The Girls in the Woods

by Helen Phifer

  ‘I’ll go and speak to Debs, let her know in case she wants to go up to the hospital.’

  ‘If you’re sure, that’s much appreciated.’

  Will wasn’t sure, but it was the least he could do. She would have been expecting Kav to be dropping Stu off half an hour ago and news travelled fast. He didn’t want her reading about it on the internet. The officer standing at the end near to where he was parked lifted the tape up for him to drive through and he waved his thanks. The radio began to play George Michael, singing about how he needed faith, and Will had to admit that at this moment in time he needed a whole lot more than faith. The thought of passing the news about Stu on to Debs made him feel even queasier than he already was. For the time being he forgot all about Tilly being missing; he even forgot that he’d had to leave Annie in hospital once again. All he could see was the image of the crumpled, bloodied mess that was Stu.

  Chapter 20

  It was getting dusky. Heath looked out of the window to see a solitary police van parked near to the woods. It still made his heart race, despite the fact that he knew they couldn’t be any closer to finding the killer or else his house would have been crawling with police. There would have been a welcoming party waiting for him earlier with tasers and the full works, but it didn’t stop the bitter taste in his mouth. What was he going to do with the girl? She couldn’t die just yet; he was going to have to keep her alive and run the risk of his wife hearing her – or even worse, the police.

  He wondered how long she would last in one of the morgue fridges, if he turned them off at the mains so she wasn’t slowly frozen to death. Even if he only put her in it for a few hours at a time – as long as he remembered to take her out, feed and water her. It might just work; they would be pretty soundproof and the dogs wouldn’t be able to smell her inside one of those. If she did suffocate then he’d just switch it on at the mains and freeze her. For the first time in hours he smiled to himself; it sounded like a great idea. Jo had gone upstairs for a bath, telling him that she felt unwell and wanted an early night. He’d waited for her to go then he’d scraped his fish straight into the bin, covering it up with some kitchen roll. The smell was offensive, but at least that would throw the police dogs off kilter as well. He made a couple of sandwiches and took two cans of cola from the fridge. He would go and sit with her. Make her promise not to make a noise so he wouldn’t have to hurt her.

  He carried the food through into his studio then locked the door behind him. Pocketing the key, he did the same with his darkroom door, glad he had spent a full afternoon installing a lock now. He listened at the door before opening it; there was no movement inside so he opened the door and stepped into the narrow room. Placing the sandwiches and drinks on the counter he locked this door as well, just in case she felt brave and tried to escape. He tugged on the light pull so the single bare bulb spread some light onto the floor. She was lying on her side in a different position to when he’d left her; kneeling next to her, he listened to see if she was breathing. After what seemed like forever she let out a small sound and her chest rose and fell again. He nodded in approval, then he shook her arm to try and rouse her. She didn’t respond so he shook her even harder. He lightly slapped her cheek and she let out a small groan. One eye opened and she stared at him for a moment before the realisation of who he was struck fear into her and she flinched away from his touch. He smiled, then tucked both his hands under her arms, pulling her up into a sitting position.

  ‘Come on now, there’s no need to be so stubborn, is there? I thought you might be hungry and thirsty, so I’ve made you a sandwich.’

  He picked up the plate to show her. She shook her head and muttered something into the gag that was tightly bound across her mouth.

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t catch a word of that. Now, if you are a good girl, I’ll remove the gag for a while so you can eat and drink but if you make a sound I’ll kill you.’

  He didn’t shout or speak in a menacing tone; he just stated the facts and Tilly found this far more scary than if he’d been in her face threatening her. He bent over her and undid the knot at the back of her head, pausing before he completely removed it.

  ‘Did I make myself clear? You do understand that if you make a sound I’ll strangle you with my bare hands. I’ve done it before, so bear that in mind, should you think I’m full of shit.’

