The Next Girl(Detective Gina Harte #1)(80)

She frantically jabbed at the tape with the screwdriver, trying to ignore his ramblings. She flinched as the sharp tip pierced her back.

‘The end has come. We all reach our end one day, and for us, that is today.’ He paused. ‘Our family will go together and we’ll be at peace. One day our story will be a legend. The greatest love story ever told.’

Tears soaked Debbie’s face. These moments, in the boot of his car, were probably going to be her final ones. She trembled violently, almost dropping the screwdriver. By family, did he mean her baby too? Her heart thumped against her ribcage.

She kicked and wriggled, trying to free up any part of her body, but with every movement her energy dwindled. Occasionally the darkness of the boot would spin around, confusing her more. What had he drugged her with? A flash of pain darted through her head.

‘We will never be at peace,’ she yelled. Do you hear me?’

The boot clicked open, and she flinched as the light of the day sent pains shooting though her head. His gaunt face stared down at hers, showing his sickly grin and chipped tooth. ‘You’re angry, but you’ll be fine. I’m going to get Florence after this, and she will join us.’ He took a final drag of his cigarette and flicked the butt onto the rubble.

‘No! I hate you. I’ve always hated you. They won’t give my baby to you.’

‘Your baby? Let me tell you something – she’s mine. I made her. My blood runs through her veins and keeps her little heart pumping. I gave her life and I can take it away.’ He leaned over and placed his hand on her cheek. ‘It’ll be fine, you’ll see. We’ll all be a family again in another world. Together forever.’

‘Leave her alone. She doesn’t belong here. This is between me and you.’

‘Florence is my sunshine,’ he said. ‘I hoped you both would be, but you soured that one, didn’t you? I’m a family man at heart. That’s all I wanted, a family, and that always included children. When I first saw you at the pub, clumsily trying to pot a ball, I knew you were the one. I knew then that I’d die for you, and today I’m going to prove that, despite all that you’ve put me through. We are all going together, as a family, and you’re first.’

He leaned in, grabbed her under the arms and dragged her out of the boot, dropping her onto the ground. She gasped for breath as the pain in her stomach throbbed through her entire body. The wind whipped strands of hair into her mouth. Gravel dug into her wrists and legs, but she gripped the screwdriver with all she had. She tried to pull her wrists apart, hoping to rip the tape, but it was too strong.

‘You don’t have to do this.’ She looked up at him, pleading with her eyes.

‘You don’t understand. They have come for us, and we have nowhere to go. This is the end.’

‘There’s always somewhere to go. You can put me back in the boot and we can drive far away,’ she said, crying. If it meant saving her baby, she would happily be his prisoner for life. The sweat from her brow trailed down her face. He walked away, holding his head in his hands, pacing, as he always did when he felt conflicted. She gazed around. He had parked on a small gravelled area and his car was the only one parked next to the murky pond, in the middle of nowhere. They were surrounded by trees, with what looked like acres of fields in the distance. ‘Help!’ she yelled.

He reached into the car, grabbed a rag and stuffed it into her mouth. The dry cotton material made her gag. She coughed, managing to push it slightly forward. Tears welled up once more in her eyes. He stared at her; she shook her head. She wanted to yell, ‘no, stop, please stop.’ Then he began to drag her to the lake.

Hail began to fall from the sky, bouncing off her bare legs and leaving marks where they’d so violently landed. Her legs scraped across the gravelly ground as he tugged her towards the grass.

Grasping the screwdriver, she tried to fix it into the ground, hoping that it would slow him down, but it was no use.

Finally, they reached the water’s edge and he let her body fall. She flinched as her head hit the frozen ground. ‘Don’t feel you are alone. We will be joining you soon.’ She watched as hailstones landed in his messy hair, settling on the top of his head. ‘I love you. I love you both.’ He bent over, lifted her up and began walking into the pond until the water was at his waist. She shivered uncontrollably, her teeth chattering into the rag, as the cold wetness soaked through her nightdress. Then he lowered her into the water. She shook her head and allowed her teary eyes to linger on his gaze. She wanted to beg him not to let her go, not to leave her, not to let her die, but she couldn’t. All she could do was look at him and shake her head.

‘You’re beautiful, like Ophelia herself. I’d hoped we’d go out to Stratford to watch a play one day, but not now, not ever.’ He bent to kiss her on the cheek. She felt her hair splay out, framing her face as he lowered her further into the icy arms that were hungrily awaiting her arrival.

She began jabbing at the tape once again as he let her go. She sank into the icy pond. Scum enveloped her and the trees disappeared from view and very soon the light vanished. Water soaked through the rag that was in her mouth and she gagged as the air in her lungs was replaced by water. She tried to bring her legs downwards to stand but they had stiffened with the cold. She felt the bottom of the pond with her toe. Weeds entangled around her legs, pulling her down. Her grip on the screwdriver loosened, and she finally let it go.