The Dead Lie Down (Adam Lennox Thrillers: Book One) (32 page)

"Gerry I know where she is." He waited until Gerry showed some signs of having
heard him. "I know where she is. Go back to the chapel. Wait for the
police."

"What if they don't show?" demanded Gerry.

Already Adam was moving fast away from him but called over his shoulder. "They
will, believe me they will."

At first glance the cottage appeared in total darkness but on closer inspection
a low light was burning in a downstairs room. He approached from the rear where
the heathland wilderness gave easy cover right up to the garden gate. The cloud
cover was still there and the distant thunder was edging closer. Adam was now
upbeat. He was on his own patch, he knew every inch of his own cottage in the
pitch dark. Again the adrenaline flowed but this time it was nurtured,
controlled, harnessed.

He gained the garden without making any discernible sound and moved quickly
towards the wall of the house, making for the kitchen garden door and deep
shadow. His hate of squeaking doors gave him confidence of a quiet entry but he
stopped when he found the door lying very slightly ajar.

Adam didn't like open doors. Criminals who were in defence mode locked the
doors. Open doors were bad news. Like all crime dramas where the
detective/policeman finds a house with the front door slightly ajar you could be
sure he's going to find a corpse in the lounge or bathroom in the middle of a
bloodstain. Adam didn't like to think about the possibilities. In the woods
across the road two howls hooted to each other.

Sixth sense and house-to-house combat training told him to drop to all fours and
keep low against the walls. If people are expecting you then they're expecting
you at normal height.

The kitchen was devoid of human presence and everything was where it should have
been. The kitchen table was clear. From here he could see now that the low-level
light was coming from the lounge on the other side of the dining room. He crept
around the doorway into the dining room and stopped, scanning the shadows for
anything out of place. Still no sign of life. He moved across quickly to the
door frame of the doorway into the lounge. Now light was becoming an issue. He
would be visible as soon as he put his head around the door. Dropping to ground
level he risked a glance through the doorway.

Bel's body hung from the main beam across the ceiling, her head slumped forward
on her chest. Her clothes had been systematically shredded and across the
semi-naked torso were dozens of congealed bloodstains from dozens of cuts to the
skin.

Chapter 43

In hindsight it was a dumb move but he wasn't thinking too clearly as he flicked
the switch on the main light. The room was flooded with a sharp bright light and
Bel's head snapped up in response. Adam froze briefly in disbelief before
running over to her and pulling out a knife to cut her down. Her eyes were still
closed and her voice came at no more that a loud whisper.

"Don't look, for God's sake don't look." She was having difficulty breathing
with her arms tied above her head supporting her weight. She took another deep
breath. "Get out you fool, she's still in the house somewhere."

Adam focussed on her unsighted eyes and comprehension came at the same time as
he heard the words from the open doorway.

"She sure as hell is."

Anna stood in the doorway, an automatic cradled in two hands, not as a result of
watching too much television but all down to CIA training. She watched Adam
carefully, unworried by Bel still strung from the ceiling. Slowly she moved out
of the doorway and into a position she was happy with, the gun unwavering from
its target.

Likewise Adam locked his gaze on hers.

He nodded in Bel's direction. "Let me cut her down, she poses no threat."

Anna frowned, considered it for a moment and then shook her head. "No, I like
things just the way they are."

As if he hadn't heard her Adam took out his knife and went to cut Bel's wrists
down.

Anna's gun boomed once, the noise in the confined area making them all jump. The
table lamp exploded and disappeared from the table.

"I said no!" shouted Anna. "Move away from her now or she gets the next
one."

Adam moved away and backed against the wall, moving slowly and deliberately,
gaze still locked with Anna's.

"Now throw the knife into the corner over there," she ordered, gesturing into a
dark corner with a nod of the head.

Adam briefly toyed with the prospect of hitting her with the knife before she
could get a shot off but decided the odds weren't good. He tossed the knife into
the corner as instructed.

