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He slurred his words and Laura giggled. ‘It’s okay I’ll dry out but I think I should make sure you get home okay.’
Will turned and aimed his lips at her cheek to plant a kiss on it but she moved fast and he felt his lips connect with hers. She kissed him hard, pulling him closer and for a second he forgot about Annie and kissed her back, then his senses returned and he pulled away from her. ‘Whoa, steady on. I’m not supposed to be doing this.’ A taxi pulled up and he stepped away from her towards it and knocked on the window. ‘Who is this taxi for?’
‘Corkill.’
Will nodded and opened the door. ‘That would be me then.’ He shook his head at Laura who was stifling a laugh and she climbed in after him. He gave his address and wound the window down, he’d had nothing to eat since dinner except for a packet of crisps, and he felt sick. Laura had snaked her arm through his again and was now leaning her head on his chest. It was wrong but he was so drunk he couldn’t think straight and was putting all his concentration into not puking all over the taxi floor.
When they got out of the taxi Will struggled to get the money from his pocket to pay the driver. It was a huge effort to keep standing upright. He felt Laura’s slender fingers slip into his side pocket and begin to root around for his money. He watched her pay the man and then she took hold of his hand and dragged him up the gravel path to his front door. She had his door key in her hand and put it in the lock, opening it she stepped inside. Will stumbled in behind her and tripped on the hall mat, trying his best to keep upright, but gravity won and he lost his balance and fell to the floor. He lay there and began to laugh. Laura tried to drag him up but he was too heavy and instead she ended up falling on top of him. She kissed him again but this time he didn’t kiss back. ‘I’m sorry Laura; I can’t do this – I love Annie.’
He watched her begin to blink back tears and he did feel bad even though he was drunk. He managed to pull himself to his knees, knocking the framed picture of himself and Annie face down onto the small table in the hall. He then wobbled his way into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. Within sixty seconds he was snoring.
Laura wanted Will so badly that it hurt inside her chest, she couldn’t afford a taxi home and Annie must not be home or she would have come down to see what all the commotion was. She looked at Will then bent down and tugged off his shoes, then she undid his trousers, pulled them down and dropped them on the floor next to his shoes. He had a pair of tight, black boxer shorts on and for a man much older than her he looked well decent. It was warm in the house and she didn’t want to crease her best suit so she stripped down to her underwear and climbed on the sofa next to him. She hoped that when he woke up he would be like most men and not be able to resist her charms and the offer of some hot sex. Then the wine began to take effect and she found herself falling asleep.
June 26
984
Sophie couldn’t bring herself to watch this stupid TV programme that Sean was obsessed with – as if those men could make tanks out of some metal sheets and a hairdryer. It was total rubbish but he loved it. All he ever wanted to be was B A, the one with the crazy haircut. Sophie hadn’t really spoken much since she saw the man yesterday, he had been real in one way but not in another and he smelled so bad. She didn’t know why he didn’t like her or where he had come from but she knew he would be back. He had told her to get out and she hadn’t. Where could she go, she was only nine years old? She couldn’t just leave because some horrible, stinky shadow of a man had told her to. What made everything worse was her mum thinking she had made it all up. Why had she not been able to smell him? Sophie would never lie about anything unless it was one of those white lies so she didn’t upset someone. She looked down at the picture she had been drawing to show her mum exactly what he looked like so she could be careful if she saw him too, but she couldn’t get him right. He had looked both grey and black but at the same time transparent, and she knew that if she had been brave enough to reach out her hand and touch him it would have gone straight through him. He must be a ghost and Crayola didn’t make a crayon called ‘ghost’, although she knew it would be a pretty popular one because she would bet ten black jacks she wasn’t the only child to have seen him. She shivered; she didn’t want him to come back.
When she was finally happy her picture was good enough she took it to show her mum, who was busy talking to Father John, who was always around lately. She hovered at the kitchen door until the priest took his eyes off her mum and smiled at her.
‘Hello Sophie, what have you got there? Let me see.’
