Whispers Beneath the Pines

by Whispers Beneath the Pines

  As she cried, she hugged her battered body and thought of Kevin, left alone suffering a gun shot wound to his leg. She hoped he could be quiet and stay still. Then she thought of Harry and felt doubtful that she would see him again, he may never know where Mummy Eve went. Then, her last memory of Selina covered in blood latched onto her thoughts and wouldn’t go away. Her best friend Selina; together since primary school; friends until the end. Was this their end? Would anyone ever find them?

  Sobbing open mouthed she hit the ground again and again. Hopelessness set in at the thought that it was her alone who could help Kevin but she didn’t know how. She gazed in all directions and all she could see was darkness enshrouded in a spooky denseness. A claustrophobic layered curtain that was pressing hard on her chest forcing her down, keeping her on the ground. She wiped her wet face with her hands and then scratched her arm. It burned and itched like crazy. She rubbed hard. She felt the same sensation brush over her hand then creep further over her bicep. It wasn’t an itching sensation, it was crawling. Masses of little feet were crawling up her arm and into the sides of her tee-shirt, across her swimsuit.

  Standing, she brushed her body and hit her arm against the tree stump. She flinched at the pain as she rubbed the affected area. A slight parting of the clouds revealed the little black insects creeping all over her body. She continued to brush, hop and jiggle around until the sensation subsided. She shook out her hair and stood looking at her front, they were gone. Shaking, she wiped her face once again. On her right, she could still hear the river; she had done as Kevin asked. She gazed around and the stars lit up a steep hill that had to go on for miles. She could see no lights of any towns, no sign of movement, it was a hopeless venture. The terrain was also getting lumpier and denser. Her arms felt tender after being brushed against twigs and spines. She took her rucksack off her back and opened the zip. Bug spray and sun tan lotion. She sprayed on the bug deterrent and plastered some of the cream over her tender arms, flinching as she rubbed it in the scratches.

  What if the answer was not downstream? From what she could deduce, she would have to battle this terrain for days to reach any sign of civilised life and by then Kevin could either be dead by their hands or from his wound becoming infected. She brushed the large scar on her stomach over her clothes, the reminder of the infection that had nearly claimed her life after giving birth to Harry. She remembered the throbbing pain, the fever, the seeping pus and the smell of rot and death that she faced and she shivered at the thought of Kevin suffering in that way, especially outside and alone. He needed her, she had to go back, outwit them and get the keys to a vehicle. It was their only way. Running would kill her and Kevin would then have no chance. She allowed another tear to trickle down her face. She couldn’t leave him in their hands. It was him and her together as one. Now focused, she placed her bag on her back and crept back upstream.

  For about twenty minutes she crept in her thin soled pumps over the lumps and stones. This time she was careful not to further injure herself. She could feel each stone digging in through the soles of her pumps and into her foot. There was a break in the rubber and a dust began to fill the gap and stick to her toes. Ignoring it she pressed on until she heard shouting, she was close to them. She looked around, sure that she had left Kevin in the spot where she now stood, she trembled; he was no longer there. Her heart raced. Had they got him? Had he managed to get away? The shouting became louder. She heard Mehmet yelling and sobbing at Sadik. Sadik shouted back at him in an aggressive tone. There were only two voices. She turned around and looked behind her for the others; they were nowhere to be seen.

  Feeling too close for safety, she took a few steps back. She stood on her tip toes to try and get a view of the two men but she was too far away. Grabbing a branch on the tree beside her, she pulled and hoisted herself up. She could just see the top of Mehmet’s head. Higher, she needed to get higher. She reached for the next branch up, it was too high. She jumped on the left branch and managed to grab it. She ignored the splinter that pierced the delicate skin between her thumb and index finger and used her rubber soles to climb her way up the tree until she managed to make a successful grab for another branch with her right hand. After a struggle she managed to hoist herself into a sitting position on the higher branch. Now she could see the two men clearly. A tear slid down her cheek as she saw Selina’s body covered in a floral scarf. Her poor, defenceless friend.

  Sadik was waving the gun around; Mehmet was sobbing and shouting back at him. She watched as Sadik grabbed the young man with his free hand and slapped him across the head. Still they continued shouting in Turkish. Sadik headed off towards the dirt trail that Eve had just came from. She exhaled. "Well timed," she whispered under her breath. Now with ease she pulled herself up onto the next branch, then the next until she felt safe and high enough to avoid their detection. Scanning the ground below, she still couldn’t see Kevin. Her only hope was to get the keys to one of the vehicles. From the height of the tree, all she could see in the distance was the glint of a car and the jeep. One of the cars was gone. Maybe, she hoped, Celile and the man from the bushes had gone. This was her chance. She would spend a while watching, recouping her strength, ready for the fight of her life. The fight for her friends and to see her son again. She would fight them to the end. If she didn’t, what was the alternative? Would their bodies remain hidden in the forest forever, rotting away? Their disappearance etched up to an unfortunate unexplainable incident. No one knew they had booked a jeep safari.

