Don't Push Me Page 5

  If someone broke into the car tonight they were in for a rude awakening. Kat made sure every last inch of Rachel was still covered by the blanket. She tucked the bottle of bleach and the scrubbing brush under her for good measure. She then had a rethink and rolled Rachel into the footwell with a thud, still completely covered by the blanket. She would be less noticeable down there, especially when it was dark. Or at least Kat hoped that would be the case.

  Blood had soaked into the grey back seat and Kat stared at it for a moment. There was a lot of blood. Kat was responsible for this. She had caused it, and now she was going to have to try to clean up her mess. She was going to try to get away with it.

  She snapped out of her daze and stood looking through the back window. From outside you couldn’t notice the blood or the body. Kat gathered up her things and made her way into the flat. She had two bags now. Her own and Rachel’s.

  Kat negotiated her way into the flat without bumping into Mrs Paterson, which was a blessing. She was sure that her old neighbour would be watching though. She could feel eyes upon her. Kat opened the door. The flat was completely empty. Completely silent. How she missed Kiddles. Rachel had killed her cat and now inadvertently Kat had killed Rachel. There was some weird circularity about that.

  Kat pulled the door closed and then stared in horror at the handle. There was blood on it. Kat looked at her hand. There was blood on that too. Rachel’s blood. It brought it all sharply into focus for Kat. This was real.

  She made her way to the kitchen sink. She had to get rid of the blood. She needed to get clean. Kat scrubbed her hands vigorously, the water turning a shade of red as it was swept away.

  Kat usually headed to the fridge for wine whenever she entered the flat, but tonight more than any other night she needed a clear head. She sat down at the dining-room table and gathered herself together. After a few moments of complete silence, she got up, boiled the kettle and made strong coffee. It was going to be a long night. She needed her wits about her. She needed to cobble together some sort of cohesive plan to deal with this.

  Coffee in hand, Kat’s attention shifted to Rachel’s fancy designer bag. At least she thought it was designer. It looked a hell of a lot fancier and much more expensive than her own. She emptied the contents onto the dining table. A mobile phone, a set of keys, all sorts of make-up, some coins and a pocket knife spilled out.

  What the hell was she going to do with a pocket knife?

  Kat was now thinking how lucky she had been that Rachel had used her fists to attack her and not the knife. If things had worked out differently, it could have been her lying dead on the car-park floor in a pool of her own blood.

  Rachel really was a horrible, vile little girl. What right-minded person takes a knife with them to their work? Especially when you worked in a bank?

  Kat slipped everything back into the bag apart from the phone. You could garner a mountain of information about someone by looking into their phone, and she was sure Rachel would be one of those folk whose whole life was on their mobile. She never seemed to be off the thing.

  Low and behold, the iPhone was locked though. It was one of those blasted things with the thumb pad for your fingerprint. By hook or by crook she was going to get into it. A wicked thought flashed into Kat’s head. She had Rachel’s fingerprints – she had Rachel’s fingers, for goodness’ sake. Kat turned the device off for now.

  Kat suddenly paused – she should be wearing gloves at the very least when she was dissecting a dead girl’s handbag. She hadn’t even considered it. She tipped the contents back out and grabbed a pair of washing-up gloves. She sprayed all the items and the bag with a disinfectant spray and wiped them all down as best she could. It was far from ideal, but it would have to do.

  Kat really needed to come up with a plan; she needed to think clearly about what she was going to do next. It wasn’t as if she could follow some clear protocol. Obviously, she hadn’t dealt with anything remotely like this before, but she needed to be smarter. She needed to be more careful. At this rate, the evidence was stacking up against her and there was no chance of getting away with it.

  She would have to wait until it was darker outside to deal with Rachel. Mrs Paterson was bound to be keeping watch at this hour. She would be ready to pounce. Kat had been lucky to avoid her on the way in, but she would definitely be on the lookout by now. Her old neighbour would combust if she knew what was really going on next door.

  Maybe a little glass of wine was a good idea, after all – Kat’s nerves definitely needed settled. Or maybe Kat was making excuses so she could have a drink. She had started depending on the bottle far too much lately.

  It was then that a horrible thought hit her like a ton of bricks.

  The CCTV.

  Oh God, the CCTV in the car park.

  It would have captured everything.

  21

  I can’t believe she agreed to do it. I thought men were easy to manipulate, but for fuck’s sake, Rachel never even put up a fight. No wonder she’s got a reputation for being such a slut. I bet you don’t even have to buy her dinner.

  Hats off to her though – she played a blinder. Those drama classes when she was younger certainly paid off. The way she tells it, Fat Kat fell for it hook, line and sinker. She thought everything was going to be hunky-dory. How daft can you be?

  The fat cow was off for a few days due to her ‘grief’. It was a poxy cat. It’s not like it was her son or her old mum. I didn’t know it would work as well as it did on the little fucker. Thought it might get sick or something, but it worked way too good. It was a pleasant little bonus. Wonder if it works on humans?

