“Did nobody ever ask about him, you know, the bloke? I mean if someone in England disappears there’s a hue and cry and it’s on the telly and all of that stuff.”
“It’s so different there. The whole social and family set up is different. Some of the families are huge; if a man has three wives and they all have a bunch of kids, which they usually do, well you can’t compare that to your average British family can you? Then the boys are very much free to do whatever they like. I’ll bet there are people in his family who haven’t even noticed yet that they haven’t seen him for ages. If they do they’ll have assumed that he’s off in the Gulf staying with mates or in the capital at college. I knew one woman who only found out her son had got married because somebody else told her. No, it is possible for someone there to disappear much more easily than you would think. The distances are so great as well, his home was miles and miles from the hospital so nobody would think about him being there.”
“Well, I can only speak for myself but I think that he was a brute. You protected yourself, and if it had happened in UK then I would be calling the police myself – well I think I would but from what you said I don’t know what other choice you had. To be honest I don’t know how you’ve carried on. Saying that, how badly do you think your nerves have suffered, be honest? What I’m coming round to saying really is – oh please don’t be offended, don’t get mad – do you think that the roses and the noises and such like could have been your imagination, sort of dreams, or hallucinations?”
“And the barbecue, the plants. I didn’t imagine that did I? There is no way that was my ‘nerves’. I know this is hard to get your head round but I’m not crazy, I’m not.”
“Oh of course you’re not, I’m just looking for answers, don’t take any notice. I’m just so out of my depth here.”
“I know love, I know and I want to say that although telling you hasn’t taken it away, nothing will ever do that, will it? But it is such a relief to be able to talk to someone about it, you’ve no idea. I’ll never forget what you’ve done, letting me unload and most of all not judging me, not blaming me. Thank you.”
The two women hugged each other and shed yet more unheeded tears.
“What are you going to do? Are you going to sell the house, move out, or rent it maybe? Of course you can stay here for now if you want, but do you think you’ll be able to go back there eventually?”
“Oh, I don’t know. To be honest I can’t think straight now. I was at my wit’s end but I feel stronger now, with you here, I do. There must be an explanation about the rose, there must be.”
Look, do you think you’ll be able to sleep?”
“I’ll take a sleeping pill. I feel safe here with you and I have to say the thought of a good night’s sleep sounds like heaven.”
“Okay let’s get to bed and then tomorrow we’ll give it all a good dose of thinking about and see what we come up with, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Chapter 14
Sunlight teased Fiona awake and the smell of fresh coffee made it worthwhile. Warm and secure, bliss beyond measure. She stretched and turned to smile at her friend who was standing beside the bed with a steaming mug of coffee.
“Hello love. Sorry to wake you but it’s getting late.”
“What time is it?” Reaching to take the drink from Sharon’s hand, Fiona peered at the clock on the bed table. “Nine, wow. That’s the longest sleep I’ve had for weeks.” She turned to her friend who sat on the bed, swung her legs round and then wriggled up to rest against the spare pillow.
“I can’t thank you enough Sharon. You have no idea how much better I feel this morning. Just being able to sleep has made a difference, but more than that having someone to talk to, well there’re no words really for how that helps me. I’m sorry though, I feel so guilty putting all this on you. I didn’t think I would ever be able to share it. I haven’t spoilt anything have I? Tell me you don’t hate me. I couldn’t bear it, on top of everything else if I lost your friendship, should I not have told you, was it a mistake?”
Sharon smiled at her, “I can’t pretend I wasn’t shocked, of course I was. Beyond shocked to be honest, but you are my friend, I love you and – well look, I’ve been thinking... I didn’t sleep all that well last night,” she reached out to lay a hand on her friend’s arm, “not your fault, not really, it was just that it was all going round and round in my head, you know.”
Fiona nodded, sipping at her drink.
“Anyway as I said I have been having a good old think. The first thing, and I believe this absolutely, is that what you did, it must have been so awful really, really horrible but you did it in self-defence. Now, I’ve known you for ages and I know you would never hurt anyone deliberately, I just know that about you, it’s an absolute. I think that one thing you have to do is accept and move on, if you can. Fact, you will never be able to forget what happened, who would? But you are a victim. You were raped. If it had happened here you would get all sorts of help and sympathy and even if you were taken to court, I think it would be self-defence or at the worst manslaughter and you wouldn’t be blamed.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Course I do, I’m sure of it. You were overseas and the usual rules don’t apply. I’ll admit I hadn’t really thought about how different it is but I see now, a different world and the risks, ugh.” She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself in an unconscious gesture of defence. “I guess the only thing you can do is forgive yourself and move on. You can’t undo any of it, you can’t change it and you can’t let it ruin your life.” She turned and gave her friend a quick hug. “That’s only part of it though isn’t it?”
Fiona simply nodded.
“This other stuff, this is going to sound crazy but hear me out. Because of what has happened and because of the state of your nerves and everything, you have naturally connected the two things. Now I admit on the face of it a rose on the table would immediately make you think of the rose in your room at the hospital but are you sure it can’t be something else?”
