Watch You Burn

by KA Richardson

  Tanya didn’t stir though, her breathing shallow. It was only now Janelle noticed how pale she looked, how her face drooped on the left. She vaguely remembered something about putting a person on their side if unconscious, so she moved her mum, tipped her head back a little, then grabbed for her mobile phone.

  Ignoring the tears, she punched in 999, requested an ambulance, then sat back on her heels, rocking silently, ignoring the tears that were falling down her face.

  5th October, 1345 hours – Edina’s residence

  Kevin unlocked the door and stood to one side as four members of the POLSA team strode purposefully through the door. He’d had call to deal with Danny White on numerous occasions now, and was always impressed by the man’s professionalism.

  They were equipped with two large duffel bags containing various tools they might need to conduct a search. The four men were dressed in dark overalls and heavy duty black boots.

  With the force cutting costs across the board, the POLSA team had reduced in size. The teams now consisted of on-call-search-trained officers who dropped their normal duties as and when required. Danny had driven his team down from Peterlee when they’d finished a job they’d begun earlier that morning.

  The team split into two, with two officers heading upstairs and two remaining downstairs. Kevin felt a bit like a spare part but knew he was doing the right thing. If anyone could find out how the stalker was getting into the house, it was these guys. Wanting to feel busy, he started unpacking his camera case and checking the settings.

  Suddenly a shout came from upstairs.

  ‘Boss, Kev, you guys need to get up here. We’ve found something.’

  Kev followed Danny up the stairs two at a time, his camera slung over his shoulder.

  ‘Up here, boss, in the attic.’

  Danny scaled the loft ladders to the attic, and Kevin followed. With his head bowed so as not to bump into the rafters, Johnson, the cop who’d shouted down, led the way to the wall that joined the next property.

  ‘See anything strange?’ he prompted, shining his torch at the brick work.

  Kevin squinted, looking closely. It didn’t look any different from last time he’d been up there but he knew Johnson must have found something. Taking a breath, he looked again, trying to look past the brick wall and see what the cop was seeing.

  He was just about to give in and admit surrender, when he noticed the mortar around the bricks, or lack thereof. Slowly a shape appeared before his eyes – a shape approximately two-foot high and two-foot wide. Just enough room for someone to squeeze through if the bricks weren’t there.

  Johnson reached down, hooked his fingers into a couple of gaps in the bricks and pulled. The section of wall pulled towards him, leaving a gaping hole.

  ‘Shall we pop through, boss? Have a gander?’

  ‘Yeah, crack on, be aware though. Don’t want any nasty surprises. Kev, you OK staying in here and photographing? Parker’s down on the landing if you need him.’

  Kev nodded, watching as Danny followed Johnson through the gap and into the dark hole at the other side.

  5th October, 1410 hours – Darlington Memorial Hospital

  Janelle had never felt so frustrated in all her life. So far all the A&E staff had been able to tell her was that they thought her mum had had a stroke – as if she didn’t know that already by the drooping skin on her mum’s face.

  She was so tired her whole body was aching, and the several coffees she’d had from the Pit Stop café in the corner had just served to make her jittery. What she needed to do was go home and go to bed, but the hospital still hadn’t moved her mum out of A&E and up to a ward. She’d had to watch helplessly as they’d stuck her with needles and taken her for scans. For all she bitched about her mum, she was still her mum. The whole situation sucked.

  Pulling her mobile phone from her pocket for the hundredth time that day, she tried to ring her stepdad again. And again it cut to voicemail after two rings – he was obviously blocking her calls. Gritting her teeth this time, she left him another voicemail.

  ‘I’ve tried to ring you loads today – because I need your help. Mum’s in hospital – I know you kicked us out, and I know… hell, I know I’m not your real daughter. But Dad, please, I need you. Please ring me back. I’m sorry for everything I said. I’m sorry I acted like a bitch most of the time we lived with you. Please, Daddy, please come.’

  When the recorded voice said ‘press one to re-record’ though, she pressed it, waited for the beep, and hung up. He didn’t care. If he cared even one iota, he’d have answered the phone.

