Chapter Fourteen

Andrew

Ben’s office was cluttered with screens, and I stood shoulder to shoulder with Mitch and Cillian as Ben rewound the evening’s arrivals. When he got to nine forty-two, he paused. “That him?”

“Bloody hell?” Mitch muttered. “Bastard knows where the cameras are.”

“I know.” Ben clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. “Kept his face turned away the entire time.”

“Go back a few seconds, can you,” I asked.

He did just that.

“There, a half-decent profile. What do you think, Cillian? You’ve seen him in the flesh.”

“Yeah, it’s him.” He nodded. “And now we know he’s been here tonight.”

“But now where is he?” Mitch turned to the bank of screens, each one showing a different room.

“I dunno, and he hasn’t left.” Ben shrugged, though a frown creased his brow. “It’s a mystery.”

“Not even by a fire exit?” I asked.

“Nah, they’re alarmed, we’d know if he’d slipped out.”

I gave a frustrated sigh and turned to the screen that meant I could see Chelsea watching the orgy. She was leaning on a pillar, head tipped and chewing on her bottom lip.

My cock stirred; she was getting more turned on by the minute at Red Leather. The sooner I got her back to Rose Cottage and into the playroom the better. She had needs that were mine to attend to.

“We should do a physical sweep,” Mitch said. “Maybe he’s put a cap on or something, there’s a guy in that room wearing one.”

“Could be him.” Cillian frowned at the screen. “Same height, though he’s shirtless now, so we don’t have his clothing to go on.”

“Yeah, come on, let’s get out there.” I tapped the small of my back. My gun was reassuring pressed against my skin.

“You guys better not let anyone see you’re carrying.” Ben scowled at me. “I’d lose my fucking job for letting you in here.”

“Hey, chill,” Cillian said. “We’re pros, you know.”

“Pros at something.” He shook his head and sat heavily.

“It’s cool,” I said and squeezed his shoulder. “We’re here to sort out the bad guys, we’re not the ones you need to worry about.”

* * * *

Chelsea

A woman with blonde hair had two men fucking her, one in the pussy and one in the ass. She appeared to be in ecstasy already, but when another slotted his cock into her mouth, she arched her spine and a mewling, satisfied groan vibrated through her chest.

“Fuck yeah,” one of the guys said, clamping his hands on her breasts. “Take us all.”

My pussy was wet, leaking onto my inner thighs. If I thought I could get away with it I would have stripped and slid onto the huge bed, taken some of the cock on offer. But that would end badly. There was no way Andrew would consider me being fucked by strangers as a bit of fun. I’d be spanked into next week. Hell, I wouldn’t sit down for a month.

My ass tingled at the memory of the spanking. He’d been so stern and dominant and had reddened my bum in a way that told me it wasn’t his first time bending a woman over and disciplining an ass.

What had he done here, at this club? Had he writhed on this very bed, women straddling his cock at the same time as straddling his face? Did it bother him if other bloke’s cocks touched him? Was double penetration his thing?

“Keep fucking still if you know what’s good for you.”

I gasped as something solid was rammed into my side, my ribs, and a big dark presence loomed down on me.

“What the…?”

“Do exactly what you’re told and I’ll make this quick.” Thick breath, stale and coffee-scented. “And maybe I won’t shoot you.”

“Who are you?” Panic seared through me as I glanced at the hooked nose and weak chin of the man who, from what I gathered, had the end of a gun shoved against me.

“This way.” He slid his arm around my waist and dragged me backward, away from the orgy, away from the overhead lights that were dim anyway.

I searched frantically for Andrew, for Mitch or Cillian. Where were they?

“I’ve seen you,” he said, hate heavy in his voice. “With one of the Irish bastards who thought it was okay to fuck me up last week. I’ve seen you in here with him…tonight.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Now I knew it was him. Brian Dix, the murderer we’d come here in search of.

Murderer. Oh fuck. “Whatever you’re planning, you won’t get away with it.” Adrenaline swarmed through my system. I felt sick. “Cillian, and…and his friends will be here any moment.”

“We’ll see. I’m getting good at this. That’s what practice does.” He stopped at the emergency exit, glanced around, and then leaned onto it. The damn thing opened up into a dark alley, no alarm, no lights, nothing.

Fuck!

The cool night air hit me, and the door shut again with a resounding slam. The silence of night surrounded me.

“Handy knowing where to cut wires,” he said, the gun now on show. “Even handier when clubs are full of dumbass security guys who mainly like to watch the punters fucking rather than protecting them.”

