Trodds Lane

Nick Roteman

Description

He hadn't meant to kill Pete but the experience was exhilarating and sexually arousing. Nothing would come in the way of his pursuit of money not even his girlfriend's son. She desperately needed a job and sex, through the library manager she hoped to find both. She was a pretty 23 years old, with large green eyes, long wild hair, and a quirky sense of fashion. Unfortunately being autistic meant she possessed little understanding of human behaviour and struggled daily in an alien world to communicate with her fellow man. She has few friends, so when Pete goes missing she searches desperately for him. Only she realises he is dead, but as the body count mounts she is unable to convince her friends or the police. He is a dangerous psychotic, ruthless but with a deadly secret he must kill to protect. She knows who he is, he knows who she is. Fighting to overcome her difficulties she must risk more than just her life to set a trap for him. The race is on.

Sujets

• Thriller

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 21 août 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783339334
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
TRODDS LANE
by
Nick Roteman



Publisher Information
Published in 2014 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
The right of Nick Roteman to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998
Copyright © 2014 Nick Roteman
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.



Prologue
Tom Phipps leaned forward so he could whisper in his young friend’s ear. It wasn’t to whisper a secret, but in fact, just so he could be heard above the thumping noise that was the so-called dance music, inside The ‘Blue Lamp Nightclub,’ in the heart of Bournemouth, a vibrant sprawling cosmopolitan town on the South Coast of England.
Peter had yet to officially, ‘come out,’ but had always felt comfortable in Tom’s company. He was studying at one of the many Universities situated here, and secretly met Tom, a friend of his father’s, about once a month. He was infatuated with Tom, who used this fact as a leverage to borrow money on a regular basis, in return for the odd fumble.
Tom at the tender age of twelve had been shown the pain of sex by a close friend of his father’s. It was awful yet exhilarating, the guilty pleasure, with the added fear of being found out, was a feeling that haunted him, and one he often felt the need to repeat. He was thirty-nine, and dating a beautiful woman Natalie ten years his junior, boring, but acceptable as a companion for the cinema, or for a good meal out, as long as she paid. It gave him that air of respectability and covered his sexual predilection for young men.
His sole drive in life was money or the attainment of it. He earned a meagre living as a freelance graphic designer, freelance only because no company appreciated his talents enough to employ him fulltime, and anyway he resented those who were successful. He hated being perpetually broke and as such was prepared to do anything and to anyone, if there were a monetary reward associated with it. He was fit, good looking, witty, and a dangerous psychotic without conscience.



