Carruthers' Demise, Chapters Thirty Six and Thirty Seven (standard:drama, 2723 words) [20/24] show all parts
Author: Brian Cross	Added: Apr 01 2013	Views/Reads: 2406/1712	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Carruthers and Casey are held at gunpoint by Chelsey's enraged half brother Adrian. Approaching the conclusion of my thriller.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story


‘What have I done with her? You'll find out soon enough – no don't shift
a muscle either of you if you truly value reconciliation with my 
sister.' Adrian, having spotted Carruthers' agitated shift forward 
trained the pistol on him. ‘There, that's better.' 

‘And why did you kill Goldhawk?' 

‘Kill Goldhawk? I ...' 

Suddenly the low growl of an engine and splashing of tyres on wet
concrete engaged Adrian's attention, forcing him bolt upright. He 
lunged towards the window, eyes and pistol still trained on the pair as 
it braked sharply. ‘Who the hell – don't either of you damned well 
move.' 

But Adrian's damp shoes lost their grip on the threadbare carpet as he
headed for the window; slipping and struggling to retain his balance 
his knee caught the coffee table bringing forth an enraged yell. 
Carruthers shot a quick glance at Casey, was of a mind to take 
advantage of Adrian's slip and tackle him, but although momentarily 
unbalanced the man still retained his grip on the pistol. There was 
another option and Carruthers elected to take it. ‘Now!' He yanked the 
startled Casey to her feet, deciding not to pass Adrian in the race for 
the door, but to head in another direction – in the shadows he'd 
spotted another door standing partially open, where the room led off at 
right angle. 

Hoping against hope that it led to a way out, Carruthers pulled Casey
with him in a run for it – he heard Adrian shout, expected to hear a 
shot, feel the heat of a bullet, but nothing came. Instead they found 
themselves in a long narrow scullery with no light to guide their path 
– expecting to hear Adrian's scurrying footsteps in pursuit at any 
second – but again heard nothing. 

‘Here ...' Casey's voice, urgent, hoarse, penetrated the silence. She'd
found a frosted-glass door. Carruthers rushed to her, tried the handle 
but it wouldn't budge. He fumbled below it, whispered a silent prayer 
as he located the key, turned it and slid the handle down freely. They 
were out in the open – but only God knew where. 

‘Now what?' Casey breathed at him. 

‘We find Chelsey.' 

‘Just like that?' 

‘She's here somewhere. You said so yourself.' 

‘In case you haven't noticed, there's a maniac with a gun about to burst
upon us at any minute – and it's as black as hell out here.' 

‘I'm not leaving without her – come on, let's get clear of this place;
we'll find some cover somehow.' 

Carruthers jogged through the undergrowth bordering the side of the
house, once presumably a large garden but now a soggy, squelching bog. 
Casey, close behind him, slipped, but quickly corrected herself. Some 
forty metres beyond, the garden gave way to woodland and they ploughed 
through squelching mud and grass towards it. Once under cover of the 
trees Carruthers glanced back at the house, sweeping a hand across his 
eyes to clear them of the droplets they deposited. 

The rain had stopped; a half-moon produced partial light, enough for
them to spot any emergence from the dwelling. They waited several 
minutes, their rapid breathing slowly diminishing. And still there was 
no movement. 

‘What's going on?' Casey whispered. ‘How come he's not charging after
us?' 

Carruthers turned his head to her, brow creased in puzzlement. ‘I've no
idea.' 

‘The vehicle we heard draw up – do you think it might have been the
police?' 

‘How would they have known what was happening here? It's hardly the hub
of civilization.' Carruthers sighed. ‘Never mind, whoever it was saved 
our skins – at least for the time being.' 

‘Because... Casey stalled, drew breath. ‘Because before we left I handed
the details of our journey to reception. I asked for it to be passed to 
the Sergeant – it's just possible ...' 

‘Well done you.' Carruthers bit his lip. ‘You might not be quite as
worthless as I've come to believe.' 

‘Don't you dare speak to me like that ...' 

