Persona - A Disturbing Psychological Thriller (37 page)

‘Did you like your mother?’

‘No,’ Zen replied. ‘She was a bitch.’

‘Did you like Geoff’s cock in Jenny’s mouth?’

Silence.

Andre continued – ‘He exploded in her mouth and she swallowed all his cream.’

Silence.

‘And you licked it off her tongue, you fucking idiot! She snowballed you!’ Andre laughed. ‘I should call you “Snowball”!’

Zen sprang from cover, firing shots at Andre. The first two hit bark, but Zen ran in a wide arc, double-tapping every couple of bounds, forcing Andre to move around the tree to protect himself. Lumps of snow dropped from the branches above him, so Andre bent over his pistol to shield it. After six shots Zen stopped and took cover.

‘You missed, cunt,’ Andre said.

‘I’m warming up.’

‘Don’t like to hear of your inadequacy, do you?’ Andre mocked. ‘You fuck Jenny and you’re so crap that the next morning she has to beg your mate to show her what it should feel like.’

Zen shook with rage. ‘You have a family?’ he asked.

‘No. If I’ve offended you you’ll have to find the courage to punish me directly.’

‘You must want to die,’ Zen said. ‘I hope Jenny paid you well to come here – it will cost your life.’

‘What about opening up to each other?’

‘I’ll open your skull.’

Andre laughed. ‘See what happens when Zen doesn’t get his own way? He throws his teddy at you. Ahh, bless…’

Zen slid down the tree and forced himself to relax. The cunt was affecting his temperament, which could compromise him.

‘Ben, Zen, Ryan, or whatever your name is, when are you gonna fight like a man and stop being a pussy?’

Zen sucked in deep breaths and exhaled steadily. Gradually he was regaining his composure. ‘What’s your name?’

‘I told you – Will. I fucked your mother.’

‘Yeah? I bet she was wild.’

‘Nah, as shit as you were with Jenny. Did you know they fucked while you were out that day?’

‘I know. Can’t fuck anymore, can he?’ Zen smiled.

‘She meant everything to you. It must have really hurt when you realised she was fucking Geoff behind your back.’

‘Are you gonna move?’ Zen asked. ‘Or are you just going to hide?’

‘I think I’ll wait here and wind you up. I know it’s firing up that nasty temper of yours.’

‘It’s counter-productive. Now I’ll mutilate you and Jenny will suffer worse.’

‘Prove it.’

Zen stepped from cover and walked towards Andre’s position. ‘I’m coming to kill you,’ he whispered, aiming his pistol at the tree. ‘If you don’t act you’ll die.’

Andre rolled from cover and fired a shot, but Zen dived behind a tree in time. Andre shifted right and fired another shot, the round tearing through Zen’s sleeve. Zen cursed and retaliated instantly, breaking from cover, taking aim, and firing two shots. The first bullet missed as Andre dived for cover, but the second hit him in the chest, spinning him onto the ground. Zen smiled, taking aim again. His enemy was concealed behind a tree, writhing. Time to close in… Zen heard clothing being removed and imagined the cunt struggling to stem the flow of blood from his arteries… Then something was thrown towards him…Body armour! He leapt for cover.

‘Still alive,
cunt
.’ A bullet shook the tree concealing Zen.

‘If you fought like a man, you’d be dead by now,’ Zen said.

‘That’s the difference between you and me – I’m a professional, not a pretender.’

‘Armour can’t save you now – the next bullet bursts open your heart.’

‘Take a shot then.’

Zen released his magazine and applied a new one. Andre did the same.

‘Better conserve your ammo, cunt,’ Zen hissed. ‘That Berretta holds ten, this Walther P99 sixteen.’

‘Police! Drop the weapons!’ Zen and Andre looked up, incredulous. There were no cops in sight, but Andre could hear their footsteps closing in. The voice had come over a loudspeaker. Air support would have been requested, so he had to leave the area fast. He heard Zen run off and did the same himself, heading in the opposite direction.

