Free Vanished Beneath: DS Lasser six (The Lasser series Book 6) by Robin Roughley Page A

OK.'
    'Good, now off you go and let me know how you go on at Mary Sheldon's place.'
    Lasser left the room and went in search of PC Spenner.
     
    25
    Donny Elliot stalked the small flat like a demented automaton; his world crumbling around him, the walls of his defences had been breached leaving him clueless as to what he should do. He didn't own a television, and he never listened to the radio, so when he'd arrived at the pond he'd been surprised to see the water's edge cordoned off with blue police tape. Climbing out he'd stood and looked out over the water in confusion, somewhere above a curlew screeched and Donny had suddenly felt the creeping sense of unease rear into outright panic.
    Leaping back into the van Elliot crunched into first gear and headed back down the narrow rutted lane, hawthorn branches clattered along the side of the van sounding like hands banging to be let in.
    Then he had spent two nerve-shredding hours driving around town with the body in the back of the van, desperately trying to decide where he could dump the remains. Donny had lost count of the number of lay-bys he had pulled into but they had all seemed inadequate for the job. In the end, he'd headed out towards Rivington, driving along the darkened lanes with the black bulk of the Pennines to his right. After ten minutes of searching, he had pulled up on a long stretch of desolate road. In the distance, he could see the lights of the town and the glare from the endless stream of traffic that rumbled along the M61. The lane bordered on the left by a deep drainage ditch; Donny clambered from the van and rushed to the rear doors, the sky lit by a billion uninterested stars. By the time he'd dragged Sarah from the back he was drenched in sweat and breathing hard.
    When the scream erupted from the bundle, Donny Elliot leapt back in terror, his feet had become entangled and he'd crashed to the floor, the pain slamming along his spine. As he watched, Sarah's hands clawed free of the plastic bin bag. A squirt of piss leaked into his jeans, his mouth locked open in fright. Her pale arms waved back and forth grasping at the cold air.
    'Help me!' she wailed.
    Donny shot to his feet, hands jittering in indecision.
    Her face emerged, her hair writhing as she grabbed at the gaffa tape around her legs.
    Donny Elliot lunged into the back of the van and grabbed the tyre iron from the dusty floor.
    Spinning around he saw Sarah on her hands and knees, ripping away the last of the tape.
    When he dropped the length of metal onto the floor she snapped her head around, her eyes springing wide as Donny desperately bent down to retrieve the weapon.
    In the few seconds it took to grab the makeshift weapon, Sarah was running, her bare feet slapping on the tarmac, her hands waving above her head, the continuous scream unravelling in the still air.
    'No!' Donny bellowed before setting off after her. Her hair streamed out behind her, her legs pumping as she tried to escape.
    When he was three feet away, he lashed out and heard her grunt as the metal bar slammed into her back. Sarah stumbled forward crashing hard to the ground, Donny landed on her back, and without even thinking he slammed the tyre iron down on the back of her head. Sarah juddered forward; as her face hit the ground, her nose exploded leaving a smear of red on the tarmac.
    All rational thought vanished from Donny Elliot's fractured mind; he brought the metal club down for a second time and felt the skull shatter, soft brain tissue squirted upwards spattering his face as Donny spun away, his mouth trailing a gush of hot vomit into the grass.
    Wiping a trembling hand across his lips, he looked at the body and more bile sprayed from his slack mouth. Sarah's feet beat an erratic tattoo on the surface of the road; he could see the huge cleft in the back of her head, the dark pool of fresh blood ran slowly towards the roadside ditch.
    Then he was on his feet and running for the van. He was three miles away before he