  They had paid in cash, there was no trace; they had no flyers, no receipts and no leads for anyone wishing to investigate their disappearances. Then she thought back to the old women trying to sell her sunglasses on the first day. ‘Trust you instincts.’ That day as she watched out of the villa window, she should’ve trusted her instincts. Who was scrawny and who was the large man in the white suit that they were all so intimidated by? What had they all got themselves into?

  She closed her eyes and saw the chequers pieces hit the window and the man stand. Was this a game? One where their objective is to outwit the game maker. This was their game; she had no ideas what the rules were except they wanted to kill. What else could they want? Money? Were they just sadistic killers? Fun? She looked at Mehmet sobbing and knew that this wasn’t all a psychopaths power trip.

  If only they others had listened. She'd felt it; she knew from the outset that they were part of something that she didn’t want to be part of. From now, she would trust her instincts. They were all she had in this case and they had served her well from the beginning. Right now, they were telling her to stay put, observe their movements. Make sure that there were only two of them. Know your enemy. They told her to look out for Kevin, he had to be somewhere. She swallowed the lump in her throat down in an attempt to swallow the fear away. It was now her or no one. This was it.

  Chapter 30

  After a twisty rural forty five minute drive, Guz pulled up around the back of the Villa. In the distance he heard singing coming from a nearby karaoke bar. He handed Celile a pair of tight fitting gloves. “Just in case,” he whispered. She twisted her hair up in a bun and wrapped her headscarf around her hair before putting the gloves on.

  They both went through the back gate, passing the swimming pool before reaching the patio doors. Guz tried to slide the door open but it wouldn’t budge. “Locked,” he whispered.

  “There’s a window open, just there,” she pointed as she replied. The small window above the sink in the kitchen was pushed open. He looked at Celile’s thin frame and grinned with delight. “I’ll never fit through there,” she said.

  “You will.” He looked at the opening and back at Celile; he knew she would fit through the window. He held his hands together and placed them towards Celile’s feet. “Climb on,” he said.

  For a moment she stared at him in disbelief before stepping on to his hands. He lifted her up until her head reached the window. “Get your head in,” he said. He watched as her he
adscarf got tangled in the window catch and fell to the ground beside him. She held both arms in front of her body and placed them through the little window. Her head followed next. She wriggled around to get her shoulders in and eventually they slid through. Guz smiled, that was the worst bit done. Her weight shifted as her body edged through the gap. With a crash she landed shoulder first onto the draining board. He watched as she steadied herself and got to her feet.

  “Go round the back and unlock the door,” he said. She looked back at him; the whites of her eyes reflected the red light from the cooker clock. She left the kitchen as instructed. Guz scurried back round to the patio door and met Celile as she slid it open. Glancing back, he was reassured that no one had spotted them. He grinned at the young woman standing before him. She looked away. “You’re getting good at this,” he said. She ignored him, turned and walked into the room. Guz turned on a wall light.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Celile said in a hushed voice.

  “I couldn’t see.”

  “Someone will see the light.”

  “No one will care,” he replied as he closed the curtains.

  *****

  Celile fished through the bag on the floor and pulled out a hat with cups attached to it. She threw it aside and dug deeper to the bottom until she came across what felt like a familiar little book. One down, five more to go. She delved into the crevices of the bag and felt along the inside pocket. Unzipping it, she delved deeper and pulled out a wallet. She looked up at Guz, he grinned at her. She looked away. “Right, next room,” she said as she zipped the bag back up and threw it by the patio doors.

  She followed Guz into a small room with a stairway leading off it. They crept up the stairs until they reached the landing. He turned on the hall light. “What if there's someone here?” Celile whispered.

  “There’s no one here. We know that.” He stomped across the wooden floor and flung all the doors open in turn. “See, we are all alone. I’ll start in here; you start at the far room. Grab anything of value and bag up their stuff. You know how it goes.”

