Her heart felt as though it stopped on an image of a person in a long dark coat, the hood covering their eyes, then a sharp pain on her neck. She trembled as she realised how stupid she’d been. Maybe the message hadn’t been sent from Isaac. Had Marcus wanted to get her out of the way now that he had someone else? Who was that someone else? Was there even a someone else? Her head swam with questions, making her dizzier. She had to get out.
Her heart raced as she felt around for anything. She couldn’t focus at all. There was no light coming into her box – it was a coffin. Sobbing, she tried to twist and turn but all she came against was solid wood and a cushioned top. She reached up and tore at the delicate material, pulling the hole until it was large enough to fit her wrist through. She slammed her fist into the lid; that too was as solid as it sounded. She screamed again, then an image of space and spaghetti came back to her. She was losing her mind. Teeth chattering, she felt for her cardigan; it was still on her back.
Her mind kept coming back to Marcus, it had to be him. One body found in a coffin, why not perform a copycat killing? She’d read the rumours online and the news. He’d get the house paid for on her death, the house he could never afford on his own. Tears slid down her cheeks.
She’d seen Isaac watching her as if he could throttle her in the past, but she was sure he had something to tell her. She pictured his ditzy girlfriend, Joanna, who did everything to please him.
She kicked out and hit the bottom of the coffin. Her worst nightmare realised. A few separate trickles ran down her feet and hands. She licked one of them and recognised the unmistakable metallic taste of blood. Her head banged as if it might explode. Pound, pound, pound.
There had to be a way out. She took a deep breath, but it didn’t help. She gasped again and began to fight with the material above, banging and scratching. She checked her pockets for her phone then it hit her, her phone had died, just like she would. Her bank card! Maybe she could poke it in the hinges of the wood.
Cricking her neck as she tried to turn in the confined space, she reached into her pocket and all she could feel was a box, a tiny solitary box. She struggled to hold it in front of her. Using her fingers for guidance, she slid it open.
She lit the first match and had a quick glance around. String. ‘Ouch.’ She dropped the burnt-out match and reached for the string. She grabbed it and pulled. The bell had to be ringing. Someone would come.
She lit another match and the sight of her bloodied nails made her shudder. ‘Help me,’ she called. A dog walker had to pass. Trick or treating kids might wander through. A solitary walker coming back from a pub – anyone. Her eyes began to fill, no one came around here.
She lit the last match and her final thought came to her like a swift slap; she knew exactly who had sealed her fate. This was the moment she realised she was never getting out. ‘No, don’t let me die in here…’
Chapter Nineteen
Cherie hid around the corner, behind Old Joe’s house. She tried calling Penny again, but it went straight to voicemail. She took the miniature bottle from her bag and had the smallest of tastes. Her fingers, numb to the October chill, missed screwing the cap on, causing her to accidentally splash the cuff of her coat. She’d officially failed. Her dry spell had ended.
As Christian pulled around the corner, she retreated back to her hiding place so that his headlights didn’t catch her loitering in the dark. She pressed her back against the cold brick wall and fished in her pocket for the pack of mints she always carried before popping one into her mouth. As the wind changed direction, she heard Oliver and Bella hounding their father about going trick or treating. Something she’d never allowed them to do despite Christian also pressuring her. The children hated that they weren’t allowed to dress up and scrounge sweets from the neighbours, like their friends were.
She shivered as her front door slammed. As always, Christian dutifully picked their two up from the childminder’s house on his way home from work as she finished later than he did. She checked her watch. If she got into the car and pulled up now, she’d still be forty minutes early and he’d wonder what was going on.
Her mind milled with excuses.
I wasn’t feeling well. They let me go early as there were too many staff rostered on. I worked through my breaks yesterday as Sadie was off sick so they let me take the time today.
She ran his responses through her mind. She couldn’t say she was ill, he’d only fuss and she didn’t want that. On the other hand, he’d probably tell her to go to bed and he’d feed the kids. No – he’d cancel her friends coming over tomorrow. That couldn’t happen.
Swallowing, she thought of work and how she’d let everyone down. She turned her phone back on and waited a moment for her notifications to come through. Seventeen missed calls and five voicemails. She opened a text from Maureen, her supervisor, telling her not to come back again. There were several from Sadie with laughing emojis whooping her for making a stand against their non-existent pay rises. Maureen wouldn’t call her on the home phone, she’d never given them the number. For now, Christian would be none the wiser.
‘What you doing ’ere? You’ll catch a chill.’ Joe flung his back gate open further as he dragged his wheelie bin onto the path.
‘I was just—’ Just what? What should she say? I was just loitering here until my husband went into the house. Then I was going to drive my car from behind yours and park it on my drive because I’m weird like that.She stared at the rustling leaves, hoping that they’d cue her in, but nothing was coming to the front of her mind.
‘Are you okay, dear? Do you want to come in for a cup of tea?’ He hobbled to the kerb, dragging his bin as he awaited her answer. ‘I don’t charge for the tea.’
‘Thanks for the offer but I have to get home. Maybe another time.’ She left him standing and hurried to her car, unwilling to answer any more questions. She had to face home sooner or later and only being twenty minutes early would be fine.
She drove the car onto the drive and as luck would have it, Christian was looking out of the window with his hands poised to close the blind. If only she’d waited another minute.
As she entered, he was already there. ‘You haven’t just come home, have you?’
‘What do you mean?’ She knew what he meant but that silly question would give her a moment to think.
‘You know what I mean. You just pulled in from the wrong side of the road. The side that leads to dead ends.’
Throw it back at him.‘Christian, you’re stifling me. Don’t do this now.’
‘Do what?’ He folded his arms, a frown appearing across his forehead.
‘You know.’
‘I don’t. Where have you been?’
