Hi everyone. Sorry again for being gone for so long, work plus holiday plus lots of re-writes meant this took longer than expected but I think I am happy with it. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 31
There was no stopping Steve from climbing into the driver's seat of his car so Kate jumped into the passenger seat to make sure he was ok on the journey. There was no point in asking him if he was ok, so Kate turned on the blue lights and siren as well as patching into the radio signal to the recording feed. This way they could continue to listen as they drove. Ted took a standard police vehicle and was joined by multiple others from the other side of the building. Kate could see Steve's knuckles were white on the stirring wheel but didn't do anything to distract him.
They heard Nicholas was pacing back and forth and on occasion they heard something get thrown across the room, this time what sounded like a wine bottle which crashed against the patio doors causing a crack setting off Max who barked at it.
"That's going to be expensive to fix," Lottie observed.
"SHUT UP MAX!" Nicholas screamed. He then did something Lottie didn't expect. He left the room and headed for the kitchen. She heard him open the back door making the barking louder. Now alone she began to struggle against the ropes, hoping that she could get free but all it did was make her rope burns and her sore shoulder hurt even more. It was then with horror she heard the dog yelp. Looking to the patio door she saw Nicholas attack the dog with a baseball bat making her scream out.
"NO! DON'T! PLEASE!" she begged but he continued to beat the poor quivering dog. "I'LL ANSWER A QUESTION IF YOU STOP!" she bellowed and it did the trick. When Nicholas walked away from the dog, it lay with its back to her, its thin frame shivering terribly and its breathing jagged. A pool of blood began to seep from its fur across the patio titles towards the grass in front of it. Fear suddenly filled her when Nicholas came back in his eyes were full of a rage she had never seen yet he was completely calm carrying the baseball bat dripping with blood.
"Alright, I've stopped. Now tell me, how did you find out all that information on me?"
"Instagram. You thought you were being clever but you did something really stupid. You decided to start following me months ago when the investigation into Christopher began. I am going to guess you decided to track me because my brother questioned you about him. Steve isn't a social media person but you guessed that I was, however you came across a problem. My social media is private. You couldn't send me a friend request without me figuring out who you are so you went through another route. You see, Alex put a load of social media posts on his account from the Coldplay concert we went to together and he tagged me in. That was when you found your way in. Follow him and you can keep your eye on me and lucky for you his account is public. So you started following him. This is the point where you slipped up. When you joined Instagram you didn't make your information private. Because of this I could see your user name and your e-mail address. All I had to do then was figure out what your e-mail address password was. So I took my time and thought about it. I came to realise that men like you are ones who really love their cars because the power and class of the vehicle must relate to how powerful and classy they are. Also it has a lot to do with dick size. You like power and control so your password had to reflect that. It was only at New Year that an idea came to mind and I typed Cortina!974Cat. Right there your e-mail account opened and I saw everything. You are someone set in your ways and you have your e-mail account cover everything. Your bank accounts, your medical related documentation, your online shopping, your communications with lawyers as well as a string of e-mails between you and two of your immigrant workers asking them to pick up a package for you this morning outside my building. I knew you were coming to get me this morning."
Nicholas, now at boiling point, threw the baseball bat and it crashed through the patio doors showering Max with glass.
"Did your brother know?" he asked.
Kate looked at Steve who had gone a bit pale and was clenching his jaw. They were only a short way away from Dudley now having driven at high speed all the way.
"It's not your turn to ask a question. By the way I made copies so even if you try to delete them I have the digital paper trail."
"You little bitch" he snarled. "You hacked my account."
"I didn't do that at all. You left the crumbs, I simply picked them up. I found your e-mail address, and with a little bit of help from another source I figured out the password. My turn to ask a question. Is the money in the overseas account the money from the bank robbery?"
Nicholas glared at her but didn't reply.
"Not even a nod? Because to have that much money and not use it makes me feel like you have a lot of guilt or shame about it which can only mean that it is linked to an important moment in your life. Go on, say it!"
A flash came across his eyes and she realised he clocked on to something.
"Are you recording me?" he asked.
"Shit!" Kate hissed and noticed they were only about ten miles away now.
"Well you are the expert in all things technology. Cameras and microphones can be hidden in the smallest places now like buttons and glasses frames."
That did the trick. He pulled her glasses off her face and snapped them finding hidden deep a camera and microphone. He didn't guess about her hair holding the key to the recording. "I've been taking pictures of you for weeks as you have tracked me. All the evidence is stored on my one drive and only I have access to it all. I know everything, I have everything and there is nothing you can do to escape this."
"Says the one tied to a chair." Then out of nowhere, Nicholas punched her hard in her lower abdomen filling her with crippling pain. She could hardly breathe.
"What happened … to … our deal?" she asked as she caught her breath back.
"You broke your own rules. We take it in turns, but you changed the rule to save the dog. Also I've asked two additional questions so, all bets are off," he explained. Then she eyes widened as he picked up one of the kitchen knives.
