The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.) (85 page)

In the bathroom she looked at herself in the mirror and saw what Leyton must have seen, a too pale face and wide bewildered eyes. She turned and left the bathroom. She sensed the presence four seconds before she saw it and reacted two seconds after that, but it took only three seconds for him to strike. He came up behind her clamped a hand over her open mouth and an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She froze as a French sounding voice said, ‘just do as I say and you won’t get hurt.’

He began to drag her backwards into the living room and towards the bed. Her eyes opened wide when she realised his intentions. She struggled against his hold but his grip was very strong. She writhed and bucked trying to throw herself forward into the bathroom, she kicked backwards but her bare feet made no impression. His words were low and very calm as he said, ‘stop struggling, I don’t want to hurt you.’

His words registered in her terrified mind; nevertheless she did not heed them. She struggled even more furiously. She clamped her teeth down on his hand, he hissed with pain and his hand loosened just the slightest and only for a few seconds, but it was enough for her to open her mouth and let out a scream until his hand once again clamped over it, and this time her nose too. She gasped and her chest heaved as she tried to breath, she was fighting a losing battle and knew it, but she didn’t give up.

She raised both legs and pressed her bare feet against the doorframe and pushed back very hard, but he pulled her backwards so that her feet slipped down the door frame and hit the floor with a painful slap. The man exclaimed, '
merde.'

Still she fought on, she lifted her right leg and bought the heel down on his instep, he let out a low grunt and his hold on her waist and mouth loosened just enough for her to act and she did. She dashed back into the bathroom; she had the door partially closed when he caught her up. She pushed the door with all her might but to no avail, it was thrust all the way open and she staggered back landing painfully on her side next to the shower.  Using the shower curtain as leverage she tried to stand upright, but it slipped from her fingers pulling some of the rings from the curtain and bringing down the towels drying on the rail, they fell on her face obscuring her vision. He took advantage, grabbed her shoulders and threw her face down onto the cold tiled floor.

She bucked trying to throw him off but he pinned her arms behind her and put his knee between her shoulder blades. She screamed again. He put his face very close to her ear and whispered, ‘no point screaming, your bodyguard won’t be coming to your rescue.’

She froze in shock but again did not heed his words and opened her mouth to scream again when suddenly a pain like no other shot through her entire being. Her body convulsed as if she’d been electrocuted which she would discover later she had.

Just as her body began to calm another pain this time in her neck took every last ounce of fight from her as her head exploded in agony and then there was nothing but darkness.

                                                           *********

Leyton had driven with the siren blaring and the light flashing until he was within half a mile of Adela’s cabin when he turned them both off, he did not want to warn any would be intruder of his presence. He knew he should slow down because he was well over the speed limit even for a cop responding to an emergency. He had tried to call Adela on her cell phone but had gotten her voice mail time and again. He cursed, what was the stupid woman thinking to turn off her phone at this time?

He tried to call Jones but to his horror couldn’t reach him either. His heart hammered in his chest as he called Sullivan telling him that Jones could not be reached and asking him to send back up to Adela’s cabin.

Leyton punched the steering wheel in frustration then took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. He told himself that nothing had yet been proved against Hennessey, and even if he was a killer, contract or otherwise, it didn’t mean that his next hit was Adela Faraday. If it had been why would he stay in Eden to be with her, why would he escort her on trips and buy her dinner at expensive restaurants? Why do that with someone you’ve been paid to kill? It made no sense. But then who knew what went on in a killer's mind.

Unless there  was more to it, unless it was some kind of smoke screen as he’d said. But Leyton knew, as much as he tried to tell himself that it was highly improbable that she was his target, that they were right about Hennessey, he had killed Blakemore and Stanton and for some bizarre reason intended harm to Adela Faraday, he didn’t know how he knew, he just did.

It seemed to take him forever to cover the few miles from Gulfport to Eden but in fact took less than fifteen minutes. When he got there he parked as close as he could to Adela’s cabin, flung himself out of the car and ran into the woods taking out his gun as he did so. When he reached the periphery of the trees he stopped dead and looked around, he saw and heard nothing, not a sound, not even insects or animals, it was eerily quiet. He just hoped no one would come out of their cabin, especially kids.

Adela’s cabin was in darkness and there was no sign of Jones. Where was he for God’s sake? He walked a few steps towards the cabin and tripped over something lying on the ground, he cursed and looked around to see what it was he had fallen over. His blood ran cold as he looked down at the inert form of his colleague Simon Jones. On hands and knees he crawled towards him and turned him over, Jones eyes were closed and his face very pale. He put his ear to the man's chest and gasped with relief, he was breathing. Leyton took out his phone and in an urgent whisper relayed to dispatch what had happened and urged them to send an ambulance and back up immediately. He hung up then took off his jacket and put it under Jones' head. Then on all fours he made his way through the trees to the back of Adela’s cabin.

He knew he should wait for Sullivan or his back up but he knew somehow that Adela Faraday couldn’t afford for him to wait, maybe he was already too late, he prayed not.

When he got within a few feet he stopped and looked around, again he saw and heard nothing. He had taken one step towards the cabin when he heard a car start up. He looked towards where the sound was coming from but saw no lights, it sounded as if it was coming from deep into the woods, he had probably only heard it at all because everywhere was so silent.

He walked around to the side of the cabin hoping he could see through the window but the drapes were drawn. Very slowly and quietly he made his way around to the front of the house where once again the drapes were drawn across the window. He sighed with impatience before trying the door, it was locked. He reached into his pocket and took out a small bag from which he withdrew a lock pick; he had the door open in ten seconds. Crouching down his gun gripped in both hands and his heart beating very fast he very slowly pushed open the door with his foot.

