Authors: Helen Phifer
Will kissed her, then pulled away. ‘We don’t really have a choice. Stop worrying about everyone else and start thinking about yourself, please.’
Jake came out, closing his front door behind him. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye then ran to Will’s car and jumped in. ‘Are you taking me or am I going with Annie?’
‘You’re coming with me. Annie will drive herself, but we’ll be a couple of cars behind at all times, so don’t go driving too fast. I don’t want to lose you.’
As they drove away from Jake’s house he looked back over his shoulder and Annie felt terrible for putting him in the position he was about to be in. Will stopped by her car and she opened the door. He grabbed her hand and she squeezed his back, but she couldn’t look at him because she thought that she might just burst into tears. That would be a complete embarrassment.
She started her car, the whole time begging God to watch over her friends and Will. The radio burst into life as she started the ignition and she jumped, reaching out and hitting the button to knock it off. She turned and stuck her thumb up at Will, who smiled, and then she pulled out. This was going to either be the shortest or the longest ride to Windermere she’d ever had. She just hoped that they were right and that Henry would be true to his form and make his move today, when they were all ready for him.
Martha Beckett popped into her head and she was glad of the distraction. Even after this was over there was still the problem of the monster in the cellar of Beckett House. How the hell were they going to find and kill that?
Henry knocked on the door of Beckett House and waited to see if the old woman would answer. He was pretty sure that she would. Megan was waiting in the van for him. He’d told her he wanted to check something out next door. He didn’t tell her it was the cellar and she didn’t question him. When he had Annie, he wanted it to be like the first time around. He needed Annie to know that she may have won once, but it was still going to end in the same way. She had only managed to prolong the inevitable.
The vestibule door opened and she shuffled into sight. He smiled and waved at her and, once she realised who he was, she smiled back and opened the front door.
‘Morning, Miss Beckett, and what a frosty one it is. How are you today?’
‘I’m fine, thank you, Henry. How are you? Has your car broken down again?’
He smiled. She’d even thought of his excuse for him.
‘Yes it has. I’m really sorry to bother you.’
‘Come in. Don’t worry, it’s not a bother. You know where the telephone is. Help yourself.’
She turned and walked into the house and he followed her, smiling to himself. He paused at the telephone and she carried on into the kitchen. He looked at the cellar door and the number of padlocks and bolts on it and wondered what secrets that cellar held to be so well secured. Once more he rang his own mobile, which was on silent, and left himself a voicemail, then he walked to the kitchen.
For a moment he wondered if he should leave the cellar, leave the woman and just use the boathouse, but it just wouldn’t be the same. She was pouring hot tea into a cup, so he sat down and took it from her. They talked about the weather and how expensive cars were. Martha was obviously glad of the company. She clearly found it refreshing after all this time to be able to sit and have a proper conversation with such a polite man, while Henry was in turmoil about what he should do with the old woman whom he had a bit of a soft spot for.
When Henry jogged back to the van, his normally white face was flushed red. Megan, who was drumming her fingers on the dashboard, took one look at him and frowned. He opened the door and got into the driver’s seat. ‘What’s the matter, my flower? You look unhappy.’
‘Nothing. I was worrying. You’ve been such a long time.’
‘You shouldn’t worry about me, Megan. I’m capable of looking after myself. You don’t think a frail old woman is a match for me, do you?’
He drove off. ‘Let’s see if we can find somewhere to park near the café and see if she drives past on her way to work. You never know, she might even call in for her coffee. If my planning is right she will be on the same shift. Once she’s gone into the station we can find somewhere to hide nearby, ready to follow her, and then take her at the most convenient time.’
He parked next to a monster of a Range Rover in the small side street near the café and turned the engine off. As long as it didn’t move, this was perfect. He could just see the cars that went past, but he was hidden from their view. He had no idea whether or not they would be on to him or know what vehicle he drove, but there was no point risking it. Far better to be cautious than take it all for granted.
‘Megan, why don’t you go and get us something to drink? I could do with some caffeine flowing through my veins. It might calm down the adrenaline that’s already filling them.’
