Somewhere to Hide (The Estate, Book 1) (38 page)

‘Happy birthday.’ She planted a kiss on his lips. ‘There are two pressies for tonight and two for tomorrow. Oh, it is tomorrow.’ She giggled.

Austin sat up, back against the wall and brought up his knees. She rested her chin on them as he ripped open the present. He pulled out the shirt and held it up.

‘Nice,’ he said. ‘At least I’ll look well dressed for the final act. And clean, for a change.’

‘Clean? Final act? You scare me when you talk like that. What do you mean? The final act of what?’

 ‘Shut the fuck up.’ Austin’s face went dark again.

 ‘But what’s wrong now?’

‘I said shut the fuck UP!’

He leaned forward and punched her in the face.

Becky fell backwards. Dazed, she placed her hand to her mouth. Before she could register that there was blood on her fingers, he punched her again. This time she disappeared into blackness.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

When Becky came round, Austin was tucking the new shirt into his jeans. He threw her clothes onto the mattress.

‘Get dressed.’

She lifted her head a little and then put it down quickly as the room began to spin. She squinted at him. What the hell had happened to her? Had she drank too much?

‘Austin, I don’t feel well,’ she murmured. ‘What did you –?’

And then she remembered what had happened. She tried not to panic. He was stronger than her, capable of anything. She needed to gather her composure. This was what Jess had warned her about. Jess had said he’d hit her eventually but she hadn’t believed her.  

‘I said get DRESSED!’ Austin pulled her roughly to her feet.

Becky struggled to get into her jeans. He threw her shoes across the floor towards her.

‘Hurry up, for fuck’s sake.’

‘I’m trying my best.’ She began to cry, feeling her lip beginning to swell.

Austin took hold of her arm, squeezing it hard. ‘I said hurry up!’

She slipped her feet into her pumps but she still wasn’t quick enough. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her upright.

‘Ow!’ She yelped like a puppy, trying to ease away his hands. But he was already dragging her out of the room. She lost her footing halfway down the stairs: he continued regardless. She scrambled back to her feet when she reached the ground floor. The pain in her head had intensified now.

Austin pushed her through the door into the lounge area. Apart from two further candles alight on the bar, the room was in darkness. But Becky could make out two chairs, side by side in the middle of the floor. He shoved her into one of them. Instinctively, she got up and ran towards the door. But he was quick on her tail. He yanked her back by the hair and pushed her down again with a thump. From underneath the chair, he produced a piece of rope.

‘I knew I’d have to do this,’ he said with a huge sigh. ‘You always were a wild one.’

‘Noooooooooooo!’ Becky fought hard but he held her down with the weight of his body. He took hold of her hands and tied them behind her back. Then he grabbed for her feet. She kicked out in defence. He slapped her hard again: her head lolled to the side with the force. It was enough to quieten her while he carried on. The next piece of rope went around her waist and secured her to the chair.

‘Please,’ she whispered, her teeth starting to chatter. ‘Let me go home.’

‘Sorry, I didn’t quite hear you.’ He brought his head down to her level and cupped his hand around his ear.

Becky felt dry but she still managed to speak. ‘I want to go home.’

‘What about my home?’

‘I – I –’

‘You wanted to know about my background? Now you can sit here and listen.’ He laughed at the irony of his own joke. ‘You can hardly leave until I say so.’

He picked up the other chair and placed it a short distance in front of hers. Facing her, he straddled it and began to talk.

‘You think you were hard done by when your mother died? I never knew my mother. The bitch abandoned me as soon as she had me. I think I know why. But I am going to find out for definite soon.’ His eyes burned into her as he spoke. ‘It was the not knowing that got to me. Can you imagine what that was like? Always wondering why the fuck she gave me away.’

Austin wiped at his brow. It was then that Becky saw he had a gun. She sat still, trying not to panic while he continued.

