2009
It’d been a mere two days since she’d seen her friend’s life ebb away into nothingness. Amelia had sat for what seemed like an eternity, trying to decide what to do.
Sure, she could go to the police, but what kind of justice would that entail? There was no better judgement than His, she’d thought, and she would send them to Him, of that she was certain.
Stephen would help her, he’d promised.
And Chloe…Chloe was less predictable. She hadn’t taken it well when Amelia first told her she would leave soon with no notice.
‘You’ll be better off without me,’ she’d told Chloe.
A part of her truly meant it, although she knew there would come a day when she needed Chloe’s help.
Whether she would or not, only time would tell. She hadn’t taken it well when Amelia had finally chosen Stephen over her.
Amelia was determined not to dwell on it.
She packed a small bag of her things and was now sitting in her little room, deliberating on when to leave.
She wondered how she should do it. She could leave in secrecy or go boldly, letting her final words to them cut through their religious flesh.
It took Amelia just seconds to decide.
She stood, pulling her bag onto her shoulder, grabbed the door handle and stepped onto the landing.
She listened carefully to the voices from the living room and guessed they were all in there together: Mark, Samantha, and Emily.
One big happy fucking family.
Chloe would be there too. The outsider in their apparently perfect world.
She took her time going down the stairs, counting each step as she went, like she used to as a child.
With her Guardian.
Her Angel Stevie.
When she reached the bottom, she went into the living room and waited for their attention.
Chloe was standing near the door looking out of the window, waiting for a taxi, when she caught sight of Amelia and her bag.
‘And where’re you going? You’re not allowed out on your own.’
Amelia smiled at her words, delivered brilliantly. Chloe was a good actress when she wanted to be, but no words could disguise the pain she glimpsed in her former lover’s eyes.
Since Rebecca had been reported ‘missing’, Jenkins was making sure the girls were kept safe.
Under lock and key.
Chloe, of course, was the exception to that rule. She carried on dating boys from school, kidding herself she preferred them.
Jenkins turned his attention away from the television and eyed Amelia suspiciously.
‘You heard your sister, Amelia. You’re not allowed out without an escort.’ He caught sight of her bag. ‘And what’s that?’ He stood up from his chair. ‘Where do you think you’re going?’
Chloe sneered and folded her arms. ‘I bet she’s going to meet up with him again.’
Amelia shot her a cold look that nearly broke Chloe’s resolve, but before she could answer, Jenkins was shouting at Amelia.
‘What does she mean “again”? Amelia, your mother and I—’
‘She’s not my mother!’ Amelia eyed him with hatred. ‘And you’re not my father.’
Her eyes met his and there seemed to be an uneasy silence as he took in her words.
‘If what you’ve shown me these years are what other mothers and fathers truly are, then I’m glad I have neither.’ She glanced at Samantha, then back to Jenkins. ‘You have no control over me. Not any more.’
Samantha’s mouth dropped a little. ‘Why are you doing this? Why are you saying these horrible things? After all we’ve done for you, Amelia.’
She cut herself off as she felt tears stinging her eyes and her voice catching in her throat. Jenkins’s brow furrowed as he heard the hurt in his wife’s voice.
‘You see how you hurt your mother?’ He was so close to Amelia that his face looked down into hers. ‘I always knew you were poison,’ he whispered.
Amelia let her bag fall off her shoulder and lowered her eyes to the floor before taking all her anger and years of unhappiness, pushing it way down in her gut and lashing out.
The force of her fist caught Jenkins off guard as the blow hit him square across the jaw so hard, he instantly tasted blood.
As he recoiled and fell back into his chair, gasps escaped everyone’s lips. Cradling his mouth, Jenkins turned and looked at her. He watched a smug smile spread across her mouth.
She picked up her bag.
‘You won’t hear from me again,’ she said to no one in particular and turned back into the hall.