She didn’t speak but got out of the car like a good girl, slamming the door shut behind her. He flinched. She knew he hated that, but it was okay. He would remind her about it later. She was definitely a different girl from the one who had so eagerly wanted to fuck him and help him kill those two women. That was why he was glad he had never married. Women. They couldn’t make up their minds from one day to the next what it was they were going to be happy with.
About the same time as she came out of the coffee shop with two large coffees, Henry saw the shiny, brand-new Mercedes come to a stop outside and put its hazard lights on. He felt the blood rush to his head when he saw who it was getting out of the driver’s door. So it was Annie who had that big, flash car – not her boss, whoever that was.
He watched, frozen to the core, as Megan came out of the door and Annie held it open for her. Megan looked at Annie and smiled. There was a brief conversation between the pair of them and then she went inside and Megan carried on walking towards the van. He didn’t see the much older BMW that had stopped further down the street with Will and Jake inside. He was too busy trying to see Annie through the steamed-up window of the café. ‘Do you think we should drive around and grab her when she comes out of the café, or is that too risky? Is it very busy inside?’
‘Not too busy, but I think you’d be very foolish to try and get her right now. You would be stopped before you even got out of the town. For one thing, the manager in there has a massive crush on her and would run after you, and he’s a very good runner. Plus it’s too open and we stand out too much.’
‘I suppose you’re right. What did she say to you, Megan? I can’t believe that she talks to you and hasn’t realised who you are. She’s obviously not as clever as I gave her credit for. We’ll wait for her to go to the station, but at least I know which car is hers now.’
***
Annie watched the girl walk off with the two coffees and wondered why she thought she knew her. She seemed so familiar. It was probably because she had spoken to her a couple of times on her last visits. She knew Will would go mad with her. They hadn’t agreed that she should stop here on the way, but call it her sixth sense or whatever it was – something had told her she needed to call here. She ordered five coffees. This time Gustav didn’t insist on giving them to her for free, which was fine by her. The man had to make a profit sometime. He did come around to talk to her, though.
‘Gustav, how long has Meg worked here for?’
‘Not long – a couple of weeks. Why do you ask that? Don’t you like her?’
‘No, I mean yes, I like her. It’s not that. There’s something about her that makes me feel as if I should know her. Do you know her surname?’
‘Blah, I don’t remember the details. I only know most of my staff by name because of those name tags they have to wear. I have a memory that is entirely not fit for purpose, my lovely Annie.’
‘I think I need to know what it is. Can you ask one of the others or check her details for me? You will have them on file somewhere, won’t you?’
He turned to the man who was in charge of the menu today. ‘Stan, what’s Megan’s last name? Can you remember off the tip of your tongue?’
As Gustav repeated the name Meg Tyler, Annie felt her blood freeze and the room begin to swim. She turned to run towards the door of the shop and out into the front street, which was beginning to get busy. She pulled out her phone and rang Will. ‘Where are you? Did you see that girl I was talking to less than five minutes ago? I think that’s her. It’s Megan. She’s been working here right under our noses. I talk to her, for Christ’s sake. We need to find her because she had two cups of coffee in her holder, and if she’s nearby I can guarantee that so is he.’
Annie spotted Will’s BMW parked further down the street on the opposite side. He and Jake jumped out and came running across the road to where she was standing.
‘Can you see her?’
All three of them scoured the street and the cars that were parked nearby, but none of them looked familiar and there was no sign of the girl.
‘Fucking hell, we had our chance then. Right, can we get to the station, because not all of us have equipment with us? But I’ll tell you something: they must be around here somewhere waiting. So that means he’s watching.’
Will walked back into the café with Annie where she was met by a puzzled Gustav holding two carriers full of coffee. She took them from him and thanked him. Taking a moment to look Will up and down he leant and whispered into her ear.
‘Ah, serious competition.’
Then he winked at her and was gone, back to the kitchen where an almighty crash had just echoed through the shop.