‘I was fostered out for a few years and then social services told me I was too much of a troublemaker to be adopted so they put me back into a home. Well, that was all I needed, the stupid fuckers. I was wound up, like a wooden top. I was always in trouble for fighting but I became top dog. No one messed with Simon.’

‘Simon?’ Now Becky was really confused.

‘By the time I was sixteen and out on my own, I was into all sorts – drugs, alcohol. I tried glue a few times but didn’t like it much.’ He grinned. ‘It made me look too much of a mess: put the girls off kissing me. And you know what that meant? No sex.’ He nodded slightly. ‘There is a reason why you and me like sex so much. It’s because for a few moments in our pathetic lives, the pain of not being loved is replaced by someone wanting to be with you, someone wanting you to feel good.’ He aimed the gun at her face. ‘You ought to be careful of that, once I’m gone. You need to be more picky.’

Becky whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut. He was going to kill her! She started to shake. The room went quiet. When she opened her eyes again, the gun was back down by Austin’s side. But his words were still up in the air.

‘What do you mean, when you’re gone?’ she asked, struggling to find her voice. She coughed to clear her throat.

‘Don’t interrupt me. I haven’t FINISHED yet!’

Becky jumped. Out of his view, she tried to loosen her wrists but it was no use. The rope was fastened too tightly for her to budge it.

‘They kicked me out of my hostel eventually and I ended up living rough. That’s when I first had an idea about finding her, my mother. It took me a while to track her down. All I had on my birth certificate was a surname and an area but my social worker helped me. I didn’t tell him the reason why I wanted to find her though.

‘But when I did find out her address, I ended up losing my temper and getting banged up for assault. It was only a two-month stretch the first time. Second time I got six months but they let me out after three. I came straight here and that’s when I did my first kill.’

Becky began to cry then. ‘Please let me go,’ she begged. ‘You’re scaring me.’

Austin snorted vulgarly. ‘Don’t worry, my pretty one, I’m not going to do you in. I like you, Becks. You’ll be spared, but you will have to act quickly. There’s a knife over on the bar, in between the two candles. If you get the chance, you should try to cut yourself loose.’

Becky’s eyes flitted around until they landed on the knife. Austin was talking in riddles again. What did he mean if she got the chance? Panic engulfed her. She breathed deeply to keep it at bay. Inwardly she urged herself to focus, try to work out the clues he was giving to her.

‘I didn’t get caught for the murder,’ Austin went on. ‘It was made to look like an accident so no one came after me. I just wanted her to hurt, like she’d made me hurt. I took away the one person she loved more than herself. And I would have got to her sooner if I hadn’t gone into a fucking rage as I watched her at his funeral being all upset and teary-eyed. Afterwards, I went ballistic. I got pissed and when I came out of the pub, there was a lad walking towards me. I felt so angry and he was, well, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I got caught. Fucking CCTV cameras. I did three years for GBH. That’s why it’s taken me until now to finish off what I started.’

 Austin seemed to have slipped into a trance. He was waving the gun around now as if he’d forgotten its existence. Becky stayed still as he pointed it down towards her stomach. One false slip and he could kill her.

‘What about the people who fostered you?’ She tried to keep him talking.

‘Yeah, they were okay actually but they couldn’t cope with me. I don’t blame them. I only blame her. I’ve always kept in touch with them in case she tried to contact me. They told me all about the phone call from her solicitor when I rang. I nearly ran then, Becks, even though I was so close. The bitch was messing with my head. She wanted to see me. She thought she had the right to contact me after all I’d been through.’

Austin looked up again. Becky could see pain behind the anger but she knew she couldn’t help him.

‘I began to watch the house.’ Austin smiled, almost kindly. ‘You weren’t supposed to be part of the plan, but you were there. Why not have a bit of fun?’ He waved the gun around the room again. ‘Then I found this place. I had to get rid of the loser who was stopping here though. I didn’t want to share so I dumped him in the canal.’

Becky froze as she vaguely recalled something happening just before she’d arrived at Cathy’s house. ‘The homeless boy,’ she whispered. ‘That was
you
?’

