‘So, your real Mum died?’
I nodded.
‘What about your biological father?’ she asked. ‘They always say to look at the closest family members when killings like this happen.’
‘You’re right, they do. The thing is, my father wasn’t around at all. He couldn’t have a vendetta against me as there is no relationship in the first place. Mum said she considered him more of a sperm donor than a father and I shouldn’t even think of him in that way.’
‘But did he know about you?’ she wondered.
‘Yes…’
‘So, what if he has found you?’
I frowned at her, thinking. ‘I guess it’s possible…but doubtful.’
‘How come?’
‘Because…well because although I don’t remember much from that night, I do remember some things and one was that he was quite young. My father would be an old guy by now…not running around forests killing women.’
‘So, who else? Your adoptive family?’ she questioned.
I shook my head. ‘My adoptive parents are elderly and both struggle with their mobility these days. My adoptive sister is a year younger than me and I don’t have a brother.’
‘What about in laws? Is your sister married?’ she asked.
I nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘And do you get on with the husband?’
‘He’s alright, yes. I mean, I don’t have much to do with them these days, but when I do, it’s all fine. They’re nice enough people, just very different to me. They live in a nice neighbourhood and have the perfect life-the house, the cars; even the designer dogs,’ I laughed.
‘No children.’
I shook my head. ‘Not yet, no.’
‘But you don’t think the husband could be doing this?’
‘Of course not! No!’ I exclaimed. ‘He’s quite a sweet, gentle type of guy.’
‘I see…’ she commented, although she still looked perplexed.
‘I can’t think of anyone who would wish me harm, Andi.’
‘But there must be some kind of connection. Don’t you feel like there might be some kind of connection?’
‘Well, I do…’ I murmured, ‘but I can’t quite get a handle on it…’
‘Okay…what about work?’
‘What about it?’
‘Do you work with any weird guys? Maybe someone you’ve rebuffed or refused to go out with?’
I shook my head. ‘I work at a gallery with four guys, but they know I’m a lesbian and not one has ever asked me out. They are all computer geek types anyway, so I’m not thinking it’s one of them.’
‘We’re not getting very far, very quickly,’ Anderson sighed.
‘No, but this is helping. Talking with you is helping, definitely.’
She smiled at me, and butterflies skipped through my stomach.
‘I was trying to remember the night it happened,’ I told her next. ‘But it’s all a bit of a haze at the moment.’
‘Oh dear…maybe you just haven’t relaxed enough to be able to see what went on.’
‘And how do I do that?’
Anderson smiled at me again. ‘Lie down with your head on my lap…’
‘What?’ I asked, alarmed at the thought.
‘Lie down with your head on my lap and I’ll give you a head massage. We’ll talk you back to the night he killed you and see what you can remember; if anything. All you need to do is relax.’
‘Okay,’ I agreed, feeling nervous suddenly.
‘Here then; lie down,’ she said, patting her lap.
I turned and slowly laid backwards until my head lay on her jeans-clad legs.
‘Comfy?’ she asked.
‘Uh huh,’ I agreed, as little darts of awareness skipped through my system.
‘Okay. Maybe close your eyes…you’ll relax more.’
I did as she asked. Gentle hands reached my forehead and she began to rub in circular motion on my skull. It felt wonderful and I almost groaned with pleasure. Her soft hands kneaded and eased the tension I was feeling around my head and neck. The feeling of her hands on my skin was intense and so, very blissful. I couldn’t think and my mind didn’t waver. All I thought of in those moments was Anderson herself and how good she felt being this close, touching me so gently.
As she massaged me, I gradually eased into a more relaxed state. My mind began to drift and I sighed in contentment.
Fucking sluts. All of them. Disgust ran through my system with a foul taste to it.
‘Can I help you, sir?’ she asked.
I stepped forwards, handing the woman the items I wanted to buy. Her bright, red lipstick annoyed me intensely and I wanted to smear it across her face angrily.
