by Amy Cross
“Herbert doesn't give a damn about me.”
“His daughter is missing.”
“I've never met Rachel,” he pointed out. “She's only a few months old. She's nothing to me.”
“That's not true, Jack.”
“Isn't it? She's a little baby, she doesn't have a clue about anything. She's never met me, she's not even capable of understanding who I am. There are millions of babies in the world, I can't go running off to help any time one of them gets into trouble. Rachel's not my problem.”
He waited for a reply, but now Natalie was eyeing him with a curious expression.
“What?” he asked cautiously.
Again he waited, but still no reply came.
“Natalie? What is it?”
“I'm just not sure I...” Her voice trailed off for a moment. “I know your family is complicated. I know Herbert's a pompous idiot, and I know Diana can be a drunk, and I know the whole thing is a giant mess. But the Jack I know and love is a man who cares. If you really don't want to go, then maybe I was wrong about you.”
He opened his mouth to reply, before realizing that there was a hint of fear in her eyes, and sadness too.
“You really think I should go back?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Really really?”
“Really really, Jack.”
“Fine.” Grabbing his laptop, he sat on the edge of the table and began to bring up a page so he could book a flight. “But if I'm going to spend even one second at that place, then you're coming with me.”
She smiled. “I am?”
“Damn straight. I'm not going into that mess alone.”
“I get to meet your family? You want to introduce me to your family?”
“Calm down, it's not a wedding.” He started searching for flights from Malta to England, for two passengers. “And believe me, when we get there, you're probably gonna want to turn right around again. The Stones are just about the weirdest, most unfriendly people in the entire universe, and they hate me. They think I'm a lazy beach bum. So don't go expecting some big, happy family reunion, 'cause it won't happen.”
“I'm going to pack!”
“I'm only going back so I can help them find Rachel. After all, she's just a kid. Maybe there's hope for her yet, so long as Herbert and the others haven't tainted her with the Stone family curse.”
“What's the weather going to be like in England at this time of year? It's been so long since I was there, I can't remember!”
Scurrying out of bed, she ran over to the wardrobe and hauled a suitcase out, and then she began sorting through her clothes while peppering Jack with questions about the climate at Landsley, and about the dress code at the house. As he offered one-word, occasionally two-word answers, Jack finished booking the flights and then told Natalie he'd be back in a moment, before heading out onto the balcony and leaning against the railing. As he took another drag on his cigarette, he watched people on the sandy beach and then he looked out at the Mediterranean. Sunlight was glittering on the sea and the air was warm. Children were playing and splashing in the water, and Jack desperately wanted to share their carefree optimism.
“Great,” he said finally with a sigh, bowing his head and closing his eyes. “I always knew they'd find a way to drag me back. But this time, I swear, I'm not staying.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Today
“And you didn't see the shooter's face?”
Jo shook her head, before looking across the road and watching as the dead girl's body was loaded into the back of an ambulance. Numbed by the shock of what had happened, she watched the ambulance's doors swing shut, and then she turned and saw that forensic workers were still examining the blood on the tarmac.
Blood and bone.
There'd been a lot of shattered bone.
“Miss Mason?”
Remembering the police officer who was trying to interview her, she turned to him.
“If you saw anything that could help us,” he continued, “we really -”
“There was no time,” she replied, feeling utterly helpless. “He was wearing black, and a black helmet. Or she. I can't even tell you if it was a man or a woman. I didn't see a registration number, I didn't see the make of the bike, I didn't see anything. It all happened so fast.”
“How far away was the bike?”
“I already told you. Twenty, maybe twenty-five meters.”
“And you really didn't see any distinguishing marks at all?”
“My eyesight -”
She took a deep breath, feeling a rush of frustration rising through her chest. Her eyesight wasn't bad, but there were times when some combination of the illness and the drugs meant that little dark patches obscured her vision. She'd seen the shooter and the bike, but she couldn't help thinking that someone else – someone with perfect vision – might have been able to notice something useful. As things stood, however, she felt as if she'd completely failed Rachel.
“It's alright,” the officer said after a moment. “Sometimes it takes a while for things to come back. You might remember something later.”
“She was about to tell me everything,” Jo muttered.
“What do you mean by that?”
“This is a murder investigation now,” she continued, turning to him. “I think it's time you forced Herbert and Diana Stone to submit to a DNA test.”
***
“I know you don't drink alcohol,” Nick said as he sat opposite Jo in one of the pub's corner booths, “and I totally respect that, but I thought maybe you'd like a triple whiskey.”
He slid the glass toward her, but she immediately slid it away.
“Or here's the water you asked for,” he added.
Taking the glass, she gulped the water down in one go.
“You can't blame yourself, you know,” Nick continued. “I mean, this is rural England we're talking about. People don't shoot people in rural England. They strangle them, or they stab them, or they smash them over the back of the head with a rock. There's no way you could have expected some nutter to show up on a bike and take a shot at the poor girl.” He sighed. “It's like something out of an American movie.”
