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<title>Chapter 39</title>
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<h2>39</h2>
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<p>He came swimming up from the dark, reaching for the surface,
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trying to break through from the dream.</p>
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<p>It had come after him again, up in the high gantries, racing
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towards him with preposterous speed. His feet were glued to the
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skywalk, hands gripped on the rail, unable to loosen. His breath
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was locked in his throat. It came like a black spider, limbs
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pistoning, jerky yet frighteningly fluid. He could hear the scrape
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of its claws on the metal, the feral bass growl erupting from its
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toadlike mouth. Its eyes were like sickly orange headlights,
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spearing him with fearsome blight.</p>
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<p>Beside him, on the wall, Davy and Julia writhed, stuck on shards
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of glass. Behind him, his dead daughter whimpered in pain and
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begged him to help her. On the metal gangplank, Lorna lay sprawled
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in a pool of blood, eyes wide and blind and dull.</p>
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<p>The thing came racing on, angular yet sinuous, solid yet fluid,
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an ever-changing black mass, transforming and mutating as it
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grunted and gurgled, slobbering its malice.</p>
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<p>He backed off, came up against the wall. It jerked forward,
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blank amphibian eyes wide as saucers. Its mouth opened, yawned
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enormously. Rows of glassy teeth reflected light.</p>
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<p>Then he was out of it. The membrane of the dream broke and
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shattered and he was through, back in the real world again. He
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hauled for the breath that had refused to come, drawing cool air
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into aching lungs. He came fully awake, siting up in bed, slathered
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in sweat, shivering from the horror of the image.</p>
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<p>For several moments, he sat, trying to keep the muscles in his
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arms and legs from twitching, attempting to calm himself, to hold
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on to the reality that it was only a dream. He switched the light
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on, banishing the shadows. Very slowly he turned round, expecting
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to see her curled up, auburn hair fanned on the pillow, snuffling
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warmly in sleep.</p>
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<p>She was sitting bolt upright.</p>
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<p>Her hands were held up in front of her face, palms out, as if
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she was shoving something back from her, warding it off. As soon as
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he turned, he could feel the tremble in her own body, a taut
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shivering, tuning-fork fast. Her head was shaking from side to
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side, small, jerky movements, little spasms. He reached for her,
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touched her shoulder, felt the deep shudder ripple through her. She
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was cold as stone, every muscle under his fingers bunched and
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contorted. Her eyes were wide open, glassily staring in front of
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her, great grey pools. Her mouth sagged slackly.</p>
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<p>"What's wrong?" he whispered urgently. "What's the matter?"</p>
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<p>It was as if he hadn't spoken. Her head continued its motions of
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denial. The hands pushed further from her body. A slick of sweat
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ran from her neck and trickled under his fingers. The power of his
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own dream faded.</p>
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<p><em>What did she see?</em></p>
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<p>The wide eyes stared ahead, into the far distance.</p>
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<p>"Come on," he urged, louder this time, shaking her quickly.
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"Wake up Lorna."</p>
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<p>She gave a violent start, hauling back against the headboard. A
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pillow flopped to the floor. Under his fingers, the trembling died
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instantly. Her mouth closed with a snap and she blinked twice, very
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quickly and he heard her breath come out in a long shudder.</p>
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<p>"What is it?," he said, now more unnerved than he had been in
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the depths of his own nightmare. "What's wrong?"</p>
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<p>She turned, as if only just aware of his presence. She blinked
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again, then her eyes widened, huge and limpid. A tear spilled from
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a corner and traced a path of light down her cheek.</p>
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<p>Her mouth opened, closed again, then she fell towards him. He
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caught her in his arms and held her tight, smoothing her hair as if
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she was a child.</p>
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<p>"Tell me," he finally said.</p>
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<p>______</p>
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<p>It had taken a long time to heal. A long time for all of
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them.</p>
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<p>In a precursive parallel to the dream he would have, Jack had
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come awake, drowsily struggling against the anaesthetic. The drugs
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helped, but not enough to completely dull the pain of the mending.
