Mortal Crimes: 7 Novels of Suspense (101 page)

“You haven’t… killed anyone, have you?”

He laughed long and hard. “One or two who had outlived their usefulness. I admit”—he threw his arms out to the side and shrugged—“I was foolish. If I’d known then what I know now about how much women appreciate a man who is holding them captive… well, let’s just say I would never have killed them off so quickly.” He turned his head in Ellen’s direction and ran his tongue across his upper lip to wipe away the sweat that had gathered there.

The display caused Ellen to shudder. Fallon was incredibly like her stepfather in so many ways—the way he spoke, that condescending know-it-all tone that switched to anger in a split second. His gaze locked onto hers, challenging her to defy him, to make his day by putting up a fight. Ellen decided then and there that she would be compliant with Fallon’s wishes. She needed to know where and how the other girls were. There was every possibility that Fallon would take her to be with them—if he didn’t kill her first, that was.

“Mike, I’m pleading with you to stop this now. I can get you the help you need, top psychiatrists, the best in their field.” Dr. Nixon stepped towards her son.

His face contorted with rage. The poor doctor didn’t stand a chance when Fallon’s clenched fist connected with her cheek and sent her reeling backwards.

“Don’t hurt her. Do what you will to me, but don’t hurt your mother,” Ellen shouted. She attempted to get out of her seat, but he clamped her shoulder in a vise-like grip and shoved her back down. His strength surprised her when it shouldn’t have. He was a competing bodybuilder, after all. The doctor was out cold, lying on the floor by the door. “Let me help her?”

“Why? What do you care if the bitch dies or not? She’s only my mother in name. She didn’t give a toss about me when I was growing up. She only gave me this job out of guilt. Don’t let her looks fool you, Ms. Brazil. Maybe if she’d shown me some of the love she’d shown the stream of men she brought to the house during my childhood, I would have turned out differently. Respected women more. But when you have a mother like that…” He jabbed a finger in his mother’s direction and spat on the carpet beside her.

With Fallon revealing his darkest inner thoughts, Ellen seized the opportunity to gain his trust and possibly talk herself out of her mess.

“Is that why you let Sandy go? Because she’s pregnant?”

He studied her through narrowed eyes. “Kids deserve to be brought up well, in a loving home with caring parents. She told me as soon as she possibly could that she was pregnant. Unlike my mother over there, I’m not totally heartless. She should never have had me. If I ever stuck up for myself when her man-friends struck out, she used to lock me in my room for days without food and drink.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Words are cheap. You don’t have to be sorry for her failings.”

“Tell me where the girls are?” she asked softly.

“Oh, you’ll be acquainted with them soon enough.” He tilted his head back and laughed. His delight changed to panic when someone knocked on the door.

As tempted as she was to cry out for help, Ellen kept her mouth shut and watched Fallon’s reaction. He suddenly became jittery, started pacing the carpet in front of her, as if it had just dawned on him what he’d done to his mother.
Is that remorse?
His demeanour altered promptly.

He scowled at Ellen. “Did you bring someone with you?” She could hear the threat in his voice, despite his whispering.

“No. I’m alone.”

Reassured, he sank onto the edge of the desk and waited for the person on the other side of the door to leave. The handle had already jiggled several times, and whoever was outside seemed persistent. “Dr. Nixon? Your next appointment is here to see you.”

Fallon’s warning glare was enough to keep Ellen quiet. He looked over his shoulder at the sash window.

Grabbing Ellen’s arm, he pulled her roughly to her feet. She tried to reach for her handbag, but he yanked her away from it, then pushed her towards the window. He eased open the window, cautious not to alert the person outside the door. “Get out,” he ordered Ellen.

As she climbed through the window, he held her firmly by her hair. “Ouch, you’re hurting me. I’ll go willingly, I promise.”

His grasp relented a little, until he’d climbed out of the window and stood beside her. He scanned the immediate area. They were alone. He steered her across the car park to his car, which Ellen noted hadn’t been in the car park when she’d arrived.
Did he know I was here? Had he seen my car when he’d arrived for work? Did that trigger him to become so aggressive?

He shoved her in the passenger seat beside him and buckled her up. “Don’t even try to escape.” He sneered in her face before he closed the door and ran around the front of the car to get in the driver’s seat. “We’re going on a nice ride out in the country, where no one can find us.”

Ellen closed her eyes briefly, to ask for help from above, as the car left the car park. On the way out of town, she recognised the route Fallon was taking.

If only I had access to my phone.
She clung to the hope that Jim would try to contact either her or the hospital if she didn’t check in with him soon. He would probably be too distracted at the pool with the kids to realise how long she had been at the hospital. Her heart sank a little further. She wanted to keep the communication going with Fallon, but she struggled to find the right words. She was fearful of saying the wrong thing and winding up in a ditch.

He turned on the car stereo and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, bizarrely acting as though they had ventured out for a pleasure drive. The roads narrowed the farther they went out into the countryside, then Fallon slowed down to guide the car up a dirt track in the middle of nowhere.
Damn! Jim will never find me out here. It’s far too remote for the nearest neighbours to hear anything.

“Where are we?”

“Shut up! Did I tell you to speak?”

“I’m sorry,” she muttered, sensing he would beat her if she continued asking questions. He was definitely in control of this situation, unlike back in his mother’s office. The farm was his domain, where he ruled the girls and punished them if they got out of line. She swallowed the lump of fear that had seized and was squeezing her throat.

The large barn stood tall ahead of them. The property had no house, just a large solitary barn set on acres of open farmland. Fallon turned off the engine and pulled her out of the car. Her only advantage was that he hadn’t tied her up—yet.
Should I run?
She reconsidered her escape, thinking that he would punish her more fiercely once he caught up with her. Anyway, they were out in the middle of nowhere.
Where could I possibly run to for help?

