Stephanie set her mouth into a grim line. ‘We’ll have plenty of time to talk about everything.’
‘Yeah.’ Daniela rubbed her face with her cuffed hands. ‘That’s what I thought.’
41
June 2010
Auryn stood at the bank of the river, staring into the water. Her arms were at her sides, and she shivered, her thin shirt no protection against the night air.
Daniela climbed out through the broken window and stepped into the mud. Her clothes were soaked, her jacket streaked with mud, and freezing water had ruined her shoes. She couldn’t remember ever being so cold in her life. And yet, heat burned in her veins, the residue of adrenaline and shock, a fire inside. The cold pressed in from the outside; she felt it but it couldn’t touch her.
The stiff paralysis hadn’t let go of her until Auryn had stepped away from Henry’s body and walked to the window without so much as a glance at Daniela. Then, at last, Daniela had got to her feet. She should’ve checked Henry. But he was lying face down on the stairs, his legs in the water and his face turned to the bare stone wall, and even in the darkness the blood had glistened as it dripped from his fingers. Henry was dead. Daniela was certain. She’d watched Auryn stab him an additional seven times, each one a payment, and Henry had stopped moving after the fourth.
As she walked away from the building, Daniela wiped her hands on her jeans. She had the unpleasant feeling that some of the dampness on her cuff was blood.
The preceding minutes had already taken on an air of nightmare. As soon as Daniela was outside it was like she’d stepped into another world – or more accurately, stepped back into the rational world after losing it for a time. When she glanced at the broken board covering the window, she saw nothing but the familiar ruined mill where she’d played as a kid.
Daniela walked to the riverbank. Part of her was aware she was leaving footprints in the soft mud, which the police would eventually find. Although, with so many old prints around the house, from dog-walkers and bored teenagers, how would they separate out hers and Auryn’s? She knew she should think about these things, but her head couldn’t cope. She felt lost.
Auryn didn’t look up as Daniela approached. She appeared lost as well; her gaze unfocused, her shoulders slumped. The knife was still in her hand, but held loose, forgotten. Or so Daniela thought. A tremor ran through Auryn’s body. Moving as if in a dream, she lifted the knife and pressed the blade against the inside of her forearm.
‘Hey!’ Daniela yanked the hand aside. She twisted the knife out of Auryn’s fingers.
Auryn blinked as if shocked to see her. She made a weak grab for the knife but Daniela held it out of reach.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ she asked. The blade had left an indentation on Auryn’s forearm, right across the vein.
Auryn moistened her lips. ‘I didn’t think this through,’ she said in a low voice. ‘I thought this would make life better. But I’ve ruined everything, haven’t I? Leo will never forgive me. Neither will Steph.’
The thought of Stephanie made Daniela’s stomach twinge. Had the ambulance taken Stephanie to Hackett yet? How badly was she hurt?
But there was too much else to think of. Daniela folded the blade and put it in her pocket. Auryn’s gaze slipped away again, back to the river. Perhaps unconsciously she swayed closer to the edge.
Daniela put a hand on Auryn’s arm. ‘You realise if you fall, I’ll have to go in after you, right?’
‘Perhaps that’s for the best.’
Despite everything, Daniela grimaced in annoyance. They were in a bad situation but that was no reason to fall to pieces. She cast a glance in the direction of Stonecrop, but the trees were too thick to see the glow of streetlamps or the strident blue-flicker light of police cars. Likewise, the woods were silent, empty of shouts, footfalls or the crashing sounds of pursuit. Inevitably the police would find their way to Kirk Cottage, but not soon.
‘We should go,’ she said.
Another fine tremor shook Auryn’s body, like she was a piece of wire wound too tight. Daniela could offer no comfort. Maybe she should’ve put an arm around Auryn’s shoulders … but they’d never been physically close; hugs and reassurance were not something their family did. Daniela felt the distance, not just from Auryn but from everyone, as if she’d taken a step away from the world.
‘C’mon,’ Daniela said. ‘Let’s get back to the house. We can talk then.’
It seemed like Auryn hadn’t heard. Daniela put a hand on her cold elbow to guide Auryn away from the river. Auryn wiped a hand across her mouth. Her lip still oozed blood where Henry had struck her in the face.
