Deadline (20 page)

“
And I’m here to help you
baby, as long as you need me.”

“
I will always need you,
Daddy. I’m sorry for the horrible things I said to you
earlier.”

“
That’s OK, don’t worry
about it. I know I haven’t been the best father in the world in the
past. I haven’t always been there for you when you needed me. But
I’m here now and for as long as you need me. You can stay with me
until you’re ready to get a place of your own. You can build a new
life here, honey.” Braden smiled warmly at his
daughter.”

She smiled back. “After I get out of
here, I am going to tell Dennis we’re finally through. He can go
back to New Jersey without me.”

“
No need,” said Braden.
“I’ve already given him a goodbye from both of us. It’s one I’m
sure he’ll remember for a very long time.”

Nurse Andrews gently touched Braden’s
arm. “I think that’s enough, Mr. Young. Megan needs to rest now.
You can come back in the morning.”

“
Fine, nurse. Thank you
for everything you’ve done,” said Braden.

He turned back to Megan, kissing her
gently on the cheek. “You go back to sleep, honey. I’ll see you
tomorrow. It will be the beginning of a brand new life for both of
us.”

“
Bye, daddy. I love you,”
said Megan, her voice sounding sleepy. Her eyes closed again. But
this time she was breathing on her own.

Young hailed a cab at front of the
hospital.

“
Take me to the Daily
Express as fast as possible,” he told the driver.

Braden Young’s other world
awaited.

Chapter 59

Toronto Daily Express 8:35
PM

BRADEN YOUNG strode into the newsroom
feeling revitalized and ready for action.

Megan was out of immediate danger and
safe in the hospital. He would help her put together the pieces of
her life tomorrow. Right now the task at hand was to get tomorrow
morning’s paper put to bed and on the presses before
midnight.

He summoned his various editors into
his office for the final line-up meeting. Normally the meeting was
held much earlier, about 4 p.m. But Young had been rather
preoccupied with other pressing matters.

“
Right, folks,” his voice
boomed across the table. “Sorry for the delay tonight, some
pressing personal matters came up. But now let’s get this show on
the road. What do we have for the front page?”

Assistant Managing Editor Paul
O’Connor chirped up. “Well, Braden I think our strongest story
right now is the piece by Katie Cannon on the latest Wolfman murder
last night. There is also the piece by Donna-Marie Pierce on the
city hall construction kickback scandal. It’s been cleared by legal
with a few minor revisions. There’s another terrorist bombing in
Kandahar. A truck bomb took out a café and 30 people, fortunately
none of them were our military this time.”

“
Sounds a pretty solid
line-up, Paul,” said Young. “For now, let’s go with the corruption
scandal as our top line story. Katie’s piece can be a secondary
story. I’m afraid it may change before long and have to be updated.
Unfortunately, we believe she has been kidnapped by the Wolfman and
might be his next victim. The police are following up on it now and
we are hoping they can track this creep down before he does her any
harm.”

The editors sitting around the table
looked shocked. It was the first they had heard of this new
development. One of their reporters was in danger.

The Wolfman murders were no longer
just a story. It brought into sharp focus that this is real
life.

Somehow reporters often felt they were
immune from the stories they wrote about. They strove to keep an
objective, unbiased view of things. But this was hard to do when
the life of one of their own was in danger.

Reporters in a war zone knew the risks
they took. Too many journalists had paid the ultimate price in
pursuit of truth and knowledge in covering war zones. They accepted
that as the necessary risk of doing their jobs.

But covering stories in your own city
was rarely life threatening. Even murders. The odds a psychopath
would target a reporter were astronomical.

Young’s report about Katie Cannon was
only the first piece of news to shake the editorial group. He then
delivered the second bombshell.

“
We also have a potential
dynamite story from Trevor Trevanian, our correspondent in
Afghanistan, which will override all these other stories and be our
top line banner story if it gets here in time. Trevor has a
worldwide scoop, the first live interview with Osama bin Laden in
years.”

“
Bin Laden! How the hell
did he track him down when all the armed forces and intelligence of
the U.S. failed?” exclaimed Ted Morrow, the national
editor.

“
It’s a long story, Ted.
Let’s just say that Trevor was selected by al-Qaida personally to
interview their leader. Trevor got himself into a spot of trouble
in Pakistan, but I’ve pulled some strings to hopefully get him
released. If it works, we might get the story in time for tonight’s
edition. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

Young stared with pride at his
colleagues around the table. “If his story comes in time, we’ll
have to remake page one. I’ll want to give this a huge splash. It
could make the international reputation of this paper and put us on
the same level as the Washington Post and the Watergate
stories.”

Young listened attentively to some of
his other editors and their stories for inside the
paper.

“
Right, folks, let’s get
the pages made up and plated ready to go,” said Young. “We can make
revisions to the front page later if things come together in
time.”

Young dismissed his editorial team who
went back to their workstations.

Braden felt his adrenaline flow. He
never tired of the anticipation of bringing the news together in
one package. He felt that old adage was trite but true.

Ink did flow through his
veins.

Chapter 60

The Wolfman’s Lair 8:45
PM

KATIE CANNON just sat and
waited.

There was nothing else to do. She had
readjusted her clothing. Now she could only wait until Ian McDonald
returned. This time he was sure to kill her. But she was certain he
would want to take his pleasure first.

Katie was determined she wouldn’t go
down without a fight.

