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That first time he had looked at the photographs he had recognised the huge house behind them and he knew he had to find out more about this man. He had spent a very enjoyable afternoon in the library going through the archives, researching the family, and all the time he had felt as if there was some bond between him and Edward, a bond that was growing stronger.
He knew that he had to find a way to open one of the doors to the house and go inside so he had gone there one wet, miserable morning when he knew there wouldn’t be so many dog walkers around. He walked the perimeter of the building trying every door and had felt like crying when they were all locked up tight. He then began to wonder if the owners had ever left a spare key like his mother did: she left hers under a plant pot. He began to check the area, any plant pots and planters had long gone but around the back, near to a small door, was an overgrown rockery. He had spent the next ten minutes sweating and lifting up stones and rocks and had gasped when he saw a rusty piece of metal almost buried under one of them, the very tip sticking out. He brushed away the woodlice, dug his fingers into the moist soil and pulled out a rusted old key. He didn’t dare breathe in case it was too good to be true.
Wiping the key along his trouser leg he walked over to the door and put it into the lock, the pleasure he felt when the key turned was indescribable. He was meant to be here. There was a reason he bought that tin box: he felt connected to Edward Heaton more than he ever felt connected to anyone in his entire life.
I’m sitting on an absolute fortune, some idiot would pay thousands for this knife. But he wouldn’t part with it now for anything or any amount of money because it was a part of him and he still had so much work to do, work that he knew had never been finished over a hundred years ago. He wrapped it back up and hid the bag at the back of the wardrobe, pulling a blanket on top of it because if his mother found it she would phone the police in seconds. That he was her son wouldn’t matter; there would be no loyalty. Then he kissed the gold chain and placed it into his tin box next to the picture of Edward and put it back on the shelf. He needed to play it cool for now, wait until all the fuss had died down. He knew it would take a while because missing girls were big news in this small town.
He sat down in his armchair and looked out of the bedroom window that faced onto the busy front street. He liked to watch the people going in and out of the newsagents across the road. There would be a steady flow of traffic until about seven o’clock and then it would slow to a trickle and become peaceful. If only they all knew that he was watching them and that, should he decide to do something about it, they would well and truly know. He felt invincible.
The young lad who had taken over running the shop for his grandad came out to put today’s flyers on the billboard for the evening paper. He stared at the headline: LOCAL TEENAGE GIRL MISSING. They could search all they wanted. He doubted very much that they would find her. Even if they searched the house that small room in the cellar had been hidden since the 1900s and no one knew of its existence except him.
The light was fading rapidly, the steady drizzle after the storm making the woods treacherous, so Will decided to call it a day. If the girl was here she was deep in the trees and bushes and it was too dangerous to send people in. The Abbey was surrounded by fields that went on for a couple of miles in each direction. There had been no dog handler available because there was a big drugs job on in Workington so, in other words, it was looking pretty hopeless for today. The area had no CCTV coverage except for one small camera on the corner of the house at the bottom of the track that led to the woods. Will doubted that it even worked; they never did when you really needed them to. He was frustrated. There were dead ends everywhere. Several roads led away from this area which made it possible to reach any number of villages or towns and most of them were within walking distance. Jenna White could be anywhere. He hoped she was safe and staying somewhere of her own free will, but his gut instinct told him different and he had a feeling it would be a corpse they would find, if they were that lucky.
He had liaised with the Chief Inspector a couple of hours ago. He had been reluctant to call in air support for a missing teenager who had walked away from her home address on her own two feet: the budget cuts were playing heavily on his mind. Will couldn’t blame him and his hunch wasn’t going to be enough to convince him otherwise, at least not before the dogs had made a thorough search of the area.
He walked the perimeter of the crumbling mansion one last time; double-checking there was no way anyone could have gained entry. He found himself standing on the top step before the front door and shivered at the brass doorknocker: it was the freakiest thing he had ever seen. He still wanted to check the inside. If he didn’t it would niggle away at him until he did and at least it gave him an excuse to go back and talk to Annie.
Will wandered towards Jake. ‘That’s it for today. I’m going to see Annie, ask if she can show me around the house.’
Jake wolf whistled and winked.
Will growled, ‘Get stuffed.’
‘See you later, Detective Sergeant. Enjoy your coffee.’
