by Beevis, Keri
* * *
‘Where the hell is he?’
Judith’s heart was pounding, fear racing through her veins. She had helped Aaron load Jack Foley into the back of the car, even placed the blankets over him. He was dead, she had checked for a pulse herself. So how the hell had a dead man managed to get up and walk out of the car?
‘He can’t have gone far, Mum.’
‘He shouldn’t have gone anywhere. He’s supposed to be dead!’
She glanced back at Lila; relieved to see she was still where they had left her.
Aaron was right. So maybe she had been mistaken and had missed a weak pulse, perhaps Jack was alive and had managed to crawl out of the car. He was in a bad shape and had his hands tied behind his back. They were in the middle of nowhere. He couldn’t have gone far. They needed to keep their heads, get Lila in the well then find out where the hell he’d gone. Judith glanced back at the girl again, knew once she was dead it would be one big problem she would no longer have to worry about.
‘Go find where he is,’ she snapped at her son. ‘And when you do, make sure this time he stays dead.’
‘Aren’t you going to help me?’ Aaron whined, seeming unimpressed with the task he’d been given.
Judith kept her eyes trained on Lila; almost fearful that if she looked away the girl would be gone. ‘I have another problem I need to take care of.’
* * *
Lila saw Judith striding towards her, could see from the determined look on the woman’s face that her time was up. She tried to shirk away, though knew she wasn’t going anywhere, that her fight was finally coming to an end.
She had watched with hope as Judith and Aaron had gone for Jack, only to discover he was no longer in the back of the car, had sobbed tears of relief when she realised he was somehow still alive. She hoped he could find a way to safety, expose the truth about Judith and Aaron Gruger, let the police and her family know what had really happened to her. Damn it, she didn’t want to die, but it was going to happen. At least her body would be found though and Elliot would have closure.
Judith caught hold of her under the arms, and despite Lila fighting with every last bit of strength she had, Judith lifted her easily, positioning her against the stonewall of the well. As Judith reached down for the weight that was tethered around Lila’s feet, Lila purposely threw herself back on the ground, knew Judith couldn’t manage both the weight and her body at the same time. She was strong, but not that strong.
Realising what she had done, Judith smacked her hard around the face before pulling Lila back up on her feet. This time she twisted her so she was facing the well, looking down into the darkness. It looked like a pit to hell. Would she die before she hit the bottom or would she slowly sink and drown? Her whole body shook and she fought to free herself, screamed through the gag even as Judith lifted her, knew it was unlikely anyone would hear her and, even if they did, knew they would never get there in time. As she tottered against the edge, she squeezed her eyes shut, willed it to be over quickly.
Something slammed hard into her back then the weight eased. For a moment, Lila thought she was falling, braced herself for the impact, then she realised she was on the ground, that someone had hold of Judith, was pushing her backwards over the mouth of the well, hands around her throat.
As the woman kicked out and screamed, Lila realised it was Jack.
‘Please no!’ Judith was begging for her life, suddenly sounding much more like the docile woman they had first encountered. ‘I’m sorry for what I did to your sister. I’m sorry.’
Jack stilled, for a moment Lila worried he was going to collapse, but then he questioned softly, ‘What did you do to my sister?’
He didn’t know.
Had Judith in her panic forgotten that he hadn’t been there when Lila had her flashback, that he didn’t actually know that Stephanie had survived the car accident, but been drowned by Judith as she tried to swim to safety.
‘What did you do?’
The woman was silent, clearly realising her mistake. ‘I’m sorry,’ she repeated, her voice barely audible.
For a moment, everything paused then Lila saw Jack’s jaw tighten, heard Judith gasp as he pushed her further into the well, let her linger there for a second, before letting go. The woman’s scream was of pure terror, echoing all the way down and Lila knew she would hear it in her nightmares for weeks, was aware of how close she had come to the same fate.
She glanced up at Jack, hardly daring to believe he was actually there with her, aware he was looking too pale, wobbling on his feet as though he might collapse at any second. He needed to untie her so she could get him help. She couldn’t lose him, not now they had come that far.
And Aaron. Where the fuck was Aaron? They still had him to deal with.
As though thinking about him managed to magic him up, he suddenly appeared, charging towards the well and Jack and Lila, clearly alerted by his mother’s screams, a look of pure thunder on his grotesquely beaten face. To Lila’s horror he was holding an axe.
And then everything seemed to go into slow motion as Jack lurched forward throwing his weight against Aaron, making him lose his grip on the axe. As the pair of them grappled on the floor, this time Aaron easily overpowering Jack, Lila unable to do anything but watch on helplessly, two figures appeared in the distance racing towards them, both screaming like some kind of battle cry, one tall and skinny, the other short and stocky.
Lila blinked, doubting what she was seeing. Was that Elliot and Dave?
