London Noir: A gripping crime suspense thriller (Kal Medi Book 2) Page 19

  My god, thought Marty, if she hadn’t already worked out she wasn’t at St George’s Hospital where she’d been operated on after the assault, she’d have been taken in by this man’s calm delivery and authority. After Seb’s visit, she’d found the Melrose Clinic brochures out at the reception. Stumbled around on numb legs and found too, a woman who’d been picking at the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle at two o’clock in the morning. The woman had filled Marty in about where she was, and, most probably, why. Well, Marty knew she wasn’t mentally ill, but she couldn’t yet recall exactly why she was here. Except she knew it was something important and something to do with Kal, and she felt certain her reason for being here was connected to the boy, Seb, who’d come to see her last night. That was the only reason she’d gone back to her bed – because Seb’s room had been empty and Marty had no intention of leaving until she found him.

  ‘A new facility? Oh, all right then, if you say so,’ Marty said with a smile.

  ‘Come on then,’ Kaufman said, holding out his hand.

  Well, he didn’t believe in wasting time, did he? Marty threw back the sheet, ignoring the fact she was dressed only in a flimsy hospital gown. She pushed on a pair of hospital slippers, her feet clumsy, still lacking sensation. Obviously, when people were full of whatever drug he’d had her on, they were compliant and passive, so she’d better not offer any questions and certainly no resistance. Marty stood up, swaying slightly so that she had to hold onto the bed for support.

  Kaufman offered her his arm and within a few minutes they’d negotiated a corridor and a fire exit without seeing a single person. Marty’s legs felt twice their usual weight and her arms didn’t react immediately, as if there were a time delay between her thoughts and muscle action. As Marty trod across the tarmac towards what she assumed was Kaufman’s car, she contemplated her options. Should she simply knock him out and call the police? She felt certain she could still do that, in spite of the physical effects of the drugs. What evidence did she have of wrong doing if she took that course? Would it help her find Seb? Kaufman would have it all tied up, wouldn’t he? He’d make her sound like a hysterical head case and the boy was in trouble, that was for sure. Marty shook her head to try to clear more of the fog and to speed up her thoughts, which still crawled at half speed. Think, woman, think, she told herself.

  As she neared the car, Marty’s questions were answered when she saw a dark, curly head resting against the window. Seb was already in Kaufman’s car. Excellent. Now she could take the doctor out with one blow and that would be a pleasure.

  With a click, Kaufman turned off the central locking. Marty positioned herself ready to strike, and it was then that she saw the drool running down Seb’s chin and the strange way Seb stared into space. She hoped the shock didn’t show on her face.

  Kaufman put his hand on her shoulder and too late, Marty realised he’d given her another injection. Damn, she wasn’t as vigilant as she thought – there must still be much more drug in her system than she realised.

  ‘Very clever,’ Kaufman said. ‘But not clever enough. Get in.’

  And Marty’s knees were already caving as she folded herself in beside Seb.

  Chapter Forty-two

  It takes a while to realise you’ve been let down by someone. Sophie felt expectant for several hours. Then hopeful. And finally, bitterly disappointed. Kal had promised to return. What would make her break that promise? Had something bad happened with Sugar G? Had Kal simply been lying? No, Sophie didn’t believe that. But she couldn’t sit here and do nothing, like she’d always done. Not now she knew the identity of her parents’ killer. Knew the identity of the man who’d murdered Penny and dear Eliza. Kaufman, she thought, how she hated him.

  Kaufman with his fetish for hand cream. Yes, she must have buried the connection all these years, but at Melrose, Kaufman’s hands were always so smooth, so feminine, and they always had that faint scent of orange from the expensive cream he used. That night on the stairs, she’d smelt that same scent. Now she understood the truth.

  Thoughts swirled in Sophie’s head. She’d been duped for years. Pulled along like a lamb on a string, dancing to Kaufman’s tune, punched into a stupor by his medication, made to believe she was weak and fragile and would never cope. When all the time Kaufman was covering his bases to make sure she never recalled a detail about the murder. To make sure she always stayed within his clutches where he could control her mind. No more, she vowed. Never, never again. Time to stand up for herself. Time to strike back. Strike back for her parents and for her friends. She wasn’t a defenceless little girl anymore, this was a new Sophie. And Kaufman was an evil, murdering monster.

