Chapter Text
Run, Pip.
Don’t stop!
Behind her, she could hear leaves crushing under boots.
Not hers, she thought as she continued sprinting through the woods, it’s his.
He realised she was gone.
He found the torn duct-tape on the warehouse floor.
He saw the smashed window.
He connected the dots and realised that she had escaped.
But that wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
She was meant to still be inside, tied to the shelving unit, waiting for her imminent death.
But that wasn’t how it was going to go today.
She was going to be the one who got away. This was for the girls who should’ve had their chance to live but weren’t able to.
Philippa.
Melissa.
Bethany.
Julia.
Tara.
Barney.
Andie, too.
He won’t catch her. She’ll fucking kill him if he even dares to touch her. She still has the hammer, too. One wrong move by him, and she’ll bash this hammer into his skull without remorse.
And so, she kept running.
Even when her lungs felt like they were going to explode, she kept going.
Not this time, DT.
You’ll never catch me now.
~~~~
“Are you sure she isn’t at your house, Nat?” Ravi chewed anxiously on his nails. Pip was meant to be at his house an hour ago, but never showed. He tried calling her, but it didn’t go through. “Don’t mess with me, Nat. I can’t handle anyone lying to me right now.”
“Ravi, I swear she isn’t here.” Nat sighed. They’d been going back-and-forth for over a while now. “I’m not even home. I’m at Jamie’s. I waited for Pip to show up, but she never did. Jamie then asked me to come over, because his parents are out of town visiting Zoe, so we’d have the house to ourselves.”
“Connor?”
“He’s here, too.” Nat added. “He’s upstairs, talking to Zach on FaceTime. He’s been here all night, Ravi. And Pip hasn’t come round here, either.”
“Are you sure?”
“Ask me that question again, and I’ll show you exactly why I have a criminal record in the first place.”
“Okay, I’m sorry, Nat.” Ravi said. He knew exactly why Nat had a criminal record, and he wasn’t particularly interested in getting punched in the face by her. “Listen, just call me if she goes over there.”
“Is everything okay, Ravi?” Nat asked. “Why are you even asking about Pip’s whereabouts? Isn’t she meant to be at yours?”
Ravi resisted a scoff. She was meant to be here, but she never showed. And something in Ravi’s gut was telling him something was wrong – the same feeling he got six years ago when he found out about Sal’s friends suddenly lying to the police about his alibi.
He’d already lost Sal. He’ll burn this world to the ground if he lost Pip, too.
“I’m just… worried about her, Nat.” Ravi said. “She’s been on edge lately. I’m worried I might’ve pissed her off earlier.”
“About what?”
“It’s not important.”
“Hm, right.” Nat sighed. “I’ll call you if I know anything.”
“Thanks, Nat.” Ravi responded. “I appreciate it.”
“Any time.”
The call disconnected then. Behind him, a hand – his father’s hand – cupped his shoulder, squeezing it softly.
“Natalie doesn’t know, does she?” His father shook his head and sighed. “It’ll be okay, Ravi. Pip probably got held up somewhere.”
But it’s not okay, Ravi thought, because unlike his father, he knew the truth.
Nobody except him knew about Pip’s stalker.
“I don’t know why she’s not answering, Dad.” Ravi sniffled, holding back tears. “She always answers. I don’t know what happened to her.”
“Nothing happened, Ravi. Don’t get worried.” His father assured, though Ravi couldn’t believe his words. “You’ll get overwhelmed if you keep worrying about her. Come watch TV with me and your mum. It’ll take your mind off her.”
But he couldn’t.
The stalker is still out there.
They’re still watching her every move, waiting until the perfect moment to strike.
Had the stalker finally caught her? That would explain the terrible feeling in his gut. Is that why Pip wasn’t answering his calls? Had they killed her already?
No! He can’t think like that. Pip would hate him for thinking like that. He needed to remain optimistic, though it was hard to.
“I can’t do that, Dad.” Ravi argued. “I need to go find her. What if she’s hurt?”
“Ravi-”
“I can’t lose her, Dad. She’s everything to me!”
“I know, Ravi, and it’ll be okay.” His father was gripping both his shoulders now. “You need to calm down. Do you need water? I’ll go get you some-”
“No!” Ravi shouted, immediately regretting it. His father just trying to help, though he was oblivious to the danger Pip could possibly be in. “Dad… I need to go, okay?”
“Ravi-”
“I can’t leave her alone, Dad.” Ravi broke free from his father’s grasp and grabbed the car keys off the table. “She needs me. I’m not waiting around anymore.”
