Don't Look Behind You: A dark, twisting crime thriller that will grip you to the last page (Detective Eden Berrisford crime thriller series Book 2)

by Mel Sherratt

  ‘We’d just been out for coffee and cake – that’s me and my wife, Marian – to celebrate a friend’s seventieth birthday,’ he continued. ‘We don’t get out much nowadays, what with my arthritis, and Marian’s sciatica playing up all the time, but on special occasions we always try to make an effort.’

  Phil coughed, hoping the old man would hurry up. It was nearing lunchtime, and he was only working until 1 p.m. There was no way he was running over if he could help it.

  ‘It took us ages to find a parking space as near to the ground floor as possible, driving round and round until a spot came up. Finally, we were lucky to nab one on the second floor. My eyesight isn’t the best nowadays either but I can still manage to squeeze the car into the tightest of spaces.’ His voice was full of pride as he puffed out his chest.

  ‘He doesn’t want to hear every detail, Stanley,’ said Marian as she rolled her eyes.

  Phil smiled his gratitude while silently thanking her, his mind already on the 1.30 p.m. horse race he was aiming to bet on.

  ‘Anyway,’ Stanley sat forward a little to continue his tale, ‘we were walking back to the car, chatting about what a great night we’d had, when we heard a scream, didn’t we, Marian?’ He turned to look at his wife.

  ‘That’s right.’ Marian took over the story. ‘At first we assumed it was someone messing about, and we thought nothing of it, but when we heard it again, Stanley and I walked back to see what was going on.’

  ‘A man ran past us,’ said Stanley, ‘and when we got nearer to where we thought the scream had come from, we saw a woman get out of the back of her car and scramble into the driver’s seat. She was crying quite loudly. I knocked on the window and asked her if she wanted help, but she shook her head. And then she just drove off.’

  Marian looked at Phil, teary eyed. His gaze tried not to stray to the deluge of photos framed on the wall by his side. If it did, he knew he’d never get out. He had a feeling these two would want to tell him everything about each family occasion.

  ‘Were we there when it happened?’ she asked.

  Phil nodded and got out his notebook. ‘Did you see what the attacker looked like? Can you describe him at all?’

  ‘He was quite small, I thought,’ said Stanley. ‘What would you say, Marian?’

  ‘I’d say he was quite tall, really, Stan. We’re both smaller than we used to be and he was taller than us.’

  ‘I suppose so. And he had a black woollen hat on, so we couldn’t see his hair, and a scarf covering his mouth.’

  ‘What else was he wearing? Any distinctive clothing or colours you remember?’

  Stanley paused before shaking his head. ‘Not that I can recall.’

  Marian shook her head. ‘I can’t remember anything either. All I can see is dark. A dark jacket and trousers, dark boots and hat. We’re not being any use whatsoever, are we?’ she asked dejectedly.

  ‘Anything might help us, Mrs Reynolds. Did you see where he went? Did he get into another car or was he on foot?’

  ‘Well, we only saw him fleetingly before he got into a taxi.’

  Phil looked up. ‘I thought you were on the second floor.’

  ‘We were, but you can see down between the barriers. He got into a taxi and it drove off.’

  Phil looked up. He’d seen this in the statement and thought the Reynolds’ had been confused. ‘You’re sure it was a taxi?’

  ‘I’m certain.’

  ‘Did you see which firm it was?’

  ‘Yes, EveryDay Taxis. We use them quite a lot. They aren’t the best for tidiness but they are cheap for fares.’

  Phil noted it down. It was over in the north of Stockleigh, in Harrington, over by the bypass.

  ‘I still can’t get that scream out of my head,’ said Mr Reynolds. ‘Was the woman hurt badly?’

  ‘Please don’t feel too bad about it.’ Phil’s hard demeanour dropped a little. ‘It’s looking likely that he panicked when he saw you two. I think you saved that girl from a much worse attack.’

  The smiles lit up their faces.

