Dying To Tell

by Beevis, Keri

  ‘Do you mind if we go straight back to yours? I know you want to meet with Dave, but I’m not sure I’m up for it tonight.’

  Jack stared at her in shock, his hand pausing on the ignition key. Meeting with Dave was the furthest thing from his mind and the twenty minutes driving over there after Lila had been cut off while talking to him was the most scared he had ever been. Seeing her sitting in the back of the ambulance, knowing that she was safe, the relief had been immeasurable. ‘I am taking you home. There’s no way we’re going to meet Dave tonight. You frightened the crap out of me, Lila.’

  ‘He meant to kill me. If…’ She trailed off, bottom lip trembling.

  As much for his own comfort as well as hers, Jack reached across, placing his free hand over hers and squeezed tightly. ‘He didn’t and he’s not going to. I’m not going to let you out of my sight until the police have caught him. No more going off to meet clients, okay? No more going anywhere alone until this is over. Promise me.’

  She drew in a shaky breath. Nodded. ‘I have to tell you something.’

  ‘Okay.’ He waited for her to continue.

  ‘It might not be the same person who broke into my flat.’

  ‘I think it’s pretty obvious that–’

  ‘I did something really stupid, Jack.’

  His heartbeat quickened. ‘What did you do, Lila?’

  ‘The Bishop – I commented on his Instagram page.’

  ‘What? Why the hell would you do that?’

  ‘I wasn’t thinking. I just did it. I wanted to try to lure him out.’ Her voice lowered to a whisper. ‘What if it was The Bishop who attacked me tonight?’

  Frustration and anxiety knotted in Jack’s gut, though he pushed them down. She was safe and that was the most important thing. Okay, so she had done something stupid, really bloody stupid, but she was okay. He couldn’t bring himself to be mad at her.

  Back home, Jack went out onto the deck, leaving Lila on the sofa, arm around Cooper, the TV playing a cheesy movie. He had put it on more as a distraction for her, suspected she wasn’t really paying much attention. The spaniel refused to leave her side, his doggy intuition picking up that something was wrong the second they had walked through the door.

  Elliot Amberson sounded in a panic as soon as he heard Jack’s voice. ‘Where’s my sister? Is she okay?’

  Jack explained what had happened, didn’t sugar coat it, wanting to be sure Elliot understood the gravity of the situation, would know to be on alert if he was alone with Lila, and he could hear the kid hyperventilating. ‘Oh my God, Jesus, I can’t believe this happened. Where’s Lila? Can I talk to her?’

  ‘She’s asleep.’ She wasn’t, but Jack figured it was only a white lie, knew she wasn’t up for talking to anyone. ‘The paramedics have checked her over and she’s going to be fine. She’s just badly shaken up. I’ll bring her over tomorrow to see you.’

  ‘She’s staying with you?’ It sounded almost as much an accusation as a question.

  Lila obviously hadn’t told her brother about her current living arrangements when she had texted him to arrange the meeting with Dave.

  ‘I didn’t want her staying alone after the break-in,’ Jack answered, his tone neutral, realising when Elliot let out a gasp that he didn’t know about that either.

  ‘Break-in? Where was there a break-in? At Lila’s flat?’

  Jack tried to remain patient as he briefly explained, suspected from the reaction coming from the other end of the phone that Elliot wouldn’t be getting much sleep himself that night. Jack asked him to apologise to Dave, to try to reschedule a meeting, promising to bring Lila back to Norwich to see her brother the following day.

  The next call was to Natalie. Lila didn’t know about that one, but as he suspected she was stubborn enough to try to go into work the next day, he had taken Natalie’s number from her contact list when he took Elliot’s, intended to ensure it didn’t happen.

  As it turned out, Natalie was in complete agreement with him, told Jack he had her blessing to use whatever means necessary to keep her home and safe for the next few days. He promised to keep her updated, figured if it came down to it he would hide Lila’s crutches.

  Leaving both phones on the kitchen counter, he went through to the lounge where Lila was still on the sofa holding onto Cooper. She looked broken.

