The Reckoning (4 page)

SIX

“Lucy.”

“Huh!”

“Lucy!” Donna tried again to get the
attention of the girl on the floor; she was resting on one of the cushions,
Jason’s laptop in front of her, her attention focused on the screen before her.
Looking over her shoulder the constable saw that the young girl was on
Facebook, playing a game that seemed to consist of matching coloured blocks.
What the attraction was, Donna couldn’t tell, but it seemed to require all of
Lucy’s attention.

“What?” Lucy asked without turning away from
the screen.

Donna ignored the grin Jason directed at her
as she lowered herself onto a cushion a short distance from the girl. It didn’t
surprise her that Jason found Lucy’s distraction amusing, she was beginning to
get the impression that he found a lot of things amusing. “Can you leave that
for a moment, please?” With as much patience as she could summon she waited for
Lucy to finish her game and pay attention to her.

Her game over Lucy pushed herself up and
around so she was facing the constable, a look of curiosity and annoyance on
her face.

“Do you know the number for your school?”
Donna asked. Looking at her the constable was struck by how pale Lucy seemed.
She supposed it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise; Lucy was almost certainly
still recovering from the shock of her brother trying to kill her.

Jason, Lily and she had all done their best
to distract Lucy from what was going on up the road at her family’s farm. Their
efforts had been met with little success, however, and in the end they resorted
to the internet. It worked, though it was still possible to see the effect the
morning’s events, what part she had taken in them, and the events of the
previous few days, had had on the young girl. Instead of fourteen, Lucy seemed
years younger, barely a teen in fact.

“My school?” Lucy said, confused. “Why do you
need the number for my school?”

“Because they need to be told why you aren’t
there, before any of your teachers start to worry about you. After what’s
happened here this past week or so they’re bound to wonder about you not
turning up,” Donna told her. It hadn’t been she who thought of the need to
contact Lucy’s school and reassure them that everything was alright; she was
the one who had been elected to make the call though.

As Jason had pointed out, the call would be
received better from her than from either him or Lily. If he or Lily called on
Lucy’s behalf there was every chance that the school would call the police,
suspecting that something was wrong.

“We also need to know if you have any
relatives who can take care of you,” Donna said. “I know you don’t have anyone
in the village but do you know of anyone who lives elsewhere?”

“Auntie Kelly, she lives in Canada with Uncle
Frank,” Lucy answered after thinking about the question for a few moments.

“Is there anyone closer?” Donna asked,
thinking that it would take a while to get hold of a relative in Canada, and
longer still to explain the situation to them and get them to England to take
care of Lucy, assuming they had the money for the trip.

“Grandpa Howard, but he lives in an old
people’s home.”

“Isn’t there anyone else?”

Lucy shook her head. “Not that I know of.”

Hearing that Donna looked uncertainly at
Jason, who was at his desk, not sure what to do; she was in a completely
unfamiliar situation.

“She can stay here for a few days, I guess,
if there’s nowhere else for her to go,” Jason said in response to the unasked
question, though he knew it wasn’t the most ideal of situations. Lucy didn’t
know him, and he didn’t know her, but she needed somewhere to stay. “Do you
know how to contact your aunt in Canada?” he asked, turning to the young girl.

Lucy nodded. “She’s on Facebook.”

“Do you have a phone number or anything for
her? Some way to get in touch with her other than through Facebook; I’m not
sure it would be a good idea to try and explain everything that’s happened that
way.”

Before the young girl could answer the
doorbell rang, catching them all by surprise. As one they looked around, as if
the person at the door was just going to walk in. After a few moments, during
which time they all remained frozen in surprise, Jason got to his feet and left
the room.

“Inspector,” he greeted the man when he saw
who was at the door. “Have you come to take our statements?” The look on the
man’s face suggested otherwise, in fact it suggested there was something wrong,
but he didn’t want to jump to any conclusions.

“No, Mr Denton,” Anderson said with a shake
of his head. “I’m looking for Constable Harp, and I need to speak to Lucy
Davis, are they still here?”