  ***

  A bunch of women were already working Montgomery Road. Nobody paid Sophie much attention and the woman who opened the door of number thirty-three only put up a little resistance.

  ‘For God’s sake, Soph, don’t let Sugar G find you here or he’ll go ballistic. You’ve got to stay clear of this place.’

  ‘I only want to grab a few things, you know, my make-up stuff. I promise I’ll be gone in a couple of minutes.’

  ‘Okay then, but don’t tell anyone I let you in, promise?’

  In the hallway, the woman gave Sophie a hug.

  ‘Be quick, hun,’ she said, and Sophie nodded.

  Up in the rainforest room, Sophie swept her supplies into a bag and then slid open the closet. Inside was a clutch purse Penny had given her, containing a knife and a pepper spray. “Every girl should have one,” Penny had said with a smile, “you just never know when you might need it.”

  A dress studded with sequins hung on a clothes hangar and Sophie stuffed that too into her bag. Penny had given her the silver dress for her last birthday, and Sophie had already decided it would be exactly what she’d wear when she next met Kaufman.

  Chapter Forty-three

  Spinks released Kal from custody in the early hours of the morning. Any earlier and intelligence would filter back to Raphael and place her under suspicion. There was no knowing how deep Raphael’s networks infiltrated, but Kal was willing to bet they went pretty damn subterranean. Spinks agreed.

  During the shoot-out, Raphael and Clarence escaped. Four officers received gun-shot wounds and two of them were in intensive care. Spinks took this very badly, and, more so, because the prisoner they’d taken from the boat was unwilling to tell them about Raphael’s operation. An expensive lawyer had appeared to represent him, most likely sent by Raphael, and his lips were sealed. A man who’d been beaten half to death and who would have been left to die or shot in the head, and who then didn’t want to turn evidence? That said everything about Raphael’s influence. Which left the police with precisely nothing from the operation. “I’m sorry,” was such an inadequate response, that Kal wondered why she said it to Spinks.

  Kal walked towards the underground, rubbing her stiff neck. All night in the cell, she’d not been able to stop thinking of Sophie. She’d left Sophie alone with a promise she’d be home before dark. Marty had been out of contact, presumably still lying low at Melrose, and Kal couldn’t think of anyone else she could send round for the night to comfort and look after Sophie. Well, actually the people who’d come to mind were LeeMing and his girlfriend Fiona, but Kal was damned if she was going to turn to Fiona for help. Anyway, LeeMing might very well refuse to involve her. At the police station, Kal had asked for the phone twice and then changed her mind. No, her pride just wouldn’t get out of the way. Besides, she trusted Sophie to be able to cope. Sophie had wanted to go back to Lilac Mansions and she’d had the strength to see it through. Kal knew Sophie was pushing herself forward and that she was close to a breakthrough, and Kal felt sure the girl would make it.

  When Kal got back to 701 and found Sophie missing, it gave her a shock. Sophie had left no note, no message, and Kal found no sign or clue as to where she might be. Shit. She’d taken her eye off the ball running around with Raphael when she should have been taking care of Sophie. Where the hell was
she? Kal paced the lounge and found a suspicious mark on the floor behind the settee. What had happened? Had Sophie had a breakdown? Goddammit, she’d let Sophie down. The child who lived and who was reaching for a new chance – Kal should have been there to help her. She should have contacted LeeMing and Fiona, no, she should have begged Fiona to help her last night. Fiona who had experience dealing with patients. Fiona who’d been so concerned about Sophie at Marty’s party. Fiona who would have stood a chance of gaining the trust of a vulnerable girl. Kal cursed herself for being such a fool.

  Where the hell would Sophie go? Who would she turn to? Kal paced, and the more she didn’t know and the more her worry mounted, the more she knew whose neck she wanted to get her hands around. She imagined squeezing the breath from him. Imagined inflicting enough pain to get his attention. Kal took a few deep breaths to control her anger, and she stormed from the apartment.

