Lost and Found

by Natasha West

  April turned to run into the house. But as she reached the door, it opened. Her mother was there. ‘Mum!’ April cried.

  ‘What is it, love? You’re as pale as a ghost!’ her mother cried at the sight of her.

  ‘It’s Ian! He’s… Auntie Jane!’

  Ian stepped through the gate. He tutted at the sight of his mother. ‘Can’t catch a break today.’

  ‘What’s wrong with April? What were you doing out there?’ Marla asked him. April stepped in front of her mother, in case she had to protect her.

  But Ian made no move toward them. He was relaxed, practically breezy. ‘Exactly what you told me to,’ Ian said to his mother.

  ‘She’s…?’ Marla asked.

  ‘Out there. You were right; she wasn’t going to keep it shut,’ Ian said with a thumb to the back gate. ‘Better get Steve and Ryan, I’ll need her in the boot after sundown.’

  April stared at her mother in horror. ‘Mum, what…’

  Marla looked at her daughter with pity in her eyes. ‘What did I always say? You should stick to your drawing. You were never supposed to get involved in any of this. But what’s done can’t be undone, I suppose. Come on, let’s have a little chat.’

  April looked from her brother to her mum, sick to her stomach. It was all of them, all disgusting murderers. She was alone.

  Marla led April into the house, and they talked. And April finally learned about the family business. It wasn’t boring at all. Far from it.

  Seven

  April finished her story and sat quietly, not looking at Sophie, her hand to her mouth, trying not to cry, but one tear escaped anyway. Sophie wasn’t cynical anymore. She’d watched April suffer through her story, and she knew this was no fabrication, no performance. This had happened. Sophie wanted to let April know that though she’d been laughing at this story not long ago, she wasn’t laughing anymore. ‘April… Oh my god. I never… Are you…’ She stopped. What words of comfort could she possibly offer? ‘So what did you do?’

  ‘I was kept in the house for months. My mum’s idea, wanted me to calm down, get used to the way things had always been done. I was her favourite, her only daughter, so I guess she was trying to find a way not to have to...’ April couldn’t bring herself to finish that sentence and Sophie was glad. ‘So I was locked up in that house for months,’ April said.

  ‘Months?’

  ‘Yeah. And one day, my mum sent me to the shop for some milk. I went, came back with the milk, passed the little test. Passed a few more before I took the chance and ran. Went to the police.’

  ‘That was brave,’ Sophie told her.

  ‘It wasn’t. I was scared in that house. I had to get out. I didn’t know where else to go.’

  ‘And they believed you, the police? About your family?’ Sophie asked.

  ‘Oh, they knew all about the Gardeners, about Jackson Street. Ongoing investigation. But they didn’t have anything they could really prove.’

  ‘Until you went to them.’

  ‘My testimony carried a fair amount of weight. A member of the family, no less.’

  ‘You went to trial?’

  ‘Yeah. Ian got twenty years for Jane. But the other thing, my brother Steve, what he did to my uncle, they couldn’t make that stick, called it hearsay. So he’s still out there with the rest of them, him and Ryan… and my mother. And if they ever find me…’

  Sophie’s eyes welled up with tears. ‘Oh, April. Oh, fuck!’

  April looked shocked, but she handed her a napkin from the dispenser on the table. ‘Are you alright?’

  ‘No, I’m not. I can’t believe what you went through. And I’ve been hating you all this time,’ Sophie blubbed. ‘I feel dreadful.’

  April shook her head. ‘You shouldn’t feel guilty. You didn’t know, did you?’

  Sophie gathered herself, dabbing at her eyes with the napkin. When she was dry, April gave Sophie a grave look. ‘Sophie, you can never tell anyone any of this, you know that, don’t you?’

  Sophie blinked. ‘No, of course, of course.’

  ‘Not even Becky.’

  ‘No, definitely not Becky. I mean, I love her, but…’ Sophie stopped, trying to get ahold of herself. But she was overwhelmed. She needed a second to take it all in.

  They sat in silence for a moment while they both tried to figure out what could be said next. It was confusing. But one thought drifted out of the fog to Sophie. April’s comment from earlier. That she left, but that she hadn’t left her. ‘So, I don’t want to… I know this was a lot for you to talk about, but…’ Sophie groaned at her own selfishness. ‘Sorry. This isn’t important.’

  ‘No, what is it?’ April asked.

  Sophie shook her head. ‘No, it’s really, it’s stupid.’

  ‘You came all this way. Say it.’

  Sophie rolled her eyes at herself. ‘It’s gonna sound egotistical after everything you just told me, but…’

  ‘Say it,’ April commanded.

  ‘Fine. I guess I just wanted to know if things hadn’t happened… I mean, if you hadn’t had to go… would we…’

  April knew what she was trying to say, and she didn’t hold back. ‘I wanted it to work. I had high hopes for us, it was terrible to leave you.’

  ‘It was terrible being left,’ Sophie admitted.

  ‘I know. I know. I should never have started anything up with you in the first place. It was irresponsible,’ April said remorsefully. ‘I can’t have anything that lasts now, that’s something I’ve come to accept,’ she added. ‘So, I’m sorry. It was reckless of me.’