  Kat must be realising now that it’s not going to stop. That it’s going to get worse. With any luck, she’ll drink herself to death. Rachel told me the whole flat was a mess and reeked of booze so I’d say we’re definitely getting to her. On second thoughts, if she done herself in then the plan would be ruined and the fun would be over. Who knows who might get their paws on what’s owed to us?

  There’s plenty more planned. The fat bitch had a good run working in the bank, but it’s coming to an end. She’s going to realise soon enough that this can’t go on.

  I’ll not stop until she’s paid for all that she’s done.

  22

  There was no way Kat could check the underground car park CCTV at this time of night. It would certainly raise suspicion if she arrived at work out of hours. She would have to wait until the morning. Hopefully, all she was about to do tonight wouldn’t be in vain. It couldn’t wait though. It needed to be done.

  It was around midnight before Kat had gathered up the courage to put her hastily convened plan into action. She had been having major doubts about the whole thing and had seriously considered handing herself in to the local police office. Tell them exactly what had happened and confess to her moment of madness afterwards. However, as it turned out, she didn’t have the courage for that either.

  The thought of Paul and her forthcoming grandchild was always at the forefront of her mind. The thought of what the little witch had done to poor Kiddles was etched there as well. She hoped he hadn’t suffered.

  This needed to be done. It was too late to go back now.

  Kat, dressed all in black, walked cautiously to her car. She had felt ridiculous dressing herself like a cat burglar from an old black-and-white film but she had thought it only practical for what lay ahead.

  She walked steadily past the Mercedes, still infuriatingly in her spot, to the end of the road and opened the car door. She slid into the driver’s seat. Mrs Paterson’s curtains didn’t even twitch. Surely her nosy neighbour would be sleeping at this hour? There was no one in the street; it was eerily silent.

  In the few hours that had passed since Rachel’s death, Kat had tried to go over all the possibilities and eventualities. She couldn’t believe that this was actually happening, but she needed to get her act together. The police had no reason to come looking for her or to link her in any way to R
achel. Not yet anyway. However, if they did somehow put it together, Kat had to close any loose ends that might lead to her guilt being exposed. There was no reason for anyone to suspect that Kat was capable of murder, but she had to be careful. One small oversight on her part could lead to her being arrested. She had to pray the CCTV wouldn’t be her undoing.

  She had spent a considerable amount of time listing as many secluded places as she could think of to dispose of Rachel’s body, but she kept coming back to the same venue. For all intents and purposes, it was an ideal location.

  Years ago, Kat had camped out in woods on the outskirts of Glasgow with her then husband and they had joked with each other that they could do anything they wanted there as no one would ever happen upon them. They could even dump a body there and no one would find it, Stephen had said, laughing. Little did she know back then, the next time she came back, she actually would be disposing of a body. You couldn’t make it up.

  Kat and Stephen had come to the woods as they were after privacy, and Stephen couldn’t afford to book a hotel never mind a holiday. However, it had been a great weekend, back when Stephen wasn’t a complete arse. Back then, they’d had no money whatsoever, but staying in a tent, just the two of them, had been perfect, even though the place they pitched their tent was a complete and utter dump. Stephen had reasoned that it was cheap and cheerful and was only a fifteen-minute drive so wouldn’t cost much in the way of petrol. This also suited Kat’s much darker purpose tonight.

  She had decided that this complete and utter dump was the perfect place, where Rachel could remain for some time without being found. As far as Kat could remember, the spot wasn’t even popular with dog walkers, so there was every chance the body would lay undiscovered for a considerable period of time. However, just in case she was found sooner, Kat had brought along a few things to remove any evidence that she had ever been involved. Or at least muddy the waters a little. There was sure to be some of Kat’s DNA on the body and that wouldn’t do. There could be no trace left. Nothing that would make the police suspect Kat or come looking for her.

  The drive took Kat around twenty-five minutes as she took two wrong turnings. Her mind was going into overdrive and she had lost concentration. On the way, she was having an internal argument with herself. She knew things had gone too far; she knew this was all wrong, but still she pressed on. This was her last chance to stop. However, no one would understand if she confessed now. There was no valid explanation for any of this. There was no going back.

  Kat parked the car on the edge of the wood, turned off the lights and waited. There wasn’t a soul in sight and the place looked as if it hadn’t been visited in years. It was overgrown and inhospitable. Kat exited the car.

  First of all, she had to gain access to Rachel’s phone.

  Kat slid open the back door and brought out the phone. She turned it on and pressed Rachel’s thumb to the keypad. After a tense moment, the handset came to life.

  She then went into the settings, removed the fingerprint setting and changed the keypad entry to 0000 so she could look at the phone later and not be hurried. She turned it off again and placed it in the glove compartment of the car and set about the real matter at hand.

  Kat spotted a few felled trees not too far into the woods. They would make a decent enough final resting place for her tormentor. There was no way Kat was going to dig any sort of shallow grave, so the trees would help to keep her hidden. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do.

  This was it. Now or never. Kat humphed Rachel over her shoulder and walked with her to the trees. Thank the lord Rachel was a slight thing.

  She dumped the body between the two fallen trees and stood back. Unless you were standing directly over the body, there was no way you could tell she was there.

