No Way Home. Jack Slater

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ a wooden building in the far corner where three horses were kept.

      ‘I see enough scary things at work,’ she said, forcing herself to think of the grey horse that currently lived in the field. It’s big, gentle, liquid eyes, those long lashes. The warmth of its soft skin as she stroked its nose. The almost prehensile mobility of its lips when she offered it a sugar lump or a piece of apple. The image in her mind began to calm her.

      ‘You do criminal cases, then? Killers and rapists and that?’

      ‘Yes.’ Although most of the criminality in this city was to do with drugs rather than violence, she thought.

      ‘You must see some horrible stuff, then, eh? Bodies and that.’

      ‘Only in photographs, thankfully.’

      The hedge on their left dropped abruptly to a level you could see over. She glanced across, knowing that a flock of sheep and new lambs were being kept in there now. She could see a number of pale blobs dotted about in the darkness.

      She frowned. It seemed particularly dark all of a sudden. Glancing across to the right, she saw that the thin sliver of the moon had disappeared, the previously clear sky giving way to a heavy bank of cloud.

      ‘Don’t expect you watch much of that true-crime telly then, eh? Get enough of it at work,’ he said as they passed two police Range Rovers parked up in a gateway on their right.

      ‘Exactly.’

      ‘Me, I love it. Try and figure out who the criminal is before the detectives get there. I sometimes think I should have been a copper instead of doing this. Of course, it’s all down to the editing, I expect. They lead you in a particular direction without saying as much. Let you figure it out for yourself so you feel good about it.’

      They were passing houses now. Back in civilisation, as she thought when she drove along here in daylight. Although civilisation was a generous description, considering how rough and poorly kept some of the houses along here were. Detached, edge of town, they should have been smart and expensive, but in truth, many of them looked shabby and dirty and unkempt, as if they were on a building site. Which was one reason she didn’t like driving along here. The car got so dirty.

      ‘I expect the idea is to let the public feel better about the crimes they describe,’ she said. ‘And those crimes are the worst, so, if people feel better about them, they feel better about crime levels in general.’

      ‘Yeah. Hadn’t thought of it like that. Same with Agatha Christie and CSI and the like, I suppose. People figure out these convoluted plots, they imagine the police must have it easy in the real world. Makes them feel safer.’

      ‘Exactly.’ She began to relax. He wasn’t as creepy as she’d thought. He actually had some interesting insights. And she was nearly home. Another three or four minutes…

      ‘Whereas, the truth is, these days, with the government cutbacks and everything, most criminals get away with it. We have the technology: just can’t pay for the staff to use it.’

      ‘Not in a timely manner, at least,’ she agreed, as they passed the last of the houses on the narrow lane and the verges opened out wide at either side. Once more, there were woods beyond, but only a small area. She could see the streetlights of Pennsylvania Road just a few hundred yards ahead.

      The driver grunted. ‘Takes months to get samples processed, not minutes like on the telly, and, by then, chances are your perp or whatever you want to call them has moved away. Might even have a new identity. Especially these days, with everything being so easy to forge on the computer.’ He reached across to the glove box and opened it. She couldn’t see what he was reaching for. The headrest of the seat in front of her blocked her line of sight.

      Emma glanced at the mirror.

      He was staring at her again, instead of at what he was doing. She felt a cold tingle around the back of her neck. He glanced away then, looked down at the glove box and snapped it shut. ‘And despite all the technology, all you need is one of these and a bit of intelligence, and you can get away with anything.’

      He held up a small, square, plastic packet. A condom.

      Jesus! Who did this creep think he was?

      ‘This would be a perfect spot, wouldn’t it? Dark. Quiet. Easy getaway. Don’t know where the nearest CCTV camera is. There’s those houses back there, but that would just add to the thrill, wouldn’t it?’

      ‘I…’ Her throat clogged. She coughed to clear it. ‘I’d imagine so.’

      He nodded towards the wide verge on his side of the car. ‘I mean, you pull over there, nobody would take a blind bit of notice, would they? They’d just assume you were having a bit of nookie. A lovers’ tryst.’ She felt the car slow as he took his foot off the accelerator.

      ‘I think I’d like you to concentrate on driving,’ she said, her voice sounding small and feeble. She cleared her throat again.

      ‘You never done it in a car? You haven’t lived, lovey. Can’t beat it.’

      Panic rose up within her, her breath getting short. This had been a terrible mistake. She’d known it even as she was making the call. Why had she even…?

      ‘If you were in the front here, you could change gear for me, if you know what I mean.’

      She heard the metallic buzz of a zip and a whimper escaped from her throat.

      ‘Actually, you could even reach through from behind there. Relieve the stress a bit.’

      The car juddered and shook and she realised that he’d pulled off the road onto the wide area of grass to the right. My God! ‘What are you doing?’

      The car slammed to a halt. She heard the rasp of the handbrake, then he was turning in his seat, safety belt off, rising up to climb through towards her.

      ‘No! Jesus, no!’ She scrabbled for her bag. ‘Please, don’t do this!’

      His eyes were mesmerising as they came towards her. She shuddered, glanced down at what she was doing. Her hands were shaking in feverish panic. She could barely control them, but then her bag was open somehow. She reached in. Felt the cool round metal and snatched it out. He was halfway through the gap between the front seats, head and torso up against the roof of the car like some kind of human cobra rising up over her to strike. She leaned back, both hands rising defensively.

CHAPTER TWO

      Kid was the fourth name he’d answered to in his fourteen years, but he’d accepted it readily. It was kind of cool. Sounded like an Old West hero. A new name for a new life. And he’d been happy with both over the past few weeks. The fair’s season started at Easter. He’d wandered in that weekend and somehow stayed. Been offered a bed for the night, in exchange for manning a stall while the owner went off to answer a call of nature that a stomach bug had made both urgent and protracted.

      Since then, he’d moved from the stall to a ride, then on to the dodgems. Had thought he’d found his place in life. But now all that was ruined. Had they known he was here? Had they been looking for him? Or was it just chance? Just dumb bloody luck?

      He СКАЧАТЬ