Will walked away annoyed with Jake: he could be so childish at times. The rest of the search team headed on down the path that would take them back to the cars parked at the entrance of the woods. But he took the path that forked to the left and led to the farmhouse. He knew they were eager to leave the woods before it got dark, he was himself but he wanted to see Annie again. She must be brave staying up here on her own; he doubted he would be able to.
He took out his phone and tried to ring the office to see if Laura had any updates for him. He had left her manning the phones and ringing around a list of Jenna’s friends who hadn’t been in when officers had called earlier. No signal: this place was a bloody nightmare. Following the narrow path that led to the farmhouse he felt the tiny hairs on the back of his neck begin to prickle: someone was watching him. He turned and stared into the trees but couldn’t see anyone. Why did he feel so unnerved? A loud bark echoed through the trees and a big black dog came tearing towards him.
‘Tess!’ The dog stopped in her tracks, turned and raced back to Annie, who was standing by the gate.
‘Hello again, I’m sorry to bother you but I need a favour.’
‘Where’s Jake?’
‘The big guy went back to the station because he’s too scared to be up here in the dark.’
Annie laughed. ‘He’s such a wimp. What can I do to help, Will?’
Will thought that Jake probably had the right idea because he couldn’t shake the feeling he was being watched: he didn’t like it. ‘You did say you have a key for the mansion, didn’t you?’
‘I do, would you like it?’
‘It’s just, I’m thinking we need to cover all our bases. I know there is no way she could get in but I need to check all the same and besides I’ve always wanted to go inside but it’s been boarded up as long as I can remember.’
‘Of course, but I really wouldn’t suggest going in there tonight. It’s a bit of a wreck and would be dangerous in the dark. Like I said, I didn’t see anything when I was in there earlier.’
Will shivered as the temperature dropped along with the rest of the daylight. ‘No, tomorrow is fine. What time is good for you?’
‘I’m up at the crack of dawn so come as soon as you start work. You’ll need some old clothes though, not fancy suits and Italian loafers.’
Will pretended to look hurt. ‘Are you disrespecting my Tesco designer suits and Matalan shoes? What’s wrong with this look?’
Annie giggled and he liked the way it transformed the mask of worry she had been wearing since he first saw her earlier.
‘Nothing. They are very nice but you wouldn’t want to ruin them, would you?’
He shrugged and turned to leave.
‘Would you like a coffee?’
He told her he would love one and she opened the gate. Tess, who had decided that Will was OK, was running around his legs almost tripping him up. ‘Is she being friendly or purposely trying to break my neck?’
‘Both. She’s a lovable pain in the arse.’
Will bent down to scratch behind her ears and she flopped down on her belly. ‘Oh I see, one of those, are you? One stroke and you are anybody’s?’
‘So is her owner.’
Will’s expression of mock horror soon put the colour back into Annie’s cheeks and she stuttered, ‘I’m not her owner. I meant my brother.’
‘Oh that’s disappointing I could have given you a really good scratch between your ears.’
Annie laughed. His sense of humour was making him more attractive by the minute: Mike had been so miserable all of the time. Will followed her into the kitchen. ‘Tea, coffee or, if you’ve finished for the day, would you like a glass of wine?’
‘After today the wine would go down very well but I best stick with the coffee. I still need to go back, update the missing person’s report and go over everything we have up to now, which isn’t very much.’
Annie busied herself making a pot of fresh coffee and hoped the disappointment didn’t show on her face. Of course he can’t drink wine on duty, you idiot. You of all people should know that. For a brief moment she had imagined the pair of them getting drunk. She would give anything not to be alone tonight.
‘I’d love to come up some other time though when I’m not working, if the offer is still open.’
‘Anytime you’re passing. If you’re passing. I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying here but it’s at least the next two months.’
They drank their coffee and chatted about work and Jake. When Will stood up to leave it was completely dark outside.
‘Thanks, Annie, that was really nice. Do I turn left at the bottom of this path? I’ve never been up here in the dark and I don’t fancy getting lost. I’d never live it down.’
Annie wasn’t sure whether he was joking or if he was just as scared as Jake had been but was too manly to say. ‘I can drop you off at your car if you want. I need to go to shopping.’
‘That would be great, I’d really appreciate it.’
Will climbed into her Mini with far more grace than she would have credited him for. She drove along the narrow lane and had a near miss with a dog walker who was dressed all in dark clothes with nothing remotely reflective on him apart from the handle of the dog lead.
‘Bloody hell! Who in their right mind would want to walk a dog up here at this time of night?’