  Angry now, she threw her phone at the wall in frustration, a sliver of satisfaction passing through her as it smashed and fell to the floor with a clatter.

  ‘Well fuck you, Dad. Just fuck you. Me and Mum are fine. We’ll be fine.’ She didn’t believe her mutterings though. Why doesn’t he want me?

  5th October, 1435 hours – Edina’s residence

  Kevin felt his heart pound in his chest. Danny and Johnson seemed to have disappeared down the rabbit hole ages ago. He could still hear Parker downstairs – he was chatting on his radio as if his colleagues hadn’t just gone into areas unknown. This was why he wasn’t a cop – no way would he be able to stand back and let colleagues go into a hole with God knows who and God knows what inside. He was much more comfortable looking for evidence, only worrying about his CSIs as they were out and about in the community.

  That said, even the CSIs faced danger occasionally, and he supposed, were a lot less capable than the cops at handling themselves. He’d fought tooth and nail with the people up the ladder on many occasions – going to bat for his team and saying they needed self-defence training. It had never come to pass though – not even after Cass had been kidnapped, not after Ben had been chased by her past. Standing here, alone in the attic like this, made him even more sure that it should be a necessity. Anyone could pop through that hole.

  He jumped as he heard a shuffle coming from the darkness inside – and instinctively gripped his torch, pulling it from the ring holder on his belt. Prepared to raise it up if needed, he stepped back from the hole. And sighed as Danny pushed his way back through on his knees.

  ‘Woah, easy there, slugger,’ said Danny, eyeing the torch up as he pulled himself into a standing position.

  Kevin had the grace to blush. ‘Sorry, mate. Guess I’m a little jumpy – you hear what happened at the arson scene the other day?’

  ‘Yeah, I think so, some scrubber rushed at you with a bat, right?’

  ‘Yeah. Me and Jackson knocked him to the ground, but still, apologies.’

  ‘Don’t sweat it. The hole leads into next door – their loft hatch has clearly not been opened in a long time, old dear had had it painted shut – she about had a heart attack when Johnson dropped onto the landing as she was having a piss. He’s still there now, trying to calm her down. He’s better with people than me.’ Danny smirked a little before continuing. ‘The next wall along had a similar shaped piece missing from the wall – dickhead hadn’t even bothered blocking it. He must’ve known the old dear wouldn’t have even noticed. Anyway, through that side is his house. Someone called Adam Sutton – he wasn’t in the house, like. Comms passed me his name, said he works over at the uni campus as a lecturer. They’re sending a cop over to pick him up.’

  ‘Jesus, so not paranoid or making it up then? I’m glad, kind of. You know what I mean?’

  ‘Yeah, I hear you, mate. I’ve not touched anything inside the house, but suffice to say, it’s definitely him that’s been coming through to Edina’s house. His loft is pretty much a shrine to her. Pictures of her sleeping, photos of her out and about, even a couple of pairs of knickers hung up on the wall – ultimate creep if you ask me. No wonder Ed’s been so paranoid – this looks to have been going on for quite a while. Have rang Ali already – asked if he can rush through the relevant warrant. The sooner this guy’s picked up, the better.’

  5th October, 1520 hours – Dar
lington Police Station

  ‘Kev, I got your message. You said to come down?’ Ed had been concerned when she’d received his text – it had been short and to the point, nothing given away. When she saw the worry lines etched into his face, she became even more concerned. ‘What is it? What’s the matter?’

  ‘We found out who’s been getting in to your house, love. Listen, you might want to sit down for this.’

  ‘I’m fine, just tell me.’ Ed inhaled slowly, trying to keep herself calm when in fact she felt like she was going to shake apart into a million pieces.

  ‘Do you know an Adam Sutton?’

  ‘Adam? As in my neighbour? Yeah course I do, why? What’s he got to do with…’ Realisation dawned and Ed felt her mouth drop open in shock. ‘Adam? Really? How? I mean, what… how?’

