Chapter 59

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

T im had assumed that Constable Rawlins lived locally, so he was surprised to find her address was in a plush area of Oxford. He was driving too fast. He was angry, but most of all, he was fearful for Ana. She was alone with a man who had a lot to lose. Ahead of him, the lights had turned red.

‘Shit,' he groaned.

For a moment he considered calling 101 himself, in case his mother forgot, but a honking behind him jolted him back to the present moment, and he saw that the lights had turned green. He pushed his foot down on the accelerator. He was minutes away from Rawlins's apartment block. At first, he wasn't sure he had the correct address. He checked the card. It had to be right; Ana had signed it herself.

After a few seconds of thought, he decided to buzz the flat below, hoping someone would be in.

‘Hello,' said a man's voice.

‘Hello, sorry to trouble you. I can't get a reply from number 8. I wonder, would…'

‘I'm not surprised,' said the man. ‘She's got the music on so loud, I doubt she can hear anything else. Can you ask her to consider the neighbours? It's past ten.'

‘Yes, of course.'

The door clicked and Tim rushed into the foyer. He could hear the pulsating music. Ignoring the lift, he raced up the stairs.

Ana screamed, the punch taking her by surprise. Fearing someone might hear, Luke turned up her music player.

‘What would you do in my position?' he shouted, standing over her, his voice shaking. ‘Would you allow some jobsworth to ruin your life? Because that's what you're doing.'

Ana's jaw was throbbing, and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. She knew her eye was swollen because she had trouble opening it. ‘You know this is making things worse,' she said. It was difficult to open her mouth, and there was a strange clicking sound when she did. Shit , she thought, her hands trembling. He's broken my jaw. How is he going to explain this? There's no way he's going to let me go.

Her mind tried to organise itself into coherent thoughts, but there was too much pain to focus on. Somehow she had to sidetrack him and get to the kitchen, where she could grab some sort of weapon, but even then, she would most likely be too weak to tackle him.

A loud banging on the door startled them both. ‘Turn that bloody music down, or I'm calling the police.'

Luke turned to her. ‘Don't make a sound,' he warned. Then he called, ‘Sorry, mate, turning it down now.'

The banging on the door continued. ‘Open up, you arse 'ole.'

‘Shit,' mumbled Luke. He lifted Ana from the floor and into an armchair before going to the door. He slid the safety chain across and then opened the door, his mouth partly open with the apology he was about to make, but he'd barely got the first word out when a machete sliced through the chain.

The man kicked the door open, and Ana saw he was wearing a balaclava. The Vigilante. Ana wasn't sure whether to be relieved or afraid.

She gasped when The Vigilante punched Luke hard in the stomach. Luke heaved as he struggled to breathe but was punched again several times, first in the face and then the groin. He battled to fight back, but the rage in The Vigilante burnt wildly, enhancing his strength.

Luke fell to the floor only to have The Vigilante kick him violently in the ribs several times.

Ana sat frozen in shock. Her eyes locked on the machete that The Vigilante had dropped to the floor. Luke was struggling to protect himself and had curled his body into a trembling ball of fear, but The Vigilante was not stopping, and Ana felt Luke's warm blood as it showered onto her dress.

‘You no good piece of scum. Covering for someone who'd knocked down an old lady. What kind of a policeman are you?' yelled The Vigilante.

‘Stop,' screamed Ana. ‘Please stop.' She forced her shaking legs to work, pulled herself from the chair, and dived for the machete. ‘I said stop!' she screamed. The machete wavered dangerously in her hand and Ana stood, shaking, her eyes not leaving The Vigilante.

‘I should slit his throat,' he said menacingly, looking down at Luke, who was now groaning and grovelling to escape. ‘You covered up that accident. You don't deserve to live.'

‘I'm sorry,' quivered Luke.

Blood seeped from his cheek onto the snowy white carpet and Ana oddly wondered how much it would cost to clean.

Luke attempted to stand, but his legs collapsed under him.

‘He needs an ambulance,' said Ana.

The distant sound of sirens eased the rush of adrenalin pulsating through her veins, and her body relaxed.

The Vigilante turned to the door. ‘Thank you,' he said when they were outside.

Ana gripped the machete. Why the hell was he thanking her? She swiped the back of her hand across her mouth, where it was wet with blood.

‘I don't know who you are, but I know you saved me, and I'm truly grateful for that. I'm in no fit state to arrest you, but I beg you, please hand yourself in.'

He closed the door behind them and lifted the balaclava.

Ana gasped. Of all the people they'd imagined The Vigilante to be, it had never occurred to anyone that it could be Tim. Quiet, unassuming Tim. But, of course, why wouldn't it have been him? After all, he'd been let down by the police. The accident had changed his life, and his mother's, forever. Thinking about it now, she realised how that anger must have crushed him. The police had seemed to do nothing, and he had been right. They hadn't done anything to find the culprit because Luke had known who it was all along.

Tim held his hand out, and she obediently passed him the machete.

‘I heard your conversation over the phone,' he said. He looked at her closely. ‘You need an ambulance. I think your jaw is broken.'

She knew he was right. The pain was becoming excruciating now.

Tim sighed wearily and clicked into his phone. ‘Just me, Mum,' he said. ‘Is Penny with you? … Oh, good. … Yes, she's fine. She had an accident. … All okay. I'll be home as soon as I can.' He hung up.

Ana continued to stare at him in silent shock.

He pulled the balaclava over his head. ‘It's not the time, not yet,' he said. ‘But I will hand myself in. I didn't kill that girl, you know that?' He dropped the machete into his rucksack.

‘I know,' she said.

He didn't even ask how she knew. ‘They'll be here soon,' he said. ‘I need a huge favour from you.'

‘I won't tell anyone until we find Laine's killer,' she said.

He smiled and handed her a card. She didn't have to read it to know what it said.

She watched him quickly walk down the corridor to the lift, then she sat on the hall floor and waited for the ambulance to arrive. In all the panic, she knew no one would notice Tim. It seemed several occupants of the flats had called the police, too, and within minutes, Ana's apartment was cordoned off.