John Steel Collection - Books 1-3

Chapter 5

As a small boy, John Steel often snuck rides in the old dumb waiter system but never thought he would be doing the same thing as an adult. The bulk of his body, plus the extras he wore, made the journey uncomfortable. Once he got to the top, he used the knife to bore a small hole to see the attic. The roof space was dark, the only light falling from the small windows on the roof above. It was a vast expanse, running the whole length and width of the house. Dusty boxes of long-forgotten toys stood on top of one another, and as he looked, he thought that only terror would bring someone to seek shelter here. There was little opportunity to hide.

John Steel saw that it was clear and lifted the sliding door carefully. He realised that he would have to make it to the other end of the room to satisfy himself that nobody was taking refuge here. Dropping to one knee Steel drew one of the pistols.

Walking slowly and carefully, he inched his way down towards the end.

If there was nobody there, the only other possibility was that they had taken the dumb waiter down to the kitchen or the basement.

Suddenly, Steel’s eye caught a shape in front of him. It was only a few feet away, but the poor lighting made it seem like miles.

He waited for his eyes to adjust, then he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. Slowly he opened them and saw that it was a woman lying there. Her face was not visible, but he knew that shape and felt no longer any point in anything.

The blonde man went back inside the house and found that the others had regrouped in the long hallway. He walked up to the large man and nodded.

‘What happened, boss?’ asked the behemoth.

‘We have a homecoming, after all, it seems. I was told John Steel wasn’t due back for another week, but never mind, what is done is done. Right, first things first.’ The tall blonde man looked at the group.

‘Where the f**k is Travis?’ he asked. Everyone looked around and shrugged.

‘God damn it. Okay, find that f*****g psycho before he kills anyone important, or even worse, he gets us all killed. Now move!’ The men split off, and he grabbed the giant man’s arm and shook his head at him. ‘No, my friend, you’re staying with me.’ The giant smiled and reached down to take a strangely configured combat shotgun from one of his dead colleagues. As he pulled it up, the dead man’s hands still clutched the weapon, refusing to let go, and this made the leader laugh as he watched his friend struggle with a dead man. ‘He was always fond of that, never left his side, even more so now.’ The big man looked up and shrugged.

‘Leave the weapon, my friend. It seems the dead have claimed it. I don’t think it’s wise to annoy the dead, not here and now anyway.’ The colossal guy let the weapon and the body drop. He was part gipsy and had grown up on his grandma’s tales of the old country, its legends and myths, and curses. Despite that, the blonde man had befriended him in the service. They had both joined the French Foreign Legion many years before but had later found better employment together.

The cellar was cool and dark. The mother and her two children scurried across the floor to the wooden coal cellar door. As Elizabeth reached up, she realised she didn’t have the key. She looked around at the small nail embedded into the wall next to the double doors, but it held no key, and she cursed the gardener, as she knew he often forgot to put it back. A noise behind them caused the trio to find a hiding space, which wasn’t difficult, as the cellar was long with many rooms branching off it. They intently listened as someone moved from room to room, searching for their prey. The little girl hugged her mother. Elizabeth looked over to Thomas. She could see both fear and anger burning in his expression. She grasped his hand and squeezed it. He looked up at her, and his mood seemed to lighten a little. Elizabeth glanced down and saw a spark of comfort in her daughter’s eyes. A sickening voice echoed down the hallway, calling,

‘Come on out, I won’t hurt you.’ A snigger came next, and she shuddered. Did she hear him add the word ‘much’?

Elizabeth noticed some old wooden barrels leaning up against the far wall. Grabbing Sophie and Thomas, she hurried quietly towards them. Lifting the lid off one of the barrels, she placed both terrified children inside it.

Sophie clung to her mother, knowing she was protecting them with her own life. ‘Now,’ their mother whispered to them. ‘You stay in here and don’t move, okay, no matter what you see or hear. You don’t move until the police arrive.’ She gazed through glassy eyes at her children, fearing that this would be the last time she could do so, then she kissed Sophie on her forehead and took off and passed a necklace to the child. It was a golden locket containing a picture of them all. The long golden chain swayed as her hands shook with emotion.