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His head throbbed and a warm raw crater, or so it felt, burned into
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his cheek. It was sore to breathe, each inhalation bringing a stab
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in the ribs, front and back. His left leg was stiff and numb, with
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only a dull gripe in his ankle to tell him he still had a leg.</p>
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<p>Recollection came back slowly, individual scenes following on
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the other like ripples in a pond. He could see them, like an
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outsider, an impassive observer watching the thing flit from girder
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to beam, seeing Davy hung on the wall, the whiteness of Lorna's
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bared breasts. It was happening to somebody else. Even the memory
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brought nothing, no emotion, no fear.</p>
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<p>"Must be good stuff they serve here," he thought to himself, and
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without warning, a laugh bubbled up from inside. He went into a
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brief choking spasm and the sudden movement unleashed a rip of pain
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in his ribs. He coughed, searing himself on his right side, painful
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enough to make his eyes water.</p>
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<p>"Only when I laugh," he said when it all subsided, remembering a
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line from some long forgotten joke.</p>
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<p>A young nurse, blonde and pretty in a rosy-cheeked way, came
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bustling through the swing door of the room. She moved to the
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clutter of instruments beside the bed and jerked back when Jack
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spoke.</p>
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<p>"Can I have some water?" he asked.</p>
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<p>In three minutes Jack had his water, crystal clear and rattling
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with a stack of ice. It was the best drink he could ever remember.
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While he sipped it, a middle aged doctor with craggy grey eyebrows
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ran through the damage as if reading off a provisions list.</p>
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<p>"We've had to put a pin in your ankle," he said. "You've a
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pretty nasty break, but I don't think it's anything to worry about.
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You'll be walking in six weeks. The ribs were the worst. You'd
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punctured a lung. We had to drain it and get the old balloon
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inflated again. It's working fine now, but you'll get a twinge
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every now and again for a while."</p>
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<p>The doctor leaned over and without preamble, pulled Jack's
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eyelid down.</p>
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<p>"The cheek will heal on its own," he went on. "Nasty break on
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your maxillary, but no point in digging in there. You'll probably
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find your eye will water for a week or two until the pressure on
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the lachrymal duct eases off, and you'll have a bit of a dent
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there, but unless you've ambitions to film stardom, it should be
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fine. I can get you fixed up at Keltyburn for some re-construction
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if you feel the need."</p>
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<p>Jack shook his head and instantly regretted it when the ache
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thumped in his skull. He didn't feel the need for anything yet,
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except sleep, and the need to know how Davy was.</p>
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<p>"Bruises all over the body, and some internal, I shouldn't
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wonder," the other man went on, lifting the heavy eyebrows with
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what looked like considerable effort. "You've been in the wars my
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boy."</p>
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<p>"How long?" he asked, voice rasping over a tender throat.</p>
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<p>"As I said, about six weeks."</p>
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<p>"No, how long have I been here?"</p>
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<p>"Since last night. You've a good constitution. We had to put you
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under to get the lung back up and fiddle about with the ribs, but
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it'll soon wear off. If the pain gets too much, just ring for the
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nurse. We're real dope fiends here."</p>
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<p>Jack smiled tiredly. He knew about pain.</p>
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<p>"And the boy? My nephew?"</p>
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<p>"Oh, he'll be fine. Strong young fellow. Nasty wound on his
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back, and we're a bit concerned about infection. He's still under,
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I'm afraid, but he'll certainly play football again. How'd it
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happen?"</p>
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<p>"Long story," he said. "Too long."</p>
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<p>"Well, there's a whole corridor of people want to speak to you.
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I can hold them back until you feel up to it."</p>
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<p>"No. I have to." The doctor nodded. He turned to go. Jack held
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up his hand with some difficulty. It felt weighted with lead.</p>
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<p>"Is one of them a girl? Name's Breck."</p>
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<p>The other man lifted his eyebrows again.</p>
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<p>"Reddish hair? Pretty thing?"</p>
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<p>Jack risked another nod, though he took it slowly.</p>
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<p>"I need to see her first," he said. The man went out and there
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was some noise outside the door. Voices were raised. The doctor
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said something loud but unintelligible through the swung-shut door.
