My Heart Belongs To You: A Psycho Thriller (18 page)

13 February
-
16
:
45

(
L
ife remaining 26 hrs 15 mins)

‘Things were about to get messy.’

Hanson pressed his back against the outer wall of the compound.  The sun had final
ly
relinquished
its hold and dipped over the far horizon
,
silhouetting the stark mix of beech and birch trees in naked black outline against the rapidly fading pale blue sky.  The ping in his ear told him that someone at the command centre was calling through.  Keeping his voice
low,
he opened the line.  ‘What do you have?’  His voice was crisp, expectant.  It said this is not a
question;
it is a demand,
so
give me something.

‘John
,
I did some digging into the newspaper coverage on Cupid.’

‘And?’

‘And there is something about one of the journalists
that
you need to know.’

‘If I need to know
,
Jane
,
then you’d better tell me
,
but make it the short version.’

‘Name is Giles Fuller, works for The Daily Scout.  Not a big hitter in the newspaper world
,
but has a respectable fifty thousand daily circulation.’

‘Shorter
,
Jane
,
’ snapped Hanson
,
keeping his attention tuned to any sound beyond the razor wire
-
topped wall.

‘He’s getting the drop on every other paper each year on Cupid.  His story is out on the streets before any other paper.  We’re not certain yet how he is doing it.’

‘Do we have Fuller’s current whereabouts?’

‘Not
at present
.’

‘Find it.  I’m about to enter Boyce’s compound.  When I’m done here
,
I’d like a word with Fuller.  How’s Steph doing?’ he asked
,
his tone changing.

For a second
,
Jane considered l
y
ing to her boss
.
He
had his hands full and didn’t need any more pressure
,
but
she
decided against it, he wouldn’t thank her.  ‘She’s getting tense
,
spending a lot of time pacing back and forth in front of the white board rubbing her temples.  I’ve made her sit down and take a break.’

‘Sounds like she’s onto something.’

‘She… she mentioned fingers.  Probably has no relevance
,
but she said she was sure it was the link you’re looking for.”

‘Nothing Steph says has no relevance, she doesn’t waste words, trust me.’

The sound of lazy shuffling footsteps some distance off caught Hanson’s attention.  ‘I have to go
.
No
more calls ‘til I call in.’

Hanson closed the line and turned quietly to face the wall.  A quick glance at his watch told him that there was a little over
twenty-six
hours of life remaining.  Closing his eyes
,
he locked onto the sound of the footsteps on the far side of the wall
.
He
visualized
that
fat boy was about ten paces away
,
coming from his left.
  Earlier
,
Hanson had spotted a fallen tree against the boundary wall close to where he had spotted the narrow corridor
,
not covered by the CCTV cameras.  The trunk was as wide as Hanson’s broad shoulders and angled slightly upwards towards the
two-met
r
e
high wall surrounding the compound.  The razor wire was attached to vertical brackets bolted to the inside face of the wall and extended approximately fifty centimet
r
es above the top of it.  It meant the top of the
stone
wall
at around thirty centimet
r
es, could be used as a step to jump over the wire
. I
f someone were able to hit the fallen tree at a run
and
spring off the top of
the wall
,
they could
easily clear
the wire.  The drop
on
the other side would be around two and a half metres
.
Not
a problem for Hanson
,
but f
rom the moment he made his run un
til the moment he hit the ground on the far side of the wall, he would be creating noise.  For three seconds
,
fat boy would be aware of something happening.

Hanson eased back
,
avoiding loose stones and
branches.
Five
paces would be sufficient.  He wanted to time his run so that the guard
on
the other side of the wall was level with the fallen tree.  That way
,
as he landed
on
the other side
,
he would drop behind him.  He would have turned by
then;
the sound of Hanson’s run, hitting the tree and the top of the wall unavoida
ble.  Surprise would be his weapon, closing
in
on the youth in less than a second of his feet hitting the ground on the far side.  The youth’s position and reaction would dictate how Hanson took him down
.
That
was a variable, going down wasn’t.

He took several deep steadying breaths as the
youth’s
footsteps got closer
.
Adrenalin
was kicking in
,
feeding his muscles, his
heightened
hearing picking out a
smoker’s
cough from the far side of the wall
that
the youth was near.

