat. ‘I’m not gonna end up like my dad. Humiliated. Imprisoned. Waiting to die.’ He turned to look at Kate, his eyes full of hatred. ‘You robbed him of his freedom. How could you do that?’
‘Because he was an evil fucker who got his kicks from murdering young women,’ said Peterson, pointing the gun at him. ‘That’s why.’
Gleason looked at Peterson.
‘You know there’s not much difference between you and me?’ said Gleason.
‘You’re talking bullshit,’ said Peterson.
‘Detective Harper. Did you happen to wonder how I got these?’ he said, holding up his two bandaged fingers. ‘It was a little present from your friend here.’
‘Stop playing games, Gleason,’ said Peterson.
Kate suddenly remembered where she had seen him before. He was the cop who had interviewed her, here at the beach house, soon after she had discovered the baby floating in the sea. The one who had been in the car with Josh when she had taken that call from Cynthia Ross.
‘Not only that, he told me some other interesting things as well, didn’t you? Like how you killed Garrison, that wife beater, and some guy who got his kicks from obscene photos of little girls. And who was that other one? A drug dealer who – ’
‘Shut up!’
‘Thinks of himself as some kind of avenging angel put on earth to do God’s work or some shit like that.’
Peterson tightened his grip on the gun.
‘Sad thing is, nobody told him God is long dead. Only gods around now are folk like my dad. Now he really had the power to -’
A moment later Peterson had his gun pressed next to Gleason’s temple.
‘Say another word and you’re dead,’ he said.
‘Peterson, let’s just calm down here,’ said Josh. Suddenly it all made sense. ‘Step away. I’ve got Gleason covered.’
Peterson did not move.
‘I said step away. Lower your gun.’
Nothing.
‘Peterson, I’m ordering you to drop your weapon.’
Kate watched as Peterson shifted his gaze from Gleason to Harper.
‘It’s true what he said,’ said Peterson. ‘But I was only doing my job.’
‘What?’ said Kate.
‘I’ve been making a difference. A real difference. Not just arresting people, placing them in prison or some institution and waiting for them to come out and do it all over again. And everyone knows you’re more likely to die on death row from natural causes than lethal injection. When I started in the force I thought I could help. But I soon realised conventional law and order had – well, let’s just say it had its flaws.’
‘Peterson, this is the last time I’m going to ask you,’ said Harper. ‘Drop – the – gun.’
Peterson shook his head. ‘I’m afraid I can’t do that, sir. I’ve got a job to finish.’
‘I know how frustrated you must have felt,’ said Kate, trying to defuse the situation. ‘But we must let – ’
She looked over at Josh. She realised then that she had made her decision. She would go back to him. But then, just as Josh glanced towards her to meet her gaze, Gleason made a sudden lunge at Peterson. Josh trained his gun on them both, shifting between the two. If he could only disable them somehow. A leg. A hand.
He moved towards them, trying to concentrate on his target. He fired, hitting Peterson in the right arm. A scream tore through the air.
‘No!’ said Peterson, falling to the ground.
Gleason kicked Peterson in the face, and wrenched the gun from his hand. With a swift motion Gleason turned towards Harper. Whoever fired first Kate didn’t know, but both men seemed consumed in the explosion. They stood looking at one another for a couple of seconds, their eyes locked in some kind of strange ritual. Kate’s gaze moved from one to the other, searching for signs of injury. Then Gleason began to crumple.
Everything was going to be okay now. Josh had shot the monster who had haunted their lives. It was over.
She scanned Gleason’s body but he was covered in so much blood already that it was difficult to see where he had taken the bullet. She noticed Josh started to sway a little.
‘Are you alright?’ she said.
He nodded his head, but then Josh blinked. His eyelids began to flutter a little. He brought his hand up to his chest, where a dark bloom had begun to spread. He looked towards her. He opened his mouth to speak. Then he fell on his knees into the sand.
‘No,’ she screamed. ‘Josh – ’
She ran towards him, pressing her hands onto his chest. Her fingers, already covered with Gleason’s blood, were sticky with Josh’s now. ‘You can’t, you can’t. Not now.’
She heard the click of a gun and looked up to see Gleason. He was reeling from the bullet, but he was still conscious.
‘Here’s a little present from my dad,’ he mumbled, trying to smile. ‘It’s long overdue, but there you go. Better late than – ’
He brought the gun up in line with her head, but just as he was about to fire a bullet hit him at the base of the spine. It was Peterson.
Gleason collapsed into the sand. He was trying to crawl towards her, but another bullet tore into his head, splattering the beach with his blood and brain.
Kate stood, frozen with fear. Was she his next target?
‘Don’t worry. It’s over now. He’s dead.’
Peterson started to walk over towards her.
