by Helen Phifer
Two paramedics came running across the grass towards them, out of breath.
‘Some bloody idiot has blocked the driveway,’ one explained.
Joe mumbled. ‘Sorry, the car broke down and then went on fire.’
The paramedics began handing out foil blankets to Maddy, Stella, and Joe.
‘Right, are we walking wounded? Because if you are, I need you to walk back to the ambulance with me?’
All three of them nodded.
‘Good, come on then. We need to get you to the hospital and get you checked out.’
Glenys grabbed one of Maddy’s arms, the paramedic took the other, and they helped her slowly to her feet.
‘I’ll wait here and see if there’s any news on Seth,’ she told Maddy. ‘Then I’ll lock up and bring your stuff to the hospital.’
‘Thank you.’ She looked around wildly. ‘Do you think he’s dead? He killed those people, Glenys. He put them in the lake.’ Maddy sobbed, ‘He was going to leave me to die in there.’
She nodded. ‘I know, sweetie. I can hardly believe it.’
Maddy, her teeth chattering loudly, put her head down and limped towards the waiting ambulance.
Chapter Eighty-One
M addy, Stella, and Joe sat in the small side room. All three of them were dressed in washed-out blue hospital scrubs. The two detectives standing opposite them, were furiously writing everything down; they had been there for the last thirty minutes. It was Maddy they were questioning now.
‘Did you see where Seth went?’
Stella interrupted. ‘No, sorry. She was a bit dead, lying there having her chest pumped while the rest of us were praying she was going to make it.’
The young female detective who’d asked blushed.
Maddy glared at Stella, who was guarding her like a pit bull, and reached out to grip her friend’s arm. ‘It’s okay, Stella, I can answer, thank you.’ She smiled wearily at the detectives. ‘I have no idea. Did you not find him?’
Joe spoke. ‘He was definitely in the water. We both fell in when the wooden jetty collapsed.’
‘We haven’t found him yet, but we have divers out searching the lake. They’ll be recovering the bodies and doing a thorough search.’
‘What am I supposed to do?’ Maddy asked. ‘Where do I go? Is it safe to go back to Lake House?’
Stella folded her arms across her chest. ‘You are not seriously considering going back there after everything?’
Maddy nodded. ‘I love it there, and Seth’s gone. The whole area is crawling with the police who will arrest him when they find him, so I don’t think he’s going to get anywhere near the house or me. Besides, the builders are due to start on Monday, so it’s going to be full of people. I won’t be on my own. Or, not much. I also need to finish this book, and’ – she managed a tired smile – ‘there’s another I have an idea for and want to write as soon as possible.’
Stella shook her head. ‘You’re crazy.’
Maddy grinned but nodded.
‘The grounds are out of bounds, they’re a crime scene now,’ the older detective explained. ‘But I don’t suppose we can stop you going into the house after our people have done a sweep to make sure there are no bodies inside.’
Maddy shook her head. ‘There are definitely none inside. We checked every single room the day after I moved in.’
The detective nodded. ‘Okay, then I’m sure you can. We’ll let you know as soon as we have an update on Mr Taylor.’
****
A few hours later, Glenys turned into the drive of Lake House, nervously stealing glances at her passengers. Maddy was sitting next to her, Stella and Joe were squashed in the back next to Alfie. The broken-down car had been towed away, allowing the police access to the grounds, which were marked off with blue and white police tape. A huge police truck was parked on the grass near to the lake, with the words ‘Underwater Search Team’ emblazoned across the front of it.
The mood in the car was sombre, to say the least. Never had so many people spoken so few words.
She parked in front of the steps. Maddy got out first, walked up to the front door and pushed it open. Inside were lots of dusty footprints where the police officers had been in and out, searching the house from top to bottom – every cupboard, nook, and cranny, the attics and the cellars.
Seth hadn’t been back inside, she’d been told; no one had seen him since he’d fallen into the lake.
Maddy was sad, shocked, and disappointed that the man she’d found herself falling in love with had led the kind of double life that would have made a Russian KGB agent proud.
She led the others down to the dining room where she set about tugging the dust sheets off the remaining tables and chairs.
