She was jogging through the estate, looking for him. She’d only seen him for the first time at the party but that photo had to be taken long before that. She slipped over a step into an open drain and was falling.Not the abyss, please, not the dark abyss.‘Don’t close your eyes,’ she said through chattering teeth. ‘Stay with it.’ It was no good. She had lost control as she hurtled into the darkness, wondering if she’d ever wake up again.
Sixty-Three
Gina followed Jacob through to Aimee’s lounge and sat close to Nicole. Keith shuffled behind them, huffing and puffing as he carried his toolkit to the kitchen. She heard him mutter something about his aching back under his breath but his muttering soon faded.
‘I still haven’t heard from her. She never goes anywhere without her phone, which is why I’m worried.’
‘I know and we’ll do everything we can to find out where she is.’ Gina knew full well that wasn’t going to put Nicole’s mind at ease.
The young woman pulled her oversized cardigan around her middle and folded her arms in front of it. Sitting forward, her back looked slightly hunched.
‘What time did you get home from work yesterday?’
She shrugged her shoulders. ‘I don’t know the exact time, I think it was about seven. I normally finish at five but I did a little overtime.’
Jacob made a note.
‘Tell me what you saw.’
‘The back gate was flapping away in the wind which was unusual in itself. That would have done Aimee’s head in. As I walked through, I closed it. I went in through the back door as I always do. When I came in, something didn’t feel right. The kitchen table had been shunted away from the wall and there’s a chip in it.’
‘Did you touch these?’
She exhaled and nodded. ‘I pushed the table back in its place and put the chair under the table. I also wiped it with a cloth. I remember calling for Aimee. There was no answer. My first thought was that she’d met up with that idiot, Rhys, and gone out with him. You wouldn’t believe how disappointed in her I was. Anyway, I warmed some food up in the microwave, sat in front of the telly and thought no more of it. I tried to call again before going to bed about midnight but she still wasn’t answering. I only noticed the next morning, when I started to tidy up a bit. Aimee and I have different standards when it comes to cleaning. While I was on holiday, the place had turned into the pits so I cleared the rubbish from the lounge. As I plumped the sofa, I noticed Aimee’s phone. She’d never go anywhere without her phone.’ Nicole rubbed her eyes.
‘We will need the phone; maybe that will give us some clue as to what happened.’
She pointed to the corner of the room at the phone which was plugged into a charger. Gina passed Jacob an evidence bag. ‘Did Aimee say anything to you, something that may have been worrying her?’
Nicole leaned back slightly, revealing her pale round face in full. ‘I was always worried about her. It was Rhys. Since he moved in, she seemed different. It was all about him and what he wanted. Of course, she kept telling me there was nothing wrong but I heard the rows. I rent the bedroom next to the one they slept in. I’d often hear her yelling out, like he was hurting her. I did mention it to her once and she just said that sometimes he was a bit rough in the bedroom but she told me she didn’t mind. I knew she did though. He also knew I didn’t like him. When she was around he would be all nice, offer to make me drinks, full of false concern when I wasn’t well or something – things like that. I had a flu virus a couple of months ago and he was all over me when Aimee was around, offering to fetch me blankets, go to the chemist, make me soup. As soon as she was out of the way, he’d ignore me when I spoke to him. He even jabbed me in the ribs a couple of times,by accident, of course. She couldn’t see it. He’s a nasty piece of work, always getting his own way. I don’t know what she saw in him but I don’t know what she saw in any of her boyfriends. Most of them were at least double her age. It was her thing. I just always knew I’d be there for her, whatever happened.’
Gina watched as Jacob caught up with his notes.
‘How do you know Aimee?’
‘We’ve been best friends since school. She’s my best friend, always has been. I know she was infatuated with Rhys but he was bad for her.’
Gina glanced around the room. It didn’t look the same as the other day when she’d interviewed the highly-defensive Aimee. The woman who was so worried that her reputation would be ruined from any scandal that may come out of everything. All the dusty glasses of water were cleared away and the room had been cleaned. A ray of May sun emerged through the window and the wind chimes clanged together as the breeze through the open window aired the musty room.
First Samantha went missing all those years ago, then Jade Ashmore was killed and now Aimee was missing. At the back of her mind was Sophie Dobbins and her attack. Her heart almost skipped a beat. She inhaled swiftly as her attention turned back to Nicole.
‘What happens next?’
‘We need to get her phone back to the station, see if we can get anything from it. A forensics officer is working the kitchen, looking for prints, taking swabs and looking for points of entry. You say the back door was unlocked and the gate was open?’
Nicole nodded. ‘It was, but something else was strange. The runner in the hallway was all rumpled up and the end of the rug was trapped in the front door.’
An image flashed through Gina’s mind. Aimee in the kitchen and an intruder. Did he come in through the back or knock at the front door? A scuffle occurred in the kitchen, shunting the table away from the wall. Maybe he dragged her out onto the drive. Had the perpetrator parked out the front? If Aimee had been hurt or kidnapped, he wouldn’t have wanted to walk her too far at the risk of someone seeing. He had to be parked by the house.
‘There is something else.’ Nicole hugged her cardigan closer.
‘Okay.’
‘The neighbour’s dog has been a right pain recently, always barking. It’s not like him, Barney is normally a good dog. I wonder if he was trying to warn us, picking up on someone out there, watching. It sends shivers down my spine.’
Gina and Jacob exchanged a look. ‘We’ll order a door to door, see if any of your neighbours have noticed anything unusual. If there’s anything else you can think of in the meantime, call me straight away. Here’s my card. My direct number is on it.’
Nicole took the card and placed it straight in her pocket. ‘Thank you. Am I safe to stay in the house?’
