A vice-like pain gripped Ruby’s forehead as she raised her head from the unforgiving floor.
‘Where am I?’ she said, her voice echoing in the darkness. Waking up disorientated was not unusual, but the blackness of her surroundings grew fresh fears as she failed to seek out the chink of light that spoke of home. Groaning, she struggled to rise. A wave of dread washed over her as she realised her ankles and wrists were bound. Groping in the darkness, her fingers traced the outline of woollen fringes. It was a rug. Was she in the basement of Chris’s home? She needed to think quickly in order to get her bearings.
Sliding into a sitting up position, Ruby scooted back until she felt a bare brick wall, leaning against it long enough to ease the dizziness penetrating her brain. A dry bitter aspirin taste permeated the roof of her mouth, but the full memory of her most recent event was slow in coming. She desperately needed to regain some focus. There had to be an opening, she thought, a doorway out. A sudden breath made her heart work double time. She was not alone. ‘Who’s there?’ she said, her voice echoing against the oppressive brick walls.
Torchlight seared her pupils and she blinked as she focused her gaze. Ruby recoiled as the memories finally returned. Chris confessing to being the killer, then admitting to drugging her tea. How long had he been sitting in the darkness with her? The figure chuckled as it watched her flounder.
Ruby leaned against the wall, forcing herself to her feet. The room was a cavernous chamber, long and bare, with furniture cloaked in dust curtains further down. To the left was a staircase leading to a closed door. Slime laced the walls, and Ruby inhaled a fetid smell. Somewhere on the periphery the urgency of the case made itself known. Sophie. What had he done with the little girl? Ruby gained enough composure to challenge her captor. ‘The police are on their way so you’d better untie me now.’
Another low laugh. But this time, Ruby made out a feminine lilt. She blinked in quick succession, her eyes darting around the room for a weapon. The echo of footsteps filled the hollow chamber as her captor flicked on the light overhead. It was not Chris before her, but a woman; the white smock covering her dress like a butcher’s apron was decorated in a smattering of dried blood. She stepped under the dim light bulb revealing her identity, and in doing so she stole the air from Ruby’s lungs.
‘Goldie? Is that you?’ Ruby whispered, peering around the darkened room for her accomplice.
At least she had been spared a gag. But then why would her captor gag her when she had gone to so much trouble to reel her in?
Goldie’s smile lacked the gold-plated teeth and the beehive hairstyle. Now, with her shaven head, hastily applied make-up and peculiar dress, she didn’t look like herself at all. ‘Hello, Ruby. Would you like to play a little game?’
Ruby wanted to launch herself at her to pin her down and extract Sophie’s whereabouts. But she was in no position to fight; the only thing holding up her shaking legs was the firmness of the brick wall behind her. ‘Where’s Chris?’ Ruby said, seeking out Goldie’s accomplice in the darkened room.
‘Serving a higher purpose,’ Goldie said, still wearing a fiendish smile. ‘I thought it would be cosier with just us girls.’
‘And Sophie?’
‘Asleep.’ She tilted her head to one side as she examined her nails. ‘How is Cathy by the way?’
‘Cathy? Just what’s going on?’ Ruby said. If she could get answers to the smaller questions, perhaps she would get clues to the bigger ones too, such as Sophie’s location.
‘You’re dying to know, aren’t you?’ Goldie smiled.
‘You were placed in care,’ Ruby said, pre-empting her response. Just like with Anita, time was ticking, and she might not be as lucky this time. She bit the inside of her gum and was rewarded with a sting of pain that brought with it sharp focus.
‘Cathy and I were fostered by the same parents after her adoptive mum died. I’d forgotten all about her until she found me on Facebook and asked to meet up.’
‘Oh,’ Ruby said, feeling a pang of sadness. Goldie was a born liar, but that piece of information made sense. ‘That’s how you saw her birth certificate, wasn’t it? How you knew my name, and the time of birth.’ She knew by the glint in Goldie’s eyes that she had been responsible for the death notes, as well as the murders.
‘I went through her stuff when she wasn’t looking. How could I forget a name like that? “RIP”. You looked so alike I thought it had to be you. Sure enough, when I tested the waters you emailed straight back.’
‘So you tried to pin the murders on Cathy. That’s what it was really all about.’
‘What it was about was finding my happy ending. But I had to get rid of the bodies, and Cathy was there.’
‘Until you found out that Nathan was her father. I saw the look on your face when I told you he had a vested interest.’ As they were unmarried, Nathan had not been listed on the birth certificate. It suited Ruby at the time. The fact her daughter had originated from a family of criminals was something she had not wanted her to know.
‘So you switched the blame to someone else. Chris. You were blackmailing him because he was a client. That’s why chunks of money kept disappearing from his bank account.’
‘I’m impressed,’ Goldie said, pushing her hand into her apron pocket and pulling out a lighter and packet of cigarettes. Her face lit in an orange fuse as the lighter clicked into life. Closing her eyes, she dragged on the cigarette, blowing the smoke towards the cobwebbed ceiling. ‘You want one?’ she said, holding out the cigarettes.
Ruby nodded. Anything to escape her bindings. She had grazed her knuckles from rubbing the rope against the wall, but it was showing no signs of loosening.
