Part 26 (2/2)

Maggie slammed her foot on the brake. A tall man got out of the van and stood, legs apart, arms hanging loosely by his side. He had Josh. She had heard him, but she couldn't see him.

She leapt out of the car and ran at the man, not caring what he did to her. She aimed her fingernails at his face and flew at him, her knee raised to groin level. His arms rose swiftly long arms that kept her at bay. She turned her head to bite his hand, but his other hand reached down and grabbed her hair, pulling her head back.

'You b.a.s.t.a.r.d,' she spat. 'Let my son go. He can't hurt you. Let him go.'

'Get in the van, Maggie,' he said, still pulling her hair so that all she could see was the sky above them. 'Get in the f.u.c.king van. There's n.o.body here to save you, and if you don't do as I say I'll drive off with your son, and you'll never see him again. Have you got that?'

She couldn't nod. 'Okay' was all she could manage.

He opened a sliding side door and pushed her inside. She fell face down, and he slammed the door shut. A small light was switched on, presumably so he could keep an eye on her.

Maggie rolled over quickly. Where was Josh? She was hoping he was here, with her in the back, so she could cuddle him and rea.s.sure him. But he was in the front seat with a grille between them. If he'd been here, she might have tried to escape with him, but that was the point, no doubt. The man knew she wouldn't try to get away while he had her son.

She crawled to the grille and poked her fingers through trying to touch Josh. 'It's okay, baby. I'm here now.'

'I'm sorry, Mummy,' he said, his voice sounding small and so, so vulnerable. 'I tried to get away, but he was waiting for me. There was n.o.body else to tell. I'm sorry.'

His face was grubby and streaked with tears. This should not be happening to Josh.

'You've got nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart; I'm the one who should be sorry. Listen, don't worry about it. The police know all about this van. Do you remember? You gave me the number plate, and I told the police. So they'll be tracking us now on that fancy equipment they have. It reads number plates, and they'll be watching for this one.'

She knew the man was listening, but she didn't care. Maybe he would dump the van and they would carry on on foot. That would give her the best chance of escape. But to her horror, he laughed.

'After my mate's ridiculous behaviour the other day when he rather showed his hand, do you really think we would have kept the same number plate? We're not petty criminals, Maggie. We're skilled at what we do. We're intelligent, and there's not a police force in the world that can tie us to any crime.'

'No, but Michael can, can't he?'

She saw the man's jaw muscles tense. 'And we both know he's not going to. He's not going to accept the inevitable prison sentence, is he, because he doesn't believe any of it is his fault.'

He gave a tight smile, and Maggie winced, knowing that every word was the truth.

'Don't hurt my mum, Sam,' Josh suddenly said. 'Because if you do, my dad will come for you. He's strong, and he says we have to stand up to bullies.'

The man put his head back and laughed out loud, as if that was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

So this was Samil. Maggie had finally met the man who called himself the Angel of Death. Suddenly, the name didn't seem quite so silly after all.

There was a slightly sharp smell in the back of the van, and the wooden floor was damp as if it had recently been cleaned. An indentation held a small puddle, and Maggie dipped her middle finger in. She felt a mild tingling and the end of her finger started to turn white.

This guy was smart. He knew that ordinary bleach removed bloodstains, but luminol would still reveal them. The only way to remove the haemoglobin was to use oxygen bleach hydrogen peroxide so even if the van was found at some point there would be no blood evidence of his previous victims. The bodies had been in here.

Gooseb.u.mps broke out over her arms and up her neck. This was no ordinary thug.

'Where are we going?' she asked.

'Shut up and stop asking stupid questions.'

Maggie had no intention of shutting up. If there was one thing she had to do, it was persuade this Samil or whatever his real name was that it was dangerous for him to keep Josh. She knew why she had been taken, but if Josh saw his mummy hurt he would be so damaged, and his knowledge would make him a danger to this man. Would Samil kill Josh to protect himself?

Josh had to be her number one priority. She would worry about herself later. She tried to think how to persuade Samil to let her son go. She was running out of time and silently apologised for the terror she was about to subject her small son to. But better frightened than dead.

'Let Josh go at least. If you have an ounce of decency in you, stop the van and let him out. He's only a little kid. Don't let him witness whatever you're going to do. That would make him a danger to you, and then you'd have no choice but to silence him. I can't believe that you'd hurt an eight-year-old child. How does that fit in with your plans?

'I told you to shut the f.u.c.k up.'

'I'm a criminal lawyer, but then you know that, don't you? So I know how killers work. Not many kill adults and small children, do they? It's usually one or the other.'

Maggie screwed her eyes up tight for a second and prayed that Josh wouldn't absorb what she was about to say.

'I know you like to kill in threes. Are you going to find another two other little boys to make up the number?'

Once again she saw his jaw tighten. 'I see you've been talking to Michael.'

Maggie was relieved that he was referring to her husband as Michael at least Josh would not realise it was his daddy they were discussing.

'I know you think Michael let you down all those years ago, but he never believed you were serious.'

'Is that what he told you?' She couldn't see the man's face, but clearly he wasn't ready to forgive Duncan.

'He let you get away with it, though. You should be grateful to him for not going to the police.'

'You really don't know him at all, do you.' It was a statement, not a question.

Maggie didn't want to listen to this any more.

'Never mind Michael. Never mind me. Whatever you've done, you think you're in the clear. You're clever, so I don't doubt you could still get away with it. But if you... hurt a child...' Maggie paused, a sob rising in her throat. She had been unable to say 'kill', but Samil knew what she meant. She couldn't complete the sentence.

'What? What will you do to me?' he asked, his anger spiking through. She was getting to him and she wasn't going to stop. He couldn't shut her up; there was a grille between them.

'Oh, I won't be able to do a thing. I know that. But when you go to prison because you will go to prison what do you think will happen to you? They'll say you're a nonce. n.o.body ever hurts kids for the thrill of the kill, do they? They won't believe your motive was to keep him quiet. Men who hurt kids always have another agenda a different kind of thrill in mind. Imagine that. Life in prison and segregated. Alone with your own thoughts. How will you like that?' She didn't wait for an answer but ploughed on. 'What harm can it do letting him go? He doesn't know your real name; he only knows the van, and you've already disguised that. There are thousands of white vans. Look, you've just pa.s.sed one. Let him out, Samil. The police are looking for you because of the girls, but we all know that a child killer rarely gets away with it. They'll double, treble the number of officers working on the case if you kill him. And they will never give up. We're miles from home, and Josh knows nothing. But in a minute I will start talking. I will start spilling every tiny bit of information that Michael has given me. And Josh will remember. He's good like that. And then you'll have no choice, will you. Do the smart thing, Samil. Let my child out.'

He didn't respond, and Maggie had run out of words.

Through the grille, she saw Samil glance briefly over his shoulder at her, a hint of a smile on his angular face. 'Do you know, that's not such a bad idea, Maggie,' he said. 'I'll dump him here, in the middle of nowhere, shall I? Then some other creep can finish the job for me. Excellent plan.'

The van screeched to a halt beside the road.

'Josh, get out and face that wall. If you turn round and try to read the number plate of this van, I will come back to get you, and I will hurt you and your mum. Do you understand?'

Maggie recognised the road they were on. It wasn't the middle of nowhere. It was the main road to the north of Manchester, leading into the city. But the road was lined with businesses there were no pedestrians or houses in sight.

Suddenly she was terrified. At least while he was in the van, he was with her. If he got out, there was a chance that he would be picked up by somebody as evil as Samil.

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