‘Anything else today, sir?’
‘No,’ I replied, promptly handing a note across to pay for my items.
The woman cleared her throat, clearly unimpressed by my blatant lack of manners. ‘I’ll show her,’ I thought to myself, feeling murderous thoughts come to me once more. Bitch. Fucking, rude bitch. She’d rue the day she had rolled her eyes at me. I grabbed my bag and left the shop, brisk in my pace and my heart hammering in my chest.
I walked to the alley way by the side of the building and leant against the brick wall breathing heavily. Compose yourself, I said to myself, as anger built in my veins. Calm…calm…it’s too soon for another, I reminded myself.
As if by answer, footsteps came from the front of the store and the woman herself came down the alley way with a black bag. As she lifted the bin lid, I stepped from the depths of the shadows, hammer in hand. She didn’t even have time to scream. I saw the shock on her face as she saw me but then I slammed the hammer down on her head hard, killing her with the first blow. As she sank to the floor, I battered her in broad daylight, overkill at its peak. I was so angry; so frustrated. When there was no fight left in my arms, I dropped the hammer into my plastic bag and turned to walk away. Back down the alley way and out to my lone car in the car park. I was completely unseen. I drove off into the early evening night feeling satisfaction flooding through me.
It was my gasp of stunned surprise that stopped Anderson’s hands from moving.
‘Beth? What is it?’ she asked, looking worried.
Tears filled my eyes. ‘He’s killed another woman,’ I told her, afraid suddenly. The momentum was gathering and the hate with which he had hammered the woman to death had been horrifying.
‘He killed her with a hammer…’ I cried brokenly. ‘It was…it…oh my God, Anderson.’
‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ she said, lifting me upwards and into her arms. ‘Shh, sh,’ she said, stroking my face gently.
I cried and cried, unable to get the horrific images out of my head. To be killed with a hammer…it didn’t bear thinking about. There was so much hate inside him, and I didn’t understand it at all.
‘It’s okay, Beth…’
‘But he’s killed her…and there was nothing I could do to stop him. Why am I seeing this all after the event? It’s so unfair!’ I cried.
Anderson went still and her alert body made me look up at her.
‘What?’ I asked, looking at the expression of panic on her face.
‘What if it isn’t,’ she murmured.
‘What if what isn’t?’
‘I mean, what if it isn’t after the event? It took us a long time to get to the church. The body hadn’t been deceased long. What if we do have time?’ she asked. ‘Do you know where this happened?’ she asked, urgently.
I nodded, rushing to get to my feet. Running to the kitchen, I found my mobile phone. Quickly, I searched for the number of the shop I had seen in my vision. I found it quickly and called it. The rapid ringing of the phone line had my anxiety reaching fever pitch.
‘Come on…come on, answer!’ I said to myself, willing someone to answer the phone, willing the woman to still be alive.
‘Hello?’ a voice said into the phone.
‘Oh thank God…I mean hello, I mean…’ I rambled, com
pletely incoherent.
‘Who is this?’
‘Listen,’ I said, as a cool hand touched my arm and piercing blue eyes encouraged me to remain calm. I nodded at Anderson. ‘You’re in danger,’ I told her.
‘Who the hell is this?’
‘Please just listen…I beg you. Are you wearing bright red lipstick?’ I asked.
‘Yes,’ she replied.
‘Do you have a blue uniform with an emblem on one of the breast pockets?’ I continued.
‘Yes, I do…’
‘Okay, there’s a man who is a danger to you. He’s wearing a red baseball cap and heavy, dark jacket and combats. He’s holding a bag and in it is a hammer. You need to stay away from him otherwise your life is over.’
Silence greeted me.
‘Hello?’
‘He just walked in the door,’ the woman hissed in a whisper, her voice trembling with fear.
‘Okay, okay…lock yourself in somewhere and don’t come out until the police get there,’ I told her, ‘I’ll phone them straight away.’