Anna and Adam were so intent on each other that they almost missed Bel's
voice.

"Adam, what's going on? What is her problem?" Her voice was still weak and
tired.

Anna smiled. "Yes Adam, why don't you tell her what is going on."

Adam still didn't turn to look at Bel, but continued, fixed on Anna.

"Anna Low isn't her real name, it's her CIA alias. Her real name is Paula Lee.
She used to be a member of the CIA. She had a brother, Richard who was in the UK
studying at university."

"My, you have been doing your homework," replied Anna.

"Five years ago he tried to rob a jewellery store in Oxford Street."

Bel seemed to find her voice. "Wait a minute. Five years ago. Are you telling me
her brother was the shoplifter?"

"That's right."

"He wasn't a thief." declared Anna defiantly. "He was mentally ill, he suffered
from kleptomania. He didn't know what he was doing."

Adam continued, talking to Bel but watching Anna closely. "You and Fran raised
the alarm. Store security caught him and called the police. Six months later you
both gave evidence at his trial."

"Tell her what happened," screamed Anna. "Tell her what she did."

Adam watched her trembling hands with increasing concern.

"If you remember, he was sentenced to six months in prison." Adam paused before
continuing. "He was two days away from parole when he was knifed by a drug
addict who was going cold turkey."

"Oh shit." lamented Bel.

"He died three days later."

Anna burst out again. "He needed medical help and you killed him." She waved the
gun around and pointed it menacingly in Bel's direction briefly before
remembering that Adam was still the biggest threat.

Adam continued the story, his mind working out a strategy for outwitting
Anna.

"The rest is largely conjecture, I don't know the details but they're
unimportant. I guess Anna got hold of the names of those who had testified
against her brother and decided on revenge."

"The influence of the CIA can get us most things we want," declared Anna, pride
in her voice.

Adam addressed Anna. "I guess you came across to kill Fran." He hesitated. "You
did kill Fran didn't you?"

"I hadn't planned to," she conceded. "I wanted to confront her, to make her see
what she had done, to make her beg for forgiveness. But when I found her I just
saw red and I wanted to destroy her." Her voice rose a tone and the volume
increased in defiance. "I killed her. She paid for what she did to my
family."

The exertion of Adam's control showed in his face and his clenched hands but he
succeeded in containing himself. Bel's voice interjected once again,
considerable weariness evident now.

"There was a third witness."

Adam interrupted her. "Yes there was. Apparently Helen Cole died in suspicious
circumstances three years ago when she fell two hundred feet off a cliff in
North Devon. The coroner's verdict was accidental death although there were a
number of unexplained factors."

"CIA training pays off again," Anna gloated, laughter not far from her
voice.

"So how did you find out about Bel?" asked Adam.

Anna let out a small giggle. "One of life's superb ironies. I really did get a
secondment to help Customs and Excise investigate suspected arms smuggling. I
discovered Bartletts were under suspicion and who should I find at the top of
the Bartlett tree but dear Bel here?"

"You pretended to join O'Rourke and Reilly?" suggested Adam.

"Fools. The poor bastards thought I was working for them as a sympathiser."

"So you played the authorities and O'Rourke off against each other, when in fact
your prime purpose was revenge on Bel."

Anna shrugged. "It got confusing at times I guess, although the challenge of
playing so many roles was good fun. Convincing O'Rourke that you were the threat
was a master stroke of course."

Adam's playing for time had given him little inspiration for getting them out of
there in one piece. He was extremely disappointed at how calm Anna was
again.

"So can I assume that the mystery gunman who disposed of our friend Reilly a
short while ago was in fact you?"

Anna smiled with satisfaction. "Nice to know that I haven't lost the touch. Just
tying up loose ends."

"And that's what we are I presume? Loose ends."

"By no means," she reassured him. "I had to keep you alive for the finale.. "
She laughed. "You are both main events. Like Fran." She started to giggle again.
"You should have seen her eyes in the headlights. Talk about a startled rabbit.
I'm sure she knew who I was just before she died."

