Promise Me Eternity (36 page)

Sure enough, Carlo suddenly stopped and
screamed after him, “Son of a bitch!”

Judging by the voice that floated past
Simon’s ears, he assumed Carlo had given up. Relieved, he looked
back to make sure he was right, but at that moment he stepped
awkwardly on a tree root and his foot got caught. He fell hard.

When Carlo saw what happened, he let out a
cry of delight and charged toward him. Simon got to his knees and
wanted to get up, but Carlo was faster. With all his weight he
threw himself on Simon as if trying to catch a bird, so that Simon
was trapped. He couldn’t move because of the weight on top of
him.

Both of them were too out of breath to speak.
Carlo lay on him for nearly a minute, holding Simon’s arms down and
at the same time trying to catch his breath.

Simon was also exhausted and lay there,
resigned to his fate, trying to catch his breath. He’d done what he
could. He’d really fought for his life, but now it was over. There
was no point anymore.

Carlo lifted the top part of his body, still
pinning Simon’s arms to the ground. The sweat that was running in a
stream from his forehead dripped onto Simon’s face.

When he’d finally caught his breath, he said,
“I’ve had enough. You’ve tired me out so much I’ll be aching for
the next few days. It’s time I finished you off.” He grabbed
Simon’s throat with damp hands and started squeezing it vigorously.
“Say good-bye to life.”

Bitter tears rolled down Simon’s cheeks. He
was crying for life, crying for Christine, and crying for Helen. He
regretted not being able to help anyone. He felt a humiliating pain
for not being strong enough and letting everyone down. Feeling the
fingers on his throat that were preventing the airflow into his
lungs, he didn’t even resist. He cried and was angry mostly with
himself.

For a while he was absolutely still, but when
his lungs became really tight he started to resist. The pain was
unbearable.

“You won’t be able to push me off. I’ve got a
tight grip.”

Simon tried to knock him off, but Carlo had
him firmly pinned down and was waiting in pleasure for him to
finally pass out. Simon nearly pushed him off twice and both times
Carlo shouted out with joy. “Yippee! Yippee! A little longer, a
little longer and you’re dead.”

Simon was shaking and resisting with all his
might.

“No you don’t!”

Simon’s strength was running short. He
managed to loosen Carlo’s grip enough to partially breathe a gulp
of air, but still it wasn’t enough. Simon felt dizzy and there was
an awful pain in his chest.

“It’s over, just accept it!”

Again Simon tried to lift himself.

“You’re pretty wild. But I’m stronger!” Carlo
squeezed Simon’s throat even harder.

Finally, Simon gave in and stopped resisting.
His vision became foggy and even the pain started to fade.

For a moment he closed his eyes. Then through
slightly open lashes he looked up toward the car door, which was
only a few yards away from him. He reached out, as if seeking help.
His arm fell to the ground. He accepted his approaching death.

“That’s right, Doctor. Drop dead! I thought
you’d never stop.”

Something pricked Simon’s finger. Dazed, he
wondered what it could be. He stared, catching sight of something
white through his haze. Straining his eyes, he realized it was the
hypodermic he had dropped.

“Unbelievable. Die!”

Simon gathered enough strength to grab it and
swing it upward.

“What the hell …”

Then Simon lost consciousness.

Chapter 71

_______________________

Steven West was looking at his watch in
irritation, eager to go home. He was on duty and his shift finished
at midnight. It was now eight o’clock.

He had been playing computer games for at
least an hour, instead of researching Dr. Patterson’s past on the
Internet.
What can I research? Up till now he has a clean sheet
and apart from medical things I don’t understand, I haven’t found
anything.

Taking a deep breath, he looked out the
window.

He had the feeling someone was behind him and
just when he was about to turn around, a deep voice confirmed his
suspicion. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

He winced, as if someone had poked him in the
ribs. He immediately recognized the voice as that of his boss,
Richard Ross. Steven had been sure he’d gone home.