Rage filled Jenkins as she gave him one last sneer and tossed her hair over her shoulder. He pushed himself from his chair and started after her.
‘Mark, please!’ Samantha screamed, rushing across the room. Before she got to the hallway she heard the anger in her husband’s voice and Amelia cry out.
By the time she reached them Jenkins had his hands gripped tightly around Amelia’s throat and had forced her down on her back against the stairs.
‘Mark, no!’
Samantha tried to grip his arms and pull him back but he was too strong for her. He slapped her hard across the face and she fell back against the doorway, her head cracking back against the frame.
Amelia fought for breath and her nails scored the skin on the back of Jenkins’s hands, when he returned them to her throat.
Her face was beginning to turn different colours and a desperate wheeze escaped her lips.
While Emily helped her mother, Chloe stared down in disbelief at the events unfolding before her very eyes. It felt as if she’d left her own body and was now looking down, separated from everyone.
She felt frozen to the spot.
Jenkins began screaming obscenities at Amelia as his hands closed their hold even tighter, but Amelia managed to force her knee up and caught him hard in the ribs.
As he fell to one side in agony, she saw her chance and sprinted for the front door. As she grasped the handle and turned it, she glanced back and her eyes met Chloe’s.
She was so close to Amelia, their lips were close to touching.
Their eyes stared hard into one another’s and their world seemed to stand still, a moment suspended in time.
Chloe swallowed hard as she realised Amelia would be free from her father forever. The sense of envy twisted from within and cut through her bones and tissue. It cut deeper than Amelia’s betrayal with Stephen ever could.
‘Just go,’ she whispered. ‘Run while you can and never come back.’
***
Claire watched the tears roll down Jenkins’s face as his wife handed him a tissue.
‘That was the last we ever saw of her,’ he whimpered. ‘We guessed she’d gone to be with Stephen. They’d been seeing each other behind our backs, against my wishes. She must’ve thought he could offer her everything.’
Stefan shot a glance in Claire’s direction. From her expression, he could tell she wasn’t buying into the theatrics.
‘Mr Jenkins, apart from what seems to have been a violent ending to your last moments with Amelia, I can’t see how this would tie in to the murders of Wainwright and Hawthorne.’
Jenkins sighed and shook his head.
‘She said she knew who killed Rebecca!’
Jenkins froze and looked towards his wife in disbelief.
After all this time, they had both agreed to erase that from their minds, and now here she was betraying his wishes.
Jenkins quickly looked at Claire.
‘You must forgive my wife.’ He turned towards Samantha again. ‘She doesn’t know what she’s saying. It was a while ago. Words and memories become blurred.’
Claire shook her head.
‘I think I’d like to ask your wife some more questions, Mr Jenkins… On our own.’
***
As Claire drove them away from the Jenkins family home, she shook her head. ‘I can’t believe they never took Amelia seriously.’
Claire mulled over the information.
‘I know, but she’s not stupid. I think she knows what happened to Rebecca and started dishing out her own justice. That spell in Stokebrook just set her back awhile. I’ve got to see those records. And have Matthews run Stephen’s name through the system again. Surname was Metcalfe, right?’
‘That’s what Jenkins said.’
She stared at the road ahead and put her foot down.
***
As Claire pulled into the station and parked in her usual bay, she caught Stefan staring at her.
‘What?’
Stefan shrugged. ‘It’s nothing, not really.’
He could feel her eyes burning into the side of his face, and risked a look in her direction. She raised her eyebrows at him.
He sighed and turned his body around in the passenger seat, facing her head-on.
‘Look, tell me if this is overstepping the mark, but I have to ask you something.’ He watched her face. It was unflinching. He looked at his knees as he asked the question.
‘Is there something going on with you and Diego?’
His eyes avoided her face, and inwardly he was squirming, anticipating her smacking him hard across the face. He would deserve it, asking such a personal question, but he had to know.