Three, two, one
.
Hanson leapt forward
,
hitting the fallen trunk at speed
,
runn
ing up the length to the end
,
and then
springing upwards with powerful legs
,
catching the top of the wall cle
anly with his right foot
, and
he cleared
the razor wire with ease.  Hanson hung
in the air for a beat
.
He
only
had
a split second
of time to make his
assessment.  It needed to be quick
, because
below him slightly to his right was fat boy
,
half turned towards him
,
with
his eyes wide in surprise at the sight of the large black silhouette coming towards him
.
However,
what concerned Hanson the most was the
R
ottweiler
at the youth’s side
,
a thick chain leash linking the two.  The dog had heard him way before the youth and even before Hanson’s feet had made
contact,
the dog was turning, preparing to lunge
.

Things were about to get messy.

Chapter Eighteen

13 February
-
16
:
55

(
L
ife
r
emaining 26 hrs
5
mins)

‘
God help Frank Boyce.
’

‘Where is John at present?’ asked Blue Eagle
,
his voice distorted to a tinny ring by the
loudspeaker
.

‘As we speak
,
he’s infiltrating Frank Boyce’s compound.’

‘God help
,
Frank Boyce.’

‘I doubt he’ll get much assistance from that quarter
,
’ snorted Donald
Myers
.

‘I have the information
that
Jane asked for earlier
.
Is
she available?’

‘I’m here
,
Blue Eagle.’

‘Fuller, he’s going to be at the opening of a new night club called The Dragos in Fulham at 7 p.m. this evening
.
Apparently,
he’s covering the event for his paper. 
The w
ord is
,
it’s going to be the new mecca for the rich, the famous and the beautiful people.’

‘I
missed
out on all three of those
,
’ sighed Jane.

‘From what I’ve seen
,
you pass the third requisite with flying colours
,
’ responded Blue Eagle.

Myers
and
Turner
enjoyed Jane’s discomfort as she blushed
,
bright red.  ‘Um… well
,
thank you for that
,
but you’re speaking blind
.
I look dreadful
.
’

‘That green sweater suits you
,
Jane.’

Both men looked at Jane’s sweater.

‘Camera to the left of the clock
,
’ informed Blue Eagle, ‘
Smile
gentlemen.’

All heads turned to look at the camera.

‘
Okay
enough, have you got that address
,
Jane?’

Still staring at the camera,
Jane gathered up her jaw
.
‘Um… yes, yes I’ve got that. I’ll pass it onto John when he calls in.’

‘Call me when
John is
clear
of
the compound, I’ll try
to
get access to Fuller’s email accounts by then.’  The screen went blank.

‘Big brother!’
T
hrew in
Turner
.

Myers
was about to respond
,
when a soft screech pulled all of their attentions to the whiteboard where Stephanie was running a thick black marker pen along the surface linking the women in each of the six sets of photos.

‘Fingers
,’
she whispered
,
without turning, ‘
i
t’s
the link.’  Turning suddenly
,
Stephanie did something Jane had never seen
her
do
.
She
lifted her head and treated them to a beaming smile beneath dazzling
green
eyes.  It told them
that
she had found the link for John,
for
there was no doubting
whom
the smile was for.

As quickly as she had lifted her head
,
the moment was gone as she resumed her study of the floor.  Jane wished that John could have witnessed that fleeting few seconds when something of magic had taken place
.
When
a beautiful young lady emerged from her prison.  She made a note to be sure he knew.

‘What is it
,
Steph?’ encouraged Jane
,
stepping quickly to her side, ‘
What
is it you’ve found?’

Stephanie looked at Jane for a fleeting second, her features now calm, enigmatic even, ‘
The
answer, I’ve found the answer.’

Chapter
Ninet
een

13
February
-
16
:
55

(
L
ife
r
emaining 26 hrs 5 mins)

‘Broken nose, some lacerations and a gunshot wound.’

Hanson drew his telescopic
baton
while still in the air
.
A
quick flick extended its full
twenty-two
inches.  As he hit the
dirt,
the dog leapt
,
barking wildly
and
pulling
the fat youth stumbling towards him in his exuberance to get to him.  The youth’s sheer weight slowed the dog and allowed Hanson a slim window of opportunity to act.  The large dog was scrabbling at the ground
,
its body low
,
as it tried to
get purchase on the loose soil to start his run.
Hanson surged forward
,
placing a foot
directly onto the
dog’s
head, using
it as a
stepping-stone
to leap over
the snarling dog
, and
hitting the youth with a blow to the temple as he closed
in
on him.  The youth immediately dropped to the ground unconsciou
s
,
acting like a human anchor with
the
dog’s chain wrapped firmly around his wrist.  As Hanson landed beyond the fallen
man,
he took two quick steps forward
,
as the dog turned and lunged at him
,
his vi
c
i
ous jaws getting to within inches of his face
,
before the dead weight of the youth dragged him down.