“Yes.” Jason nodded, taking a step back from
the door so the DI could enter.

Anderson quickly strode into the living room,
where he stared disapprovingly at Donna, who, as far as he could tell, was
still on the cushion she had occupied during his previous visit. “Constable,
why are you still here?” he asked, his voice suggesting that she should be
elsewhere. “Do you not have duties to attend to? You are after all the only
officer this village has at this time.”

Donna flushed at the inspector’s words. “Yes,
Sir, I do have duties to attend to, and that’s what I am doing,” she said,
keeping her voice as calm as she could though she was stung by the suggestion
that she was ignoring her duties. “I was ordered to stay with Lucy Davis and
ensure that she remains safe.”

“And what if someone has a problem? You’re
currently the only officer left of this village’s complement, you should be at
the station in case anyone needs to report a crime, or otherwise has need of an
officer.”

“The station is locked, Sir, and everyone
knows that if they need an officer when the station is locked their phone call
will be forwarded to whichever officer is on duty. I’ve already made sure that
any calls to the station are forwarded to my phone so I can deal with them.”
Without thinking about what she was doing Donna reached into her pocket for a
chocolate bar. Unwrapping it she took a large bite, filling her mouth with as
much as she could fit in. The sugar would make her feel better, she was sure,
and just then she felt as though she needed it.

Anderson appeared nauseated by the sight of
Donna consuming her chocolate bar but quickly overcame it. “That may be,
Constable, but it’s my opinion that you should unlock the station and stay
there until such time as you are relieved,” he said after a few moments. “There
isn’t just the possibility that someone from the village may have a problem for
you to deal with. Until the situation here is resolved, which may take some
time given recent news, there will be a number of officers here from various
departments. The station’s facilities, such as they may be – his voice made
plain his opinion of the facilities the village’s police station was likely to
possess – might be needed.”

“Yes, Sir; may I ask what the recent news
is?” Donna half expected to have her head bitten off for daring to pose such a
question, and was a little surprised when it didn’t happen.

“Michael Davis has escaped.”

Donna stared at the inspector, her heart
racing in her chest. A whimper from the young girl at her side diverted her
attention and she turned to Lucy; before she could think of anything to do or
say to reassure the girl though, Lily was there.

“H-how did he escape?” The tremor in her
voice startled Donna; she couldn’t think where it had come from, or why it had
suddenly appeared.

“At this time I don’t know,” Anderson told
her. “I’m just about to head into town so I can get the details and begin
coordinating the search for him. First, though, I thought I should speak to
both you and his sister. Do either of you have any idea where Michael Davis is
likely to go now that he’s escaped?”

“No, Sir; I was just asking Lucy about
family, to make arrangements for her care when you arrived. There’s only one
family member in the UK as far as Lucy is aware, isn’t that correct.” She
looked over at the young girl, who nodded solemnly, her eyes wide with alarm at
the news Anderson had delivered. “A grandfather, who’s apparently in a home,
it’s unlikely Michael is going to go to him for help.”

“What about friends, Miss Davis?” Anderson
asked, focusing his attention on Lucy, who was being comforted by Lily. “Does
your brother have any friends he might turn to for help?” Lucy shrugged. “Come
on, you must know if your brother has friends,” he said, trying and failing to
keep the exasperation her response inspired from his voice. “This place isn’t
that big,” he swept his hand round in a gesture that was clearly meant to
encompass the village, “if he has friends here you must know about them. How
about friends from school? He only left a couple of years ago, does he keep in
touch with anyone he went to school with? Anyone he might go to for help?”

Lucy shrugged again as she trembled in Lily’s
arms, clearly suffering a relapse of the shock that had overcome her earlier
that morning when her brother tried to run her down with his Land Rover.

“Oh come on!” Anderson snapped. “You must
know if your brother has friends, even if they aren’t in the village. You know
what your brother’s done, it’s vital that we catch him again, and quickly. The
more you can tell me about him, and anywhere he might go, the better our
chances of doing so before he hurts anyone else.”

