Every Little Breath: A Tense Psychological Thriller Full of Twists

He planned to bury them here, of that Casey was certain. She just didn’t know what he planned to do to them beforehand. He had brought his knives, which scared the shit out of her.

Was he planning on slicing her and Amanda up first or was he going to bury them alive?

She wasn’t sure which idea frightened her the most.

And he was making Finn dig the graves.

The woods were so silent, just the sound of Finn digging, the occasional rustling of bushes and the noise of a scurrying animal, birds tweeting, and it gave Casey far too much time to think, knowing that unless she could figure a way out of this, she would never see her parents again, would never see Nick or Liam again, or Zoe, or Phoebe.

Who would look after her dog?

It was such a stupid thing to worry about, given everything that was happening, but still it played on her mind. And what about Finn?

There was no way Ricky would leave him alive. What was his plan? Would he execute Finn after he had buried Casey and Amanda?

Finn had said there were more patrol cars on the way, but Casey wasn’t sure if he had been bluffing or not. She hadn’t heard any sirens.

Ricky had initially been quiet as he watched Finn digging, seeming to take satisfaction that he had someone to do the job for him, but it wasn’t long before he started to become agitated. This was a part of his personality that Casey did recognise and she guessed it wasn’t an act. The Ricky she knew was impatient, tended to get animated and mouthy if he was made to wait, and as he wandered around the grave, goading Finn on, it was for a moment as if her so-called friend was back.

‘So how does it feel knowing you are digging your girlfriend’s grave?’ he questioned, obviously baiting for a reaction.

Finn ignored him, slamming the shovel into the ground.

‘I’m going to need you to dig a little bit faster. We don’t have all night.’

Ricky looked at his watch. Casey noticed he had done that a few times while Finn had been digging, and he kept glancing around at the dark woods. What was he waiting for?

Casey kept her eyes on him. He had bound hers and Amanda’s ankles after making them sit down, otherwise she would have tried to run for it. Realistically, though, she still would have struggled with her busted ankle. It had been agony walking on it into the woods.

She was debating, trying to figure out if there was anything she could do, when Finn dropped the shovel, glaring up at Ricky as he backhanded sweat out of his face.

‘What are you doing? You can’t stop now. That hole isn’t nearly deep enough.’ Ricky had raised the gun, was pointing it at Finn, along with the torch, the beam in Finn’s face.

‘I just need a second,’ Finn told him, shielding his eyes.

‘Dig!’

‘I will, but I need to take my jacket off. I can work better without it.’

Ricky seemed to consider, then nodded. ‘Okay, but quickly.’

Finn scowled at him, saying nothing as he removed his jacket. He threw it to where Casey and Amanda were sitting and it landed close to Casey’s feet. He caught her eye before he reached for the shovel again, glancing at the jacket, then back at Casey, and she recalled what he had said about the cuff keys being in the pocket.

Would she be able to get to them without Ricky cottoning on to what she was doing? She had the cover of darkness.

She waited until his back was to her again, as he circled the grave Finn was digging, seeming to be preoccupied in taunting him, before reaching out her feet and trying to drag the jacket closer to her. Each time Ricky was facing in her direction she stopped.

It took some effort, but eventually she managed to manoeuvre it behind her and he hadn’t appeared to notice.

Her fingers found a pocket and she felt inside, panicking when she couldn’t find the keys.

She glanced at the grave, saw it was getting deeper and time was running out, and panic bubbled in her throat.

Focus, Casey. There is more than one pocket.

She breathed deeply through her nose, forced herself to concentrate. Sweat rolled down into her eyes as she managed to twist the jacket with her cuffed wrists. She found another pocket, her fingers reaching inside, her heartbeat quickening when they touched metal.

She pulled the keys out of the pocket, gripped them tightly in her palm, barely daring to hope that she had a way out of this nightmare. Finn was in the grave, Ricky still had a gun, but if Casey could get the cuffs unlocked then she would at least have a fighting chance.

She glanced at Amanda curled up beside her. She was awake, but had barely reacted since arriving at this spot in the woods.

Ricky’s duffle bag was in front of them, the one Casey knew contained his knives. She would try and uncuff her own wrists, then undo Amanda’s. If they could get the weapons from Ricky’s bag, they would at least have something to fight him with.

