My Heart Belongs To You: A Psycho Thriller (11 page)

Checking his wallet for cash and credit
cards,
he popped it into his back
pocke
t
,
closing the flap over it
.

Finally,
he placed the wireless bluetooth
earpiece
into place and married it to his Blackberry.

Checking himself in the mirror
,
he looked at his own reflection, took one deep breath and for just a second or two
,
looked himself in the eye before giving a curt nod
that was like a trigger, he was now in action mode. E
xiting the
storeroom,
he
moved
through
the command room
that had d
eveloped a low buzz of
activity
.  Stri
ding forward he noticed the 2009
file
was in
Stephanie’s hand.
It made his heart swell with pride and triggered a wry smile to form on his lips as his
eyes
fell on
Turner
who was busy with
Donald
.
Between
them
,
they had pinned
up photos
from the police files and put
the coloured fe
lt pens to good
use
,
creating
a time line that chronicled
Tom and Karen’s
known
movements
until their
disappearance
.
Also there were
various
scribbled notations
that
John never bothered to read, he had his own task to focus on.

‘Jane how are you doing?’ he asked coming up behind her.

‘Just printing off a load of
news
sheets
,
John.
’

‘Give them to Stephanie as you get them out.’

‘Will do.'

Hanson knelt down by his sister.  ‘How you doing
,
sis?’ he asked gently
.
He
couldn’t help but notice she was
now
rocking gently back and forth as she read.

Without lifting her
head,
she answered in a
barely audible voice, ‘
H
e´s a bad man
,
John.
’

John swallowed
hard
; he shouldn’t be putting her through this.  ‘You can stop if you want
to,
Steph
.
You
don’t need to carry on with this.’

His sister lifted her head and looked at her brother,
looking
at him for a full five seconds, longer than she had looked at him since they were children.  ‘We need to get Tom and Karen away from this man
,
John.  You have to find them.’  With
that,
she lowered her head and continued to read.

John simply nodded
.
He
was so proud of her, so
proud.  Standing
,
he moved
quickly over to the two men deep in conversation.  ‘Speak to me guys.’

‘You need to go to The Spinning Wheel in Park
W
alk Avenue
,
John
.
It’s
the restaurant where Tom and Ka
ren
was
last seen
,’
John informed
Myers
. 
‘
Sp
eak to any
staff who
might
have seen Tom and
Karen
last night
.
We’ll
feed you fresh Intel
,
as it
becomes available
.  Blue Eagle is doing a b
ackground check on
each of
the staff
and
also
the owner
s
for any
priors
.’

‘
Go find this bastard
,
John
,
’ hissed
Turner
, ‘
F
ind
Cupid.
’

John strode back to his sister, kissed her
lightly
on the head, ‘I'm leaving now
,
sis
.
Jane will be looking after you
,
okay
?’

Stephanie simply nodded without raising her head.  John strode
out of the building
with purpose
,
locking the main door as he exited.

Setting the
Sat Nav for the
restaurant,
he
pulled out of the car park in his
four-wheel
drive people
carrier;
its
blacked out windows
ensuring a degree of privacy
. As the command centre faded
in the
rearview
mirror,
he offered
up a whispered
oath.  ‘
I
´m coming for you
,
Cupid
.
I will find you.
As sure as night follows day
,
I will find you
.  I just pray it’s before 7 p.m. tomorrow.’

Chapter Ten

13 February
-
11
:
20

(
L
ife remaining 31 hrs 40 mins)

‘We enter the world with nothing, we leave with nothing.’

‘Please calm yourself
,
Karen
,
’ soothed Cupid
,
lowering the table
. 
As it
became
level
,
h
e move
d to stand behind the
couple,
stroking their
head
s with a
lover’s
tenderness
.

Karen was whimpering
.
Her
breathing coming in small snatches as Cupid
’
s hand stroked
her brow.
She closed her eye
s
,
trying to put herself somewhere else
,
but the feel of Cupid
’
s palm touching her, caressing her as if he were her lover, her protector
,
ke
pt her chained to this moment, to
this place.

‘
Get the hell away from her you p
sy
c
h
opath
,
’
spat
Tom
,
bucking against the straps
. His explosion of
exertion
caused t
he veins in his neck
to bulge
and a trickle of blood
to ru
n down his ankle where
t
he
strap
s
had
cha
f
ed
through his skin.

‘Tom, Tom
,
I
’
m here to help you and Karen
,
’ smiled Cupid
,
‘I`m here to save you both.’
Cupid lowered his mouth close to Tom’s left ear and whispered
,
‘
B
ut
if you disrespect me again, I will cut out your tongue and then hers.’

Tom d
idn’
t speak, never said a word
,
but his eyes shouted
,
and
they spoke volumes.

Cupid stepped back and sat down on the stool
,
his smile warm
and
completely
normal
, as if he were
s
omeone visiting with friends.
‘Let me ask
you both
a question.
Do you truly love each other?’

Tom could hear Karen to his left almost babb
ling, the fear consuming her,
and
in
a way
,
protecting her within
the
dark folds of
a
near comatose state.

‘Well
,
do you
?
’ repeated Cupid
,
his mouth inches from
Tom’s
ear.

‘
We do
,
’
croaked Tom through dry lips.
He knew
that
saying nothing was not an option
.   This maniac was here
as part of some sick prequel to their slaughter
,
and
to fight against that might just speed their murder.
  He needed to give J
ohn as much time as possible.

‘It’
s a wonderful gift
,
Tom, to offer someone your love
, y
our heart.
Have you offered your heart
to Karen
,
Tom
?’

‘
Yes, yes I
have
,
’
whispered Tom.

‘
And has she
…’
Cupid hesitated
,
his voice becomi
n
g almost husky, ‘
H
as
she told you that her heart belongs to you
,
Tom?’

Tom knew that somewhere
in
all this was the answer to why this lunatic was doing this, why he had set out on a horrific bloody quest that had taken six couples from their loved ones
, from their families,
and
their
friends.

Tom breathed
in
short gasping snatches
;
Cupid’s
warm
breath,
fanning across his cheek.

‘I’
m waiting
,
Tom
.
’

‘
Yes,
yes she has
.
We love each other so
… f
or
pit
y’s
sake
, l
et us go
, don’
t do this.
We don´t want to die
.’

‘But don’
t you understand
,
Tom
,
’ snapped Cupid
,
suddenly
straightening up,
‘
this is only death on a physical level
.
I´m giving your love immortality
.
You
will be bound for eternity.’

Tom
gasped as the table rose once more, bringing their tormentor back into view
.
Then
he
watched
transfixed
,
as Cupid spread his arms wide, closed his eye
s and looked heaven
ward
s
,
looking like an
old time fire and brimstone preacher.
The man was completely insane, totally, utterly
,
completely insane.

‘What a gift
,
Tom
.
What
a thing of pure poetry
, s
uch beauty.
Nothing and no
one will ever come between you
.
  Your love will remain pure,
perfect
.
’

‘
It’s perfect now.
’

‘Only on a physical level
, i
t can be corrupted
and spoiled,
Tom, but I will protect you from that
.
I will seal your love
and
encapsulate it for all time.’