Echoes of the Past (12 page)

The box.

Danny and Lee looked at the board in disbelief. He had connected all four women successfully and logically. Now it looked as though one man may be responsible for all their disappearances.

Find me.

“There was something else,” Tom said, “the last copper up here, David South. He was looking in to Susanna Wheeling when he was killed. But there was no update on her file. I think he was doing what we are, working under the radar. I can’t help but think that at some point he would have been in touch with the intelligence officer to update something on the files, yet I can’t find anything.”

“I
knew him,” Lee said. “He was killed in a car accident a little over a year ago. I used to work with his fiancée in the coffee shop.”

“Where
is she now?”

“Oh,
no idea. She moved away after David was killed.”

“Do
you know how it happened?” Danny said. He had been familiarizing himself with every thing in Coppersfield and did not recall a fatal car accident.

“He
was driving up here from Arrochar and his car went off the road at Miners Drop.”

A
thought crossed Tom’s mind. “What was the weather like at the time, Lee?”

Lee
could feel the hairs on the back of her arm begin to stand although she was not entirely sure why.

“The
weather was fine. Now you come to mention it, he was familiar with the road. He had worked here for years. He came from one of the villages near by.”

Tom
looked at Lee and Danny. Every question seemed to raise another ten.

Find us!

Danny dropped the iced doughnut he was eating on to a plate in front of him. “So to sum up, I’ve just started in a small village with almost zero crime rate and you’re telling me that four women are missing and the last copper may have been run off a cliff?”

Look at me.

“Don’t panic, Danny. For one thing, the only women that had any connection to Coppersfield are Angela Harrison and Susanna Wheeling. It is only looking into them that the others showed up. And the road up to here is notoriously treacherous. He would not be the first experienced person to miss a bend. Are you all right, Lee?”

Lee
was leaning forward in her chair frowning at the board.

“Tom,
look at all these women. Apart from Susanna Wheeling, they all look very much alike.”

Tom
looked at the board behind him. All the girls were small and blonde except for Susanna, who had red hair.

“Yes,
you pointed that out when you first brought them to me; they could all be sisters.”

“Yes,
Tom, but they look like Olivia.”

“Olivia
went missing in December, and she was only 14. She doesn’t fit the profile.”

The
lights in the old house began to flicker only slightly. Again, Lee began to feel uneasy; her head was beginning to pound again. She reached into her bag and popped another couple of painkillers, something that was becoming more of a habit now.

“I’m
sorry, Tom, but I think we should take this to the chief inspector.”

“Take
what, Danny. A gut instinct and an accidental car crash?”

Danny
shook his head. He knew Tom was right. He did not know what was driving Tom or how his instincts were leading him down this road, but he felt that he was right. There was a case here, he just wasn’t sure what.

*****

The girl was touched by envy as she watched Jess sleep. The comfort of the kitten by her side.

As
the dreams invaded her slumber. Jess began to toss and turn restlessly moving around the bed, as images she could not control spilled into her mind.

The
smiling face of a young woman climbed into a car. She leaned over to kiss the driver, flicking her long red hair over her shoulder.

Suddenly
the darkness around her smelled of damp earth. She could feel a dirt floor beneath her as she choked and coughed at the dead hands pulling at her throat.

Jess
began to yell, praying someone could hear her cries in the darkness. She could see Olivia, damaged, broken. A red headed stranger watched mercilessly as Jess fought for her life. Panic began to take over her as the darkness swallowed her up.

*****

“HELP ME!” The bedroom door opened and Tom followed by Lee rushed in like fresh air. Topaz stood in the corner of the room puffed to twice her normal size. Jess thrashed around in the bed, mumbling and shouting.

“I’ve
got you, it’s ok, Jess.” Tom cradled her as he did almost every night now. He was aware of the frequency of the dreams. Lee sat at the other side of the bed stroking her hair. As usual, Jess woke with sobs, not able to speak of the horrors that she was witnessing in her sleep.

Lee
lifted the cat from the corner of the room and placed her on the bed. “Look, you scared Topaz.”

Jess
looked down at the tiny kitten and half laughed between sobs. Her fur standing on end, and her eyes as large and round as she could possibly get them.

“It’s
ok. Do you remember what you were dreaming about?” He asked tentatively. Jess shook her head. A combination of fear and not quite being able to recall what she had seen.

“Come
on down stairs and I’ll make you some hot chocolate,” said Lee. Jess glanced over to the far corner of the room. There it was; not a hint of something there any more. It was not a subtle movement. It was clear, the outline of a person in the shadows watching. Watching her. Jess stared at the corner in disbelief.

“What
is it, Honey?” asked Lee following her gaze.

“Over
there.” Her voice was calm. She couldn’t believe it herself. Her stomach began to knot as both Lee and Tom followed her gaze to the corner of the room.

“What’s
wrong?” Lee and Tom looked at each other.

“Could
she still be asleep?” asked Lee concerned at the fear on Jess’s face.

“Jess,
look at me, Jess.” Tom had a harshness to his voice, a little like reprimanding a small child. Jess pulled her eyes from the girl and looked at her Dad.

“You’re
all right, it was just an awful dream. Come on, we can have a hot drink and a chat.” Tom pulled back the covers to help Jess on to her good leg. Jess knew she was not between sleep and wakefulness. She was also painfully aware of the fact that she was the only person in the room who could seemingly see this thing. Jess didn’t need any more convincing, hobbling with Topaz under her arm she left the room.