‘If I’m going to have guests, I may as well use the place,’ she said. ‘Sit down and I’ll make us all a hot drink. There’re some packets of biscuits in the cupboards. I’ll bring them in, and we can stuff our faces.’
Glenys smiled. ‘I’ll help you. And I can do better than that. Alfie and I baked some fairy cakes for you. They’re in the kitchen.’
Stella crossed to the window to look at the police activity outside. Joe stood behind her and they watched as the police dragged a black body bag from the edge of the lake, then picked it up and carried it to the waiting private ambulance.
‘All those people,’ she murmured, ‘it gives me the creeps. I wish she’d come back with us, Joe, and forget about this place.’
He put his arms around her and held her from behind. ‘I kind of understand why she wants to stay, though. It’s a beautiful old house, and Seth won’t come back here, it’s too risky. If I’m honest, I think he’s dead, unless he’s one hell of a strong swimmer and crossed the lake underwater.’ He kissed her ear. ‘At least we can stay and keep her company for a few days. The garage doesn’t know if or how long it’s going to take to fix my grandad’s car, so we might be stranded here.’
Stella laughed. ‘Oh God, that poor car. I’d forgotten all about it.’
They stood that way, watching the police activity by the lake, and waiting for Maddy to bring their drinks in. Stella couldn’t wait to tell her they weren’t leaving for a few days.
****
Maddy leant onto the kitchen side. Picking up the plug from the radio, she pushed it into the socket and smiled at the sound of the sweet jazz music that filled the air. It wasn’t Ella Fitzgerald, not that it would have mattered. She knew now that it had been Seth all along, trying to scare her to leave the house. He didn’t want her living here because it meant he couldn’t carry on killing and he was scared she might find his lake people. It was a good job he hadn’t realised that Alfie had found them; it scared her to think that he might have hurt the boy to keep him quiet.
She felt sad about Connor, because she was a decent human being. But after hearing from Stella what had happened back in London, Maddy wondered what he would have done to her if he had found her.
Glenys put the mugs on a tray and grabbed the plate of cakes. Smothered in chocolate butter cream with an assortment of sweets stuck to the top of them, they looked delicious. Exactly the sort of thing you should be eating after almost being murdered by a serial killer.
As they sat around the huge table, sipping their drinks and nibbling cake, Maddy tried to ignore the activity out on the front lawn. She was so happy for Stella. She and Joe made a great couple, so at least something good had come out of this whole disaster.
Alfie had gone outside to watch the police, and one of the divers was chatting to him. If it hadn’t been for Alfie going to get help, she didn’t know what would have happened. Someone had definitely been watching over her.
Maddy sighed. She wanted nothing more than to finish the book she was writing, because she was desperate to start a new one. And this one already had a title: Lake House.
Acknowledgments
I f you’re reading this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, you are the reason I write my stories. Your support mea
ns the world to me and if anyone hasn’t told you this today you are wonderful, loved, appreciated, and make the world a much better place.
I’d like to thank Jo Bartlett from the bottom of my heart, she read this story and gave me the encouragement I needed to carry on. The same applies as above, Jo, you are wonderful, loved, very much appreciated, and definitely make the world a much better place.
I have to thank Steve because if it wasn’t for his encouragement, I probably wouldn’t ever finish any of my books. He’s the one pushing me to go write when I want to lie on the sofa binge watching Ghost Adventures.
Much love to my wonderful, crazy, fun loving family for being so amazing (most of the time, you all have your moments.) I love you all so much.
I’d like to thank my book club members Sam, Joanne, Debbie, Wendy, Sam, Debbie, Zena, Anna, Krog, Jenni, Helen, Margaret, and Jackie for brightening up our Monday evenings and sharing my love of all things literary.
A huge debt of gratitude to Paul O’Neill for his fabulous surveyor’s reports.
A huge thank you to Barbara Irwin for her keen eyes and for being there since day one.
Thank you to Christine McPherson for editing and thank you to Emma Mitchell at Creating Perfection for proofreading and formatting.
Helen xx
Letter From Helen
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