Mitch nodded. “Yeah, that’s why I woke you. Three of the women who supposedly died in these accidents are on that website. I’ve checked and double-checked; there’s no doubt.”
Sarah let out a long breath and leaned back on the couch. “My god, we have to tell someone about this. I knew there was something weird going on but I never imagined this.”
“Sarah...”
“We have to contact the police, immediately. Now we can prove a link between these accidents they’ll have to re-open my sister’s case too.” She said almost to herself, lost in her own thoughts.
“Sarah!”
His raised voice got her attention. “What?”
“You can’t go to the police.”
“You’re joking?” she gave a little laugh “Of course I’m going to the police.”
“Listen to me, will you?” The expression on his face was deadly serious. “You can’t. These people,” he waved his hand at the laptop “the kind of people who do this kind of thing, do you think they’re going to just sit around while you mess it all up for them?”
The thought hadn’t even occurred to her. “You don’t seriously think they’d come after me do you?”
Mitch sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know, Sarah, but is it a chance you really want to take?”
He had a point. From what they’d found out, these people were ruthless. Even if it the women weren’t killed in car accidents, there were bodies and they had to belong to someone. “Okay I take your point but I can’t just undo what I’ve seen, what if my sister is caught up in this?”
“I don’t know Sarah, I really don’t.” He stood up. “Look, I’m sorry but this is where I have to bow out.”
“What do you mean?”
He picked up his jacket from the arm of the chair and slipped it on. “I mean I’ve done what I can but I can’t do any more. I’m sorry, Sarah. I’m sorry about Jennifer and I’m sorry about having to bail but I have a family and I can’t get any further involved in this, it’s just too risky.”
“I can’t believe you’re walking away from this,” Sarah spat as she stood and faced him. “You’re actually going to just leave and pretend this never happened?”
He had the courtesy to look ashamed. “Yeah I guess I am. I’m not that guy Sarah, I’m a hacker. I’m not some macho guy who deliberately goes looking for trouble, you know that.”
“Well if I didn’t before, I certainly do now. Go on, get out.” She couldn’t even bring herself to look at him as she went to her front door and held it open.
He put his hand on her arm as he went to leave. “Don’t do anything stupid, please.”
She shook his hand off. “Just go.”
He went to leave and she was just closing the door behind him when he turned back. “Sarah, it’s probably best if you don’t call me again.”
She didn’t answer choosing instead to just slam the door in his face. Her hand shook with anger as she poured herself another coffee in the kitchen before returning to the couch and staring at her laptop. What now?
Fourteen
Sarah threw her cell down on the couch next to her. She’d been trying most of the day to get hold of Michael but his phone had been switched off since her first call that morning. The house phone kept going to the answering machine too and she’d left more than one message on both. Damn him. If there was anyone else she could talk to about this, she would. But she couldn’t go to the police, it was too dangerous, and besides what would she say? There was no evidence that this involved her sister in any way it was just her gut telling her that it did. Anybody else would just think she was plain nuts. So it had to be Michael.
Decision made, she stood up and grabbed her laptop and car keys. If he wouldn’t answer the phone, then she would just have to drive round there and bang on the door until he opened it. He couldn’t ignore her then.
***
His car wasn’t out front when she got there but that didn’t mean anything, it could have been in the garage. As soon as she pulled to a stop, she jumped out of the car, raced up the path and the steps of the front porch and started banging on the front door. Nothing. Crouching down she lifted the letterbox flap and peered through but couldn’t see anything more than an empty hallway. Frustrated she stood up and went to the window to the right of the front door. Cupping her hands against the glare of the sun she pressed her face to the glass but again she saw nothing other than the empty living room.
“Can I help you?” The voice made her jump back from the glass guiltily though she was doing nothing wrong.
“Oh, hi. Mrs Berner, isn’t it?” She recognised the neighbour from a previous get-together in her yard. She stood peering over the hedge that ran between the properties.
“Sorry, dear, I didn’t recognise you. It’s Sam isn’t it? Jennifer’s sister?”
“Sarah,” she nodded. “Actually, I’m looking for Michael.”
“I don’t think he’s here, dear, I saw him putting a bag in his car yesterday and he hasn’t been back since. Terrible business. It will probably do him the world of good to get away for a few days.” She looked at Sarah with a concerned look on her face. “And how are you coping, dear?”
The look of concern on the lady’s face and the question itself threatened to reduce Sarah to tears again. Swallowing hard she held them at bay and managed a small smile. “Oh, you know, just taking things one day at a time. I don’t suppose he told you where he was going, did he?”
The old lady shook her head. “I’m sorry, dear, he didn’t.”
“Not to worry, I’ll give him a call.” She turned to walk back to her car and then paused. “Thank you. I know my sister really enjoyed having you as a neighbour.”
She didn’t look back as she walked towards her car, not wanting to see the tears that she knew were running down the old lady’s face. Now what? She was fuming. How could he leave town without telling her? And where would he have gone? She slipped her cell phone from her pocket and once more dialled his number. Yet again it went straight to voicemail but she didn’t bother leaving a message this time. Frustrated, she flung the cell phone onto the passenger seat and hit the steering wheel with her hands.
