The Ghost House (24 page)

Jake made it to the grounds of the house without running the van off the steep track, down the embankment and into the river at the bottom.

Kav breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I didn’t doubt you for a minute. So now what? Do you want to split up or stick together?’

They got out of the van and walked up to the front of the house and the open door.

‘Well, seeing as how neither of us has a clue I reckon we should stick together.’

‘Not much of a plan but it will do for now, Jake.’

Jake walked into the darkness followed by Kav. They listened but it was silent. Standing inside the hall Jake pointed to the stairs. Kav shook his head and pointed to the long corridor that led away from the hall. He began walking that way. Jake followed, terrified.

Henry leant against the other side of the door trying to compose himself. The bitch had taken him by surprise and hurt him with that little outburst. Who did she think she was? He couldn’t let her think she’d almost got the better of him. It was quiet now. There had been some movement and whispering but it had stopped. He hoped the man was dead; it would serve her right knowing she was next.

It had all gone wrong and he had no choice but to go for his backup plan. He had a petrol can hidden in the corner. The only thing he could do now was to burn the place to the ground with the bodies inside and hope that no one would be any the wiser. Unscrewing the cap he began splashing it around the cellar and a steady stream of it ran under the gap between the door and the floor.

Petrol fumes roused Annie from her semi-conscious state and she began to panic: fire was her worst fear. If he didn’t come back inside the room they wouldn’t stand a chance. The fumes were already overpowering, making her eyes water. Then the key turned in the lock. She tensed. This was it. She knew he was coming to kill her before setting them on fire. She reached out and squeezed Will’s hand.

‘We’re not going to die in here, Will.’ And then she shut her eyes. Let him come to her.

Henry walked in and smiled to himself as he placed the candle on the small table. Taking a final look around his room he strode over to Annie, bent down and pulled her head back to expose her throat. Annie didn’t make a sound but lifted the gas, aimed it into his eyes and sprayed, blinding him. He cursed and released his grip on her a little. She felt underneath her thigh for the piece of bone and with as much force as possible drew it back and then plunged it deep into the inside of his thigh. An invisible hand wrapped itself around hers, helping her to keep on pushing as far as it would go. He howled in pain and let go of her, stumbling back. Blood was gushing from the wound: she hoped she had got his femoral artery. She waited for his next attack but it didn’t come. He deflated in front of her. All the fight had left his eyes. He stumbled backwards holding his leg. His legs gave way and on his way down he knocked the table and the candle to the floor.

Loud footsteps ran across the cellar towards the room and Annie tensed.
Please God don’t let him have an accomplice. You can’t let me think I’m going to live and then kill me anyway
. She dragged herself to her feet, one hand covered in his blood and the other dangling by her side. She sobbed as she saw the face that appeared through the doorway.

‘Annie.’ Jake stepped inside followed by Kav, whose face paled at the scene in front of him. He sniffed as the petrol fumes hit his nostrils.

‘This place is going to go. We need to get out.’

Jake ran to Will. Dragging him up he threw him over his shoulder. Kav turned to help Annie.

‘I’m OK, I can walk. You have to get Jenna out of here. We can’t leave her, I promised I’d take her home.’

Kav winced. He was by no way squeamish but she had been dead a few days. Annie implored him with her eyes so he walked over, bent down and scooped her up into his arms.

They left the room as the candle flame ignited the petrol fumes. It was Kav who shouted, ‘Run or we’re going to get cremated.’ And they did as fast as they could to the cellar steps, carrying the wounded and the dead out of there.

Annie was terrified to look behind her. A wave of heat washed over them as they neared the top of the stairs. Running now they made it to the front door.

Annie stopped. ‘We can’t leave Derek. It’s my fault he’s mixed up in this.’ She turned and ran back to the scullery where he lay. Jake screamed at her but he couldn’t do anything with Will over his shoulder; he needed to get him out to safety. Kav too was helpless, the body in his arms weighing heavy. They carried their loads out of the front door and down the steps to the overgrown, grassy lawn. Jake laid Will down and watched as Kav gently laid down the body of Jenna White. They turned and watched relieved as Annie stumbled out of the door, her good arm wrapped around Derek.

The woods behind them finally lit up with blue and white flashing lights. Jake dropped to the ground to begin his best attempt at CPR on Will. He was unconscious and the same colour as the dead girl. Annie made her way across to them standing next to Kav. He had never seen anything like it in his twenty-seven years as a serving police officer.

Annie collapsed on the ground next to Will, whispering in his ear, begging him to open his eyes. The paramedics arrived to take over and Jake, Kav and Annie huddled together.

Movement from the front of the building caught their eye and they watched horrified as the man Annie had stabbed fell onto the front steps, his hair on fire. Kav ran across and dragged him away from the burning building. Taking off his jacket he used it to extinguish the flames. Annie walked over to the man who had caused all of this pain and suffering; he didn’t look so scary now. An orange glow filled the ground floor and she could feel the heat from the flames washing over them both. Bending down she wrapped her fingers around the bone protruding from his leg and yanked it free.

Kav squirmed. ‘What are you doing, you need to leave that to the paramedics?’

She waved the piece of bone in his face and then walked up the steps and threw it into the flames where it belonged.
Burn in hell, you bastard
.

Another ambulance arrived and the paramedics ran to help the killer. Annie turned away in disgust. More police cars and two fire engines arrived. Annie walked to where Jenna’s corpse lay on the grass and knelt down next to her.

