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
‘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
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