‘Let's not argue now!' Carruthers lowered his voice. ‘We need to find
out whether it is them, or get some idea of what's going on.' 
Carruthers emerged cautiously from the cover of the trees. With the 
side of the house no more than forty metres away there was just enough 
moonlight to observe it. 

But they needed to see the front and that meant joining the concrete
road that the vehicle must have approached on. It would mean leaving 
themselves exposed, but it was the only way. 

‘Let's go ...' Carruthers looked questioningly back at Casey. ‘You don't
have to come.' 

‘Don't I? I'm not staying here.' There was anger and resentment in
Casey's eyes, no doubt on account of Carruthers' remark but he bit back 
any reaction to it. 

They managed to keep inside the cover of trees until upon reaching the
road, the woodland fell away. Emerging into the clearing Carruthers 
cast his gaze sharp left, down to the building's front entrance, 
outside which two cars were now parked. 

One belonged to Adrian, but despite the poor light Carruthers had no
difficulty in identifying the other. And to his dismay it didn't belong 
to the police, but to Robin Noades. 

Carruthers gazed at Casey, aghast. ‘I might have known it.' 

  Chapter Thirty Seven 

‘Now what?' 

Carruthers shrugged, tensed. He tried his mobile once more before
slamming it deep into his pocket in resignation. ‘This explains why 
Adrian hasn't come after us, for whatever sick reason they're in this 
together. They're no doubt plotting – they'll know we're unfamiliar 
with the terrain, that in this wilderness we won't get far and they're 
right. But it'll be daybreak in a few hours and then it's a whole new 
ball game – we'll find a high point where I can use the phone and 
summon help. In the meantime we need to backtrack, to find ourselves 
some decent cover.' 

‘They'll stop at nothing to find us,' Casey said dubiously. ‘Let's hope
they're as unsure of their bearings as we are.' 

‘Adrian might be.' Carruthers scratched his soaked scalp and gave an
exasperated sigh, ‘But I'll bet that Noades is familiar with the area.' 
He stared across at the house, now a barely visible black hulk, merging 
with the night as the moon slipped behind clouds. 

Leading off from the house's main entrance though undetectable in the
darkness, lay the rough road they'd come in on, heading off through the 
woods towards and beyond the cluster of outbuildings, ending at the 
point where they'd been forced to abandon their immobilized car. From 
where they stood now, they could head into the woodland, making their 
way north-west under cover of the foliage until they were parallel to 
the road and farm buildings. 

‘I suppose we could cut through the trees,' Carruthers began, voicing
his thoughts, ‘and maybe take shelter amongst the crop of outbuildings 
we saw.' 

Casey hung her head, shook it. ‘It's the first place they'll look. We
need more substantial ideas, Marty – perhaps lying low outside the 
boundaries of this place until it's light is our best bet ...' 

‘I've told you, I'm not leaving this place without Chelsey.' Carruthers
had to raise his voice, the wind had risen again. 

‘I'm not talking about quitting, just using common sense.' Casey's teeth
were barely parted, brilliant white in the darkness as she hissed, ‘You 
seem to have forgotten that guy's armed. For all we know they both are, 
though I don't see where Noades comes into this.' She cocked her head, 
angled it at him. ‘You're not so insistent he's run off with Chelsey 
now, are you Marty? Like I've said, I'm sure of one thing – Adrian's 
got her here somewhere – either that or she's already dead!' 

Casey's last remark was too much for Carruthers, he snatched her
shoulders. ‘You've hardly helped in this, if bedding Goldhawk wasn't 
enough you swing in the other direction and lust after Chelsey – you're 
nothing but a ...' 

‘Don't say it Marty.' Quickly Casey used her forearms, breaking his grip
and slapping her hand against his mouth. ‘I swear if you do I'll punch 
your lights out – don't think I can't do it!' 

Carruthers gritted his teeth, thrust his hand on her wrist, managing to
lever her arm down. ‘You can try – your true colours are really flying 
now.' 

