No Way Out by Samantha Hayes Read Free Book Online

just as I’m about to dial when I hear the voice behind me.
    ‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’
    *
    Marcus had gone round the house, collecting it all up. It was a lifetime’s work. There was so much of it, more than he realised – some of the material gathered during various business trips around Europe and the East. He shook his head, completely numbed now to the pain in his stumpy palm. It wasn’t the cost involved in obtaining this stuff – literally a bonfire’s worth dumped in the middle of the library – and neither was it the time taken to collect it, although that was a consideration.
    No. It was the thrill of it. The private subterfuge. The secret domain in which he and other chosen men around the world lived. No one understood. No one knew what a blessing it was. It was love in its purest form.
    But he could attend to that thrill all over again, couldn’t he? Nowadays with the internet, it was much easier. And perhaps he would be blessed with better, more unique, material in his new quest once things had died down. With this in mind, he gave a brief nod before striking a match and setting the papers in the grate alight.
    The dry, crisp pictures caught fire swiftly, the flames eating up the paper as thoroughly as Marcus had often devoured them with his eyes. Many were of Ellie, beautiful, loyal Ellie, and, as they burned, he thought of her. Prayed that she was OK.
    But with no time to waste, he shovelled more pictures onto the fire. It was a big house with many secret hiding places, and he just hoped he’d got everything. The fire roared up the wide chimney, so much so he wondered if flames would be coming out the top – a beacon in the night sky.
    He stared down the long drive, terrified that Roy would soon arrive, the police close behind. He’d tried to convince him on the phone that there was no need, that everything was fine, but Roy had been insistent, his training telling him otherwise. ‘I could do with getting out of the house to be honest,’ he’d said. ‘I fancy a bit of a drive.’
    Marcus pushed his bandaged hand under his armpit, clamping it in place to slow the deep, pulsing throb. Every so often, he tipped more photographs onto the fire, but there were still thousands to go. Then the intercom buzzer at the gate sounded in the hallway.
    Shit!
    Marcus walked through to the hall, centring himself, pressing the button to speak. ‘Sorry, Roy, I’ve been having trouble with the gates. I can’t seem to get them open.’
    Roy’s voice came back, urging Marcus to come down and open them manually.
    ‘I’m a bit in the middle of something, mate. Mind if we catch up another time?’
    But Roy was insistent, and Marcus concerned he’d find his own way in. He sighed heavily. ‘Give me a few minutes.’ He dashed back to the library to find that the fire had already died down. There were still sack-loads to go, not to mention the computers. He would go to prison for possessing all this stuff. Ellie or Lisa would finally blab, and his life would be over.
    ‘Fuck!’ he roared, striding off to the garage. They’d left him with no option.
    He returned with a jerry can full of petrol. Holding it with his good hand and his bandaged stump, he doused it around the library, splashing it up the walls, the thick curtains, the furniture, and all over the piles of photographs. Then he drenched his desk, and left a trail to the doorway.
    For a second, Marcus stood there, staring at the scene. Then he struck the match and chucked it into the room, fleeing to the front door as fast as he could.
    By the time he got down to the gate, he’d calmed himself; had had a couple of minutes to think things through. But Roy wasn’t calm. As he drew near, he was yelling out.
    ‘Marcus! The house … look! It’s on fire!’
    Five minutes, he reckoned. That’s all it would take to gut the library. Hopefully by then the fire brigade would be here to save the rest of the house. Two minutes