LIFERS Chapter Thirty Eight

Once he felt sure Alicia had calmed enough to be taken from Chambers, Gregg placed his jacket over her shoulders and walked her head-down into the shaft. She still wore the white button-down blouse and grey skirt of the uniform she’d been abducted in a week ago, but her blazer and socks and shoes were missing.

Gregg offered to carry her through the tunnels but she refused. It inspired him to think that, even after her ordeal, this spirited young girl still had some measure of pride about her.
A few minutes ago he heard the van pull up outside, so he knew Jill and Nick were already back and would be in the garage waiting for him, and no doubt wondering where the hell he’d gotten to.

When they were close to the end of the Chambers’ tunnel, Gregg slowed after he heard voices in the distance. He had no idea where or how far away they were, but knew neither of the voices belonged to Jill or Nick. He stood at the first junction and looked around the clay wall into the black of the main tunnel to see a beam of light as it jittered around inside the tunnel leading from the garage. A few seconds later two shadowy forms appeared and turned north for the town hall. One of them looked to be carrying something over his shoulder, and both were laughing and talking at volume, but Gregg couldn’t make out anything said between them.

He thought it wise to wait until the voices disappeared before he carried on, and as they traversed their way to the garage he remained silent, and not just because there were others in the tunnels, all he had were questions for Alicia, he wanted to get her warmed up and feeling much safer than she felt right now before he’d ask any of them.

They turned into the garage tunnel where the small amount of light from the shaft showed a body lying at the bottom of the steps. Gregg stopped, and although he couldn’t see her face, he turned to look at Alicia.

‘Listen, honey, there’s something you need to know, up ahead in the tunnel is something I’d rather you didn’t see, so from right here, and until we climb out, I’m going to carry you. And while I’m carrying you I want you to put your head on my shoulder and keep your eyes shut tight, okay?’

‘I know it’s a dead body,’ she said to him. ‘I’ve seen it already.’

‘Nevertheless, I’m going to carry you from here.’

Alicia didn’t reply but Gregg saw a shimmer of light flicker off her arms as she raised them in acceptance of what he said. He picked her up, and, exactly like he’d told her to do, she held on and had her head buried deep into his shoulder. The girl felt light in his arms, very light, it made him wonder whether or not they had actually fed her and the others over the past week.

Once they were in the garage and safe, Gregg sat Alicia in front of the heater and went over to a red 4x4 that could only have been left there by the shadows in the tunnel. Gregg pulled down the sun-visor to find the owner’s driving license trapped behind a grey plastic band. He looked at the embedded photo of the owner and instantly remembered the black and white photographs Celia Brontrose had in her front room. “The morning room” that snotty English guy had called it.

So he was right about one thing, the shadows in the tunnel were carrying something, but what they carried was too bizarre to be a coincidence. The daughter of the woman who sent him to Martinsville had been kidnapped by these people, and no way was that a simple twist of fate. Something was definitely out of sync here, way off balance. If this was a jigsaw puzzle, that Celia Brontrose had hidden pieces from him, and some very important pieces at that. He searched the car some more but found little else of use, except for a bag of chewy sweets and the keys hanging in the hatch-back door.

He turned to see Alicia had again curled into a tight ball, but she managed to snatch the bag of sweets from him and push three or four into her mouth before she started to chew; within two minutes the bag was empty.

Gregg hoped she’d be able to answer some of the questions he had for her and was about to ask the first of them when he heard a knock on the shutter. If it was Nick or Jill he’d have expected them to pull up in the van outside, but they no doubt saw the 4x4 out on the road and were just being cautious.

Even so, on the off-chance it wasn’t either of them, he guided Alicia to the car and put her on the rear seat and instructed her to keep very still and very quite. Not that she was making much noise to begin with. He insisted she stay down, and no matter what happens, or whatever she hears, she wasn’t to move. Then, and with an almost silent click, he closed the car door, and just in case it wasn’t Jill or Nick on the other side of the shutter, he drew his gun before he pressed the button for it to rise.

..

In the confined space of the town hall’s basement, Ella paced between the two hatches as she went over everything she’d done to get shut of that investigator, only for it to have all gone wrong. If she’d listened to Hal, who wanted to shoot him from the start, none of it would have happened.

She doubted Brett had had any success in ridding them of the man or he’d have been back by now. So the only time she’ll be free of him will be when the rain stops and he goes to fetch help, which was the reason for her releasing the black girl he’d come looking for. On his own he may just evade the dogs, but with a weak and tired child in-tow, they’ll have no trouble in tracking him down, even without Zach.

She also doubted the two girls would be assisting the man, Hal wouldn’t have gone down without a fight, and if he couldn’t take the investigator with him, then he’d have taken one or both of the girls, of that, she had little reservation. Hal was not for leaving witnesses.

The investigator being out there wasn’t the greatest of her worries, but it was one thing she could have done without on the most pivotal day of Martinsville’s history, the day when all Thomas Martins’ hard work would come to fruition, provided Dane and Sam returned with Marianna. But if they had come across the investigator, he may well have killed them, and their saviour.

‘Hey, is anyone up there?’ called a voice.

Ella kicked across the two bolts holding the hatch shut and Sam pushed it open from underneath and climbed out.

‘Who’s out there?’ Ella said.

‘Sheldon’s outside, or what’s left of him, and Brett’s layin’ in the garage tunnel with a bullet in his head. What the fuck’s been goin’ on here?’

Ella sighed at the news of Brett, though it didn’t come as a shock. ‘And you saw no one else?’ she said.

‘No one.’

Dane climbed from the hatch with Marianna on his shoulder. ‘We had to give her another dose, only a short’un though. She should come round soon enough. Where d’ya wan’ her?’

‘Just put her down,’ she said. ‘I’ll move her later.’

‘There’s a van out on Old Liberty road, no one in it though. Thought Billy might be gettin’ it when the rain stops,’ Sam said.

‘I think Billy’s dead, Hal too, and Zach, and from what you just said, Sheldon and Brett, and maybe even Mervyn, too.’

‘Holy fuck,’ said Dane. ‘What’s been happnin’ round here?’

‘Trouble, and plenty of it, but if you say you saw no one out there then maybe it’s passed.’

‘Y’wan us to go check?’ offered Sam.

‘No. You boys have already done enough, go and stand with the others, if I need you, I’ll come get you.’

Sam and Dane left the basement as ordered and Ella locked the door after them. She looked down at Marianna in her white shorts, white running shoes, and blue V-neck pullover. Her long blonde hair, as always, was fashioned into a pony-tail for her usual summer morning trip around the lake.

The hatch was again slammed shut and again bolted and Ella turned to enter the numeric sequence on the key-pad before she lifted Marianna from the floor to carry her into the chamber.

When she reached the gurney left of the plastic curtain, she placed Marianna on it and stole a glimpse at her patient. He was very still, very silent, and but for the sound of the heart monitor, looked very dead. Ella started to strap Marianna down when she noticed the similarity in facial features she shared with him, and after peeling back one of her eyelids, she saw the same piercing blue Thomas Martins had when she first met him. It was one of the reasons she fell in love with him in the first place. Ella checked but found she didn’t wear lenses, large or small.

Going by looks alone, she reckoned Marianna aged at a slower rate than they did. She was seventy-one, but if Ella hadn’t known that, she’d have to say she looked no older than twenty.

She’d seen Marianna sailing on the lake on numerous occasions when the plan to abduct her was still in the planning stage, so she knew she wasn’t affected by water in the same way they were. However, she felt the need to check for herself and decided on a simple water test to either prove, or allay any fears she had regarding the matter.