The line went dead and I felt a rush of panic run through me. Without stopping to think, I phoned the police.
Chapter 9
After speaking to the police anonymously, I dropped the phone on the sofa and sank down to a sitting position.
‘You’ve done everything you can,’ Anderson told me, appearing at my side.
‘Oh God, I hope she survives,’ I muttered, rubbing my weary face with my hands.
‘You got there in time. You talked to her, right?’ she asked, her face full of concern.
‘I did, yes, but I don’t know whether she got away to safety.’
‘What did you tell her to do?’
‘To go lock herself in a room if possible. I was hoping she would hide out in the bathroom.’
‘I’m sure she will,’ Anderson commented.
‘I need to know,’ I said, feeling a terrible feeling of sickness in the pit of my stomach.
‘What do you want to do?’ she asked me, looking at me closely.
‘Can we go there?’ I asked.
She nodded briskly. ‘Come on…we’ll take the car to be quick.’
‘Okay,’ I agreed.
Anderson and I grabbed our things and left the cabin. Hurrying to the car, we got in and Anderson backed down the little lane which led to the main roads. She drove safely but quickly, navigating the lanes with ease.
‘Left here,’ I instructed her. ‘Then down to the end and right.’
‘Okay.’
Anderson drove down to the scene and we immediately saw flashing lights as police cars blocked the shop.
‘What do we…?’ Anderson began but I wasn’t listening. I climbed out of the car straight away and headed for the shop. I needed to know what had happened. I needed to know if the woman had survived.
I reached the line of tape which the policemen had used to seal of the scene and called out to one of them.
‘Excuse me!’
‘Please step back, Miss,’ the policeman told me.
‘What’s happened though? My friend works there! Is she okay?’ I asked, desperate to know.
‘I’m not at liberty to disclose any information, I’m afraid,’ he told me. ‘Please step back.’
I was about to interrupt him and demand more information, but just then, the door of the shop opened and I watched as two policemen escorted a very scared-looking woman out. I recognised her immediately, and she was alive and well.
I sank to my knees, weeping with relief. My movements caught the attention of nearby policemen who hurried to my aid, along with Anderson.
‘It’s okay; I’m a doctor,’ Anderson told them, stepping in to help me.
‘We need to get out of here before you end up being taken in and questioned,’ Anderson hissed quietly to me as she felt for my pulse. ‘Get yourself together.’
I nodded, my head clearing instantly at her words. I struggled to standing and turned, ‘I’m fine…thanks but I’m fine.’
‘Come and take a seat on this bench,’ Anderson encouraged, clearly trying to get me further away from the policemen and the crime scene.
‘Okay.’
We walked to the bench and the policemen eyed us for several minutes before turning away to attend to other business. When they were faced away from us, we quickly got up and disappeared from sight. After collecting the car and driving some distance away, we then abandoned the car. We started jogging down the street and further towards the forest. When we reached a clearing with tree stumps encircling the area, we both stopped and sat down, breathing hard.
‘Why?’ I asked, breathing heavily, asking the question that I had been itching to ask since we had first run.
Anderson gathered her breath, trying to get control of herself. ‘If they knew who we were and how we’re both involved in this case, we’d both have been taken in…’
I nodded, watching the rush of emotion cross her face.
‘I’m not ready for that to happen,’ she told me.
I swallowed hard. ‘Because we have to stop the killer,’ I said softly.
‘That; and also once we’re taken in, I don’t have you to myself anymore.’
My mouth almost dropped in stunned surprise. I couldn’t quite believe the words that had come out of her mouth. I couldn’t say anything; couldn’t speak, couldn’t tear my gaze away from hers.
‘Once we’re in, this is over…and I’m not ready for that. I know this should be about catching a killer, but it’s now about so much more than that,’ she said, speaking with heart-felt ease, as if this was normal between us.
‘I…I don’t quite know what to say,’ I replied softly, my voice breaking slightly as I spoke.