"My turn again. How did you know about the car? Tell me" he demanded. She didn't answer as she was still trying to recover from the pain. "TELL ME!" he yelled.
"BECAUSE CHRISTOPHER TOLD ME" she screamed back.
Steve and Kate stopped outside the farm and were quickly joined by the other police vehicles. Steve was ready to run into the farm house but a glare from Ted kept him in place and a plan of action was being replayed from Ted to the other offers and squads as they gathered.
"He's dead you stupid girl."
"That doesn't mean he can't talk to us … Holly." Nicholas suddenly darkened hearing the name.
"What did you just call me?" he hissed
"Holly as in Holly Golightly from Breakfast At Tiffany's. It's what he called you in his diary and letters to Gwen only to keep you slightly secret he called you Holly Lightfoot. Lightfoot, go lightly, he was smart. You saw the film with him on your first date. He couldn't tell anyone he was gay so he gave you a female name. I'm right aren't I?" Nicholas glared at her for several seconds in silence.
"He didn't keep a diary."
"Maybe not on this farm where you could see it, but he did. It makes for interesting reading. He wrote about Holly a lot. Very loving at first but as time goes on; it starts to get a bit sinister. He started to realize something was wrong a few months before the diary stopped which was not long after the bank robbery."
"You don't know anything" Nicholas snarled.
"The fact that you never denied being Holly tells me otherwise. You want to hear what I know? Fine! I know that you were the fourth bank robber at the central bank raid in 1974. I know you and Christopher killed the other three robbers and then covered up your connection to the robbery together. I know that you tried to stop the plaque from going up at the AC-12 building and lied to Gwen. I know Christopher was sick but his symptoms don't make sense unless he was poisoned over a long period. Tell me I'm wrong."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because you loved him! But you love power more. When he started to show signs of detachment you did everything in your power to keep him yours. He wrote about tablets that Holly gave him and then the diary and the letters change."
"I'm not Holly" he hissed.
"Don't kid a kidder. You and Holly have the exact same birthday and get this, there's one letter where he slips up on purpose and that was a resignation letter I found in the lining of his 1974 diary. He never sent it but it reveals everything."
"You're lying."
"Why would I do that? If I'm about to die I have nothing to lose." Nicholas picked up the shotgun and cocked it. The sound alarmed Ted, Kate and Steve. Lottie was suddenly nervous.
"Where is the letter?" he demanded.
"You will never understand the love Christopher had for Gwen. You were jealous of it and that's why he gave her the letter encased in his diary he posted three days before he disappeared."
"Where is it?" he barked.
"You heard me tell my brother where it is just now." Steve, Ted and Kate looked at each other. It was then Steve knew what she meant and his eyes widened.
"Be right back," he said rushing back over to the parked vehicles he was away from.
"Where are you going?" Kate called.
"My car!" Steve yelled back as he ran.
"The thing you don't understand is that once in a blue moon there can be a set of siblings so close they are almost one person. Because of that they see things others overlook. If my thoughts are right then he now has it in his possession and he knows what it is. The letter will be covered in Christopher's prints and has his signature. It is dated three days before he disappeared which is the same day he posted the diary to Gwen. Plus it is hand written which will match all his handwritten reports he wrote in police archives. It's real Nicholas."
"Why would he send it to Gwen?"
"Safe keeping. He could change the date but the letter still stands."
"Gwen could have found it."
Lottie chuckled. "No she wouldn't because she followed and still continues to follow Christopher's one rule to the letter. She never went through his stuff."
The car door burst open and an out of breath Steve appearing carry Lottie's crate of vinyls from the boot of his car.
"Don't –" Nicholas sais and the battery in the bug died.
"Shit! We have to get out there now" Kate said while Steve toppled the vinyls out onto the floor of the open van the three had been stood by and began to search.
"Help me! Steve said starting to look through the vinyls in front of him.
"What are we looking for?" Ted asked.
"The Carpenters."
"What?" Kate asked.
"When we were on the phone she said 'superstar', 'on top of the world' and 'it's gonna take some time'. Those are Carpenters song titles, she drives me nuts playing them. I think she put the letter in the vinyl case and then put that in the boot of my car" he explained continuing to search. "She told me not to go through her stuff –"
"So she means the opposite," Ted ended his sentence and all three of them were going through the vinyls.
"Got it!" Steve said and opened the gold coloured double vinyl set which fell open like a book. Kate handed him a pair of gloves which he hastily put on. Inside the right side of the case he found one of the gold coloured vinyls and a freezer bag. The bag had been sealed shut with the bags zip lock and heavy duty tape. Inside the bag was an unfolded A4 sized hand written letter with Christopher's signature dated three days before he disappeared as Lottie said. Attached to the front of the bag was a post it on which Lottie wrote 'I used tweezers and gloves'.
"Mary, mother of God" Ted said reading the letter.
"It's over Nicholas. The only thing that isn't clear is why you killed the man you loved and who loved you in return?" Lottie asked. Nicholas then did something she didn't expect. He put down the gun and picked up a knife. Using the knife he reached over and cut her rope ties loose but kept her legs and hands tied. Then he forced her onto her knees. She stared at the knife blade which was close to her eye and she began to shake with fear.
