The Revelation Room (The Ben Whittle Investigation Series Book 1) (27 page)

Ben did as he was told. He waited for Ebb to get right up
close to the bodies before he whined again.

‘Maxine? Is that you, girl?’

Ben hiccupped a tiny bark and threw it right out there in
front of Ebb. Old Joe would have been proud.

Ebb lowered the gun and reached down to grab hold of the
dog’s tail.

Bubba struck with the speed and accuracy of a rattle snake.
He twisted around and grabbed the shotgun halfway along the barrel. He yanked
it hard enough to tip Ebb off balance. Ebb pulled the trigger as he fell
forwards, blasting a hole in the concrete floor. Bubba let go of the gun as Ebb
hit the deck. The gun landed a few feet away from them.

Go on, Stutter-buck, j-j-j-jump!

Ben jumped. He rushed forwards and threw himself onto Ebb’s
back. Ebb twisted his head from side to side and howled like a wolf beneath a
full moon.

What you gonna do now, Stutter-buck? Piggyback him to
death?

Ebb thrashed and bucked. ‘My dog.’

Ben wrapped his arm around Ebb’s throat and squeezed with
every ounce of strength left in his body. Ebb made an awful hissing noise. Ben
squeezed harder. He could hear one of the women screaming in the background.
 

Something crawled on Ben’s face. For one wild moment, he
thought it was a giant spider. And then he realised it was Ebb’s hand. Too
late. Ebb pushed his index finger into Ben’s right eye. White hot pain erupted
in Ben’s eye socket. He screamed and relaxed his grip on Ebb’s throat.

Ebb threw Ben off his back and crawled towards the shotgun.
‘Maxine?’

Maxine didn’t respond.

‘All of you foul festering bunnies will burn in Hell for
this.’

Ben tried to force himself to act, but the searing pain in
his eye rendered him useless.

A low guttural growl. Ben thought the dog had actually come
back to life. And then Ebb’s rasping voice: ‘Put the gun down, Bubba. Put the
gun down, right now!’

Bubba stood over Ebb, the shotgun aimed at his tormentor’s
head.

‘Just you remember that the Lord Jesus Christ is watching
you.’

Bubba growled and thrust the gun at Ebb.

‘If you do as I say, you can come with me, Bubba. I’ll spare
you from the flames.’

Bubba shook his head.

Ebb kneeled in front of Bubba with his hands clasped before
him. ‘It’s your only chance of salvation.’

Bubba pumped the gun and expelled a spent cartridge.  

‘Think about it, Bubba. We’ve been together for a long time.
We’re practically brothers. You can come to Thailand with me and start a new
life. We’ll buy a proper working farm. I’ll even let you have full control of
the land. How does that sound?’

Bubba shook his head and spat on the ground. The action
spoke louder than any words could.

Ben turned to Maddie and Emily. ‘We need to call the cops.’

‘That bastard’s got a phone up in his living quarters,’
Emily said, ‘along with all his other luxuries.’

‘Call an ambulance, Maddie,’ Ben said. ‘Tell them they’ll
need to send more than one, though, because there are five dead bodies as well
as all the injured people. And then call the cops.’

Ebb pointed at Ben. ‘I’m not having those agents of the
Devil—’

‘It doesn’t matter what you think anymore,’ Ben said.
‘You’re finished.’

‘So you
can
speak after all, Stutter-bunny. It’s
amazing what you can do when you put your tongue to it.’

Ben ignored him. ‘Go, Maddie. Now!’

Maddie walked to the door. She turned back to face Ben.
‘Please be careful.’

Ben nodded. It was as much as he could do to stop himself
crashing to the floor and succumbing to his injuries.

Ebb looked up at Bubba. ‘You can have whatever you want,
Bubba. Women. Slaves. Wealth beyond your wildest dreams.’

Bubba spat on the ground again.

Ebb reached out and made a grab for Bubba’s ankle.

The gun roared as Maddie walked into the Cannabis Room. She
didn’t see Ebb’s head explode in a kaleidoscope of blood and bone and brain
matter. She didn’t see him fall forwards and land with his right hand almost
touching Max’s tail. And for that, Ben thanked Pastor Tom’s God from the bottom
of his heart.