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It eased open and Lorna came in, face pallid and dirt-streaked. She
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was still wearing the long coat Jack had wrapped around her and it
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scraped the floor at her heels. She quietly closed the door behind
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her, and came slowly forward. He patted the side of the bed
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casually, though the movement knifed him in the ribs. He coughed,
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screwing his face up against the sharp corkscrew in his side and
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her eyes widened in alarm, instinctively reaching for him.</p>
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<p>He took her hand and drew her forward until she sat down.</p>
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<p>"Well, Miss fortune-teller, did we beat the bastard or
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what?"</p>
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<p>She nodded, hardly a movement, face still solemn.</p>
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<p>"Is it bad?"</p>
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<p>"Hurts like hell," he lied a little, and gave her a grin, the
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first one he could remember in what seemed like a long time. She
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almost responded. "Big boys don't cry. They say Davy's fine and
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I'll be out of here in no time."</p>
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<p>She looked as if she was going to say something, backed off,
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seemed to make up her mind.</p>
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<p>"I was so scared," she blurted. "I thought you were dead."</p>
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<p>"You and me both. Sure cured my love of heights, I can tell
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you," he said trying to keep it light. "I should keep you as a good
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luck charm."</p>
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<p>"It wasn't luck," she said. "It was meant. I know it."</p>
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<p>"I'll have to take your word for it. You've been right so
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far."</p>
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<p>He squeezed her hand. "Have you been here all night?"</p>
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<p>She inclined her head, grey eyes glistening.</p>
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<p>"I thought you might die."</p>
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<p>"You mean you didn't see it in the runes? It takes more than
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that to kill the likes of me."</p>
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<p>The tears swimming in swelling crescent broke over and ran
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freely down under her eyes, trickling to the corner of her
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mouth.</p>
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<p>"Oh, come on. We beat the bastard, you and me. We make a great
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team. Once I'm out of here, I want to take you to Hobnobs for a
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coffee and start over again."</p>
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<p>Lorna squeezed his fingers. The tears continued and he wished
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they would stop. Her soft grey eyes searched his battered face then
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fixed themselves on his as if she was afraid he would disappear,
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and the encompassing, insistent gaze bored its way into a part of
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him he thought he had closed off forever. An almost forgotten
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emotion stirred again in there. He pulled her gently towards him
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and she simply toppled against his chest. A grind of pain growled
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in his side and he let out a gasp. She hauled back, immediately
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concerned and contrite.</p>
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<p>"Oh, be gentle with me," he groaned, as a sudden wave of warm
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tiredness washed over him. She held tight to him for several
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minutes before she realised he had fallen asleep again. Alone with
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him, knowing he was safe, she began to cry softly, leaning into his
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arms.</p>
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<p>The next few days were a maelstrom. It wasn't until he woke the
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second time, to find himself alone and aching all over, that he
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discovered Julia had been hurt. He refused to see anybody else
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until he was satisfied her injury, so serious it had taken three
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hours of surgery to repair the damage to her intestine and
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abdominal muscles and remove a hard spike of wood that had broken
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off inside her - was healing and until he got a promise that he
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could see both her and Davy later in the day.</p>
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<p>Robbie Cattanach slipped in to the room before the rest of the
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crowd.</p>
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<p>"Thought I'd be giving you the once over," he said, grinning
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boyishly. "Might have been interesting to find out what makes you
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tick."</p>
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<p>"Sorry to disappoint," Jack said drily. He took a gulp of water
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and swallowed down the cough that threatened to send it back up
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again. "You won't get another chance, I can promise."</p>
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<p>"You'll live," Robbie said. His face went serious for a moment.