Sophie grasped the necklace and held it tightly to her as she stared upwards fearfully.

‘Thomas,’ she told her son. ‘I need you to look after your sister, okay?’

His watery eyes stared back at her.

‘But….’ Elizabeth kissed his forehead to stop him from saying anything else. ‘You have to be brave. No matter what, you stick together, promise me.’

The two children reluctantly nodded.

‘I love you, both of you, and I will always remember that,’ she said as tears rolled down her face and replaced the lid.

As the two children listened with eyes firmly shut, they could make out the heavy breathing of a large man. While he panted and snorted like a rhino, they huddled together in their barrel and tried to make themselves as small as possible. The snorting brute came nearer and nearer, his feet shuffling on the floor. In his imagination, Thomas conjured images of the Minotaur from the Greek myths. Then the noise of someone running alerted the beast, and the children heard it turn on its heel and set off away from them in pursuit.

Sophie shook with fear, her body soaked with sweat. Thomas held her close, comforting himself and reassuring his sister.

Elizabeth managed to summon the dumb waiter back to the basement and quickly stowed herself into it. Then, she had to go up to the attic and find Helen.

The four had separated for Helen to distract the giant, bald man into following her. This would give Elizabeth time to get away with the children through the coal cellar doors, but the cellar doors were locked.

The brute moved towards the sound of the footsteps and found himself at the dumb waiter. A calculated, evil grin came onto his face as he saw the elevator moving upwards towards him.

As Steel moved slowly towards his wife, his legs felt unfeasibly heavy. It was almost impossible to take a step. As he moved, he grabbed the tactical vest, ripped it from his body, and let it fall.

Suddenly he crashed to his knees, kicking up a cloud of dust that hung in the pools of light. His face twisted with the pain of seeing her lying there motionless. He reached out a hand to grab her, his powerful fingers clawing at a distance between them.

He dragged his body towards her, tears streaming down his face. His mouth moved, but no sound would come from his lips. He was only feet away now, but it seemed like miles. Then, again, his body smashed down upon the ancient floorboards. He did not care anymore who found him, she was the one person he had wanted to save, and he had failed. He reached forwards and touched her hair, but his outstretched fingers could not grasp her.

His body contorted by emotion, he brought his clenched fists up to his face and blew out several deep breaths.

Closing his eyes, he reached forwards, and as his fingers touched her neck, he cried out. She was still, with no pulse. Steel’s animalistic howl filled the house, and even three floors below him, the mercenaries stopped and looked at one another.

‘The attic!’ shouted the blonde man, ‘And be quick!’ He was already racing up the stairs, and the others followed.

Steel knelt on the ground, holding his wife’s body close, his tears half blinding him. His emotions made him numb. Then, suddenly from the shadows, a familiar voice cried out—his mother. ‘Jonny, behind you!’ she shouted at him.

A gunshot echoed through the attic. Enhanced by the confined space, it sounded more like an explosion. As he looked up, his mother was spun around by the impact, blood and flesh painting the large beams behind her.

Steel watched helplessly as his mother tried to claw her way towards him, reaching an arm. He saw the angry exit wound in her chest. The sound of her wheezing and struggling for breath burnt into him.

Then there were heavy footsteps, laughter, and three shots rang out. Steel looked down, numb from shock. He slowly registered the exit wounds in his body. And then, with his gaze lowered, he saw his wife’s eyes flutter open just before the next shot rang out.

He heard her scream once, and then there was silence. He felt the pain of every hit his body took. His dimming sight locked on her. He saw Helen’s eyes were open and then watched as the cold stare of emptiness filled them. As he watched, he saw the last spark of life leave her body just before the next round hit him. Before he slipped into darkness, Steel smelt the foul body odour of the large man, and the sound of the man’s breathing filled his ears.

‘What the f**k have you done, Travis?’ yelled the blonde man. ‘Santini will have our f*****g heads for this, you animal.’

‘Come on,’ The blonde man ordered, contemplating executing Travis on the spot. Instead, the blonde man turned on his heel and headed for the stairs.

Steel slipped into darkness just as Travis laughed and followed his lead. His laughter grew louder as it echoed in the rafters.