Leave Her Hanging: A Noir Thriller

Chapter Forty-Three

It’d only been a couple of days since I’d last been to school, but I already felt like an outsider as I lurked on the edges of the school grounds, looking through the windows at everyone in their classrooms. I didn’t know what class Jo Kim had now, or even if he was still at school. Maybe he’d bailed like Malcolm and Dennis. But I didn’t think so. He was on the outside, a contractor, probably like most of the kids they filmed with. So Jo was my last chance to get to them. I knew where his group liked to hang out at morning tea time. Now I just had to wait.

From my hiding place I spotted a black Ford sedan pulling into the staff car park. The door opened and a large Maori man in a suit stepped out. Detective Reihana. He looked around, his gaze sweeping past me where I lurked behind a tree on the other side of the road. My heart went still. But he just turned away, straightened his tie, and made his way into the office.

I figured I knew what it was about, and my suspicions were confirmed when Mr Harvey came walking from his classroom into the office a few minutes later. I moved closer, using a parked car for cover while I peeked in the office window. Detective Reihana was in there with the principal, shaking hands with Mr Harvey. The principal was trying to point Mr Harvey to a chair, but he wasn’t budging. Finally the principal gave up and Detective Reihana started talking. My heart twisted as I watched Mr Harvey’s face grow harder and colder and sadder.

It didn’t take a genius to work it out. The cops were already after me for Stephanie’s murder. And from the look of disappointment on Mr Harvey’s face, they didn’t have many doubts about whether I’d done it.

I wondered if the detective had already gone to talk to Dad and Leanne. Were they sitting at home now, crying, wondering if I was really capable of something like that? Did niggling thoughts keep creeping into their heads? The way I’d been acting the last week. How I’d nearly killed Ella’s dad last year. Deep down, was there a voice in their hearts telling them they’d always known what I’d become?

I ran my hands across my face. I felt like my skull was splitting in two, and I could barely squeeze it back together. Sleep hadn’t come easy last night; I’d caught maybe two hours total. Everything had gone wrong, and I couldn’t see how I could put it back together.

I watched the detective talk to Mr Harvey through the window for as long as I could stand. Then I turned away and made my way along the boundary of the school to spot Jo Kim when he got out of class. I was still in the same T-shirt and jeans I’d been wearing since Cassandra took me to the studio a couple of days ago. I wished I had my school uniform on me so I could sneak in without being so noticeable, but I figured I still had an hour or two until the whole school knew the cops were after me. And by then I’d be long gone.

The bell rang, and students started streaming out of class. I tried to look casual on the edge of the school property until Jo and a couple of his friends came around the corner and sat down on the benches beside the library. None of them saw me until I was right beside them.

“Hey, Jo,” I said, hauling him to his feet by his backpack. “We need to talk.”

His friends gawked at me for a second, then one of them spoke up. “What are you—?”

“Get lost,” I said. I shook Jo. “Tell him. Unless you want to talk in front of your mates.”

Jo fidgeted for a second and gave his friends a glance. “It’s okay. Go on.”

His friends shared a look and nodded slowly, then backed away. After a few steps they turned and started jogging. I’d have teachers swarming on me in a couple of minutes. Better make this quick.

I let go of Jo’s backpack. “I want Dennis and Malcolm and Cassandra. Now.”

“I can’t, I don’t know—”

I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him back against the wall of the library. “You know something. Where are they?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where are their other studios?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where would they take their stuff? They need to store all their equipment. They must have a house, or a storage facility, or somewhere they’re shipping it to. Where?!”

“I don’t know!” he shouted. “I don’t know anything. They planned for this. They always had an escape route.”

“Escape to where?”

“Wellington, Christchurch, Sydney, New York, Paris. Anywhere. Who knows?”

I shook him by the collar. “When are they leaving?” I backhanded him across the face. “When?”

“They’ve already gone!”

My head swum. No. They can’t be gone yet. I need more time!

“When are they coming back?” I demanded.

“Never. They’ll set up again somewhere else and keep doing what they’ve always done. And when that gets too dangerous they’ll move again. As long as there are kids to film and people to watch, they’ll keep doing it.”

“This can’t be it,” I said. It was getting hard to speak. “The cops can track them down. I have their names. I have their licence plates.”

Jo shook his head. He was looking at me strangely. “Those aren’t their real names. I don’t know what their real names are. They’re insulated. I doubt they own anything in their own names.”

There had to be something I could do. Something, goddamn it! “They killed Ella. They can’t get away with it.”

“They killed…? Jesus, I didn’t know,” Jo said. But I wasn’t listening to him anymore.

I should’ve gone to the cops when I had the chance. They could have raided the place, found everything they needed to put these bastards away. But no, that wasn’t enough for me. I didn’t just want them to go away for fucking kids and filming it. I needed them to pay for Ella’s death. I wanted to break Dennis like he’d broken everything I cared about. I’d been so close. I’d felt his arm around my neck, I’d smelled his stink. But I’d been arrogant. I thought I could take it all on myself. And now they were getting away with everything. Somewhere else in the world, Dennis would point his camera at some other poor, naked, down-on-his-luck kid about to get fucked by these sick sons of bitches.

I threw Jo to the ground and slammed my fist against the wall. Both my fists. Then that wasn’t enough. I kicked Jo in the teeth, stomped on his hand, hauled him up by the straps of his backpack and drove my fist into his face again and again until he slumped at my feet. My broken fingers screamed, but I didn’t care.

It was over. I had lost.

~~~

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