She was now screaming the words inside her head.
‘Imagine what would happen if you only received a muscle relaxant. You would have to be ventilated of course, because you wouldn’t be able to breathe. You would be awake, but unable to move. And pain .?.?. well, you would feel pain. You would be able to feel everything being done to you.’
Maggie held up a syringe full of fluid. ‘It’s a good plan, isn’t it, Alex?’
*
They were nearing the end of the second hour of the search and Laura Best’s immaculate appearance was somewhat altered. Her hair was drenched from the rain and some of her mascara had run. The right sleeve of her suit jacket had a small rip in it from getting caught on a sharp edge in one the bin sheds. She was getting sweaty and her high heels were pinching her feet.
She was tired and thirsty and very, very angry with Greg Turner. How dare he embarrass her like that in front of the others? She had heard one female officer behind her snigger and vowed she would find a way to make her pay. As for Greg, if he thought by bringing their affair into the open he could walk away scot-free, he had another think coming. She would tell her side of the story – how difficult it was to refuse him, especially as he was her senior officer. He was not going to get away with treating her like this.
Coming up to the next shed, she held back and let Dennis go ahead of her. Her suit was damaged enough. Dennis unlocked the door and shone his torch inside.
‘You need to get in there properly, pull the bins out and look inside them.’ She shouted into the shed: ‘You might be hiding in one of them, mightn’t you, Dr Taylor?’
Dennis stayed by the door, going no further. He then shone the torch in Laura’s face. ‘You want the bins moved, you move them. I am not your slave.’
Astonished for a second, she could only gape. ‘What the hell! How dare you talk to me like that!’
‘You’ve been having it off with boss! And now you’re with a lowly plod. So what am I, Laura – the poor sap you used to spite him?’
Laura stamped her feet. ‘I’ll have you up on report, Dennis Morgan. How dare you refuse an order.’
He shone the torch at himself so that she could see his response. With a smile on his face he gave her a two-fingered salute.
*
Greg could hear the thrum of the helicopter’s rotor blades through the walls of the canteen. Seb had been circling and spotlighting the grounds of the hospital for the last half hour, and the blue warning lights were switched on outside the A & E department like a beacon for when he was ready to land. His mobile suddenly vibrated against his chest, jolting him, and spookily he realised it was the man in his thoughts calling.
‘What do you want, Seb?’
‘Just to see if you’ve come to your senses yet?’
Greg moved over to a window so that he could watch the helicopter; he doubted Seb could see him, though.
‘I’m just doing my job, Seb.’
‘Man, you are so wrong about her. Alex would never take a life. I told you how she saved me.’
‘Seb—’
‘I know. You don’t need to hear. You’re just doing your job. Well, you’ve labelled her a murderer and you don’t even know her.’
Greg sighed. ‘People can change, Seb – something unscrews inside them and they do things that they would never normally do.’
‘You mean like murder their best friend?’ Seb answered heatedly.
Greg heard his sharp intake of breath, then Seb spoke again. ‘Alex didn’t do this, and you better hurry up and believe it, or it will be her you find dead.’
Chapter forty-seven
‘Please, Maggie, tell me why you killed them. At least let me understand why.’
Maggie’s eyes glinted at her over the facemask. ‘You won’t stop me doing this, Alex. You’ll merely delay the inevitable.’
‘Surely you want me to understand. Why did you let me live the first time? Why did you kill Amy Abbott?’
Maggie eased her mask down so that it settled under her chin.
‘You think you’re clever, Alex. You think you’ll get me talking and I’ll end up forgiving you. My life ended the day Oliver met you. You led him on. And then you accused him!’
The words were quietly spoken, not in anger, but Alex wasn’t fooled into thinking that her mood had mellowed.
‘He was trying to rape me!’
‘Rape?’ she said in a scornful tone. ‘He didn’t have to force himself on any woman.’
‘No, of course he didn’t.’ Alex jeered. ‘He just had to pay for it! Is that why you killed Lillian Armstrong? Because your precious Oliver paid her for sex?’
Maggie’s lips pulled back as she bared her teeth. ‘She looked like a fat Barbie doll standing there waiting for her no-show client. I offered her a lift home, told her I was only parking for a minute so I could fetch something from my apartment. I used your key fob to open the gates and drove to your space and asked her if she’d mind backing me in – you know how big my car is.
‘She was delighted to help. Standing there waving her hand at me. The first bump merely knocked her to the ground, and I of course rushed to her aid.
‘She looked up at me, like a fat fool. Her exposed thighs, sagging breasts and garish make-up and I wanted to so badly tell her she was going to die.
‘Instead, I bent down and positioned her comfortably. “Stay still,” I said. “I’m a doctor. I need to check you over.” What I should have said is, I need to run you over.’
Alex was sickened. ‘I don’t want to hear it.’
‘But you wanted me to talk,’ Maggie taunted. ‘You need to know the best bit. While you were doing your life-saving bit, I got to watch you. You nearly caught me, Alex. I heard you arrive and quickly parked my car. I sat there and watched, and you really are good, Alex, and I would have liked to stay to hear you explain another death, but that would have been risky. So I simply got out of my car, left it in your car park and walked away.’
‘You’re a monster, Maggie. And you will be caught. You’re not as clever as you think you are. You left your tyre mark across her chest!’
Maggie smiled. ‘Ooops! Wrong again, Alex. Your tyre. Your spare wheel. I rolled it in some tarmac at the hospital and then rolled it across her chest. It’s back in your car now, though, so not to worry about getting a new one.’
Tears of frustration dripped down Alex’s face. ‘And Amy?’
Maggie shook her head. ‘No more questions, Alex. It’s time .?.?.’
*
In the canteen Nathan Bell joined Greg at one of the tables. He brought with him two mugs of strong coffee. He was wearing his A & E tunic and trousers and Greg was surprised. ‘You were working this morning. I mean, yesterday morning,’ he amended, catching sight of the time on his wristwatch. It was past 2 a.m.
‘They’re short-staffed. I took a few hours off earlier to rest. Anyway, it helps to keep busy.’
Greg lifted one of the mugs and took a grateful sip of the coffee.