Will opened her car door for her, checking that no one had climbed into the back seat while they hadn’t been looking. It was empty. He took the drinks with him. ‘Jake can hold them. Save them spilling on your leather seats.’ He winked at her and she smiled. Her face didn’t betray the turmoil she felt inside. She was so angry that she hadn’t realised who Meg was sooner. There had been something about her that had made her feel uneasy, and now she realised what it had been. The girl was almost as evil as Henry and she’d been able to sense it on her psychic radar. It was just a shame that inbuilt radar hadn’t made the connection much sooner. Things would have been a lot simpler. They could have arrested her at work and made her show them where he was hiding before he’d realised what was happening. She got back out of her car and ran into the café.
Will threw his arms in the air. ‘What the fucking hell is she doing now? Jesus, if she carries on like this I’ll have a heart attack.’
He drove up and parked on the double yellow lines behind her car. ‘Go and see what she is doing, Jake. If she’s gone back in for sugar, drag her out.’
Jake jumped out of the car and went inside. He couldn’t see her, but then he looked into the kitchen and saw her talking to the manager. He had a filing cabinet open and was passing Annie a brown file. ‘Gustav, if she turns up for work, don’t say anything to her, but make sure you ring me. Don’t let her hear you do it either. She’s very dangerous.’
He nodded his head. ‘Lovely Annie, how could this be? How could she work in my café, with all my lovely customers?’
Annie patted his arm. ‘It’s okay. You weren’t to know. We’ll catch her soon.’
She turned and saw Jake who was standing with his arms crossed. She walked towards him and he lowered his voice. ‘Your husband is in the car on the verge of a coronary because you keep changing the plan without any notice.’
She waved the file at him. ‘Megan’s personal records, phone number, address, etc. It might just make our job of finding them slightly easier, don’t you think?’
‘Not bad, not bad at all. That, my friend, is almost worth the foul language my delicate ears have just had to listen to coming from Will’s mouth. I had no idea he knew some of those words. I’ve never heard him use them before.’
They got outside and she mouthed ‘sorry’ to Will. He didn’t smile, but nodded his head. Bugger. He might have calmed down by the time they got to the station.
This time she got into her car and drove off, followed by Will, who watched Annie park outside the station. He carried on driving until he reached the next turn-off where he parked, out of the way. Then he and Jake got out of the car and made their way to the side door, which wasn’t used as much. Jake passed him the drinks while he typed in the code to get in. They walked to Cathy’s office, where Kav, Cathy and Annie were already sitting. Annie was in the middle of telling them about Megan’s job right in the middle of the town and Kav was shaking his head in disbelief. Cathy took the file from her and skimmed through it. ‘Cheeky little bitch. Who does she think she is? I mean, what a brazen little hussy.’
Will sat down on the chair furthest away from Annie. He was annoyed at her, but slowly beginning to calm down, and he found that he could actually think much more clearly when he was angry.
‘What does that file say? Please tell me it has an address we can go and pay a visit to.’
‘It does, but it’s that bloody caravan park down in Barrow. It does have her phone number and I don’t see why she would give him a false one. How else would he have contacted her to tell her about the job? It’s not much, but it’s something.’
Jake passed the coffees around. Annie shook her head and he raised an eyebrow at her.
‘You give us a bloody heart attack with your detour for a latte, and now you don’t want it? Are you ill? You love coffee.’
‘I know. Sorry about that. I just wasn’t thinking. No, I’m not ill but my stomach feels really off. Anyway, it was meant to be. If I hadn’t stopped, we wouldn’t have found out about Megan, would we?’
She stood up and went to the ladies’ locker room. She didn’t want them to see how much her hands were trembling or for them to hear her throwing up. There was no one else inside but her and she tried her best to be sick, but couldn’t. This was all she needed – to turn into a wimpy wreck. She was standing pressing her hot head against the cool tiles by the sink when Cathy walked in.
‘You look like shit, kid. Maybe we should call this whole thing off. Bring in task force and let them get on with it.’