Sophie walked reluctantly towards him and handed him the piece of paper. He took it from her and smiled, ‘I didn’t know you were a budding artist.’ He looked at the picture and his face froze. Sophie knew then that the priest had seen the shadow man before.
‘Why have you drawn this, have you seen this man Sophie?’
She nodded her head but didn’t speak; she didn’t want to make her mum angry again.
‘When did you see him?’
She looked across at her mum who had turned from stirring whatever it was she was cooking on the stove to watch them. Sophie walked up to Father John and stood on her tiptoes, she whispered in his ear, ‘Yesterday, upstairs and he doesn’t like me.’ Sophie’s mum Beth looked at her daughter, whose face was pale, and then at Father John. His face was whiter than Sophie’s.
‘What’s going on, what are you talking about Sophie? What did I tell you about making things up?’
Father John stood and passed the picture to her; she took it from him and blanched. ‘Sophie that’s horrible, why would you want to draw someone who looks like that? No wonder you’re scaring yourself. What have you been watching on the television?’
Father John turned to Sophie. ‘If you see him again I want you to tell me. Was he mean to you?’
Sophie nodded.
‘He doesn’t like me either, but I can make him go away. He may just have been passing through on his way somewhere else.’
The thought of this made Sophie feel better and for the first time since yesterday she didn’t have that sick feeling in her stomach. ‘I will. Do you really think so because I don’t like him and he smells really bad!’
Father John grinned at her. ‘I’m sure he was and yes he does smell really bad, like an old dustbin.’
They both started giggling and Beth shrugged her shoulders, she had no idea what they were talking about but let them get on with it.
Father John stood up to leave. ‘I’m going now but I’ll be back later, I’ll bring some holy water and bless Sophie’s room.’
Beth nodded her head. ‘You two are crazy but if it makes you feel better then knock yourself out.’
Father John winked at Sophie. ‘He doesn’t like holy water either, it smells too clean for him so he won’t come into your room.’
Sophie watched as he put his coat on, not wanting him to go. She felt safe with him here, especially if he knew about the shadow man. Father John walked to the front door and she followed him. He paused then fished around in his pocket. He pulled out a small, bronze St Michael medal and handed it to her. ‘Wear this or keep it with you, it will help.’
Beth looked at him. ‘Come on Father John, what are you trying to do, brainwash my daughter? Sophie go and get Sean and take him up to clean his teeth, I’ll be upstairs in a minute.’
Sophie turned and ran back to the living room to drag her brother away from the television. The priest waited until she was out of earshot. ‘I don’t think you understand Beth but there is a very real threat from this shadow man as Sophie calls him. I’ve seen him myself when I was a bit older than Sophie is now and he isn’t very nice.’
‘Are you expecting me to believe that my daughter has seen a ghost? Because I don’t believe in any of that nonsense.. You’re supposed to be a man of God; next you’ll be telling me that he’ll be popping around to speak to the children as well. I don’t want to hear any more about it and please don’t encourage her. I have enough to worry about.’
‘I’m sorry, you’re right Beth but you need to know whatever or whoever this shadow man is he is real. I was terrified of him when I was a boy. It was such a shock to see that drawing.’
‘Bye, Father.’
She shut the door and John turned and walked to the gate. He turned to look up and saw Sophie at the window with her face pressed against the glass, waving at him. He waved back and said a prayer to keep her safe, no-one knew what they were dealing with except him and he had blocked it out for twenty three years.