  ‘Scoot over,’ he told her, easing the dog out of the way and sitting down beside her when she moved to make room for him. He slipped his arm around her, realised she was still trembling from the attack, and pulled her close. Shifting her weight, he eased them both back down onto the sofa so she was lying partly on top of him, and when her body jolted against his, he rubbed his hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her, tenderly touching the spot where she had been hit (an iron bar or similar, both the police and paramedics suspected). She tightened her arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder and he felt her tears dampen his T-shirt. Turning slightly, he pressed a kiss against her temple.

  ‘I won’t let him hurt you again, I promise,’ he murmured against her ear, meant it.

  Stephanie’s blackmailer had been his top priority, was still high on his list, along with finding out who had sent her the gifts he had found hidden in her wardrobe. He had been so obsessed with trying to seek justice for his dead sister though he hadn’t fully realised those priorities had shifted and what mattered most was right there in front of him. Someone was trying to hurt Lila. Scrub that. Someone was trying to kill her. And he intended to do everything in his power to ensure they didn’t succeed.

  But who was posing the danger? Was it the hooded man who had attacked her in Cromer then broken into her flat or had she foolishly managed to lure The Bishop out of his hiding place and that night suffered the consequences?

  It niggled him that Richard Gruger was the headmaster of Bishop’s House, that he had connections to Stephanie by the accident alone. And he was also connected to Lila, had been from the night he had saved her. Before the hooded man started his campaign to try to kill her. Give life with one hand and take with the other.

  Were the hooded man and The Bishop one and the same person?

  * * *

  Richard still wasn’t home and Judith was beginning to worry. It was stupid of course, as she had been there so many times before, but this felt different.

  She tried so hard to ignore the lies, knew she had to be the glue to keep the family together. They had made promises to each other when they had first moved to Norfolk, knew that Aaron needed them, that family had to come first, but it seemed she was the only one making the effort.

  The police visit had rattled him, she had seen it on his face and sitting there, watching him as he studied the photographs of the two missing girls, a sliver of fear had snaked through her belly. Did he know?

  She had promised herself she would turn a blind eye to his indiscretions, but as she returned home from her club, found the driveway empty yet again, she couldn’t help, but question, ‘Where is he?’

  30

  When Lila awoke she found she was alone in Jack’s bed. Her head pounded, her mouth was dry and her eyes stung as she tried to adjust to the light coming through the half-opened curtains. Gradually, piece by painful piece, everything flooded back to her: how she had been visiting Veronica Crowther when Jack called to tell her it was a trap, the fear of his words before she was attacked. She rubbed gingerly at her neck, remembering the thump as something heavy had hit her between the shoulder blades, the raw fear as the hood had been forced over her head, and she was annoyed when she started to shake again.

  The previous night she had been an emotional wreck, and although she was holding it together, the truth was she was still a mess. Someone wanted her dead and they had gone to elaborate lengths to try to make it happen. The knowledge of that terrified her.

  She wondered where Jack was, aware she had gone to pieces on him twice in less than a week, and hating herself for that. She wasn’t normally so emotional, but gue
ssed having someone wanting you dead would have that effect. Hard as it was, she threw back the duvet, climbed out of bed, knowing she had to somehow pull herself together, as crying and hiding away wasn’t going to solve anything.

  She wanted to shrug off the attack, pretend she wasn’t scared, but she could feel the toll it had taken on her physically. She turned slightly, studying her naked back in the reflection of the mirror, lifting her hair and wincing when she spotted the large ugly bruise that had already started to form.

  Jack’s wristwatch sat beside the sink and she glanced at it, taken aback to see the time read nine fifty-four. She should have been in work nearly an hour and a half earlier.

  She had to call Natalie and apologise. But where was her phone?

  She vaguely remembered Jack borrowing it to get Elliot’s number. Knew he had phoned her brother to explain what had happened when she had been too exhausted to make the call herself. It had to be downstairs.

  She grabbed her robe, knotting the belt around her before negotiating the landing with her crutches. As she neared the top of the stairs, she heard voices: Jack’s and at least two others, a man and a woman, and she froze momentarily, before pushing herself to go downstairs with a sharp reminder that she needed to call Nat.

