Watching You - Chapter Two (standard:Suspense, 2850 words) [2/3] show all parts
Author: Brian Cross	Added: Mar 06 2005	Views/Reads: 2777/2048	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A continuation of my completed story involving an under cover police officer with special powers. This work features the second chapter.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

She'd realised with a sigh of relief that she'd made it. At least past
the point where in her dream, the engine had cut out. She carried on up 
the ramps -no sign of a car lying in wait, headlights low beam and 
sinister as they had been then - to the CCTV building on top, where the 
engine finally stalled. 

No matter. She was there. 

And Brendon McCain who would be on with her for a couple of hours, being
due off at two, had flicked the switch and the door opened obligingly 
for her. 

Kelly was thankful for that, even though her fears hadn't materialised,
and as she directed her fob key at the internal security door and 
turned left along the passageway, she could see McCain in the control 
room, glancing her way, his face breaking into a broad smile. 

‘Hiya kiddo -Jees -' his voice tailed off, smile turning to frown as
through the low arc lighting he took in the expression on her face. 
‘Jees -' 

‘Will you stop saying that?' she slipped off her coat, slung it over the
back of her chair - no need to stand on ceremony on night shift - ‘Do I 
look that bad?' 

‘I wouldn't say that,' she felt his green eyes upon her, held his gaze
until she couldn't resist smiling, ‘I sense a ‘but' there somewhere 
McCain, go on.' 

‘Those bags under your eyes tell me a story kiddo, it starts with lack
of sleep, but where does it go from there I wonder. Too much of the 
other is it now?' 

‘I don't think so.' 

Her reply must have been too emphatic, because she felt his gaze on her
a moment longer, his look now quizzical. But she wasn't going to 
discuss her matrimonial problems with a man who despite her time in the 
job, she hardly knew. 

McCain must have sensed that too, because in a second he was on his
feet, ‘It's been a quiet night, I'm bored. I'll get you a drink, what 
will it be - tea, coffee or something stronger?' 

‘Is there something stronger?' There was a twinkle in his eye that had
made her wonder. 

‘Nah, come on kiddo, me drink on duty? You know me better than that.'
She smiled as his hand clipped her neck, sliding through fair hair that 
hadn't received its normal dose of attention. 

She watched him stroll into the passageway, whistling a tuneless melody
she guessed was some kind of Irish folk number and smiled. The truth 
was she didn't know him that well at all, their shifts had hardly ever 
overlapped until they were recently changed. But she liked him if the 
truth were known, as little as she did know of him, although she didn't 
know the reason why. He'd arrived at CCTV as a policeman on light 
duties but had joined the crew when an operator had left. He'd had a 
wife who was rumoured to have upped and left without warning and now he 
lived alone in a flat in the city suburbs. And that was as much as she 
knew. 

But still she liked him. 

Kelly turned her attention to the monitors, five on the control desk,
others mounted on the wall, a vast bank of them, covering every 
prominent part of the city and suburbs. 

It wasn't quite high summer, and unusually chilly for the time of year,
but McCain was right, it was unusually quiet. Even at midnight on a 
Sunday, you might have expected some activity, particularly when night 
clubs and bars had all been concentrated around a couple of streets by 
courtesy of bone headed council planners. Tonight though, there seemed 
nothing, not even a minor skirmish. 

McCain was returning with the coffee when she spotted Carl Black smoking
in a doorway near the square. The sight of him chilled her as much as 
the sound of his name. 

The whites of his eyes shone like beads in the dark and it was spooky
the way they seemed to turn the moment she directed the camera on him. 
In some stupid, illogical way this seemed personal. The fact that he 
knew he was being watched counted for nothing. It was the almost 
hypnotic sensation that he knew she was watching him. Ridiculous as she 
knew this to be, his eyes seemed to carry a hidden message, some kind 
of dark warning, meant solely for her. 

McCain placed her coffee down, following her eyes on the monitor, ‘Oh
it's that turd, he's been hanging around all night, him and his 
cronies, there's that little been going on, I've been fed up at the 
sight of him,' McCain's mouth curved downward into a scowl, ‘Yeah 
that's right you fucker, give us the old finger.' 

Kelly hadn't heard his words, she was still glued to Black's icy stare
until she felt McCain's hand on her shoulder. ‘Hey what's up kiddo, 
you've gone rigid.' He regarded her quizzically, before glancing again 
at the monitor, ‘He's doing nothing out of the ordinary, just being the 
usual prat.' He stood back and folded his arms; she could feel his eyes 
upon her, 

‘Hey, that jerk's not getting to you is he? You're not going to tell me
he's the cause of those king size bags under your eyes.' 

‘No of course not,' she sighed, pushing herself against the high back of
the chair, trying to appear more casual than she felt. She was 
determined not to tell McCain anything, but his soft Irish brogue 
invited confidence. 

She rubbed her eyes, ‘I had a dream last night if you must know, it was
weird but it scared the hell out of me.' 

‘And you're going to tell me about it?' 

‘Only because it's been on my mind all day.' She breathed deeply,
forcing her eyes away from visual confrontation with a man she'd never 
even seen in public; he was staring now, half turned, the whites of his 
eyes like small moons in the dark. 

‘It must have been over in a few seconds, I can't understand the effect
it's had. The car broke down as I came through the gates. I half 
expected it to happen tonight, Joe said he'd fixed it but he hasn't. 
Anyway I had to climb the ramps and there was this car on the first 
floor, its headlights low. It came after me but I made it to the top 
floor, then dropped the fob key. This guy jumps out, grabs me by the 
throat, I scream and kick - and then wake up. That's all there is to 
it, but I tell you, it's given me a hell of a fright.' 