  As Phil got up to leave, he was smiling too. He’d got the first lead on the case. Someone must have picked up the attacker and driven him somewhere. But first the 1.30 p.m. race was beckoning him. If he was quick, he would just about make it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Late that same afternoon, Tanya walked to the shops on Vincent Square. The cold wind was welcoming – she needed some fresh air. The refuge always made her feel claustrophobic, with all its rules and regulations, its self-help happy-clappy nonsense. And that woman, Marsha, was doing her head in. She hadn’t stopped crying since she’d got there. Tanya was through with giving her sympathy now.

  On her way back, she turned into Harold Street and a shadow crossed her, making her jump.

  ‘Vic!’

  He took her by the hand and they stopped, hidden by the back of the bus shelter.

  ‘What are you doing!’ she cried.

  ‘I don’t want to be seen with you beforehand, do I?’ He grinned as he pressed his body to hers. ‘Have you missed me?’

  Tanya gazed at the man she had loved for most of her life. He’d changed so much since they had first met in their teens. Their lifestyle had taken its toll: his face was drawn, his skin had a greyish tint and there were dark rings underneath his brown eyes, but still she found him irresistible because she could see past that. She remembered how he used to be.

  He was taller than her by a good few inches, protective of her when they were out. Always an arm around her shoulders, or his hand in hers, squeezing her fingers hard if she so much as glanced at another man. They belonged to each other, despite not being good for each other at all. Vic had a hold on her that she despised, yet she ached for him when he wasn’t around.

  As his lips found hers, Tanya tried to resist but found herself melting into his embrace. She couldn’t help it. She had missed him. She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him as close as she could. Then she stopped.

  ‘You shouldn’t be here,’ she told him.

  ‘I just wanted to see you. There’s no law against that, is there?’ He went to kiss her again but she stepped away.

  ‘I have to go.’

  But Vic followed. She could almost feel him behind her, ready to put his hands on her. Scared of what he would do, she scurried along.

  At the door to the refuge, she stopped and looked behind her again. He was a few feet away. But as soon as she had gained access by pressing buttons on the lock, he flew at her and pushed her inside the property. She landed on the floor in the hallway. He pulled her up by her hair and slammed her into the wall.

  ‘Leave me alone,’ she screamed, hoping to alert someone.

  Lisa came through from the kitchen. She gasped as she saw Vic with his hands around Tanya’s neck.

  ‘Get off her,’ she cried, stepping nearer to the alarm.

  ‘Piss off,’ Vic said without taking his eyes off Tanya.

  ‘Ow! You’re hurting me!’

  Three women from the lounge came rushing out to see what was going on. They stood rooted in the doorway.

  ‘I want you to leave.’ Lisa gingerly took another step forward. ‘You have no right to be in here.’

  ‘Oh, I’m going all right, but she’s coming with me.’ Vic turned his face to her sharply before looking back at Tanya.

  ‘She doesn’t belong to you,’ said Andrea, one of the women still standing in the doorway. ‘She isn’t a piece of property.’

  ‘Mind your own fucking business.’ Vic released Tanya, pushed her to the floor and bent down to whisper something in her ear before walking off.

  As soon as he was outside, Lisa closed the door and then knelt down beside Tanya. Her face was red, marks already appearing on her neck where Vic had dug his fingers in.

  ‘Did you let him in?’ Lisa’s tone was accusatory.

  ‘No! I didn’t know he was there. I – I was coming back from the shops, and as soon as I opened the door, he
ran up the path and pushed his way in.’ Tanya put her own hand where Vic’s had been at her neck and gasped for air again. ‘I thought he was going to kill me. I’m sorry,’ she said, bursting into tears.

  Lisa shook her head in disbelief. ‘I thought he might come after you, but I didn’t think he’d get in.’

  Andrea spoke again. ‘I thought this was supposed to be a safe house.’ She moved into the hall now that the danger had passed. ‘I gave up everything to come here. If my Derek finds me and can get in that easily, then I’ll probably be a goner before you can get help.’

  ‘Can someone really get in that easy?’ Theresa, the latest resident, seemed to pale at the thought.

  Lisa held up a hand. ‘Look, ladies, we do everything we can to keep this a safe space but there is always a danger that one of you will be followed back and everyone needs to be mindful of that.’