‘You’re going home, sweetheart. I told you I’d make sure that you did.’ And then she began to cry, real heart wrenching sobs.

Kav wrapped his arms around her. ‘I don’t know where to start. The main thing is you’re OK and Will, well he’s in the best hands now. It might take a while but I’m sure he’ll be fine.’

‘I hope you’re right, Kav, because my life had just taken a turn for the better and I don’t want to lose him now.’

He looked at her arm. ‘Come on, kid, I don’t think your arm is supposed to hang down like that.’

At the mention of her arm pain shot through it up into her shoulder. ‘Ouch you’ve just reminded me how much it hurts.’

He walked her over to the ambulance they were loading Will into. ‘Room for a little one?’

The paramedic nodded and Kav helped her in. ‘You did great, Annie, it’s just a shame you managed to burn the house down.’ He winked at her and they both looked over to it. Orange flames were burning through the boarded-up windows, thick black smoke was filling the night sky; the whole of the ground floor was alight.

As she looked up she saw a familiar white figure at the attic window. Annie lifted her hand and waved, the figure waved back.

Kav shouted, ‘There’s a woman in there, top floor.’

Annie shook her head. ‘No, it’s the ghost of a woman who lived there a very long time ago.’ They looked again but she had gone.

Kav stared at Annie. ‘Jesus, this is getting worse by the minute. I don’t understand.’

Annie leant her head back against the cold side of the ambulance. ‘Me either but I’ll explain it as best as I can later. My brother is going to bloody kill me; I was only supposed to be looking after the dog.’

Kav roared with laughter so loud that it echoed around the clearing.. He slammed the ambulance door shut and watched as it slowly drove away.

The only sound in the hospital room was the steady beep from the monitors stuck to Will’s chest. Annie had given her statement to Stu while her arm was being reset in the plaster room. She omitted the bit about what was in the room in the cellar and who was buried down there. No one needed to know, it was over.

The Accident and Emergency Department had been chaos with the arrival of her and Will, closely followed by Derek and then the man who had started it all. He was under police guard but the doctors had said his prognosis wasn’t good. Jake had come to sit with her and after some dithering he had told her about finding the killer’s house with two more bodies inside.

‘Please tell me they weren’t girls?’

Jake shook his head, pausing while trying to find the right words to say to her. ‘No, they found his elderly mother stuffed into the chest freezer.’

‘Who was the other one?’

Jake hadn’t wanted to be the one to tell her but Kav had insisted it needed to come from a friend. ‘Mike, they found Mike dead in the bedroom.’

‘Mike who? Are you saying my Mike? Why would he be in some killer’s house, isn’t he supposed to be in Carlisle?’

Jake took hold of her hand. ‘He did a runner from the bail hostel yesterday and they only told us this afternoon. Matt said he thought he had been killed this afternoon and to let you know he will come and see you as soon as he can.’

Annie felt numb. What did she do now? After Jake left she went to the cubicle where a groggy Derek was waiting to go for a CT scan.

‘I’m so sorry for getting you mixed up in all of this, Derek.’

He smiled at her. ‘I knew you were trouble the minute I set eyes on you.’ He winked at her and the porter came to wheel him away. She then walked down to the intensive care unit where they had moved Will an hour ago. The nurse had taken one look at her and wouldn’t let her in because, in the nurse’s words, ‘You look like something from a bad horror movie, darling.’ But seeing the pain in Annie’s eyes she had melted and fetched a pair of blue scrubs from the linen cupboard, a towel and a plastic bag. ‘You go into the disabled toilet over there; clean yourself up and then you can come and sit with him for a bit.’

Annie did as she was told. Carefully folding her clothes and put them into the evidence bags for Debs to analyse later. When she finally sat beside Will she tenderly picked up his hand and kissed it. Exhausted and broken the painkillers began to kick in and she pulled her chair closer to his bed and shut her eyes.

The winter sun was shining as they lowered Mike’s coffin into the ground. It had been a small service as he had very few family and friends. The majority of people in attendance were police officers and they were not there because of Mike but to show their support for Annie. Kav, Jake and Stu made a handsome trio in their black tunics. Will stood next to Annie wearing a black suit and leaning on a crutch. He looked much better but it would take a while before he would get back to normal. What mattered was that he was alive, they both were.

Annie didn’t cry because she wasn’t a hypocrite. Mike had become a stranger to her these last few years of their marriage and it was a relief to know he wouldn’t be able to come back and hurt her ever again. She was with Will now and in such a short space of time they had gone through more than what most couples face in a lifetime. She reached out for his hand. As the vicar said his parting words to Mike a huge weight lifted from her shoulders and she threw a single yellow rose down onto his coffin.

Annie walked back to the funeral car and took out a beautiful bunch of white lilies. She began to walk in the direction of the old chapel. Will hobbled behind her at a much slower pace, keeping his distance. Jake, Kav and Stu watched her for a little while then turned away and began to talk about the latest football results. She finally reached Alice’s grave; the angel smiled at her. Annie bent down and laying the flowers at the foot of the monument she whispered, ‘Your secret is safe with me, Alice.’ She stood up and blew a kiss to the angel then turned and walked back towards Will. He took Annie’s hand and kissed her gently on the lips and they walked back towards the waiting car.