Father John walked the short distance to his church. The house that Beth and her children were living in belonged to the church. It was used as a house for poor families or anyone in desperate need. Beth had been in a desperate situation when Father John had met her for the first time with a black eye and broken nose. He had found her huddled at the corner of the church with her two children and a suitcase. He had only just joined the parish but he couldn’t ignore them. He had led them around to the presbytery, cradling a sleeping Sean in his arms. Beth had followed with Sophie and a battered suitcase. That had been nine months ago and he had watched Beth grow in confidence and they had become good friends. In fact, truth be told, he was in crisis at the moment because he very much wanted to be more than good friends and he knew that this could never be. He knew that he should be trying to distance himself from her but he couldn’t. He found himself drawn to her, to them, more than ever. He hadn’t felt this way before and wondered if it was because he wanted to protect them, protect her. Now this – how could the shadow man be here after all these years? John needed to speak with Father Robert, who was much older and wiser than him. He twisted the black iron ring on the church door and walked inside; he needed to pray. The silence inside the church reassured him and he felt as if he had come home, that God was waiting for him and it was a good feeling. Despite the internal conflict he was suffering he knew that this was where he truly belonged and that somehow God would help him.
Chapter 4 (#ulink_40e477a3-c8e5-5668-b92e-17f5bf8075b6)
Annie woke to the smell of frying bacon and her stomach groaned, she was starving. Throwing the duvet back she swung her legs out of the bed, sitting on the edge for a minute in case she was mega hung over. She stood up and felt fine, no pounding head or churning stomach – Annie 1, alcohol 0. She got dressed and went into the bathroom to freshen up. Her hair was much better, it was now a short, shoulder-length bob and suited her much better than the half a skinhead she had been sporting last year. Wetting her fingers she ran them through her hair and scrunched it up and then she squirted some toothpaste onto her finger and rubbed it all over her teeth. At least she wouldn’t smell and she was excited to see Will and make it up to him. Last night was the first night they had spent apart since she had moved in with him.
Going downstairs into the kitchen she was greeted by a bright and breezy Alex who was making bacon and egg butties. Jake was nowhere to be seen.
‘The big guy’s in bed, he can’t move his head and has been up all night throwing up. Tequila obviously doesn’t agree with him as much as he thinks, but you my dear look fabulous so you can gloat over him all day if you want.’
‘I’d love to but I’ll save it until he’s back at work. I’d love a quick sandwich if it’s okay and then I’m off to go and see Will. I think I have a bit of grovelling to do.’
Alex grinned, ‘Well just don’t grovel too much and remember he was at fault as well.’ He handed her a sandwich made from two thick slices of freshly baked bread. Annie took a bite and groaned, ‘Thanks Alex, you know how to look after a girl.’
He began to laugh. ‘I do indeed.’ He looked in the direction of the stairs. Annie stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. As she turned to leave he shouted her back – he had her phone in his hand.
‘Where did you find that?’
‘Under one of the bar stools, it must have fallen out of your pocket.’
She thanked him then went out the front to get in her car to go and see the man of her dreams.
Annie reached Will’s house and parked up outside; she loved where they lived, it was so pretty. She had always liked the idea of living in a country cottage with a porch covered in sweetly smelling roses and honeysuckle around the door and his house had it all. She hoped he was still in bed so she could climb in next to him and show him exactly how sorry she was. She jogged along the gravel path and pulled the key from her pocket. The door wasn’t locked which wasn’t like Will. He was the king of telling people to ‘Lock it or Lose it’, the force’s burglary motto. She opened the door and stepped inside. It reeked of stale beer, and her eyes fell on the table and the photo of them both which was face down. Her stomach began to churn, she hadn’t felt this way since she’d left Mike and she knew something was wrong. Call it a woman’s intuition or a copper’s instinct. A loud snore came from the direction of the living room and she forced herself to move towards it.
She wasn’t too sure what she had expected to see but it definitely wasn’t Will lying next to a practically naked Laura, who had her arm thrown over his chest and her legs wrapped around his. The pain which shot through Annie’s heart made her gasp out loud. Deep down her worst fear had been that it would end like this. She had managed to forget about Will’s reputation as a womaniser because he had changed since he’d fallen in love with her. Tears welled in her eyes and as much as she wanted to grab skinny, blonde Laura’s hair and drag her off the sofa and throw her naked into the front street – she couldn’t do it. Will murmured something into Laura’s ear and that was it, Annie turned to run out the house and out of Will’s life forever, but she tripped over his shoes and clattered into the wall. Will’s eyes flew open and he looked in her direction, confused. Annie stared back at him, composing herself as she turned and walked out, slamming the door shut behind her.