  Raymond Kendrick wasn’t expecting the intrusion. Kal smashed into his office and then smashed Kendrick against the wall. It felt good.

  ‘Where the hell is she!’

  Kendrick shook his head and Kal followed up with a punch to his stomach. Hard enough to make him double over, but not enough to cause lasting damage.

  ‘I said, where is she? And I’m not going to ask a third time.’

  ‘I don’t – I don’t know,’ Kendrick gagged it out.

  Kal stepped back and regarded him with cold eyes. She had no interest in beating up innocent people, except, of course, Kendrick wasn’t innocent.

  ‘You were her guardian, fuck it. And you left her. You left her to cope on her own when she was only a child.’

  Kal felt her arm tensing for a second strike and she half-heartedly reeled it in, going for a neck grab instead and jerking Kendrick upright. Even though he was more than a head taller than her, Kendrick made no attempt to retaliate, which infuriated and disgusted her even further. He tried to speak and, under the squeeze of her hands, it came out like a gurgle. Kal grabbed his lapels and pushed him against the desk.

  ‘I – I know.’

  ‘Know what, you bastard? Where is she?’

  ‘I know what I did to Sophie was wrong. I know I’m a shitty brother. I should have been there. I should have been there that night, not out partying, then it might never have happened.’

  ‘Don’t wallow in self-pity with me,’ she said.

  Kendrick raised his hands in the air as if he could calm her down. No chance in hell, she thought.

  ‘Talk or you’re finished,’ Kal said, in exactly the tone her father used which had chilled her blood.

  Kendrick started blathering. She even wondered if he were crying.

  ‘I know I’ve been shitty. I know she deserved better. I lost my parents too…’ he started to say, then thought better of it. ‘I should have been there for her. I’ve never been able to admit to myself how badly I neglected her, right when she needed me.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘And she’s been getting worse recently and her headaches have been getting out of control and Urwin getting so wound up about it.’

  Kal’s anger stopped dead in its tracks. ‘Urwin?’

  ‘Dr Kaufman. He was Dad’s friend.’

  Kal’s back flashed cold.

  ‘They met at a medical conference soon after Dad and Charlotte married. And he offered to take care of Sophie when she had her breakdown.’

  ‘You mean he took Sophie, your own sister, off your hands.’

  ‘Yes, I mean, no, but listen, I regret it. When Eliza committed suicide it made me realise it could so easily have been Sophie. I’ve been meaning to talk to Sophie. Make amends.’ Kendrick ran his hands through his hair, then stared at them as if they might give him answers.

  ‘You think I believe that shit?’ she said. ‘Sophie needs you. She’s lost everyone she cares about and everyone who loves her. So where the hell were you?’

  Kendrick looked up at her. A weak man. A selfish man. But not a monster. The pieces of the puzzle were revolving in Kal’s head. Motive? Access? Kendrick had acted like a selfish pile of shit but no, he wasn’t the killer. He hadn’t killed his own parents, and though he disliked Penny, he certainly hadn’t murdered her either. Which meant…

  ‘You’re going to make it right,’ she said.

  Kendrick looked at the carpet. ‘I don’t know how. I’ve left it too long.’

  ‘Bullshit. Find a way,’ Kal said, and her mind had already clicked through the facts.

  Dr Urwin Kaufman at Melrose Clinic. Of course. The man who’d had Sophie under his power all this time. A doctor who knew Martin and Charlotte Kendrick and who had undoubtedly murdered them in their own house. And who’d brutally butchered Penny and then killed Eliza because he wanted to keep Sophie within his grasp. A sociopathic killer who’d been stalking women for decades. The evil rapist and murderer whom she’d sent her best friend, alone, to check out. Kal’s breath caught in her throat.

  ‘Get us to your car,’ she ordered Kendrick. ‘Now.’

  At Melrose Clinic, the two of them ran up the driveway.

  ‘Find Kaufman.’ Was all Kal said to Kendrick. Just as on the drive over, Kendrick didn’t ask questions, propelled by the urgency, or was it panic, in her voice?

  Kendrick wasn’t on the premises, and neither was Marty.

