Page 143 of 36 Hours

‘How the hell did you know I was here?’

He shrugged as though the source was confidential. On this occasion, nothing had been called in so there was only one explanation.

‘You followed me from the station?’ she asked. That meant he knew where she lived and where Charlie lived. She had been so tired that she hadn’t even thought about checking if he was still around.

‘Nice dog,’ he said, confirming what she suspected.

‘Don’t you dare even think about?—’

‘Hey, I don’t hurt animals. I don’t even hurt humans. I do expose people in positions of power.’

‘What exactly do you think I’ve done?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know – that’s what bothers me.’

‘Or you could just be stalking one of the good guys?’

He smiled. ‘I’m not stalking you. I’ve made no attempt to hide, and you won’t see me again for a while. But I will be back.’

‘All this because I went into a property while trying to save a man’s life?’ she asked with disbelief.

‘No. It’s the fact that you thought nothing of doing it. That you think the rules are there for other people. I’ve already told you I don’t like cops who break the rules. It tells me there are few limits you won’t go to in getting what you want. Oh, and nice move getting me trapped in the crime scene,’ he said with genuine admiration.

She took no comfort from it.

‘So, this is your idea of a warning?’ she asked, folding her arms. She was so over playing games.

He thought for a second before nodding.

‘Ooooh, I’m terrified,’ she said, nudging him out of the way. ‘When you wanna find the skeletons in my closet, give me a call and I’ll give you the key.’

‘Oh, everyone has skeletons, Inspector Stone, but some closets are deeper than others.’

With that he turned and headed back towards the car that she’d mistaken for that of a staff member.

Despite her bravado, a chill had stolen over her. He was right about skeletons, but hers had been buried well.

She took a breath before approaching the side entrance of the hospital where a nurse had appeared to let her in.

‘Thanks for letting me come,’ she said, forcing the encounter from her mind. There were more important things.

The nurse walked ahead. ‘She’s in a side room so you won’t be disturbing other patients, and unfortunately she’s not going to be talking your ear off.’

Tracy Frost was still in a coma from the injury she’d sustained simply because she had chosen not to follow Fred Guest’s instructions.

In addition to committing murder, attempted murder and kidnapping, it appeared that Fred hadn’t been the model carer either.

There were a number of injuries that had befallen his father over the years that had aroused the suspicion of the adult care services. However, Mr Guest senior had always supported his son’s claims of a fall here or a tumble there. No complaint had ever been made, and the man had always insisted he was being well cared for.

Maybe if he’d told the truth, Fred would have been released from his burden and wouldn’t have grown into the bitter, resentful man that he had.

Everything he’d done was to achieve fame, notoriety. He wanted to be remembered for something. He had been ready to kill and to die just so his name would live on in some capacity.

Unfortunately for Fred, he had been knocked off the news cycle when a story broke that a famous golfer had been caught cheating and was fathering a baby with his mistress.

It had taken Kim a while to understand why Fred had chosen to embroil them in a game, and she had only one answer.

Superiority. He wanted to watch as they scrambled around while patting himself on the back. It was a way to feel good about himself, about his own intelligence. Ultimately, it was a power trip, and he’d enjoyed every minute of it.