“My…my boyfriend will be here any second. He’ll kill you for this. So will Cillian.”

“As I said, this won’t take long.”

He lunged toward me. I dodged and rushed forward. I ran straight into a large bin on wheels. It moved. I staggered. I re-found my footing and ran around it.

But I didn’t get far. He was taller and faster than me. His arms locked around my waist, and I de-accelerated. Next thing I knew, the air was forced from my lungs and I crashed into the wall. “Ooph!”

My head cracked on it, too, but I didn’t even register the pain.

He wore a manic smile, and I flung a punch at his face, catching his chin.

“Bitch!” His smile dropped, and he caught my wrists, pinning them in just one of his hands. He pressed up against me. “I’m going to enjoy killing you after I’ve fucked you.”

His breath was hot and rancid and blasted over my face as he yanked up my dress, exposing my pussy.

I struggled and writhed, but his weight was solid on me. “You bastard, get off.” My mind was a collision of panic and fear. I had to get out of there.

“Might even do both at the same time.” His hand slipped to my neck, his fingers wrapping around my throat. “Fuck you and strangle you. Could be fun, what do you think?”

“I think you are living your last breaths!” I bucked and fought. I wouldn’t let this happen to me.

His cock was out now, there at my entrance, and he was squeezing my throat. Big fingers contracting around my soft flesh. I tried to breathe, but the air that went in was only a thin ribbon, not enough to inflate my lungs.

Alarm gripped me. I made a strange croaking gasp as he cut off my air supply and his cock prodded my pussy. His chilling dark eyes were manic, terrifying, excited. He was loving this. His sick, twisted soul was thriving on his moment of rape and murder. He was hungry for it and now he was going to feast, on me.

But I would not be that feast.

I brought up my left knee, hard, and at the same time I dropped my body weight. It threw his balance, and my knee connected with his erection at full force.

My aim hadn’t been calculated, but I’d made a good shot.

His breath caught, his eyes widened, and he doubled over. His gun went flying, skittering over the cobbled alley, metal scraping on stone.

“Asshole.” I kicked his shin and then punched the side of his head. Before I made a dash for it, I wanted him on the ground.

He staggered to the left, wheezing and clutching his groin. “Fucking…bitch.” He looked up at me, eyes flashing with vicious fury.

I aimed again, caught his nose. It exploded in a rush of blood, and a surprised cry burst from his lips.

“Didn’t know women could fight, huh?” I was breathing hard. Battling with fight or flight. Should I run or stay and finish the job? I was holding my own. Or at least it felt like it.

He lunged for me.

I twisted to the right.

He caught me around the waist in a claw grip. Fuck! I should have run like the goddamn wind when I’d had the chance.

But he only held me for a second, because then light poured into the alley and three big men descended.

“You dare to touch my fucking woman!”

My attacker was snatched from me, and I staggered backward, away from him.

“Fucking bastard. You’re dead,” Andrew yelled. “Dead fucking meat.”

“Doll?” Cillian was in front of me. “You okay? What did he do to you?”

“He…he was going to rape and strangle me.” I swallowed, my throat tight.

Over my shoulder, Andrew was raging with fury. He thumped Brian again on the nose, crushing bone. “I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch. You messed with the wrong guy…the wrong woman.” He kneed Brian in the stomach.

Brian doubled over with an agonized groan.

“Hey, man, don’t finish him off yet.” Phil gripped Andrew’s shoulder and yanked him back.

“Get off me. I’m not stopping until he’s dead and in Hell.” Andrew rushed forward and kicked Brian, sending him smacking against the wall.

Phil chased him, grabbed him again by the shoulder

“Prof, not yet.” Cillian also caught hold of Andrew.

The two men pulled the professor backward. He was breathing hard, his shoulders hunched, fists clenched.

“Death is too good for him.” He swung to face me. His features tightened further. “Did he…?”

“He was about to, I kneed him in his cock.” I was breathing fast.

“Good girl.” He stepped up to me and kissed my brow, a hard, desperate kiss, then he spun to Cillian and Phil. “It’s him? Brian Dix? Isn’t it?”

“The very one.” Cillian had a gun aimed at Brian.

Phil was tapping him down at the same time as hauling him upright.

“Who the fuck are you?” Brian managed, using the wall to prop himself up. “You’re not the fucking police.” He wiped his sleeve over his bloody face, spreading the scarlet mess onto his left cheek.