They were waving what looked like swords above their heads and heading straight for where Aaron was on top of Jack, hands squeezing around his throat, seemingly oblivious to the fact he was about to be attacked.
If she hadn’t almost just died, if her life – and Jack’s – weren’t still in danger, Lila thought she might actually laugh at the ridiculous sight of Elliot and Dave throwing themselves on top of Aaron, bashing him over the head with their heavy but very fake swords.
How the hell did they know where to come?
Somehow, by some sheer miracle, between them they managed to triumph, Dave using his belt to lash Aaron’s hands behind his back. And then they were freeing Lila, who by that point was laughing hysterically at the two battleground heroes who had saved her life, and she was hugging and kissing them both, so pathetically grateful that her laughter turned into tears and she sobbed all over them.
Jack was still on the ground, looked like he didn’t have the energy to move and Lila pleaded with Elliot to call an ambulance then crawled over to Jack and hugged him to her, cradling him in her arms to keep him warm.
‘Did your brother just come to my rescue with a fake sword?’ His voice was weak and Lila could tell each word was an effort; that he was in a lot of pain. She nodded, though couldn’t help it when tears leaked out of her eyes.
He forced a smile. ‘Hey, don’t cry, it’s only a flesh wound. We didn’t go through all this for me to die on you now.’
‘No we didn’t and I have so much to tell you, but when you’re better.’ She leant down, pressed a kiss against his cold lips.
Where was the bloody ambulance?
‘Stay with me, Jack. I won’t lose you, not now.’
She thought she saw the faintest nod and then his eyes drifted shut.
In the distance, she heard the wail of the siren and although she wasn’t in the slightest bit religious, for the first time in her life she prayed.
Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER
Lila stood by the grave, a bunch of yellow roses in her hand. She visited regularly, at least once a week, the psychologist treating her urging her to go, believing it was a good way to deal with her emotions and begin the healing process.
She knew people viewed her as a survivor; that she had somehow overcome a horrific car accident then a murder attempt, but she had lost so much in the process, wasn’t sure she would ever completely get over the night she almost died at the hands of Judith and Aaron Gruger
.
Judith’s body had been recovered from the bottom of the well, along with the remains of Phoebe Kendall and Shona McNamara. Aaron had been arrested and charged with Phoebe’s murder, along with being an accessory to murder for Shona McNamara. He had also been charged with Lila’s attempted murder, plus several other counts. Lila knew that had his mother survived, she would have stood trial for worse crimes.
Lila never told anyone about the conversation that had occurred between Jack and Judith before she fell into the well – Lila’s official line to the police. Lila would never blame him for that, understood his motives, and refused to let his name be tarnished. She would take that secret to the grave for him.
She had seen Richard Gruger only once since his wife died and it wasn’t planned, they happened to be passing in the corridor at the police station. He had nodded tersely at her and she had averted her gaze. Neither of them had anything to say to each other.
Gruger had disowned his son, seemed keen to distance himself from his wife’s crimes. Lila read in the news that he had shacked up with one of the teaching assistants at his school within two months of Judith’s death. Not that he worked at Bishop’s House anymore. Even if it hadn’t been enough that the husband and father of a pair of murderers was serving as their headmaster, the school board was furious that Gruger had kept copies of all the test papers at home, that his son had been able to access them and sell the answers. The parting hadn’t been amicable and there were rumours abound that jobless Gruger was currently writing his own tell-it-all book about the murders.
Tears spilled as Lila set the flowers down on the grave, still torn apart for the one life she had tried, but hadn’t been able to save. The memories hurt so much.
Like always she said a few words, knew they would never be enough, before she headed back to her car.
As she drove home, she turned up the volume on the radio, made an effort to sing along with the songs she knew the words to. She had survived and even though there were days like that day where she didn’t feel she could move forward, she would find a way, knew she had a responsibility to live her life to the fullest on behalf of the ones who didn’t make it.
Once home, she made herself a coffee, sent Elliot a text, checking he was still on for movie night later. Maybe she would head out with her camera that afternoon, lose herself for a while. It might snap her out of this mood.
She heard footsteps behind her, felt arms snake around her waist, and sunk back into them.
‘You okay?’ Jack’s breath was warm against her ear, immediately making things feel right. ‘You went to her grave again, didn’t you?’
Lila stayed silent, but he knew, and she got it that he didn’t fully understand why she continued to torment herself that she hadn’t been able to save his sister.
Sure he visited Stephanie’s grave, but the visits were maybe once a month. After her memories had been unlocked, Lila had carried the guilt of knowing what had really happened to Stephanie for three long days, not daring to talk to Jack about it until she knew he was fully on the mend. She was terrified the truth might tear both him and their relationship apart, but knew he deserved the truth.
