The Girls in the Woods

by Helen Phifer

  ‘Got a location for her phone. Can you go and do an initial search? If you can’t find it I’ll get a task force to come in and do a fingertip search of the area.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘In the area of St Mary’s church. Do you know it?’

  Jake inhaled. He did indeed know it – and far too well. It was where he’d had his first encounter with the supernatural and watched Annie do battle with the scariest thing he’d ever seen in his life. It was also the place they’d buried Betsy Baker’s remains when they’d dug her up from Annie’s front garden. Something wasn’t right; for a place of worship that church sure attracted a lot of trouble. He sighed, relieved they might have a tangible clue but also wary of going to the churchyard on his own.

  ‘Yes, I do. I’ll go and have a look around the grounds now but they’re some size. I’ll get back to you.’

  He put the phone down, snapped the plastic lid back on his salad then went and put it back in the fridge. He was starving but not that hungry for rabbit food. He wondered if Father John would be in – he always had the most amazing cakes. He might just have to give his door a knock for a catch-up, and of course a slice of homemade cake. His stomach let out a loud growl at the thought of some sugary, covered-in-butter-cream delight. He didn’t bother getting the van keys off the board; he would walk the short distance to the church – at least that would count as exercise. Annie would wet herself laughing if she could see him now. He would go and see her as soon as he’d finished up with this; he hoped they found Tilly soon because the worry was giving him heartburn. He missed Annie like crazy and she would tell him the truth about how bad he looked if he asked her, because apart from Alex she was the one who spent the most time lusting after his body. He left by the side door of the police station, avoiding the busy front desk area which was full of tourists wanting to report their lost cameras and phones. As he walked up the street, the spire of St Mary’s came into view; he walked through the gates and looked around. How had her phone got here when she hadn’t been here? He wasn’t actually sure that she hadn’t been here but it was all a bit too strange. If Tilly hadn’t stepped foot in Bowness then someone had put her phone here, and if someone had dumped her phone there was a reason for that. It hit him like a brick – someone had taken her and was trying to cover their tracks. He typed Smithy’s collar number into his radio and waited for him to answer.

  ‘None of this makes sense. I’m telling you now – someone has her, she hasn’t run away at all. She’s been abducted.’

  ‘Have you found her phone?’

  ‘Not yet but I’ve checked the train and bus CCTV – there is no sign of her coming into Bowness, and she doesn’t drive or have access to a vehicle. We need to upgrade this because someone is holding her against her will and we need to find out, like, yesterday.’

  ‘Fuck, I’ll go see Kav. This needs CID, not some plod with a shitload of shoplifters and angry neighbours to sort out.’

  ‘Tell Kav to phone me.’

  Smithy ended the call.

  ‘Good afternoon, Jake. What brings you here to visit on your own. Where’s my lovely Annie?’

  Jake jumped at Father John’s voice.

  ‘It’s a mess, a right bloody mess. Sorry, Father.’

  ‘Don’t worry, son, I’ve heard much worse. What’s a mess? Is Annie okay?’

  ‘Yes, for a change she’s fine, but her niece is missing and now we’ve traced her phone – which is showing up as being in the church grounds or somewhere nearby.’

  Father John’s tanned face turned white as he pulled a pink iPhone from his trouser pocket. ‘Mrs Phelps found this behind her husband’s grave this morning. I was about to wander down to the station to hand it in; I meant to do it this morning but I’ve been busy. I’m sorry, Jake, I hope I haven’t messed everything up?’

  He held the phone out to Jake, who pulled a small plastic evidence bag from his pocket and put the phone into it without touching the plastic casing.

  ‘Sorry, it will have both mine and Mrs Phelps’ prints on it. I just assumed it was one of the local teenager’s or a tourist’s. You know what they’re like.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Father, that’s brilliant – thank you so much.’

  He pressed the home screen from outside the plastic back and was relieved to see a picture of Tilly giving her best pout appear. Good, at least it was her phone. Then he rang Will and left him a voicemail.

  ‘Will, my friend, we have a major problem. I’ve found… well, actually, Father John has found… Tilly’s phone in the churchyard. I’ve checked the train and bus cameras – there is no sign of her coming into Bowness at any point yesterday. I think someone has her, and that they dumped her phone to throw us off her track. Ring me back. I’m driving through with it. Where are you?’

  ‘Jake, will you let me know what’s happening? Is Annie in any danger at all?’

  Jake smiled.

  ‘No, for once our very pregnant Annie is safe and sound back at her house. She’s not in work at the moment – and is in fact driving us all mad because she’s bored. I’ll let you know. Thank you for this, but I need to go now.’

  ‘Take care, son. I hope you find Annie’s niece safe and sound.’

  ‘I will, Father, and so do I.’

  Jake jogged back down to the police station. He needed a van now. Damn, it always went tits up when he went out on foot. As he got back to the station, out of breath and sweaty, he ran straight into Cathy.

  ‘Whoa, what’s the rush, big man?’

  ‘What do you mean, big man?’

  ‘As in tall, muscular, big hunky man. What’s up with you? Feeling a bit sensitive today, are we? Is it your time of the month?’