Taking a deep breath she made herself calm down. Think, Sarah, where would he have gone? If he’d just taken off somewhere random for a few days, she had no hope of finding him. But the chances were that he’d gone somewhere familiar, but where? Suddenly it hit her. His mother’s house. She remembered Jennifer telling her about his mom’s passing and the empty house that needed clearing. She knew it was fairly nearby, certainly driving distance, but she didn’t know exactly where.
Looking out the car window she saw that her sister’s neighbour had gone back inside. Quickly getting back out of the car she hurried up to the house avoiding the front porch this time and letting herself through the gate and into the backyard. Keeping her fingers crossed that it was still where Jennifer had told her it was, she lifted the heavy plant pot that sat just to the right of the door. Yes! Grabbing the key, she opened the back door and went inside.
Heading straight for the study, she paused briefly at the door. What she was about to do felt like a complete invasion of privacy and something she would never normally consider doing, but what choice did she have? Going to the desk, she went through the drawers until she found what she was looking for. Folding the letter that had his mother’s address on it she shoved it in her back pocket and left the house.
Punching the address into her satnav she put the car in drive. She didn’t know if he would be there or not, but it was worth a try. When he sees what I’ve found he’ll change his mind. He has to.
Fifteen
It had taken Michael several hours to go through the papers in the desk. Long, boring hours. Most of it was junk that he put straight in the trash, but some were important documents that he needed to keep, mostly relating to the house. Sliding his hand into the last drawer to check that it was completely empty, his finger brushed across w
hat felt like a button protruding at the back. Curious, he pulled the drawer out completely and set it to one side. With it out of the way he was able to peer inside the cavity and see what it was that his fingers had felt. Surprised, he realised it was in fact a button. Not knowing what to expect, he pressed it. There was an immediate sound, a definite thunk, before another draw popped open. Stunned, he slid it all the way out, revealing a small wooden box nestled in the cavity.
Gently he lifted it out and placed it on the desk in front of him. It was about the size of an envelope and about 4 inches deep. The lid was intricately carved into a design depicting a crown. The box wasn’t locked and he gently lifted the lid. It was filled with letters, and lifting out the first one, he started to read.
At first the doorbell didn’t register as he sat staring into space the letter still clutched in his hand. It rang again and this time the shrill tone pierced the fog in his brain. Folding the letter quickly he put it back in the box and the box in the drawer, pushing it closed and checking that it was once again invisible to the naked eye.
Sarah was the last person he was expecting as he opened the front door and she didn’t give him chance to speak as she pushed past him and into the house.
“So this is where you’re hiding,” she said angrily as she turned to face him. “Care to explain why you’re ignoring my calls?”
He ignored her question. “How did you know I was here?”
She waved him off. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re clearly avoiding me. How could you? Now of all times?”
Michael sighed. “I just needed a bit of time, to be on my own.” He turned and went into the kitchen knowing that she would follow. “Coffee?”
“Coffee? Really?”
He was getting cross now. She wasn’t his wife, he didn’t owe her any explanations. “Look, I told you I needed a bit of time. I was going to let you know where I was. What’s so urgent that you had to follow me up here?”
Sarah had put her laptop on the kitchen table. “I asked a friend for help and we found something.” She lifted the lid of the computer and started hitting keys. “You didn’t believe me when I said something weird was going on but I was right and now I can prove it to you.”
Michael knew he had no choice. All he could hope was that if he humoured her, she wouldn’t stay too long. His mind was on the box in the desk and his fingers were itching to get back to it.
“Okay, show me.” He placed two steaming cups of coffee on the kitchen table and pulled a chair up next to her.
His coffee went cold as Sarah showed him the website they’d found during the night. “And these are definitely the same women that were supposedly killed in these accidents?”
“See for yourself.” She brought up images of the supposedly dead women on the screen and Michael could see that there was no doubt.
“What’s that thing flashing in the top right corner?” He pointed to an area of the screen where a little orange box was flashing.
“No idea, let’s see.” Pointing the mouse at the flashing box Sarah clicked. Time seemed to stand still then as they both tried to understand what their eyes were showing them. Sarah was the first to react, sending her chair crashing to the floor as she stood, barely making it the kitchen sink before she threw up.
“It can’t be…” He wanted to look away but he couldn’t seem to drag his eyes from the screen. “This has got to be some kind of sick joke.”
Sarah came back to her seat, wiping her mouth with a paper towel. “This wasn’t here yesterday Michael, it must have been uploaded in the past few hours.”
Michael stared at the image of his wife on the screen. She looked different; her hair was a new colour and not washed she was thinner, but he would recognise her anywhere. She was sat on a bed in a dark room with what looked like dirt walls. “You know what this means don’t you? Oh my God, you were right, she’s still alive!” He stood up and grabbed his phone switching it on the press of a button.