  ‘He’s been creeping through the roof space from his attic to yours. There’s a hole in the wall adjoining your house to Mrs Wilson’s next door, and from her attic into Adam’s attic. Ed, he’s not just been looking. We’ve only just started photographing the evidence, but he’s built a bloody shrine – he has some of your erm, knickers, on display. Complete bloody sicko.’

  Ed felt the moment the blood dropped from her face – it was surreal, almost like she was in the worst ever movie of her life. What the actual fuck made someone creep through an attic into someone else’s home? She wrapped her arms tightly around herself – this was a good thing though, right? At least people now knew she wasn’t making it up, that she wasn’t as mad as they thought she was. Her knickers?

  She couldn’t stop herself whimpering. This man had crept around in her house, dipped into her drawers and god only knew what else. She started to shiver, no longer registering that Kevin was still talking to her. The only conscious thought in her head was ‘What the fuck?’ until she felt him pull her into his arms, and hold her tightly. He whispered in her ear that everything would be OK, and she let herself try and believe him. Would it really be OK? Would she ever be OK?

  18

  Janelle pushed open the front door and almost sank to the floor in the hall, exhaustion overwhelming her. Apart from a skanky sandwich from the Pit Stop café, she’d not eaten all day. The coffee jitters had worn off ages ago and she’d known if she’d sat down then she’d not have gotten back up.

  So she’d paced. Up and down the A&E, down the corridors to the shop, and then back up. Her mum had remained out for the count for ages – not stirring until about 3pm and then all hell had broken loose as she’d realised she was in the hospital and couldn’t have her precious vodka. She couldn’t speak – the stroke had affected the part of her brain that verbalised, so she’d been angry in grunts, and fought the nurses viciously. Eventually the doctor had sedated her, and moved her up to the ward, telling Janelle that it was best she remain in at least overnight. He’d even made mention of sending her mum over to James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough – their stroke department was apparently much better and would be able to give her the care she needed.

  Wandering through to the kitchen, she put some bread in the toaster and poured herself some juice. It tasted a little funky and she wondered how old it was, then decided she couldn’t care less and drank it anyway. When the toast popped, she slopped some jam on and made her way upstairs. It didn’t matter what time it was – she was knackered. She needed sleep.

  Pausing at the door, she saw the small box on the bed. A gift? For her?

  Feeling a little like a small child at a birthday party, she gently tugged at the ribbons. She lifted the lid, and parted the pink tissue paper from within. The gasped as she realised what was inside.

  The badge.

  The badge she’d given Glen for his birthday last year – it said ‘I never liked you anyway’ – an obvious skit on her real feelings for him. He’d pinned it to his bag and it had been there ever since. He’d have been gutted if he’d lost it – she knew he would. Which meant he hadn’t known.

  Seeing something sparkle underneath the badge, she pulled it to one side. Nestling in the bottom was a pendant – it looked vaguely familiar but she couldn’t place it. Finally, she found the folded note at the bottom of the box with the photo of Kelly-Ann and Glenn, close together, a sparkle in Kelly-Ann’s eyes.

  ‘He was a prick, he got his. He died for you. The you that he didn’t even know was alive. The you he ran to when he wasn’t shagging me. Or crispy Kelly for that matter. You have no idea how awful it was feeling that little shrivelled up raisin poking into me repeatedly, but it was worth it ’cos it kept him away from you. You deserve so much more, though. You deserve to die. And you’re next on my list. Burn Bitch, Burn.’

  Janelle gasped, and the note fluttered to the floor. I’m next!

  5th October, 1925 hours – Darlington Police Station

  ‘Kev, got a minute?’ Ali’s voice was soft, and he waited at the door to Kev’s office to be invited inside.

  ‘Yeah sure, I actually could use a coffee. Gagging. Want one? It’s Starbucks Columbian blend?’

  ‘That’d be good, thanks. Heard about the stalker case – not often we get one of those. Your lass’s house wasn’t it?’

  Kevin paused before answering – was Ed his lass? The thought made him feel a little tingly, and he finally replied. ‘Yeah. Psycho was getting in through a hole in the attic. Seriously, it was like something out of a movie. I was just going through the photos recovered from his house. There’s actually some of me in there, too. It’s freaked me out a little, I don’t mind admitting.’

