“My car is downstairs.It will be quicker.”Rav grabbed his keys from a bowl on the counter and headed for the door.
The elevator ride to the basement garage was quicker than the journey up.Once they were in the car and out on the road, Hudson tried Luke’s number again.It went to voicemail once more.“Shit.”
“Do you know the address?”Rav asked.
“No, but I’ve been to the house a few times now.I think I can get us there.Head onto the north road out of the city then follow the signs for the coast.”
Rav’s hands were tight on the wheel.At the last minute he realised he was in the wrong lane, cutting across and earning an angry blare from the horn of the vehicle behind.Hudson’s heart beat faster.The impression that something was seriously wrong grew stronger.He called Luke again and got no response.
“What the fuck is he thinking of?”Rav asked angrily.“As if we haven’t got enough to worry about already.”
Once they were closer to the coast, Hudson’s directions became sketchy.He’d only ever come out this way as a passenger in Luke’s car, and as such he’d paid little attention to the road numbers, roundabouts, or turnings.They ended up in a small village he did not recognise and had to backtrack a mile before getting onto the correct route.
“I recognise this now,” he said, glad there was still a decent amount of light in the dusky sky.In complete darkness, he would have had no clue.“Keep going this way.”
After another three miles, the sea was on their right, and he recognised the small street of houses overlooking the beach.
“This is it.”
Rav slowed down until Hudson pinpointed the exact house and swung the car onto the drive.Luke’s car was already parked up and there were lights on in the front window.
“I guess he’s home,” Rav said, shutting off the engine.“This had better be worth the journey here.”
Hudson stepped out.He expected Luke to come rushing to meet them, but there was stillness from the house.The air was fresh with the salt of the sea, but there was an uneasy heaviness in the atmosphere that he could not account for.It gnawed at Hudson’s nerves.
Rav joined him and they stared at the house.It was familiar to Hudson, and yet something was off.Then he realised the front door was open.
“Where is he?”Rav asked, his voice lower.
Hudson’s stomach churned.The instinct to get back in the car and flee was strong.Something was very wrong here.His mind flashed on Julian’s murder, and he was seized with a sudden panic.Something had happened to Luke.
“We need to find him.”
He was already making for the door when a sudden movement to the right brought him to a stop.
He recognised the Baby Face mask in an instant.
Then a flash of steel glinted in the low light.An axe.
He screamed, “Rav, watch out.”
Rav had no time to react.With three powerful strides, the movie killer was upon him.The axe swung from a high angle and made a sickening impact with his head.Blood splattered wide.
However violent the movie had been, the reality of the attack was far worse than it had ever been in the film version.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Evil Intent
Rav didn’t scream.He let out a stunned grunt as the axe impacted.He wavered for a few seconds.Hudson took a step towards him, desperate to help, when Rav dropped to his knees then fell face forward, the axe buried in his skull.
It was over.Like a light being switched off.One second Rav was there.The next he was gone.
Hudson stared into the blank visage of the Baby Face mask.A monstrous character that had plagued his career and his dreams for two decades.And now his reality.
The killer gripped the handle of the axe, put a booted foot on Rav’s shoulder and yanked it free with a sickening crunch.
Two dark eyes glistened from behind the mask.