45

Andre paid the charge to change his flight times, so he could take the first available flight home. He was concerned that police enquiries may identify him, and didn’t want the attention.

He boarded direct flight 1964, which would depart at 2300 hours and arrive at Gatwick at 1700 hours on Sunday 25 November. They had processed him just in time – an airline representative had called out his name twice on the Tannoy before he reached the gate.

Ten minutes later, the plane moved off. Andre was sitting beside a window and the two seats beside him were vacant. The plane increased speed and took off. Andre watched the land shrink beneath him and shook his head. Zen had eluded him. Unfortunately, he had no positive news for Jen, but he would have soon. The hunt went on.

He had felt alive in the woods. The preparation, anticipation and then the duel itself had stimulated in him a thrill he’d not experienced since the Gulf War. Zen was a formidable opponent and Andre respected that. They would confront each other again and one of them would die.

Seconds after the seatbelt sign blinked off, someone sat down beside him. He looked at Zen’s smiling face…

He won’t have a weapon and if he does he won’t use it:
they were Andre’s first thoughts.

‘Andre McGrath.’

There was nothing either of them could do. Both were incapacitated until they left the plane. Any action would encompass arrest when they landed.

‘You realise the potential consequence of this?’ Andre asked him.

Zen smiled. ‘You could turn me in, but you won’t.’

‘You sound certain.’

Zen placed his hands behind his head. ‘You won’t cower away from your instincts.’

‘Instincts are careless. I’ll do what’s appropriate.’

‘What’s appropriate?’

Andre felt constricted. Zen was convinced that his desire to kill him deprived him of rationality and that was frustrating. He knew the sensible option would be to contact the police in England from this plane – they would wait for the bastard to land and then throw him inside for life.

But he knew how to tap into Zen’s psyche and exploit his weaknesses – he’d done it in the woods and lured him into the target area. He would do that again and blow him into hell. Zen could taunt Andre till the end of the flight, but soon after he would truly understand why Andre had made the decision.

‘Your death is what’s appropriate,’ Andre replied. ‘I told Jenny I’d provide her with a photo of your dead body.’

Zen nodded. ‘Nice. You’ve failed once.’

‘I didn’t fail. I learnt how vulnerable you are.’

‘Really? I recall hitting you.’

‘I took the blow. You couldn’t take the truth.’

Zen chuckled. ‘I like your strategy – it’s kept you alive.’

‘Was the trip nostalgic?’

‘Always is. Happy memories.’

Andre sighed. ‘Always running away. You deal with problems by hiding in someone else. I’m surprised ‘Zen’ has lasted so long.’

‘I’m the perfect creation.
Nothing
penetrates me.’

‘That’s convenient, because normally the slightest upset crushes you.’ Andre glanced at Zen’s seat. ‘I can’t see ‘Reserved for Snowball’ so why are you sitting here?’

‘Your tactics are painfully obvious.’

‘But they work, because you’re easy to penetrate. You live in a fantasy world. You’re nothing.’

Zen stared at him. ‘I’m disappointed. I thought you’d accord me respect. I thought you were different.’

‘I think you’re pathetic. You’re fucked in the head, but it doesn’t matter, because you won’t be here much longer.’

‘You’re an old man,’ Zen said. ‘Sure you’re up to another contest?’

‘Most definitely.’

‘The chase can’t go on much longer, can it? You’re desperate to feel that buzz before time runs out.’

Andre ignored him.

‘You should be digging the garden, or sticking your impotent dick into some old bitch, not subjecting yourself to a rigorous fitness schedule so you can kill. Both of us live in the past – I’m avenging it, you’re clinging to it. Fifteen years ago you might have defeated me. Now you’re out of your league.’

‘We’ll see. How did you kill the other hitman?’

Zen laughed. ‘The plan was relayed to one of his colleagues by mobile phone. I heard it all, even managed to synchronise my watch with his.’