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"Christ alone knows what you've been up to. Want to tell me what it
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was?"</p>
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<p>"It was just as you described. Like nothing in the natural
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history books. It was a fucking monster. Remember that Ridley Scott
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film you were telling me about? It was worse than that."</p>
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<p>"And you killed it?"</p>
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<p>"I hope to Christ I have. I don't want to go through that
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again."</p>
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<p>Ralph Slater came in with Hector Nairn, the divisional commander
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who had insisted Jack was re-assigned to the case.</p>
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<p>"Are you up to a statement?"</p>
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<p>"I'll give it my best shot," Jack told his senior officer.</p>
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<p>"Miss Breck has declined to make any comment until we've spoken
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to you. Any reason for that?"</p>
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<p>"She's had a tough time. Where's O'Day?"</p>
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<p>"We had to take him to the head injuries unit in Glasgow. You
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nearly killed him."</p>
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<p>"Nearly isn't good enough. Is he under guard?"</p>
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<p>"Not necessary. He's in a coma which he may not survive. I'm
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afraid this might cause us a bit of a problem."</p>
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<p>"No problem to me. Listen, I don't care what happens, but he is
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not to be left unguarded, even for a moment. And there must be at
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least two people at all times. With the lights on at all times. Is
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that clear?"</p>
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<p>Jack reached forward and took Hector Nairn by the sleeve of his
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coat. The man pulled back, narrowing his eyes warily.</p>
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<p>"Sure Jack," Ralph butted in, taking the heat out of the
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situation. "I'll put John McColl on to it right away. He'll make
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sure."</p>
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<p>Jack sank back against the pillow, breathing a slow sigh after
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the sudden effort of his outburst.</p>
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<p>"How did he get the injury?" the commander asked.</p>
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<p>"I hit him across the head with a scaffolding bar."</p>
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<p>"Was that necessary? According to the doctors the man was
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emaciated to the point of death. He looked as if a breeze might
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knock him down."</p>
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<p>"Aye, that may be. But he tried to kill me, and would have done
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it too. Me and Lorna Breck and my nephew. That's what we've been
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hunting all along."</p>
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<p>"I think there will be a few folk who might find it hard to
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believe."</p>
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<p>"That's fine by me. But as long as you put a guard on O'Day and
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keep the lights on him, the killings are at an end. It's finished.
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We've got it."</p>
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<p>"It?"</p>
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<p>"Whatever."</p>
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<p>It took three days to get the statements from both of them and
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while that was going on, the public inquiries began into the deaths
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of all of the victims, starting with Marta Herkik. The fiscal
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recorded five verdicts of suicide and one case, that of Jock Toner,
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of death by misadventure. Timmy Doyle, Kelly Campbell and the
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others with the exception of old George Wilkie who was still posted
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missing, and including the the other McCann children and their
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father who died in the fire in Murroch Road, were found to have
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been unlawfully killed by person or persons yet unknown.</p>
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<p>The storm blew itself out on the morning after Jack and Lorna
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staggered out of the deserted shipyard, carrying Davy between them,
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and a fresh day dawned in Levenford. It took several weeks, despite
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Blair Bryden's clarion headlines in the Gazette, before people
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|
actually believed the murders had stopped and that the killer he
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|
had dubbed the Shrike was in custody.</p>
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<p>Michael O'Day was in intensive care for four weeks while doctors
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tube-fed him the nourishment his wasted body needed. John McColl
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was as good as Ralph's word. There were two officers on guard at
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all times. There was no need to bother with Jack's injunction about
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the lights, for in intensive care, they are never off. The man was
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comatose for another two weeks and finally began to stir under the
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sheet, still emaciated and pallid, but not as corpselike as he had
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been. A shallow concave depression reached from his ear to the back
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of the skull, showing where Jack had smashed him with the bar.</p>
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<p>Several doctors, including two consultant neorologists put him
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under a battery of examinations. O'Day was awake, but as they say,
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though the lights were on, there was nobody home. He was unable to
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speak properly, only managing a few grunted vowels. He had to be
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taught how to eat and for hours at a time, he would go into a kind
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|
of fugue, sitting with his head cocked to the side, mouth slack and
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drooling, as if listening to far-off voices. His self- appointed
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|
lawyers took the medical report on his assessed brain damage and
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|
|
went hammer and tongs for Jack.</p>
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|
<p>By this time, he was walking, though slowly, and with a stick.