The
warm glow of the kitchen always soothed Jess. It reminded her of when her mother was alive, before the accident. They used to sit in the kitchen and talk and bake. Danny greeted her with a big grin.

“What’s
this, a new addition to the family?” He reached out a hand to pet Topaz. Lee busied herself making hot chocolate. The dreams Jess was having were putting Lee on edge. She had experienced that fear. She had felt that presence that defied explanation.

“You
know, Jess, the pain killers that make you so sleepy, may be causing the bad dreams,” Lee said.

Jess
didn’t reply; she knew the dreams had been haunting her a lot longer than that. She looked at the board in the kitchen with the faces of four pretty girls looking back.

“Who
is that, Dad?” She handed Topaz to Danny and limped over to the board. The red headed girl that looked back at her was someone she knew.

“It’s
just the cold cases I’m working on, love, don’t you worry about it.”

“I’ve
seen her before.” Jess pointed to Susanna Wheeling.

“I
don’t think so, Jess, that girl disappeared in 1968.” Tom walked over to the board and lifted it from the tripod. He flipped it round so as to conceal the pictures.

“That’s
the girl I keep dreaming about, Dad. Something awful happened to her.” Lee and Danny looked at Tom.

“Honey,
I thought you were dreaming about Olivia.”

“I
do, sometimes it’s Olivia and sometimes that girl is in them.”

Tom
looked at the blank board and then walked over to Jess. “Jess, your minds playing tricks on you, maybe you’ve seen her picture in one of my files or something. But you can’t know that something awful has happened to her, that’s why I’m looking into it to find out.”

Jess
lifted Topaz and buried her face into her fur. She knew her Dad wouldn’t believe anything he couldn’t see, touch or explain.

“Can
I sleep on the couch again tonight?”

Tom
didn’t see the point in arguing, he knew she was upset and scared. If the sound of voices in the next room helped her sleep then why not. Once again, Lee settled her down with her hot chocolate and the television remote.

“Aunt
Lee, I’m scared.” Jess confided in her, in the hope she could help.

Lee
pushed the dark curls away from her face. “I know.”

“Dad
doesn’t believe that there is something going on in this house.”

Lee
could sympathise with her, but she did not want to give any credence to what Jess was feeling. It would be much easier for her if she believed it was all in her imagination. “You just scared yourself with the board the other day, and now, you’re sleeping right above us and we are all talking about cold cases, no wonder your having bad dreams.”

Jess
pulled Topaz close and slid further under the quilt, she knew how to accept defeat. Lee kissed her on the head and left her to rest.

When
Lee went back to the kitchen, Danny and Tom were clearing away.

“I
think we should call It a night, Tomorrow I will go and speak to Samantha, Angela’s best friend and I will try and get hold of Jill Patterson’s family.”

“What
about me, Sarge?”

“You
just continue doing what you’re doing, you make sure you familiarise yourself with everyone in this village, not just the trouble makers. I will give you a shout if I turn up anything.”

Danny
packed up and said good-bye, while Lee tidied away the cups and papers.

“Tom,
have you considered the possibility that maybe there is something here that’s –”

“Stop
there, Lee, I wont go down this road with you again. I told you when we lost Sarah how I feel. When you’re dead you’re dead. And I don’t want you filling Jess’s head with any of that stuff; she’s confused enough as it is.”

Lee
took a deep breath. She hated it when Tom was patronizing.

“You
know ,Tom, you can’t prove that there is nothing there any more than I can prove that there is. In fact, your whole case is built on the absence of proof. I’m going home. I will call round tomorrow to make Jess her breakfast.” Tom stood silent as Lee gathered her things and left. He knew they had different beliefs but she had never lost her temper before, simply because he did not agree with her.

*****

Tessa Jenkins slipped on her burgundy uniform and combed her dark hair. She never imagined that she would find herself pushing forty, living in a rented flat and working in the heritage trust for Helensburgh She had planned a family, a life, a home. Everything seemed to have gone awry and she had no control over it.

She
pulled on her uncomfortable heeled shoes. The moment her feet slipped into them she could feel the spots that would undoubtedly be giving her extreme pain before the end of her 6 hour shift, but her boss liked her to look nice each day as she walked for miles around the trust with tourists, telling all the same stories.

Her
winter coat was still the garment of choice since the weather hadn’t changed here since December. She pulled the door of her one bedroom flat closed and headed into the sour smelling lift.

The
heritage trust was mainly a manor house steeped in history. It was fascinating to Tessa when she first worked here, but now the stories had worn thin and the mystery was all gone. She stood at the bottom of the unnecessarily long drive way and finished her cigarette. She sucked the smoke down deep into her lungs savouring every moment of it. The wind whipped her hair around her face as she turned her back to it hoping to get one last draw.

“Excuse
me, are you, Tessa Jenkins?” Tessa turned to see a rather handsome looking man. He looked to be in his late 40s, his hair beginning to grey. Her eyes moved across the broad shoulders and down to the wedding ring on his hand. Now only slightly less interested she nodded.

“I’m
Detective Hunter from Coppersfield, I wonder if I could have a word with you?”

A
cop. She should have guessed. She always went for them. Something about taking second place to the job seemed to attract her to them.