She glanced at the clock, pushed the chair back, ‘I'll get the video
tapes out while it's quiet, and prepare them for change.' 

‘And you think the crazy guy in your dream was Carl Black?' McCain
called after her, a hint of amusement in his voice. 

‘It's not funny McCain.' Her hands trembled and she felt the box of
videos slip from her grasp. 

‘Damn!' the clatter sounded like thunder in her ears as they spilled
over the floor, she bent down and began piling them back. ‘Hey now - 
easy -' she felt his arm close around her shoulders and found it 
strangely comforting. Finding she wanted it to stay there she fought 
against it, pulling herself right up. She wanted to carry on, to 
prepare the tapes, to tap fresh information into the computer but she 
knew her fingers would find all the wrong keys. 

She could feel McCain's presence, his green eyes studying her. ‘You need
a  break.' 

‘Tell me about it -' 

‘Drink your coffee,' McCain raised the cup to her shaking hands, ‘What
does your husband say about this dream of yours?' 

‘I never tell him much; he's a tosser -' 

‘Ah -' McCain coughed, fell silent. 

The words had come out with a bitterness that astounded her. Never
before had she complained about Joe to anyone. It had been an 
unintended, spur of the moment reaction and she wasn't even sure 
whether she meant it, at least not to that extent. But McCain by his 
expression was clearly taken aback. 

‘Listen, why don't I take a look at your car before I go, I'll put it
under the porch light. Perhaps I can find the fault, I've hidden 
talents you know.' 

‘I'd be grateful,' Kelly said, smiling thinly. 

‘At least it might remove one element of your nightmare from your mind.'


‘It might,' her smile faded as she sat back down. Black had gone,
vanished into whatever hole he lived in. But once McCain had left she'd 
be alone, with the silence of the night broken only by the wind 
creaking the panels. Right now she felt vulnerable, as vulnerable as 
she'd ever felt in her life, and she couldn't explain why. 

McCain might have been gone about fifteen minutes, it wasn't very long
before she heard his footsteps return along the corridor. He slapped 
the palms of his hands on the sides of his dark trousers, examined them 
and smiled, ‘There you go, all done and dusted. I found a loose 
connection, my guess is you'll have no more problems. Your husband's no 
mechanic kiddo, is he?' 

‘Thanks McCain,' but Kelly wasn't rising to the jibe, her bitter remark
was all she was making tonight on that score. 

McCain stretched and glanced at the clock, `Soon be time to be off, you
sure you'll be alright?' ‘Yes of course,' Kelly managed a smile; if she 
felt apprehensive, it wasn't going to show. 

He sat on the edge of the long, curved workstation, his outstretched
hand clipped her on the shoulder, ‘You know you could do with a ‘What?' 
she suddenly felt hot, and the suggestion had thrown her back. She 
liked McCain, even allowing for his stupid ponytail that made his dark 
curly hair look frizzled, but as much as she'd become disillusioned and 
disenchanted with Joe she wasn't about to embark on a journey into the 
unknown. 

And that was what it would become - 

She looked up, meeting his bright gaze, ‘I don't think Joe would like -'


‘Oh to be sure, I don't have any ulterior motive kiddo, you don't think
–‘ 

‘No of course not,' she chided herself on being foolish, ‘listen, why
don't we make it a social evening, invite the others, those who won't 
be working that is?' 

McCain's mouth twisted into a derisive smile, he tapped an index finger
on the thumb of his right hand, ‘Let's see who we've got, shall we?' He 
stretched out the fingers of his right hand, tapped them with the thumb 
of his left. ‘Clive Patterson, the midnight trainspotter, nice guy but 
I can't see him being up for it, and as for Richard, I reckon he 
carries a radio around in his pocket even when he's off duty. You'd be 
lucky to get a sentence out of him that doesn't have “eyeball” in it 
somewhere. Jees, I hate that term...' he saw her reproachful look and 
threw out his hand, ‘sorry, but let's be honest, the others are just 
not the outgoing type, and as for the boss man, he's got a few problems 
I've heard say-' 

She looked at McCain long and hard. He was dismissing them all out of
hand, that in itself made her uneasy. They were a decent enough bunch 
but despite McCain's exaggerations she couldn't see them fitting 
together as a unit, not in a social way. 

The truth was she needed a break. 

She had to take McCain on trust. 

‘I suppose I could do with a night out, when did you have in mind?' 

McCain placed a palm against his chin, ‘Say Friday evening, we're both
off I think.' 

‘Okay,' she nodded, aware of the glint from his green eyes and trying
not to sound overly keen. In any case Joe would be at the pub, he 
always was Friday evenings, so she would be out with a friend, unusual, 
but that was all he needed to know. 

‘Fine kiddo,' McCain jumped from the workstation, slapped her on the
shoulder then for a second ran his fingers through the ends of her 
hair. She could feel the nail of his thumb brushing gently against her 
upper back, the resulting goose pimples making her blush. 

To her relief he didn't seem to notice, ‘I'll be on my way then, are you
sure you'll be okay? I could maybe hang around a while.' 

She shook her head,  ‘I'll be fine.'  Curiously some of the tension had
left her, though whether it was McCain's influence or her own resolve, 
Kelly wasn't certain. 

Just as she wasn't certain of why Carl Black gave her the shivers when
all she was doing was eyeing him through a screen. He didn't know her 
any more than she knew him. She wasn't the nervy sort. Not normally. 
During the five years she'd spent in the control room she'd faced 
nothing she couldn't cope with. 

But she was beginning to doubt that now. 


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