Donna wasn’t sure whether the DI was
oblivious to the shock the young girl was suffering, or he just didn’t care
about it, but she didn’t like the way he was speaking to Lucy. “Sir!” she
remonstrated. “I don’t think Lucy is in a position to answer your questions
right now. It might be best if you go to town and sort things out there,” she
said, keeping her voice as respectful as she could, despite the overwhelming
urge to tell him to get the hell out of there. “If I’m able to find out
anything about where Michael might go, or who he might turn to for help, I’ll
contact you.”

A flash of anger crossed Anderson’s face at
being spoken to in such a way by a junior officer. He quickly changed his mind
about reprimanding her though when Jason stepped forward, a warning look on his
face. “I want to hear from you the moment you find out anything, Constable, and
I expect to hear that you’re at the station and available to officers working
on this case whenever they need your assistance.” With that he turned on his
heel and strode from the house.

“Yes, sir,” Donna responded, though she
doubted her words were heard as the front door slammed closed on them.

SEVEN

Thanks to the SatNav in Simon Glenn’s car,
Michael was able to find the businessman’s home without any problems. He was
glad the man had it, and that he had his home address programmed into it; without
the SatNav he would have had a much harder time finding the address he
discovered in the man’s wallet. It was in an area of town he was unfamiliar
with.

He stopped the car in the drive of a pleasant
medium-sized house. It was as big as his family’s farmhouse, though a great
deal newer and almost certainly more valuable, and got out. The large hedge
that ran around the front garden blocked it from the street, meaning he didn’t
have to worry about being seen as he made his way from the car to the front door.

Despite the house’s privacy, Michael didn’t
want to take any chances on being seen. He strode to the front door and quickly
unlocked it so he could slip inside. He closed the door behind him and
immediately stopped, surprised, and a little alarmed, by the sound of music
that came to him from the first floor. He hadn’t expected to find anyone at
home at that time of the day.

He’d come to the businessman’s home thinking
it would provide him with a safe place to stay. Somewhere he would be able to
rest for a few hours, have something to eat, and work out what he was going to
do. The music suggested his decision had been a bad one.

Angry that nothing seemed to go right for
him, no matter what he did, he stalked to the stairs. He ascended them as
stealthily as he could, the baton he’d taken from Constable Phillips extended
and ready in his hand. It took him only a few moments to reach the top of the
stairs, where he turned to his left and followed the music toward the rear of
the house, and the bedroom it was coming from.

As he approached he saw the bedroom door was
ajar; he paused before he reached it, not wanting to be seen if he would avoid
it. Creeping closer, he peered through the door, and immediately felt his anger
grow.

Tightening his grip on the baton Michael
threw open the door and leaped through. “You fucking slut!” he yelled as he
reached the attractive teen on her knees in the middle of the room.

He grabbed the surprised girl by the hair and
hauled her up and away from her half-naked boyfriend. “You dirty fucking slut!”
Angrily, he threw her onto the bed that took up almost half the bedroom before
turning to her boyfriend.

The boy was struggling to pull his trousers
and underwear up over his still hard cock when Michael hit him with the baton.
The blow staggered the boy and he lost his grip on his trousers, falling over
them as he took a step back to try and regain his balance. A scream sounded
from the bed behind him, but Michael ignored it as he focused his attention on
the boy, hitting him again and again.

While the girl screamed Michael battered her
boyfriend, alternately striking him with the baton and kicking him with his
booted foot. For the first minute or so the boy protested the attack and tried
to protect himself. Soon enough, though, his protests were reduced to little
more than moans of pain that continued unendingly. At the same time his efforts
at protecting himself ceased as his arms fell broken and useless across his
body.

It was only when the boy lay still, and even
his moans of pain had died away, that Michael left him. He dropped the baton on
the floor at the side of the body and crossed quickly to the bed. When he got
there, he grabbed the girl’s foot and dragged her toward him.

“Shut the fuck up, bitch!” He slapped her
hard across the face, cutting her off mid-scream.