For a few moments there was silence broken only by the morning sounds of birds and car doors in the road outside.
“My God, I never even considered that. Since I came back the rape – all of that – has been on my mind so much that everything that happens I sort of connect it. But …” She sat in silence now drinking her coffee a thoughtful expression on her face a frown playing across her brow. “Sharon, you have made me feel so much better you have but, what on earth could it be if it’s not to do with what happened at the hospital?”
“Yeah, I admit that’s where I come up against a brick wall as well. Look, neither of us believe in ghosts do we?”
A violent shake of Fiona’s head nearly caused the coffee to slop across the covers.
“Oops, careful. Anyway, we are going to discount the supernatural, yes?” She turned and looked across at the other woman who nodded.
“Okay, so there was the man at the door and in your house that night, there were the plants and the barbecue and then there was the rose. I think that we should try to think of another explanation and to help us to do that I think we should go back to your house. Simon is away this weekend so here’s what we’ll do. You stay here for the next couple of days and then on Friday we’ll go to your house and we’ll stay there and see what happens. Yes?”
“Yes, oh thank you Sharon, really thank you so much. I knew you were a good friend but this is just above and beyond.”
“Well, come on, get yourself up or we’ll both be late for work and that won’t go down very well will it?” With that she slid from the bed and made her way back down to the kitchen with the empty cups. Fiona swivelled her legs from under the duvet, a worried frown playing about her face as she crossed the landing on the way to the shower room.
Chapter 15
As they drew into the short driveway and parked in front of the garage Fiona felt a quiver of fear run through her. She had tried so hard to hold it
together but the repeated weirdness and underlying threat had been chewing away at her nerves. In the face of Sharon’s kindness and concern in the pub she had simply fallen apart. Now that she had someone to share the problem with she thought that she was ready to try to sort it but she would always feel guilty about encumbering her friend. Guilt heaped on guilt, heaped on fear, how could anyone get through this? Even now she could see the look of horror on Sharon’s face as she had described going to the furnace with the body on the trolley.
The house was tidy and warm and pretty much as she had left it. She had been so delighted with her place, so hopeful that she would be able to move on with her life in spite of the horror she had lived through, but that just hadn’t happened. The thought sprung unbidden to her mind that she should just get rid of the place.
“I don’t know about this Sharon, maybe the best thing would be to just put the house on the market.” Her voice shook as she verbalised the thought.
“Yes, that’s obviously an option but if we don’t get to the bottom of this there is no guarantee that things would be better wherever you go.”
“No, I guess you’re right there, oh my God if I’d have known…”
“What, what could you have done?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have met that bloke, not in a million years. It was my fault, you know. I thought I could talk some sense into him.”
Sharon stopped and turned to face Fiona directly. “Yes, in hindsight it wasn’t a good idea but it’s no good is it? What happened, happened. If you really don’t want to stay you can come back with me but, you won’t be able to move on until this has been sorted.”
Fiona nodded, her shoulders slumped and her face drooped in misery. They made up the guest room, Fiona sorted out towels and linen for her friend and then they went out into the garden.
“You know the first thing that happened, the plants and the barbecue? What did you do with the pots and the metal and all?”
“I threw the pots away and stowed the metal in the back of the garage to give to the scrap merchant next time he comes round. Why?”
“Let’s go and look at it, the police didn’t do much did they?”
“No.”
“Well let’s have a proper look in the cold light of day and see if we can try to work out just what happened to the barbecue. I don’t know what we can do but it’s a starting point and until tonight it will give us something to think about.”
Fiona shivered as goose-bumps popped out on her arms. “I am so scared about tonight.”
“Don’t be, I’m going to be here with you and you know it could be that nothing will happen.” Sharon didn’t voice the thought but still had the idea that the rose and the intruder could all be a figment of her friend’s over-stressed imagination. If she could see the evidence for herself, the ruined barbecue, which was all the solid proof there was, then perhaps it would give them some idea about what was going on.
Fiona, acknowledging the unspoken truth, was a little hurt but so indebted now that she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. It had to be acknowledged that the whole thing was so very weird it was perfectly reasonable for Sharon to want some sort of proof. Part of her wanted the rose to appear so she would be proven to be of sound mind and yet she was absolutely terrified of coming down in the night and finding that dreadful dead flower on the table, with or without her friend there to hold her hand.
Chapter 16
In the back of the little garage Fiona was flinging things around, old boxes, gardening tools and cleaning gear were cast behind her, she felt the hysteria rising. Sharon ran to her and grabbed her hands. “Leave it, leave it Fi. Stop now, stop getting upset.”
“It was here, it was. I brought it in and threw it in the corner by those boxes,” Fiona wiped her hand across her face, smearing dust and dirt onto her skin. She bent again throwing soggy cardboard sheets into the middle of the garage floor, desperately searching for the damaged barbecue.
“Well, I can’t see it love. There isn’t much in here. Simon would be quite jealous,” Sharon tried to cool the atmosphere as she watched her friend become more and more agitated. “Maybe you were just confused, you know, you were very stressed.”
