The Kiera Hudson Prequels 2 (7 page)

“
I’ll tell you what happened,” I said, never taking my eyes off him. “You rowed with your wife last night because you’ve been having an affair. During the night you tried to convince her that you were sorry and it was her you loved. Before sunrise, and while the rest of us slept, you coaxed her down to the cliffs on the pretext that you wanted to watch the sunrise with her. You kissed her, told her that you loved her, so that she trusted you. We saw you. At first this might have given you cause to panic, but then you saw us stumbling across you as a good thing. You had two independent witnesses who would state you and your wife were very much in love before she died – so why would you have killed her? Once we had passed, you strangled your wife because you knew she would never give you a divorce. She would always be a thorn in your side.”

“
I don’t have to sit here and listen to this…” Mr. Took said, getting up from his chair again.

Tom pushed him back into it.

“
Once you had throttled the life from her, you carried your wife from the car, then threw her body over the cliff edge and into the sea. Then, Mr. Took, you casually walked back to your car. I suspect the reason why you took so long to get back here wasn’t because you went in search of her further down the coast, but because you needed to get your thoughts together – get into character – before you came bursting into the inn telling us that your wife had fallen to her death,” I said.

Mr. Took looked at me and I couldn’t help but notice a sudden spark of fear in his eyes. “I don’t know what you think you’ve seen down at the cliffs,” he tried to bluster, “but this is all just a fantasy you’ve created.”

Ignoring him, I looked at Tom. “I was wrong last night.”

“
About what?” Tom asked me with a frown.

“
Mr. Took didn’t bring his wife all the way out here because he didn’t want to spend any money on her,” I said. “He brought his wife out to this remote spot because he always intended to murder her here. I suspect he knew that it would take some considerable time for the police to get here. That would give plenty of time for Melinda’s body to drift far out to sea and perhaps never to be found…”

“
You think you’ve got it all figured out,” Mr. Took suddenly sneered.

I looked back at him and he wore a hateful and contemptuous leer on his face. The true monster was revealing himself.

“
I think me and my friend have you all figured out, Mr .Took,” I said.

“
And even if you have,” Took suddenly grinned. “How will you ever prove it? You’re just guessing.”

I knew Took had murdered his wife, but I just couldn’t prove it and that drove me half-crazy with frustration, and he knew it. There was something missing and I just couldn’t
see
it. I looked away from him, his smug expression was starting to anger me.

“
And I bet it was you who smashed into my car this morning,” Tom said. “Who else could it have been? Yours was the only other car parked here.”

“
Where was your car parked?” The innkeeper suddenly asked.

“
Right out front,” Tom said.

“
That’s a real pity,” the innkeeper said. “I don’t have CCTV out the front. But I’ve got a camera out back. Had to have it fitted for insurance. Been burgled a few years back. It’s only a small little camera. You’d never know it was there. I’ve got it concealed so I could catch the little buggers who broke in…”

“
Shhh!” I said, raising my hand and going to the window. I looked out at the small car park at the front. It was then I realised what it was I hadn’t been
seeing
. Where was Mr. Took’s bright red sports car?

“
Where is your car, Mr .Took?” I said, spinning around to look at him.

“
Parked out back, of course,” he sneered. “You don’t think I would park a classic like that out front for all to see. It would get stol…” Then as if realising his mistake, he suddenly clamped his mouth shut.

“
Show me this CCTV,” I said to the innkeeper.

“
Follow me,” he grunted. “I never bother to check it. I’d only ever take a look if anyone broke in again.”

He led the way around the other side of the bar. There was a small monitor, which was off. The innkeeper switched it on and the screen flickered into life. I could now see the small parking area concealed at the back of the inn. Mr. Took’s red sports car was parked there.

“
Can you take the picture back?” I asked the innkeeper.

“
Sure,” he said, pressing the rewind button on a small DVD player tucked beneath the monitor. I glanced up and over the bar. Tom was still standing next to Took as he sat in the chair, his face now drained of all colour. The young waitress stood by the door to the inn.

“
What’s this?” The innkeeper breathed deeply as if in shock.

I looked down at the monitor, then back at Tom. “You’d better come and look at this.”

Tom came around the other side of the bar and stared down at the monitor. The time in the top right-hand corner of the screen read 05:36 hrs of today’s date. The car park at the back of the inn was shrouded in darkness but, the image was clear enough to see Mr. Took’s gleaming red sports car. Then from the corner of the screen appeared Took. He carried something in his arms. As he got closer to his car and the camera, I could clearly see that he was carrying the lifeless body of his wife in his arms. Her long, blonde hair trailed over his arms like liquid gold. Her eyes were open as was her mouth. Her face looked to be permanently frozen with a look of fear. At his car, Took cradled his wife’s dead body in one arm as he fumbled with the door. He opened it, then glancing back over his shoulder at the inn to make sure he wasn’t being watched, he forced Melinda’s body into the car. He reached inside, and as if she was nothing more than a bundle of old rubbish, he crammed her body out of sight down into the foot well.

“
Jesus,” the innkeeper whistled through his teeth. “You were right.”