  Sophie’s brow creased. ‘So, why did you? Start it?’

  April was utterly contrite. ‘I’m an idiot, and I liked you, and I took a stupid risk. I don’t know how else to explain it.’

  ‘It wouldn’t have been so bad if you’d let me know somehow what was going on.’

  ‘My handler told me I’d be putting you in danger if I even tried to reach out. Apparently, someone known to my family knew what area I was in. It was only a matter of time until they found me.’

  ‘How did they track you?’ Sophie asked.

  ‘I don’t know. They just do. They always do.’ April paused. ‘Actually, that reminds me, how did you find me?’

  ‘Oh. It was Becky.’

  ‘Becky?’ April asked.

  ‘Yeah, she was up here visiting her horrible ex. She happened to spot you in the supermarket,’ Sophie explained.

  April looked abruptly nervous. ‘Becky?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘There’s no possibility… I mean she won’t talk to anyone else about where I am, will she?’

  Sophie bit her lip. ‘I haven’t actually talked to her since she left me a message. I just drove straight up here.’ She chuckled nervously. ‘But I mean, who’s she going to tell?’

  April looked less than assured. ‘I don’t know. But information has a way of getting out. I’ve no doubt my family have got people working on this on a permanent basis, professional scumbags who know how to find people. I mean, they’ve gotten close to me a few times now, and I’ve been lucky so far. But the wrong word in the wrong place... I know I must sound paranoid to you, but it’s how I’ve stayed safe.’

  Sophie nodded. ‘OK. I’ll call her now, tell her to shut up,’ she said, getting her phone out.

  ‘How are you going to explain it?’ April asked.

  ‘I’ll think of something,’ Sophie said, unlocking her phone. She seemed to have a lot of notifications on the screen. She didn’t have time for that, she was trying to get to the phone part of her phone, but they just kept popping up. Social’s coming thick and fast. Facebook, Twitter, ding, ding. Sophie wanted to make her call, but she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, and she decided to check one of the notifications. It was a Facebook photo and she was tagged in it. But when she looked at the photo, she wasn’t in it. It was a picture of April in the supermarket, in her tabard, stacking bean tins. The text below said, ‘Shitbag alert. This woman, Apri
l, ghosted my friend in the most astonishing manner, disappeared off the face of the planet overnight, flat packed up, EVERYTHING!!! But I found her, in the Yepton Tesco off the A23. Busted April. Doesn’t matter if you changed your name.’

  ‘Fuck me in the eye socket,’ Sophie whispered in horror. She looked up at April, who was already on alert. ‘Err, we might have a slight problem.’

  ‘What is it?’ April asked sharply.

  ‘It’s probably fine, I just need to make a quick call,’ Sophie said, jumping to her feet and running to the edge of the café before April could ask any more questions. She rang her oldest, dumbest friend. ‘Becky?’ she said as her friend picked up the phone.

  ‘Oh, god, hi! I’ve been trying to get you all day, where have you been?’

  ‘Where do you think? Driving to Yepton.’

  ‘Oh, Christ, really? Did you find her then?’

  ‘Yes, actually, but never mind that, what the fuck have you-’

  ‘What did she say when you found her? I want to hear literally everything, mate,’ Becky said, indecently excited.

  ‘Yeah, we’ll get to that,’ Sophie lied. ‘But first off, what the fuck is with this photo?’

  ‘You saw that, did you? People are loving it. Only a few hundred shares at the moment, but I reckon it could go proper viral. April’s gonna be getting shit for months! Imagine, she’ll be stuck on that till, and people are gonna realise she’s the woman from the viral Facebook post and they’re gonna go off on her arse-’

  ‘BECKY!’ Sophie yelled. A few people in the café turned to look, including a nervous April. But Sophie was focused on Becky. ‘You have no idea what you’ve done.’

  Becky’s tone dropped its glee. ‘What? I thought you’d be happy. I thought, I thought… it was like, revenge. Because of what she put you through. I was being a mate.’

  Sophie pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, trying to think for a second, trying to unravel this mess in her mind. But it was no good. This was bad. It was very bad indeed. ‘Becky, I love you. But you need to think before you do things,’ Sophie said told her.

  ‘But, but…’ Becky stuttered. Sophie didn’t have time to listen, and she simply hung up on her friend. She’d been trying to do something kind, in her own way. But she’d fucked up beyond comprehension, and now she was a secondary consideration. The first consideration was April.

  Sophie walked over to April and leant down to speak quietly in her ear. ‘Look, we can talk about it in the car, but we probably need to get out of here now. We’ll drive to whoever you deal with, alright?’

  April looked up. ‘What, why?’

  ‘I’ll explain on the way.’

  April had the good sense to stand up while she quizzed Sophie. ‘Seriously, you’re scaring me,’ she whispered as they headed out of the café. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Becky fucked up. I’ll tell you about it in a minute, OK?’

  They were now in the proper part of the supermarket, headed for the main doors. Then a voice said over the tannoy, ‘April Jennings to the office, please.’