  Jack sat in the lounge with his brother, Tom, and a blonde lady. Lila guessed she was Tom’s wife, Imogen. Cooper was lying under the coffee table. Immediately her gut twisted, the desire to flee back to the safety of the bedroom paramount in her mind. She hadn’t expected company, looked like shit, and was naked under the robe. It was too late though, as Cooper had spotted her, tail wagging as he got to his feet, fetching his favourite ball to take to her, and she realised all three of them were looking in her direction.

  ‘You’re awake,’ Jack said, getting up and coming to her, pulling her in for a kiss that made no secret of their relationship. His mouth was close to her ear as he murmured, ‘Come on, there’s someone I want you to meet.’

  It was too soon and this certainly wasn’t the right day, but Lila didn’t have a choice.

  ‘This is my brother, Tom, and his wife, Imogen.’

  After the encounter with Giles, she readied herself for hostility, so was surprised by the warmth in Tom’s eyes and Imogen’s smile.

  ‘It’s nice to meet you, Lila,’ Tom told her, sounding like he genuinely meant it.

  ‘Jack was telling us about what happened last night.’ Imogen’s face was etched with concern. ‘What a horrifying ordeal for you. Are you in much pain?’

  ‘It’s better than it was last night,’ Lila downplayed. Truth was her upper back was throbbing, the ache reaching up her neck and into her head, and the area where she had taken the blow was painfully tender. Tom and Imogen didn’t need to be bored with the details though. Lila managed a smile for them. ‘It’s nice to meet you both too.’

  Jack guided her to one of the sofas. ‘Sit down. I’ll get you a coffee.’

  ‘Wait, I need my phone. I have to call Natalie. She’ll be wondering where I am.’

  ‘No need, I already spoke to her last night.’

  ‘You did?’

  ‘She’s not expecting you back this week.’

  Lila saw the lines of strain on his face. Knew what had happened to her had scared him too. She wanted to be annoyed with him for contacting Natalie and making the decision on her behalf of whether or not she was okay to go to work, but knew it had been the right call. She had overslept, would have let Natalie down, plus Jack was right; she couldn’t work. She was in too much pain and still trying to come to terms with what had happened.

  Doing as told, she sat down as he disappeared into the kitchen, a little self-conscious that he had left her alone with Tom and Imogen, who she had nothing in common with other than the fact she had been in the car crash that had killed Tom’s sister. They both seemed comfortable around Lila though and their conversation was easy, their concern seeming genuine.

  ‘Immy’s a nurse,’ Tom told Lila as Jack returned from the kitchen. ‘You should let her take a look.’

  Lila liked him, she decided. He was softer than Jack. There was less of an edge, and he seemed kind and steady, and there was definitely a family resemblance, same straight nose, crooked smile and long lashed slightly downturned eyes, though Tom’s were brown. His hair was lighter too, and he wore it shorter and neater than Jack’s scruffy mop.

  ‘That’s kind, but you really don’t have to worry. The paramedics checked me over last night.’

  Jack set a mug of coffee down on the coffee table, along with a plate of slices of buttered toast. ‘Eat,’ he ordered.

  Lila glanced at the food, aware she hadn’t eaten in nearly twenty-four hours. Still she wasn’t sure she could muster an appetite. Instead she sipped at her coffee, felt it burn her hollow stomach.

  ‘It’s really no trouble for me to take a look.’

  ‘Immy’s right,’ Jack agreed, sitting down beside Lila and scooping her hair back into a ponytail in his hand, holding it to one side. ‘Jesus, Lila, this is nasty.’ He tenderly touched the spot where she had been hit and she flinched at the contact.

  Imogen got up to look for herself. ‘Ouch, honey, that has to hurt.’ As Jack moved aside, she gently examined the bruising. ‘Have you been sick at all?’

  Lila had felt sick with shock, but she hadn’t actually thrown up. ‘No.’

  ‘Dizziness?’

  ‘No dizziness, but I have a cracking headache.’

