Legacy (24 page)

I accepted his apology and I watched Lucius begin to open the door that I had opened previously to let Lucius in after I had managed to get inside through an open window.

He took no chances and opened it cautiously, ready to defend himself in anyone was waiting outside to cause any harm.

But nobody was around and Lucius beckoned me to follow him out into the back garden.

Time was of the essence and we both knew that Zephal would soon be able to pick up their scents after we had both returned out into the open air.

Lucius started to move first and he attempted to take my hand to lead me to where he wanted us to go, but the second I felt his fingers touch the palm of my hand, I pulled away.

I could see him react to my refusal of any physical contact and he looked back at me for a second – I responded by scowling at him to warn him not to even attempt to make another joke.

So, Lucius turned back around and continued to lead the way.

Part of the wooden fencing on the right hand side of the garden had come away from its foundations and was lying virtually flat revealing a small pathway leading away from the house.

Lucius chose this as our escape route and we made our way over it as quietly as we possibly could.

But the pathway that greeted us had an incredible amount of overgrown foliage blocking our way through it and even though it looked like a good place for us to hide out without being easily seen, it could already be housing someone we didn’t want to meet.

I stopped Lucius.

              “I think we should find some other route, Lucius!” I said.

Lucius could tell by the tone in my voice how frightened I was right now and tried to calm me down.

              “You don’t have to worry, Naomi. I know what I am doing and as I recall, if it hadn’t have been for my senses and quick thinking, neither of us would be alive right now so I haven’t done too bad so far, have I?”

Lucius was right, but I noticed that he had failed to mention my quick thinking earlier when I managed to injure Zephal by imbedding a garden fork on his shoulder – no matter how gruesome it was, I had to admit that I was extremely proud of doing such a thing instead of standing around and doing nothing.             

I watched Lucius continue his way through the overgrown path and when he could sense that I wasn’t immediately following, he stopped and turned.

              “Trust me, Naomi. We’re far safer in here than out there. If anyone did come through here, we would have plenty of time to plan our next move – either by moving on as quickly as possible without or by attacking whoever it is before they realized what had hit them.”

I was still apprehensive about following Lucius and he continued to look towards me with an expression that was willing me to hurry up and make a bloody decision.

Just as I was about to make my mind up, I saw Lucius’s expression change from impatience to shock as his gaze moved away from me towards the house we had just left.

Before I could turn around to see what had caught his eye, Lucius nearly knocked me over as he leapt over the broken fence into the back garden as fast as he could.

I spun around and saw Lucius chasing someone down the side of the house – I had seen enough of the figure running away to notice that it definitely wasn’t Zephal.

Now I was all alone on the pathway and it wasn’t the nicest of feelings right now – it didn’t feel that hospitable when I had Lucius with me, but now it was downright eerie.

So, even if Lucius was in the middle of a fight right now, it would be a whole lot safer to be around that than remain in my present location, completely open to attack from Zephal.

And just as I was about to step onto the broken fence, I heard a rustling noise behind me and I spun around in fear of a sneak attack, but I was greeted by a face that I recognized.

              “Am I glad to see you,” I immediately spoke out, “I’ve been hiding out in this house hiding from the man who keeps chasing me all the time! His name is Zephal and he wants to kill me. There is another man called Lucius who has been helping me to escape from him – he’s just run off down the side of the house chasing someone away. I hope you’ve got a few men with you because this Zephal is a lot stronger than you can imagine!”

Even though he had caused me so much grief whenever we met, I was so happy to see Detective Inspector Harran yards away from me, but he didn’t seem to be his normal self right now.

But I continued talking as he came closer.

              “How’s the other policeman that was with you? I didn’t mean for him to get hurt. He suddenly appeared on the roof from out of nowhere and I screamed.”

Harran’s silence suddenly broke.

              “You were there?” he asked angrily, “You were on that roof and you did nothing while he lay on the ground fighting for his life! You have caused nothing but grief for anyone who has had the misfortune to meet you! Innocent people have died trying to protect you from this guy who seems hell-bent on tracking you down to kill you! And every time something happens, you’ve run off somewhere hiding away while others have to pick up the pieces! When you scarpered off that roof, I was left to try and save Short’s life, but I also had to defend myself against the madman hunting you and I can tell you, I’m incredibly lucky to be still alive right now. But I swear I am going to bring an end to all this bullshit.”