The whites of Casey's eyes flashed, she drew back her arm, launched a
punch, managing to curtail it just short of his chin. She turned to 
stomp into the woods, made a few strides and then stopped, slowly 
turning and flinging out her hands. ‘Oh look, I'm sorry, I admit I did 
make advances but it didn't lead anywhere. If she had of responded I 
can't be sure I'd have gone the whole hog.' 

‘Am I supposed to be impressed by that?' Carruthers fumed. He thought he
could see a tear on her pale cheek as she placed her hands on his 
forearms but it could have been moisture from the trees. ‘Now look,' 
she said, ‘I know I've behaved less than admirably but the least we can 
do now is stop arguing. It won't help Chelsey and it certainly won't 
help us.' She bit her lip, gripped his arms. ‘I was about to become 
dead meat in there once he'd finished having his say, with Chelsey's 
diary page stuffed down my knickers most probably, and you wouldn't 
have been far behind. He would have saved the worst for you. Being her 
husband and all ...' 

‘But why the hell should he?' 

‘Because he's her half brother, dimwit. My guess is he's had some fatal
fascination for her all along. He practically admitted as much just 
now. If we were to dig into his past we'd probably find that one out. 
He was always hanging around her but you just let it ride – and right 
now you need to understand that you won't help Chelsey by dithering. 
Now let's head out the way we came in, eh? Applying caution, 
obviously.' 

Carruthers dropped his gaze, took a deep breath. What was done was done.
Taking it out on Casey now wasn't going to help anyone. And perhaps she 
was right. Perhaps they should make tracks out of the place, the way 
they'd come in. 

He led her across the road, into the woodland on the far side. Initially
it was dense, with tree branches depositing their moisture all about 
them with intensity akin to a score of running feet. 

‘This is terrific.' Carruthers felt Casey's hand on his back, urging him
on. ‘Not only is this scary but I'm getting another soaking into the 
bargain.' 

‘That could be the least of our worries,' Carruthers spluttered over his
shoulder. ‘Listen, you're probably right. We'll head north-west until 
we meet the track out, and keep parallel to it, under cover of the 
woods. We'll keep going until we're off the farm and then take it from 
there.' 

Casey shrugged, seeming almost disappointed, but then she nodded. 

‘You're on,' she said, perking up. ‘I guess it makes more sense than
sitting waiting for Adrian to find us, which he surely would before 
daybreak.' 

Carruthers took Casey's hand, guiding her as they battled their way
through the tangle of trees and undergrowth with the light of an 
intermittent moon as their only help. He felt the thrust of twigs and 
bracken around his legs and ankles, and was certain that Casey must be 
experiencing the same, though she made no protest. Eventually as 
Carruthers was beginning to despair the woodland relented somewhat, one 
small clearing leading into a larger, man-made one – and with a sigh of 
relief he saw the shadowy outlines of the farm outbuildings ahead. And 
then a thud – two thuds from somewhere behind them that couldn't be 
attributable to either the wind or trees. There followed the deep roar 
of a powerful engine and then globes of light began to bounce off the 
trunks of the oaks, unmistakably from a vehicle negotiating the uneven 
road. Carruthers pulled Casey to him, away from the clearing. His heart 
beginning to gallop he forced her to crouch with him, as headlights 
illuminated the enclosure. 

They were too close for comfort; this had all gone horribly wrong. Some
twenty metres was all that separated them from the compound – that, and 
a handful of thinly spread trees. 

The vehicle began to pull in, to turn full circle and park. The beam
from its headlights was a second from revealing their presence when 
Carruthers dragged Casey into dense undergrowth, stifling her anguished 
yell as she fell into the bracken. 

Holding Casey tight to him, Carruthers heard the crunch of footsteps on
rough shingle, followed by the deep bark of a dog and the scrape of a 
door being yanked open. 

He crooked his head as far as he dared; shielding himself with his free
arm from the headlights' glare he saw Adrian vanish into the large, 
rectangular barn. 

And then he heard a scream – 

Chelsey's scream. 


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