Ben stood beside his father’s
hospital bed and fiddled with Dominic’s locket. The police had returned it to
him after they’d finished sorting through all the evidence from Penghilly’s
Farm. He’d promised his mother he would wear it for the rest of his life. And
he would. With pride.

It was weird viewing the world through one eye. The patch
covering his injured eye meant he had to twist his head sideways to see
anything on his right-hand side. At least the eye was all right. It had swelled
up pretty bad, and it looked like a plum, but Ebb hadn’t inflicted any
permanent damage.

Geoff Whittle was asleep. Ben thought sleep was the best
place for him. The more he rested, the better chance he had of making a decent
recovery. There were tubes all over his body. One even disappeared up his nose.
Two were taped to his hand, one of which was hooked up to a bag of saline
hanging from a portable trolley. His beard was in need of a damn good trim. It
was a wonder that his mother hadn’t turned up before now armed with scissors
and good intentions. Most of his facial wounds looked a lot better now they’d
been attended to, but one of his eyes was quite swollen and his bottom lip was
still about twice its natural size. He looked as though he was pouting, which
tickled Ben almost to the point of laughter.

The consensus among hospital staff was that his father was
lucky to be alive. Geoff didn’t seem to agree. He considered himself bloody
well unlucky to have been captured by Edward Ebb in the first place.

Maddie added another bunch of grapes to the overflowing
fruit bowl. ‘Do you think I should get rid of some of this stuff? Those bananas
look rank.’

Ben nodded. ‘Wouldn’t be a bad idea.’

‘He told me he doesn’t even like fruit.’

‘Try telling that to Mum. She thinks that fruit and fruit
alone is what’s going to get him up on his feet. Never mind the fact that he’s
got a cracked vertebra.’

Maddie dropped a rotten banana into the empty bag. ‘She
means well.’

‘Maybe the doctors could replace his broken bones with
bananas.’

Maddie smiled. ‘He’d be a bit wobbly.’  

Ben sobered. ‘I don’t reckon he’ll walk again.’

‘You don’t know that, Ben.’

‘He’s broken his spine, Maddie. Not to mention what Ebb did
to him. I’m just trying to be realistic.’

‘One day at a time.’

‘Do you remember that doctor who told him to take “one step
at a time”?’

‘I honestly thought your dad was going to get up out of the
bed and hit him.’

‘He certainly had a good go.’

Because of the heat, Geoff was covered with a thin white
cotton sheet. His broken leg was encased in a cast and hoisted up in the air at
a forty-five degree angle. His shattered shoulder was bandaged and his arm was
set in a sling. He’d lost a lot of weight, mostly down to his refusal to eat
anything other than mashed potato and an occasional banana. The nutrients
dripping into his veins did little to replace home-cooked meals, even ones of
the culinary calibre of Anne Whittle. At the moment, Geoff was surviving mainly
on a diet of retribution and threats.

He opened one eye and peered at his son. ‘What time is it?’

Ben jumped. His father always seemed to catch him off guard.
Ben looked at his watch. ‘Nearly midday.’

Geoff coughed and hacked something into his mouth which he
swallowed with a grimace. ‘Give me some water. I’m parched.’

Maddie picked up a glass of water and a straw from the
nightstand and held the straw to Geoff’s lips. He took a mouthful and then spat
out the straw. ‘It’s bloody warm.’

‘Shall I get you some fresh?’ Maddie offered.

Geoff reached down and pressed a red button. ‘No. Let them
do it. I pay enough taxes.’

Ben wished his father would keep his thoughts to himself.

‘Sit down, boy. You look like you need the toilet jigging
about like that.’ And then to Maddie. ‘You, too, love. Take a pew.’

Ben and Maddie sat down. A nurse brought Geoff a fresh glass
of water, complete with a new straw. She treated him to a smile and held the
straw to his lips. Geoff didn’t return the smile. He finished his drink and
waved the nurse away without so much as a thank you. Ben wanted to go after her
and apologise for his father’s lack of manners.

‘How’s mother?’ Geoff asked.

Flapping, fretting and worrying
, Ben thought. ‘She’s
all right. She’s gone to Aunt Mary’s for lunch.’