‘Yep.’ Austin nodded. ‘This place was perfect to hide in and he was cramping my style. He had to go.’

‘Stop!’ Becky cried. ‘Please! I don’t want to hear anymore.’

Austin moved forward quickly and sat down heavily, straddling her lap. Becky moved her head to one side but he squeezed her chin hard. It brought tears to her eyes. The whole of her face felt like it was on fire.

 ‘You were the one who went on and on about knowing everything. Well, now I’m telling you everything.’ Austin stopped for a moment, his breathing heavy. ‘It was when I saw you that I knew I could get my plan going. But you were off screwing Danny Bradley.’ He laughed nastily. ‘It was easy to get rid of him too. What better way than to set him up for murder.’

Becky’s eyes filled with tears. Austin squeezed her chin harder and she groaned.

‘I was following you when you stopped outside the factory. I watched you storming off in a strop. I remember laughing at you: you went marching off in such a mood. That’s when I had an idea of how to get you for myself. I followed Danny into the warehouse.’

Becky gulped. ‘You murdered the security guard, didn’t you?’ she tried to speak properly.

‘Yes, the girl has got it!’ Austin threw a punch into mid-air. ‘And from then on you were mine. I gleaned every bit of information that I could from you. Don’t worry. I know I used you but I did like you. It wasn’t a chore. It was quite good fun actually. You’re a right little goer.’

Becky’s shoulders dropped. Slowly the clues were falling into place. The first man he’d murdered, the homeless man and the security guard. It seemed like Austin wouldn’t stop until he killed who he had come after.

‘You’ve worked it out,’ Austin grinned excitedly. ‘Haven’t you?’

Becky nodded. ‘Cathy is your mum.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Austin clapped slowly but significantly. He stood up and threw the chair across the room. ‘Give the girl a round of applause.’

‘Austin, I –’

‘Shut up!’

‘But Austin, I –’

‘I SAID SHUT UP!’ Austin cracked her across the face again.

This time Becky did as she was told.

After their earlier conversation, Cathy and Jess had spent the rest of the evening together. Just recently Becky had been home on time but when eleven o’clock had come and gone, Jess had asked her not to be annoyed because it was Austin’s birthday. Cathy had said she’d give her the benefit of the doubt; she’d even laughed about it with Jess over the times she’d done it for her.

Then Jess had gone to bed at half eleven and she’d thought nothing more of it until Becky hadn’t arrived home at midnight. She waited another ten minutes but still there was no sign of her. Finally, she sent her a text message to express her annoyance. But she didn’t go to bed. Instead she dozed on the settee, half listening out for a knock on the door.

Now it was nearing eight thirty the next morning. She sat in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, wondering what to do next. Becky hadn’t replied to the text message. Cathy had rung her mobile phone too but it had gone unanswered. It was so unlike her. Concern had long ago taken over from annoyance but even still. Some of the girls she’d had to stay had sneaked back in the next morning, not even thinking how worried she might be because no one had ever cared for them before. Today’s date playing heavily on her mind, she decided to take a quick look around Becky’s bedroom.

Upstairs, her eyes quickly skimmed around, trying to see if anything looked untoward. Becky’s belongings were strewn everywhere: make-up left as she’d used it, hairdryer on the floor after she’d sat in front of the wardrobe mirror, used tissues scrunched up in a pile on the drawers. Two pairs of shoes looked like they’d been discarded at the last minute for a better choice, along with a denim skirt and a T-shirt thrown on top of the bed.

Cathy stood still for a moment. There was nothing unusual about the room. She opened the wardrobe door and sighed with relief when she saw the rest of Becky’s clothing still there. At least she hadn’t done a runner.

She sat down on the bed and wondered if she was over-reacting. Maybe it was Becky’s way of rebelling, growing up. After all, she’d been the same at her age. No, actually, she’d been far worse. But she had also been more streetwise.