Author's note: all usual disclaimers apply. I understand that this story will not appeal to all readers.
Thursday 18 June 8:20 pm Ruislip Woods
Tommy
The twilight drowned the forest in an eerie tangerine light. Tommy was sweating slightly, not from exertion, but from the creeping dread that was slowly overtaking his mind. It was not a premonition as such – he had no specific information about what was going to happen – but he believed something horrendous beyond his imagination lurked amongst the silvery trees.
Barbara seemed oblivious to the threat. She was grumbling about how far it was back to the car and what a waste of time it had been following the lead. "There was no car there at all," she complained, "it's like they lured us here."
Her words echoed his horror. It was exactly as if they had been ensnared in someone's devious trap. On face value it was a highly inappropriate time to tell his feisty little sergeant that he loved her but Tommy feared he might never have another chance. He did not want to die leaving it unsaid. He caught her elbow and stopped her. "Barbara," he said as he looked into her puzzled emerald eyes, "I need to tell you something important."
Barbara frowned at him but he could tell she now sensed his trepidation. "What Sir?" she asked anxiously.
"I should have told you a long time ago but I…well I…" Tommy's ankle exploded in a fiery pain that travelled up his leg. The distant echo of the gunshot reached them as his knees buckled and he fell onto the damp mulch that covered the ill-defined path.
"Sir!" Barbara dropped to her knees and fiddled with his leg. He could feel the pain pulsating as she tried to move him.
"Run!" he cried as he thrust his car keys into her hand, "run before he gets here."
"I can't leave you Sir."
"You have to Barbara, you're my only hope. Go! Ring for back up from the car and get the hell out of here. That's an order Havers!"
Barbara looked at him as if deciding what to do. She rose to her feet. "I'll be back with help. Don't you do anything stupid." She ran back towards the carpark. She moved fast and soon disappeared. He watched long after she had gone from view, willing her to safety. They had come into the forest after a tipoff that Joe Millan's car had been abandoned in the clearing down by the creek. He had not suspected anything untoward but hindsight is a wonderful thing and as he dragged himself behind a tree he panted in agony and cursed his stupidity. Millan was a notorious hunter. Here they were perfect prey. He could only hope that Barbara escaped alive. He had not had time to say the words and now he knew he would never be able to tell her. It was pointless to call out as it would only assist his pursuer so he whispered into the trees, "I love you Barbara."
"How touching," a throaty voice said from behind him, "you love your little bitch. Well Lynley keep that as your last thought."
Tommy did not protest or beg as Millan raised the rifle and pointed it at his chest. He was not going to give him the satisfaction of thinking that he was scared. In fact he did not feel scared. Life had simply run its course. He had led an interesting existence with perhaps more tragedy than most but it had not been without its joys. He had regrets, lots of them - the estrangement from his mother, his marriage, the loss of the baby but most of all that he had not realised until lately that everything that he had been searching for was right in front of him. Barbara was the one person in his life that had never let him down and the one person he had truly loved.
Millan pulled the trigger and Tommy expected to die. Instead he was still staring at the man. The rifle had jammed. Millan screamed in frustration and threw the weapon on the ground. He reached into his pocket and sneered at Tommy. "It'll be more satisfying this way."
Millan leapt onto Lynley and tried to wrap the steel wire around his neck. They rolled over as they fought. Tommy was not going to die easily but when Millan jammed his foot down onto Tommy's shattered ankle the pain caused his vision to blur. A few swift kicks to his body and Tommy was vulnerable. He felt the garrotte slip around his throat. He clawed at the wire. His fingers were trapped and as Millan pulled back Tommy's knuckles dug painfully into his neck. Blood dripped down his chest and gradually his vision failed. He could hear his raspy breaths as he desperately fought for air. The evening light faded into black.
Tommy was surprised to see his father standing in the distance. He turned and started to go towards him. Helen stepped out from behind the tall figure and called to him. Tommy stopped moving. He did not want to talk to Helen. He did not know what to say. He had not been able to save her and she would be ashamed of the way he had reacted after she had died. He looked at his father. He too would be disappointed in his son. He tried to turn away but there was nowhere to go. He was been pulled towards them.