‘Lunch? She’ll be lucky to get a slice of cucumber on a
Ryvita with that one.’

Ben smiled. Aunt Mary was going through what his mother
called a “skinny phase”. Ever since Ben could remember, Aunt Mary had been
going through a “skinny phase” or a “fat phase”. Ben didn’t care. He liked Aunt
Mary, fat or thin.

‘Is mother coming in to see me today?’

Ben nodded. ‘Tonight.’

‘Tell her no more fruit. I’ll turn into a bloody gibbon if I
eat another banana.’

Ben smiled. It was pointless telling his mother anything
once her mind was set. And right now her mind was set on trying to make her
husband better with as much fruit as she could force down his throat.

Geoff looked up at his son. ‘I want to go home. I’ll never
get better in here. I can’t even get a decent night’s sleep with that old
bugger over there snoring like a train.’

Ben didn’t want to think about the logistics of
accommodating his father at home. Where would they put him? He wasn’t in any
fit state to get up the stairs to his bedroom. The thought of trying to wash
him or take him to the toilet filled Ben with a dread matched only by memories
of Penghilly’s Farm. No, he was better off where he was until they could adapt
the house. In the long run, they would probably need to have an extension built
so his father could have a downstairs bedroom and en-suite shower.

Geoff turned to Maddie. ‘How’s Bubba?’

Maddie smiled. ‘Bubba’s fine. He loves the spare room. I
suppose after Penghilly’s Farm it seems like a luxury hotel. Dad’s going to
give him a job when he’s well enough to work.’

‘At the church?’

‘Yeah. Dad’s teaching him sign language at the moment.’

Ben remembered the countless hours Pastor Tom had spent
teaching him how to use Old Joe to overcome his stammer. He was sure Bubba and
Pastor Tom would get on very well together.

‘And what about you? How are you coping?’

‘I’m okay, Mr Whittle.’

‘You saved my life. I won’t ever forget that.’

‘I didn’t do—’

Geoff waved a hand dismissively. ‘What you and Ben did was
brilliant.’

Ben almost recoiled from the praise. ‘We only did what we
had to.’

‘I hope that bloody girl’s grateful.’

Ben felt like he was on more familiar territory. ‘Emily?’

‘I could think of a better name for her.’

‘We went to see her last night, but she’s gone to stay with
her Gran. Just while she gets on her feet.’

‘She looked quite capable of standing last time I saw her.’

Maddie helped herself to a grape. ‘She lost the baby.’

‘What baby?’

‘She was pregnant.’

‘Who got her pregnant? Not that ranting lunatic, Ebb?’

‘One of the cult members,’ Ben said. ‘Marcus. He died.’

‘Stupid girl. Whatever was she thinking of?’

Ben didn’t want to be drawn on the rights and wrongs of
Emily Hunt’s behaviour. ‘Emily’s dad says if we need anything, just let him
know.’

‘Has he coughed up yet?’

Ben nodded. ‘In full. And he’s given us a five grand bonus.’

‘That should go a long way to curing me.’

Ben understood his father’s frustration. ‘We just need to
take it one day at a time. Like we did in that basement.’

‘Cellar,’ Geoff corrected. ‘We’re in England, not America.’
And then to Maddie, ‘Could you give us a moment, love?’

‘Sure. I’ll go and get a coffee.’

When she was gone, Geoff looked at Ben and smiled. The smile
was shaky around the edges. ‘You did well, son. I’m proud of you.’

Ben looked at the floor. ‘I just did what I had to do.’

‘No, you didn’t. You could’ve just sat on your hands and
called the cops.’

‘But—’

Geoff raised his good hand. ‘But nothing. You put yourself
on the line for me, and that makes you a man in my book.’

Ben struggled with the praise. ‘Thanks.’

‘And I’ll tell you this for nowt: if you had called the
cops, and they’d shown up at the farm, Ebb would have killed us all. He thought
I was a cop.’

‘He got that half right; you used to be.’

‘And then he thought I was Satan. And then a cop again. And
then an agent of the Devil.’

‘He was crazy.’