‘Oh you would be surprised. There are people up here all hours. It’s usually teenagers who come camping in the woods but there are also the die-hard dog walkers. That was a bit close though. I never saw his dog; I hope I haven’t already run it over.’
‘I think we’d have felt the bump in this car unless of course it was a Chihuahua.’
She stopped in front of the old wooden gates and Will offered to open them.
‘It’s OK but thank you, they are so awkward it’s taken me two years to get used to them. Are you always such a gentleman?’
‘Oh yes, you should see.’ He stopped mid-sentence and Annie grinned, he had no idea how much she would like to see.
Getting out of the car she fiddled with the padlock and opened the gates then got back in and drove the short distance along the road to the red Ford Focus: a typical unmarked police car. The only problem was that every criminal in Barrow knew they were police cars so they were technically useless.
‘Thanks Annie, it’s been a pleasure. I’m back in work at eight so by the time I’ve caught up on everything I should be here around nine. Unless Jenna turns up, but I’ll let you know if she does.’
She waved goodbye to him and sped off. As soon as she reached the main road her phone began buzzing: she had three missed calls and two text messages and she didn’t need to look closely to see that they were all from Jake wanting to know the gossip. There wasn’t any and she wondered to herself would she have liked it if there was, or was she being a fool? It was only ten days since Mike had almost killed her and she had walked out of their twelve-year marriage. She hadn’t loved him for at least the last five years of it and had spent more time hating him than she ever had loving him. Her head was telling her to keep well clear of Will but her stomach got butterflies whenever she thought of him.
He swore but the car had been going too fast to take much notice of him. It was a good job he had been swinging the dog lead around. After reading the headlines on the billboard he couldn’t settle. The taxi driver who lived next door had told his mother the Abbey was sealed off and there were search teams out there. He had been so careful, how could they know where to look? The last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to the old house, but he needed to make sure everything was all right. And who exactly was driving along this track in the dark when the gates at the bottom had been locked. He knew the owner of the farm was out of the country, a friend of his mother’s told her at the spiritualist church the other week. As far as he knew the police didn’t drive Mini Cooper convertibles either. Someone must be keeping an eye on the place.
He needed to check out the farm. It hadn’t even entered his head last night when he had led the girl up here to the house. Anyone could have seen him. He had thought he had every angle covered. This was an important lesson to learn: there are a million and one ways to fuck it all up. Still, no coppers had come knocking at his door and if they had found her body this place would still be swarming with them.
He followed the path that led to the farmhouse. A light was shining through the trees from a downstairs window. Maybe they were on a timer: you wouldn’t go abroad and leave every light on in the house. Walking closer he climbed over the gate in case it made a noise when it opened. Keeping close to the house he reached the room that was lit and peered through the glass. On the table were two mugs and a black dog was asleep in the corner. A woman’s handbag was on the chair: whoever it was must be coming back. He took a look around at the assortment of barns and outbuildings. He couldn’t just leave. Not until he knew who was staying here. A door was ajar on one of the barns so he walked over and pushed it open with the tip of his boot. The smell of hay filled his nostrils and he had to lift a hand to his face to stifle a sneeze. He pulled a bale of hay from the stack and dragged it over to the tiny window that had a slight crack across the grimy glass: it gave a perfect view of the courtyard and the kitchen door. If he was lucky they would use this as the main way to go in and out. He was confident that whoever it was would have no reason to come in here at this time of night and if they did he would say he was homeless and just dossing down for the night.
Chapter 6 (#ulink_6ea06f76-63cd-57f5-9e73-0a1db09941d9)
Tesco was empty. Annie managed to do her shopping with no interruptions, which made a change. One of the things she disliked about her job was that everyone who lived in the town centre knew her both in and out of uniform. More often than not when she was doing her grocery shopping she would get stopped and told tales about what the next door neighbour was up to or asked if she could do something about the smackheads over the road.
She filled the trolley with pizza, salad, pasta, chocolate and wine. She even picked up a packet of razors. Time to shave those legs. You just never know. She looked at her trolley, it was a lot different to shopping with Mike and she liked it.
On the stand near to the checkout was a single battered copy of the local paper. The front page had a picture of the missing girl staring back at her. Shivering, Annie hoped the poor girl wasn’t lying dead somewhere near to the farmhouse.