Will felt the warmth from the body next to him and was shocked to see Laura. ‘Fuck me Laura, what are you doing?’
He shoved her and she rolled off the sofa onto the soft rug below. He fumbled to get up, his head swimming. His stomach lurched and his mouth filled with bile. Still he ran for the front door, noticing the picture frame he’d knocked over last night and had been too drunk to bother picking up. A loud screech as Annie’s car sped off was enough to make him puke all over the hall floor. When he finished retching he threw open the door to make sure that it had been her car and that she wasn’t still sitting outside. She was long gone and he stood on his front porch mentally begging her to come back. He turned to go inside and noticed his elderly neighbour watching him. He remembered that he was almost naked. ‘Sorry Mrs Jones.’ He went back in and shut the door. Laura was standing there, with her clothes on now. ‘I should get going, can you ring me a taxi – my phone’s dead?’
He pointed at the phone next to the overturned picture. ‘Ring one yourself. What were you thinking, what was I thinking, did we?’ He couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
She shook her head, ‘I don’t know, I can’t remember.’
‘Phone your taxi then wait outside, you can shut the door behind you.’ He walked to the kitchen to get a pint of water and four paracetamol, he felt like shit. Hangovers at his age weren’t so much fun anymore and he had just royally fucked up his life. He wanted to cry but instead he took a roll of paper towels to mop up his vomit and then went upstairs to bed. He dialled Annie’s number but it went straight to voicemail. Not able to do much else he shut his eyes and fell into a deep sleep, one in which he hadn’t just broken the heart of the woman he loved and ruined his whole life.
Chapter 5 (#ulink_5e2488f8-6ba7-5b37-87fc-e5b75a2c08e4)
Father John had a busy day ahead of him; he had two funerals and a christening to arrange. He also had a sick parishioner to visit who needed to speak to him about something they wouldn’t discuss with anyone else. But first things first, he wandered into the kitchen in his SpongeBob pyjamas and fluffy slippers. He needed coffee. Not just a spoonful from a jar, proper coffee. He rarely spent money on himself but the one thing he had finally succumbed to was a coffee machine, one that could match the industrial size one in the local Costa without breaking a sweat. In fact Father John’s cappuccinos were the stuff made of legends; if they were to make him a saint it would be Father John – Patron Saint of Coffee Drinkers. The woman’s union would congregate around the large kitchen table once a week with a plate of homemade biscuits and twelve of his coffees, then he would bow out gracefully and leave them to it. For the first time in history there was actually a waiting list to join them and he knew it was because he was running a parish coffee shop. He ground the beans and set about making his coffee, popping two slices of wholemeal bread into the toaster. Once he’d eaten his breakfast and read the daily paper he would shower and put on his sin-busting suit as he fondly called it and get to work.
He was on his second cup of coffee and halfway through reading the paper when he heard an ear-splitting scream outside. He jumped up, throwing his paper to the side, and ran to the window to see what the hell it was. He peered out and could see the bentfigure of Mrs Higgins come hurtling through the churchyard and into the front garden. For an old woman she could move fast! He rushed to the front door and opened it for the woman, who was now standing there breathing heavily and pointing towards the churchyard. She couldn’t speak, so John slipped on his boots and began jogging in the direction she was pointing. He couldn’t see anything and looked around expecting to see some young couple having sex or some drunken, homeless guy but there wasn’t anything. He looked back at her and shrugged. She lifted a shaking hand and pointed towards the wall. He turned around slowly this time, looking at the graves, and then he saw her; he had to blink to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. She was lying on one of the much older graves and she looked as if she was asleep, only John knew she was in a much worse state than being asleep. He nodded to Mrs Higgins and made his way towards the grave, not wanting to go any further but knowing he had a duty of care towards this poor woman. He stood in front of her and crossed himself, saying a quick prayer, then he bent down and placed two fingers to her neck to check for a pulse. He knew there wouldn’t be one but he had to try. He stood up and walked back to the house to phone the police. Dear God what was the world coming to?