As Daniela turned, her gaze tried to slip back to the ruined building. She avoided looking at it, because if she did, something would crumble inside her and she’d panic. She couldn’t suppress a shudder at the thought of Henry lying in the mud, his blood already cooling.
Together, Daniela and Auryn clambered up the slope and started back along the path. The enormity of what they’d done was rising like a tide, starting in the pit of Daniela’s stomach and working its way upwards until it drowned her heart and strangled every breath in her lungs.
I didn’t do anything – it was all Auryn.
Self-loathing rolled in her gut. Who was she fooling? She’d intended this. She’d lured Henry out here, and she’d passed up the opportunity to escape. Even before Auryn arrived, Daniela had wanted to hurt Henry. She’d picked up the brick. Hit him when his back was turned. She could’ve killed Henry with that first strike.
And worse, Auryn had only got involved because of Daniela. It was stupid to pretend otherwise. Without Daniela, Auryn never would’ve come into the woods; she wouldn’t have brought the knife. She could’ve steered clear of this whole mess.
Already Auryn was sagging beneath the weight of guilt. It dragged her down and slowed her pace. Daniela had to keep hurrying her along.
It should’ve been me who killed Henry. Maybe it was shock that pushed the idea into Daniela’s head. That’s what I was there for. In some inexplicable way, she felt cheated.
The path wound through the woods towards the old house. Heading home bothered Daniela. She didn’t want to return. But she needed to get Auryn somewhere safe.
She looked back, even though Kirk Cottage had disappeared among the trees. The silence seemed odd and incongruous. There should’ve been light and noise, police sirens and blue splashes, but instead the woods were still, empty, as always. Like nothing had happened.
Daniela kept walking because she couldn’t think what else to do. Her jeans clung to her legs. The clammy dampness inside the cuff of her jacket chafed her wrist.
As she walked, Daniela took out her phone and dialled Franklyn’s number. There was no answer. She tried several times then gave up in disgust.
‘Are you calling Steph?’ Auryn asked.
Daniela startled in surprise. The thought hadn’t occurred to her. ‘No.’
‘We should call her.’ Auryn checked the pockets of her jeans. Every movement was sluggish, as if she’d been drugged. ‘I don’t have my phone … you should call her.’
‘She’ll be at the hospital by now.’
‘We should still—’
‘We’re not calling anyone. Let’s just get home.’
Auryn fell silent, but kept walking.
Daniela glanced at the sky, the fat clouds pregnant with rain, and felt a stab of clarity. ‘Listen,’ she said. ‘This is what we’re gonna do. We’ll say nothing. Understand?’
‘But—’
‘I mean it. You’ll keep quiet and not say a goddamn word. You know nothing about any of this.’
Auryn was shaking her head. ‘They’ll find out.’
‘Yes. But there’s nothing to tie it to you. We’re the only ones who know what happened.’ Apart from Henry, who was silently bleeding out in a flooded house, far from help. ‘If you keep quiet, no one will ever know you were involved. You’ll tell them you went into the woods but couldn’t find me.’
‘I’ll leave. I’ll get the hell out of here and they’ll never find me.’ Daniela willed herself to believe it. ‘It doesn’t matter if they figure out what I did.’
‘But you didn’t—’
‘Listen to me.’ Daniela caught Auryn’s arm. ‘You didn’t do a damn thing, you weren’t here, and if anyone asks, that’s what you’ll tell them. We need to be smart, Auryn.’
‘The smart thing is to call Steph.’
‘We’re not calling the police,’ Daniela said through clenched teeth. ‘We’re going back to the house, and when we get there, if you make one move towards the phone, I’ll break your fingers. Understand?’
Auryn made a noise in her throat. Daniela didn’t think she was hurting her, but Auryn shied away as if expecting a punch.
She’s scared of me, Daniela realised. Even after what she’s just done, I’m the one she’s scared of. Sickened, she shoved Auryn away. But the damage was done. The look in Auryn’s eyes would haunt her for a long time.