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|
Julia had been allowed out of hospital after two weeks, when the
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|
infection in her abdomen had finally cleared and Jack re-learned
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|
how to use the washing machine and iron clothes, making the house
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|
tidy for her return. Davy remembered little about the incident,
|
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|
|
though he had a repetitive nightmare for several weeks, in which
|
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|
something came for him in the dark. Jack cuddled him until his
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|
breath smoothed out and he fell back asleep. He saw Lorna Breck
|
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|
|
every day.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Internal affairs hauled Jack through the mill, and while he
|
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|
|
couldn't care less, the thought of Ronald Cowie's smirking face
|
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|
|
helped him defend himself against an accusation of dereliction of
|
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|
|
duty - in not arresting O'Day in the first place - and grievous
|
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|
|
bodily harm. The senior officer from another force , having heard
|
||
|
|
the extent of his injuries, and having read Jack's daily reports,
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|
|
requests for extra men, and uncanny predilection for being right,
|
||
|
|
dismissed the allegations. He remained off duty for a further two
|
||
|
|
months until the court case.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Michael O'Day appeared in a wheelchair at the High Court charged
|
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|
|
only with the murder of Gordon Pirie, the young policeman,
|
||
|
|
attempted murder of Davy Forest and the killing of Marta Herkik,
|
||
|
|
although the evidence in that was circumstantial and his
|
||
|
|
unwitnessed admission that he had been in Cairn House that night
|
||
|
|
was inadmissable. His lawyers once again claimed police brutality,
|
||
|
|
but they were fighting in the face of the certain knowledge that
|
||
|
|
since O'Day's capture, there had been not a single killing in
|
||
|
|
Levenford.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>The accused sat hunched in the dock, barely visible over the
|
||
|
|
wooden handbar. Jack sat with Lorna in the public gallery, both of
|
||
|
|
them mesmerised by the slack eyed thing which drooled between the
|
||
|
|
two court officers. It took less than a day for the solemn court
|
||
|
|
pronouncement that he was insane and unfit to plead. The Judge,
|
||
|
|
furnished by the prosecution with a full dossier on the atrocity
|
||
|
|
that had spawned in Levenford with the killing of Marta Herkik,
|
||
|
|
decided that as a matter of public safety, he should be confined to
|
||
|
|
the state mental hospital at Dalmoak without limit of time. O'Day
|
||
|
|
passed from the court's jurisdiction into other hands.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Lorna waited with Jack outside the courthouse when it was over.
|
||
|
|
She stayed close. Finally O'Day was wheeled out of the back door
|
||
|
|
towards the waiting secure transporter. The two policemen pushing
|
||
|
|
the wheelchair stopped, turned it to lift it into the van. Lorna
|
||
|
|
turned away, not wanting to look again at the man who had crawled
|
||
|
|
out from under the dark stairwell, but Jack could not avert his
|
||
|
|
eyes.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>As O'Day was lifted inside, the vacant expression flicked off.
|
||
|
|
He blinked, focused, then hooked his eyes on Jack's. For several
|
||
|
|
eerie, unnerving seconds, he found himself locked with the other
|
||
|
|
man. Lively, malevolent intelligence danced in O'Day's burning
|
||
|
|
glare. He sat there, hunched like an old and crippled man, white
|
||
|
|
hair awry and patchy, yet his eyes were full of life of a kind. He
|
||
|
|
stared at Jack, mirthlessly challenging, then a creepy smile
|
||
|
|
altered his vapid face. The smile widened, became a grimace which
|
||
|
|
showed two blackened teeth. In that instant, Jack got a flash of a
|
||
|
|
wide, amphibious mouth set with rows of needle shards. O'Day lifted
|
||
|
|
a skinny grey hand and pointed at him. The small movement carried a
|
||
|
|
dreadful menace. Jack felt himself suddenly unmanned. Lorna felt
|
||
|
|
him shudder and looked up at him, saw his eyes fixed on O'Day and
|
||
|
|
turned round quickly.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>As soon as she did, the malevolent light flicked out. O'Day's
|
||
|
|
hand fell to his lap. His mouth opened and a trickle of saliva
|
||
|
|
edged down his chin. The officers hauled him into the van and the
|
||
|
|
door closed.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>"It's' over now," Lorna said.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Jack looked down at her, clamped his arm across her shoulder and
|
||
|
|
pulled her against him.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>"Over and done."</p>
|
||
|
|
</div>
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</div>
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</body>
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