There was a little light from the lamp on the coffee table next to the sofa. He approached hoping and praying that she would be lying there. He looked very carefully over the back of the sofa not wanting her to wake and see him standing there holding a gun. She would be furious, furious and scared to death but he would rather face her furious than dead. But to his great disappointment and ever increasing fear, she was not there.

He looked around the room; she was not in the bed he had seen that immediately. He saw the door to the bathroom door was slightly ajar although no light came from within, he cautiously made his way towards it. He slowly pushed open the door, again with his foot, it swung open, he switched on the light and glanced around but saw nothing amiss. So where the hell was she? Had she left already, without informing either he or Sullivan? But some of her things were still here, a pair of socks and stockings hung over the bath, he touched them, they were damp, her shower gel and soap were still here and her toothbrush. He looked at the shower, he touched the curtain, it was damp too, so she hadn’t long had a shower. He noticed some of the little plastic rings were not attached to the shower curtain.

He went back into the living room and glanced around, there seemed nothing out of place here either, it was as neat and tidy and clean as it had been when he was here earlier in the day. Even the bed was made so she had not been slept in it unless she had made it again, but why do that in the middle of the night. He opened the door of the wardrobe and saw her clothes still hanging there. He checked the drawers, they contained her underwear and night things as well as socks and more stockings. He fingered them, they were fine and delicate, he shut the drawer with a sharp thud, he felt like a pervert.

He looked under the bed, nothing, he stood up and went into the kitchen and from there he looked around the room again slowly this time. Something
was
missing; her purse which had been on the table in the centre of the room.

Her purse had gone as well as the backpack he had seen hanging on the back of the door.

What had she done, had what he had told her frightened her so much that she had fled Mississippi? No, she wouldn’t do that. One of the last things he had said to her was not to go anywhere until she had contacted them and they would get someone to escort her to the airport. If she was scared enough to consider leaving immediately she would have been too scared to venture out alone surely, unless she had panicked. He felt a wave of guilt overtake him until common sense prevailed, he was being stupid, why would she leave without her things, her clothes etcetera. And anyway, even if she had left it still didn’t explain what had happened to Jones.

Just then he heard the sound of a vehicle approaching and another, then several car doors being closed. He went to the front door and opened it. Sullivan met him on the little veranda. His first words were, ‘so our little English pigeon has flown the coop has she’

Leyton frowned annoyed, ‘she’s gone if that’s what you mean.’

Sullivan looked complacent, ‘thought so.’

Before Leyton could speak again Sullivan barged past him and into the cabin. Leyton walked down the steps and directed the paramedics to where Jones lay still unconscious but breathing.  He then spoke to the two uniformed cops who had come with Sullivan. He  told them about the car he’d heard and from which direction the sound had come. They said they would check it out so he left them to it and went back into the cabin.

Sullivan was standing by the drawer he himself had looked in earlier and was holding up a pair off pretty pink panties, he looked at Leyton and grinned like a letch. Leyton swallowed his disgust

Sullivan dropped the panties back in the drawer which he didn’t bother to close then picked up a book that she had left on the bedside table, a crime book of course. He bent down and looked in the bottom drawer, he brought out half a dozen books all of the same variety. He threw some of them on the bed and leafed through two shaking his head and sniggering. He tossed these onto the bed next to the others muttering, ‘crap.’ He walked to the wardrobe and opened the door. He looked inside fingering the clothes.

Leyton said, ‘all her clothes are here.’

‘Not all of them.’ Sullivan said.

‘Oh, you know every item of clothes she possesses do you, Pat?’

‘Don’t need too, common sense, she must have left wearing something or we’d have had a call about a naked woman trying to board a plane for England.’

Leyton was annoyed with Sullivan
’s smugness and sarcasm, ‘I don’t know about you but most good cops would see her leaving her clothes behind as a sign that she left involuntarily.’

Sullivan gave him a sharp look then smiled, ‘unless you’re dealing with someone who wants to throw us of the scent.’

‘Why would Miss Faraday want to do that?’

Sullivan shrugged, ‘because she’s probably on her way to a private airfield with lover boy.’

Leyton with barely suppressed anger snapped ‘you’re such an ass sometimes, Sullivan.’

Sullivan’s face grew dark, ‘I’m not the ass who fell for the charms of a femme fatal.’

The heat rushing Leyton’s face gave him away but he stood his ground, ‘I’ve fallen for no one, Sullivan. What you’re saying makes no sense. She’s been in the country for two weeks, before that she had never been overseas, why would she come to this country and suddenly and inexplicably get involved with a killer? If Hennessey is a killer of course, which we don’t know for certain yet. And why would she give me the raincoat if she was in league with Hennessey. As I’ve said, it makes no sense, and neither do you.’

Sullivan walked up to his partner stopping a foot from him so that Leyton could smell the cigarette smoke on his breath. Sul
livan’s voice was low and condensing, ‘well, let’s see, how do we know for sure that this is her first time overseas, how do we even know she is who she says she is, she might have known Hennessey before coming here. Or she might have come here to be with him, to join him in his chosen career.’

Leyton stared at his partner as though he was mad, ‘that’s crazy, Pat, she…

Sullivan held up his hand, ‘or maybe she did meet him here and fell for him big time and decided to stay with him no matter what he was…or is. Love does strange things to the female of the species, it makes them act strangely. A man like Hennessey would be the ultimate turn on for a woman, especially for a lonely spinster. Women are drawn to dangerous men, they figure they can give them that something extra in bed, and no one can deny that Hennessey is one attractive dude. How many women do you hear about who write to cons, fall in love with them, even marry them in prison?’