Chapter One
The phone rang in the living room and she ran to answer it.
She had been taught at length by her sister, the correct and polite way to answer the phone.
“Hello this is Jennifer Grimley who is calling please?” Auburn asked.
“Hi Auburn, just the girl I want to talk to, it’s me your cousin Freddy! Do you remember me? How are you? And is Stella there too?”
“Yes I do thank you. Yes I’m very well, and yes I will put my sister on, please wait, thank you,” she said in a strange monosyllabic way, as she hated speaking on the phone, she preferred to be able to see who was talking to her, not that she often cared to speak to other people.
Carefully putting the receiver down on the table, even though Freddy was still trying to talk to her, she walked unhurriedly out of the room, with that strange gait of hers, and into the kitchen where her sister was busily preparing supper.
Stella glanced up from her cooking. “Who was that darling?”
“Freddy,” Auburn replied going straight to the fridge and taking out a carton of apple juice, which she carried in both hands to the kitchen table.
Stella surreptitiously watched her sister as she then collected a clean glass from the sideboard, and after fumbling for what seemed an age with the lid, finally managed to open the carton and ever so carefully poured the juice into the glass, a look of intense concentration etched on her pretty, elfin shaped face. Even after all that care, she still managed to overfill the glass, which dribbled its excess down onto the table top.
“Well what did he want?” Stella asked having waited long enough.
“I didn’t ask, you can ask!” she replied, gingerly placing the carton on the table next to her glass as she made off to fetch some kitchen towel.
“Oh honey, you can’t just leave people hanging on!” Stella said shaking her head in dismay as she dashed out of the kitchen. Auburn ignored her sister’s slight rebuke she was too busy with cleaning down the table top. People, even her dear sister, always expected so much from her, and she had little to give.
Stella returned a few minutes later a wide grin filling her face. “It was Freddy, your cousin, you remember him don’t you darling?”
“Yes of course I do,” she replied emitting a huge tutting sound. “He asked me that question too. I’m autistic not stupid you know!”
“Of course not my darling, as I’ve always said, you’re special.”
“Well special or not actually I do like him, he’s different, sort of like me, well not like me actually.” Auburn replied correcting herself. When she meant different she meant he was very hippyish in his outlook and dress sense; constantly at odds with conformity, she understood that, and he was always kind and patient with her, which helped immensely.
The outcome of the telephone call was that Freddy having broken up with his partner Adam had moved down to Bournemouth a few months back, and had rented a large two bedroom flat. He had asked Stella if Auburn would like to come and stay for a while; in fact move in with him, if she wished, there was plenty of room and he was sure it would be great fun and also good for her. Stella loved Freddy, he being one of the few who seemed to understand Auburn and her needs. He was also extremely kind and for a youngster reasonably sensible. She had noticed over the last few months how very bored Auburn had become, also she had been pestering her almost daily to let her go back to the coast where she had been happiest. Bournemouth and Freddy seemed to be a prayer answered. It had been an awkward year living with her boyfriend Simon and Auburn in a two bed, albeit very roomy apartment, just outside of Manchester in an affluent area. Dr Simon Frost was a Consultant in A+E at the Manchester General and definitely on the way up. Stella herself had been a staff sister in A+E, although she had given that up to look after her sister, and secretly had to admit she was desperate to get back to nursing other people rather than just Auburn.
Auburn travelled on her own by train down to Bournemouth without incident, having first learnt all the names of the stations on route, and the precise time she would be passing through each one, which she mentally ticked off. This kept her mind focused on the journey, and was the only way she could cope with travel. Everything had to be organised and precise in her world, or she fell apart.
She had considerable trouble carrying her precious laptop, her lifeline that was never far from reach, and dragging her suitcase behind her along the platform, until he spied her and came running to the rescue.
Freddy’s flat was the entire first floor of a three storey Victorian building, a stone’s throw from the pier. On their first night together, they had decided on a takeaway, curry being their preference, and were just sitting down to eat it when the front door bell rang. Freddy went to answer it and returned a few minutes later with a visitor in tow.
“Auburn this is Rachel, she lives on the floor above,” he announced.
“Hi Auburn, it’s great to meet you, I’ve heard lots from Freddy. I do hope we can be real friends?” She said eagerly.
Auburn continued eating without even bothering to look up, it took an eternity for her to even begin to register the presence of a stranger, being more likely it would freak her out and she’d just retreat to a safe place inside her head.
Freddy left Rachel standing near the kitchen door, while he walked around to where Auburn sat and stood over her, he knew the routine.
“Auburn, now that is very rude, say hello, hello Rachel, come on, please!”
Auburn took another mouthful of food but Freddy was still invading her space, which meant either leaving her food and stomping off, or replying, and she was starving so she actually spoke.
“Hello Rachel, please sit, thank you, I am eating,” she said in a monosyllabic tone without looking up at her, she hated looking into another’s eyes, it was just too much, too personal. Stella was always trying to get her to look directly at whoever was speaking, but in truth Auburn really didn’t understand the reason for that. You heard with your ears, not your eyes, it was so obvious!
Rachel sat down at the head of the table facing her, while Freddy fetched a clean plate from the cupboard.
“There’s plenty, we’ve ordered far too much, have some Rach babe, help us out!”
The three tucked in together and silence followed. Rachel was a pretty, twenty two year old in her second year at University. She was tall and thin of frame, with long dark brown shiny hair, which tumbled down her head and spilled over her fine shoulders. In many ways similar to Auburn who was only a year older, except her hair was auburn coloured. In contrast Rachel’s was neatly brushed and was straight while Auburn’s naturally turned into ringlets.
At length as they settled down Rachel decided it was time to explain why she was here.
“It’s Peter I really came about; wow this is delicious this curry especially, what is it?” She asked pointing with her spoon at one of the many curry dishes almost covering the table. Freddy had ordered far too many different dishe