Kiss & Die - Lee Weeks [130]
Shrimp pulled frantically on his arms to try and free them. He twisted his head to look up. He was chained to the wall behind. He pulled on the chains but couldn’t budge them. He looked down at his injuries. His body was being sliced open bit by bit. He heard the Indian music playing from the other room; haunting, a woman wailing. It was the same music he had heard on the stairs. He saw his clothes in the corner of the room. His gun was there, his microphone. He couldn’t reach any of it.
Nina returned. He could see her properly now. She was naked. Her long glossy black hair fell all around her shoulders to her waist. Even now he loved her. Even though it made no sense. ‘Please Nina, let me go…’ She came towards him with her hands holding a small object.
‘Kiss Rose, Shrimp.’ She held the dried parchment face of the mummified baby next to his mouth. ‘This was going to be your baby. You were going to be special. You were going to want to live with us forever, me and Rose. But, maybe this was the only way for us.’
‘No, Nina, we can still make it work. We can still get away from here. Please, Nina, let me go. I will help you. I love you. I will do anything it takes to help you. Don’t kill me, Nina.’
‘It’s too late for both of us, Shrimp. Don’t worry, I won’t let you die alone. I will come with you.’
Beside the bed she laid the scalpel and the skewer.
Ruby went quiet for a few moments and Shrimp watched her moving around the room. She lit a candle in the corner. She placed her dolls around the bed.
Chapter 116
‘Which flat does she live in?’
‘She lives with her grandmother on the fourth floor, flat B. No one is invited in there. She says she’s ashamed of the place. She always comes here when Kin Tak teaches us Mandarin,’ Lilly said.
‘He was teaching her too?’
Lilly nodded. Mahmud stood in the doorway. ‘I’m sorry.’ He had a key in his hand. ‘She does anything Victoria Chan wants her to. And more, much more. I didn’t realize she was killing men until now. Can I come with you?’ Mahmud handed a key to Mann. ‘Here is the key to the apartment. I can help. She will listen to me.’ Mann eased on his clothes over his bandages.
‘No Mahmud. You stay here. I promise we will do all we can to help her. Lilly, you and Michelle stay here too.’
Mann and Daniel left Michelle’s apartment and walked down the flights of stairs to the fifth floor. David was waiting for them. Mann looked at him and nodded. ‘You know who it is?’ David nodded. ‘I saw them in the shadows of the stairs, kissing when they thought no one saw. If she is the woman who murdered my brother I have to come with you.’
‘No, David, you stay here and guard this entrance with Daniel. I need to go in alone. I don’t want any mistakes in there. This is my one chance to get my friend out alive. If we make a noise, if we frighten her, it could be the end. I will call you if I need help. Just be here and be ready.’
‘Here, Mann, have my gun?’ Daniel took it out of his holster to give to Mann. Mann shook his head.
‘I trust Delilah now more than ever. I can’t afford to make mistakes.’ Mann had taken the feathers out of her hilt; she was clean, sharp. She was in his hand as he placed the key in the apartment door. ‘Which is Flo’s room?’ he asked Mahmud.
‘First one on the right.’
Mann turned the key and pushed the door. The place was dark. Inside was the fuse box, he tripped the main switch. He took out his phone, he found the light setting. A tiny bright beam shone out from the back of the phone. He shone it straight ahead into a small kitchen at the end of the hall. The smell of ham cooking hit him. His light glanced over a patella as it shone glossy from the top of the pot, the place was still steaming, the walls wet. He walked inside. The door closed behind him; he let it go.
He opened Flo’s door and flicked the light around the room. The room smelt of old, it smelt of neglect. He scanned it, it was full of human bones, bleached white, stacked in the corners, laid across the floor at the edges of the room. The bone dust covered everything.