42
For what would turn out to be the second-to-last time in her life, Daniela stepped into the old house. She came through the back door and stood in the kitchen for a moment, listening to the familiar ambient noises. A tap dripped. Outside, the shushing of branches was a constant murmur.
If she’d listened harder, if she’d crept up the stairs, she might’ve heard her dad snoring. Daniela didn’t do so. Already she felt removed from this house. It was no longer hers, and she hesitated, like an intruder, ready to flee at the slightest noise.
Once she was sure no one was around, Daniela pushed Auryn into a chair at the kitchen table. Auryn was freezing, shivering, her skin clammy. A numb kind of shock prevented her doing anything but sitting with arms crossed tight over her chest.
Daniela filled the kettle, then went into the utility room and pulled clothes from the dryer. She swapped her muddy clothes for a pair of jeans and a hooded top, and put on the old pair of trainers she kept by the door. Her muddy clothes and shoes she shoved into a backpack. It would’ve been good to change her jacket as well, but she didn’t have a spare. She surface-washed the leather in the kitchen sink to get rid of the worst stains. Likewise, she washed her hands and arms. The knuckles of her right hand were scraped. She remembered the jolt of impact when she’d brought the brick down on Henry, and her stomach rolled again.
Turning, she cast a critical eye over her sister, trying to overlook the puffiness of her lower lip. Auryn had somehow avoided getting blood on her, but her trainers and the cuffs of her jeans were soaked.
‘You need to get changed,’ Daniela said. ‘Throw everything in the wash. Shoes too.’
Auryn stared at the floor and said nothing.
‘Hey!’ Daniela barely resisted the urge to slap her hand on the table. ‘Pay attention, will you? I’m trying to help. The least you can do is listen.’
Slowly, Auryn raised her eyes, and nodded like she understood.
The kettle boiled. Daniela made a quick cup of tea, dumped several spoons of sugar into it, then pressed it into Auryn’s unresisting hands. Whilst doing so she kept one eye on the clock. How much time had elapsed since they’d left Kirk Cottage? Every minute Daniela wasted could potentially doom her. She needed to be gone. Fast.
Apart from the change of clothes, she wanted nothing else. Except money. Anything she needed she could buy later.
Daniela left Auryn and snuck through the house to the foot of the stairs. Pausing, she listened, but heard no sound from her father’s room. She ascended the stairs quickly, crept past her father’s closed door, then up the second flight to the attic room.
Again, the sense of unreality washed over her. This morning the room had been hers; now it belonged to a stranger. All her books, CDs, clothes, shoes … so many things that meant so little. Daniela felt the urge to touch and memorise each object, to seal them forever in her mind. She shook the thought away. This must be a kind of shock, she reasoned.
She crouched next to her bed and levered up the loose floorboard. Daniela lay down flat to reach the back of the hole, where a bit of wood concealed the box she’d hidden. Since Auryn and possibly Stephanie knew about the hidey-hole, she’d taken to hiding her money at the very back, tucked behind a floor-support.
She removed the box, which was mottled with dust and bits of spiderweb. Inside was the money she’d set aside. Almost five hundred pounds in total, composed of money she’d earned, hand-outs from her father, the loose notes Daniela had skimmed whenever she was sent to the shops, and a certain amount she’d lifted from around the house. It’d seemed like a lot. Now she wondered whether it was enough to buy a new life.
It’s a start. You’ll get more once you find your feet.
Before she stood up, Daniela hesitated. The knife and the stolen jewellery were still in her pocket. She knew she should get rid of them – what point was there in concealing her tracks if she was carrying around the weapon she’d used, and property from the victim’s shop? She took out the knife. On the floor by her bed was the tea towel she’d used to hold ice for her damaged ankle. It was still wet. She wrung it out onto the floor, then wiped the blood from the blade and handle of the knife.
Then she wrapped the knife and the rings in the towel, lay down, and shoved the bundle back into the hollow beneath the floorboards. She made sure it was tucked out of sight. No one would find it unless they knew it was there.
She was straightening up when her phone rang.
The jangling ringtone was too loud in the silent house. Daniela fumbled the phone from her pocket and answered without looking at the screen.
‘Hello?’
‘Dani?’ It was Franklyn. ‘That you?’
