My Heart Belongs To You: A Psycho Thriller (5 page)

‘
Have you arranged this with her John
?’
asked Jane
,
surprise clear in her voice.
John
’
s visits to his sister
were always very structured
.
Trips
out
were
generally planned weeks in advance and logged into his diary at the office
,
which Jane controlled.
She blushed
,
as she flipped the diary open
,
thinking she had missed it.

In return,
Hanson
’
s voice was clipped
,
veering to sharp
, lifting
the hairs
on the nape of her neck
. 
‘Make the call Jane
.’

Jane had been with John for a little over two years and in that time
,
she had come to know her boss
,
John Hanson
,
extremely well.
She knew how he liked his office organi
s
ed
.
She
knew his moods
, what biscuits he liked,
but most of all
,
she knew that tone of voice.
I
t said many things, things like,
react don´t question
,
do it now
,
not later,
but what it told her more importantly
,
was that they were possibly about to be involved in an operation.
Hanson
’
s next words confirmed her thoughts and sent her adrenal glands into override.

‘
After the call
,
get the ops room ready
.’

‘I’
m on it
,
John
,
’
came the instant reply
.
‘
A
nything
else
?’

‘N
ot at the moment.
 
My ETA to you is 1
1
.
1
0 hours
.’

‘
Roger that
,
’
she slipped into the jargon simply at the thought of a new operation.

Turner
kept quiet as he followed the
S
at
N
av
instructions logged in by Hanson at the start of their journey.
Clearly,
this man was starting to put together some kind of plan of action.

Hanson hit speed dial 2,
and
the Letter “T” popped up.
He had already tried it three times on the taxi ride to
Turner
’
s office
,
but he was hoping beyond hope to hear Tom
’
s voice
- n
othing.
He hit speed button 4
,
and
“D” popped up
.
Three
rings brought a voice he knew well.
‘
John, what
’
s the latest
?’
N
o
preamble, no chewing the cud or jokes.

‘I’m e
n route to collect my sister and then to my office
.
I’
ll set up my command post there
.’

‘Listen
,
John, I’
m due time off
,
could you use my help
?’

‘
Leaving your office would be a rare occasion
,
Donald
.’

‘
This is a rare situation.
Can you use an extra head
?’

‘
Affirmative
.’

‘
O
kay,
I
’ll
leave now,
and
should be with you within the hour
.’  T
he line closed.

John took out a small black box from an inside pocket with a cable attached.
On the end of the cable was a small plug that clicked into his mobile.
It would scramble the call and make it impos
s
ible for anyone scanning the airways to e
a
vesdrop on his conversation.
As he punched in a
number,
he knew by heart
,
he felt
Turner
’
s eye on him.
He spoke without turning to face him,
‘y
ou need to go deaf for the next minute or two
.’

‘D
eaf as a post
,
me
,
’
responded the Detective Inspector,
‘a
lways have been, come from a long line of deaf as a post
,
hear no evil
,
and see
no evil detectives
.’

Under
normal
circumstances,
Hanson would only make this call in front of a small handful of people
,
but as he checked his
watch,
he could see that To
m’
s life had just been reduced by a little over ten minutes.
Not a lot in normal circumstances
,
but whe
n your life was only
thirty-three
hours long
,
the perspective changed.
Each hou
r was the equivalent of nearly two and a half years in
an average life
, each minute equal to just over two weeks
and ev
ery twenty seconds
,
five
day
s
of Tom
’
s new life would have slipped away.

Just clipping in the scrambler and punching in the number sliced away another
two and a half
da
ys
off
of his friend
’
s life.
Hanson closed his eyes and waited
for the connection
,
making
a silent vow that he would restore
a full life to his friend Tom and Karen
,
his fiancée
. He would not
let this maniac take them
.
When Cupid stepped into Hanson
’
s world
,
he had without knowing it
,
stepped into hell
.
He
didn´t kno
w it yet
,
but he would soon. W
hen he met Hanson
,
he would wi
sh he had met the Devil instead
.
With
the
Devil,
he
would have
a chance of a deal,
but
with Hanson
,
he had none.

Chapter Six

13
February
-
10
:
15

(
Life
remaining 32 hrs 45 mins)

‘Who’s there
?  H
elp us please.’

‘
Tom
,
I
… I’m so scared
,
please tell me we are going to get out of this, please Tom
.’ 
Karen was close to hysteria
,
her breathing becoming ragged
and
snatched.

‘
Karen
,
I know you
’
r
e
frightened
,
but you need to focus on my voice
.
You
need to try to stay strong.’
Tom strained to turn his head to the left to get a glimpse of his terrified
fiancée
,
but the straps
across his forehead was
pulled
ta
ut,
allowing
no head movement
.
Only
his eyes could move.

‘
Who… who could have done this
,
Tom, who would do su… such an evil thing?’

He needed Karen to feel his presence
, so
Tom squeezed his glued hand
.
In the last few seconds,
h
e
had come to a decision
,
and that decision was that he would not share with her the horrifying
thought that had invaded his mind
.
In the last few moments
,
he reali
s
ed who it was that had abducted them.
Today had to be
13 February, the day
before
V
alentine
’
s
D
ay,
one
day before they would be murdered and served up for public display
, b
utchered at the hands of the infamous serial killer known as Cupid.
  He closed his eyes and tried desperately to evict it
.
Maybe
he was mistaken,
or
maybe it was just coincidence.

‘
Tom
,
I’m cold.
’

‘
I know
,
swe
e
t
heart
,
’
soothed Tom
,
trying to keep the
panic he felt out of his voice
.
‘
Try
not to think about
…’

Tom’
s words were cut short as the screech of complaining hinges cut thr
ough the silence like a dentist’
s drill.
A soft click
followed
and
suddenly the blackness turned into a soft milky wash
,
as a single bulb came on behind them.
It was not very bright
,
but it was enough to make Tom and Karen squint as there enlarged pupils sucked in the light.

‘Who’
s there
?  H
elp us
please,
’
screamed Tom
,
twisting against the straps until th
e
y cut deeply into his ankles and wrists
,
the band around his throat causing him to gag.

Frightened by Tom shouting and the footsteps coming up behind her
,
Karen screamed.

It took a monumental effort on
Tom
’s part
to c
alm himself
.
He
knew that
his ranting was fuel
l
ing Karen’s hysteria
.  ‘
Please
,
’
he begged
,
quieter this time, ‘
T
ell us what
’
s happening
.
Who
are you
?’ 
Tom wanted to hear that this was a straight
kidna
pping
,
and
that the person behind them was not Cupid.

No answer, just shuffling footsteps behind them and a grotesquely enlarged shadow gliding across the wall directly in front of them like some phantom, that and
… Tom couldn’
t believe he was hearing it
,
but
…
i
t was whistling, the person behind them
was whist
ling.

‘
Please let us go
,
’
whimpered Karen
, ‘
Please
don’t hurt us.’