The slap rocked the girl’s head to one side
as she fell back on the bed and he looked down on her. He took in the school
uniform she was wearing, or mostly wearing. She was still wearing her shoes and
socks, as well as her skirt, though it had flipped up when he threw her onto
the bed to reveal her red underwear. Her blouse was unbuttoned and wide, and
the black bra beneath it undone, showing her b-cup breasts; her nipples still
hard from her boyfriend’s ministrations.

She was an attractive girl, almost as good
looking as Emma had been, he thought, and the sight of her aroused him. He felt
his cock twitch in his jeans as he crawled onto the bed, moving up until he was
alongside the girl, who trembled violently as she watched him approach.

It wasn’t until he leaned over to kiss her
that she came out of her shocked immobility. Shoving him away she rolled across
the bed to escape him; she fell to the floor when she reached the side of the
bed unexpectedly and hurriedly scrambled to her feet so she could dart for the
door. She was halfway there when he caught her, spinning her round and pushing
her up against the wall; the light flicked on as she hit the switch with her
shoulder.

Michael pinned the girl to the wall and bent
his head to kiss her, crushing his lips against hers. He didn’t care in the
slightest that she gained absolutely no pleasure from the kiss. Her efforts to
push him away amused him, doubly so because she lacked the strength to move
him, and he allowed her to continue as he groped at her breasts, squeezing them
painfully and pinching her nipples.

Her efforts to escape became more and more
frantic as he continued to kiss and grope her. Finally, when his hand left her
breast to reach under her skirt, she brought her knee up sharply, catching him
in the groin.

Michael gasped, doubled up, and collapsed to
the floor, clutching at his balls as pain flashed through his body. His first
thought was to lie there until the pain subsided, but he couldn’t, he realised
that; he had to force himself back to his feet. The girl had run from the room
and he couldn’t allow her to get out of the house or get to a phone.

With difficulty, he limped after her. She was
at the bottom of the stairs when he reached the small landing in the middle
and, fearful that she would get to the front door before he could catch her, he
threw himself at her. He crashed into her heavily, bearing her to the floor
with his weight and his momentum.

He quickly pushed himself up while she lay
there, stunned and winded, and grabbing her arm he rolled her over. “You
fucking bitch!” He slapped her, rocking her head to the side. “I’m going to
make you pay for that.” He slapped her again, rolling her head the other way.

Bending down, he crushed his lips to hers again,
his hand going once more to her breast so he could pinch her nipple painfully.
That wasn’t what he wanted just then, however, and he quickly took his lips
from hers, moving them down so he could take her nipple into his mouth while
his hand descended to her skirt. As he bit on her nipple, provoking a fresh
moan of pain, he flipped her skirt out of the way, giving him access to her
panties, which he quickly ripped away.

With a negligent toss Michael discarded the
panties he’d just torn from the girl’s hips and pushed her thighs apart. “You
like this, don’t you, bitch!” he said, mistaking the moan that escaped the
girl’s lips as he shoved a finger into her for one of pleasure, rather than one
of pain, as it really was.

He continued to bite and chew at her nipples,
moving his mouth from one breast to the other as he fingered her roughly. With
no thought for how she felt about what he was doing he shoved his fingers in
and out of her.

“Get the fuck off me!” The girl managed to
cut off her moans of pain long enough to cry the words as she grabbed at his
hair, hauling his mouth away from her breast. When he wrenched himself free
from her grasp she lashed out at him, using her entire body to try and break
away from him.

Michael was forced to pull his fingers from
her as he found himself being struck by fists and feet. He needed both his
hands to subdue her as she did her best to escape. A wild swing of the girl’s
fist caught him on the jaw, rocking him back, and before he could recover she
shoved him away with her foot.

Seeing her scramble to her feet and dart for
the front door he surged to his feet and desperately threw himself after her.
She had her hand on the door when he collided with her, crushing her body
against it as the door was slammed closed by their combined weight. Her cry of
pain was cut off as he punched her in the kidney and squashed her face against
the small pane of glass set in the door.

