‘Oh well, these things happen. Rough weather out there. Yes, it’s far too chilly for that revolution. I think I’ll stay in the warm.’ Sadie reached across and pulled a corner of a leaf from Cherie’s hair.
‘I am in a state. That’s what you get for not setting your alarm properly.’ Grin your way through this. ‘Thanks for the toast.’ She held the last bit up and popped it into her mouth.
‘Well, if you ever need to talk—’
‘I best get back to work.’
‘You’re still on break.’
Sod break time. She didn’t need someone barely out of nappies offering to counsel her. She needed everyone to get off her back and act as if everything was normal. But it wasn’t normal. Everything had changed. Her heart rate began to pick up. Nothing would ever be the same again. Her phone buzzed against her thigh. She scurried through the dining room and pulled it from her pocket as she ran along the corridor and out through the front door. She was still on break and she’d spend the last few minutes of it alone in the car park where no one would bother her. How hard was it to just be alone?
Just talk to me. I hate it when you shut me out like this and I’m sorry about your compact. C. xx
Like all the other times, Christian had mellowed. His need to fix and repair her was now shining through, along with the guilt of breaking her grandmother’s compact. She smiled. Maybe things weren’t so bad. The breeze whipped up a chill around her ears. Shades of orange and brown crispy leaves swished up in the corner of the car park before settling in an even larger pile against a skip. Sweeping it up would no doubt be one of her jobs.
She glanced at the message again. This week was just the beginning and she would need him onside should everything fall apart. Oliver and Bella were her world. She couldn’t lose them. She couldn’t lose her mind. Keep focused, Cherie.
I’m sorry, love. The compact doesn’t matter. I was stupid and you saved me, again. I love you so much. Xxx CH.
Another lie to get him off her back. She wasn’t even sure she loved him. Their marriage had been a little shaky for the past year since she’d stopped drinking herself into a stupor. She shook her head. She had to drop it for now. She had her friends coming over for dinner tomorrow night and preparations to make. A message from Marcus popped up on her phone.
Me and Penny had a huge row and now she’s gone. She’s not answering her phone. I don’t know what to do. Can you try calling her? Marcus. X
With shaky hands, Cherie tried to call Penny but her phone went straight to voicemail. She threw it in her pocket, her mind wandering to the tension that would exist amongst them around the dinner table. She imagined Isaac making jibes about Penny being a drama queen as he slowly got drunk. His partner Joanna would hang on his every word like some lovesick teen and Marcus would be there alone as they all looked at the gap where Penny should be sitting. It wouldn’t be the first time Penny had put Marcus through a couple of days of hell while she swanned off somewhere to be alone or maybe there was more to it. Marcus didn’t normally contact her for help.
A tear rolled down her cheek as she gasped for breath. Don’t lose it. Forget the past, it’s gone.
She glanced back at the nursing home. Sadie was helping Sidney to walk with his Zimmer frame and one of the trainees hurried past with a mop. The pile of leaves were no longer her problem, neither was Gladys. She jogged to her car, got in and turned the key, knowing that the only consequence of this action would be her dismissal. Frankly, she didn’t care. She couldn’t face the rest of the day, not knowing that Penny had gone AWOL.
Chapter Fifteen
Gina slumped back in her office chair as she listened to DC Wyre on the other end of the phone. As the conversation came to an end, she checked her list. ‘Can you check someone out for me? Elsie Peterson, died at seventy-three, twenty-one years ago. Our unidentified figure was lurking around behind this gravestone. It may or may not have some significance. I know you’re busy with the undertakers and coffin makers but it might just offer us a lead.’
She ended the call and allowed the case to run through her mind as she tried to search for links that she hadn’t already found. Watching the footage from the café while Jacob was in the room had sent her pulse rate soaring, now exhaustion had set in. Briggs may have only briefly touched her hand, but it would have been enough to get people talking. She inhaled, counted to three and then exhaled slowly. Pulling the letter from her pocket, she lay it on the table.
Gina,
Those who stand by and watch are as guilty as those who hurt people. They deserve to be punished and sometimes a person has to take things into their own hands. Can you remember how it felt back then? How it hurt? Does it still hurt? Do your dreams take you to places you can’t escape from? Close your eyes, think back, take a journey through that tunnel, back in time.
I know. I know everything.
We are the same, I just need you to see that. I will show you, I promise.
I promise. She trembled as she held the letter and envelope that were in the clear plastic wallet. A million thoughts rushed through her mind. They were referring to her past, to Terry. She knew that much. We are the same. What did that mean? Was this person one of Terry’s other victims from his past? He’d never mentioned any previous relationships to her, getting irate if she dared to ever mention the subject. I will show you. She felt her throat starting to close as she held back a sob. She could never escape her past. However hard she tried to let it go, it always came back for her. She knew she had to tell someone – and it had to be her superior. A shiver ran down her spine. No, it couldn’t be anything to do with the current case she was working on. It was nothing. She threw the note to her desk.
There was a knock at the door. She placed a file over the letter and Briggs entered, taking a seat at the other side of her desk. ‘Panic over.’ He began to fiddle with the end of his tie.
She nodded. ‘It seems that way. Only your back appeared on the CCTV. But you can’t do that again.’
He paused and ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I know. It was a slip up. It just felt so… natural.’
Gina cleared her throat and thought about breaking the silence with the news of her letter but then stopped as he went to speak.
‘You okay?’
‘Yes, why wouldn’t I be?’
‘Okay, onto the case. The press have our victim’s photo and it’s due to be released on the local news at lunchtime and, get this, the nationals are out there too.’ He paused and linked his fingers together on the desk.
‘Don’t keep me waiting. There’s more, isn’t there?’ She leaned forward, eyes widening as she urged him to continue.
His smile dropped. ‘Lyndsey Saunders is back. She’s been sent from Fleet Street to follow the story and she’s teamed up with the Herald while here as they already apparently have inroads. I don’t know where they got that from either.’
Gina slumped back and ran her fingers through her hair as she took in the news. The reporter who’d always tried to make a feature of her, who’d caught her at her worst, was back. Just when Gina thought she had gone for good. ‘Damn it! Anyone but her would have been fine. If she comes near me—’