  ‘I can imagine. Takes me back to when Cass had all the trouble. If a stranger had come in and said it was all happening I’d have thought they were nuts, or making it up, or both. If I can do anything let me know.’

  Ali took the coffee Kev offered and sat, looking troubled.

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘That bloke that crashed the crime scene the other day at Broken Scar? We’ve still not been able to locate the house he came from. There’s been no reports, no one phoning in saying anyone from the area is missing. I’ve had uniforms out every day since knocking on doors, speaking to the folk who walk the path along the river daily. DNA came back this afternoon – obviously the cop’s was present, but the second sample is for a male not on the database. It’s bugging me.’

  ‘Have they checked all the houses at the other end of the path? I know there’s only a couple of farms along the path, but Blackwell at the other end is a pretty big village. Maybe he came from there?’

  ‘We’ve put an appeal out in the area, boots on the ground and all that. Wherever the victim is, he doesn’t want to be found.’

  ‘What’s the lad said in interview? Out or nowt?’

  ‘No commented his way through the whole thing. His brief’s pushing for Section 18 assault on the Mike. Apparently he happened on the crime scene after a night of taking amphetamine and is blaming being high. Tox screen confirms he had high levels of ‘phet in his system. Brief’s insisting he found the bat on the path.’

  ‘As if,’ scoffed Kev, then shook his head. ‘He definitely assaulted someone else. The spatter on his clothes wasn’t off the cop – couldn’t have been.’

  ‘Aye that’s what the prosecution’s arguing. I dunno. Have an awful feeling the little shit’s gunna walk away from this with a slap on the wrist if we can’t find the victim like.’

  Kev took a slurp of his coffee in silence. He didn’t know what to say. It always sucked when the bad guys got off – even when the evidence was there, it still happened on occasion. Same with crime scenes. Sometimes you went in expecting to find everything you needed and then came out with nothing but photos.

  ‘How’s Marlo? I heard she’d been promoted to dive team sergeant?’ asked Kev suddenly, changing the subject to Ali’s partner. He knew he’d said the right thing when Ali’s eyes lit up.

  ‘She’s great – both her and Elvie. Marlo passed her sergeants’ exam with flying colours, so when Sharpie moved over to dog section, she was offered his job. Did you h
ear Elvie got her British citizenship? Me and Marlo are actually looking at a house together next week, in Durham.’ Elvie was Marlo’s foster daughter – she’d been trafficked into the country for use in the sex trade but with Marlo’s help, she’d managed to escape relatively unscathed.

  ‘That’s great. I’ll look forward to the house-warming. How’s Elvie adjusting to life over here? Must be so different for her. Where was it she was from again? Malaysia?’

  ‘No the Philippines – she’s adjusted really well. Her English is amazing – I forget sometimes that she was ever from somewhere else.’ He was about to expand when his radio suddenly crackled to life.

  After a short conversation with the control room, Ali sighed as he put his coffee down. ‘No rest for the wicked, and I must be positively devilish. Catch you later, Kev, and thanks for the chat.’

  Kev nodded and downed the last of his coffee. As well as finishing the report he was working on, he needed to check on Jackson who had come in for shift six hours before and hadn’t been seen since, heading straight out of the door with a list of jobs as long as his arm. Kev was glad Faith was due back at work in a couple of days. It had been tough with fewer staff than normal.

  Thinking about the staffing reminded him of his meeting tomorrow. Up at Sunderland with his boss, Hartside. Kev knew it was going to be more of a bollocking than a meeting. Hartside had not liked receiving the request for an increase in budget, and had liked even less Kev’s request that he start advertising for additional posts. It was definitely not a meeting he was looking forward to.

  5th October, 2035 hours – Janelle’s residence

  Janelle hadn’t moved since she read the note, her feet tucked beneath her bottom with her knees hugged tightly to her chest. She’d never really been one to be scared of the dark, but tonight the smallest shadow made her jump.