Adam was on the point of doing something desperate but once again the gun
brought him up short.

"Go on, do something rash, give me an excuse."

She giggled again, her voice getting higher again. "You know what bugs me most.
Out of all of it." She waited for a response but was disappointed. "It would
have been the icing on the cake to bed her widower but you wouldn't have it
would you? It was a moment of genius, but no, you were still loyal to that
bitch."

Bel struggled with her cords to no avail. Anna surveyed her briefly and a light
came into her eyes.

"Perhaps I have a proposition. Perhaps I'll spare her if you'll go to bed with
me. Rather like 'Indecent Proposal' with a twist." She ruminated on the
possibilities. "But it would be difficult wouldn't it? You might get the better
of me, put me at your mercy." She thought some more. "Perhaps if you were tied
to the bed though?"

Whilst she was fantasising Adam had taken the opportunity of moving
undiscernibly along the wall away from Anna.

She came out of her reverie. "You don't think it's a good idea?"

She never found out his thoughts as Adam flicked the light switch behind his
back and the room was plunged into virtual darkness. Two shots rang out from
Anna's gun but Adam was already on the move. He lunged towards the doorway but
Anna had already gone. He could hear her feet on the stairs, and picking up his
own gun from the chair he moved to the foot of the stairs. A quick glance at the
staircase convinced him that the landing at the top was empty and, recalling
each squeaky board, he climbed slowly to the top keeping as low as he could.

The small darkened landing was indeed empty but heavy breathing could be heard
from the second bedroom.

He remained on the landing, letting his eyes gain their full night vision.

"You realise you're now in very big trouble," he called.

"No more than before I guess," she replied.

Adam was painfully aware that the walls wouldn't stop a bullet but he was
determined to keep her talking in order to track her movements.

"You realise I know this place like the back of my hand," he said.

She laughed. "You might have the superior knowledge but I'm trained for this by
the CIA."

"Who are acknowledged as the second best training outfit behind the British
SAS," insisted Adam. He hadn't a clue if it were true but if it wound Anna up it
might evoke a response.

It did. A shot rang out and a large chunk of wall fell from above him, where his
head would have been if he hadn't crouched down.

"You still alive?" she called.

"Still here," he replied as he spat out bits of plaster.

"After John Bartlett stumbled on the body in the Hermes, I presume it was you
that convinced O'Rourke that Bel and I were a danger to him."

"O'Rourke took some persuading," she admitted, "but Reilly helped, he was up for
anything that included killing and torturing."

As she spoke her voice was moving slowly away from Adam. He listened intently
before moving slowly into the bedroom which was now empty. After a pause he
crossed the room, skirting the bed and making his way to the access door
adjoined the main bedroom.

He moved slowly into the doorway covering the room inside as he went but it was
only due to the moonlight that he saw her standing by the window in shadow, her
gun trained on him.

They stood like that for several moments. No words no movements, silence
building up around them.

Anna broke it first.

"I don't want to kill you, you know, but you got in the way and someone had to
pay."

"Did Kemp have to pay?" queried Adam. "It was you I texted to protect him but
instead you told O'Rourke didn't you?"

"Collateral damage, you can't avoid it. CIA rules dictate that the ultimate goal
shouldn't be endangered or compromised by the risk of collateral damage. I had
to keep giving him titbits to keep him happy."

Adam realised that the window was open. "You can't get away now." He said. "Too
many people know. Ford knows. Even if you kill me and Bel, it would be the
end."

Anna's smile glowed in the dark. "Don't worry about me. I can disappear. I'm
trained to do it. I have the means and resources to reinvent myself. I've done
it before, I can do it again."

Adam shook his head in the darkness. "So you're going to keep running? It isn't
worth it."

"I think that's my decision," said Anna. She stopped and listened. Adam heard it
too, sirens, plural, not far away and getting closer. She smiled again. "Time I
was going. I'll see you again, I can promise you that."