As Hunter pulled away from the kerbside he could see Paul anxiously wiping away beads of sweat, which had formed on his brow.
* * * * *
For half an hour he drove furiously around the twisting unlit country roads on the edge of town, roaring past slower cars and then cutting them up as he forced the Fiesta back into the correct lane. On several occasions he laughed loudly, even though there was no one else to hear. He wondered if that CID guy had discovered the car had gone yet. As he increased speed, so the sensation swelled inside. He felt wired. His alert eyes were as dark as the night around him, and he focused intensely on the surroundings as they flew by. Ahead lay a series of bends and he pushed the car’s engine until he could feel it throbbing on its mountings. Then he eased off and decided to head back to Barnwell.
He was approaching the outskirts of town when he noticed her standing at the side of a bus stop. Carol Siddons. She was blowing into her hands and stamping her feet. He slung the car hard left and hit the brakes. The tyres squealed as he skidded to a halt beside her.
She looked up as he leaned across the passenger seat and wound down the window. Bending down she peered inside, squinting to see who the driver was. “Oh it’s you,” she said. “Where did you get this from?”
“Nicked it,” he responded “And guess what, it’s a cop car”
“Yeah all right, spin me another.”
“Don’t believe me eh? Well look at this then.” He picked up the police radio handset from the dash and thrust it towards her. “Believe me now then?”
She started giggling “Bloody hell you’re going be in some serious shit if they catch you.”
“Naaw, no chance of that. Fancy a spin?”
“You are joking.”
“No come on. I’m gonna dump it soon. I’ll give you a run round and then drop you off home, before I get shut.”
He sensed her hesitate. “Come on its freezing out there and the bus might not come for ages.” He flipped up the door catch and pushed it open. The glow of the interior light shone on his grinning face. “Come on, live on the edge.”
Carol Siddons looked around. Nothing stirred. She edged forward apprehensively, took another look around, and then slipped into the passenger seat, slamming the door behind her. “Come on let’s get out of here fast you crazy bastard.”
He forced his right foot onto the accelerator and the Fiesta screeched away.
As he tore around the country roads again he was conscious of Carol’s excited jabberings, though he was unable to decipher exactly what she was saying as he concentrated on the narrow lane ahead, his focus shooting back and forth between road and rear view mirror. His arms ached as he gripped the steering wheel, and as he checked his speedometer he realized he was shaking and sweating profusely.
Throwing the car into a sharp bend, far too late he spotted the rear lights of another car. Instinctively, he smashed his foot down onto the brake. His effort was in vain and there was a spontaneous thump as the Fiesta smashed into the back of the other car. In a split-second reaction he swung the steering wheel to the right and the tyres protested with a concerted squeal. There was a loud scraping noise as metal gouged metal and the car in front bucked and slewed sideways towards a wall by the side of the road.
He felt the Fiesta’s engine surge and almost stall as he fought to disentangle it from the other car. It crabbed sideways for several yards before he managed to bring it back under control and point it back in the direction he had been heading. Quickly glancing back, he saw that the other car had embedded itself in the stone wall. Without warning, there was a loud whoosh as the front of it exploded in a fireball. Within seconds searing incandescent gashes of red and yellow flame were licking from beneath the wheel arches and up onto the bonnet and windscreen.
“Fucking hell.” Carol screamed.
He hammered his foot down onto the accelerator and with a squeal of rubber on tarmac, sped away from the carnage.
Every nerve in his body was straining and he became acutely conscious of every sound around him as he sped through the countryside.
After ten minutes, he found the unmade track that he knew wound its way towards the old pit coking plant, no longer in production since the demise of the mine five years previously. He slewed the car to a halt, the wheels sliding slightly on the rutted and muddied track, threw open the driver’s door, jerked his head out and threw up violently into a puddle of oily water.
“You crazy bastard.” He heard Carol shout. “You fucking crazy bastard”
He glared across at her. She was pale faced. He studied her features. He had always thought she was pretty and yet now in a surreal way he found her scared look even more attractive. A tingling sensation erupted in his groin.
Snapping himself out of his thoughts he launched himself out of the Fiesta and listened intently. Every sound was distant. They had not been followed. He could now see finger-like wisps of fog drifting over the fields surrounding them and he knew that in an hour or so its blanket would provide cover for him to disappear and for the car to lie undiscovered until at least first light.
Carol joined him. She was shouting at him, swearing and stabbing his chest with her finger.
“Pipe down for Christ’s sake.” he spat back, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
“You’re fucking mad. Did you see what happened to that car you hit? It blew up. Jesus I can’t believe this. We are in some serious shit now. You know that don’t you?”
He put a finger to his mouth and moved towards her. Then he grabbed hold of her shoulders and fixed her stare. He could see the panic and fear in Carol’s eyes. He knew he needed to calm her down. “Everything’s gonna be okay. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry he says. You’ve probably killed somebody you stupid bastard.”
“Don’t call me stupid Carol. I’m not stupid.” His features changed. They took on a distinct hardness and his dark eyes became glassy.
“No you are not stupid.” she growled, screwing up her eyes. “You’re fucking crazy.”
He finally snapped. The punch was swift, smashing into her face. He felt her nose give and heard the snap as the bridge broke. He saw the film of tears flood her eyes as she sank to her knees.
Gulping back sobs she glanced up at him, “Now you’ve fucking done it, I’m going to the cops myself” she choked.
He quickly unfastened the buckle on his belt, whipped it through the loops of his waistband and gripped both ends. It was around Carol’s neck in a second and as he tightened it around her throat he saw her big brown eyes bulge.
Just like Bob-Tail’s.
A malevolent look masked his face as he pulled her close. The corners of his mouth curled upwards as she thrashed and clawed for survival. Less than a minute later he squeezed out her last breath.
Bob-Tail is staring back. Didn’t someone once tell him that the image of their killer was captured in the eyes as they died?
Well mine is the last face she’ll ever see and Carol Siddons is not going to identify me to anyone.
CHAPTER ONE
DAY ONE OF THE INVESTIGATION: 6th July 2008
She bucked and jerked wildly and he had to bear down all of his twelve stone onto her wiry, yet well toned young body, as her limbs smacked against his.
Every sign she was fighting for her life.
Then the air exploded from her chest for the last time and at last she lay still.
Gasping for breath and drenched in sweat he pushed himself up from her limp figure. He had thought that she was never going to die. He had been amazed at the fight she had put up. He took in several deep breaths and tried to slow his racing heartbeat, watching in fascination as dark viscous blood belched from her eye sockets, joining other rivulets which were already matting her dark bob of hair and forming a pool around her head.