***
Will dragged himself out of bed and into the shower. He couldn’t spend all day wallowing in self pity and hiding away from the world, he needed to sort this mess out now. The combination of the alcohol and the thought of how much he had hurt Annie was giving him a butterflies. He was positive he hadn’t actually had sex with Laura, he had been pissed as a fart but he remembered telling her that he loved Annie so how had she ended up naked next to him? He knew from past experience that when he got that drunk he wouldn’t be able to get it up for Jennifer Aniston so there was no way he would have been able to do it with Laura. The hot water cleansed his skin but he still felt like a dirty, rotten cheat on the inside. He rubbed the lemon shower gel that Annie bought all over. He hoped to God he would be able to sort it out with her because the last six months had been the best of his life. He had even been thinking about asking her to marry him and up until he’d met her he never really believed that he’d ever feel that way about a woman – ever. His phone was ringing but it was only when he turned the shower off and began to dry himself that he heard it; his heart skipped a beat and he crossed his fingers it was her. Dashing naked through to the bedroom to reach his phone he picked it up and saw it was a blocked number and knew it was work.
‘Will speaking.’
He listened as the control room operator informed him that a body had been found in St Mary’s churchyard, it looked suspicious and would he attend. ‘Yes, I’ll be there in ten minutes.’ He ended the call, bollocks now it was going to be hours before he would get to speak to Annie. Not wanting to do it over the phone he had no choice so he dialled her number. She didn’t pick up and he hadn’t really expected her to so he left her a message. ‘Annie, it’s not what you think. I swear to God I don’t know how she ended up there. I was so drunk I wouldn’t be able to, well, you know what I mean. I love you so much, I’ve got to go, there’s a suspicious death at St Mary’s and it might be hours before I can come and see you. Please Annie, I love you with all my heart – let me explain.’
He ended the call and slumped on the bed, today was going to be a long day.
***
Annie had driven around aimlessly for a couple of hours, at one point she ended up on Walney Island and parked the car on the seafront, watching the waves crashing onto the shore with tears rolling down her cheeks. She finally decided it was time to go home and parked the car outside her semi-detached house. Her phone was vibrating on the seat next to her but there was no way she would answer it. She couldn’t bear to hear Will’s voice right now, he had hurt her so much yet she wasn’t surprised. She knew she had got too involved so soon after Mike. She looked at her house, it had been over a month since she’d been inside. The For Sale sign that was swaying in the wind would be coming down, there wasn’t another option. It looked like she would be moving back after all, she couldn’t stay with Jake, he’d smother her with love, and the last time she’d stayed at her brother’s it had caused no end of heartache for everyone. She’d run there to escape from Mike after he’d smashed her over the head with a bottle and almost killed her, which had led her to discover the haunted house in the woods, where she had also discovered her new found ability to see ghosts. Oh and she’d managed to attract the attention of a man called Henry who was a serial killer.
Her phone beeped, shaking her from the memories which were filling her mind with horror; the only good thing which had come out of it had been her falling in love with Will. He had turned into her knight in shining armour, and now this morning had put an end to all of it. Her phone beeped to tell her she had a voicemail so she opened the glove compartment and threw the phone in there, slamming it shut. She needed some time on her own, time to think, and this was as good a place as any. She got out of the car and walked up the three steps to reach her front door. Once she opened it and stood inside she waited for a couple of minutes to see what would happen. See if the memories of the beatings Mike used to give her would come flying back, but they didn’t. In fact she didn’t feel anything. She went into her living room, which had once been full of mismatched, antique painted furniture. Now it was an empty shell; everything had been packed away and stored in one of her brother’s barns at his farmhouse in Abbeywood. The only thing of any comfort was the carpet that she’d had fitted just before Mike had tried to kill her, it still smelled new. She went through into the kitchen and checked the cupboards, there were a couple of mugs, a plate and two forks and a spoon – at least she had something to eat and drink with. She filled the sink with soapy water and plonked the lot of it into the bowl to soak. She needed to go and buy some groceries. In fact she needed to buy quite a bit unless she waited until Will was at work and went back for all her stuff – she would have to because she didn’t have much spare cash. Turning to look at the kitchen door where Mike had decided to try and cave the back of her head in, she expected to feel upset, but the only thing she felt was relief that she was still alive, even if her life was one fucked up mess. She ran up the stairs to check the bedrooms and turn the heating on to air the house through, it didn’t feel much like summer today. She didn’t even look into the master bedroom, instead she went into the much smaller spare bedroom, which looked out onto the tree-lined front street. This house was by no means as pretty as Will’s but it was her house and it was time to reclaim it.