It took a few attempts, her hands were shaking so badly, but Casey managed to eventually get the key in the lock, and the relief she felt when the cuffs unlocked was immeasurable.

She was aware she wasn’t safe yet though. Trying to be discreet when Ricky’s back was turned, she reached across, managed to undo Amanda’s cuffs.

She saw Ricky’s head start to turn, quickly shoved her hands behind her back.

His face was shadowy in the darkness. ‘It’s nearly ready for you,’ he told her, before barking at Finn. ‘Keep going.’

Casey waited until his back was turned again before leaning forward and untying the rope around her ankles. She reached for the duffle bag, pretty certain that Finn was aware of what she was doing because for the first time he engaged Ricky in conversation.

‘So what’s your plan, Ricky? Where to from here?’

‘I will go back under the radar. This was all just for Casey’s benefit. Normally I am far more discreet. Once she’s taken care of, I can go back to normal.’

‘And how’s that going to work, given that the police now know who you are?’

‘I think you’re bluffing about that.’

Finn was doing a good enough job of keeping him distracted and Casey used the opportunity to get the zip on the duffle bag undone, reaching inside and retrieving two knives.

She placed them behind her back as Ricky turned to check on her, pressing one into Amanda’s hand as soon as his back was turned again.

What happened next almost played in slow motion in her head.

One moment Amanda was lying on the ground, the next she was sat up, and Casey took her eyes off Ricky long enough to see the glint of the blade as Amanda twisted it in her hands. Her focus was on the grave, her expression more determined than Casey had ever seen her, and her intent was clear. She planned to use the knife.

Casey tried to get her attention, knew she needed to stop Amanda before she went for Ricky. Yes, they wanted to overpower him, but their attack had to be co-ordinated.

But then Amanda was looking at the knife again, this time raising it. She made eye contact with Casey, her one good eye pained as she shook her head, and in that moment Casey understood exactly what she was going to do.

She intended to use the knife. But not on Ricky.

No, God, no.

Casey lurched towards her, but she wasn’t quick enough as Amanda sliced the blade across her own throat, her eyes widening and strangled sounds coming from behind the tape covering her mouth.

Casey screamed into her own gag as Amanda slumped forward, the commotion enough to alert both Ricky and Finn. Ricky was wide-eyed in horror as he swung the torch in Amanda’s direction, letting out a wretched cry as he realised what had happened.

He started to run towards Casey and Amanda as Finn climbed out of the grave, slamming the shovel across the back of Ricky’s legs and causing him to stumble, and then Finn was on top of him, slamming his head against the ground, before Ricky, who had the advantage of not being exhausted from digging for the last twenty minutes, managed to fight back, and the pair of them were grappling as they rolled on the ground, the torch Ricky had dropped casting an eerie glow across the clearing.

Casey was on her feet, clawing at the tape Ricky had wrapped around her head. She managed to free her mouth, greedily gulping at the fresh air and screaming at Finn as she remembered the gun.

Finn had momentum again, Ricky pinned beneath him, but then there was a loud shot and Casey’s world went still, her heart in her mouth as both Finn and Ricky froze, then Finn was collapsing on top of Ricky, Casey was screaming as she saw the blood, and Ricky’s attention was solely focused on her as he shoved Finn’s body to one side.

No, please, not Finn.

Casey knew she had to run, staggering into the trees as she heard Ricky scrambling to his feet behind her. She heard shots fire past her, kept running, then the empty click of the gun. He was out of bullets.

She ran faster, or at least as fast as her ankle would allow, hot tears blinding her eyes as her shocked brain tried to process what she had just witnessed.

She tried to push the awful image from her mind, aware that the next few minutes were crucial if she was to survive. Her ankle was hurting with each step she was taking and it was slowing her down. There was no way she could outrun Ricky. She glanced behind her, saw he wasn’t yet in sight, but she knew he would quickly catch up. Making a split decision, she veered off the path into a thicket of bushes, rolling onto the ground and curling up in a ball, the knife still gripped tightly in her hand.

She had darkness on her side, had to hope that he would think she had continued along the path.