Any further calls fell on deaf ears as Ravi left the house. Though he felt bad for ignoring his father, he knew it was for the better.
If he just ignored his gut feeling and something bad happens to Pip, he’ll never forgive himself for it.
They were a team. When one member is gone, the other doesn’t keep going without them. When he needed her, she was there, so now he’ll be there for her.
I’ll find you, Sarge.
I’m coming.
~~~~
Keep going, Pip.
You’re almost there.
The sound of footsteps following behind had died out a while ago. Pip knew that he’d stopped chasing her. He’d retreated when he’d realised that Pip was a goner. Unless he somehow managed to increase his speed, he wasn’t going to catch her.
For the first time since his resurgence, DT had lost.
Jason Bell had lost.
Pip was going to get him behind bars. She hadn’t managed to get Max behind bars, but she was certain that Jason wouldn’t get away with it. She was living proof of the murder that he’d tried committing but failed to. She had been just too quick in her escape.
A second later, and she’d be dead.
As she ran, she thought back to the question that Jason had continuously asked her up until this moment: Who would look for you when you’re the one who disappears?
Initially, it seemed like a baseless threat. She’d gotten the occasional death threat online. A poll had been made where she’d ranked fourth in the worst person on her podcast. And she’d dealt with various rape threats after the Hastings trial.
And, strangely enough, none of it had bothered her. Though she couldn’t be fully certain, she knew those people wouldn’t have gone through on their threats. They were nothing but useless incels who had nothing better to do. Pip could handle them on their own.
But this was different.
Jason had been set on killing her. He’d only decided it because he didn’t like how her investigation tore apart his life.
And he’d almost succeeded. If it hadn’t been for the Ravi in her mind, she wouldn’t have pushed through on her escape attempt. She might still be in the warehouse, dead like the ones before.
Who would’ve come to her funeral? Her parents and Josh, obviously. Cara, who was always more like a sister than a friend. Connor, who she’d helped when he’d needed her. Nat, whose strength she admired greatly. Naomi, the big sister she always needed. Jamie, who had been Ravi’s second chance. Zach, too, even if he lived in another town now.
And Ravi. It would’ve killed him going, but he would’ve gone if it meant seeing her one last time.
I’m coming back for you, Chief Inspector.
I’ll be there soon.
She now stood on the border of the woods. The evening sky hung over her, casting an orange glow over her small figure. Across the street, she could see a young woman out in front of her house. A little girl was sitting on the steps, fully focused on her sketchpad.
Her heroes.
“Hey!” Pip shouted as she charged over to them. “Help me! You need to help me!”
The woman looked over, shock overcoming her when she takes in the sight of Pip.
“Oh my…” The words trailed off as the woman approached Pip. Her daughter looked up, but the mother shielded her view of Pip with her body. “What happened, darling? What happened to you?”
“I need help,” Pip panted out, tears stinging in her eyes. “My name is Pippa Fitz-Amobi. You need to call the police. I’ve just escaped my kidnapper. Please help me.”
~~~~
After nearly two hours of searching, he’d ended up at the Reynolds house.
He didn’t want to go here. In fact, Cara had forced him here. She had joined him in searching for Pip, but after nearly two hours of searching the entire town, Cara had called Connor, who suggested for them to go over to his place.
Though both wanted to continue searching for Pip, Cara eventually accepted Connor’s offer and drove them over. She had to force the keys off Ravi just because he was insistent on continuing the search.
So, here they were, sitting in Connor’s living room with Nat and Connor. Jamie was in the kitchen making tea for everyone. Though Nat and Connor were trying to remain calm, Ravi could tell both were panicked just like them.
Connor was biting his nails. Pip had once mentioned that he bit his nails whenever he was nervous. He’d noticed it himself when they had gone to visit Zach at his new house, and Connor kept biting his nails when around him.
Nat’s jaw, on the other hand, was twitching. It was rare, but Ravi noticed it. He’d known Nat through Sal. Though they weren’t close, Ravi had always noticed that her jaw would tick when she was nervous.
“I reckon she’ll be just fine,” Connor remarked, breaking the overwhelming silence in the room. “Pip is always okay, isn’t she?”
Oh, Connor, you have no idea, Ravi thought as Connor rambled on. Yet again, Ravi himself felt like he barely knew the girl he was smitten with. She’d changed drastically since Stanley’s death, though he didn’t blame her for it. Ravi couldn’t imagine what seeing a man die right in front of your eyes does to you.
