Legacy (13 page)

And that was why a patrol car was keeping an eye out for her in the area, especially around her house as she may be heading there either for sanctuary or to collect some personal belongings before setting off somewhere that she thought may be safer.

Hopefully the patrol car would find her before the two missing men did.

As Harran turned to head back into the building to see how Short was doing, his mobile phone began to ring and as he pulled it out of his pocket and read the caller’s name on the screen, he instantly knew that the conversation he was about to have was not going to be the most enjoyable.

It was the phone call that he had been dreading all day and it had finally come – so after taking a deep breath, Harran pressed the answer button and began his conversation with the Chief Constable.

Short, meanwhile, had reached the security desk and was sitting next to the guard on duty who was going through the CCTV footage for the 6
th
floor.

And as the right part of the tape was found, Short studied what happened – and it was not what he had planned it to be.

There were no policemen keeping watch as they had been assigned to do.

The nurse who had been keeping an eye on him up on the 6
th
floor is seen talking to the two officers outside Naomi’s room and very soon the three of them disappear into a doorway further down the corridor.

Nothing happens for a little while, but the camera seems to jolt for a second.

The security guard paused the footage for a second.

              “Wow!” he says, “That must have been some bang!”

              “What do you mean?” asks Short.

              “That jolt just now. Something made the camera do that – like a loud noise.”

Short knew exactly what that noise was, but still no policeman was in sight.

              “Can you do me a favour and rewind the tape for me to the point where the nurse speaks to the policemen please? I want to make note of the time when everything started for my notes.” Short asked.

The security guard did as he was asked and as the footage re-started, Short noticed something unusual as the nurse and the policemen disappeared.

The room to Naomi’s door opens slowly before closing again – definitely from the inside as there is nobody in the corridor right now.

Short watched on attentively as the part where they stopped watching came up.

Once again the camera jumped and a few moments after, Naomi is seen coming out of the room screaming and in obvious distress.

One of the policemen comes into view and runs past Naomi and heads straight into her room – while he does this, Naomi heads towards where the policeman had just come out. The other policeman runs past her and also goes into Naomi’s room.

There is a long pause before both policemen come running out of the room, one of them stopping to talk to Naomi before disappearing from the corridor.

Short shook his head in disbelief – but there was still more to come.

A few moments pass before Naomi and the nurse come back into view and both are standing in the corridor – but for some reason, Naomi is wearing a long coat.

Naomi is visibly shaking which makes Short think that she is wearing the coat because she may be suffering from shock and the nurse stands by the entrance doors, peeking out of them while Naomi slowly walks towards her.

Naomi sneaks through the doors, and it is now obvious to Short that the innocent nurse on duty upstairs who was completely unaware of Naomi’s disappearance had actually helped her to escape.

Short immediately got up from his seat and headed towards the lift – as he did so, Harran walked through the doors.

              “What’s the matter?” Harran asked, immediately noticing that something was up with Short.

              “The nurse that was on duty – she helped her escape!” Short answered.

Harran was seething as they stepped into the lift and by the time they reached the 6
th
floor, he was ready for action. They hadn’t even stepped into the corridor before Harran started shouting to a nurse who was passing by.

              “Where’s Nurse Jenkins?” Harran bellowed.

              “She’s in the staff room, getting ready to go home, I think.” The nurse answered, scared out of her wits.

              “Where is the staff room?” Short asked.

The nurse pointed to a door at the other side of the corridor and Harran immediately ran towards it with Short in close pursuit.

As they reached the door, Harran instantly put his hand on the handle to open it.

              “Sir,” Short stopped him, “she may be changing.”

Harran turned to Short and his reply was enough to make Short instantly back down.

              “And our chief witness could be dead because of that dozy bitch!”

And with that, Harran opened the door and true enough, Nurse Jenkins was in there – but lying in a pool of blood, struggling for breath.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The taxi pulled up outside my flat and as it did, I suddenly remembered that my keys were in my bag back in the hospital. All I had on me was a hospital robe and a long coat that I had borrowed from the nurse who helped me escape – I had nothing on my feet and I certainly attracted a few strange looks as I made my way to the taxi outside the hospital.

Money wasn’t the issue right now – the taxi driver was a personal friend of the nurse who had helped me and he wasn’t even charging me for the ride and I had a few pounds hidden away inside the flat for emergencies so I could survive on that for now.

But how the hell could I get into my flat?