  They both froze.

  ‘Are you April Jennings?’ Sophie asked.

  ‘New name. But I’m not even on shift anymore. Why would I be getting called to the office?’ April asked, spooked.

  Sophie shook her head. ‘Doesn’t matter, ignore it.’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Probably best,’ Sophie said, grabbing April by the arm and steering her toward the exit.

  Eight

  April was trying not to panic. That was what she’d learnt in the last four years of her life. The only way through was to keep your head. That’s how she’d gotten out of her family home alive.

  She didn’t know what was happening right this minute, but she knew Sophie, even now. She was pretending to be calm, but she was obviously freaking out. That bloody blabbermouth Becky had done something serious. So plan one was getting in Sophie’s car and then she’d get the details. But she had a feeling that this identity was now done with. She’d be moving on again, she just knew it. That wasn’t a big loss. She wasn’t too attached to this particular version of her life. It was only life itself she was quite keen on.

  They got out to the carpark and headed back to Sophie’s car, parked in the southern corner. En route, they passed a van, black, unmarked. A burly man was leaning against it, looking at his phone. April didn’t like the look of him at all. She sped up. The man glanced up, and April tensed. But when he saw April, his eyes moved back down to his phone. He was no one; it was fine.

  But three feet from Sophie’s car, a voice behind them said softly, ‘April?’

  April stopped dead. So did Sophie.

  The voice spoke again, and this time, it wasn’t a question. ‘April Gardener.’

  April spun around to see a ratty little guy in a baseball cap. ‘Hi, I’m Kenny. I know your mum, Marla.’

  April couldn’t speak. For every threat that had hovered around her existence these past years, she’d never been face to face with one of these men, one of her family’s hunters. But here he was, some minion, ten feet away, her mother’s name in his mouth.

  Barry had always warned her that it might come to this and told her to be ready with her backstory. ‘I don’t know who that is, my mother’s called Sue,’ April said through the most forced smile of her life.

  Kenny chuckled. ‘I dunno, you look a lot like the April I’m looking for. I’ve got a photo. Several actually.’ He smiled a moment further before his eyes drifted to April’s side. ‘Is this Sophie?’ he asked.

  April glanced to her side, to Sophie, rooted to the spot. This was the nightmare squared. They were both in danger. And Sophie had nothing to do with any of this. April felt panic shoot through her hands like electricity. But she fought it back. ‘This is my friend Laura. Look, I don’t know who you think I am, but you’ve got the wrong person.’

  Kenny took a step forward, and April felt Sophie start to shuffle back, but she gripped her hand, hoping she’d understand the message. Don’t run. If we run, we’re dead. Sophie stayed in place.

  Kenny, however, took another step forward, flicking glances around him. An old couple were shambling past, not paying any attention to what was happening feet from them.

  April tried to sound tired and bored. ‘Look, dude, I don’t know you, and you’re creeping me out now. If you keep coming up on me like this, I’m gonna have to assume you’ve got bad intentions. I’ll have to bell the police.’

  Kenny grinned. ‘You’re a cool customer, aren’t you? Nothing like your mum said. She said you were a bit… weak. But maybe time has changed that, eh?’

  April shook her head. ‘I keep telling you, you’ve got the wrong person. Now piss off, alright?’ She nudged Sophie. ‘Come on, let’s go.’

  She turned around, and Sophie followed suit. They began to move toward the car. April did everything she could, not to look over her shoulder. She didn’t know if her little act was having any impact whatsoever, but it was her only weapon, and by god, she’d wield it.

  ‘Are we gonna be OK?’ Sophie whispered.

  ‘Just keep moving,’ April said in what she hoped was an assuring tone.

  But then she felt the skin prickle on the back of her neck, and he was on them, his hot, sour breath in April’s ear. ‘Look, this was cute, but there’s a blade in your back, pointing at your left kidney,’ he said quietly. April glanced around to see if anyone in the carpark was ever going to notice what was happening. But it was clear they weren’t, too caught up in their own business. The only witness was Sophie, her eyes wide with fear, looking at April in horror. ‘Leave her alone,’ Sophie managed to stutter over her shoulder.

  ‘Yeah, you can shut the fuck up as well. All I want either of you two to do is get in that car over there, the white one.’

  April gave it up about then. She wasn’t getting away from this guy. But it didn’t mean there was nothing more to say. ‘Fine. I admit it, I’m April Gardener, alright? And
I’ll come with you. On one condition. You let Sophie go.’

  Sophie gripped down on April’s hand. ‘What, no-’

  ‘If you do that, I’ll go quietly,’ April went on as calmly as she could manage. ‘Otherwise, I’m going to make you stab me in this carpark, and it’s going to be a big, loud mess with a lot of witnesses that’s gonna cause you serious problems,’ April went on, her heart banging.

  Kenny didn’t say anything for a minute, and April couldn’t tell which way his thumb was going to swing. But then he said, ‘Yeah, alright. But your mate’s gonna be a good girl about this, isn’t she? Just sit tight and let us leave?’