Witness

by Mandasue Heller

  ‘It’s not about her, but we think it involves her,’ Suzie said, taking a swig of wine before lighting a cigarette.

  Rob did the same, and then settled back in his seat as Suzie outlined the events of the previous night, starting when she and Holly had been in Josie’s room packing a bag to take to the hospital and had come across the biscuit tin.

  ‘Holly didn’t recognize their names and was curious to know why her mum had kept the newspaper clipping,’ she went on. ‘Like I told you earlier, Josie’s really secretive and won’t tell her anything about her family, so I think she was hoping they might turn out to be relatives. Anyway, I was about to google their names when Josie turned up. She’d discharged herself from hospital and looked terrible, and I was trying to get her to sit down before she fell down, but she as good as kicked me out. I came home, but I hadn’t been here long when Holly ran over in tears, saying her mum had collapsed. She said Josie had gone mad at her for letting me into the flat, and that she’d ordered Holly to start packing ’cos they had to leave before someone came and killed them.’

  ‘Eh?’ Rob’s eyebrows crept together. ‘Who?’

  ‘I’m not sure, but I think it relates to this.’ Suzie pointed at the article on the screen. ‘But I’ll get to that in a minute . . .’

  She picked up the story where she and Holly had gone back to the flat and found Josie in bed, and how she had told Holly to call her if anything else happened.

  ‘You came round not long after I got home,’ she went on. ‘And I didn’t hear from Holly again until she turned up in tears again this morning after you went out to get the cigs and wine. She was telling me what had happened when you came back and Josie tried to force her way in. Anyway, after Josie left and you walked out, Holly went for a lie-down and I went over to the flat to try and talk to Josie. But she wasn’t there, and . . .’ She paused and glanced at the door before whispering, ‘I haven’t told Holly this, but some of her clothes were missing.’

  ‘She might have gone to the launderette,’ Rob suggested.

  ‘No, she’d gone,’ Suzie said with certainty. ‘You don’t empty your underwear drawer for a trip to the launderette, do you? And the biscuit tin wasn’t where Holly told me she’d left it.’

  ‘So what did you do?’

  ‘I left a note asking Josie to ring me when she got home. But I haven’t heard from her, and she hasn’t turned any lights on all day, so I’m guessing she hasn’t come back yet.’

  She paused and took a drag on her cigarette, then shook her head, saying, ‘How can any woman do that to their own child? Holly’s upset now, but can you imagine how she’s going to feel when she finds out her mum’s abandoned her?’

  ‘Do you think that’s what she’s done?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know.’ Suzie shrugged. ‘I hope not, because I can’t keep Holly here forever. She’ll have to go back to school soon or they’re likely to send the welfare officer round. And if they find out Josie’s gone and left Holly with me . . .’ She tailed off and shook her head again. ‘It could get really messy, Rob.’

  ‘I don’t want to say I told you so, but I did try to warn you not to get involved,’ Rob said softly. ‘If it was me, I’d call the police and let them handle it.’

  ‘I know I’ll probably have to do that eventually, but I want to give Josie a chance. You saw the state she was in earlier. She’s traumatized, and she can’t be thinking straight. But she’ll have to snap out of it at some point.’

  ‘And what if she doesn’t?’

  ‘She will,’ Suzie said, as much to convince herself as Rob. ‘She’s already gone to extreme lengths to protect Holly, so there’s no way she’d leave her if she genuinely thinks she’s in danger. That’s where the dead couple come in . . .’

  She told Rob her theory about Holly’s nightmares stemming from repressed memories of her childhood; how the father she believed she had never met might actually have been abusive towards her mum, and Josie had fled with her in fear of their lives after finding out that he’d murdered the couple.

  ‘That’s some twisted shit you’ve dreamed up there,’ Rob said bemusedly when she’d finished. ‘Ever thought about writing a book?’

  ‘Don’t take the mick,’ Suzie chided. ‘I’ve been thinking about it all night and it’s the only thing that makes sense. It explains why Josie’s moved Holly around so much, making it impossible for her to get close to anyone in case she let something slip and her father was able to track them down. And when she said they had to leave because it wasn’t safe here any more, I reckon she thought Holly must have confided in me and put them in danger.’