‘He used to come down to that cellar every day trying to get
me to confess to being something or other. One day he’d act all nice, bringing
me soup and water and a bandage for my arm, the next he’d threaten me with a
shovel and pour acid on me.’

Ben wanted to tell his father what Ebb had done to him on
the cross, but it seemed irrelevant at the moment. ‘It must have been hell for
you.’

‘And he used to talk to those bloody skeletons. And I don’t
just mean “hello”, I mean full blown conversations. Particularly that one in
the hideous pink wig.’

‘That was his mother.’

‘Jesus Christ.’

‘Apparently, he beat her to death with a shovel.’

‘It doesn’t bear thinking about.’ And then after a few
moments silence: ‘Whatever gave you the idea to mimic the dog?’

Ben wanted to tell his father about Old Joe and Pastor Tom,
and how Pastor Tom had taught him to throw his voice, but he didn’t want to
talk about his childhood. Not now. Perhaps never. ‘I don’t know. It was just a
spur of the moment thing, really. I knew how much that dog meant to him, so I
thought it might distract him if he believed the dog was still alive.’

‘It was nothing short of heroic, son. Bloody heroic.’

Ben looked away. ‘Thanks.’

Geoff changed the subject. ‘You look like a pirate with that
patch. How long are you going to have to wear it for?’

‘Just until the swelling goes down.’

‘Thank God he didn’t blind you.’

Ben looked at his hands. The hands that had attacked Edward
Ebb. He still couldn’t believe that he’d found the courage to do it.

‘Look, son, I’m not going to beat about the bush. We’ve got
to face facts. I might never walk again.’

‘You don’t know that, Dad.’

Geoff held up a hand. ‘Whatever happens, I’m not going to be
fit enough to go out on operations anymore. My days of climbing trees are well
and truly behind me. I’m in my mid-fifties as it is. To tell you the truth,
I’ve been wanting to hand over the reins for a long time, but I didn’t think
you were up to it.’

‘I know.’

‘But I was wrong. I never gave you the chance to prove
yourself. Ever since you could talk I was telling you to shut up. I thought I
could mould you into a man, just like my father did to me. But I was wrong. You
were different to me and Granddad. We both thrived on discipline. You seem to
have more of your mother’s genes in you.’

Ben grinned. ‘Are you saying I’m a girl?’

‘I’m just saying you’re sensitive. But that doesn’t make you
any less of a man. Maybe it makes you more of a man. Anyway, you’ve shown me
you’re more than capable of stepping into the breach. The job’s yours if you
want it.’

‘But what are you going to do?’

‘I’ll run the office and do what I can once I’m in better
shape.’

Ben looked at his hands. His mind was caught in a
no-man’s-land between elation and doubt.  

‘You don’t have to tell me right away. Take your time and
have a think about it. I’m not pressurising you into doing anything. I’ve done
enough of that up to now.’

‘I don’t need to think about it. It would be an honour to
work as a private investigator for Whittle Investigations.’

‘Good. Now bugger off. I need to rest. Take that young lady
out for a meal. On me.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course I’m bloody sure. Why else would I have said it?’

Ben didn’t walk out of ward 5C. He floated out on legs
filled with helium. He took a lift down to level two and found Maddie in the
League of Friends canteen. Maddie waved. At him! How cool was that? Her hair
was swept back and secured in its customary ponytail.

Ben grinned. ‘Do you fancy going out for a meal?’

‘I’m a bit skint.’

‘Don’t worry about that. It’s on the old man.’

‘Then I’d love to.’

‘Italian?’

‘Italian would be great.’

They left the canteen and took the stairs down to ground
level. They walked out of the hospital into a beautiful warm summer afternoon.
Ben stopped and turned to Maddie. ‘How do you fancy working with me?’

Maddie frowned. ‘Doing what?’

‘My dad’s put me in charge of investigations. I wondered if
you wanted to help? Be my assistant? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.’

Maddie smiled and poured sunshine into those beautiful green
eyes. ‘I’d love to, Ben.’

Ben wanted to kiss her. He wanted to hug her tight and
declare his undying love from the rooftops.

‘Cool,’ he said, before almost walking into a bollard and
stubbing his toe on the kerb.

THE END