But Pip knew that he was always there for her, no matter what. Didn’t she know? Ravi couldn’t even imagine abandoning her in a time of need.
“She’s fine, right?” Connor sounded unsure this time. “She has to be… right?”
“She has to be, Con.” Cara chimed in, having been silent until now. “She needs to be.”
“What’s this about?” Jamie asked as he entered the room, setting down a tray with tea-filled mugs on the table.
“Pip,” Connor answered as he grabbed a mug. “We’re hoping that she’s okay.”
“Which she will be, Connor.” Jamie said, sounding certain. “Pip is always okay. She always bounces back, even when facing adversity.”
“But what if she isn’t?” Nat chimed in. “She’s been acting differently since Stanley’s death. I’m worried about her.”
“And I’ve been seeing weird posts on her Twitter page, too.” Cara chimed in. “I’ve been meaning to bring it up to her, but work has kept me busy.”
“Like what?” Connor asked.
Cara shrugged. “Someone keeps asking who will look for her when she’s the one who disappears,” she grimaced. “I thought it was a troll at first, but then the messages kept coming. I’m pretty sure she’s also mentioned dead pigeons appearing on her driveway, too.”
Ravi could feel his entire body tensing up, as though it was being held in an iron-grip.
He knew who was sending the messages.
Though not their actual identity, he knew it was her stalker.
Where is he, though?
Who is he?
A dreadful feeling came over Ravi right then. Before Pip’s sudden disappearance, she’d been certain on her stalker being Daniel da Silva, whom she also believed to be the actual DT Killer.
And here he was, sitting in the exact same room as his sister. She didn’t know that Pip suspected Daniel. How could she? Even though he was a strange man, he was also the only decent family that Nat had. Her parents were awful. Daniel had practically raised Nat growing up. If she were to find out he might possibly be a violent misogynistic serial killer, she might never recover.
But if he were truly the DT Killer, and had finally captured Pip, then he couldn’t be sitting around anymore. He needed to find Daniel before he possibly harmed Pip.
“I need to leave,” Ravi suddenly announced as he stood up abruptly. “I’ll call you guys later.”
“Where are you going?” Cara asked, now standing up, too. “I’ll come with.”
Ravi shook his head. “No, Cara. You should stay here.”
“But why?” Cara’s brows creased together in confusion. “Ravi, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. You should just stay here and-”
He was interrupted when a phone suddenly started ringing. Ravi checked his, but it wasn’t the one who was ringing.
It was Nat’s.
“Who is it?” Jamie asked, placing a hand on Nat’s shoulder.
“It’s Daniel,” Nat responded. “Huh, that’s weird. He’s usually still working at this hour. Something must be wrong.”
She answered. Five minutes later, Nat fell to her knees, her face buried in her hands.
“What the heck?” Jamie crouched next to her, his arms wrapped around her. Everyone gathered around, both worried and curious. “Nat, baby, what’s wrong?”
Nat didn’t respond. Ravi noticed that the call was now disconnected. All that was displayed on the screen was Daniel’s contact.
“Nat, what happened?” Ravi asked. “Is everything okay?”
Nat looked up at him, tears building in her pale blue eyes.
“It’s Pip, Ravi.” Nat sniffled. “Daniel just received a call about her. She’s in the hospital. Someone apparently kidnapped her, and she escaped.”
Ravi gasped. Unlike everyone else, he knew who that someone was.
Pip’s stalker.
The DT Killer.
But it didn’t make sense.
If Daniel had been the one who received the call about Pip, then how could her stalker be him? Unless he was lying, which Ravi couldn’t bring himself to believe. It seemed too absurd for Daniel to kidnap Pip and then tell Nat about her escape. Him and Pip had found that the original killer had been someone who loved having power over women. If a victim of his were to escape, he wouldn’t be essentially calm about it – let alone tell his own sister about it.
But if it wasn’t Daniel, then who was it?
~~~~
She escaped.
His first victim in six years, and she was gone.
This wasn’t how it was meant to go.
The plan was for her to die. Because of her investigation and how it ruined his life, she was meant to be killed as punishment for her actions. How hard had it been for her to just listen instead of acting out?
Instead, being the little bitch that she was, she had blown up his entire life. Her death was meant to be her punishment. That would’ve taught her a lesson about sticking her nose in places where it didn’t belong.
But it didn’t work out, because she had escaped.
But that didn’t mean he was going to give up on her.
He’ll just have to punish her another way – and he already had an idea on how to do it.