  ‘And had she?’ Rob asked.

  ‘No.’ Suzie shook her head. ‘She doesn’t know anything to tell me, bless her. She’s always believed her dad abandoned her mum before she was born, and Josie’s never even told her his name.’

  ‘Have you told Holly any of this?’

  ‘No, it’s not my place. Josie obviously thinks she’s protecting her by keeping her in the dark, but I think they’d both be safer if Holly knew what they were dealing with, so I’m going to try to persuade her to tell her when she comes back.’

  ‘If she comes back,’ Rob said ominously.

  Suzie wanted to reiterate that Josie would come back, but she honestly wasn’t sure any more. It was obvious the woman had issues, and the attack had probably unbalanced her already unstable mind. Added to which, Josie clearly had a drink problem, and maybe even a drug habit. But if Josie had gone to such great lengths to protect Holly so far, would she really give up on her now?

  Clinging to the hope that she wouldn’t, Suzie said, ‘If she’s not back by morning, I’ll talk to Holly – see if she can think of anyone her mum might be staying with. She must have at least one friend she trusts.’

  ‘Doesn’t sound like she trusts anyone, from what you’ve told me,’ Rob said, scrolling through the article again. ‘But if you’re right, and this murder is connected to whatever’s going on, you seriously need to think about handing Holly over to the police before these phantom killers come after you, as well.’

  The image on the screen suddenly changed to one of the sultry shots Holly had taken of Suzie, and Suzie blushed when she realized that Rob must have accidentally clicked back to the website, which she’d minimized instead of closing down before going online.

  ‘Whoa, what’s this?’ Rob’s eyes lit up.

  ‘Nothing,’ she said, trying to click back to the article.

  ‘Hang about,’ Rob said, batting her hand away. ‘Who took it?’

  ‘Holly,’ Suzie said. ‘It’s for the website I told you about.’

  ‘The modelling agency?’ Rob said, his gaze fixed on the image of Suzie lying on a beach with one knee raised, the other leg outstretched; lips parted, eyes half closed, her glossy hair cascading down her back. ‘I reckon you’d be better sacking that off and setting up as a webcam babe instead, ’cos blokes would pay through the nose to have a one-on-one with you looking like this.’

  Suzie frowned. Given the violent way Rob had reacted in the past to men simply looking at her in bars, she was surprised he would even suggest such a thing.

  ‘Babe, I was joking,’ Rob said when he saw her expression. ‘But seriously, these are gorgeous.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Suzie murmured, quickly closing the laptop down. ‘They’re only test shots for me to experiment with. I’ll replace them with photos of the models who sign up to the agency before I launch the website.’

  ‘I know you think you’re past it, but you’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met,’ Rob said.

  Certain that he had been joking about the webcam thing, Suzie smiled and reached for her drink.

  ‘So what now?’ Rob asked, taking a swig of his drink and stubbing his cigarette out in the ashtray. ‘Reckon she’ll be asleep yet?’ He flicked his eyes up at the ceiling.

  ‘Probably,’ Suzie said, realizing that she hadn’t heard any movement from up there in a while. ‘She was
pretty wiped when I left her.’

  ‘Want to chance it?’ He gave her a wolfish grin. Then, seeming to think better of it, he said, ‘That’s if you still want to? If you need time to think about it, I can leave and come back tomorrow. Or I’ll sleep on the sofa. Whatever’s best for you.’

  Suzie bit her lip and stared into her almost empty glass. She was the one who had initiated things tonight, and she had no doubt they would already have made love by now if Rob’s crazy ex hadn’t turned up.

  ‘You can stay,’ she said, looking up after a moment. ‘But if we’re going to give this another go, you need to be sure it’s what you really want.’

  ‘I’m sure,’ Rob said, stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers. ‘But are you? I don’t want you to feel like I’m rushing you into it.’

  ‘Shut up and kiss me,’ Suzie said, repeating what she’d said earlier. ‘And this time, don’t stop,’ she added huskily.

  35

  Josie still hadn’t been in touch by the following morning, and there was no sign that she’d been home when Suzie and Holly went over to check the flat. The air smelled as bad as always, and dust motes rose up into the air in each of the rooms they entered.