“Oh, of course. It’s not what it seems. Now
and then I play a computer game, but it’s to help me concentrate.
Haven’t you ever heard how important playing games is for your
concentration? But of course I never play for more than five
minutes. It’s like having a cigarette.”

“Unbelievable, every time I catch you fooling
around you have an excuse ready. Well, you’ve given me a good
enough reason to tell the IT manager to delete all the unnecessary
programs from the computers.”

Steven was deadly embarrassed. Now his
colleagues would be angry with him.

“Anyway, how’s your research into Dr.
Patterson going?”

“Very good. Sandra is out checking up on
something and I’ve been doing some background research on the Net.
I think we’ll be able to get him behind bars tomorrow.”

“Good, I’m glad. One more question. Is Sandra
still digging around Carlo Vucci?” His eyes became small and
inquisitive.

“No, of course not,” Steven lied. “Like I
said, Sandra is out, most probably talking to some acquaintance of
Dr. Patterson’s.”

“Good, then get on with your work.”

Steven was relieved.
It’s best I get out
of the office as soon as possible. If that jerk isn’t thinking of
going home yet, I have nothing to do here.

While driving, he thought about how he could
do something useful.
Oh, I know
.
What if I visited Dr.
Patterson again? I’ll try to talk to him in a friendlier
way.

When he arrived at Simon’s house thirty
minutes later, he found no one there and tried the door. It was
locked.
Where’s the doctor?
he asked himself.
I’ll wait a
while, in case he returns soon.

Chapter 72

_______________________

Simon came to half an hour later with a
terrible pain in his neck. He could barely move his head. The thick
layer of leaves and undergrowth refreshed his memory.

Quickly getting up, he looked around for his
enemy. Not seeing him, Simon took a few steps forward, staring into
the darkness. He ran toward the car and opened the door. With
painful hands he felt through the glove compartment for the
flashlight he had bought a year ago. He finally found it under the
backseat. With relief he saw that it still worked and for a while
circled the car with it. But he didn’t find Carlo.

Then he opened the trunk of the car where he
had stored a few tools for emergency repairs. He dropped a longish
screwdriver in his pocket in case Carlo attacked him again.

Simon went back to the spot where he’d been
lying, while thinking,
He must be feeling sick due to the
insulin injection and has probably gone to his car.

With careful steps, Simon made his way toward
the road. He was afraid that Carlo was hiding behind a tree, ready
to attack. According to the plan, the mobster should be dead by
now, but Simon wasn’t sure if he’d injected the full syringe. It
seemed likely that he had. Why would Carlo have left him alive if
he hadn’t?

On the way to Carlo’s car Simon examined the
surroundings, scanning the bushes for a body.

When he reached Carlo’s car, Simon’s blood
rushed to his head. He approached the limo, shining the flashlight
inside. There was no one.

A few yards away he heard leaves rustling, as
if someone was walking. He shone the flashlight in the direction of
the noise and groped for the screwdriver in his pocket. For a few
seconds he forgot to breathe.

In a low voice, he asked: “Who’s there?”

No one answered.
What if Carlo’s lying
there somewhere, fighting for his life? I have to finish him
off.
The thought disgusted him.

Again, a strange noise. Something was there,
but what? He plucked up the courage to approach it. The beam of
light created by the flashlight danced around due to his hand
shaking so badly. His eyes focused hard.

When he saw a small hedgehog just as scared
as he was, he laughed to himself. The poor hedgehog curled up in
fright.

Simon started second-guessing himself:
Should I get in my car and drive home? What if Carlo got to the
road and called for help? What if someone stopped for him and he
mentioned my name? If that’s what happened, I’m done for. The
police will be at my house, ready to take me to prison. Then
they’ll charge me with Helen’s death and attempting to kill Carlo
Vucci. I’ll be locked away for life.

Angrily he kicked a dry branch out of his
way.

Returning to Carlo’s car, Simon found it hard
to believe that Carlo would leave. The doctor shone his flashlight
into the car once more.

Something was inside. The thought of Carlo
being there made him so scared he felt sick. With difficulty, he
took a step forward. And then another.

