Read The Ladykiller for Free Online Page B

sort out this end. See you later, love.’
    She kissed him on the mouth.
    ‘Be careful, Gerry, and don’t take any lip. Right?’
    Geraldine looked down at her husband’s face and grinned. ‘Right. ’Bye, kids.’
    She kissed them all in turn and went from the house. The cold wind hit her in the face as she shut her front door and began walking the half mile to the wine bar where she worked. As she walked, she made Christmas lists in her head. She had already got most of the stuff for the two eldest. Grania had a bike which was at this minute hidden in her mother-in-law’s shed and Donald had an Atari game. She was deliberating whether to get Sophie a kiddies’ kitchen set or a doll’s pram when she turned into Vauxhall Drive.
    She instinctively pulled her coat tighter around her. She hated this bit. The road was wide and pitted, banked on the left-hand side by woods. She had played in the woods many times as a child and knew every inch of them. Yet still they gave her the creeps. It was so dark, and only a couple of the houses were now lived in. The others had been demolished to make way for a new development that had never been built. Many years ago this had been the ‘good’ end of town. Now it flanked the woods on one side and the council estate on the other and the large Victorian dwellings were gradually being razed to the ground.
    Her heels clattered on the uneven pavement as she walked and the sound comforted her. She could see the end of the road ahead and relaxed.
    Silly cow! she chided herself. Frightened of shadows!
    She began to walk faster, the lights at the end of the road like beacons drawing her towards them.
     
    George had been standing in the entrance of the woods for about fifteen minutes. He looked at the luminous dial on his watch. Here she came. Right on time. It was a quarter past seven.
    He swallowed and flexed fingers that were now encased in white cotton gloves.
    As Geraldine passed him he stepped out from his hiding place and grabbed her hair. The long brown hair that was her best feature.
    As she opened her mouth to scream, George grabbed her under the jaw and began dragging her into the woods. As she kicked out to free herself she lost one of her shoes. She was terrified.
    George was puffing and panting; she was bigger than he’d thought. He dragged her along with difficulty, her muffled cries annoying him. He still had a good hold on her hair and jaw. Pulling her sideways with all his strength, he threw her down.
    Geraldine hit the ground with such force it winded her. She lay in the dirt, stunned for a moment. But only a moment. George saw her pull herself to her hands and knees, and as she tried to rise he kicked her as hard as he could in the stomach, sending her reeling back on to the ground.
    Geraldine was holding her stomach with both hands when she saw the man kneeling beside her. Gathering up every ounce of strength she had left she rolled away from him, trying to get to her feet.
    George watched the woman rolling away again and tutted. She was getting on his nerves now. Picking up a piece of wood which lay close to hand he brought it back over his head and slammed it down on her skull. He watched her crumple and sighed with relief. He sat quietly beside her for a few moments until he got his breath back and his heart stopped hammering in his ears. Then, pulling out his handkerchief, he wiped his forehead clean of sweat.
    Happier now, he looked at the woman. She was lying on her back with her head turned away from him and he smiled to himself. Good! He didn’t want her watching him. Going to her, he began to unbutton her coat. George decided he liked her coat and opened it up gently. Then, humming to himself, he began to pull off her skirt. No tights on, and in this weather as well! He tutted to himself again. Her limbs felt heavy as he undid her blouse and laid it back neatly with her coat. Still humming, he looked down at her bra. In the dimness he could just make out a