Whisper For The Reaper, Jack Gatland [good books for high schoolers txt] 📗

Wilhelm Müller whenever I want. Maybe I will go tomorrow. Nobody cares about the fall of the wall anymore. They want the world to move on. And you should move on, Declan. You have a beautiful daughter and a wonderful life. I have always envied your family, that and your father’s. Maybe I can find one of my own now I have reconnected with Ilse.’

‘Did Ilse send me the message?’ Declan asked. Karl shrugged.

‘I am not psychic,’ he replied.

Declan balled a hand into a fist, his anger rising.

‘I would not do that,’ Karl interjected. ‘My daughter is waiting for me to return, and if she believes I am in any way compromised or hurt, she will skin your beautiful daughter Jessica alive, with a potato peeler. A blunted one.’

For a moment, though, genuine emotion crossed his face.

‘I am sorry, Declan,’ he continued. ‘I truly am. We could have been firm friends, if this had not happened. But sometimes the urge strikes me, and I must feed the beast, as they say.’

‘Was that why you killed Nathanial?’

‘Nathanial Wing killed himself,’ Karl shrugged. ‘It was sad. But it was his own doing. As were all of them. Even your mother. Who was sick and dying, Declan. In a way, I gave her mercy.’

‘I won’t give you mercy,’ Declan hissed. ‘If you’ve touched a hair on her head, if you’ve even shouted at Jess, I’ll find you and I’ll end you.’

‘You will do nothing of the sort,’ Karl said, shaking his head sadly. ‘We both heard your DCI. You have nothing on me. Your case is dead. Your team and yourself are finished here. I will be gone tomorrow, and your own government will provide my new identity, on behalf of either America or Germany; whoever contacts them first. I am, as they say, a belle of the ball, even after these years. You will send your colleagues home, and you will write your closing report on this case, stating that Rolfe Müller killed himself, unable to live with failure, and the guilt of murdering Nathanial Wing.’

‘And if I do that?’

‘Then you will go for a drive. Don’t use your car, I know there’s a tracker. Use the same car you borrowed from me. It’s outside your house by now, and the key is under the wheel arch above the front passenger wheel. Leave your phone in your Audi, and drive to where I tell you to wait until midnight. Do this and I will release your daughter, unmolested,’

Karl walked towards the door.

‘It is a shame though, I have really enjoyed this village, and these people. It is sad that people searching for justice must ruin such things. Stop your team, Declan, Stand them down. I have one Red Reaper card left, Declan. It would be a shame to use it on Jessica.’

With that Karl walked out of the interview room, closing the door behind him, leaving Declan alone.

He wanted to scream, to break something, to kill. But none of these would help him right now. He needed to find a way to make this work.

But there wasn’t a way to do this in the manner he needed. And Karl’s last line had shown the truth of the matter.

‘I have one Red Reaper card left, Declan. It would be a shame to use it on her.’

Not that it would be a shame to use it, but that it would be a shame to use it on Jess. Which meant that Karl still intended to use it, to leave one last death behind, before he moved on to a new life. And Declan knew without any doubt that he would be the next victim of the Red Reaper, likely at midnight tonight.

All loose ends removed.

He knew he could stop his team from searching; the moment they knew Jess was taken, they’d stand down. At the same time though, he needed to make Karl and Ilse pay for their crimes, even if he couldn’t be prosecuted in the legal manner.

Which brought him back to the mindset he’d had after Kendis Taylor had been murdered. Declan was an ex soldier and had a soldier’s mentality. He had killed before, and knew that if the stakes were high enough, he could kill again. But that wasn’t who he wanted to be. He was a Detective Inspector, and that meant something to him, even if he wouldn’t be one for much longer.

He had to plan this carefully.

He had to plan this cleverly.

Pulling out his phone, he dialled Anjli.

‘It’s me,’ he said when she answered. ‘Gather the troops back. We’re closing this down.’

‘De’Geer’s gone back to the Randalls,’ Anjli replied. ‘I know we can—‘

‘I said close it down,’ Declan snapped. ‘We’re done. We lost. Go grab a bite to eat in the bar.’ He looked at the clock; it was almost nine pm. ‘They should still do food, but only just. I’ll meet you tomorrow for breakfast and explain everything,’ he lied.

‘If you’re sure—‘

‘I’m sure. Close it down.’ Declan disconnected the call, and, still holding the phone in his hand, he paused, unsure that the next call that he was about to make was the correct one.

But it was the only call that he could make.

Declan took a deep breath and dialled a number. As it was answered, he looked around the Interview Room one last time. It was probably the last time he’d be in one as a police officer.

‘It’s Declan,’ he said into the phone. ‘I think I now understand why you had a problem with Karl. So, I have a favour to ask, and a gift for you. One I think you might like.’

DCI Freeman sat in his office, staring at the wall as his phone went. He’d been like this for a good hour now, physically there while mentally miles and even years away.

He’d joined the force to make a difference. But where had that got him?

Returning to the present, he answered the phone.

‘What,’ he muttered, but then stopped, listening.

‘What about the daughter?’