Tommy heard Barbara's voice behind him calling to him. "Sir!" He stopped. He wanted to go to her. He turned but it was dark. Faintly in the shadows he could see a shape. It was a lot further away than Helen who was coming towards him. Tommy tried to run back to the voice, back to Barbara.
"Don't you leave me Sir! Come back to me Tommy! Stay with me!"
Tommy? She called me Tommy! Then the ground gave way beneath him and he began to fall into the abyss.
Barbara
As she ran Barbara pondered what Tommy had been about to tell her. His eyes had been soft and sincere and reminded her of the way he had looked at her that night when he had turned up at her flat after midnight unable to be alone. She had boldly told him that he gave her life meaning and for a few glorious moments his eyes had told her that he loved her. Was that what he was about to say? A shiver ran down her spine. A few steps further and she was on the road. She reached Tommy's car just as she heard a blood-curdling scream come from deep in the forest. It was not Tommy and she could only hope he had, by some miracle, caught Millan. Her breathing was laboured and her shaking hands struggled to unlock her phone. She had not had a clear signal in the forest and now she had one faint bar. She dialled 999 and gave the emergency police code. She explained the situation, gave the location and rang off. She collapsed against the car deciding what to do. She opened the door with fumbling fingers and sat in the car. It smelt of Tommy and her half-eaten chips. She smiled at the memory of him complaining about her dietary habits in his precious Bristol. She would give anything to have him here now, rousing on her.
She started the engine and crunched the gears as she tried to put it into first. "Good job you didn't hear that Sir."
She turned the car around and headed back towards the entrance to the woods. A figure burst from the trees. It was Millan. Without conscious thought Barbara floored the accelerator and rammed him. She watched with satisfaction as his surprise turned to terror. He crunched onto the bonnet with a sickening thud then rolled off just in front of her. She braked and ran back to him. Before she checked if he was alive she handcuffed his left ankle to his right wrist. He groaned and tried to get up but could not move. "Stay there you bastard."
Barbara turned and ran back into the woods. "Sir!"
She reached him quickly. He was lying on his back beneath a tree. "Don't you leave me Sir!" She loosened the wire around his neck. Blood was oozing from the wound. His breathing was shallow and burbling. Barbara clamped her hand across the cut to slow the bleeding. His eyes fluttered open and he seemed to smile. Then he went limp in her arms. "Come back to me Tommy! Stay with me!"
It seemed as if the paramedics would never come. Tommy's blood coated her hands and the sleeves of her jacket. Some ran down onto her jeans. He was bleeding to death and all she could do was hold his head and pray. It did not matter which deity answered as long as he lived. Had Satan appeared she would have gladly bargained away her soul for the man she loved.
Finally she heard sirens. Lights flashed and people called her name. "Down here!" she yelled, "hang on Sir the cavalry has arrived."
A young policewoman wrapped a silver foil blanket around her and guided her away. The paramedics rushed Tommy onto a gurney and into the ambulance. It tore down the road with lights strobing red and blue and its siren screaming like an electronic donkey ee-or, ee-or, ee-or. Barbara had tried to go with him but they held her back. By the time she had been led up to the road Hillier was alighting from a car. He spoke to Winston who was standing near Millan. She could see the man writhing on the ground. She was glad he was alive because she was going to make him pay for what he had done to Tommy.
She closed her eyes and steadied herself for a Hillier onslaught. Instead he was kind and appeared genuinely worried about her and Lynley. "Nkata will take you to the hospital to be checked over. Stay there with Lynley if you wish. I'll contact his mother and arrange for her to come down."
Hillier put his arm around Barbara and she flinched. He would only do that if he suspected the worst. Or knew something! "Sir, do you know anything about Inspector Lynley's condition?"
"No, but you should prepare yourself for the worst Sergeant. The paramedic doesn't think he'll make it to morning."
Barbara heard the words but she could not comprehend them. Tommy could not die, not now, not yet. She needed him. They needed each other. She simply would not let him die. Barbara allowed Winston to guide her to a car. It was then she remembered Lynley's Bristol. "His car," she pointed out to Winston, "he'll never let me drive it again."
"Let's not worry about that now. Let's get you to the hospital."