  ‘Well, that’s not gonna help us if my old man comes in here with a knife.’ Andrea drew up her sleeve to reveal a deep scar, several inches in length. ‘He did that in the blink of an eye.’

  ‘Please try not to panic. These things happen occasionally, but one thing we have here is we look after one another.’ Lisa looked around at the sea of anxious faces. ‘I think tea would be a good idea? Shirley?’ She looked at one of the long-term volunteers for help.

  Shirley came towards them and took Tanya’s arm. ‘Sure thing. Come on, love.’

  Carla came rushing in. ‘Is everyone okay?’ she addressed the room. ‘Sorry, I didn’t hear anything. Maria came in to tell me. Did someone get in?’

  ‘Tanya’s fella,’ said Andrea, folding her arms and tutting loudly. ‘I hope no one else gets—’

  ‘No one else will get in,’ said Lisa.

  ‘How sure of that can you be?’

  Tanya saw the look between Carla and Lisa. No one could say that anyone was safe, could they? Which meant Vic could just as easily get in again.

  A smile played on her lips. Perfect.

  Chapter Nineteen

  After taking a call from Phil, Eden drove over to EveryDay Taxis. Despite him being all pleased with himself that he had found a lead, she wasn’t hanging around waiting for him to have time to visit. Besides, with Sean overseeing Phil’s return to work, she was conscious that he’d been sent to her to do mostly desk duties until he was back to full-time hours again.

  The taxi base was on an industrial estate and it took her a few minutes to find it due to it being pushed into the smallest of spaces at the end of a long road of offices and storage facilities. If she had to bet on it, she would guess it was the office that had the lowest rent.

  She pushed heavily on a stiff door to open it and entered a dark reception area where a woman sat behind a desk surrounded by piles of paperwork. It was so untidy that Eden wondered if the receptionist could ever know what was where. A coffee machine sat on a small table to her right, along with a well-fingered magazine and a bin full of wrappers and plastic cups. Dirty spoons sat in a saucer.

  ‘Morning, are you the owner?’ Eden held up her warrant card.

  ‘No, I only work here part-time and I’ll be retiring soon thankfully. That will be Mr Minton. Ray?’ the woman shouted over her shoulder.

  ‘What’s up now, Doreen?’ a voice shouted back.

  ‘The police are here to see you.’

  Eden heard a chair scraping across the floor, and a middle-aged man with thick-rimmed glasses appeared in the doorway of a room at the back.

  ‘Come on through, love.’ He beckoned to her with his hand.

  Eden held her tongue as Doreen lifted up the counter and she walked across the office. In the room, the man was now sitting behind a desk. Well at least she thought it was a desk. It could have been a kitchen table. There were piles of paperwork on here too: tickets, invoices and black box files dated 2007 onwards were stacked precariously on the corner.

  ‘What can I do for you, love?’ he asked.

  ‘Well you can stop calling me love for starters. Detective Sergeant will do.’ She smiled at him sarcastically. ‘I need to know which of your drivers picked up a fare from the multi-storey car park at twenty past eight last night.’

  ‘Let me see.’ He pressed the mouse to wake up his computer and clicked a few times. ‘Here we are, a list of last night’s jobs. Twenty past eight, you say? That would be Scott Daniels.’

  ‘Is he here yet? Can I have a word?’

  Ray glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘He’s due on shift in the next ten minutes, which means you might catch him in the canteen. What’s he been up to?’

  Eden told him what she could about the assault the night before. ‘A witness saw a man getting into one of your taxis,’ she told him.

  Ray pointed through a window. ‘There’s a Portakabin out the back. You’ll find him in there.’

  Eden crossed the yard, slaloming through several cars, and pushed on the door to the Portakabin. Inside were four men and a woman, sitting on two old battered settees. A coffee table in the middle was littered with plastic containers, dirty mugs and a few car magazines. The air was musty; she wasn’t sure if it was from the room or its occupants. She sniggered when she thought of Ray describing it as a canteen.

  ‘Which one of you is Scott Daniels?’ Eden flashed her warrant card as she stepped into the centre of the cabin, watching where she put her feet as her toe made contact with a rogue mug.

