My Heart Belongs To You: A Psycho Thriller (7 page)

‘
John Hanson, Starbird 70895
.’

‘
John, I was expecting your call.
I spoke with Donald
Myers
about thirty minutes ago.
What
’
s the latest
intel
?’

‘I’
m en-route to my office to set up a command centre
,
Myers
is on his way.
I’
m with Detective Inspector Richard
Turner
from Sco
t
land
Y
ard
.
He
’
s the lead detective in the Cupid
c
ase.
We have all the files that are available with us.
  I’
m also intending to pick up my sister Stephanie
en route
.
I’m hoping
she may be able to help us
.  A
lso
,
we are on speaker phone
,
Sir
,
just to advise you
.’

‘
Roger that
,
John, so what do you need
?’

‘
At the moment
,
nothing
,
Sir
.
I just wanted to open a line of communication in case we need any help later
.’

‘
Well
… I
was going fishing
,
John, been looking forward to it.
Not sure I want to change my plans for that runt Tom
.’

John smiled as he
he
ard
the gasp of surprise from
Turner
at his side.
How could he know that
,
“
the
I
couldn
’
t care less attitude
,
”
was the accepted form of bonding between members of the elite SAS core?
The more scathing
,
the more it showed how much the concern.

‘
Are you fully aware of the severity of the situation
?’
snapped
Turner
,
unable to believe what he had just heard.

‘
I am indeed
,
’
responded Blue
E
agle
.  ‘
I booked that fishing trip weeks ago and I doubt
I’
ll get my money back
.’

Hanson waved a stalling hand at
Turner
,
who was about to respond, his colour a healthy red glow.
  ‘
Well
,
providing you decide no
t
to go fishing
,
S
ir
,
I
’
ll be in touch
.’

‘Can´t promise
,
John
,
bu
t I´ll see what I can do
.’

John closed the line and pulled out the cable tucking the
small black
box back into his inside pocket.

‘
Some friend
!’
s
napped
Turner
,
as the
Sat Nav
advised them that they
were eleven minutes from
their first destination.

‘
Don´t judge what you don
’
t know about
,
’
warned
Hanson
.
‘
That man would walk over hot co
a
ls to save a man from the regiment
.’

‘
But
…
I heard him
,
’
complained
Turner
,
his voice going up an octa
ve.

‘
The
,
“I
couldn
’
t care less attitude
,
”
is a reverse safety valve
. 
As
I said, don´t judge what you know nothing about.  I hope I’ve made that clear
,
’ responded Hanson curtly.

Turner
simply nodded
acceptance, clarity manifesting as
Hanson’s
voice took on a slight edge
.

Over the next ten minutes
,
as they neared the centre where John’s sister was waiting
,
Turner
gave details to John about Cupid and the twelve murders, details that were never released to the public.  There were a number of reasons behind
that
, one being that the mutilation of the bodies w
as too harrowing,
too distressing to give out to the general public. 
John simply listened in
silence;
Turner
’
s words
were
creating horrific images that enforced his determination to bring his friend and Karen home.

Pulling up at the front of a large double
-
fronted Victorian property,
Hanson exited the Ford Focus
,
and strode briskly up to the fr
ont door
,
behind which a private retr
e
at for people suffering autism and savantism was
in operation
.

Pushing the bell
,
he reflected as he had done countless times
,
on his sister
,
as to why her,
and
not him
,
should
be
locked into that world of savant autism
,
where order and routine dominated Stephanie’s life. 
Her daily routine became he
r religion
to
keep her calm and content
. 
Whil
e
their
parents were alive, she
lived with them
,
becomi
ng
the centre of their universe,
their reaso
n for getting up in the morning,
and
their reason for drawing breath.
  John knew they had
some guilt
tha
t,
in some way
they
m
ight
be to blame for her condition, questioning if something they had done during
their
mother’s pregnancy could hav
e triggered the condition.  He
sat with them so many times
that
he had lost count assuring them that was not the case.  Their death nine years ago had
thrown his and Stephanie’s lives
into a storm of restructuring.  Initially
,
John h
ad tried to fill their shoes,
Step
hanie came to stay with him full
time,
helping him
to try and create an environm
ent that would support her
within her inner world.  It failed miserably. 
With initial reluctance,
he
eventually
placed her
in
this retreat
,
which catered
to
people with Stephanie
’
s co
ndition
.  It turned out to be the best thin
g he could have done.  She
was happy and
she
flourished under its
care
.  The
staff was
superb
,
giving its residents every opportunity to live their lives to the full potential within the varying levels of their affliction.  Stephanie had a separate studio within the building where she was able to follow her carefully structured
routines
,
keeping
her calm
and
content.  A
caregiver
called in on her several times during the day to make sure she was
o
kay,
and within that
setup,
a kind of structured harmony developed and ruled.

Her
savantism had manifested itself in incredible displays of memory that
,
even after all these years
,
still astounded John.  He tried to visit her at least three times a week
,
but
he
called her every day at 3.45 p
.
m
.
,
because that was the time Stephanie told him he needed to call.  He could never get her to explain why it had to be that time
,
but he guessed within her mind
, there
was locked a logical reason.  On the occasions that he had to miss the designated time, she would tell him that was not good and he
nee
ded
to stick to the correct time.  It was easier just to tell her he would try next
tim
e,
rather than explain that when you were involved on a
missio
n,
it wasn’t always convenient.

Despite her
co
ndition,
John and Stephanie had grown
extremely close.  She was a beautiful woman who at first
sight
looked completely normal and the image of John’s mother.  At five eleven with a slim figure and auburn hair that shone like burnished
copper,
she might well have pursued a career as a model under different cir
cumstances.  When she looked at John with
her
striking
green
e
yes
,
it was with such depth that he often felt as if she
were looking deep into his soul
, looking for answers to qu
estions yet unasked. 
The bond between them had built up
during the early years
just as
other sibling relationships did
,
but John did not realise
as a young child
,
that his sister was any different
from
other sisters.  Eventually
,
around the age of eight
,
other children
unk
indly
helped him discover this with calls of moron, dopey and Stephanie the p
syc
ho.  John had ended up in so many fights over Stephanie that
,
for a time,
he did
resent having her as his sister
,
but that was short
-
lived.
Now he couldn’t visualise life without her.

John returned
to the Ford Focus
with Stephanie
beaming broadly
and
holding tightly onto his arm.  Initially
,
she had been agitated when Jane had called from John’s office to say John was
coming
to pick her up.  She liked to know in ad
vance when she was going out,
liked to be prepared
,
but now she was out
and
she was h
appy.  She loved her brother,
treasured her time whenever she was with him and since a visit with John to The Dragon Mountains in South Africa with his friend Shaka Mambuza, she found going out of the facil
ity easier to deal with,
less stressful.  John’s
friend Shaka, a pure Zulu
and
the ruler of his people, arranged for two of his medicine men called Sangomas
,
to take Stephanie into the Dragon Mountains for a week during her stay.  Initially against
it,
John was persuaded to allow her to g
o.  It was the right
decision;
she came back so much more relaxed, a more
confident woman.  Not cured, for she would never be cured
,
but a much happier person.