  She started to laugh at her own joke and Jake shook his head.

  ‘Nothing. Do you know where Will is? Father John had a phone handed to him and it belongs to Annie’s niece who is missing.’

  ‘Hawkshead village hall last time I heard, drinking coffee and trying to pretend he knows what he’s doing.’

  She walked away, then stopped dead and turned around.

  ‘What’s her phone doing in the churchyard? Where is she?’

  ‘If I bloody knew that I wouldn’t be panicking, would I? Bollocks. Forget it, I’ll go find him myself.’

  ‘Hang on, we need that churchyard searching properly, Jake, in case there’s anything else of hers there.’

  Jake nodded.

  ‘What like? Yep, good idea. You sort that out, boss. I never thought of that.’

  He grabbed a set of van keys and ran out towards the door.

  Cathy muttered under her breath like a dead body, you idiot Jake. She rushed to her office, telling the two PCSOs in the refs room to leave their lunch and get to the church.

  ‘Do not – I repeat, not – let anyone into St Mary’s churchyard. I don’t care if there’s a funeral or a wedding, it’s out of bounds to everyone.’

  ‘Including the priest?’

  ‘Yes, including the priest.’

  They both looked at each other but stood up to walk the short distance up to the church.

  ‘And take a roll of crime scene tape with you in case there’s more than two ways in; block it off and guard it with your lives.’

  ‘Yes, boss.’

  Cathy barged into her office and began placing calls to get the nearest task force team and a dog handler here. Once she’d organised that she phoned Annie, who didn’t answer, and left her a voicemail. Then she rang Kav and voiced her fears to him. Today had started off as okay, but now it was about to go down the shit pan quicker than she could imagine – and that cheese and onion pie she’d had for her dinner was now giving her killer heartburn, and she had no indigestion tablets with her. Time to go find a rookie and send them to the shop. Today was going to be a long one.

  Jake rang Annie’s mobile, which went to voicemail, then he rang the house phone – which also went unanswered. He didn’t think it was strange at this point because he could never get a mo
bile signal on a good day when he went to visit Annie. She could be asleep. Or out shopping, or driving, so he left her a garbled message to ring him. Then, turning on his blue lights so he could get through the traffic, he put his foot down. He wanted to speak to Will before he left. They couldn’t afford to mess around – this was serious, and he just hoped they weren’t too late.

  Chapter 27

  Annie gagged. She had no idea where she was – but wherever it was, it was cold and so very dark. She opened one eye – the other had swollen shut. At least she was still alive, so there was a bonus to all of this. She couldn’t think straight. What had happened? She tried to move her hands but they were tied in front of her. Shifting her shoulder it hit a cold, metal surface right next to her. Rolling slightly the other way her other shoulder did the same – she was in some kind of box. Kicking her feet they clanged against more metal. A wave of sickness made her head feel light and she squeezed her eyes shut.

  She had called to see Jo… the image of the girl from her vision and the dead girl in the photo in Heath’s studio filled her mind. Oh shit, she was in big trouble. And so was Tilly, because that had been her bag stuffed under the chair. She tried to think… everything was fuzzy… it was hard enough trying to figure out what she was going to do to get out of this situation without anything else popping into her head. Where was she? Did he have readymade coffins in his garage for his victims? If he did that was some pretty fucked-up shit, and where was Jo – did she know about her husband? Annie’s stomach churned. Maybe poor innocent Jo wasn’t the victim she’d been portraying after all. She knew that women could be just as dangerous and lethal as any man could. Hadn’t it been a woman who had almost killed Will? She closed her eyes trying to think what she could do; a cold shiver ran down her spine. It was freezing in here – and then it hit her. She was in a fridge. One that had been built for the sole purpose of storing dead bodies. How many times had she been to the path lab and watched Matt the pathologist open a drawer and pull out the sliding tray with a body on. She began to kick against the metal with her feet, fear taking over her rational thoughts. She needed to get out of here, and now. She carried on kicking, but nobody came.

  Worn out, and crying tears of frustration, she stopped and heard the faintest bang on the wall next to her. Shuffling towards it, she pressed her head against the cool metal and listened. It happened again, slightly stronger than the last one. She tried to shout with the gag in her mouth but it was hopeless – all that came out was some mumbled offering. A similar sound came through the wall and Annie knew then that there was a good chance it was her niece. She closed her eyes and prayed that it was, because at least it meant that they were both still alive and there was safety in numbers as long as he kept them both that way long enough for her to figure out what to do. The thought filled her mind once more: did Jo know what he was doing? Had she known all along her husband was a sick and twisted killer? The more she thought about it, Annie didn’t believe that she did. There were couples who liked to kill – look at Henry and Megan – but they were thankfully few and far between. Jo had seemed genuinely embarrassed about her situation and Annie had to hang on to that, because the thought of her being a party to all of this was too much to bear and would send her over the edge.

  Jo walked home, eager to get back and decide what she was taking with her to Paul’s – although she didn’t own very much. After all this time, he still loved her – it was unbelievable. She no longer felt like a trapped bird in a cage because soon she was going to be free; she was actually going to be able to have a life again. One which wouldn’t be shrouded in secrecy and loneliness.