  She nodded her head – anything to get this foul smelling rag out of her mouth. Her jaw was aching she had been clenching against it so hard. The release as he pulled the material from her mouth was wonderful and she found herself yawning and stretching her lips. He lifted a finger to his lips and she nodded, which in turn sent a wave of nausea running through her body. He offered her a drink of cola; she shook her head, afraid he was going to drug her again. But he popped the tab and opened it in front of her eyes and she felt the cold spray as some of the brown sticky liquid hit her cheek. Once more he offered it and she nodded; her mouth was so dry that her tongue was stuck to it. She took a sip, managing to dribble some down her chin, and he paused; lifting his sleeve, he wiped it clean.

  ‘Take your time, there’s no rush. Neither of us is going anywhere tonight.’

  He lifted it again and this time she gulped it greedily; she hated fizzy drinks but this tasted divine, her mouth was so dry. He put the can down and lifted a small triangle of a sandwich to her lips. She wanted to tell him to fuck off and shove it where the sun didn’t shine but her stomach betrayed her, letting out a loud growl. She didn’t know what was going on, but she did know that she needed to keep her strength up if she was going to find a way to escape from here. If she acted like some hero and went on a hunger strike, by the time she had an idea of what she was going to do to escape it wouldn’t matter; she wouldn’t make it a hundred feet and would end up collapsing on legs that were too weak to support her body. She slowly chewed the ham sandwich, all the time trying to take in her surroundings. She noticed the lock on the door with no key and realised that he must have it in his pocket. He kept feeding her and she felt more helpless than she’d ever felt as a child, even when her mum had suffocated her with her bossiness. At least she’d known deep down that the woman was trying her best to look after her. Tilly wasn’t stupid. She knew that this man was holding her a prisoner for some ulterior motive and she also knew that it didn’t seem as if it was going to end all that well unless she did something to stop it. Until she could think about how to do this she needed to be good and do what he told her. She didn’t know how angry he could get, or how violent. She ate the sandwich and whispered thank you.

  He nodded his head in approval; at least she was polite. He’d never kept one alive this long before so it was a learning curve for both of them – he’d been expecting her to become all feisty with him and start screaming. After a few minutes he leant over and retied the gag. Tilly knew why they were called gags now – because this one made her want to retch. She let out a small cry but stopped herself from making any more noise. The room began to swim once more and she knew that somehow he’d managed to drug her again. As the blackness took over she felt herself sinking to the ground. He caught her before her head hit the cold concrete, but she wasn’t aware of that because her world had turned silent. He gently laid her down on the floor then, prodding her with his foot to make sure she was unconscious, he stood up and opened the door.

  Across the room he could see his bank of fridges. He went and opened the door to one of the lower ones and slid out the gurney that was attached to the rails inside. Going back into the narrow darkroom he struggled to pick her up but he managed it. Throwing her over his shoulder he carried her across to the open fridge and manhandled her onto the tray. Sliding the door shut he locked it and grabbed the cans and plates from the darkroom; he needed to get rid of the evidence. He had almost made it to the kitchen when he remembered he hadn’t switched off the electricity and he ran back to pull the plug out. Stupid – he could have killed her. And then he began to laugh to himself. Well, wasn’t that
the whole point?

  Chapter 21

  Will had hugged Debs long and hard before he’d left her in the hands of her sister. She’d been unable to stop sobbing and was blaming it all on herself and he felt like crap. If only he’d handled it better, maybe none of this would have happened. He got in his car, but couldn’t go straight home like he wanted to, like he knew he should.