He was right. Carlo had collapsed across the
front seats. Simon hadn’t expected Carlo to be in this position.
Obviously he’d wanted to drive off, but lost consciousness.

Then Simon thought:
What if Carlo called
for help? What if the police are on their way here? No, no, I
mustn’t think negatively. I have to take action.
He slowly
opened the car door and Carlo’s head flopped out.

Then came the hardest thing. He had to touch
Carlo to see if he was still alive. Simon grimaced and felt his
artery.

He was definitely dead. Simon exhaled with
relief, but the fear inside him didn’t lessen. Before, he was
scared of Carlo, now he realized he’d committed the worst crime
possible and if he didn’t want anyone to know about it, he’d have
to cover it up. He leaned on the vehicle and started breathing
heavily. Thoughts fluttered like bats in his head:
What should I
do? What if the police are on their way? What if he called but
didn’t tell them exactly where he was? The police will be looking
all along the road that goes through the woods.

Simon ran to the road a few yards away.
Hidden in the bushes, he watched the cars driving past. None of
them belonged to the police, he was sure of that. Again he started
thinking it out:
It’s best I presume he didn’t call the police.
If he had, they’d surely be here by now. I have to do something. I
have to do what I planned to do from the start.

In the next hour, Simon tugged Carlo’s body
over to the passenger seat and drove the limo carefully off the
road. Simon waited for it to be clear of cars and then accelerated
jerkily and drove onto the road as quickly as possible.

He kept looking back, making sure no one was
following. The most important thing was to stay on the road
alone.

After about a mile he made a decision and
swiftly turned right, into the woods. The undercarriage of the car
creaked as he drove into the bushes, constantly accelerating. The
car was being tossed around so badly that Carlo fell onto Simon’s
lap. At that moment there wasn’t time to push him away. He had to
rush onward and avoid crashing into a tree. He had to get the
vehicle at least twenty yards into the woods so it would not be
visible from the road. It had to look like an accident.

He only just avoided a large, low-hanging oak
tree which suddenly appeared in front of him, but ten yards farther
on he crashed into a stumpy maple tree. The radiator grille groaned
loudly and the engine stopped instantly. As they crashed, Carlo
flew forward and his head was now at Simon’s knees.

Simon sat still for quite a while, holding
the steering wheel. He felt like throwing up but knew he mustn’t
allow that to happen since it would be evidence for the police.

He angrily took hold of Carlo’s head and
pushed the body into a sitting position. Simon jumped out of the
limo, into the fresh air and for a while breathed deeply. Feeling
as if he was about to have a nervous breakdown, he kept saying to
himself, “Oh my God, oh my God. What have I done?” He shuffled here
and there, not knowing how to continue.

“Focus, Simon! Focus!” he said aloud. “You
have to finish this business!”

He dug his hands into his pockets. “Yes, I
have to finish this. I have to concentrate. What’s the most
important thing?” He took a few steps deeper into the woods and
then returned to the car. “The most important thing is not to leave
any tracks.” He looked at the car. “Good. It really does look like
an accident. What now?” He wiped his nose. “I have to move him to
the driver’s seat. Yes, that’s what I have to do—and quickly,
before anyone comes.”

It took him more than five minutes to
maneuver Carlo to the other side. Not only did Simon have to move
him, he also had to clean him up. He found quite a few leaves stuck
to Carlo’s clothes. His trousers were dirty at the knees so Simon
had to wipe those too. The worst was cleaning Carlo’s backside. He
had to lower the seatback to a horizontal position in order to turn
Carlo around. Luckily they hadn’t rolled on the ground, as
otherwise he would be too dirty for it to look like an
accident.

When he was done with the cleaning, Simon
started wiping the fingerprints. With a tissue from his pocket he
wiped all the surfaces which he’d most probably touched.

When he was done, he held his head in his
hands. He was completely out of breath, wondering if he’d forgotten
anything. “Focus, Simon, focus,” he kept telling himself.