The Lair
December 4, 1.20 p.m.
When Denise opened her eyes, she felt a throbbing pain. Her hands rose to her face and felt the bruise. Across the room, Sebastian sat against a wall and watched.
‘He’s coming now, Denise.’
‘Who?’
‘Harper.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I left him a clue. Abaddon. He’s good. He’s very good.’
Denise stared. Sebastian was holding a piece of rope. He was knotting it carefully.
‘Then you should go.’
‘I was planning to kill him just like I did Detective Williamson. It has to be here now, Denise. But it doesn’t much matter. I have something for you.’ He held up the length of rope. It was a noose.
He stood up. ‘You’re a clever girl. That trick with the light socket. I didn’t anticipate it. I didn’t know you had it in you.’
‘I want to speak to Nick,’ said Denise.
‘Oh, Nick,’ said Sebastian. ‘He’s dead.’
‘Dead?’
‘He wasn’t strong enough. He’s gone now. He can’t return. I showed him what I do to the girls and he couldn’t take it.’
Denise looked at the ceiling. She saw the exposed metal framework of the concrete. Sebastian moved the stool beneath it and ran the rope through a loophole. He tied it tight. The noose hung in the darkness, swaying slightly.
The next part of his plan needed to be instituted. He didn’t need Denise any more. She was no fun at all. She had served her purpose, to get Harper to pay attention. He would end it now. The killer flicked the rope. Then, in the distance, they heard a boom from the elevator shaft.
The killer leaned forward and turned his head. ‘He’s here, Denise. Time’s up.’
‘You can stop this!’
‘Denise, he’s coming to save you. The knight in shining armour might carry you away and you might live happily ever after. Or not!’
He grabbed Denise and held a knife to her throat. ‘If I kill you, it will be to hurt him, not you. I like you, Denise. I hope you realize that. Nick especially liked you.’
He was different now. He was in a mode she had not seen before. He was over-excited but under steely self-control, in a world of his own. Was this his kill mode? Was this where he went when he killed? She’d never been this close to a killer. Her mouth was so dry she couldn’t speak a word.
He breathed deeply, the excitement coursing through his brain. ‘This is the easy way out for you. You will avoid the agony and the pain. You won’t have to see me again.’ He bundled her on to the stool and put the noose round her neck. ‘Jump off if you want.’ He bound her hands behind her.
He knew what he wanted to see in this final scene. He wanted to see Harper’s eyes burn in pain as he looked at Denise, as his eyes had done when he read that Mo was dead. He had loved Mo.
It was all about love. That’s all. Love for Mo and love for his dead girls. They were all he wanted and all he could never ever have, and knowing that they had gone, nothing else in the world mattered.
Once they were dead, he loved them all. He didn’t know why, but he had such strong affection for them as their lives dripped away.
‘Love and death are so close, don’t you think, Denise? Love and death?’
‘No,’ she coughed. ‘I don’t think so.’ She knew time was running out. She wanted to keep him talking. Talking might help extend her life. ‘What happened with Lottie Bixley?’
Sebastian was silent for a moment. ‘I don’t like them looking at me, Denise. I don’t like people judging me. Lottie was a whore. I watched her die through a clear plastic bag. Do you want to know what I did to her?’
Denise couldn’t bear any more. ‘You’re nothing, you know that? You’re nothing.’
Sebastian reached up and held her throat. He watched her twist and panic. Outside, a door screeched against concrete. Then footfalls rushed along the corridor.
‘Harper’s here,’ said the killer. ‘He’s come to save you. Do you know about the judgement of Solomon?’
‘Yes,’ Denise whispered.
‘Which one of us wants you the most, do you think?’
The footsteps stopped outside the door. ‘Endgame,’ whispered Sebastian.