He opened the tall barn door and shoved her inside, towards one of the stables. Ellen cocked her head to listen for any form of life in the other stables, but she heard nothing. His hand settled in the middle of her back, and he propelled her onto the bed of straw. “Stay there, bitch,” he demanded before turning on his heel and leaving the stable. Ellen surveyed her surroundings, which held a straw bed and very little else. If a pitchfork or shovel had been in the corner, she would have pounced on it and armed herself for Fallon’s return.
Stay calm and wait for the right moment to arise.

She heard a rustle and wondered if the sound had come from the stable next door or if Fallon was on his way back. His return answered her question. In front of him, he was pushing a metal frame similar to the ones used by hospitals to administer drugs to patients through IV.
Shit! I can’t allow him to control me like that, like he controlled Sandy.

The closer he came, the farther back Ellen moved, until the wall of the stable prevented her fleeing his advancement. She held her arms up in front of herself. “Please, don’t do this. I can help you get away, Fallon. It’s only a matter of time before the police turn up.”

He laughed and continued invading her personal space. “Don’t make me laugh. You’re full of bullshit, woman. Now relax. You won’t feel a thing.”

He picked up a needle and aimed it at the top of her arm. She thrashed out at him, bashing him on the head several times. His lip curled, and his eyes widened in rage. Tucking the needle into his back pocket, he sprang and landed on top of her. His fingers dug into her arms as he gathered both of her hands in one of his. With the other hand, he withdrew the needle and punctured her forearm with its tip. Instantly, Ellen felt the effects of the needle’s contents seep into her veins. Dizziness quickly followed. Fallon tugged at her clothes. In her dazed state, she tried to fight him off. However, it didn’t take long for her limbs to become uncontrollable. Trying to fight him was pointless. Her mind turned to jelly, and she had no control over her thoughts, either. She slumped against him and drifted off to sleep.

________

Jim glanced at his watch. “Where the hell is she?”

“Who?” Suzie asked, not taking her eyes off the twins while they frolicked in the pool.

“Ellie. It’s been two hours since she went to the hospital. She should’ve checked in by now. I’m worried about her.”

“Then go. The kids and I will be fine.” Suzie leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“Thanks, sweetheart. I’m probably worrying over nothing. I’ll ring you later.” He left his seat and swiftly made his way past the other parents keeping watchful eyes over their own children splashing around in the pool. Instinct told Jim to give Brian a ring before he got in his car. “Brian, it’s Jim, Ellen’s brother.”

“Uh oh! What’s she done now?”

“Could be nothing, but I’m on my way to the hospital where Fallon works. Ellen went there a couple of hours ago. I told her to report in when she left, but I’ve heard nothing since.”

“Have you tried ringing her?”

“Of course. Her phone keeps going directly into answerphone.”

“Maybe the reception isn’t very good where she is.”

“I’m on my way over there now. Any chance you can join me?” Jim turned the key in the ignition and selected first gear.

“Sure. Turn up in force. I’m all for that. I’ll leave now. Be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Great. See you there.” Jim felt relieved that Brian had jumped at the chance to accompany him, because a bad feeling was attacking his gut right then.

________

Brian was waiting in the car park when Jim arrived. They shook hands. “Her car is still here,” Brian said, pointing at her vehicle.

“Let’s go.” The pair stormed into reception and stood side by side in front of the receptionist. Jim showed his ID to the scowling woman behind the desk. “I’m here to see Dr. Nixon.”

She wriggled uncomfortably in her chair. “May I ask why?”

“No. Just take me to her. Now.”

The receptionist leapt out of her chair as if it had just burst into flames beneath her. “I tried knocking on the doctor’s door about an hour ago, but got no reply. I know she had a meeting with a young lady a while back, but I haven’t seen either of them since.”

“Do you have a spare key for the office door?”

The receptionist’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling. “Why didn’t I think of that?” She ran back behind her desk and pulled a clump of keys from a hook in the small cupboard beside her chair.

Jim and Brian followed the receptionist down the hallway. She knocked on the door and again, received no response, so she unlocked it and pushed the door open. Something was stopping the door from opening fully.

“Let me try.” Jim shouldered the door, and it opened another few inches, enough for him to poke his head through the gap. “Jesus, call an ambulance. Brian, help me ease it open, nice and gently now.”

The door gradually opened thanks to their joint efforts. “Is she dead?” Brian asked breathlessly.

Jim dropped to the floor and raised the doctor’s left wrist. “No, she’s alive. Her pulse is faint, though. The window—whoever did this got out that way and locked the door from the inside.”

“Fallon?”

“I’m guessing it was. If Ellie’s car is still in the car park—shit! He’s probably taken her.” Jim turned his attention back to the doctor and shook her shoulder gently, trying to rouse her. After several attempts, the woman stirred. He and Brian helped the doctor into a sitting position and supported her against the wall.

“What happened? Who are you?”

“I’m with the police. I’m also Ellen Brazil’s brother. Where is she?”

“I have no idea,” the doctor replied, her voice faltering.

The doctor looked confused, but Jim thought she was avoiding his eyes too much and suspected she wasn’t telling him the truth. “There’s no point denying that Ellen was here, Doctor. Her car is still in the car park, and your receptionist told us you had a meeting. Now where is she?”

The doctor’s shoulders slumped in resignation. “I don’t know. An employee of mine came in and interrupted our meeting, and—”

“Cut the crap, Doctor. My sister’s life is in danger. By ‘employee,’ you mean your son, don’t you?”

The doctor’s mouth dropped open, and it took her a few seconds to recover. She sighed. “Yes, my son came in. I wasn’t expecting him. He was angry, struck me in the head. I genuinely don’t know what happened to your sister.”