  Now was the part Kat had been dreading. The part she had been going over and over in her head. The part of the plan she had reasoned needed to be done. She moved back to the car and returned with bottles of bleach, white spirit and a full petrol can. She was determined no trace of her would be left behind for the police to find.

  Kat took a deep breath then started pouring bleach all over the body. Three full bottles went over her – she even rolled the body and poured bleach on her back and the ground where she lay. The white spirit went on next. She gave special attention to Rachel’s fingers; there would surely be traces of Kat on them after they had grappled in the car park. Rachel’s bag and possessions were drenched as well.

  The petrol went on last.

  How had it come to this?

  Tears were streaming freely from Kat’s eyes. Rachel’s body was swimming in bleach, white spirit and petrol.

  Kat lifted a small dirty rag and set it on fire with the cheap lighter she had brought along.

  They were deep enough into the woods that the fire wouldn’t draw any attention. At least, Kat hoped that was the case. This was it. Kat closed her eyes and threw the rag onto Rachel. Right away, the fire took a fierce hold. There was definitely no turning back now.

  Kat stood back and watched. The last thing she wanted was for the fire to spread and burn down the whole forest, but thankfully it stayed confined to the spot where she had placed Rachel.

  Horrible thoughts flooded into Kat’s head. Rachel could remain here for months before someone stumbled upon her, and by then there might not be much left. There was bound to be plenty of wildlife in these woods, plus the fire and bleach would have made her unrecognisable. These dark thoughts surprised her.

  Never in a million years did Kat think she’d be spending her night doing this. Never in a million years did Kat think she’d be capable of such dark deeds. She tried to keep telling herself that it had been an accident and this was necessary to avoid her life being ruined as well. Rachel had brought this on herself, after all. If she hadn’t confronted and attacked Kat in the car park then none of this would have happened. The horrible sequence of events wouldn’t have been set in motion. Kat wouldn’t be standing in the middle of nowhere watching fire engulf a young girl’s body.

  Everything had spiralled completely out of control.

  23

  Kat sat in her car at the edge of the woods. The blood-soaked back seat and footwell were now empty.

  Kat knew she should be getting out of there quick smart but she couldn’t move. She was crying uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her face. She felt as if she was going to pass out or be sick. She was thinking about Rachel, thinking about the bleach, the petrol and the fire engulfing her body. Her face. How had it come to this? More so though, Kat was thinking about her poor cat, about Paul and Charlotte’s good news. What a terrible, terrible mess. For a moment, she felt as if another panic attack was on the way. She concentrated on her breathing, as she had been taught at the hospital. The feelings eventually passed and slowly she regained her composure. There was no going back now, and this certainly wasn’t the time to sit mulling things over.

  Get a grip, Kat told herself. She took another deep breath and gathered herself together before finally driving away and on to the next stage of her plan. Time was of the essence.

  Kat knew she had to get rid of the car. There was no getting away from it. The amount of forensic evidence would be frightening and very damning. If she kept it then further down the line, if she was ever thought of as a suspect in the murder, it would be searched. Then it would be over and all of this would have been for nothing. It would be foolish in the extreme to even think about keeping it.

  Kat had what some would consider a stockpile of cleaning products in the flat due to her mild OCD and she was going to put them to good use. She was determined no trace of Rachel would be left behind and the police would have no reason to come calling at her door or link her to the crime.

  She drove the car to a patch of wasteland in Maryhill which she had identified when planning earlier in the night. She was sure the large area was no stranger to burnt-out cars. It was close enough to the flat for her to walk home and out of the way e
nough to mean it wouldn’t be found immediately.

  By the time she set to work on the car, it was the small hours of the morning and Kat was well aware that she still had to go to work and act as if nothing was unusual or out of the ordinary.

  The barren patch of waste ground lay quiet and still. Kat got to work. Hopefully her luck would hold and no one would come near.

  She scrubbed the car ferociously. The bleach and cleaning products covered every inch of the Mini. Kat’s eyes were stinging and she was finding it hard to breathe. She should have brought one of the little white masks she’d used for painting her bedroom. Kat had focused her efforts mostly on the back seat where Rachel had lain for so long. She scrubbed the back seats and footwells with vigour, but the bloodstains were a nightmare to shift. The forthcoming fire would have to take care of that. Hopefully, no one would be searching for any sign of Rachel in the car anyway – they had no reason to do so, but if they did Kat had done her level best to eliminate any trace.

  Kat poured liberal amounts of bleach over the clothes she was wearing when the deadly deed was committed and the black clothes she was wearing to dispose of the body. She had brought a change of clothing in a black bag that she hoped would not be contaminated by any evidence. She took Rachel’s phone from the glove compartment and placed it beside her clean clothes.

  The petrol went on the car next. Kat was getting worryingly good at covering her tracks considering this was so out of character for her. She dropped her gloves into the petrol-and-bleach-covered car for good measure. She threw in the rag this time and jumped back as the fire rapidly engulfed the car and nearly scorched her eyebrows clean off. It was well and truly ablaze. She hoped there wouldn’t be a huge explosion that might be heard and seen for miles.