Her journey home was uneventful. She didn’t think twice about getting out of the car to unlock the gates. Usually she would feel a little scared because it was so lonely and dark at this time of night and there were far too many stories of ghostly monks who wandered the area. Tonight she was too busy thinking about Will. She should really phone Jake and discreetly try and find out if Will had said anything about her but he would second-guess what she was up to and then he’d tell Will: Jake could not keep his mouth shut.
She parked up and grabbed the bags of shopping from the boot of the car; the wine bottles clashed together. Unlatching the gate a feeling of being watched settled over her and she felt uneasy again. Ever since she had gone into the mansion it had been there hovering at the back of her mind. She had never experienced anything like it. Going into the kitchen she locked the door and dumped the shopping bags onto the table, her hands were trembling.
‘I’m cracking up, Tess, and turning into an alcoholic but you don’t mind, do you? It will be our little secret.’
She picked up the half full bottle of wine and her glass then went into the snug to watch the television: anything to keep her mind occupied. Something funny was what she needed. She searched through the channels until she found a repeat of Only Fools and Horses. There was nothing like the antics of Del Boy, Rodney and a box of blow-up dolls to put a smile on your face.
Her back to the window she didn’t see the black figure sneak from the barn and skulk into the woods. Tess growled in the kitchen, she knew someone was out there.
Will arrived back at the police station and this time it was full of people; completely different to this morning. Everything was the wrong way round today. Usually at this time of night it was quiet, a couple of officers and the odd PCSO around. Everyone else would be out on patrol, waiting for the endless jobs to come in. He often thought it was a shame how much the taxpayer didn’t know about the world of policing. Most calls to the police were absolute rubbish: reports of kids making a noise in the play park or for playing football in the street. It drove him nuts. The parade room was full; the nightshift officers hanging around for the nine o’clock briefing to begin. He walked on to the community office and looked in; nodding at the two PCSOs, Claire and Sally, who were in there,
‘Evening, ladies, anyone brewing up?’ He gave them his best smile and they grinned back.
‘We might be. What’s it worth?’
He racked his brain for some juicy gossip to offer in exchange for some coffee. ‘Oh I know, have you heard about the shenanigans on the G shift night out? Wouldn’t you like to know who ended up going back to a certain sergeant’s house for a spot of picking car keys out of a dish?’
Both women stood at the same time, walking towards the kettle.
‘Coffee nice and strong, and two sugars please.’ He left and walked briskly through the maze of corridors to his office, a big grin on his face. He had known they wouldn’t be able to resist. In less than five minutes they would be there, steaming mug of coffee and big smiles.
Will was tired. It had turned into a long day and as soon as he updated the duty inspector he was going home for a drink of something stronger than coffee. Right on cue the door opened and in they walked. Claire put the mug down on his desk.
‘Right, Will, spill the beans. We want to know every gory detail.’
He paused for effect. ‘Well, I got told by a very reliable source that Reece and Deana from custody went out and ended up going back to a custody sergeant – mention no names but Jack escapes my lips – house, with a certain blonde officer who has a lilting Scottish accent, for a foursome.’
‘Oh my god, are you having us on?’ Sally squealed before they both collapsed into a screaming fit of the giggles.
Claire turned to Sally who was laughing so hard she had to hold onto her side. ‘We really need to go on the next night out. Do you see what we’re missing?’
They both blew him a kiss then turned to leave.
‘Thanks for the coffee, girls.’
‘You’re welcome, darling. Thanks for the gossip.’ Claire winked at him as Sally dragged her out into the corridor. Their laughter echoed all down the corridor putting a smile on his face.
When the constabulary had announced it was taking on PCSOs it hadn’t gone down too well with many of the officers. They had been concerned they would take their jobs from them for lesser pay, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The first group that arrived from training up at headquarters had been like a breath of fresh air and Will thought they were amazing: he wouldn’t have a bad word said about them. They often helped above and beyond their call of duty, which is more than could be said for some officers.
He sipped his coffee and updated the missing persons report then, tired and hungry, he set off to find the duty inspector to give an update. Climbing the stairs he phoned the local Chinese and the girl who answered rhymed off his order of beef chow mein and salt and pepper chips without him saying any more than his name. At the moment the woman who owned the takeaway knew him better than any of his last three girlfriends. You sad bastard, Will Ashworth.