  ‘That will be me, officer.’ A man stood up to his full height. His dark hair was stylishly messy, kinking up at the neck of his shirt, which was covered by a thick-knitted jumper and a ribbed gilet. He thrust his hands into its pockets and smiled, blue eyes twinkling at her. ‘What can I do for you?’

  ‘A word, please?’ Eden smiled before nodding in the direction of the door.

  ‘You been a naughty boy already, Scott?’ Another of the men slapped his backside as he passed. There were a few jeers as they went outside.

  An articulated lorry thundered past them, and Eden waited for it to move away a little before she began to speak. ‘Your boss says you picked up a fare at twenty past eight from outside the multi-storey on Market Street last night?’ She raised her voice to be heard as she looked up at him.

  Scott nodded. ‘I picked up a lot of fares last night. Can you give me anything else?’

  ‘It would have been a male, dressed in dark clothing. He must have flagged you down?’

  ‘Ah, yes, the small dude with the beady eyes. He only wanted to go round the corner, back to the high street. I told him I’d charge a minimum fare, and he didn’t seem bothered by it.’

  ‘Where exactly did you drop him off?’ Eden took out her notepad and jotted down the details.

  ‘What’s this to do with?’ Scott asked.

  ‘A woman was attacked last night.’

  His eyes widened. ‘And you think he was your man?’

  ‘I need to rule him out regardless. The attack happened just before you picked him up. Can you remember what he looked like?’

  ‘I didn’t really take that much notice of him, sorry. I pick up so many people, and they’re mostly sitting behind me.’

  ‘And where did you say you dropped him off?’ Eden tipped her ear towards him as another lorry went past.

  ‘At The Snooker Club, halfway down the high street. You know it?’

  She nodded. ‘Did you see him go inside the building?’

  ‘No. Like I said, I was on to my next call by then.’ Scott raised his hands up to his sides and then dropped them again in resignation. ‘Sorry, I feel useless but I didn’t think anything of the fare at the time. People like that aren’t very memorable. It’s the ones that are abusive or throw up on the back seat or do a runner that I remember the most.’

  Eden could empathise. It sounded very similar to her job at times. She handed the driver her card. ‘If you do recall anything else, can you let me know, please?’

  ‘Sure thing.’

  Eden left the offices of EveryDay Taxis after making a note to ask one of her tea
m to search out the CCTV footage that showed their attacker and where he’d gone once he’d been dropped off. The Snooker Club was less than a minute’s walk if you cut through the side of the multi-storey car park. Flagging down a passing taxi meant someone wanted to make a quick getaway.

  Chapter Twenty

  After the attack on Tanya, it had taken a while for the women in the refuge to settle. Once things were reasonably normal again, Carla found herself in the kitchen with Lisa.

  ‘It brings back bad memories, doesn’t it?’ said Lisa. ‘When something like that happens. Makes you feel vulnerable again.’

  Carla nodded. She and Lisa had confided in each other as their work relationship had grown into friendship. Both women knew each other’s background but each recognised that not everything had been shared. Some things were too painful to talk about, and others were too private to share.

  ‘I hope this isn’t the start of attacks on the refuge,’ Lisa added. ‘Once a man finds a woman here, sometimes he can cause a disturbance for several nights – often several weeks.’

  Carla shuddered. ‘Perhaps it will die down now he’s realised he can’t get in to her so easily.’

  ‘He did get in easily!’ Lisa retorted.

  ‘You know what I mean. Maybe now he’s seen her, he might give up. I hate to say this as we’ve both been through similar things, but sometimes it’s the chase, isn’t it?’

  ‘I suppose.’ Lisa sighed. ‘Having seen Vic White here several times now, I wondered if this was the time he would give up.’

  ‘But it seems he’s going to try and inflict maximum pain to ensure Tanya never disobeys him again.’

  ‘It’s all mind control with them, the cowards.’ Lisa couldn’t keep the sharp tone from her voice. ‘Most of the time, the front door and the alarm system are a good deterrent. But sometimes it isn’t enough. Just before you started to work here last year, I had a man stab his partner on the steps outside.’