Page 86 of Her Last Breath

Heart pounding, her limbs aching, Jane eventually made it to the top platform. Warily stepping onto the creaking wood, she looked across to see Colin at the far end of the platform, twenty feet away.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she saw that he too was breathing heavily. The climb had taken as much out of him as it had her. Behind his silhouette, she saw what he had been aiming for – a decaying access hatch in the roof of the warehouse. Clocking her arrival, Colin spun round, reaching for the handle, pulling with all his might. But the hatch wouldn’t budge: he was trapped.

As she laboured to slow her breathing, Jane walked cautiously towards him. Wilson was backed into the very edge of the platform, nowhere for him to go now. She could see his outline clearly but not the expression on his face. This man had killed three people in the most vicious ways, then tried to cover up their deaths. She couldn’t underestimate him; he was capable of anything. More than that, if he thought this was the endgame for him, he probably wouldn’t think twice about taking Jane out. Or himself.

‘This doesn’t have to end badly, Colin,’ Jane shouted across to him. ‘Let’s get down off this thing before it collapses under us, then we can talk. I want to hear your side of things.’

Jane edged closer towards him.

‘My side of what? I haven’t done anything,’ he fired back.

‘Running from us isn’t going to help. I think you need the chance to explain and I’m listening.’

He didn’t reply. She took another step forward.

‘We know about the van, Colin. We found it burnt out on wasteland not far from your flat. And we know about Bill, about how he testified against you, out in the DRC.’

‘I don’t know anything about any van,’ he yelled at her. ‘And as far as Bill is concerned, I haven’t seen that lying scumbag in years.’

‘Help me understand what happened.’

Colin laughed at her, mocking.

‘You think I trust you? I know what a stitch-up looks like. It’s what they did to me back in the Congo and now you’re doing the same.’

‘I just want to talk, I swear,’ Jane insisted, now only a few feet from him.

‘Don’t come any closer,’ he warned.

She paused.

‘Why did you lie to me about Alice when we first met?’

‘I’ve already told you. I know what happens when you lot are desperate for a suspect.’

‘And lying to the police was your gut reaction to my questioning you? Tell me about you and Alice. What was your relationship like? Did you fancy her, were you guys involved?’

‘I barely knew her.’

‘That’s not what your colleagues told us. They said you knew her very well. They said you used to make up a special Alice bag for her, with all the best stuff in it.’

He remained silent, staring intently at her, so Jane continued. ‘Did you go further than food supplies though? Did you start slipping her the odd bit of cash? Is that what was really in those special bags? And what did you expect in return?’

Jane knew this would rile him and she wanted him agitated, distracted, letting her slip ever closer to him.

‘I’m unemployed, broke. I’m using my savings to live off. You really think I have money to chuck away on some addict?’

‘Is that why Mark ripping you off hurt so much? Because he took money from you and sold you substandard crap?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he protested, but he sounded less assured now.

‘We found the voice message you left him. You sounded pissed off. Threatening.’

‘Mark was a good guy, he only cheated me that once,’ Colin said, stuttering. ‘Claimed he didn’t know, didn’t do it on purpose.’

‘And what about Bill? What happened between you two?’

‘I hardly knew him.’