by Agatha Frost
“At least tell me what we’re looking for,” Barker said as he joined Julia in the digging. “I might as well play along.”
“Worn, old, moth-eaten, ruined clothes,” Julia said as she pulled a huge, lumpy khaki-green jumper from the mess. “Like this.”
“Am I allowed to ask why?”
“It’s for a disguise,” Julia said carefully as she set the jumper aside and continued to dig. “We’re going undercover and we’re going to catch the murderer. I think I know who is behind all of this, but nobody will believe me. I’m not even sure I believe it myself, so we need to catch them in the act.”
“Is there anything I can say to talk you out of this insane idea?”
“You know there isn’t,” Julia said, smiling behind her nerves as adrenaline pumped through her veins. “I’m doing this with or without your help, Barker, so you can either help me and take half of the glory, or you can go home and get back in your bubble bath.”
Barker dug in the basket and pulled out a giant, almost destroyed woollen overcoat. He tossed it on top of the jumper and moved next to Julia, nudging her with his shoulder.
“You’re going to run into that burning building no matter what I say, so I might as well run in with you.”
They silently dug in the unwanted clothesbasket, their hands touching as they weaved in and out of the old garments. Julia tried to think if there was another man in the world who would go along with her without trying to rein her in. Jerrad would have made sure to squash any out-of-the-box thought before it even formed, but Barker let her mind work, regardless of where it took her. In that moment, she was glad she had Barker by her side, willingly and unquestioningly helping her.
Julia and Barker sat in the car, tucked away in an alley across the street from Fenton Industrial Park waiting for the sun to set. By the time it had faded from the sky and they were surrounded by darkness, Julia had finished explaining her plan to Barker.
“This is mad,” Barker grumbled, scratching at the thick scarf around his neck. “Are you sure there is nothing I can do to talk you out of this?”
“I’m sure,” Julia said as she tucked her hair into the woolly hat on her head. “We should go. We don’t want to miss him.”
Julia squeezed herself out of the car and walked out onto the street. She looked down at her heavily layered outfit, hoping she had done enough to blend in, and more importantly, not be recognised. Barker joined her as he continued to scratch at the itchy scarf wrapped around his neck. He yanked his hood up and it fell over his eyes, casting a shadow across the lower half of his face. Julia copied him.
“I wouldn’t recognise you,” Julia said confidently.
“I wouldn’t recognise you either.” Barker sighed as he crammed his hands into his pocket. “I’m giving you one last chance to change your mind. What you know might be enough to take to the station and get it investigated.”
Julia looked to the industrial park. There were a couple of fires burning, and it seemed that there were more people there than her last visit. She was glad. It would make it easier to go undetected. She wondered if Barker was right. It would certainly be easier to hand over what she had put together, but she also knew she was likely to be laughed out of the station. What she had didn’t seem plausible, and yet she knew it had to be the only explanation.
“We should go,” Julia said, dropping her head. “Try to act like you belong.”
Barker audibly sighed, but he followed her all the same. They walked towards the broken gate, neither of them daring to look up. Julia crammed her hands deep into her pockets, scared that somebody might notice even the smallest detail about her. She knew she was being paranoid, but she didn’t want to blow her one chance of ending what was happening.
“Where do we go?” Barker whispered as they walked into the car park and past a group of four crowding around a barrel fire.
“To the fence. That’s where the others died.”
As they approached the fence, Julia dared to look in Tommy’s direction. He was sitting on his doorstep, thumbing through a small book under a heavy blanket. He looked up from his book but he didn’t look in her direction. They had gotten away with it, for now.
Two ripped pieces of blue and white crime scene tape still hung from the fence, fluttering in the cool night breeze. Julia brushed her fingers against the cold metal slats, relieved when they budged. She moved down slightly, not wanting to be in the exact same place Jerry had been found only days earlier. Barker pulled up two crates and they sat down across from each other next to the fence.
“What now?” Barker asked as he blew into his hands and rubbed them together.
“We wait.”
“What if he doesn’t try anything?”
“He will,” she said with certainty. “He’s getting confident he’s never going to get caught. He’ll be itching to kill again, if only to prove to himself he can get away with it another time.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to join the force?” Barker said quietly with a small laugh. “You’re better than most of the people at my station.”
“I’m sure,” Julia said. “I don’t do this because I want to, I do it because I have to.”
“Part of me thinks you enjoy the thrill.”
Julia opened her mouth to disagree with him, but she couldn’t. A small part of her knew Barker was right. She would rather not have to keep landing in the middle of murder investigations, but there was something completely addictive about seeing things nobody else did and piecing together the puzzle. Her main purpose was to do what the police wouldn’t for the sake of the dead, but she would be lying if she said the adrenaline didn’t make her feel more alive than ever.
“These aren’t my fights,” Julia said, choosing her words carefully. “But I know if I don’t do something, this will keep happening.”
“I’m not so sure,” Barker said as he peeked out of the side of his hood to look around the industrial park. “This is the emptiest I’ve seen this place.”
“Some people aren’t so easily scared away,” Julia whispered, daring to take another peek at Tommy. “Besides, the murderer is getting desperate. If he can’t find anybody here, he’ll look in other places. It’s not like the country is running out of the homeless. The sooner we get him off the streets, the better.”
