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

realised he had thrown the tyre iron into the long grass that bordered the lane, the tyre iron slick with Sarah's blood and his fingerprints.  
    Now he tilted his head and took another swig from the bottle of Diamond White Cider. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the blood flowing, the fragments of bone and brain coating his face. Donny shuddered and took another pull from the bottle. When his phone began to drone in his pocket, he yanked it out and peered bleary eyed at the screen. The number had been withheld, he licked his lips in indecision before sliding it to his ear.
    ' Hello ,' he whispered.
    'I've been waiting for your call, how did it go?'
    Donny felt the relief flood through his system. 'Listen it's gone wrong, I mean, really fucking wrong.'
    The voice sighed in disappointment, 'Never mind.'
    Donny began to pace back and forward again, his brain full of images of the coppers kicking the door down or worse still Colly Roberts demanding to know what he'd done with his girlfriend.
    'No listen, you don't understand. I found her and gave her the shot and she just collapsed... '
    'Don't worry, I'm working on it...'
    'But she wasn't dead, she wasn't fucking dead!'
    'Where is she now?'
    'I checked her pulse and there was nothing, so I stuck her in the back of the van and took her to the lake...'
    ' You took her to the lake !'
    Donny winced and held the phone away from his ear. 'Yeah, yeah but when I got there...'
    'You moron, don't you watch the news? The bodies you dumped there, the bodies you said would never be found all came floating to the surface like turds in a swimming pool.'
    Donny sat down on the sofa with a thump. ' But ...'
    'And you went back there as if nothing had happened?'
    'But I didn't know - I had no idea!'
    'That's because you're an idiot. ' the voice snapped .
    Donny shook his head in distress. 'No listen, as soon as I saw the police tape I scarpered, sharpish, no fucker saw me.'
    'And how do you know that?'
    Donny opened his mouth to reply and suddenly snapped it closed again. 'I...'
    'So what about Clark?'
    'That's what I'm telling you, I found somewhere to dump the body but when I got her out of the van she was still alive!'
    ' Interesting .'
    Donny swallowed in disbelief.
    'So, what did you do?'
    'I had to kill her, I mean, what choice did I have?'
    'And then you hid the body right?'
    Donny felt his bladder twitch. 'I panicked.'
    'Tell me you disposed of the body properly, Donny?'
    'I didn't know what to do . She was getting away so I chased her...'
    'I'm not interested in that but what did you do after the event?'
    Donny could feel the sweat slick beneath his clothes, his hair plastered to his skull. 'I left her,' he mumbled.
    'Left her where ?'
    'In the road.'
    This time the voice was laced with disappointment. 'Well, I'd like to say it's been nice doing business with you but I'd only be lying.'
    'What do you mean?'
    'Goodbye, Donny.'
    'No, no wait, you have to help me. I need cash so I can get away from here.'
    The voice laughed and Donny cringed. 'I don't think so.'
    'If you don't then I'll hand myself into the police and tell them everything.'
    The pause on the line seemed to stretch into eternity. 'Tell them what, Donny? I mean, you were the one who killed these people just so you could make a few quid.'
    ' I ...'
    'Do you know my name?'
    ' I ...'
    'The answer you're looking for is ‘no’. Do you know where I live?'
    'Please, I can't stay around here.' Donny pleaded.
    'Agreed, so I suggest you get in that van of yours and don't stop driving until you run out of diesel and then find a hole to crawl into...'
    'Please, I've helped you - you can't just leave me dangling...'
    'Or you could fill the syringe and take the painless way out.'
    'You're fucking joking right?'
    'Bye, Donny.'
    Elliot looked down at the blank screen in disbelief, then he started to cry as he realised there was no way out.
     
    26
    Jenna Fotheringay eased around the tight right-hand bend, the trailer rattling