As she lay there listening for his approach, trying to stay as quiet as possible, her mind replayed what had just happened, from the shock of watching Amanda kill herself to the horror of Ricky shooting Finn, and she pressed her hand over her mouth to prevent the sob from escaping.

Finn couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t lose him.

She tried to draw a steadying breath, knew she needed to stop herself shaking. It wasn’t just from the fear and shock. Anger was building inside her at the awful things Ricky had done, how he had tortured and brutally murdered countless women, how he had inserted himself into her life with the sole goal of punishing her, and how he had just killed Finn.

He couldn’t get away with this. He had to pay for what he had done.

She heard his footsteps first, crunching against the undergrowth, then saw the beam of the torch. His breathing was laboured and when he paused close to where she was hiding, she held her breath, flinching when he screamed out her name in anger.

Don’t let him find me. Please don’t let him find me.

Casey squeezed her eyes shut. Waited.

Eventually, she heard movement and as she snuck a peek, she saw the torch beam flicker ahead, as he slowly moved away from her.

Had she managed to lose him?

She didn’t dare move yet for fear he might hear her and figured she would give it a couple of minutes before heading back to the clearing and trying to find her way out of the woods in a different direction.

Everything was silent and although she was still terrified, her heartbeat was gradually slowing. A noise came from slightly ahead of her and she glanced into the darkness, wondering if it was some kind of animal. It sounded bigger though.

She held her breath, waited longer.

Eventually figuring enough time had passed, she slowly rolled on to her side, starting to pull herself up onto her hands and knees, panic coursing through her when something, someone caught hold of her foot.

Casey screamed as she was dragged backwards, heard Ricky’s laugh.

‘You stupid cunt. Did you think I couldn’t see you there?’

And then he was on top of her, trying to roll her over, and Casey, who still had a grip on the knife, was blindly driving it upwards, earning herself a yelp as it cut flesh.

Ricky tried to wrestle it from her grip, but caught hold of the blade, yowling in pain as it sliced through his hand. He screamed her name out loudly as Casey managed to push him off, crawling frantically out of the bushes.

She kept hold of the knife as she charged back down the forest path, could hear Ricky cursing and moaning, knew she had only temporarily delayed him. As she ran into the clearing, she tried to ignore the sharp stab of pain when she saw first Amanda’s body, then Finn’s. He was face down and motionless, and as she neared where he was sprawled on the ground, Casey could see the pool of blood oozing from beneath him. She choked down a sob, a wave of grief and anger hitting her, as the sound of heavy breathing and crunching footsteps told her that Ricky was getting closer.

The shovel was still on the ground and she knew it was her best hope, reluctantly dropping the knife as she reached for it.

As Ricky came charging up behind her, she swung the shovel, catching him hard in the stomach and knocking him off balance. He staggered backwards and she hit him again, this time smacking him right in the face, heard the satisfying crack as metal hit bone. This time he fell, landing on his arse, expression shocked and face bloody.

Had she broken his nose? She hoped so.

He managed to clamber to his feet and she swung the shovel again, though this time missed, and he lunged at her. Casey managed to sidestep and Ricky landed on his knees on the edge of the grave. As he started to get up again, she thumped him on the back of the head.

‘That’s for Finn, you bastard.’

She hit him again. ‘And for Amanda.’ And again. ‘And for Saffron and Lucy.’

He managed to turn, the whites of his eyes stark against the blood soaking his face and he smiled tauntingly at her. ‘Fucking bitch,’ he managed, before she smacked him again. This time the blow sent him tumbling back into the grave.

‘And that one is for me.’

Casey gripped at the shovel, took a step towards the grave, peering down at him. He appeared unconscious, lying flat on his back, arms sprawled.

If she ran, she could probably get away, but even so, there was still a risk he could come after her. And even if he didn’t, he was still alive. If he disappeared, she would always be looking over her shoulder, plus how many more women would he hurt?

She glanced at the knife that was on the ground next to Finn’s body, bending down to pick it up, and knew she had to finish this.

As she tentatively climbed down into the grave, careful not to land on her hurt ankle, she was still shaking all over, though now it was as much with the adrenaline of knowing what she had to do.

A yell came from behind her, making her jump.

Dropping the knife, she let out a scream.