No Escape, page 17
Suzie and Tom exchanged nervous glances before nodding their agreement. Valerie could see the fear in their eyes, but also a steely resolve. They were in this together, and they would see it through to the bitter end.
As they stepped out of the car, the chilling night air wrapped around them, raising goosebumps on their skin. Valerie led the way, her flashlight cutting through the darkness as they ventured down the trail. The woods around them closed in, an oppressive weight bearing down on them. Valerie couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched.
Her thoughts raced as they moved cautiously along the path. What would they find when they reached John Murphy? How far would he go to exact his twisted sense of justice? And, perhaps most importantly, how would they stop him?
A rustle in the underbrush startled Valerie out of her reverie. She whipped her flashlight around, searching for the source of the sound, but saw nothing. Her heart hammered in her chest, adrenaline pumping through her veins.
“It’s just the wind,” Suzie murmured, trying to reassure herself as much as Valerie.
“Let’s keep going,” Tom said quietly, his voice tense. “We don’t have much time.”
As they pressed on, the river’s murmur grew louder, a constant reminder of their destination. Valerie’s thoughts turned to Maxine and Julian. She desperately hoped they could reach them in time, that they could somehow save them from the fate that John Murphy had planned.
The trail opened up, revealing a clearing with a dilapidated house perched on the edge of the Redcreek River. Its once-white paint was now peeling and discolored, the windows dark and empty. A sense of foreboding settled over the group as they approached the house, the air heavy with the anticipation of what lay inside.
Valerie paused at the front door, her hand trembling as she reached for the doorknob. She could hear the whispered prayers of Suzie and Tom, their fear evident. Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob, pushing the door open with a creak that echoed through the night.
As they entered the house, the atmosphere grew even more oppressive. The air was thick with the scent of decay and damp, and the darkness seemed to swallow them whole. Valerie’s flashlight flickered as they moved cautiously through the rooms, searching for any sign of Maxine, Julian, or John.
In the living room, they found the first indication of John’s presence. A crude altar had been set up, surrounded by lit candles that cast flickering shadows on the walls. A framed photograph of John’s wife sat at the center of the altar, her eyes filled with a sadness that seemed to reach out and touch Valerie’s soul.
Valerie’s heart pounded as she and the others continued their search, the tension in the air almost unbearable. As they moved deeper into the house, they heard a sudden noise.
They froze.
“What was that?” Tom whispered.
“I don’t know,” Valerie said.
“I… I’m scared, Val,” Suzie said.
“Courage, sis. We’ve come this far.”
They stepped forward and heard the noise again. This time, it was closer; an intermittent creaking sound. Valerie felt for the knife in her pocket as she stared at a darkened doorway that led deeper into the house. But before she could pull her knife out, Charlie and Will appeared from around a corner, startling them.
“Charlie, Will!” Tom gasped, relief flooding his voice. “We wondered where you were.”
“Sorry, guys. I heard a scream,” Charlie replied, his voice strained. “I followed it here. But we didn’t find anything. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Before anyone could respond, the sound of John Murphy’s voice reached them from behind the house.
“Come out, come out!” the voice yelled in the night. “It’s time for justice to be settled.”
“Wait,” Will said. “Maybe we shouldn’t go out there. If he wants us out there, it’s a trap.”
“Agreed,” said Valerie. “But he holds all the cards… for now. We don’t have any choice, and backup won’t be here for another twenty minutes. If that cop’s word is good.”
“I don’t like it either, Will,” Charlie added. “But Val is right. If we wait any longer, he might kill the hostages. If they aren’t dead already.”
“But you said you guys were now in the firing line,” Tom reminded them. “He wants you here to kill you. I don’t think you should play into that.”
Then John Murphy’s voice echoed again from outside. “You have ten seconds or I put a bullet in Maxine’s pretty head!”
“We can’t wait,” Suzie said. “I don’t want to have her death on my conscience.”
Suzie stepped toward a hallway that led to an open back door.
Valerie hurried up to Suzie and squeezed her hand with pride. “You know, the last few days… If you had ever joined the FBI, I think you would have made one hell of an agent.”
Suzie smiled.
“Time’s up,” Charlie said.
“Now or never,” added Will.
Without a word more, they followed the sound of water from out in the darkness. Once out and standing on a sprawling, overgrown rear lawn, all of their fears were confirmed.
They saw John Murphy standing on a small platform next to the river. In a boat moored to the platform were three people, bound and gagged—Maxine, Julian, and another man Valerie did not recognize.
“Don’t be alarmed,” John said, pointing a gun at his hostages. “This extra one is not some long-lost family member. He’s a poor unfortunate who got caught up in all of your wickedness.”
“Our wickedness?” Valerie said. “Because we stopped you from killing your family the last time?”
“Yes,” John answered, succinctly. “This gentleman is the owner of the car I had to commandeer to get here. But make no mistake, should he be killed in the crossfire because you make a foolish move, that’s on you, not me.”
John moved the gun in his hand, likely the weapon he’d stolen from the police officer back at Julian’s house. His eyes were wild, filled with a burning rage that sent a shudder down Valerie’s spine.