‘You don’t need to say anything,’ she said quietly, standing and offering her hand to mine. ‘Come on…we should get back to the cabin.’
I nodded. ‘Let’s go.’ I took her outstretched hand and felt her warmth as we walked side by side back to the cabin.
When we reached the rural, wooden home, I unlocked the door with the key and we stepped inside. It felt like days and days since we had been in the cabin and yet it had only been a matter of a few hours. Time seemed to be passing in a strange fashion, and I knew that that was because of Anderson.
‘I might take a quick shower,’ she told me, glancing over her shoulder at me.
‘Okay,’ I nodded.
‘I won’t be long,’ she promised, walking towards the stairs.
‘Take your time,’ I murmured, sitting on the sofa gingerly.
While Anderson went off to shower, I sat back on the couch resting my injured body. My stomach was hurting more than anything else but the extensive bruising which covered my body was making my whole body ache as well.
I lay against the soft cushions thinking. I didn’t understand any of it; but I did know I had to keep doing what I was doing. I had been brought back from the dead with insight into my killer in order to stop him in his tracks. Anything less than putting the man in prison or the ground would not be enough.
I sat there quietly, mulling over the crimes of an evil man. When my mind could take no more, it quickly shifted to more pleasant thoughts. I began thinking of Anderson, and how quickly she had changed my life. There was something about her that I just couldn’t put my finger on. She was special. Unique. Even though I had known her for a very, short time, the events that we had been through meant that we had an unbreakable bond established.
As I thought of her, my body responded in kind. I couldn’t help the intense physical reaction I had to her. When I thought of her, my body heated instantaneously. She was so damn capable and gorgeous. Her body looked strong and agile and her eyes…oh my, her eyes…they were incredible.
‘You okay?’ Anderson asked, walking into the room in nothing but a towelling robe.
I gaped at her, feeling the arousal building in my body. She was stunning, and looked all homely and womanly. Her soft, blonde hair fell in wet tendrils aroun
d her face. Her gown was drawn around her waist but it didn’t detract from her long, tanned brown legs and the gaping of skin at her cleavage. My body tightened and I swallowed involuntarily. ‘Uh, yeah.’
‘You look…I don’t know…’ she cocked her head, looking at me with confusion.
‘I was just thinking,’ I said, clearing my throat and sitting up bolt upright as she sat down beside me. She smelt incredible, all clean soap and a soft vanilla extract scent. I breathed it in as if it were oxygen and then turned away, telling myself to stop.
‘What were you thinking, Beth?’
‘I just…well, I can’t believe I’ve only known you for such a short time.’
‘We’ve been through so much in the time we’ve known each other, it kind of gives you a bond of sorts, doesn’t it?’
I nodded. ‘Exactly. We’re connected by circumstance.’
‘If you say so,’ she grinned, looking away.
‘What?’ I asked, feeling my cheeks reddening.
‘You seem determined to ignore this at all costs…’ she said huskily.
‘This?’ I asked, playing dumb.
‘Don’t do that…you know exactly what I’m talking about, Beth. I don’t need to spell it out.’
‘Maybe you do,’ I said quietly.
‘Or maybe you just need to take a chance. Be brave. You’re an incredible woman, Beth. Fearless it seems, and so, so strong. Why not be the same in your personal life?’ she asked.
‘Because I just met you,’ I objected.
‘And?’
‘Well…I don’t know…but I don’t really…I haven’t…’ I didn’t know how to put into words what I wanted to say.
‘Kiss me,’ she said, holding my eyes with her intense gaze.
I couldn’t speak and the breath I was holding seemed to tighten my entire chest. I couldn’t help looking at her mouth and the desire which coursed through me was so tangible that I felt like my whole body was pulsating with arousal.
‘Kiss me,’ she repeated. ‘Take a chance.’
I couldn’t move, let alone kiss her. I felt rooted to the spot.
‘Fine; then come here,’ she said, shifting along the sofa and into my personal space.
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