‘How will you know when Jenny is psychologically dead?’

‘Because she’ll be sitting in a psychiatric ward, playing with her hair and pissing on the floor.’

Andre tutted. ‘You have nothing, Zen, do you? There can be no redemption.’

‘I demand her redemption.’

‘For fucking someone else? Any normal bloke moves on and forgets about it.’

‘Because he doesn’t have the balls to pursue justice.’

‘Justice?
Death
for infidelity? Wake up! You’ve thrown away ten years of your life. The only injustice is self-inflicted. What have you actually achieved?’

‘A considerable amount.’

‘John-Paul’s in a wheelchair. Nathan’s dead. Big fucking deal. She’s alive and she mourns like a normal person. And like a normal person she’ll get over it. You’ve made no difference, you fucking idiot.’

‘She’s cracking. I’ve seen it.’

‘Face it, Zen, you’ve fucked up. You’re a fuck up.’

‘If only you knew the pain these words will cause you.’

‘See? I’ve touched a nerve again. Get away from me. I don’t want people thinking I associate with a pussy fuck-up.’

Zen clenched his fist.

‘Throw it,’ Andre whispered. ‘You’re looking for an excuse to hide from me. You’ll be arrested on landing, put away for life. That keeps me away from you, doesn’t it? That’s how you handle problems.’

‘You fucking cunt!’ You wait till I-’

A stewardess leaned towards Zen and warned him about his language. Zen said nothing.

‘Stewardess,’ Andre chimed, ‘I’m not enjoying his company. May he be moved?’

Zen didn’t wait for a response. Furious, he walked back to his seat.

The plane landed at Gatwick on time. Andre pulled his newly purchased rucksack onto his lap and waited for the door to open. He felt livid that he’d had to leave his rucksack in the woods. Though it hadn’t contained identifying evidence, there had been expensive kit inside - his binos, flask, spare clothing and camera.

The door opened. Moments later Andre was in the airport, walking to the exit. He knew he was safe - Zen wouldn’t make a move while in CCTV range.

After passing through immigration and customs, Andre took the escalator to the train station and waited on the platform. His train was due in fifteen minutes. At half past five the sky was already pitch-black. He looked around and confirmed that Zen wasn’t amongst the fifty or so people waiting. That didn’t surprise him. Killing him here, or on the train journey to Victoria wasn’t an option for Zen - his chances of murdering him unseen and unheard would be very slim, and even if he managed to do it, discarding his body without detection would be extremely difficult. If it was found, Zen would instantly be implicated in the crime - people had seen him shout at him on the plane, so it would simply be a case of utilising camera images before Zen’s face was pasted on the front page of the papers.

Zen would attack from a secluded spot. That was his trademark – he struck hard and fast and then disappeared.

The train arrived. Andre opened the door to a single carriage, sat down and placed his bag between his feet. When the train departed he leant forward on the seat, wiped condensation off the window, stared at the passing station and wondered where the showdown would take place. He had pissed Zen off and would be hunted down, which suited him - it would divert attention from Jen and end Zen’s life sooner.

Knoll Wood – hunters’ territory - that would be the location. It was a huge area close to Jen, where John-Paul had been tortured.

Tomorrow morning Andre would wait in the trees. Zen would come.

Andre felt tired. It had been a long flight and he’d not slept during it. His mind had been preoccupied with Zen, and he’d replayed the battle many times, thinking how easy it had been to provoke Zen, and how deadly he still was when exposed. That had disturbed Andre - even in a rage Zen had managed to hit him in the chest. Andre had surmised that Zen was at his most vulnerable the split second he left his cover. That was when Andre would strike next time.

He sat back in the seat, wondering where Zen was right now.

Zen was on the roof of the train, tying a lengthy piece of rope. Pleased with the loops on each end, he waited for an opportunity, which would arise possibly after a station stop, but ideally after a red light.