And then it hit me – the policewoman back at the station said that Mrs. Wheeler had a spare key for my flat which I found as being really scary as I had never given her one.

Maybe it was given to her by the last tenant, but I think now would be the right time to get it off her.

I felt elated as the taxi pulled up outside my house – not just because it was my home, but the taxi driver was beginning to become a little too personal for my liking and the expression on his face was becoming more and more lecherous by the second.

I quickly opened the door and gingerly stepped out, fully aware that he was staring at my legs as I did so.

I thanked him for getting me home for nothing and the disappointment on his face was evident as he was hoping for a little more for such a favour, but I was now far enough from him to make me feel a little more comfortable.

I had even forgotten to close the taxi door behind me and I caught a glimpse of the taxi driver rolling his eyes because he had to get out and close it himself.

And as he stepped out onto the pavement, I noticed the tattoo on his right arm – the same one I spotted on the Coroner when he was attacked in the police station car park.

I am already scared that I may be attacked once again from that man Zephal at any moment, but this taxi driver is making me feel extremely uncomfortable right now.

But the best thing for me to do right now is get as far away from him as quickly possible and the only way I could do that was to get a key for my flat.

And my only chance of getting was from a neighbour who I had never met and didn’t even know where she lived.

I cautiously turned around to face my flat and as I did so, noticed the figure of an elderly lady in the downstairs window of a house two doors away.

She immediately gave me a wave and as I lifted my hand to acknowledge her greeting, she beckoned me towards her.

The taxi driver had returned to his seat and was now beginning to drive off slowly and I was glad that the only person who wanted me right now was an elderly lady a couple of doors away from me instead of some psychotic male – maybe this was the infamous Mrs. Wheeler.

By the time I reached her front door, the elderly lady had already opened it and was ready to greet me.

              “Hello, my dear,” she said as I reached her path, “you must be the young lady who moved into the flats.”

I nodded my head, but before I could say anything, she continued talking.

              “The police have been around here asking all kinds of questions today – you poor girl, you must have had the most horrific experience last night! I’m Mrs. Wheeler, I’m sure that nice policewoman mentioned me to you.”

I once again nodded my head and once again she took over the conversation.

              “I have something of yours.” She said.

              “My key?” I asked, finally getting a word in.

              “That’s right, my lovely.” She confirmed, “And I had better return it to you before I forget. The last woman who lived there gave me it because she was forever losing her keys whenever she went out. Drink can be such a dangerous thing!”

And with that, she turned and took a key from a set of hooks in her hallway and handed it to me.

              “I hope everything works out for you my lovely and if you ever need anything, all you have to do is knock.” She said politely.

              “Thank you very much,” I answered, “I’ll bear it in mind. I’m going to go and freshen up.”

Mrs. Wheeler smiled at me.

              “You try and relax – and I hope they catch who did that to you. I may be an old woman, but I can still put a man in his place when he crosses the line!”

I managed a smile and we said our goodbyes and even though she was a lovely woman, all I wanted to do right now is get inside my flat and lock myself in.

When I did make it through my front door, I ignored the mail that was lying on the floor and headed straight for the kitchen where I grabbed some leftover tuna pasta from the fridge.

As I did so, I immediately noticed that the few items Tanya had in there had disappeared.

The flat was silent and I felt so alone for a moment – where was Tanya?

I walked around the flat hoping to catch a sight of her or even hear her dulcet tones, but I found nothing – it was almost as if any evidence of her existence had been removed.

I rubbed my forehead for a moment and realized that my personal hygiene was not at its best right now and a shower would be a good idea right now.

I know that I can’t stay in my flat forever because it is obvious that this Zephal guy has most certainly got it in for me and he doesn’t care who is standing in his way – he has proved that already.

And if he doesn’t get to me first, the police are undoubtedly going to be knocking on my door any minute searching for me after my quick escape from the hospital – which would lead to another endless bout of questioning back at the police station.

But at least I would be clean and smelling fresher than what I am right now.

My life has now become a game of cat and mouse and for whatever reason, I am now the hunted.

I will always be looking over my shoulder in fear for the rest of my life.

Do I stay or do I run?

Even though the flat was locked up, paranoia was still strong in me and I felt very uneasy as I stepped into the shower.

The feeling of the hot water soaking my head and body was amazing and a brief feeling of relief ran through my body as my body began to be cleansed – but every now and then I paused to check that nobody was in the flat.