Now is my moment. The time to attack with everything I have.
As he gets within arm’s length of me, I stand up and scream as I swing the metal grate with all my might. A shudder shoots up my arm as the corner of the grate strikes his cheekbone, releasing a satisfying crack of shattered bone.
He screams in agony, collapsing onto his haunches and holding his face with both hands. The noise resounds around the stables. His deranged eyes peer through his splayed fingers as drops of blood seep from the gaps between them and run down his hands.
I lift the heavy grate above my head. This time, I’ll knock him out cold. But as my arms come down, it’s as if this possessed being has superhuman strength. Ignoring his pain, he throws out an arm to defend himself, striking my arm and knocking me off balance. His disfigured, bloody face comes into view as he sweeps his other arm, catching my cheek with a heavy hand.
Dazed, I hit the ground. Overpowering me, he jumps on top of me, brutally smashing my head into the ground. Once, twice, three times. His left eye has closed up completely. Blood gushes down his face, matting his beard. I’m struggling for my life, and despite adrenaline fuelling my anger, he’s far too strong.
He turns me over and roughly grabs my hands. I scream into the hay, knowing it’s useless. Not a soul can hear me. Forcing myhands together, he binds them with cable ties. The more I fight, the tighter they become, cutting into my flesh.
He grabs a handful of my hair and drags me along the ground, through the hay. I feel as if he’s going to pull my hair out. I’ve never felt pain like it. He opens the heavy-duty bag and forces me in. I squirm and struggle, screaming, but he silences me with a forceful slap.
He zips the bag, casting me once again into darkness.
64
SCARLETT
Terror pulsates through me. The smell of the industrial bag’s plastic is far worse than the smell of manure. My breaths come quick and shallow. I refuse to make this easy for him. I can’t see a thing and am unable to use my arms, but I scream, squirm and kick out within the confines of the bag as he struggles to drag me out of the stable block. I know exactly where he’s taking me.
‘Be quiet. Just be quiet,’ he shouts. ‘There’s no point. No one can hear you.’ He groans in pain. It’s hardly surprising. That blow I gave him made a terrible mess of his face. I must’ve fractured his cheekbone.
I plead with him through sobs and gasps for breath. ‘Please, Justin. This isn’t you. You don’t kill people. You help them. Please.’
‘You should never have come here. You silly, silly girl.’
‘Help!’ I scream. ‘Help me!’
‘No one is coming for you, Scarlett,’ he says. ‘Accept your fate. We’re all alone out here.’
This is it. I’m going to die. I think of my poor mother. The pain she is going to face for the rest of her life – I can’t bear it. Losing one child is a life-sentence, but two! I wonder what Daisy’s last thoughts were when she knew she was going to die. If she knew.
I try to imagine where I am in relation to the lake, the house, as Justin slides me along the smooth grass. He stops for a moment, breathing deeply and swearing. ‘Fucking nightmare you are.’ A sharp pain hits my hips from a hard kick. I cry out, but that only makes him do it again. ‘Shut up. Just shut up.’
The smoothness morphs into bumps as he heaves me onto the jetty leading out to the small rowing boat and then to the lake.
Water sloshes, lapping up against the side of the jetty. My body bumps along the wooden slats. All-consuming fear, married with the stark realisation of my fate, numbs me. I can’t just give up. Mum is yelling at me to try something. Anything.
He stops, and the sound of heavy footsteps tells me he is marching away. This is my chance. The bag moves with me as I shuffle my body to one side to gauge how close I am to the water. When my feet slip off the side, I know I’m close. I shuffle back until I’m roughly in the middle of the jetty and move my body along the boards, back towards the start.
He returns in an instant, as fast as he left. ‘Just give it up, Scarlett.’
I detest the way he says my name. I’m sweating profusely. I lash my legs in the direction of his voice. ‘You prick.’ I imagine launching a kick and propelling him into the water.
He grabs my feet. There’s a tugging sensation in my legs. He wraps what feels like thick rope around my calves over the body bag, pinning my legs together. I’m completely helpless, totally at his mercy. Before I can protest further, he rolls me over and overuntil I fall off the jetty and down into what I can only imagine to be the rowing boat.
I land on my side with a thud, the pain excruciating. It takes my breath away. I gasp, trying to fill my lungs with air. Another thud resonates through my body. I cry out in pain. He’s thrown something big and heavy – a rock? – into the boat. It catches my thigh, giving me a dead leg. ‘What was that?’ My whole body is in agony.
‘Quiet!’ He boards the boat at the opposite end. It rocks from side to side. He messes about with the rope around my legs, tugging and pulling. I can’t work out what he’s doing. The wood-on-wood sound suggests he’s now readying the oars. He pushes off. The oars cut slowly and deliberately through the water. I know exactly where he’s taking me – to the centre of the lake. A silence descends. I stop attempting to move. Partly because I can’t, but mostly to try to gather my strength.
The water gently laps as the oars move the boat along purposefully. How could I have played this differently? Maybe I should’ve involved George more. I briefly think of the detective, DS Porter, and of what could have been. Was it him that visited the house? If so, why am I still here? I know why. This smooth-talking bastard, Justin, probably squirmed his way out of any involvement.
My thoughts ramble. I must try to talk some sense into this maniac. It’s my only remaining chance. ‘Justin, please. You don’t have to do this. We can find a way out of this.’
He laughs and stops rowing. There’s a clunk as he lifts the oars from the water.
‘People will come back. They’ll be looking for me. You’ll be found out. Let me go. Please. I’ll say it was all just a misunderstanding.’ I sound like a fool.