Tears filled her eyes but she blinked them back. She had wanted to spend the rest of her life with Will but she wouldn’t let him treat her like a fool. She stripped the single bed, shook all the covers and pillow cases and then put them back on. They had never been used before so there was no point washing them, she was just checking for spiders and dust. Annie turned to peer out of the window and caught a glimpse of a little girl standing on her front door step. She was wearing a long, white cotton dress and had platinum blonde hair which had been parted down the middle and braided into two plaits. She didn’t recognise the girl as one of the neighbour’s kids; the poor thing must be frozen because there was a bitter wind today. And then she noticed that the litter on the street was whipping around on the tarmac pavements in a frenzy, but the girls hair and dress weren’t moving at all. Annie looked up and down the street to see if there were other people around, the only one was the elderly man across the road and he was hanging onto his battered old trilby to stop it from blowing away. Her heart began to race and the palms of her hands were damp. The girl didn’t move, she carried on staring up at her. Annie pressed her face to the glass and opened her mouth to speak but the girl lifted a finger to her lips to shush her. Then she turned and walked down the first two steps … by the time she should have touched the third one she had disappeared. Annie ran down her stairs and opened the door; there was no sign of the girl. She stepped out of the house and down the steps to check the front street, as she trod on the bottom step something crunched underneath her shoe. She stopped and bent down, picking up a broken toy figure, it was a head and body with no legs or arms. It was a pretty creepy toy because whoever he was he looked far too old to be an action figure, his hair was grey. She looked up and down the deserted street then turned and went back inside her house. She went into the kitchen and opened one of the empty drawers, throwing the figure into it. She didn’t like it but for some reason she knew it was important to someone, maybe the girl had played with it when she had been alive. As much as she didn’t want to admit it she knew that the girl was dead, normal kids don’t disappear into thin air. If only Jake had been here, he would have had a shit fit.
***
A car horn beeped outside and Will pulled himself up from the bed. He went downstairs, picking up the overturned picture. He kissed his finger and pressed it to Annie’s lips – sorry babe. The hall still stunk of stale vomit and his stomach lurched once more, he opened the front door and inhaled the fresh air, lifting his hand to wave at the officer waiting for him in the patrol car. Slamming his door shut he went down the steps and opened the car door. ‘How’s it going Sean?’
‘Oh you know how it is Will, same shit different day and all that.’
Will nodded; he knew exactly what he meant. ‘So what’s happened?’
‘I haven’t been to the scene; I heard the shout come over the radio that an old dear had found a dead woman in the church grounds. They’ve been in a flap ever since.’
‘Christ. As if we need any more murders, I take it that it doesn’t look like natural causes?’
‘Not from what I’ve heard on the radio. They were shouting about getting a tent there from CSI to cover her up. I spoke to Smithy who’s on scene guard, he said she was totally naked.’
‘Not good Sean, not good at all.’
The church steeple loomed in the distance and Will thought he would give anything to be anywhere other than there. But he would push his problems to the back of his mind and do his best for whoever it was that needed his help, they hadn’t asked for what had happened to them – unlike him.