  ‘What if she’s been attacked again?’ Holly fretted, as they went back through the rooms they had already checked, looking in cupboards and checking under the beds. ‘Or been run over, or fallen into a ditch and been too weak to climb out of it?’

  ‘I’m sure nothing’s happened, or we’d have heard by now,’ Suzie reassured her, trying to ignore her own nagging doubts about Josie’s wellbeing. ‘She’s most likely gone to a friend’s place, so is there no one you can think of? She must have mentioned somebody?’

  ‘No.’ Holly shook her head. ‘I’ve already told you, she hasn’t got any friends; just people she works with.’

  ‘I find that really hard to believe,’ Suzie said. ‘What about boyfriends?’

  ‘There’s only ever been one that I know about,’ said Holly. ‘I thought I’d told you about him? She met him in the cafe she was working in and we moved in with him, but she was too moody so he kicked us out after a few months.’

  ‘Yeah, I think you did mention it,’ Suzie said.

  ‘There hasn’t been anyone since that,’ Holly said adamantly. ‘Even if she was trying to hide it from me, she wouldn’t have time between working and sleeping.’

  ‘OK, so maybe it’s not a boyfriend,’ Suzie conceded. ‘But someone must know where she is.’

  ‘Can we phone the hospital again?’ Holly asked.

  Suzie took out her phone and reluctantly perched on the sofa, which looked grubbier than ever in daylight. She had called all the hospitals in Manchester a couple of times already, and Josie hadn’t been admitted to any of them. But if it put Holly’s mind at rest, she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to try again.

  Ten minutes later, the phone hot in her hand, she said, ‘Nothing. So stop worrying, because she would have been found by now if anything had happened, I promise you.’

  Holly nodded and chewed on her thumbnail.

  ‘I’ll try the agency again,’ Suzie said. ‘I doubt she’ll be working in her condition, but they might know if she’s friendly with any of the women she works with. While I do that, why don’t you go and make a brew,’ she suggested, struggling to contain her disgust when Holly’s thumbnail-chewing drew blood and she started sucking it.

  Holly got up without argument and sloped into the kitchen. When she’d gone, Suzie rang the agency.

  ‘Barker’s cleaning contractors,’ a woman answered.

  ‘Oh, hi,’ Suzie said. ‘I rang yesterday . . . about Josie Evans?’

  ‘Oh, yeah?’ the woman said guardedly.

  ‘I’m a friend of hers,’ Suzie went on. ‘Well, more a friend of her daughter’s, actually. But, anyway . . . I know you’re aware that Josie was attacked the other night.’

  ‘Yeah, I know,’ the woman said. ‘Made a right mess of her.’

  ‘Oh, have you seen her?’ Suzie asked.

  The woman went quiet, and Suzie’s instincts told her that she knew something.

  ‘Look, I promise I won’t tell Josie you told me,’ she said carefully, so as not to alarm the woman if she had a reason for not wanting to talk about Josie. ‘Thing is, she’s gone missing, and we’re really worried about her. Like you said, the attacker made a mess of her, and she collapsed when she came home from hospital, so if you have seen her and know where she is, please tell me. Holly – her daughter – is out of her mind with worry.’

  After another few seconds of silence, the woman spoke again. But her voice was muffled now, as if she’d moved away from whoever might be around her because she didn’t want them to hear. ‘I want my name kept out of this,’ she said.

  ‘Absolutely,’ Suzie agreed, even though she didn’t actually know the woman’s name, because it hadn’t been offered. ‘So you have seen her?’

  ‘Yeah. Last night. She came round to mine.’

  ‘Really?’ Suzie’s heart leapt. ‘Did she stay? Is she still there?’

  ‘No, she ain’t,’ the woman replied coolly. ‘We’re not mates, or anything. But she seemed fine, so . . .’

  ‘Why did she come to you?’ Suzie asked. ‘I’m not being nosy,’ she added quickly. ‘I’m just trying to figure out where her head’s at, and where she might have gone after she left yours. Do you know if she’s got any other friends at work she could be staying with?’

  ‘She’s not the sort to make friends,’ the woman replied gruffly, echoing what Holly had already said. ‘But me and her have got a little . . .’ She paused, as if reconsidering her decision to discuss this with a stranger. Then, sighing, she said, ‘Right, I’m only telling you this for the kid’s sake, and I’ll deny it if you try and drag me into it, ’cos I’ve got kids of me own to think about.’