  ‘Ms King checked out this morning,’ the receptionist told Kal.

  ‘Did you see her leave?’ demanded Kal.

  ‘No, I didn’t,’ the woman replied frostily.

  Shit, this was a dead end, and there was no thread to unravel, and it was her own fault for splitting her attention with Raphael when she should have been with her friends. What the hell could she do next? Kal had absolutely no clue. She needed to find Sophie. And where the hell was Marty? What if Kaufman had taken her? A dread began working its way through Kal’s body, turning her guts cold, so that when she grabbed Kendrick’s keys from him, his fingers felt hot and hers, like ice.

  As she ran out of the building, Kal heard a shout.

  ‘Wait.’

  It was a young man, one of the chess players she’d seen on her first visit to Melrose. He caught up with her on the steps.

  ‘If you’re looking for that black woman, I saw Dr Kaufman with her yesterday. Dr Kaufman gave her an injection and said she was dangerous. But she was talking to my friend Seb, and he’s gone missing too.’

  So much adrenalin was pumping it made it hard to think straight. Kal made herself stop and absorb this new information. Seb was friends with Eliza and Sophie, so what was the connection? Why had Seb gone missing now? What if Seb were in danger? What if Kaufman had him? Damn, what should be her priority? It couldn’t be Marty. Should she first track down Sophie? Or was Seb more important?

  ‘Raymond, call the police. Tell them Seb is missing.’ She gave him Spinks’ number.

  ‘I want to come with you,’ Raymond said, ‘and help find my sister.’

  ‘No, I need you here. Contact me with any news.’ Kal said it through gritted teeth. She must trust Spinks to find Seb, and that would leave her free to find Sophie. She must focus and make this count. Marty was an adult. Marty was capable. She must fend for herself. Two minors were at risk, which meant, oh God, Kal would have to leave Marty on her own. Kal drove away and tried, and failed, to push her best friend from her mind.

  Chapter Forty-four

  Sophie dipped her brush in water and then chose azure blue to finish the detail. Azure blue reminded her of summer days and sandy beaches. It also reminded Sophie of her mother. She swallowed and then finished the butterfly wings. The makeup brush clattered onto her childhood dresser and Sophie twisted her shoulder and admired the trail of tiny, azure butterflies sweeping up over her shoulder. In the light of the bedroom lamp, the sequins of her silver dress reflected the blue of the butterflies’ open wings.

  Sophie swept her clutch purse from the bed and walked along the top landing, pausing for a moment at the top of the red, plush carpet and then descending. She would t
ake a tour of the garden first, and inhale the night scents of honeysuckle and roses and explain to her mother that she was doing this for her.

  When Sophie came back in the house, she went straight to her little landing where she sat down to wait.

  The house was quiet and it did not yet feel at peace, rather, it felt expectant. Sophie leant against the balustrade and another memory surfaced, this time without pain, of Kaufman in his balaclava walking out of the house and leaving the front door open. She’d run as fast as she could to her bedroom and shut the door and hidden in the big wooden box under the window. That’s where the policeman had found her. Sophie remembered his voice and how he’d sounded so calm and reassuring, and how she’d trembled when his hand reached in to touch her cheek. She hadn’t cried when he lifted her out. She hadn’t said a word, just stared at his grey hair and his nice eyes and then she’d been pressed against his jacket all the way down the stairs. She was glad about that now, because she understood that little Sophie knew and little Sophie didn’t want to see the blood and the bodies. In the back of the police car, they’d wrapped her in a big blanket and the policeman sat next to her, though he didn’t say anything. Later on, at the police station, a woman had given her a teddy bear and told her that her parents were dead.

  Sophie sat on the step, waiting for Kaufman, the syringe, pepper spray and knife nestling in Penny’s clutch purse on her lap.

  Chapter Forty-five

  I told you Charlotte Kendrick liked to play games. That she enjoyed her own clandestine activities as a call girl which no one knew about except me. I never let on. And I let her live and indulged my urges with other targets. I even manoeuvred myself to become a colleague of the husband she chose and I’d like to think he saw me as a friend, though, of course, that was simply his stupidity. I was far from a friend.