"Because I could," Nicholas replied and held the knife high over her. He plunged the blade down through the air and Lottie scrunched her eyes closed.
"NICHOLAS" Ted's voice bellowed through a loud speaker making Nicholas stop mid-air and Lottie gasped. Tears stung her eyes, her friends and brother was there at last. "THIS IS THE POLICE. YOU ARE SURROUNDED AND WE KNOW YOU HAVE LOTTIE ARNOTT AS PRISONER. WE DON'T WANT TO DO ANYTHING DRASTIC. COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP AND LET LOTTIE GO UNHARMED. BE THE BETTER MAN HERE NICHOLAS. YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THIS."
"You're coming with me," Nicholas hissed and pulled on the rope around her wrists pulling her upwards. That pulled on her bad shoulder making her scream out.
"You are going to have to cut my ties. I can't walk properly with my hands and legs bound. I won't run I swear"
"Nice try"
"Fine you try and get me from this room to the next as I am." He did so and found it difficult so reluctantly he untied her. In the process her hair bands fell with a soft thud on the ground. Luckily for Lottie, Nicholas didn't notice and she softly kicked it under a nearby table so it wouldn't be damaged. Nicholas tied her wrists back together in front of her then held her from behind, a blade pressed to her stomach in his left hand and another up to her neck in his right. They got to the front door and Nicholas opened it. Around them was a semi-circle of special firearms unit in full gear, all with guns pointed at Nicholas. Ted, Steve and Kate also joined them with guns drawn sending soft tears to fall from Lottie's eyes. All three were shocked by her condition.
"Let her go, Nicholas. You can take me instead but let her go. She is innocent in all this" Steve demanded.
"Innocent? Hardly! You want her? Come get her!" Nicholas spat back. It was then Lottie decided to do something as this was her last chance. She stamped hard on Nicholas's left foot making him yell out and move the knives away from her. She ducked down and found that Nicholas was beginning to stumble, blocking her exit so she quickly ran back into the house and headed for the patio doors which she knew were broken. She crashed through the remaining glass and tripped over Max's body. She heard gun shots and Nicholas running after her. Clearly the shots missed him when he stumbled. She got up and began to run to the side of the house but Nicholas grabbed her and pulled her back. Everything went into slow motion. The force of his grab made her spin around and in the corner of her eye she saw the special firearms unit running towards her, guns in position. She was now facing him. When spinning together her right foot kicked out and tripped his nearest leg sending the two tumbling to the ground on the grass.
BANG! BANG!
Everyone watched in horror as Nicholas and Lottie slammed into the ground, him on top of her. Unable to hear anything Lottie stared wide eyed in Nicholas' and watched as his eyes slowly close. The blades in his hands soon fell through the air and were dripped on by Nicholas' deep red blood which at one time ran with love for Christopher, now with hate for Lottie.
"LOTTIE!" Steve yelled and took off running to her, not caring about his safety.
"I need two ambulances, now!" Ted ordered taking after Steve followed by Kate. The armed officers had moved in commanding Nicholas to move but he didn't respond. Steve pulled Nicholas off Lottie and let the armed officers' deal with him.
Hearing Lottie gasping made him feel overwhelmed by relief but it soon turned to horror realizing the blood soaking her clothes wasn't Nicholas's, it was hers. The two bullets had gone through Nicholas and hit her.
"Lottie, it's ok, I've got you," Steve said sitting on the ground and cradling her in his arms. The movements of her body made her scream out in agony and she began gulping for breath again. She was wide eyed with terror and she clung to Steve's supporting arms for dear life.
"I know, I know it hurts. I have to put pressure on your wounds ok?" He explained and the pressure made her gasps and gulps worse. "You've got to stay awake for me Lottie. Please, stay with me", Steve begged feeling her blood seeping through his fingers. She looked at him frantically. She couldn't speak or think, just try and breathe which was getting harder and harder. Kate and Ted came into her view as they tried to help applying pressure to her broken body. Lottie couldn't see or hear them or anything else anymore.
Time seemed to slow and a tingling sensation filled her. It was then she turned her gaze to over Steve's shoulder and she saw him. There stood Christopher leaning up again the oak tree, hands deep in his trench coat pockets, smiling. She stared at him. There was a warm glow about him that was peaceful and reassuring. He walked towards her calmly, still smiling. He squatted down next to the frantic Steve so they were side by side. Christopher laid a hand on Steve's shoulder before reaching a hand out to Lottie. She felt safe all of a sudden. She reached out to him and he took her hand gently before bringing her knuckles to his lips and kissing them like a gentleman in an old movie.
"Chris … topher," she whispered and took one last gulp before falling silent. Steve watch in horror as the light faded from her open eyes and she went limp in his arms.
"No! No! Pease God, NO!" Steve screamed out and clung to her rocking back and forth as he cried. He was too shocked to hear the sirens of the ambulances arriving.