‘Josh, you can’t think like –‘

‘What am I supposed to think? I may as well hand in my badge.’

She had never seen him like this. So full of frustration. So near to the point of being broken. He had always appeared the strong one, so sure what to do.

‘But you can’t give up now. What about Cassie?’

‘She’s –‘ He thought she was probably dead by now, but he couldn’t bear to tell her. He slumped against the car, ran his hands through his hair.

‘No. No way is she -’

He looked at her, biting the corner of his mouth.

‘I just don’t believe it. She can’t be.’

‘Kate. We need to face facts. Somebody’s outsmarted us here. He’s been playing with us all the time. Right from the beginning.’

‘But –‘

‘But nothing. He’s won. It’s game over.’

45

She woke up to feel somebody stroking her hair. It was a sweet, soft touch. It reminded her of something from her childhood. She was in bed, ill, and she had heard someone come into her room. She opened her eyes to see her grandmother by her. The old lady reached out and ran a hand over her head. She remembered the smell of her, a mix of lavender soap and milky oatmeal. She revelled in the deliciousness of the memory. Then she recalled something else. Something not so lovely. The sound of that man’s voice. The near escape through the carport door. The thud of the chain as it hit her shoulder. The feel of oil on her face. And then the pain in her hands as the man tightened the vice around her.

There was something wrong. She couldn’t feel her fingers. At all.

She jolted upwards, flailing around in panic. She remembered what he said he was going to do. She couldn’t breathe. She didn’t know where she was. She had nothing to orientate her.

‘Hey, calm down,’ said the voice. It was the voice of another man. Kinder, somehow. ‘You’ve nothing to be afraid of now.’

‘W – where am I?’

‘You’re safe. That’s all that matters.’

‘Are you a cop?’

‘You could say that.’

‘And him? Where is he?’

‘You don’t need to worry about him. He won’t harm you any more.’

‘Am I in hospital?’

‘No. Not yet. But you will be. Soon, I promise.’

‘What’s happened to my fingers? I can’t feel my fingers. Did he –‘

‘He tried to, yes. But I stopped him. I’ve given you an injection to kill the pain. You will have some pain when that wears off, but by then you should be in the hands of the doctors.’

‘Do I -? I mean – is there anything missing?’

‘No. He cut quite deep and you’ll have a pretty nasty scar, but you’ll be fine.’

‘What’s your name?’

‘I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.’

‘Are you a doctor?’

‘No, no I’m not, but I know a bit about medicine.’

She felt sleepy. She tried to resist the impulse but the pull was too strong.

‘You need to get some rest now. It’s the drug, one of the side-effects. But don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.’

She didn’t know why she trusted him, but she did. He said she was safe and she believed him. She tried to thank him, but the words disappeared on her lips.

46

‘So what shall we do with you now?’ he said, looking down at the blindfolded man.

‘What the fuck is going on?’

‘You’re just about to find out, my friend. But please try and refrain from using foul language.’

‘You motherfucking fuck –‘

‘I’ve asked you politely. Now if you don’t try and –‘

‘Fuck you.’

‘Very well. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

He grabbed one of his victim’s hands and smashed it into the vice.

‘Don’t you recognise this?’

‘What the –‘

‘It’s the very same piece of equipment you were about to use on that blind girl. Oh, and by the way how does it feel not to be able to see?’

There was no answer.

‘Cat got your tongue?’ He laughed to himself. ‘Of course, you’ll know all about that, as well.’

‘Who the fuck are you?’

‘I could ask you the same question. But I already know who you are. You see I’ve got the advantage.’

He turned the screws so that the vice clamped itself around a finger. He took out his scalpel and admired its sharp point.

‘I’m going to use a slightly more sophisticated instrument than you. But the pain will, I should think, be the same. Can you imagine it? The pain?’

The man started to thrash about on his chair.

‘Try and sit still, please.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘I would have thought that was quite obvious.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’m simply going to give you a taste of your own medicine, something I’ve been meaning to do for some time.’

‘You wouldn’t fucking dare.’

‘I don’t think you are in any position to argue, actually. But first I want you to feel a little more fear.’

He brought the scalpel closer to the man’s face and pressed its cold edge against his cheek.

‘Can you feel that? Can you feel how sharp it is? Can you imagine what it could do? How easy it would be to slice through your flesh? Your skin would be as soft as butter left out in the heat of the day.’