“What you doing?”
“Would you think I’m doing? I’m calling the police.”
“Michael, no.” Sarah snatched the phone out of his hands. “You can’t.”
“What? Of course I can. In case you didn’t see, that’s my wife on that screen−your sister− we need to tell the police.” He tried to reach for his phone but Sarah stepped out of reach.
“Michael, just listen for a minute. If we go to the police with everything we know, do you not think they’ll find out? This is clearly a highly organised outfit, if they know the police is onto them what’s to say they won’t get rid of the evidence?”
“You mean kill her?”
“Why not? It’s possible.” She let out a long breath. “I’m not prepared to take that chance, are you?”
Michael knew she was right. “So what do you suggest?”
Sarah put her head in her hands and started to cry. “I don’t know, I just don’t know.”
Michael turned back to the laptop and clicked off Jennifer’s picture, he just couldn’t bear it. As he did, a picture caught his eye.
“Hang on, I recognize that woman.”
“What?” Sarah sniffed, dropping her hands.
“Her.” he said, turning the laptop towards her and pointing at an image on the screen. “I recognize her.”
Sarah wiped her eyes with her hands and looked at the picture Michael had pointed out. “Odd, I do too. I never noticed before.” she leaned forward and looked at the picture closely. “I don’t know where I recognize her from though.”
Michael frowned. “It can’t be.” He stood up and pushed his chair back, going to the kitchen counter where he’d left the yearbook the night before. Opening it on the table he started flicking through until he got to the page he wanted.
“There.” He pointed to the page.
Sarah looked from the page to the picture on the screen. “Oh my God, you’re right. How on earth did you know?”
Michael shrugged. “I was flicking through it last night. I would never have recognized her otherwise.”
Sarah looked at the book. “Samantha Hathaway. Wasn’t she in your class in high school?”
“No, she was in the year below. I remember her, she was a bit of a weird one, always changing the color of her hair and wearing odd clothes.”
“Now I remember.” Sarah nodded. “But she’s not one of the women involved in the accidents I found online, I don’t recognize the name.”
“So there’s a chance she’s got family out there still looking for her. Sarah, this could help us.” It wasn’t much but it was the only thing they had so far. “We need to find out what we can about Samantha Hathaway.”
“I don’t see how it can help, her family will be in the same position we are won’t they?”
“Don’t you see?” he said excitedly. “No one is looking for Jennifer because they think she’s dead. What if the Samantha’s family think she’s alive, just missing? Who knows how long she’s been gone, they might have information that can help us.” He shrugged. “If not, and they do think she’s dead, at the very least we need to let them know about this website.”
“You’re right, of course we have to let them know.”
His stomach picked that moment to remind him that he needed to eat. “Look, it’s late and we both need to eat. How about we have something and then get back on it when we’re all fueled up?”
“Okay but I’ll cook, Jennifer told me about your … er… lack of skills in the kitchen.” She gave him a small smile.
“I’ll have you know I’m getting a lot better.” He chuckled. “But it’s a deal.”
He left her to find her way around the kitchen and went upstairs to wash up. He hated to admit it, but he was glad Sarah had come. He should have listened to her right from the start, and he felt that he’d somehow let Jennifer down by accepting her death so quickly. Without Sarah’s stubbornness they would never have known that she could still be alive out there somewhere. But now I do know, I
won’t stop looking until I find her he promised himself as he stepped in the shower.
***
He had no idea how she managed it but Sarah whipped up a delicious omelette from the few available ingredients in the kitchen.
“Thanks, that was great.” he sighed as he pushed his plate away. “I needed that.”
“I hate to admit it, but you were right. I needed that too.” She laughed. “God, if Jennifer could see us now she’d never believe it. Getting along and everything.”
“We always used to, back in the day.” He didn’t know if it was going through the yearbook that had done it but he’d started thinking about the old days when he’d been dating Sarah. “Do you ever think of those days?”
“No.” She abruptly stood up and started clearing the table and the relaxed atmosphere of a moment ago vanished.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.” It had been a stupid thing to ask, he knew that.
“You haven’t.” She replied. She stood at the kitchen sink with her back to him so he couldn’t tell if she meant what she said. “I don’t think about those days because they’re in the past and nothing good ever comes of revisiting the past.”
“Sarah−” He started, but she didn’t let him finish.
“Look, Mike,” she turned and faced him. “You did me a favour. If you hadn’t gone off with Jennifer we’d have broken up anyway but most likely a lot later and it would have been a lot more painful.”
He wasn’t entirely sure he believed her but he had no right to push. “Okay, as long as we’re good.”
“We’re good.” She smiled before changing the subject. “Right, let’s get these dishes done and we can get started.”
“Yes ma’am.” He gave her a mock salute.
They worked in silence, Sarah washing and Mike drying and they were quickly done.
“How about I leave you to start and I carry on sorting out my mom’s paperwork?” Michael wasn’t very good at the Internet stuff and he knew he’d only get in the way.
True Deceit (Blindsided Book 1) Page 5
