Marked Off by Don Cameron

Author:Don Cameron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New Island Publishing
Published: 2014-12-23T16:00:00+00:00

20

Click, stop. Click, play. He held the remote control as the screen came alive and the scene inside the police station began. He was sitting on the edge of the sofa smoking a cigarette, his eyes narrowing as he paid attention. Click, and he raised the volume. He had watched it three times yesterday and now, after a night out cruising around on his motorbike, he was drawn in again.

The room in the police station was crowded and he could feel the nervous tension in the shaky camera work. No doubt the pushing and shoving of the excited journalists made it impossible for the TV cameras to get a steady shot. It added to the craziness, and he grinned at the thought.

‘All this for me,’ he said quietly, and leaned back.

The scene focused on Inspector Danny O’Neill. He paused the tape so he could examine the man who was leading the investigation. Their eyes met and he felt that this man was dangerous – an opponent to be feared. The piece in The Local informed readers that O’Neill was the best officer they had and had an unblemished record. Well, almost. He had been in charge of the Helen Murray case that was still unsolved. It was something that ‘stuck in my gut’, quoted the reporter and something ‘that will not happen again.’ It was a bold statement and since then O’Neill had delivered on his promise. O’Neill had personally led his team in five different murder cases, all of which had ended in the killers being caught and convicted. He was a tough bastard alright and his line ‘ ... of course there’s a connection’ showed that he was a clever one too. He had thrown the media off the scent and kept the unbelievable news of a serial killer back. Yeah, that was smart, and he gave the policeman a nod of approval. He would have to be careful, very careful, as Inspector Danny O’Neill had a serious agenda. Catching him would no doubt be the feather in his cap, but it would also ease his conscience about the Helen Murray case.

He took another pull and sucked the smoke deep inside his lungs before blowing several smoke rings across the room. In the stale air, the smoke rings slowly unfurled before drifting towards the screen and O’Neill’s frozen face. ‘You’re in my sights just like I am in yours,’ he said. ‘But I’m invisible. Do you hear me? Invisible, and you’ll never catch me.’

He stood up, stretched, and went over to his collection of pictures. Two of them had a big X drawn across them and a knife stuck in the middle, but there were plenty more waiting for him. His girls. He scanned them, and then gently touched each one with the tips of his fingers, but saw only one person – his mother.

He closed his eyes and remembered. Remembered the night when he kept his promise, and everything changed.

She had been out with one of her temporary boyfriends and came home drunk and angry.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.