June 27
1984
Father John wanted to speak to Sophie without Beth present but it was impossible, Beth knew that something was going on but she didn’t want to admit it. He’d woken in the night after a terrible dream where he was playing tug of war. He was on one side and the shadow man on the other – Sophie had been the rope. When he had opened his eyes his hair was plastered to his head with sweat. The room smelled terrible, like rotting vegetables. He’d sat up and reached out to turn on the bedside lamp, smelled then jumped out of bed and turned the main light on because the lamp cast too many shadows. It had been years since he’d encountered that particular smell and he felt unsettled; the shadow man had been here – in his room. John knew that whatever it was wouldn’t be able to touch him in a house that belonged to God but it scared him that it still believed it could go wherever it wanted. The sooner Father Robert came back from Manchester the better because at this very moment in time John felt violated in God’s house. He knelt down at the side of his bed and began to recite a prayer that he hadn’t really used since he was a child. He paused, sure that he heard a deep voice repeating each word, and every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He whipped his head around, looking for a shadow lurking in a corner, but he was alone. He finished his prayer then stood up. ‘I’m not afraid of you anymore. I don’t know why you are here but I think that it’s time you moved on, because if you don’t I will send you back to whatever hellhole it is you have come from and you will never see the light of day again.’
With that John left the bedroom and went straight downstairs and out of the front door to check on Beth and her children. Beth’s house was in darkness which was a good sign, they must all be sleeping. Unsettled, he went back to the presbytery and took the key for the church from the large pewter dish on the sideboard in the hall. He needed to be close to God, so he made his way over to the church, which was shrouded in darkness. The spotlights which illuminated it every evening had turned off. They ran on a timer so as to save money but he wasn’t scared, this place was his life and he believed in God and the power of good. This also meant that he believed in evil as well and somehow in the hours of darkness it was far easier to believe that evil was lurking in the shadows. As he strode across the damp grass he sensed someone walking behind him but he brushed it off as his imagination. It wasn’t until he reached the small cemetery where the grass ended and the gravel began that he heard definite footsteps behind him. He didn’t turn to look but continued in the direction of the church. When he reached the huge oak door he inserted the key in the lock and opened it. His heart was hammering inside his chest but he would not show his fear because he knew that it would be a sign of his weakness. Stepping inside he felt along the wall to the left of him for the light switch. When his fingers located it and pressed it down the relief which washed over him was overwhelming as the entrance was bathed in glorious light. He stood there leaning against the closed door until his breathing slowed and was back to normal; the door felt as if it was vibrating the tiniest bit. He had never noticed that before, but then he had never had cause to come in here in the middle of the night after a bad dream and being followed by a man who wasn’t from this world. The inner sanctum of the church was still in darkness and for the first time in his life as a priest he felt scared of that darkness and what could be waiting in there – Get a grip John; you are in the Lord’s house. There is no way that God is going to let such evil enter his house; this is a place of safety and love. He marched across to the glass door and threw it open, if that repugnant smell had entered his nostrils he would have screamed but it didn’t. The church smelled like it always did, a little bit damp with the lingering aroma of candlewax and the smell of the fresh flowers that the mother’s union brought in and arranged each week. This week it was lavender, roses and lilies and they smelled fabulous. He crossed himself; Thank you God, I’m glad you kept to your side of the bargain, I need all the help I can get. I’m still a beginner at all this stuff you know. Please don’t leave me to deal with it on my own because I don’t know whether I can. He turned on the lights and the shadows were banished, John felt his nerves begin to steady and his heart start slowing to a more regular pace. He busied himself lighting candles and arranging hymn books into neat piles. When he’d done this he walked to the altar and knelt down to pray harder than he’d ever prayed in his life.
