Crash. She felt a sickening crunch followed by wetness creeping down her face. The tide had come in and she’d missed it. It was now coming to wash her away. Choking, it washed over her. Freezing cold, shivering – she had reached her end. The sun would never come up and reveal a beautiful beach. Even the darkness was running away from her, fast, then nothing.
Sixty-Nine
As Gina crashed through the workshop door, she flashed her torch in all the corners, back and forth. If he was here, she wasn’t going to allow him to take her by surprise. O’Connor followed her closely, then Jacob rushed in behind him. Backup was ready and waiting. As soon as she had Richard Leason in her custody, she’d call them in. She needed to be sure that Aimee was safe.
‘Mr Leason, please come out. This is DI Harte, DS Driscoll and DC O’Connor.’ She had to assume he was in the building, hiding somewhere, in one of his nooks and crannies, behind some furniture. ‘Aimee, if you can hear me, call out.’ She remained in silence for a few moments and heard nothing. His wife, Maggie, was sure this was where he’d be and Gina knew that he was not at his sister’s. She’d not long left Diane’s house and secured it. He hadn’t been there. ‘Mr Leason?’ She nodded back at Jacob.
He reached for the light switch but nothing happened as he flicked the switch. The only light in the room was the shaft of sun that came through the small barred window and the door. She motioned for the two detectives to follow her. To her left was a collection of tools hanging on the concrete wall. Bags and tool boxes were strewn underneath. One bag thrown on top of another. Tools spilling out. Random screwdrivers, saws, drill bits and screws were mingled together. The smell of varnish filled the air and there was another smell that caught the back of Gina’s throat. Human waste.
Her gaze fixed on the door in the corner of the room. As she reached for the handle straight ahead, a tremble ran through her body, finally resting on her fingers. The jittery shadow cast from Jacob’s torch exposed her fear. ‘I’m opening it,’ she whispered.
O’Connor and Jacob poised themselves for what could happen next. As Gina’s hand rested on the door handle, she glanced back and saw sweat beginning to drip down O’Connor’s face. ‘Now.’ She burst through the door, torch leading the way, only to face a small concrete room with a filthy toilet leaning against the back wall, next to a cracked hand basin. She slammed the door and took a step back.
‘Aimee,’ she called. ‘They’re not here.’ She began walking around the room, passing the workbench, staring at all his half-finished furniture restoration projects.
She exhaled, regaining her composure. In the right-hand corner of the room was a small recess about two feet deep where a mop and a broom were propped up. She walked over, examining the wall. The mop was tangled with cobwebs and looked as though it hadn’t been used for years. Wood chippings and sawdust had been swept into this corner. She gazed at the floor and noticed a sawdust-free spot. Walking into the shaft of sunlight, she stared at the wall before refocusing on the dust motes dancing in front of her eyes. She tapped it and listened. ‘The wall. It goes back further.’ An old dustsheet hung from a curtain rail along the top of the wall. She pulled it away, exposing what looked like a concrete back wall. Gina’s breath quickened. She went to touch the tiny handle and as the cubbyhole burst open, she fell back into the workbench as the door slammed into her.
‘Come any closer and I swear I will put this through her neck. No one will be able to save her then.’ He held a shard of pointed wood to the young woman’s throat.
‘Richard, please put it down and we can talk.’ She was staring at a wide-eyed, desperate man who had nothing to lose. Aimee looked like a little doll as he held her in front of him, eyes closed, body flopped over. He was strong, she could tell. He had all her weight under one arm.
‘I’m going to carry her out of the building and get into my car with her. You’re not going to follow me. Once I’m far away, I’ll leave her somewhere safe, but I’m not going with you. You’re not locking me up.’
Gina held her hands up and backed off. She watched as Jacob carefully stepped out of the unit. She knew he’d be getting a message to backup, telling them that they were in a hostage situation. She couldn’t risk anyone storming in and putting Aimee in any further danger. She glanced at the woman, unconscious and blue. She couldn’t see her chest rising and falling. The bloody gash on her forehead had lifted a bit of skin. Glancing behind the man, she spotted the weapon, the mallet they’d been looking for, adorned with fresh blood.
Richard Leason dragged Aimee towards the toilet. ‘Get in the cubbyhole, all three of you.’ The tip of the wood pierced Aimee’s neck. She knew he was serious. The man looked deranged. Veins bulged from his neck as he stared directly into her eyes.
‘Please don’t hurt her, Mr Leason. She hasn’t done anything wrong.’ She held her hands up and stepped back towards his little secret compartment. The closer she got, the denser the smell of ammonia was. It was the smell of a confined person, a smell she’d come across before. An overwhelming sadness took over as she thought of an earlier case, that of kidnapped Deborah Jenkins, confined to a little room in a barn. The stench was the same but this was a completely different situation.
‘You by the door, get here too,’ he called as he stared at Jacob, then O’Connor. ‘Get over there with her.’ A thin trickle of blood seeped from a small prick to Aimee’s neck. The young woman began to murmur in his arms. She was alive, but it was far too early to celebrate. Now she needed to keep her alive and she didn’t look to be in a good state. Jacob and O’Connor joined Gina at the back of the workshop. ‘I’m going to lock you all in the workshop and you’ll hear from me soon.’
‘Just let her go. Lock her in with us, then go,’ Gina pleaded.
‘I know your game. There will be more of you. You’ll be on the estate, on the highway, everywhere. You must think I’m stupid. Without her, you win. Until I am safely out of the way, she stays with me.’
‘You don’t have to do this. You won’t be able to run forever.’
‘Wanna bet? I have my rainy day sorted. I’ve rebuilt myself once, left a bad past behind and started again. Yes, it will be harder but I’ll do it.’ Gina stepped forward, hoping that their conversation had lulled him into feeling a little less threatened, just enough to let his guard down. ‘I see what you’re doing, one more step, she dies.’
‘Why Aimee?’
Sweat beads fell into his eyes. His large nostrils widened as he exhaled. ‘She was just like the others. I thought she was different, then again, I thought Jade was different.’
‘Richard Leason, did you kill Jade?’
He grinned and let out a laugh. ‘Enough of the talking.’
‘Did you know your sister, Diane, has been rushed to hospital this morning?’
‘Do I look like I care?’ He began to fumble in his pocket for his keys, momentarily bringing the hand that held the wood down by his side. Had Gina been closer to him, she’d have dived at him, brought him down, but by the time she’d have managed to move towards him, he’d have guessed what she was up to.
It was too late. They were all at the back of the building and he was right next to the door. ‘Don’t chase me and she gets to live.’ As he slammed the door, Gina ran towards it and was stopped by a loud crash against the door. She heard a scream she recognised, it was PC Smith. Then a car engine revved up and wheels spun before whizzing off. Smith pushed the door open and yelped as the piece of jagged wood stuck out from his neck. ‘Ambulance now,’ she yelled into her phone. ‘Two victims, one is PC Smith. Stab wound to the neck. Another, young woman, unconscious, wound to the head.’ She sat on the road, next to Smith as Jacob and O’Connor tended to Aimee.
‘Sorry, guv. I messed up,’ Smith gargled, little specs of blood hitting her own neck.
‘Shh, help is on its way. You saved her.’
He let out a little smile. ‘I poked him in the eyes as we were fighting,’ he mumbled as he drifted out of consciousness.