“Throw your weapons in the water,” John shouted, his voice cold and menacing.
At first, Charlie hesitated, defiance etched on his face. But then John pressed the gun to Maxine’s head, and Valerie could see the fear in her eyes.
“Charlie, don’t,” Will murmured, his voice tense. “Everything I know about body language tells me that John is being truthful. He will kill them.”
With a look of anguish, Charlie complied, throwing his gun into the water.
“This is nuts,” he grumbled.
“Is that it?” John asked.
“I don’t have a gun,” Valerie said. “I was at Shady Pines Psychiatric Retreat just like you, remember?”
Valerie, however, kept the knife hidden in her pocket, her fingers gripping the handle tightly. She knew they had to find a way to end this, and she wasn’t ready to give up her last line of defense.
John’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the group, landing on Tom. “Who’s the other man?” he sneered. “I know the rest of you.”
Valerie stepped forward, her voice steady despite the fear coursing through her. “His name is Tom. He’s my fiancé.”
John laughed, a cruel, mocking sound. “How unlucky for you, Tom,” he said, amusement in his voice. “Your decision to be with her brought you here. Bet you regret it now, don’t you?”
Tom’s gaze met John’s, and Valerie saw a steeliness in his eyes she’d never seen before. “You couldn’t be more wrong,” Tom replied, his voice unwavering. “I love Valerie, and I’m proud of her. Unlike you, she’s a force for good in the world.”
John smirked. “How poetic,” he said. “If she’s a force for good, then I’m a force for justice.” He paused, his eyes glittering with malice. “And justice supersedes good.”
John pointed to a second boat moored next to the platform. “I want Charlie, Will, and Valerie to get in that boat and follow me. Any funny business, and I’ll execute the hostages immediately.”
“No,” Tom said firmly, his eyes locked on Valerie’s. “I won’t leave you.”
Valerie reached up and kissed him, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “Take care of Suzie,” she whispered.
Suzie protested, insisting she go with Valerie, but Valerie shook her head. “I took an oath as an FBI agent ten years ago, and I knew then that it would put me in peril. I won’t let that oath put you and Tom in any more danger.”
Suzie’s eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t back down. “Valerie, please,” she begged.
But Valerie stood her ground. “Someone has to take care of Mom, Suzie. If both of us die tonight, she’ll be alone in that psychiatric ward. And we’ll never get to the truth of what happened to our dad.”
Valerie kissed Suzie on the forehead, her heart breaking as she looked into her sister’s tear-filled eyes. “Please, Suzie. You have to be strong.”
Looking like a defeated man, Tom took Suzie’s arm, leading her away from the riverbank as she sobbed. Valerie, Charlie, and Will climbed into the boat, tension as thick as ice as they prepared to follow John Murphy into the unknown.
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
As the boats began to move through the dark water, Valerie felt a cold dread settle over her. The night seemed to close in around them, the blackness pressing in like a suffocating weight. The only sound was the soft lapping of water against the boats, punctuated by the occasional splash of an oar.
Valerie looked at Charlie and Will, their faces tense and drawn, and said, “There’s no one else I’d rather have by my side.”
Will managed a gentle smile, his voice barely audible over the sound of the water. “It’s going to be okay, Valerie.”
From the boat ahead, John’s voice floated back to them, dripping with contempt. “No one should make false promises of a good outcome.”
Charlie’s eyes met Valerie’s, and she could see the depth of his loyalty and friendship. “If this is the end, it’s been an honor serving with you both,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion.
John laughed mockingly from his boat, his voice a chilling reminder of the danger they faced. “You’re so sentimental. Pathetic, really.”
As they continued to follow John through the darkness, a shadowy shape began to emerge from the gloom. It was another mooring, and beside it stood an old, dilapidated building with flaking white paint. The structure loomed ominously over the river, its decaying facade a testament to the passage of time.
As they approached, John called back to them, his voice a sinister whisper. “This is the old power station that used to power the area. It’s been decommissioned.” He paused, a cruel smile in his voice. “Just like you and your team, Valerie. Past your sell-by date.”
The atmosphere grew thicker with tension as they neared the decaying building, the air heavy with the scent of damp earth and rotting wood. The sound of the river faded away, replaced by a suffocating silence that smothered all other noise.
Valerie’s heart pounded in her chest as they approached the mooring, the weight of the situation bearing down on her. She knew that whatever awaited them inside the old power station would be a test of their courage, their loyalty, and their determination to see justice done.
As the boats came to rest against the rickety mooring, Valerie steeled herself for the confrontation ahead.
“All of you, into the power station,” John said, his voice menacing. “Any sudden moves, you all die.”
After they were all out of the boat, Valerie moved in front and walked through the darkened doorway of the derelict building.
Charlie and Will followed close behind her, their steps echoing off the crumbling walls of the power station. As they walked, Valerie glanced up at the interior of the old building, her eyes sweeping over its broken windows and decaying walls. It was as if time had stood still here, leaving only an eerie reminder of what once was.