‘Well tough,’ Goldie said, pushing the packet back into her apron. ‘Chris had mummy issues. Liked to do it in all sorts of places, including his workplace. He would have paid anything to keep me sweet. So when the money dried up he let me use his place instead.’ She took another drag of her cigarette. ‘Want to know a funny thing? He got a kick out of that too. Started advising me on how to cover up my tracks, told me where to dump the bodies. Even came to the house after I killed Harry Edmonds. Then he’d turn up later on, with you, ready to make sure nothing was traced back to me.’
‘If you were such good friends why was he ringing my DCI asking for help?’ Ruby said.
Goldie gave a half-shoulder shrug. ‘Doesn’t matter now, it’s all over. There’s no happy ending. Not for any of us.’
Ruby felt chilled by the words. Goldie was referring to Chris in the past tense. He had outlived his usefulness, just like the others.
‘I don’t believe you,’ Ruby said, trying to buy some time. If backup was on its way, they needed Goldie to tell them what she had done with Sophie. ‘Those murders took time. You said yourself that Frenchie never gave you five minutes’ peace.’
Goldie gave a low, mean chuckle. ‘Frenchie’s dead. I’ve been running the girls, not him. Chris helped me get rid of him too. We hid his body under the floorboards, but it isn’t half kicking up a stink.’
‘It’s not too late to recover this. What have you done with Sophie?’
But Goldie was gazing beyond Ruby, somewhere she could not reach. ‘None of those people deserved to live. I gave them every chance and they all failed miserably, just like you.’
Ruby’s heartbeat thundered in her ears. The room was quiet. Too quiet. She needed the sounds of the streets, the scent of pollution, voices from the room next door. An insect scurried over her hand, and she pushed herself away from the wall, kicking off her heels in order to stay upright. Ruby forced her focus back on Goldie.
‘You took refuge in the movie Lucy’s First Christmas, didn’t you? Waiting for a mother that never came.’
‘And I waited so long… ’ Goldie said, her voice etched with pain. ‘I’d sleep to the tune of my music box, praying I’d wake up to see her waiting to take me home. I really thought I’d found her this time. But Anita was just liked all the others.’ Goldie pulled at her thumb, ripping off the prosthetic piece and throwing it on the ground. ‘I made myself look nice so she’d take me in. But she only cared about her perfect little girl. There was no room for me.’
‘Where is she? Where’s Sophie?’ Ruby said, her words falling on deaf ears. She wrestled with her bindings, loosening them a fraction, then realised that Goldie was staring at her. Silence passed between them, two souls forced into solitude.
‘My birth mother’s dead,’ Goldie finally spoke. ‘Suicide. Couldn’t live with the disappointment, I suppose.’ A bitter laugh escaped from her mouth. ‘But then, I’ve done some terrible things.’ Goldie sighed, a smile touching her lips as she briefly closed her eyes. ‘Have you ever killed anyone?’
‘No.’
‘Let me tell you, the rush of a kill is better than any drug. It surprised me in the end. The reward became more important than fulfilling the dream.’
‘So the childhood fantasy was not so innocent after all,’ Ruby said, the disgust evident on her face. ‘It’s over. Untie me and take me to Sophie.’
Goldie extinguished her cigarette with the sole of her lace-up boot. ‘You forced my hand when you knocked on Chris’s door. If you’d brought backup she’d be safe in your arms now. Her death is on your head.’
‘Where is she?’ Ruby asked, her chest rising as she battled the rising tide of frustration. If she didn’t get out of this place soon… she couldn’t be held responsible for her actions.
Goldie smiled. ‘I told you, she’s asleep, frozen in time like Sleeping Beauty. But the minutes are ticking away.’ She waved a finger from left to right. ‘Tick-tock, tick-tock. If she’s not dead already, she soon will be. And you’ve nobody but yourself to blame.’
‘You monster! She’s just a little girl!’ Ruby raged, unable to hold it in.
Within three strides Goldie was upon her. And it was only then that she caught sight of the scalpel: an instrument Chris must have used countless times before.
‘Get back!’ Ruby pushed herself back against the wall.
With one sweeping kick, Goldie took her legs, and the floor rose up to meet her as Ruby’s face connected with a thud.
Dropping to her knees Goldie dragged Ruby’s head onto her lap. ‘Shhh, hush now, Mummy,’ Goldie said, stroking her hair. ‘It’s time. I have to make the bad stuff go away.’
‘Get off me,’ Ruby said, wriggling her entire body. But her movements were halted as the metal blade was thrust under her jaw. Ruby gasped and became very, very still. But unknown to Goldie her hands were still moving. Inch by inch she twisted her wrists against the bindings, loosening the badly tied knot.
‘It’s good that we’re together. You wouldn’t want to die alone, would you?’ Goldie said sadly. ‘I don’t like the thought of that at all.’
‘Think about what you’re doing… Please, I can help,’ Ruby said, staring up at her face. She worked her wrists against the prickly rope, her flesh stinging against the insistent pressure. Beads of sweat broke out on Ruby’s forehead as the knot loosened. She needed time. There was still hope.
Briefly closing her eyes, Goldie re-emerged with a smile. It was a clown-like grin which spread across her features in fetid glee. ‘My name’s Lucy. Are you my mummy?’ The child-like voice echoed around them.
‘I can be, if you want,’ Ruby said, wearing a tight smile.
‘Then say it, Mummy, please. Say you love me. Tell me you’ll bring me home.’
Ruby did not think twice. She would say anything to extend precious seconds of their time. She took a deep breath. ‘I lo—’ But her words were cut short as an arterial spray of warm blood slapped against her skin.