“I just hope you have this right,” Barker mumbled as he leaned against the fence. “Although a part of me hopes you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
“Me too,” Julia said with a heavy sigh. “But I don’t think I am.”
“After you explained who the dead girl was, I don’t either.”
Julia joined Barker in leaning against the fence. They both silently stared out at the people in front of them. Julia couldn’t believe how different things were from her first visit. The heart and soul of the patchwork community had been torn out, and what had been left behind was sad to witness. The laughter and friendly conversation had been replaced with whispering and paranoid side glances.
“I forgot about Jessie,” Julia cried, suddenly sitting up straight. “She’ll be wondering where I am. I need to call her.”
Julia patted down her jacket, remembering that she had left her phone in her own jacket, which was now locked up in Barker’s car boot.
“Does she have her own keys?” Barker asked, patting down his own jacket. “I could run back and get my phone.”
“I keep meaning to get her one cut,” Julia said, already standing up. “She doesn’t even have a phone. Stay here and keep your eyes peeled.”
“If she doesn’t have a phone, how are you going to call her?”
“Maybe she’s still at the café,” Julia said, chewing the inside of her cheek. “Or at my gran’s. I’m an awful guardian.”
“You’re far from it. My mum once forgot I was in the back seat of her car and went shopping for three hours. We all make mistakes. Go and call her. I’ve got things covered here.”
Julia smiled her thanks and accepted Barker�
��s car keys. Walking as quickly as she dared, she headed for the gate, keeping her chin securely pressed against her chest. When she was back out on the street, she ran across the road and towards the alley where they had parked the car. Her heart sank when she saw the dark, empty alley.
“No!” She cried with a strained breath. “No, no, no!”
She ran up the street, past the abandoned factories, wondering if she had been looking down the wrong dark alley. She hadn’t. Turning on the spot, she pushed her fingers through the heavy hat and clutched handfuls of her curls. She felt completely hopeless. She checked the alley once more, somehow hoping the car had reappeared; it hadn’t. Barker’s car had been stolen.
Hurrying back, she yanked her hood over her face, her heart pounding in her chest. She looked down the street to the phone box on the corner. She tapped her pockets in vain, but her wallet was in the boot of Barker’s now missing car, along with her phone, her cottage and café keys, and her clothes. Once she was back in the car park, her heart sank once more when she saw that Barker wasn’t alone.
Suddenly slowing down, she approached Barker and the man who was sitting on her crate, sure that they had been rumbled. When she saw that it was Pete, her heart sank even further. Holding back, she wandered casually into the corner Mac had called home, and perched on a crate, peeping at the men under her hood.
Pete was clutching a can of beer as he leaned into Barker. She tried to focus on what they talking about, but all she could hear was faint, slurred mumbling. She looked over to Tommy, who was looking over to Pete and Barker. She wondered if the night could get any worse.
Julia sat in the corner for what felt like an age. When Pete finally stood up, tossed his empty can to the ground, and stumbled away, she slipped back in and sat next to Barker.
“I thought he’d never leave!” Barker whispered after letting out a long sigh of relief. “I don’t even know what he was talking about. Something about aliens and the government. Told me to watch my back.”
“Did he recognise you?”
“I don’t think so. He didn’t say he did. He was three sheets to the wind. Totally wasted. I doubt he even remembers meeting me.”
Julia peered under her hood as Pete wandered from person to person, watched tentatively by Tommy over his book. Those who didn’t completely ignore Pete pushed him away disdainfully. It seemed as though he hadn’t stopped drinking, or doing a lot worse, since Cindy’s death.
“Do you have any money on you?” Julia asked.
“It’s in the car,” Barker said after patting his pockets. “Did you manage to get in touch with Jessie?”
“No.” Julia paused to think about the best way to broach the subject. “About that. Your car is gone.”
“Gone?” Barker quickly turned to her, frowning heavily. “What do you mean, it’s gone?”
“Stolen, I suspect. I’m so sorry, Barker. This is all my fault.”
“Are you sure?” Barker said, desperately looking to the gate. “Maybe you were looking in the wrong place?”
“I wish I was. I double checked. It’s gone.”
“They’re going to kill me,” Barker cried, dropping his face into his hands. “That was a company car. The boot was full of confidential files that I shouldn’t have even taken out of the station. And my phone! And my cottage keys! I don’t have spares.”
“I think Emily Burns has a spare from when it used to be Todrick’s cottage,” Julia offered pathetically. “That’s if you haven’t changed the locks.”
“I haven’t,” he mumbled through his fingers. “What am I going to do?”
“You can go. There’s a phone box at the end of the street. 999 is free to dial.”
“I can’t dial 999, Julia,” Barker snapped. “I’m the police. I’m supposed to catch people who steal cars, not let my own get stolen. My boss is going to kill me.”
“You can blame it on me. I find honesty is always the best policy.”
“Not in this situation,” Barker said, fidgeting away from Julia. “I shouldn’t even be here. We shouldn’t even be here. What are we doing?”