  ‘I won’t repeat anything you tell me,’ Suzie assured her. ‘You have my word.’

  The woman muttered an audible Hmph! as if Suzie’s word meant jack-shit to her, before saying, ‘She was after booze. Booze and painkillers.’

  ‘Ah . . . I see,’ Suzie murmured. ‘And did you give her any?’

  ‘A bottle of voddy and a strip of trammies,’ said the woman. ‘And if you see her before I do, you’d best tell her to get her arse round here and pay for it, ’cos she was supposed to drop the money off this morning.’

  She hung up at that, and Suzie stared at the phone thoughtfully. So Josie had gone off in search of booze – no surprises there, given how many empty bottles she’d had stashed in the laundry basket. Holly and the woman both claimed that Josie didn’t have any friends, but Suzie suspected she probably had at least one drinking buddy. Most alcoholics did, in her experience, and she figured that Josie’s buddy would have been only too happy to let her stay if she turned up on their doorstep with a bottle of booze in her hand.

  ‘Anything?’ Holly asked, coming through from the kitchen carrying two steaming cups.

  Making a snap decision not to tell Holly about the booze, or her suspicion that Josie might be holed up somewhere with a fellow alcoholic, Suzie said, ‘One of her workmates saw her last night and said she seemed fine.’

  ‘Did she say where she was?’ Holly’s eyes lit up. ‘Is she coming home soon?’

  ‘She didn’t say, but at least we know she’s OK,’ Suzie said, grimacing when she saw bits of stale milk floating in the tea Holly handed to her. Placing the cup on the table, she said, ‘Tell you what, let’s forget this and go back to mine for breakfast.’

  ‘But what about my mum?’ Holly asked. ‘Shouldn’t we wait here for her?’

  Already on her feet, desperate to get out of there, Suzie said, ‘I need to get back, hon.’

  ‘To see Rob?’ Holly asked.

  ‘How did you know he was there?’ Suzie asked, sure that she couldn’t have heard them last night, because they’d been careful to keep the noise down. And she couldn’t have seen him this morning, because he’d still been sleeping
when they came over here.

  ‘I heard you and him talking last night, and some woman shouting,’ Holly admitted, hoping that Suzie wouldn’t think she’d been eavesdropping. ‘And his jacket and rucksack were in the hall when I came downstairs, so I figured he must have stayed,’ she added.

  ‘Proper little detective, aren’t we?’ Suzie said, rolling her eyes. ‘Oh, well, seeing as you’ve figured it out for yourself, you might as well know we’ve decided to give it another go. Don’t look so worried,’ she added when she saw Holly’s frown. ‘He has changed. In fact, he’s like he used to be when I first got with him, and I think you’d like him if you gave him a chance.’

  Holly nodded, but Suzie could tell she wasn’t convinced. Sighing, she said, ‘So what do you want to do? You’re welcome to come with me, but I’ll understand if you’d rather stay here.’

  Holly looked around. This was her home and she’d spent more time alone there than she had ever spent with her mum. But her mum’s weird warnings about people coming to kill them were fresh in her mind, and she didn’t think she’d feel safe on her own.

  ‘I’ll come back to yours,’ she said, placing her cup next to Suzie’s.

  Rob was up, dressed, and making a brew when Suzie and Holly arrived back at the house, and he raised an eyebrow at Suzie when the girl scuttled up the stairs at the sight of him.

  ‘I take it there’s no sign of her mum yet?’

  ‘Nope,’ Suzie said, resting her head on his chest when he pulled her into his arms. ‘Hey, pack it in,’ she giggled, squirming out of his grasp when he nuzzled her neck. ‘Holly might see us.’

  ‘So?’ Rob placed his hands around her waist and pulled her towards him.

  ‘Stop it,’ Suzie chided playfully, grinning as she pushed him away.

  ‘What’s the plan?’ Rob asked, folding his arms and leaning back against the counter when she sat down and lit a cigarette.

  ‘Same as before – waiting for Josie to come back,’ Suzie said, opening her laptop. ‘Oh, have you been using this?’ she asked when she saw that it was already switched on.