Daniela glanced towards the stairs, hoping her dad hadn’t heard. ‘Yeah. It’s me.’
‘What’s wrong? I’ve got half a dozen missed calls.’
‘Oh. Right. Yeah.’ Daniela tucked the phone under her ear and put the floorboard into place. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘What the hell happened? Are you okay?’
‘I’m all right, yeah.’
‘Dani …’ Franklyn’s voice was hesitant. ‘I told you not to be stupid. You weren’t, were you?’
Daniela padded to the far end of the room. ‘No,’ she said, although she was no longer certain. ‘I wasn’t stupid. I didn’t do anything I regret.’
Something in her tone put Franklyn on guard. ‘What did you do?’
‘I made sure Henry McKearney is out of business.’
Franklyn swore, so softly Daniela almost missed it. ‘What did you do exactly?’
‘Look, I know you said it was finished, but how d’you know he wouldn’t change his mind? I had to stop him before someone else got hurt.’
The line went silent. When Franklyn’s voice returned, it held an edge Daniela had never heard before. ‘You’re an idiot, Dani.’
‘Hey, I didn’t start this—’
‘Whatever you did, you need to tell Steph.’
‘I— What?’
‘I’m serious, Dani. I don’t want to know what you’ve done. But you have to tell Steph. Right now.’
Daniela couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘You want me to hand myself in to the police?’
‘To Steph. If you don’t call her, I will.’
‘You—’ Daniela shook her head in disbelief. ‘But I-I did it for you. Because you—’
‘Let me make this perfectly clear: whatever you did, you did it because you’re an idiot and you don’t listen.’ Franklyn let out a breath. When she spoke again, her voice was softer. ‘I’m sorry, Dani. I can’t help you right now. You need to call Steph. She’ll—’
Daniela hung up. It took a real effort to put the phone back in her pocket instead of flinging it across the room.
The house was still silent. The only noise was her own ragged b
reathing. Daniela had tensed up from head to toe, her shoulders hunched and her hands forming tight, painful fists. The urge to punch the walls was overwhelming.
Instead, she snuck downstairs. She was on the first-floor landing when the front door opened.
Stephanie, Daniela thought with freezing panic.
‘Hello?’ Leo’s voice wafted up the stairs. ‘Auryn?’
Daniela’s relief was tempered as she heard her dad stirring. Quickly, she ran downstairs. Leo froze in the act of closing the front door.
‘Where’s Auryn?’ he demanded. ‘Where’s my dad?’
Daniela held up a hand to hush him. ‘Auryn’s in the kitchen. I-I don’t know where your dad is. I lost him in the woods. Auryn found me and we came back here.’ The lie sounded all right. ‘Is Steph okay?’
Leo kept his distance, backing into the front room. Daniela followed and shut the internal door so her dad wouldn’t hear them. ‘I don’t know,’ Leo said. ‘She wouldn’t go in the ambulance. She’s telling everyone she’s fine. And there’re police all over the antiques shop. I heard someone calling for tracker dogs to be brought from Hackett so they can look for my dad.’
Fear twinged in Daniela. She hadn’t considered they might bring dogs. Why hadn’t she left sooner? ‘Listen,’ she said, ‘I need you to look after Auryn. She – she’s had a scare.’
‘What d’you mean?’ Leo’s eyes narrowed. ‘What did you do to her?’
Everyone always assumed Daniela was to blame. The conversation with Franklyn had already stretched her temper gossamer thin. She took a step towards Leo. She thought Leo would back away but instead he glared at Daniela with chin up and face set.
‘What did you do?’ Leo asked. ‘If you’ve hurt her, I’ll—’
Daniela grabbed his shoulder, harder than intended. ‘Listen to me,’ she hissed, ‘I never wanted to hurt anyone. I wanted to stop this before it got out of hand. Why would I hurt my own family?’ Abruptly her eyes prickled with tears. ‘Why would I hurt you?’
Leo hadn’t pulled away. His face was inches from Daniela’s. With a cry of frustration, Daniela closed the distance and kissed him. It was a fierce, impulsive action, and it caught her as much by surprise as it did Leo.
The Flood Page 24