She fought to get free, swinging her arms
wildly, but to no avail. In response to her efforts he punched her again,
hammering his fist into her kidney. He was tempted to take her, right there, up
against the door, but the small amount of common sense he possessed told him
not to. There was too great a chance that someone might come to the door, a
postman, a delivery man, a neighbour. It didn’t actually matter who might turn
up, only that someone might.

With a vice-like grip Michael took the girl
by the back of the neck. Turning away from the door he shoved her down the
passage and gave her a kick in the ass that knocked her off-balance and sent
her flying. Before she could recover, let alone get to her feet, he was on her;
grabbing her by the hair he dragged her into the kitchen.

He let go of her for a moment so he could
kick the door closed, just to be sure no-one who came to the front door could
see anything. When he turned back he saw her crawling toward the back door.

“Get the fuck back here, bitch!” Michael
grabbed her by a foot and hauled her back to him. He was ready for it when she
rolled over and lashed out at him. He caught her foot with ease and held her
legs apart while he watched, amused, as she writhed and squirmed in an effort
to break free of his grasp.

He continued to hold onto her feet as he
dropped to his knees between her thighs, a cruel smile on his face. He let go
of her then, only to grab her by the throat before she could make another
attempt to get away. With his other hand he undid his belt and trousers,
awkwardly shoving them to his knees.

He ignored her frantic struggles as she
fought for air and tried desperately to free herself from the hand that was
slowly choking her. As she tugged and scratched futilely at his arm, he flipped
her skirt out of the way and then took hold of himself with his free hand.

He guided himself to her entrance and thrust
forward, spearing her in one quick move that forced a strangled cry of pain
from her. He needed both hands to hold his body up as he thrust into her so,
reluctantly, he let go of her throat.

Able to breathe once more, the girl drew in
deep ragged breaths to fill her lungs as she again tried to fight him off. She
was weak from the choking, nonetheless she struck him about the head and
shoulders with as much strength as she could muster. Desperately, she tried to
push him off her, to force him to take away the invader that made her feel as
though she was being split apart.

None of the blows the girl directed at him
were all that strong, and they certainly didn’t harm him much. They distracted
him from his pleasure, though, and he paused, his cock buried in the girl, so
he could hold himself up with one hand while he looked down on her.

“Fucking lie still, you bitch!” he ordered,
punching her in the face.

When that didn’t stop her efforts to fight
him off he hit her again, pushing his body up so he could put more of his
strength into the blow.

A third blow followed the first two but it
wasn’t until he hit her for a fourth time, putting everything he had into the
blow, that she finally lay still. Blood ran from her broken nose and bubbled up
on her lips with every shallow breath she took. He paid it no mind, though, as
he returned to raping her, thrusting his cock viciously in and out of her
unresisting body with all the energy and enthusiasm he possessed.

His thrusts became more frenzied as his balls
tightened and he felt his orgasm build. It was only a few moments before he
exploded, filling her with his seed.

Drained, he collapsed on top of the girl,
where he lay for almost a minute, until he recovered enough to lift himself up
and off her. Rolling to one side he lay there a while longer; finally his chest
stopped heaving and he felt able to move again.

A gargled noise reminded him that the girl
was still alive. He hadn’t killed her, as he had the other girls he’d raped,
and he immediately moved to rectify that. Rolling onto his side he reached out
to close a hand around the girl’s throat; he squeezed tight, choking her until
her chest stopped rising and falling and the blood on her lips ceased to bubble
with her exhaled breaths.

With the girl dead he got to his feet and
shuffled over to the sink, where he ran a cloth under the hot tap to clean his
cock with. He then dried himself with a tea towel that hung from a rail on the
wall. That done, he pulled his boxers and trousers up.

A rumbling from his stomach reminded him he
hadn’t eaten since breakfast, several hours and a lot of energy in the past.
Hunger wasn’t the only thing he was feeling just then, he was also thirsty;
reaching over he lifted the kettle to the tap so he could fill it.

Once the kettle was on he busied himself
preparing a mug of strong coffee. He used the biggest mug he could find, which
was still far too small for his liking. His mug at home was huge, more like a
bowl than a mug, and he filled it to the brim whenever he made himself a drink.