Chapter 6 (#ulink_70f985ef-e1f5-5040-85a9-c01e72aa2f83)
Annie loved Sunday morning shifts; usually there wasn’t too much happening. Sometimes there was the odd drunken prisoner to deal with from last night’s shenanigans on Cornwallis Street, which was famed for the number of drunken brawls at the weekend. It always amused her seeing their faces as they were released from custody to do the ‘walk of shame’ home. Nine times out of ten a look of bewilderment was etched across their faces as they had no recollection of what arseholes they’d been to get locked up in the first place. Kav her Sergeant, had looked at her when she had come into the parade room at the start of her shift and nodded. Annie guessed that he knew or had heard something; he seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to her. When Mike had attacked her, Kav had been the one to find her unconscious and he had dealt with it himself after she had confided the whole sordid story to him. He had stopped it from becoming public knowledge and she was eternally grateful to him. At the briefing he had put her double crewed in the van with Jake and it was over a greasy breakfast in the hospital canteen that she had blurted to him about finding Will with Laura yesterday morning. She hadn’t meant to but Jake had asked if they wanted to come round for supper tonight and she didn’t have the energy to make up a plausible excuse, besides he would hear it soon enough so it was better he heard it from her. His face had turned redder than the sea of tinned tomatoes that were swimming around on his plate; he’d dropped his knife and fork and clenched his huge fists so hard his knuckles were white.
‘Please tell me that this is some kind of joke because I will kill him. I warned him, if he didn’t keep his dick in his pants I would rip his head off.’
‘Calm down Jake, please. It’s okay, I sort of expected it to happen, in fact I’m surprised he lasted this long given his reputation.’
‘What planet are you on? It is not bloody okay. I don’t give a flying fuck, he promised me he wouldn’t mess you around. That’s it; I’m going to kill him.’
‘No you are not, keep out of it. This is between me and Will. I’ve moved out and gone back home now anyway. He left a voicemail yesterday trying to apologise and said he had to work the murder at the church that came in so I went and packed up most of my stuff after tea. He isn’t worth you getting in trouble and losing your job over and I can’t be bothered anymore, I’ve cried it out of my system and from now on I’m staying single. No more men. now promise me you won’t do anything stupid?’
‘I can’t Annie, you can’t expect me to let him do this to you and not say anything, it’s not right. He’s my friend but you’re like my sister and I wouldn’t let anyone treat my sister like that.’
‘Thanks Jake but you don’t have a sister so how do you know? Look, I will deal with Will, just leave it.’
‘Why do you have to be such a goody two shoes? Okay, I promise to try not to do anything stupid. That’s the best I can do.’
As they were walking back to the police van, a call came in for a domestic on Marsh Street. They ran and jumped into the van and Annie held onto the side of the van door as Jake blue lighted it through to the other side of town. She loved working with him but he was a crap driver, it was like watching her life flash before her eyes whenever he drove them to an emergency call. As they turned into the street one of their regular customers was kicking his ex-girlfriend’s front door. Jake screeched the van to a halt and they both jumped out.
‘Now then Peter what have we got here? From where I’m standing it looks like you’re causing a shit load of criminal damage.’
‘Fuck off, she’s a total bitch. Won’t let me see the kids and she has another bloke in there.’
Peter turned and began kicking the door again; Jake took three steps and grabbed his arm, dragging him away from the door.
‘Peter Low I’m arresting you on suspicion of criminal damage, section 4, and for being a prick. You do not have to say anything but, it may harm your defence if you do not mention now something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand Peter?’
‘Fuck off.’
Annie turned away to hide the grin on her face and opened the van doors as Jake snapped his cuffs over Peter’s wrists.
‘Is that any way to talk in front of a lady? Get in the cage, I’m taking you to the town’s worst bed and breakfast so you can sleep off your six bottles of cider and until you understand the error of your ways.’
Peter tried to resist being put in the van and began to scuffle with Jake who was almost twice his size. Jake grabbed him and threw him in.
‘Don’t be a dick all your life; I can add police assault and resisting arrest to that nice little list of charges.’
Jake slammed the cage door shut and then the van doors. Annie started laughing, ‘Sorry.’ She walked towards the house and knocked on the door, which was opened by a woman in her early twenties and clearly pregnant, with a two year old clinging to her legs.
‘Are you okay Julie? We’ve arrested him so he’ll be in until at least tomorrow because we can’t interview him until he’s sober.’
‘Thank you, why can’t he just leave me alone? He’s a pain in the arse.’