“I should have protected her,” Jo replied, unable to shake a growing sense of panic. “I should have realized she was in danger and I should have taken her somewhere safer.”
“But -”
“She told me!” she hissed. “Two or three minutes before she was killed, she stood right in front of me and told me that she was in danger, and I didn't take her seriously! I should have whisked here away, right there and then, but instead I let her keep talking, I let her stay out in the open. She was about to open up to me, she wanted my help, and I let her down.”
“You didn't let anyone down.”
“She was fifteen years old!”
“She acted pretty grown-up.”
“Exactly. She acted like she was in control, but really she was just a kid. When the mask slipped, I saw hints of the real girl underneath. She was in too deep, she was scared, and she needed someone to help her get out of this mess. She needed my help, but I was too slow.” She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm her nerves, before opening her eyes again and getting to her feet. “I'm going to see them!”
“See who?”
“Who do you think? Herbert and Diana Stone.”
She stepped out of the booth, but Nick grabbed her arm. “I don't think that's a good idea right now. The cops are crawling all over the house.”
“I'm going to make them tell me the truth!”
“You're not going to make a man like Herbert Stone do anything,” Nick pointed out. “I spoke to one of the officers just now. Stone's got lawyers in already. The cops demanded a DNA test, but the lawyers are saying it's not possible.”
“They have to take that test!”
“And they will. Probably. Eventually. But at the very least, the lawyers are going to stall for weeks.”
“Not if I
march in there and rip strands of hair from Herbert's head!”
“Well, yeah, cool. Go and assault the man. Sounds like a great move.” Still holding her arm, he sighed. “Sit down, alright? You're not gonna achieve anything if you go storming off like this.”
“I have to do something!”
“You're in shock.”
“Of course I'm in shock!” she shouted, pulling away from his grip and then taking a step back, bumping against the wall. “She died right in front of me. I was talking to her, she was right in the middle of a sentence and then the shot rang out and I saw her fall. It all happened so fast.”
She paused, before sitting back at the booth and putting her head in her hands. After a moment, a tear ran from her eyes and trickled down her wrist.
“It was over in a couple of seconds,” she continued.
“At least she wouldn't have known,” Nick pointed out. “It would have been very quick.”
Getting to his feet, he made his way around the table and sat next to her, putting an arm across her shoulder and pulling her tight as she started gently sobbing.
“And we still don't even know her real name,” he muttered.
“She was about to tell me,” Jo whimpered.
“Yeah, well, that doesn't help us very much right now, does it?”
Suddenly Jo sat upright, wiping tears from her eyes and sniffing back a few more.
“Maybe it does,” she said.
“How?”
“She was playing a game for weeks,” she continued, staring ahead at the empty seat opposite. “You saw her, she was enjoying it all, she was resisting everyone's attempt to get to the truth. And then in that forest today, she was suddenly ready to tell me everything. It was as if all her resistance had crumbled and she wanted to get it off her chest. She even said she was going to go back to London.”
“Do you think something spooked her?”
“I think something made her want to give up on whatever she'd been planning. All that work, all that time, and suddenly she was ready to give up and walk away. Maybe I'm reading too much into all of this, but that doesn't sound to me like the actions of a young girl who wants to be reunited with her family. It sounds to me like someone who was trying to execute a plan.”
“The way you're talking,” Nick replied after a moment, “it almost sounds like you don't think she was Rachel Stone at all.”
He waited for a reply, but Jo seemed lost in thought for a moment.
“I need your phone,” she said finally.
“Why?”
“Just give it to me!”
As soon as he held his phone out for her, she grabbed it and began frantically tapping at the screen.
“Well?” he continued. “Are you going to tell me whether you think she was really Rachel?”
“It doesn't matter what anyone thinks,” she replied, bringing up a map and starting to zoom in. “I'm tired of theories. It's time to get to the truth.”
“Okay, but -”
“And I know how to do that now.” She stared at the screen for a moment, before turning to him. “I know how to find out exactly who she was.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
15 years ago
“Nobody asked you to show your bloody face here!” Herbert roared, storming across the room before stopping to pour himself a large whiskey. “Nobody wanted you to come back to Landsley!”
“Actually,” Jack replied, watching him from the doorway, “Margaret sent me an email practically begging me to come. She seemed distraught, and frankly she painted a pretty rotten picture of whatever's going on here. Is Diana really in a psychiatric hospital?”
“The woman's lost her mind,” Herbert muttered, taking a big gulp of whiskey and then immediately refilling the glass. “If you ask me, she took Rachel somewhere and drowned the poor child. I think the police are starting to think the same thing, they're speaking to her almost every day at the moment. Guilt is eating what's left of her sanity, and soon...”
His voice trailed off for a moment.
“Soon this will all be over,” he added finally, turning back to Jack. “Your presence is distinctly unnecessary.”
