Footsteps gather pace and get closer. Clop, clop, clop – then they stop. I stay back. Someone in a dark hoodie and black boots approaches Annabel’s back gate. I can’t work out who it is from their feet. I daren’t peer too far around for fear of being seen. The figure enters through the back gate, that’s when I come out of my recess. They duck under the washing line as I watch. That’s when I recognise who it is. The intruder leans against the garage window, face pressed against the glass as if peering in. I hear them calling out in a hoarse whisper but no one answers. I can’t make out what is being said. Up above, the neighbour closes their curtains.
I see the outline of a person nearing Annabel’s kitchen window. The intruder peers in and then creeps back down the path away from whoever is in the house. Annabel’s husband must be back.
It’s too risky being here. There are too many people around. I hurry back into my hiding space, nestled in the shrubs, my bike still tucked away. I wanted to use Mum’s car but she had plans tonight. The intruder almost steps into my space and I keep as still as I can, hiding and holding my breath again. Then I change tack and jog along the path. There’s a shortcut across this field. The intruder changed their mind and stayed on the path so I know where they’re heading. Not many people walk through that field at night so I can’t blame them for taking the longer and safer route. It’s a creepy field.
Leaving my bike, I keep a safe distance but don’t lose sight of the figure. I need to know what they know and the only way I can do that is to keep up and see where they’re going, then I’ll come back and see what Annabel’s husband is up to.
There’s a patch of grass to cross. I almost trip over the stile as I follow the figure. I realise I’m shaking. The bottom of the lane is in sight. There’s a well-trodden break in the hedge where people cut through. That’s when I hear the yelp and stay still. My blood goes cold and my feet barely work. That wasn’t a normal cry, it was followed by a sickening wail. Stepping closer, I feel my legs threatening to give way.
Hiding, I sidle up along the hedge and peer through the gap. That’s when I see the street lamp lighting up the intruder. I wait and catch my breath back. The sight of blood glistening almost makes me heave. I turn and go to run. I can’t be here. Whoever just did that is still there. I feel a breeze behind me as if the killer is catching up and I trip over a verge. My heart is in my mouth. I close my eyes and cover my head, hoping that will be enough. If I die, I won’t be able to protect Annabel. She needs me. I need to live. But, right now, that choice isn’t mine. I wished I’d done as my mum said and stayed in while she visited Aunt Bet. She wanted to watch a film and eat popcorn when she got back but now I’ll be in trouble for being so late. If only I’d have listened.
THIRTY-THREE
Omar
‘Please don’t hurt me. Please. I haven’t done anything.’ I can’t look. If I see them, they’ll definitely kill me. I’ve seen it in films. If I don’t look, they’ll think I can’t identify them and they’ll let me go.
‘Hey, kid, are you okay?’
They’re not hurting me. That doesn’t sound like the voice of a killer. It’s a sweet voice, a kind voice. They would have killed me by now. I prise open an eye and in the darkness, I can just about see hair piled up on a woman’s head. I see Taylor behind her, lying there in pooling blood that looks black in the dark.
‘Are you okay?’ She asks me the same question again but speaks slower and louder.
I go to stand and realise I’m taller than her. She’s shaking and that toy dog she’s holding wouldn’t be able to protect anything. I take a step closer to her, so that I can see her face.
‘Please don’t come any closer.’
‘But—’
‘Please. Just stay there and wait for the police. We can sort this out.’ The woman’s phone lights up her face. I recognise her. She runs the Angel Arms. As she steps away from Taylor’s body, I can now see her Cupid’s bow lips lined in blood-red lipstick, long faded. Her smoky eyes smudged. ‘Police, please. Come quick, there’s a dead woman and a boy in shock. Please hurry.’
She can’t tell them any more about me. They’ll think I killed Taylor. I lunge forward, knocking her phone from her hands, hoping that in the dark, she can’t see me very well. Her poodle snaps at me but the phone lies on the ground and all I can hear is the operator asking if she’s still there. She steps back from me, fear in her eyes. I didn’t want to scare her, but I need her to stop talking while I make my getaway. I sprint through the gap, onto the field. I need to get back to my bike and back home, leaving this whole mess behind while I work out what to do.
Whoever killed Taylor is close by. They’ll try to blame me, I know they will. They saw me but I have no idea who they are. As I take the shortcut across the field, I keep stumbling on the uneven earth below. In the distance, I hear a siren. The police are on their way. I need to keep off the roads, taking fields and the backs of estates to get home. Before I know it, I reach the back of Annabel’s house and it’s now in darkness. I hold my breath and I’m sure I hear a noise. It’s getting closer. If I move, I’m next. I imagine my own head bust open on the floor; my mum’s face as the police tell her they’ve found my body, and I think of Annabel. I have to remember that all I do is for her.
That noise again. I go to grab my bike but my hands don’t work. Did I even hear a noise? I’m not sure if it’s just the sound of my throbbing temples as blood pumps through my body. Annabel’s neighbour’s light comes on again and the man emerges barefoot, rubbing his eyes. I must have woken him somehow when I approached, running and falling all over the place. A fox darts out from under a tree and I scream.
‘Who’s there?’ The man starts walking down the path.
I can’t let him see me. I’m definitely going to get the blame for everything. The police are closer as the sirens are getting louder every second.
He opens his back gate. ‘Don’t I know you?’ He squints and turns on his torch. As he goes to flash it in my face, I’m already on my bike, cycling as fast as I can up the path towards the industrial units, as far away from all the commotion as I can be. Don’t look back. That’s all I tell myself. I can only hope that he doesn’t remember the time he saw me peering through Annabel’s window.
I am in so much trouble.
Then I stop dead in the road and swallow. I know the killer saw me even if I didn’t see them. I start to pedal again, as fast as I can, away from the sirens, away from the dead body and away from the murderer. I’m safe for now, but for how long? There is one person I know who is capable of doing this. I never did tell Annabel what he said to me, I never got the chance.
A police car turns into the road. I turn right, my tyres skidding behind a large biscuit factory sign and I close my eyes, hoping that the police didn’t see. A tear begins to roll down my cheek. What have I got myself into? It’s all my fault. If only I’d said something when it mattered. It’s too late now. I’ve passed the point of no return and I have to play it cool and stay off the police and the murderer’s radar. If I don’t, I’m next.
THIRTY-FOUR
Gina ran down the lane, still trying to straighten out her jumper under her coat, wet hair stuck to the back of her neck. She’d been called out of the shower to attend a murder scene. She followed the blue lights of the stationary police car that had parked on the lane, that’s when a woman she recognised came into focus. The licensee of the Angel Arms, Elouise Nichols. She was clutching a white toy poodle in her arms and it was fighting to be placed on the floor; legs flailing as it licked her face.
‘DI Harte.’ Gina had met Elouise while investigating a previous case so it wasn’t surprising that the woman had remembered her name. A paramedic came over to her. ‘I’m okay.’
The paramedic held his hands up and stepped back. ‘If you’re sure.’
‘Elouise. You found the body?’