John led them inside without a word, his figure reduced to a mere silhouette in the darkness. As her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, Valerie could make out the dim outlines of ancient machinery scattered throughout the room.
Valerie felt her anxiety rise as she saw a bundle of wood tied together, and she could smell gasoline. The old power station loomed all around them, its crumbling walls and rusted metal beams casting sinister shadows in the darkness.
John stopped in the debris-filled room, his voice echoing to unseen corners and shadows. “Valerie, you do the honors Tie each of the hostages and your friends to these still pillars.”
“John, if you truly believe in justice…” Valerie started.
“Don’t talk to me about justice!” he snarled. “I am justice! No—do it!”
At gunpoint, John forced Valerie to tie Charlie and Will, as well as his three hostages, Leonard, Maxine, and the unnamed car driver, to the thick steel pillars next to the wood. He laughed.
“It brings me a great sense of satisfaction watching you,” John said. “No doubt you signed up for the FBI to stop people like me, but little did you know that your true calling as a vessel for justice was to help me.”
“Killing us won’t bring Jenny back,” Valerie said, trying to engage with him.
John shook his head and replied, “I don’t answer to the FBI or even humanity. There’s a great force of justice in the universe, and only it guides me.”
He shoved Valerie back and then tied her hands to the last pillar. What John didn’t realize was that Valerie arched her hand subtly, her fingertips ever so slightly resting on the knife in her pocket.
John leaned over and started to gather the wood. When he wasn’t looking, Valerie nodded to Will and Charlie. She pointed to the tip of the knife handle in her pocket. “Distract him,” she said very quietly so he wouldn’t hear him.
“Hey, John,” Charlie said. “I’ve never understood something about you.”
“And what would that be?” John turned and sniped, pulling planks of wood and laying them around his tied-up prey.
“If you’re doing this for some sort of revenge,” Charlie said, “you aren’t very good at it, are you? I mean—everything is so elaborate. The best killers. The ones that never get caught. They keep it simple. Isn’t that right, Will?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “Give me a good old-fashioned strangler or stalker any day over something as elaborate and as liable to fail as this.”
“Fail?” For the first time, John seemed uncertain.
“Look at the wood, dumbass,” Charlie said. “This place is next to a river. It’s damp. You think that’ll go up easy? You really are a moron. I mean, I’ve met some idiots in my time, but you really bought the book on being simple.”
“Shut up!” John said, striking Charlie with the back of his hand.
All the while, Valerie pushed her fingers deeper into her pocket, delicately pulling the knife up into the palm of her hand.
As John arranged the wood around the tied-up hostages and started to pour gasoline on them, it was Will’s turn. He began talking to him about what the Ancient Greeks believed about justice, and how it went against what John was saying. “You know, John, the Greeks believed that justice was about balance, not vengeance,” Will said, trying to distract him. “Zeus himself would weigh the souls of the deceased on scales to determine their eternal fate. It was a system of harmony, of equilibrium.”
This distraction gave Valerie the opportunity to subtly use her hidden knife to start cutting through her ropes, her fingers trembling with adrenaline as she carefully sliced through the bindings.
“You think you know justice more than me?” he said. “What you need is something taken away from you, then you’ll know what justice should feel like.”
“Only God can decide the fates of men,” Will said, sternly. “And you are no god… You’re barely a man!”
John flew into a furious rage, striking Will on the head with the butt of his gun. Blood trickled down Will’s face and he groaned.
Valerie couldn’t bear it. She had to help him. She had to save them all.
“Damn you all to hell!” John said, pointing the gun at the gasoline-soaked wood and pulling the trigger.
There was a loud whooshing sound as some of the wood caught flames. But Charlie had been correct. Some of it was damp, and the flames, while high, took their time to creep over the moist wood, drying it out and then adding the remaining wood, inch by inch, to their heat.
Valerie knew she only had moments to save them.
The tension in the air was palpable as Valerie struggled to free herself. Flames began to spread, licking at the gasoline-soaked wood, and she knew that if she didn’t defeat John quickly, her friends and the hostages would burn to death. The fire cast eerie shadows on the walls as Valerie finally managed to cut through her ropes. She lunged at John.
“This ends now, John!” she shouted as she threw her hand forward, gripping the knife.
John ducked and countered, his movements faster than Valerie could cope with. He grabbed her wrist and smacked her hand against a wall. The knife dropped to the ground. He bent over to grab it, but Valerie kicked at it, sending it across the floor toward the others.
She then managed a thundering punch to John’s jaw and felt a sharp pain in her knuckles as they creaked at the impact.
John momentarily staggered backward, but then pushed forward toward her.
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with!” he screamed.
They exchanged blows, their movements fast and furious, each trying to gain the upper hand. The sound of their fists connecting with flesh echoed through the building, mingling with the crackling of the fire and the groans of their friends.
Valerie felt a blow to her head, making her dizzy, but she heard John gasp. He had broken his hand.
Valerie managed to land a solid kick to John’s chest, sending him staggering back, but he quickly recovered and grabbed her by the throat, pinning her against the wall. “You think you can stop me?” he snarled, tightening his grip. “I am justice!”
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