“And it's nice to see you too, brother.”
“What do you really want, Jack? Money? You didn't need to come all the way back here for that, I could just wire you enough to keep you in drinks and cigarettes.”
“That's very kind of you,” Jack replied, “but now I've actually come all this way, I might as well stick around for a day or two.”
“You can't stay here at the house.”
“Oh? Do you not still have about twenty spare bedrooms?”
“I didn't invite you. Where you stay is none of my concern.”
“Then Natalie and I will get a room at the pub.”
“And who is Natalie, anyway? The latest whore you've picked up on your travels?”
“We've been together for two years now,” Jack replied, bristling slightly at his brother's language, “and we're very much in love. Call her a whore again, and I might just have to give you a broken nose.”
“Don't act chivalrous around me,” Herbert sneered, heading back over to his desk. “I know you, Jack. You don't take anything seriously. You don't take life seriously. You're happy frolicking on some beach while I do all the hard work here at the house.”
“Maybe I've changed.”
“Maybe you should have stayed the hell away!” Herbert snapped. “I thought I had everything covered! It never occurred to me that after a decade away, you'd suddenly show up like this!”
“Everything covered?” Jack furrowed his brow slightly. “Why, Herbert old thing, you're starting to sound like a man who has some kind of plan running in the background.”
“Nonsense!”
“Are you sure? Do you know, since I entered the house you haven't expressed one morsel of worry or concern about your missing daughter.”
“Of course I'm worried about her!”
“Are you up to something?”
Herbert turned and glared at him.
“You are!” Jack continued, heading over to him and stopping in front of the desk. “Oh Herbert, you know I can always read you like a book. Well, I can make out your chapter titles at least, if not the contents, and I can tell you're hiding something. You always liked coming up with complicated plots, didn't you? You always had a habit of tying yourself in knots. What are you up to this time, eh? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I just want to know what elaborate scheme you've cooked up.”
“You're talking rubbish!”
“I can see it in your eyes.”
“Did you really fly all the way back here just to irritate me?”
“My niece is missing.”
“And why would you give a damn about that?”
“I thought I'd make an effort. And Herbert, you might not want to admit this, but I can see by the look in your eyes that you're up to something.” He paused, before leaning closer to his brother and smiling. “I'll figure it out, old boy. And when I do, maybe I'll tell the world. Or maybe I'll keep it to myself. But mark my words, I will get to the bottom of whatever you're plotting!”
***
“It's happening again,” Margaret said, her face looking increasingly pale as she sat hunched in a chair at the far end of the conservatory. “I can't stop it, Jack.”
“Of course you can.”
She shook her head.
“He's your brother, for Christ's sake,” he continued. “Margaret, I agreed to keep my mouth shut about what you and he got up to as kids, but that was on the understanding that it was over. You told me it was over!”
“And it was!” she continued, her eyes filling now with desperate tears. “Oh Jack, I swear it was over, and I promise with all my heart that it was never going to happen again. But you know what he's like. He wants me again, and I can feel myself crumbling.”
“Then you have to stay strong.”
“I can't!”
“Then you have to
leave.”
“I can't!”
“Then you have to -”
“I can't stop it!” she hissed, before putting her hands over her face as she began to sob. “I've never been able to stop it! Next time he touches me, I'll let him have whatever he wants! He's always had this power over me!”
“Oh God,” Jack muttered, turning and heading over to the window. Stopping for a moment, he spotted Natalie out in the garden, examining one of the statues. “I told her that this family was weird,” he continued finally, “but I didn't tell her everything. For one thing, she has no idea about you and Herbert. She thinks the Stones are weird in the same way that every family is weird. She doesn't know that it runs so much deeper.”
“I don't know what to do!” Margaret whimpered, gasping for air. “I think Herbert's trying to get Diana out of the way so that he can have me to himself!”
“How could he -”
Stopping suddenly, Jack thought back to his encounter with his brother earlier in the day. He felt as if he was starting to see the pieces of the puzzle now, even if he hadn't quite figured out how to put them all together.
“He wouldn't go that far, would he?” he continued after a moment. “He's insane, but even he must have a limit. He couldn't arrange all this and be so cruel. Could he?”
“Maybe you can talk to him,” Margaret replied. “Maybe you can ask him to leave me alone.”
“And what good would that do?” Jack asked, turning to her. “He's only half the problem. You're the other half. That's how it's always been with you two. Hell, it's the main reason I had to get away from this place.”
“Thank you for coming back!” she sobbed. “Oh Jack, I need you here! I need you to help me figure out what I'm going to do about Herbert!”
He stared at her with a hint of disgust in his eyes, and he made no attempt to go over and offer any comfort.
“Growing up with you two,” he said finally, “and watching the way you were with each other... I swear to God, it made my skin crawl. I knew it was wrong, I knew it went against every goddamn natural thing in the world. Why do you think I had to get away from you both? It makes me sick to even look at you.”