And without saying another word, Harran produced a gun from his pocket and pointed it directly into my face.

              “If you value your life,” he threatened me, “I suggest you shut that mouth of yours and do exactly as I say or I swear to God, I will not hesitate in pulling the trigger to blow your brains out!”

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

I had no choice but to do what Harran wanted me to.

Looking down the barrel of a loaded gun makes you realize how much you really do value your life and even though I was literally scared to death, I knew that Lucius would soon be searching for me when he discovered that I was missing.

Harran handcuffed me back at the pathway and he made me walk through the overgrown pathway until we arrived at an old stone wall which clearly had been standing longer than any of the other buildings that were nearby.

We walked along it until we came to an iron gate which served as an opening to get inside – and one quick glance revealed the incredibly old gravestones inside.

Thank God that the people buried underneath had died nearly two centuries ago because if they had come to their end at the hands of Zephal recently, then I dreaded how different the scene inside would be right now.

Of course, with every graveyard comes some place of worship nearby.

And standing majestically over the graves was a beautiful stone church and even though I had never set foot around this part of town, I felt as if I recognized the church from somewhere.

And then it came to me – I saw it in my dream the night I got attacked outside my flat and I immediately sensed that even though this was a place of holy sanctuary, anything could happen if Lucius managed to find me here.

And exactly as I imagined, Lucius had noticed my sudden disappearance and he was presently scouring the area in search of me with a mixture of worry and anger.

But he was completely unaware that I had been kidnapped by someone he had never imagined would do so and instead continued his search thinking my disappearance was Zephal’s doing.

And then it hit me – Zephal has also made it his mission to hunt me down and he has always killed anyone who stood in his way.

Harran right now may literally be a dead man walking as neither Lucius or Zephal would be incredibly happy that he had kidnapped me for whatever reason.

He said that he was going to put an end to all this, as he put it, bullshit – but how exactly could he do that?

The whole case had obviously got to him and some of the deaths were people who he had worked with and the other man working with him on the case, Detective Sergeant Short was now lying unconscious in a hospital bed.

But what he was doing right now was complete and utter madness.

The professional policeman in him was long gone and replaced with someone who was a walking time-bomb, willing to use a loaded gun in order to get what he wanted.

And what exactly was that?

He said that he was lucky to still be alive – did something happen to him after Lucius and I had fled the rooftop?

And why was he kidnapping me right now by gunpoint?

Maybe the gun wasn’t really for me - was he using me as some kind of bait to draw Lucius here so he could possibly kill him.

But there would still be Zephal.

Would he kill him too?

What was scaring me right now was the fact that Harran wasn’t exactly trying to disguise our location right now and by doing so, confirmed my fears that this was all a trap.

But even through all the hard talk and manhandling, Harran must have realized that if he did succeed in luring Lucius and Zephal to us, what exactly could he do if the two of them decided to attack him as soon as they spotted him?

You only had to check out the local morgue and hospital right now to discover what Zephal was capable of doing to anyone he considered to be an enemy.

And Lucius had proven himself to be an incredibly admirable foe and could hold his own when he and Zephal had fought on a number of occasions,

But Harran’s determination didn’t seem to waiver and the expression on his face looked like he was enjoying every minute of the drama he had created.

In all the time he made me his captor, he hadn’t uttered one word to me and his silence made me feel a lot more uneasy as in the very small time that our paths had crossed, I noticed that he was a man who loved to be heard and would not be afraid to talk over anyone in order to gain attention.

But I needed to know why he was doing this to me.

So I broke the silence.

              “Why exactly are you doing this? What are you expecting to achieve?”

Harran rolled his eyes.

              “What business is that of yours?” he replied.

              “I think I’m entitled to an answer seeing as I’m the one you’re holding at gunpoint?” I snapped.

              “You’re entitled to nothing!” he shouted, “Everything was fine until I got involved with you and those two other psychopaths!”

              “You’re a fine one to call them that! You’re not exactly behaving in a sane way right now.”

              “But I haven’t killed anyone!” Harran replied, defensively.

              “Yet. You’re the one pointing the gun at me right now.”

Harran huffed.

              “Do you think that if I wanted you dead, I would have pulled the trigger by now? The thought has crossed my mind, but I need you alive or my trap won’t work!”

I knew it – I was indeed the bait.

And staying that way would mean that Harran wouldn’t harm me – at least until Lucius or Zephal turned up.