Before I’d had a chance to say anything, there was a scream. I looked up to see Mr. Took leap from his chair. He pushed the young waitress away from the door. She fell against the stone wall. In a blink of an eye, Tom bounded over the bar and was chasing after Mr. Took as he fled out the door.

Elbowing the innkeeper out of the way, I raced around the bar and out of the door after Tom. Ahead, I could see Took racing over the scrubland that led to the cliffs. Tom was at his heels. Then, as if in the middle of a game of rugby, Tom leapt into the air, wrapping his arms around Took and bringing him down to the ground. Took began to kick and punch out as Tom wrestled with him. The innkeeper was a big man, but he wasted no time in racing past me and assisting Tom. He pulled Took free as Tom wrestled with him.

“
I don’t like no trouble at my inn,” he said, rolling back his fist and driving it into Took’s nose.

I cringed at the hideous crunching sound that followed as blood gushed from Took’s nostrils.

“
You’ve broken my nose…” Took cried.

“
Shut your mouth, murdering scum!” the innkeeper said as he drove his fist once more into Took’s face. Took stumbled backwards, then collapsed unconscious into the grass.

Tom got to his feet, brushing dirt, grass, and sand from his clothes and hair. “Are you okay?” he asked me.

“
Fine,” I said. “And you?”

“
Never better,” he grinned at me.

In the distance I could hear the very faint sound of police sirens. I looked at the innkeeper and he looked back at me.

“
I don’t know what it is with you two, but something tells me that you don’t want to be around when the police arrive,” he said.

“
You guessed right,” I said. Would he cover for us? The guy didn’t like trouble.

He looked over his shoulder in the direction of the approaching sirens, then back at me and Tom. “I’ve got the CCTV evidence and I’m sure the police can figure out the rest,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, you two kids just disappeared while I apprehended myself a killer.”

“
But you know my name,” I reminded him.

“
Do I?” he winked back at me.

Knowing that he would keep mine and Tom’s secret, we turned away. I had only taken two steps, when I took the key to my room from my coat pocket and handed it to Tom. “Grab my case from my room and I’ll meet you be the car.”

“
Why?”

“
I just want to have a word with the innkeeper,” I said.

“
Okay.” Tom ran back toward the inn.

Tom

With the sound of the police sirens growing ever closer, I raced across the patch of scrubland and toward the inn. The door was open and it wailed back and forth in the wind. I had been right; this place was as creepy as hell. I headed into the bar area. The young waitress was standing by the fireplace, a hand to her head. A thick stream of blood trickled through her fingers. I headed for the stairs and Kiera’s room, then stopping, I turned back.

“
Are you okay?” I asked her.

“
I grazed my head against the wall of the fireplace as Mr. Took pushed me out of the way,” she said, dabbing the blood away with her fingertips. She seemed to shiver as she looked down at the blood.

“
The cut doesn’t look deep,” I said, taking a step closer to her, yet mindful that Kiera and me still had to escape before the police arrived. The sound of the approaching sirens grew louder with each passing second. I saw a napkin on one of the nearby tables and snatched it up.

“
Use this,” I said, handing it to her.

She closed her hand around mine. Her touch was almost ice cold. No wonder she had shivered. Perhaps she was going into shock. I looked into her eyes, and where I had only moments before believed them to be a clear blue, they now sparkled hazel in the light from the nearby fire.

“
Thank you,” she said, looking right back at me. Then, without warning, she leant forward and kissed me gently on the side of my neck. Her lips were soft and they lingered longer than a simple display of gratitude.

Taking a step backwards, I said, “You’re welcome.” I pulled my hand from hers, her long, cold fingers brushing one last time over mine.

I turned and headed for the stairs, and as I went I noticed that there was a small slip of paper in my hand. With the sirens close now, I pushed the piece of paper into my pocket and raced up the stairs to Kiera’s room.

Kiera

I turned to face the innkeeper. Mr. Took still lay unconscious at his feet.

“
Why are you really prepared to lie to the police? You could get into trouble if the truth ever came out. You don’t even know me.”

The innkeeper smiled. “I think I met your father once. He seemed like a good man. It seems only right that I help his little girl if I can.”

“
You knew my father?” I breathed.

The innkeeper looked back over his shoulder in the direction of the approaching sirens, then at me. “Go, Kiera, your secrets are safe with me.”

“
But…”

“
Run, before they catch you,” he whispered.

Turning, I raced back across the scrubland and toward the inn. I reached my beat up old Mini just as Tom came rushing out into the car park, my case under his arm. I took it from him.

“
Follow me,” he said. “When we’ve put some distance between here and us, I’ll stop.”

“
Okay,” I said.

The wailing sirens were close now. Throwing my case onto the passenger seat, I climbed behind the wheel and started my car. As always, she started first time.

“
Good girl,” I whispered, backing at speed out of the car park and onto the road.

With Tom right behind me in his car, I sped away. I glanced back in the rear-view mirror just once. The innkeeper was still standing in the field. The burnt autumn sun cast long, black shadows behind him. From a distance, those shadows made the innkeeper look like he had giant black wings.