And at first he had been shocked, took a few days to process the news, though deep down she knew he had his suspicions after that final conversation with Judith.
But he had dealt with it, seemed to move on easier than Lila.
She turned in his arms, hugged him tightly, remembering how at one point she had been terrified she was going to lose him too. But there they were, six months later, and they had survived everything together. Knowing that, Lila would figure out a way to move forward.
* * *
Taking a break from writing, Jack and Cooper joined Lila down on the beach. It was a chilly December day, but the sun was out, the sky a perfect cloudless blue.
As he watched Lila snap pictures of the sea, some of the dog, even a couple of cheeky ones of him when she’d thought he wasn’t looking, Jack wondered if she would feel so guilty about Stephanie if she hadn’t been his sister.
It had been hard learning so many secrets about his sister’s past and her death, and finding out she hadn’t been killed outright in the car accident, that Judith Gruger had drowned her, took a while to process. He had closure though, knew he needed to move on or it would eventually drive him insane. Judith was dead – an eye for an eye – that he couldn’t bring himself to regret. Knowing what the woman had done to Stephanie, had tried to do to Lila, ensured Jack had no problem sleeping at night.
And Giles was finally out of the picture. Much to the family’s frustration, Stephanie’s death meant a rape charge wouldn’t stick, but Henry had finally seen his golden boy for who he really was, sacking him and badmouthing him throughout the industry, ensuring he wouldn’t find it easy to get another job.
Alyssa had brooded for a week before announcing herself young, free and single, hitting the bars with her friends. After a wild three months, she had started dating seriously again. Jack had met Will, liked him, and was pleased to see his sister’s taste in boyfriends was improving.
Alyssa had met Lila a couple of times. Both encounters had been a little uncomfortable, but it was a start. His mother had been a different story, warming to Lila straightaway. Thank God, because he knew Lila had been terrified about meeting her. Knowing what Lila had done, that she had tried to save Stephanie’s life, changed things for everyone. Even Henry had softened his stance.
Elliot meanwhile was actually revelling in his new hero status, and Jack knew there was no way he could ever repay him and Dave for what they had done.
Instead of heading back to the house, Jack and Lila drove the coastal road to Cromer. Lila still insisted on working shifts at Nat’s Hideaway, though Jack tried to encourage her to throw more time into her photography. He knew she was good and that taking pictures was her passion, and he wanted her to have every available opportunity to have a career doing the thing she loved most.
As they entered the café and he saw her excitement at seeing her friends though, he understood why this place was important to her too.
‘No dogs in the café, Jack,’ Natalie reminded him, her tone stern, though the glint in her eye gave her away.
It was December and the place was empty, and Natalie, Beth and Joe, Natalie’s son, had been decorating the Christmas tree when Jack and Lila had walked in. The place smelt of coffee and warm pastry, the tone relaxed and full of laughter. He got why it was popular and Lila liked it there.
‘Coop promises he’ll be on his best behaviour.’ Jack grinned, taking a seat before Natalie could object.
Shaking her head, though struggling to hide her smile, she disappeared behind the counter, returning with a pot of tea, a plate of mince pies and a bowl of water and a couple of biscuits for Cooper.
Jack knew Natalie and Beth had been there for Lila over the past few months, had spent valuable time with her talking through everything that had happened. Although that day spent in the Gruger house had scarred her and she still suffered from nightmares, fortunately they were becoming further apart. He had come so close to losing her that day and it still terrified him trying to imagine his life without her in it.
‘Thank you for that.’ Lila glanced up at him as they walked back to the car.
When he raised his eyebrows in mock innocence, she smiled and elaborated. ‘For taking me to see my friends; I really needed that pick-me-up today.’
Jack slipped his arm around her, pulled her close. ‘We’re going to get past everything, Lila. I promise you, we’re going to be okay.’
She stopped walking, pulling him around to face her, locking her arms around him and kissing him hard on the mouth, before pulling back slightly, a smile on her lips.
‘You mean are, Jack.’ She nodded at him, her smile widening. ‘We’re not going to be okay, we already are.’
Acknowledgments
Writing a novel is never a sole effort and, as always, there are a number of people I am in
debted to.
Firstly, to my beta team: Jo, Andrea, Paula, Christine, Sally and Jeff, thank you as always for your honest and valuable feedback and for answering the many questions I throw at you.
To my sister, Detective Constable Holly Beevis, for ensuring the police procedural elements of the story have been portrayed accurately. If there are any errors, they are mine, not yours.
Also, to my competition winner, Natalie Mcardle, who has been in my thoughts often during the writing of this book, to Lyn Wells for your wonderful generosity, to my desk buddy, Ness, thank you for your help with the title, to my brilliant and funny editor, Morgen Bailey, whom I have loved working with, and last, but most certainly not least, thank you to the wonderful team at Bloodhound Books.