When no word escaped her lips, he finally looked at her. She was staring out ahead, instead of at him, and instantly he felt a little relieved.
‘I think you’ve wandered a little off your pay grade there, Fletcher,’ she said with an uneasy calm in her voice. ‘You shouldn’t ask me questions like that.’
She removed her seatbelt and got out of the car.
***
Once inside, Claire checked the drawers of her desk. She had a headache and usually kept Nurofen in her drawer in vast quantities, but today she found nothing but one empty pack. She swore to herself, before realising Stefan was waiting by the door.
‘Jane needs to speak with us.’
‘It can wait.’
‘She says it’s urgent.’
‘It can wait until I find some bloody painkillers.’
She fished around in her bag. When she had no joy, she remembered Michael always kept some in his drawer. He wouldn’t mind her quickly rummaging in his desk.
And if he did, she didn’t care.
Stefan was still waiting with bated breath in the doorway. Claire felt a little sorry for him, as she noticed his soft eyes, unsure what to do.
‘Look, I’ll be with you in a minute. You go ahead.’ She waited a few moments for Stefan to disappear before heading to Michael’s desk.
She searched his top drawer and had no luck, but after rummaging through the second, she found the last two tablets in the blister pack on its own.
She sat down on his chair and popped the pills in her mouth, washing them down with warm water from a plastic cup still left on his desk.
She let out a long breath as she rubbed her temples with her fingers, her head hanging forward.
She was about to close the drawer when something caught her eye.
Stretching down, her hand clasped around a small white plastic case. On closer inspection she realised it was an empty contact lens case.
She ran her thumb across the name emblazoned upon the side, 4 EyeZ.
She shrugged, snapped the case shut and threw it back into the drawer, and went to see Stefan and Jane.
CHAPTER 72
It was shortly before noon when Chloe woke from her sleep, rolled over and checked her watch.
She sighed and rested her head again, her hand covering her forehead, which was throbbing because she’d slept too long in the heat.
She pulled on a pair of soft shorts over her knickers and adjusted her camisole, before yanking a brush through her tousled hair. After checking her appearance in the mirror she opened her door and headed to the living room.
She poked her head around the door, expecting to see the officer who had looked after her all night and morning, only to jump when she saw Michael.
‘Who the fuck are you?’
Michael held up his ID.
‘Calm down, Chloe. Officer Stewart has a husband and family to look after besides you,’ he said, returning his gaze to the television. ‘Besides I need to ask you some more questions.’
Chloe bit her bottom lip, feeling more than a little embarrassed about her outburst. She stared at Michael for a few seconds longer, but his eyes remained fixed upon the screen in front of him.
‘Can I get you a drink?’
Michael’s eyes flickered briefly before nodding.
Chloe frowned. She wasn’t used to men not responding to her, even if it was only regarding a beverage. ‘Tea, coffee, juice, water, Coke?’
Finally Michael looked at her. ‘Tea, white, no sugar.’ He looked away. ‘Please.’
Chloe half smiled as she went to the kitchen. As she filled the kettle, she heard him enter the room.
She turned around and gave a small smile, and he watched her closely while she retrieved the milk from the refrigerator.
The kettle boiled and Chloe could feel his eyes on her as she made tea for them both.
It made her nervous and as she turned around to hand him his mug, she saw a look in his eyes. She stared at his features as she watched him take a sip of tea, wincing at the heat.
CHAPTER 73
Claire headed towards Jane’s desk and sat opposite her. Stefan was already sitting down beside her.
‘I’ve spoken to DC Harper,’ he said. ‘Manuela refused him entry into the Manor so he’s watching the place from the driveway.’
‘That’s good enough for now,’ Claire said, as if she’d been expecting it. She laid her hands flat against the desk and leaned forward. ‘What have you got for me, Jane?’
‘Chloe was right. Williams was at Stokebrook.’
Claire looked across to Stefan.
‘It gets better,’ he said.