If only she could find something to
defend herself with. She looked around the cell. Nothing. There was
only the small tray of food with a plate and the empty glass of
milk. Ian had been forced to retreat with his wounds and leave the
tray.

An empty glass of milk.
Glass.

An idea came to Katie. She moved over
and picked up the glass. She smashed it onto the cement floor. It
shattered into several shards. Very carefully she picked up a large
shard about four inches in length.

Perhaps it would make a weapon if she
could force herself to use it. Of course, she could. She must if
she wanted to live. She swept the other pieces out of sight
underneath the cot.

Cannon palmed the glass shard in her
fist, careful not to grip it too tightly and cut herself. It would
make a weapon. It would have to do. It was all she had. It was her
only chance.

She heard the door open. Ian McDonald
entered the room.

He carried the knife in his right
hand. His left arm was bandaged where she had slashed him. His left
hand also held pliers.

He walked slowly toward the cell with
a menacing leer on his face.

“
It’s time, bitch!” He
spat the words like venom from a snake. “It’s time to play, my
sweet. I’m going to make you pay dearly for cutting me. First I’m
going to fuck you and then tear your tongue out while you
watch.”

He waved the pliers at her.

“
Bring it on party boy if
you think you’re man enough to take me on.” Katie said the words
with a greater bravado than she felt right now.

But she believed she needed to show
strength and defiance. She needed to egg Ian McDonald on and to
keep him off balance.

“
If you think you’re man
enough to take me, come on and get it. I doubt you can get it up
anyway.”

Ian was livid. She could see it in his
eyes. They were burning coals of blackness. He curled his lip
slightly into a snarl. He took out the keys and opened the cell
door.

Katie backed up as he entered. He
walked forward. She stepped back until she felt the cot against her
legs.

Ian put the pliers into his pocket. He
reached out with his left hand and grabbed Katie’s arm, pulling her
body towards him.

“
Katie, there is nothing
you can do to stop me. Cooperate and I’ll make it easier on you.
Your death will be quick and I’ll take your tongue post
mortem.”

“
Well, since you put it
that way maybe I should just lie back and enjoy it,” said Katie.
“Ian, you’re such a gentleman. Or perhaps I should just call you,
Wolfie.”

“
Cut the sarcasm,” snapped
McDonald. “You’re such a beautiful woman, Katie. It would be a
shame to defile those looks. You will be my pièce de resistance, la
crème de la crème.”

“
Ooh, he speaks French.
You’re so cultured, Wolfie.”

“
Shut your mouth, bitch.
I’ve had enough of your sarcasm.”

Ian moved in closer to kiss her on the
mouth.

Katie made her move.

She brought her right hand up under
the Wolfman’s chin. The shard of glass was exposed and sliced
through the skin of his neck like butter. She thrust it across his
exposed throat. She must have nicked the carotid artery because a
spurt of steaming red spilled over her.

There was a look of total surprise in
Ian’s eyes as he grabbed at his throat, trying to stem the flood.
He turned away from Katie and she heard a gurgling noise coming
from his mouth as he began to choke on his own blood.

“
There you bastard,” Katie
spat at him. “That’s for all the others. I hope you rot in
hell!”

Ian stumbled a few steps, continuing
to gurgle as he bled out. Suddenly his body started to tremble and
twitch. He fell to the ground, a pool of red spreading below him
like a giant stain. His body twitched again, then he lay still. His
eyes stared glassily outward. They saw nothing.

The Wolfman was silenced
forever.

Katie Cannon just stood there staring
at his body. It was the first time she had ever killed anyone. She
suddenly felt cold and started to shiver.

After a few seconds, it hit Cannon
that she needed to get help. She headed out of the basement and up
the stairs. She emerged into a hallway in the house leading into
the kitchen.

The doorbell rang.

Katie hesitated, not sure if she
should answer it. It rang twice more with an urgency that demanded
a response.

She opened the door. There stood
Inspector Peter Moon and CID officer Brian Savage.

“
Katie, thank God you’re
safe,” said Moon.

He stared at the bedraggled young
woman in front of him. She was drenched in blood down the front of
her blouse.

Katie said nothing.

She just leapt into Moon’s arms and
hugged him.

Chapter 61

The Wolfman’s Lair 9
PM

DETECTIVE PETER Moon wanted to take
Katie right to a hospital to be checked over, but she
declined.

“
I’m fine, Peter. I’m just
a little shaken up. I need to get back to the paper right away to
file my story. It’s the final chapter of the Wolfman
saga.”

Katie related what had happened at the
house and told the police officers they would find McDonald’s body
in the basement.

“
I’m so happy to see you
alive, Katie,” said Moon. “I thought we would be too late tracking
you down. Thank God, you’re so resourceful.”

“
I guess it pays to be a
stubborn bitch.”

“
Well, the Wolfman
certainly bit off more than he could chew this time. There will
have to be an investigation of his death, of course. We’ll call in
forensics. But you won’t have anything to worry about. It’s a clear
case of self-defence.”

“
I would hope so, Peter.
Can you give me a lift back to my place first? I need to shower and
change clothes before going to the newsroom. I don’t think they
would want me there in these bloody clothes.”

“
Sure thing, Katie. No
problem.”

Moon left Savage at the scene to deal
with the forensics team when they arrived and drove Katie back to
her apartment.

* * *

The hot needles of water from the
shower stung, but felt great.

Katie luxuriated in the spray, letting
the water ease the aches and pains she had endured over the past
several hours.

While she showered, Moon phoned Braden
Young to inform the editor that his reporter was safe and
sound.