“I’ve already told you that you can go,” Julia snapped back, edging away from him and leaning forward onto her knees. “Get a taxi back to Peridale. I’m sure somebody at the station will lend you some money when you get there.”
“I’m hardly going to leave you, am I?” Barker whispered, turning to her and half-smiling through his obvious anger. “It’s just a car. It’s insured. They’ll want to know what I was doing in this part of town, but I’ll think of something.”
“You could tell them it was stolen from outside of the charity shop. We are in disguise after all.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Barker mumbled under his breath, nodding. “If they have CCTV of us driving, they’re hardly going to recognise us dressed like this.”
“I was kidding,” Julia said, awkwardly laughing.
“I’m not. How are you going to get in touch with Jessie?”
“I don’t know,” Julia scratched the side of her head as she stared at the ground. “We’re in a bit of a mess, aren’t we?”
Barker chuckled softly as he looked up. When he looked forward, his eyes quickly widened. Julia followed his eyes to where he was looking, her own eyes widening.
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about calling Jessie,” Barker said, nodding to Jessie and Dot as they hurried across the car park towards Tommy. “I’ve always thought your gran was psychic.”
“This is bad,” Julia muttered, dropping her head. “How did they even get here?”
Julia looked up to see her sister and her husband, Neil, jogging to keep up with Jessie and Dot. Julia dragged her hood over her face and did the same to Barker’s. They glanced at each other, half-smirking as they looked down.
“What are they doing?” Julia asked.
“Talking to Tommy.”
“They’re going to be so worried about me.”
“Just go and talk to them.”
“I can’t!” Julia glanced up and watched as Tommy stumbled to his feet with Jessie’s help. “This will have all been for nothing if we blow our cover.”
“Like you said, they’ll be worried.”
“I’ll explain it all later,” Julia said, shrugging and biting into her lip. “They’ll understand, won’t they?”
“Who are you kidding?” Barker asked, glancing up and dropping his head immediately. “I’ve met your gran. She’ll be furious you didn’t ask her to join our undercover operation. I doubt she’ll ever speak to you again.”
Julia laughed as quietly as she could, leaning into Barker’s shoulder. Taking her by surprise, he picked up her hand and looped his fingers around hers. She almost pulled back, scared it would blow their cover, until she decided it didn’t matter. She told herself it would look more convincing if they were holding hands, even though she just enjoyed the feeling of his thumb stroking the back of her hand.
“I’ve got an idea,” Julia mumbled, pulling away from Barker and standing up. “Stay here and try not to make any more friends.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” Julia whispered over her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll fix this.”
Julia ran along the edge of the fence, pulled back the loose slats, and slipped through the gap with ease. Once on the other side, she paused in her tracks, staring out into the dark winding path ahead, her eyes playing tricks on her. The shadows shifted and danced, the impossible blackness bringing forward her childhood fear of the dark. Just like the monster under her bed, she knew it was her imagination taunting her. Monsters didn’t hide in the shadows never to be seen, they walked among the living, and she knew the monster she was searching for wouldn’t come out until he was sure he wasn’t going to be caught.
Julia walked around the edge of the industrial park and lingered by the broken gate. Staring ahead at the road, she didn’t dare move or lift her head until she heard her gran’
s loud and distinctive voice.
“She’s dead!” Dot cried. “I just know it! I have a fifth sense, you know.”
“It’s a sixth sense, gran,” Sue replied. “And I’ve already told you, knowing Julia she’s probably off somewhere getting herself into trouble, thinking she’s doing the world a favour.”
“Well if she’s not dead yet, she will be by sunrise!” Dot snapped back. “You mark my words, young lady. Your sister is up to no good. She can’t just keep her nose out of other people’s business.”
“Bit rich, coming from you,” Sue mumbled back.
Julia looked up from her hood as the voices moved closer. She watched as Sue and Neil walked back towards her car, followed by Dot and Jessie. As loudly as she dared, she coughed deep within her throat, hoping it was enough to catch Jessie’s attention. It wasn’t. Watching them walk back to the car, she looked around desperately, landing on an empty beer can. Wrinkling her nose, she picked up the can, closed one eye and threw it at Jessie. She clasped her hand over her mouth when it bounced off Jessie’s head.
Clutching her hair, Jessie spun around, ready for a fight. Julia waved her over, her finger pressed hard against her lips. Jessie glanced over her shoulder at the others, before running quickly towards Julia.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jessie cried as Julia yanked her into the shadows. “Have you completely lost the plot? What are you wearing?”
“It’s a long story,” Julia said, pulling back her hood a little and grabbing Jessie’s shoulders, looking over to the car. “I need you to tell them I called you and that I’m out for dinner with Barker, but you have to wait until you’re back in Peridale.”
“You’re hardly dressed for dinner,” Jessie snapped, looking down her nose. “You stink, you do know that, right?”
“I know. It’s stuff I grabbed from the charity shop.”
“You look homeless.”
“That’s the point, Jessie,” Julia said, sighing and rolling her eyes. “Just do what I say? Please? I’ll explain it all tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Jessie’s eyes suddenly widening as she seemed to figure out what was happening. “You’re trying to catch him, aren’t you?”