Jane pushed a file across towards Claire. ‘Williams was sent to Stokebrook Secure Hospital in 2009 after being deemed unfit to stand trial for the attempted murder of Clark Andrews, a forty-eight-year-old father of three, living in Glasgow.’
Claire looked up at her, a little shocked. Jane nodded as she opened the file and pointed to several pages inside. ‘She knifed him in the neck, narrowly missing the jugular vein…that was after she’d poured caustic soda over his genitals for an hour.’
Stefan physically shuddered.
Caustic soda, when mixed in hot water, was widely used as a cleaning agent to dissolve grease and oils. Used on human skin it can cause a chemical burn.
‘That man can’t even go to the toilet by himself any more,’ Jane added.
‘It says here she accused him of trying to rape her.’
‘If it’s true, I’d have bought her the caustic soda myself,’ Jane said, as she pushed another sheet of paper towards Claire. ‘If…’
Claire carried on reading and wondered what Amelia was doing up north in the first place.
‘“Volunteer Melanie Steward…”’ Claire read aloud, ‘“…part of Stokebrook’s befriending scheme…stabbed in the neck with broken glass.”’ Claire frowned as she looked to Jane, who nodded.
‘I know. It doesn’t make good bedtime reading, does it?’
Claire studied the next few pages. ‘And security guard George Manning…also found murdered.’ She paused and looked away from the file. ‘What the hell happened? Stokebrook’s like Rampton or Broadmoor…you can’t just walk out.’
‘She didn’t,’ Stefan said, pushing more paperwork towards her. ‘Williams planned her escape in very fine detail from almost the moment she was admitted to Stokebrook. It’s quite clever really when you think about it.’
Claire’s eyes rose to meet his. ‘Clever? She
’s an animal, that’s what she is.’
Stefan shrugged. ‘I agree with you, but you have to admit she’s nothing like anything we’ve seen before.’
Claire eyed him carefully, her face unreadable. ‘I need more.’
She turned to Jane.
‘Jenkins said that Amelia was presumed dead around the time of her escape. He said that a body had washed up in Cromer, believed to be hers. Chase up Thames Valley Police. We need everything they have from their investigation.’
‘I’m on it, Guv, but I’m going to need more hands.’
Claire nodded. ‘When Diego’s back he can help you.’
Jane paused, her face looking unsure.
Claire caught her eye and felt her stomach tighten. ‘Is that a problem?’
Jane sighed and avoided Claire’s eyes. ‘There was something I wanted to talk to you about.’ She glanced at Stefan. ‘Well, both of you actually…in private.’
Claire looked around them. The incident room was half empty, with only a few DCs trawling through CCTV footage. No one appeared even remotely interested in the three of them.
‘This team is tight, Jane,’ Claire said. She failed to hide the unease in her voice.
‘I know, Guv,’ Jane said, ‘but this is really sensitive.’ Claire and Stefan exchanged nervous glances, as Jane got up from her chair. ‘Please, Guv. This is for your ears only.’
Claire paused, looking at Stefan again. ‘Whatever you need to say to me, Stefan hears it too.’
***
Claire pushed the door to her office closed and when she turned around Jane was staring at her, her face troubled, and Stefan’s expression was intense.
‘What’s wrong, Jane?’
Jane shrugged. ‘I don’t know. It’s all probably nothing…’
‘Well something’s got you spooked,’ said Stefan.
‘This is about Michael, isn’t it?’
Jane looked between the two of them and started to fidget. ‘I can’t believe I even think it, let alone be able to say it out loud.’
‘You can talk to us, you know that,’ said Stefan, when Claire wasn’t forthcoming.
Jane paused before she spoke. ‘I don’t know if you’re going to take me seriously but…I heard something…back when Matthews and myself were watching you interview Williams about Brown and Hargreaves.’
For All Our Sins: A gripping thriller with a killer twist (DCI Claire Winters, Book 1) Page 30