  ‘You have any paracetamol?’ Imogen asked Jack.

  He nodded, went to fetch them.

  ‘Take it easy, okay? I can’t stress that enough, and no work, definitely not this week. Take the paracetamol every four hours. They’ll help with your headache. Unfortunately you’re going to feel a bit battered for a while.’

  ‘Okay, thank you.’

  Jack returned with a glass of water and two tablets, which Lila gratefully took, before making an effort to nibble at a piece of toast and finishing her coffee.

  Her head was still banging, but the pain had eased by the time Tom and Imogen went to leave.

  ‘Don’t forget Oliver’s card, Jack.’ Imogen reminded him of the reason they’d stopped by, pecking him on the cheek. ‘You’re the last one to sign it, so we’re relying on you bringing it along on Friday night.’

  ‘I’ve got it covered.’ At her raised eyebrows, he gave an easy grin. ‘You can trust me.’

  ‘That’s what I’m worried about.’ Imogen shook her head before embracing Lila warmly, though careful to avoid where she had been hit. ‘It’s been lovely to meet you. Jack will give you my number. If you need anything, give me a call.’

  ‘I will. Thank you.’

  Lila received a goodbye kiss from Tom, watched Jack seeing them out of the door, thinking the encounter had gone better than expected. Tom and Imogen seemed like genuinely nice people and there was no bitterness towards her. Hope bubbled inside her. Maybe Jack was right and this could work. She quickly quashed it down though, suspecting that the Whitman family might not share the same sentiments.

  She tried to take Imogen’s advice, to rest and take things easy, as well as her own, that she needed to accept what had happened and deal with it, move on, but then Detective Constables Galbraith and Jones showed up for a follow-up interview on her attack at Veronica Crowther’s house and by the time they left, her mood had plummeted.

  While Jack put in a few hours with his book, Lila curled up on the sofa and checked her phone. There was a text message from Elliot, saying he had spoken to Jack and hoped she was feeling okay, and another from Beth, who had learnt the news from Natalie. Not in the mood to talk to anyone, Lila replied briefly to both before switching her phone off.

  She alternated between sleeping and watching crappy daytime TV, while Cooper kept her company, wanting to be positive but instead feeling pathetically sorry for herself.

  Jack picked up on her mood when he came down for coffee, spent a few minutes trying to tease her out of it before disappearin
g again. He reappeared about half an hour later, sounded busy in the kitchen, before coming through to where she still lay on the sofa. ‘Come on, get up, we’re going out to get some fresh air.’

  Lila wasn’t in the mood. ‘I don’t want to. I’m fine here.’

  ‘You’re wallowing.’

  ‘I’m not wallowing.’ She was aware she sounded a little testy. Couldn’t help it. ‘I’m resting, just like your sister-in-law advised.’

  ‘She told you to take it easy, not spend all day on the sofa feeling sorry for yourself. It’s a gorgeous day. Getting out of the house will do you good.’ He held out his hand. ‘Come on.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Lila, stop being so bloody stubborn!’

  ‘I just want to–’ She didn’t get to finish the sentence, caught off guard when Jack grabbed hold of her. One moment he was pulling her up from the sofa, the next she was in the air as he hoisted her over his shoulder. As she kicked out her legs, squealed in shock, her heartbeat quickening and arms thrashing out, trying to find something to hold on to, convinced he was going to drop her, but he gripped her arm with one hand, the other clamping over the back of her bare legs.

  ‘Jack, what the hell are you doing? Put me down!’

  When he ignored her, heading purposefully towards the stairs, Lila pummelled at his back with her free hand as she wriggled to get free. ‘Put me down. I’m injured. I mean it, Jack!’

  He was on a mission though, marching her up the stairs, into the bedroom and through into the bathroom as her protests fell on deaf ears. Cooper charged behind them, excited by the new game, looking positively delighted when Jack dumped Lila on her bum in the shower, turning on the spray and blasting her before she had time to react. She squealed, cursing at him as she got a face full of cool water, the powerful spray slicking her hair to her head, soaking through her robe.