  It had been a long time since Will had been to see Annie’s brother, who lived in the farmhouse where it had all begun in Abbeywood. He no longer had to worry about leaving his car and parking at the bottom of the long woodland path that led to the house. The huge wooden gates that had caused no end of trouble getting access to the farmhouse and the abandoned mansion in the woods near to it when Henry Smith had been killing young women and stalking Annie. Jake had put an end to them the night he and Kav had driven through them at full speed to come and rescue both him and Annie. Will shivered. He tried to repress the memories of the night and most of the time he succeeded but tonight they didn’t want to stay hidden. Maybe it was because of the time of night; it was almost midnight and the moon was hidden behind the clouds, making the woods behind the shiny, new automatic gates look ominous. He got out of his car and pressed the number on the keypad to open them; by the time he’d turned around and climbed back in they were almost open. He nudged his car through and carried on driving up towards the house, not having to worry about fiddling with the old rusty chain and multiple padlocks that used to adorn it. With his car headlights on full beam he concentrated on the narrow road; he didn’t look into the trees just in case he caught a glimpse of white. Although he hadn’t personally met the ghost of Alice Heaton, Annie had and Alice had come to Annie’s rescue a few times when Will hadn’t been able to. Although if you had asked him if he believed in ghosts he would have laughed it off, he knew from Annie’s experience that they did exist. And Will would always be indebted to Alice and little Sophie who had been there for him not that long ago when he’d been stabbed and left to bleed to death by Megan Rode at the lake house. As he took the right-hand fork, the farmhouse – which was illuminated from almost every room – beckoned him, drawing him in. He parked next to Ben’s battered pick-up and Lisa’s shiny white Mercedes; as he slammed his car door shut, the barking began and the kitchen door opened. The black bundle of fur came racing towards the gate just as Will stepped through it; she took one sniff of Will and rolled onto her back for a scratch.

  ‘I don’t know, Tess. I see your guard dog skills haven’t improved any since we last met.’

  The dog lay there, her tail wagging, letting Will rub her belly.

  ‘Tess, come on girl.’

  Ben appeared at the door. He looked haggard and Will noted his red eyes.

  ‘I hoped you were bringing her home.’

  ‘Sorry, Ben, I should have rung to let you know I was coming. I just wanted to come and see you both. See if there’s anything I can do.’

  ‘Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. Thanks for coming, Will, I appreciate it. How’s Annie?’

  ‘Oh, you know your sister. If there is the smallest chance of a bit of drama there she is.’

  They both laughed and Ben clapped his arm around Will’s shoulders.

  ‘At least she’s getting our money’s worth from the NHS.’

  ‘I think she’s getting half of Barrow’s money’s worth, if you ask me. She’s fine. They’ll let her out in the morning after she’s seen a consultant.’

  Will didn’t want to worry him more than he already was, so didn’t go into detail.

  ‘There’s been an incident over on Walney with one of our officers so I haven’t been able to speak to Smithy yet to see where he’s up to with his enquiries.’

  Ben arched an eyebrow.

  ‘Sorry, I meant Officer Smith who came to speak to you earlier.’

  Ben led him into the kitchen where he went to the fridge, took out two bottles of lager and offered one to Will, who took it without a second thought. He unscrewed the cap and almost downed it in one gulp.

  ‘It’s been that sort of day, eh?’

  Will nodded, watching Ben as he fiddled with the cap of his, peeling the silver foil from the lid before twisting it off and taking a sip.

  ‘Can you tell me what Officer Smith did and said before he left?’

  ‘He said that he wasn’t unduly concerned about Tilly; that she was almost old enough to do her own thing anyway and that she’ll probably be home tomorrow without even thinking of all the fuss she’s caused.’

  Will sucked in his breath. What an idiot. How much more insensitive could Smithy have been – honestly, some of the coppers in that station wouldn’t know how to hold a conversation or be tactful if their lives depended upon it.

  ‘Tell me what you think, Ben; you are the closest person to her. Do you think that she would do this without a second thought for your or Lisa’s feelings?’

  Ben shook his head.

  ‘No, she wouldn’t, Will, she’s never been like that. It’s not as if she had any reason to lie. I don’t understand it. I mean, I know Lisa is a lot more controlling than I am but still there was no reason for her to lie about where she was going. It doesn’t make sense.’