“Let’s just say we’re here to do a duty for the good of mankind,” Cillian said. “Sorting out the wheat from the chaff of humanity.”

Andrew pushed past Cillian with his gun out. “You tried to fucking rape my woman.” He shoved the barrel of the gun under Brian’s weak jawline. “Strangle her, huh?”

“So what? You can always get another woman, ten a penny around here if you know where to look.” He grinned, blood dripping from his chin now and his teeth a macabre, blotchy mess of red and white.

Phil turned to me with a frown. “You sure you’re okay?”

I nodded and knotted my fingers together. I was shaking. My belly was clenched to a brutal knot.

“Just like you’ve strangled before, ain’t that right.” Andrew made a strange growling sound that was more animal than man, and his finger tightened on the trigger of his gun.

Cillian put his hand on Andrew’s shoulder. “Keep it cool, man, you know what we need before you blow his brains out.”

Andrew exhaled, his shoulders dropped a fraction, and he took a few paces back, stood with Cillian, weapon still aimed.

“Tell me about the two girls,” Cillian said, his accent stronger than usual. He was really angry, I could tell, despite trying to sound calm.

“The two girls?” Brian’s eyes narrowed.

“Yeah, the two youngsters who were strangled and murdered a few months ago, the police brought you in for questioning.”

Brian laughed. “Oh yeah, those two.”

“So, what happened?”

“They wanted it, they came to me. As good as asked.”

“They asked to be murdered?” Andrew said, disbelief dripping from his voice.

I stared at Brian, too. Even with my criminology background, it was hard to figure out how this evil man’s mind worked.

“So tell us.” Cillian waved his gun in the direction of Brian’s cock which hung pathetically from his fly.

“Knocked on my front door.” He shrugged. “The blonde one said she needed to pee, was going to wet herself before she got home. So I said she could use my bathroom. Brown Hair waited for her, in my living room, gave me these come-on eyes. Fancied me, like.”

“She was fourteen.” Phil also had his gun aimed at Brian. “Jesus Christ, man.”

I spotted the gun Brian had pressed to my ribs. It was poking from beneath a knotted black rubbish bag. Quietly, I picked it up, the feel and weight unfamiliar in my hand.

“Fourteen, and ripe for fucking. Same as her friend.” Brian laughed. “But this is between you and me, right. You’re guys, you know what I mean.” He eyed the guns.

“No fucking idea what you’re on about,” Andrew said through gritted teeth. “You and I are a different damn species altogether.

“Well, we’re not.” Brian grasped his cock. “We’ve all got needs, kinks, and women are here to satisfy us men, we can do what we want with them. Anything we want.” He laughed manically. “And there’s nothing they can do to stop us.”

“Except it seems my girlfriend just did,” Andrew said.

“I’d have had her if you hadn’t turned up.” He threw a hateful glance my way.

“And exactly what were you planning?” Phil asked.

Brian didn’t speak. His lips pressed together, and his bloody nostrils flared.

“Let’s guess,” Cillian said. “The same as you tried with our girl at the house, Bridget. A fuck and then strangled.”

“I didn’t deserve that beating. I’d paid for that fuck. She was a prostitute, a whore.”

“That price didn’t include trying to strangle her.” Cillian shook his head. “And the woman in New Marston last night? She wasn’t so lucky, huh.” His finger was tight on the trigger of his gun. His knuckles had paled, and his jaw was clenched.

Brian laughed. “Oh, you think you’re such a clever fucker, don’t you?”

“Was that you?” Phil asked. “Tell us.”

“What do you think?”

I studied Brian’s face. He wasn’t fazed about three guns pointing his way. He was speaking about rape and murder as though it was all a bit of fun. He’d admitted he’d killed three times, tried twice more, including me. He was a maniac, a serial killer, he was beyond saving, and the world was a worse place for having him breathing in it.

I swallowed, my throat constricting with the memory of his hand around it. Raising the gun, his gun, I aimed it his chest.

Cillian, Phil, and Andrew didn’t appear to notice me. Neither did Brian. I took a step closer, my aim clear. I was no shooter, but right now it didn’t seem much of a challenge to hit my target. He was only a few meters away.

“You killed the woman in New Marston, as well as the two kids?” Andrew said. “Right?”

“Yeah, right.” Brian was erect again and stroking his cock. It was clear this conversation was a turn-on. “I killed her, right wriggler, she was, a bit like this one.” He gestured to me, his attention landing on the gun I had aimed at his chest. “But that wouldn’t have stopped me,” he went on, “I would still have watched her die with my dick deep in her pussy.” He grinned, a sick, twisted grin that steeled my determination. “And enjoyed every fucking second of it.”