He thought about Annie and what it was about her that had affected him so much. He had never before given her a second glance but today she had looked so vulnerable and he had wanted so badly to hold her and tell her he’d protect her. Maybe it was time to start acting his age. Most of his mates from school were married, some twice. All of them had families and what did he have? An amazing talent for not being able to keep his dick in his pants and a gay best friend. He chuckled because if he didn’t he might just cry it was so pathetic.
Annie couldn’t settle. Tess was continually growling at someone or something that she couldn’t see and it was freaking her out. She stood up and pushed her face against the glass, peering out into the courtyard. But it was so dark she could only see the room behind her reflected in the glass and her own face, which she barely recognised. She looked so pale and there were big, black circles under her eyes, not to mention the world’s worst haircut. She blinked away the tears that welled and let out a sob. Stop it, Annie, your hair will grow back. You’re alive and you’re free. What more do you want?
She wanted for her to be in a different situation; in a fun-filled loving relationship. She had never really liked being on her own and had always been a homebody. When she was younger, clubbing wasn’t really her thing nor was dating. The thought of having to start over filled her with fear. Maybe I should buy some fake tan, get my nails done and see if the hairdresser can do anything with what is left of my hair. Have a bit of a pampering day and make an effort. Time to stop being a victim and become a survivor.
She refilled her wine glass, hoping it might calm her down and went into the kitchen to feed Tess,. She looked across at the table and the diary on it. Her phone began to ring and she didn’t move an inch for fear of losing the signal.
‘Well then, what did he want when he had you all to himself?’
She decided not to give Jake an ounce of satisfaction. ‘He was very nice and asked me to show him around the old house. There was nothing more.’ She didn’t tell him that Will was coming back in the morning. She thought about Will and his sandy blonde hair – so soft you could run your fingers through it – and his bright blue eyes that crinkled when he smiled, and what a smile: perfect white teeth. Then she thought about herself: short, twenty-six pounds over her ideal weight, her once luscious black hair shaved off to reveal a wound a cage fighter would be proud of. Yes, her and Will were such a match made in heaven that she laughed.
‘What’s so funny? You’re so mean keeping me in suspense. But to be brutally honest with you I was phoning up to give you some really good Uncle Jake advice.’
‘What would that be Uncle Jake?’
‘Don’t go there, with Will, I mean. You know what his reputation is like and I don’t want you getting hurt again so soon. He’s my mate and everything but I would never trust him with my sister or even my mother, come to that.’
‘Thanks for the advice. I’m going to bed so can you please stop bugging me. Give my love to Alex.’ She ended the call then picked up the diary. What about you, Alice? Did you ever fancy anyone out of your league?
A gentle breeze blew across the back of her neck making the hairs stand on end. If she didn’t know any better she would say someone was standing behind her. She felt her legs begin to quiver
Oh God, what is happening to me? Please leave me alone. Afraid to turn around she lifted her eyes until they were level with the window and glanced at her reflection. There was no one behind her. A whisper of cold air passed through her body making every nerve tingle and then it was gone: the room felt lighter and so did she. Annie tipped the rest of the wine into her glass and held it up in the air. Here’s to you, Alice, I don’t know what is going on or why I get the feeling that I’m involved but I think you were probably a very nice person and I hope that whatever it is you are trying to tell me brings you some comfort. She downed the wine and grimaced. What was going on? Was it all her imagination or had she encountered a ghost? She wished she had someone to talk to about it that wouldn’t section her. It was a shame all her friends were coppers.
31
October 1887
Edward returned from London yesterday. He is so much taller than I remember. I had finished my chores and was sitting near to the piano listening to Lady Hannah play a new piece of music she had learned especially for his coming home. Upon seeing me with his mother he stormed into the room and hugged her tight whilst pulling a face at me behind her back. I could not stop myself and stuck my tongue out at him like a sullen child. Realising my own insolence I stood up and hurried from the room, down to the kitchen, afraid to look back in case he was watching me. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible. I asked Cook if she needed some help and she pointed to a sink full of potatoes. She asked me to peel them so I did. I know she is grateful for the help because she is forever moaning that Millie cannot cut the slack. One of these days I will ask her exactly what she means.
The whole time I spent with my sleeves pushed up to my elbows, peeling dirty potatoes, I could not stop my mind from thinking about Edward. As much as I dislike him I have to admit he is so very handsome. I stared at the reflection staring back at me from the window. I still look like a girl although Cook made me blush two days ago by telling me that I was finally beginning to develop my womanly assets.