  As she walked into the house she almost collided with Heath. She put her head down and apologised. He smelt funny, like some kind of chemical or medicine – but she had no idea what. It must be some new solution for developing his films.

  ‘Where the fuck have you been?’

  ‘Sorry, I just nipped to the shop. I met Annie and we got talking.’

  He looked down at the ripped carrier bag and felt a white hot rage fill his chest. She was lying to him. Meek and mild Jo was lying to him, and he couldn’t even say she was because she’d want to know how he knew that – and he couldn’t exactly drop it into the conversation that he actually had Annie in his garage. Locked into a mortuary fridge and slowly freezing to death.

  ‘What’s up with the shopping? Have you been juggling with it? You’re making a mess all over the carpet.’

  His hand came up and slapped her so hard across the face the shock made her stumble backwards. She looked down at the bag to see it was leaking orange juice onto the floor. She braced herself as he pushed her to one side and stormed past her, but she couldn’t help notice the bite mark on his hand. She wanted to ask him how he’d got that, but it would be more than her life was worth. What was he up to? He ran upstairs to the bathroom, slamming the door and turning the shower on. A loud knock on the front door broke her from her trance. Running through to the kitchen she put the carrier bag into the sink then went back to answer the door. The lovely policeman from the other day was standing there with a huge man in full uniform. He looked worried and she wondered what he wanted.

  ‘Hello, Jo, sorry to bother you but have you seen Annie today?’

  Ice water filled her veins and she prayed that Heath wasn’t listening from behind the bathroom door or she’d be getting more than a slap because he’d know that she’d blatantly lied to him. She stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind her, shaking her head and lowering her voice.

  ‘I’m sorry, I haven’t. Do you mean the pregnant Annie?’

  ‘Yes. I’m really worried about her – this is Jake, her best friend, and neither of us can get in contact with her. I dropped her off at home a couple of hours ago but no one has seen her since then.’

  Will realised that Jo hadn’t made the connection as her face clouded over with confusion.

  ‘I’m sorry, I should have explained better. I’m Annie’s husband.’

  ‘You are? Oh gosh, I feel so stupid. I had no idea. I’m really sorry, but I haven’t seen her at all today.’

  ‘It’s okay – thank you. If you hear from her, please will you tell her to get in touch with me?’

  ‘Of course I will. I hope she’s okay and you find her soon.’

  Will smiled and ran back to the police van. Jo stepped back inside the house, praying that Heath was still in the shower and hadn’t heard any of the conversation. For once her prayers were answered and the shower was still running. It stopped and she heard him moving around upstairs. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts. Just who had bitten her husband’s hand and where on earth was Annie? She walked through to the kitchen; going over to the tattered carrier bag in the sink, she took the leaking carton of orange juice from it. She turned on the tap to rinse her hands and screamed at the thick, red liquid that began to drip from the faucet in big splotches, all over the white carrier bag. It gurgled as it trickled from the tap and then all of a sudden it exploded everywhere. Blood splattered from the tap, coating the sink, cupboards and herself. She grabbed a towel and tried to turn the tap off but it was stuck. Heath came running in and pushed her out of the way, reaching over and turning off the tap. He slowly turned to look at her and she couldn’t take her eyes off the bright red splotches of what looked like blood that covered his white T-shirt. She lifted a finger and pointed to him; he looked down at himself but could only see wet patches where the cold water had soaked him.

  ‘What the fuck is the matter with you, Jo? Have you gone mad, screaming at nothing? Are you trying to get the police here – because if you are, you’re doing a bloody good job.’

  She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. As she looked down into the sink all she could see was clear water mixed in with the leaking orange juice. She stepped closer and looked around; the only splashes all over the worktops and Heath’s T-shirt were clear water.

  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I haven’t
really felt right since I hit my head a few days ago.’

  He shoved her and tutted, running back upstairs to change into a dry top.

  All she could think about was Annie. The village wasn’t big enough to lose someone in. An awful thought began to fill the edge of her mind and she tried her best to block it out, but it wouldn’t let her.

  Those two bodies out in the woods were lost for over twenty years, though, weren’t they, Jo? Right outside the back of your house… and now your new friend is missing and someone has bitten Heath’s hand. Why would someone want to bite him?

  He came thundering down the stairs in clean clothes, with a black plastic bin bag in his hands. He grabbed the car keys from the bowl on the sideboard and looked at her.

  ‘I need to go and get some stuff from Barrow. Make sure you clean the carpet before that juice stains, and the mess in here before everything gets water-stained.’

  ‘I will – sorry.’

  He turned and walked out of the front door, letting it slam behind him. The churning in her stomach was making her feel sick, but she waited until she heard the engine start and then she ran and flicked the latch on the door so he couldn’t get back inside with his door key. She didn’t want to but she had no choice; she needed to go into his workshop and see what was going on. The evening paper was pushed through the letterbox and she jumped back, screaming at the door. She realised what a fool she sounded and shouted ‘sorry’ through the heavy wooden door; the paperboy had his earphones in and was humming away to himself, completely oblivious – thank God. She was turning into a nervous wreck.