I inhaled. Balanced myself. Squeezed the trigger.

The force of the bullet leaving the barrel had me stepping back a pace and dropping my arms. The explosive sound rattled around the alleyway.

An eruption of blood burst from Brian’s chest. His eyes widened, and his mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ of shock.

“Fuck, Chelsea.” Andrew grabbed the gun from me. “What the…?”

“He’s a killer, and he was going to kill again…he was going to kill me.” My voice was trembling.

“You…you shot him.”

“It was what he deserved.” I was shaking wildly now. Not out of regret, not a single fiber of me was regretful.

“You…you…bitch.” Brian slunk to the ground. He looked up at Phil. “Get help…get help. The bitch shot me.”

“I don’t think so, asshole.” Phil huffed. “And she just pulled the trigger a few seconds before us, so you’re out of luck on help.”

The blood was coming thick and fast, pooling on the dirty ground. The life was draining from Brian with each second, his skin a pale sickly white and his limbs hanging loosely.

“Come on.” Andrew wrapped his arm around my waist. “We’ve got to get you out of here.” He handed the gun I’d used to Cillian. “Get rid of this, forever.”

“Will do.” Cillian dropped it into the waistband of his jeans along with his own weapon.

“And the CCTV,” Andrew said.

“Yeah, I’m on it. While Phil handles the body, I’ll go back in and square things with Ben’s security system. Don’t worry, she won’t be on it, neither will we.” Cillian squeezed Andrew’s shoulder. “I promise.”

“Good.” Andrew’s grip on me tightened. “She can’t ever have been here.”

“She won’t have been. Go, get back to the house, we’ll meet you there. Hurry.”

Andrew urged me toward the glowing amber streetlight at the end of the alley. He drew out his phone and tapped a message.

I glanced over my shoulder. Cillian had been right. Brian was now a body, slumped and dead and blood-soaked. “He was a monster. That awful man was a monster.”

“He was.” Andrew tucked his phone away. “You positive you’re okay?”

“I just escaped being brutally raped and murdered and then I shot a man, but yes, I’m okay.”

“Fuck, this is all my fault. You should never have got caught up with me.” He rubbed his forehead. “I should have been stronger, kept saying no to you. Resisted you.”

“No, no, don’t say that. I want to be with you. I didn’t want you to resist. I need to be with you, don’t you see?”

“And I need to be with you.” He was walking faster now. “But I never wanted you to be a killer, Chelsea. That was never my plan. You’re too perfect to be a killer.”

“I’m not perfect, and besides, I’m like you now. We’re both killers.”

He frowned. “It’s a heavy burden to carry each day, I know, I do it.”

“You think I’m not strong enough to cope with the load?”

He turned onto Clifton Street, and we hurried past a hairdresser’s and dry cleaners, both closed. “It’s impossible to know until the load is there.”

“I can carry it,” I said. “It was me or him. He was going to kill me, but I turned the tables.” I paused. “And he deserved to die. You knew that. Galahad knew that. That man didn’t deserve to live another day.”

Andrew said nothing.

“Were you going to kill him or turn him into the police?” I asked. For the first time I felt panic about what I’d done. About killing a man. What if I’d read the scene wrong? “Andrew?”

A dark-blue Merc drew up. Jamie was behind the wheel and wearing a black baseball cap.

Andrew opened the door.

“Tell me?” I asked, not getting in. “What were you going to do? I need to know.”

“He’d confessed to three murders,” Andrew said stiffly. “And the criminal system had let him go once, lack of evidence.” He frowned. “So we would have killed him, three bullets, fired at the same time, within the next ten seconds if you hadn’t.”

I nodded. “So he was never going to walk away from that alley?”

“Not a fucking chance.” He bundled me into the car and scooted in next to me. “He was a walking dead man from the moment he got out of bed this morning.” He clasped Jamie’s shoulder. “Drive, it’s a mess back there.”

“Dalton is on his way, to help Phil.” Jamie sped off. There was very little traffic around.

“Good. We can’t afford to miss a thing on this one, my woman is involved,” Andrew said gruffly. “And there’s no way she’s going to lose a moment’s sleep thinking the law might connect any dots, no matter how small.”

“Hey, we’re pros.” Jamie chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, you just take care of her.”

“I intend to. Oh, I intend to.”