Fiona turned, her eyes wide with panic and desperation. She grabbed hold of Sharon’s arms. “How can you believe me though, how can I make you see? I’m so frustrated. That bloody thing, it was so totally trashed and it was the only solid proof of all that happened. You do believe me don’t you? I wish I’d shown it to you at the barbecue now but I didn’t want to spoil the atmosphere. Oh shit.”
“Come on love, don’t get upset all over again. I’m sure it’ll turn up. Let’s go and have a drink. It’s lovely out on your patio, let’s get the last of the sun and try to relax.” Fiona allowed herself to be led away from the piles of card and empty plant pots littering the garage floor. Stepping through the little wooden door she glanced upwards. A flock of swifts whirled and swooped against the late afternoon sun as a couple of blue tits on the bird feeder chattered together. It was such a wonderful world, but her place in it now so very ugly. She should have been happy, why had she been cursed? What had she ever done to deserve all this? Her shoulders slumped as she flopped down onto the chair.
Was there any way this could ever be over? Was there any way she could ever be happy again? Maybe it would be better to just finish with it all now. At that moment the thought of sinking into a warm dark place, closing her eyes and never having to open them again was so very tempting. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. She was so afraid, her life was unravelling and out of control, the dark tunnel she was in seemed endless and deepening with every passing day.
She turned to watch Sharon come through the patio doors. The setting sun glinted on the glasses of white wine. “Come on love, let’s have a nice evening if we can and try to switch off for a bit. Cheers.”
“Cheers Sharon and, you know, thanks.” The clink of glasses sounded a deceptively cheerful note in the sombre atmosphere. If only it were possible to switch off, to push all the horror and the fear away, but she knew that it lurked and loitered and as soon as her guard was down it would flood back in and engulf her.
“Hey Fiona, who lives in the old house over the back? That one behind the trees, it’s quite big isn’t it?”
“Oh yeah, it used to be the farmhouse I think, before this land was sold for building. It’s a weird guy that lives there. I have only met him a couple of times, he’s a bit erm, I dunno, spooky somehow. He’s one of those people who won’t look you in the face, and he mumbles so you can hardly hear him.”
“Is he old?”
“Not really I don’t think, probably fifties, maybe early sixties. Don’t know anything about him, not even his name to be honest. Met him on the way back from the garden centre once and then once when I was nailing some wires to the fence for the climbers, but I wouldn’t recognise him if I saw him again. Why are you asking?”
“Oh it was just that when I went in to get the drinks, you were still in the garage and he was standing in the window upstairs and I’m sure he was looking in. I thought he was being a bit cheeky.”
“Hmm, no don’t know anything about him. Oh, how did things get to this? I can’t believe the mess I’ve made of things, tell you what, let’s get smashed and to hell with it all eh?”
Chapter 17
Fiona was dragged from the darkness by her friend’s cheery voice and the smell of coffee.
“Come on sleepy head, the sun’s out and I thought we could do some stuff, retail therapy, pub lunch, normal things, a nice ordinary girlie day.”
Fiona rubbed at her eyes, “What time is it Sharon?”
“It’s half eight and it’s a lovely day, come on.”
“Half eight – in the morning?”
“Yes of course in the morning, what do you think?”
“Well it’s just that – I slept all night, again.”
“That’s a good thing isn’t it?”
“Well I suppose so, yes. But it doesn’t make any sense does it?”
“Look, I know what you mean, I do truly, you’re thinking that because nothing’s happened I won’t believe you. Okay, I want you to know, no matter what happens or even doesn’t happen for that matter, I do believe what you told me. You told me there was a dead rose on your table, so, as far as I am concerned there was a dead rose. You told me your barbecue was smashed to pieces; I believe your barbecue was smashed to pieces. If nothing else happens, nothing else at all ever, I will still believe you, okay?”
As she looked at her friend Fiona was swept with emotion. “You know Sharon you are truly the very best friend anyone could ever have.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Well in that case take me out and buy me a pub lunch.” With this Sharon plonked a mug on the bedside table and left the room. Minutes later Fiona heard the sound of the shower in the guest bathroom. She swung her legs out from under the duvet and, picking up the drink, she walked over to the window.
Peering down now she saw only the tidy little garden with the plants coming into their own as the summer moved on. The patio with the new little barbecue and table set was inviting and neat and there was no sign anything untoward could ever have happened there.
She glanced up and, through the branches of the trees in the old garden opposite, she saw a movement. She leaned closer to the glass and in the long window of the house over the fence the outline of a figure stood looking straight back at her. She shuddered, suddenly the day wasn’t quite as warm and sunny, the feeling of dread and worry she had been working hard to get rid of came back and lowered her mood. Now, the figure moved, she could swear that it gave a nod of the head and then it was gone. She hadn’t given the man over the fence any thought until Sharon had mentioned him last night, but seeing him this morning apparently staring directly into her home made her uneasy. She sighed and turned away, she had enough problems surely, no need to borrow trouble. She went downstairs to put bread in the toaster and wait for Sharon; they were going to have a good day.
YOU'RE DEAD: Three Gripping Murder Mystery Suspense Novels Page 17