‘Are you okay?’ he said, putting his gun back in his holster.
She nodded, but every nerve in her body seemed to be screaming out in pain.
‘We n-need to get an ambulance,’ she stuttered. ‘Do y-you have a cell?’
‘Here,’ he said. ‘I think you’d better do it.’
She took hold of the cell, her bloodied hands shaking so badly she could hardly hold it. She looked down at Josh, his face already whitening. Was it too late for him?
She dialled 911. But as she spoke, reporting what had happened and giving her name and address, she felt an intense pain in her lower back. Had she hurt herself in the fall? Then the feeling spread to her stomach, pelvis and legs. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. Had she been hit by a bullet? Her hand moved down towards her middle, trying to locate the source of the pain. Then the realisation came to her.
‘Send another ambulance,’ she said. ‘I think – my baby’s coming. And I’m early. Please, please come quick.’
As she cut the connection she heard the sound of police sirens in the distance. She looked up at Peterson. What should she do?
‘Is it true – about those unsolved murders? It was you?‘
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Like I said – crime and punishment. Justice. Real justice.’
She tried to untangle the confused morality that lay behind Peterson’s convictions. It was obvious he saw himself as some kind of adjudicator in the battle against good and evil. He was the supreme judge, an arbitrator that decided who should live, who should die. But what was it Josh had told her about that internet child porn user – what was he called? – Raymond Cutler. That his murderer had cut off his penis and shoved it into his mouth? If that didn’t betray one hell of a sick mind, what did?
‘Peterson. You need to stop this. You need to get help.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You can’t carry on like this. In setting yourself above the law you’ve lost all sense of reality. You’re ill.’
‘I saved your life, didn’t I?’
‘Yes, but –‘
‘And Cassie’s. She would be dead had it not been for me.’
‘But –‘
‘And Gleason would still be alive –‘
‘Do you really think this is a happy ending?’ she said, her voice rising. ‘Look around you, Peterson. Look at the bodies. Look at the blood.’
There was silence. He lowered his head, and stared at the bodies on the blackened sand.
‘And what about Susan Gable? How did she know where to find Gleason?’
‘I thought exacting a little revenge might do her good.’
She could hardly believe what he was saying.
‘And Cynthia Ross?’
‘What about her?’
‘Gleason killed her.’
‘But how did she know where to look for him? Was it you who gave her his address?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Ross may have been a no-good hack, a bitch, but she didn’t deserve to die.’
Peterson took another step closer to her.
‘But I did it for you.’
‘What?’ she said, almost choking on the word.
‘She betrayed you. She got what she deserved.’
She felt a wave of nausea rising within her. She was too shocked to reply.
‘You told her to go rot in hell. I heard you.’
‘That didn’t mean I wanted her dead,’ she said, spitting the words out in disgust. Jesus, what kind of twisted logic was this?
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘For everything, I mean.’ He looked down at the bodies of Susan Gable and Ryan Gleason, and then over towards Josh. ‘Especially Harper. He was a good man.’
The use of the past tense hit her like a bullet in the stomach. She felt whatever strength she had left draining from her. She fell forwards on to her knees and down to the sand.
‘Are you going to be alright?’ he said softly, kneeling down besides her.
Kate trembled with pain, rage, shock and fear. She felt tears burn in her eyes.
‘Just go,’ she said. ‘I don’t want you here.’
What could he do to make her feel better? How could he explain himself? How could he outline his philosophy, his mission to protect the innocent and punish the guilty? He wanted to tell her that, in a way, he loved her. But that would have to wait. Nevertheless, he would always protect her, always watch over her. He reached out and touched her silver hair. In the fading light of the day it looked even more like a halo, he thought.
‘Don’t touch me,’ she said, spitting out the words as if they were drops of poison. ‘Please, just leave me alone.’
She just didn’t understand. But he was sure she would one day. She just needed a little time. He looked down to examine his arm, where blood bubbled up from the surface of the wound. He stood up, turned from her and started to walk down the beach. Just as he was about to slip around the side of one of the beach houses in the distance, he looked at her, raised his left hand as if to wave goodbye and then said something. He was too far away for her to hear. Then he was gone.
As the fragments of the past few months began to fall into place, Kate took hold of Josh’s head and cradled it in her hands. A tear dropped onto his pale face.
‘Yes,’ she said, whispering into his ear. ‘I don’t know if you can hear me, but my answer is yes.’
She took a deep breath and could almost taste the salt in the air. She reached down and touched her stomach. She moaned as the pain coursed through her body again. She looked up at the horizon. In the distance the blood red sun was about to set. She listened to the waves rise and fall. She continued to stare out to sea, no longer haunted by a dead child in the waves. She was thinking about life.