  ‘No, it doesn’t. I completely agree with you. I’ll arrange to have her phone traced and see if we can get a location on it. If she didn’t go to Bowness for a job interview where do you think she could have gone?’

  ‘I don’t know. I haven’t got a clue.’

  ‘Can I have a look around her bedroom? There might be something in there I can find to give us a bit more information than we already have.’

  ‘You can but Lisa has already rooted through her drawers and wardrobe like a demented woman. It’s a mess, there’s clothes everywhere. Tilly will go mental when she sees it.’

  ‘Where is Lisa?’

  ‘She passed out about thirty minutes ago. She’d already had almost a full bottle of wine by the time I came home and then she started on the gin. By the time she took two sleeping tablets she couldn’t string two words together.’

  Will knew that Lisa liked to drink but tonight he couldn’t blame her. Maybe she was hoping by the time she woke up tomorrow, Tilly would be home and they could all carry on with their lives. Hell, he was wishing this was going to happen but there was a gnawing feeling inside his stomach telling him something was wrong, badly wrong. Will left Ben, who was now sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the bottle of lager in front of him. He went upstairs to the room he knew was Tilly’s because that was the room that Annie had slept in when she had been house-sitting. The light was already on and he pushed open the door. Lisa had almost ransacked the room; it looked as if burglars had been in. Underwear was strewn all over the bed and floor, the make-up that was on the top of the dressing table was spilt all over the place. He turned and checked that Lisa or Ben weren’t behind him; the landing was silent. So he pulled out a pair of blue latex gloves and stepped inside; if there was a diary or something personal he knew from past experience that teenagers could be good at hiding things from their parents.

  He pulled each drawer out and felt underneath to see if there was a book taped to the underneath. Then he lifted the mattress and bed up but there was no diary. Putting the bed back down he noticed the stack of Vogue magazines on the floor by the bedside table. He picked one up and flicked through the pages; there was nothing in it but adverts for expensive designer clothes and accessories, not to mention stick-thin models. Lily, his dad’s wife, always had copies of this and other similar magazines lying around their house – but she could afford to buy the expensive stuff they were advertising. Ben and Lisa weren’t short of money but they weren’t exactly rolling in it either. He looked around the room to see if Tilly had lots of designer stuff; she had a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses on her bedside table which were next to a Michael Kors watch – these were pricey, but affordable; they weren’t Chanel or Gucci.

  Will looked in the wardrobe and checked inside the handbags that w
ere on the back of the door, but they only had half-eaten packets of chewing gum, hair bobbles and some bus tickets. He went back down to speak to Ben, who was still staring at his bottle of lager.

  ‘I couldn’t find anything.’

  Ben laughed.

  ‘That’s maybe just as well – if I told Lisa you’d found Tilly’s diary that she couldn’t and I let you take it away, I think she would kill me. In fact I know she would kill me – no doubt about it – and then she would kill you. She can be a psychotic bitch at times, as much as I love her.’

  ‘Does Tilly like expensive designer stuff? I noticed the stack of Vogue by her bed.’

  ‘Only what most of her friends have, although Lisa would be able to answer that question better than me. I wouldn’t know my Chanel from Primark; it’s all the same to me. That’s why I drive a battered shit heap and Lisa has a Mercedes.’

  Will smiled.

  ‘It’s just you don’t get many girls her age reading Vogue. I always thought it was for older, rich women.’

  Ben shrugged.

  ‘I’ll get going. First thing in the morning I’ll review what’s been done and I’ll be in touch with you. If you think of anything ring me, okay?’

  ‘I will. Thanks for coming – I know you already have more than enough on your plate. I saw the paper tonight. It said you were in charge of the skeleton that had been found. Then our Annie and her addiction to hospitals – oh, and you never said, how’s the officer that was in the accident earlier?’

  Will had no idea how Stu was; he was waiting for a text from the duty sergeant.

  ‘He’s not good, stumbled in front of a police car.’