  In the distance Celile heard Guz rummaging through drawers and bags, she heard items been flung into his bag as he stomped across the room. She reached across to the bedside table and opened the draw. Hair extensions, a clogged up brush and some tweezers. She felt the hair and twisted it around her gloved finger. So Sadik liked fake hair. She thought back to the knife and how she had plunged into the girl’s skin, straight through her top. Swallowing hard she felt sick and dizzy. Thoughts of her thumb twisting as she plunged the knife, thoughts of Sadik’s gutless face that had forced her to do it, thoughts of him touching Selina's leg and stroking her hair. She wiped the sweat off her brow before taking a deep breath. She rummaged at the back of the drawer and presto, she felt the passport and an envelope full of cash. She opened it and looked inside; there must have been about five hundred British Pounds. Behind the notes was a much smaller wad of Turkish Lira. She kneeled down and felt under the bed, an I Pad.

  She crept over to the dressing table. Placed neatly on the top was a small pouch. She opened it. Two gold necklaces and a dress ring. Underneath the table sat a pair of shoes. She lifted them up and looked at the label. Jimmy Choo’s in her size in an opulent purple colour. She sat on the edge of the bed, placed her feet beside them and pictured herself wearing them.

  “You would look really sexy in those,” Guz said as he walked through the door. Startled she dropped the shoe and stood. “Try it on.”

  “No, I’ll take them and try them on later. We need to get out of here.”

  “I’m not in a rush," he grinned.

  “No, I don’t want to try them on now,” she said as she started rummaging with trinkets on the other bedside table. Her hand dragged up a thin gold necklace with a pendant attached, the pendant spelled out 'Mum.' Celile placed it back down and swallowed.

  Lay flat was a photo of a little boy, a tiny child with a large grin and a cartoon covered sun hat. Next to the child stood a young woman, she picked up the photo and stared hard, the woman was Eve. The one who’d been eyeing her up all that evening. “She has a child.”

  Guz stomped over to Celile and grabbed the photo off her before ripping it up.

  “What did you do that for?”

  “Well, she won’t need it now, will she?” He replied with a grin. “Oh look, a box of fags,” he said as he opened the dressing table drawer. “You haven’t searched the room well.”

  “I hadn’t finished.”

  “Too busy playing with those shoes.”

  “I’ll get on with it now then shall I?” She replied.

  He paused, stared at his watch and looked back up at her. “Try the shoes on.”

  She turned and looked at him, a grin spread across his face and she knew what he wanted. She thought of Sadik and his fickle male behaviour and decided maybe she would allow this idiot that she had once loved to get his way. After all it would be an easy feat and just the punishment Sadik deserved. And if she didn’t give it, he would just take it and become angry, the rest of the evening would be unbearable. It was easier to get it over with and quickly on her terms. She thought back to Sadik earlier that evening. She wanted him to prove his love, prove that he would do anything for her and he’d let her down. Guz would’ve killed for her. Guz would do anything for her. The fact that Guz had quite often beaten her when she stayed at his was neither here nor there at this precise moment in this surreal situation. In the past, when she had given him what he wanted he was easy to control and his level of trust in her had diminished over the past week; she needed to simmer down his violent tendencies and regain that control. She slipped off her sandals and stepped over to the shoes. She would close her eyes and think of it as regaining that control.

  Minutes later, she lay there as he climbed off her, off the bed. Straightforward, easy as she’d thought it would be. He stood and zipped up his fly. Sadik had not done as she’d asked to prove himself but he had taken the blame for her crime. Her stomach fluttered, he had told his brother he had committed murder to protect her. She thought of the risk he was taking and the fluttering in her stomach turned to a burning twang of guilt. Maybe he had proven his love in another way. She loved Sadik, had become obsessed with him and now she was lay on a strange bed with Guz’s sweat all over her body. She thought back to when her life was less complicated, when she had met Guz, ran away with him and drunk up all his promises without any doubt and she compared that to the now. The present hell that had turned her into a murderess, a liar, a thief and deceiver of both sides. She no longer knew where her loyalties lay; the lines were now so blurred they were smudged into one confusing mess.

  Her stomach turned as she inhaled the sweaty smell that now filled the air. The stale smell of Guz’s breath that still hung above her as if suspended in her memories long after the smell was really gone. His wetness that crept down her thigh made her squirm. Bile rose up her throat, she jolted up and made a run for the en-suite and vomited violently into the toilet.

  “Are you alright?” Guz shouted as he ran back into the room and turned the light on to the en-suite.

  She held up her hand and looked up at him with her watery eyes. “I just need for this night to be over.” He stared at her for a moment, turned, then left her to it; alone with her feelings of disgust. She placed the loo seat down, flushed, cleaned herself up and left the bathroom. She had to hurry, she walked over to Eve’s bedside, put her sandals back on and continued where she left off, rummaging through Eve’s drawer. Another photo of the boy. She took it out, folded it and placed it deep into her pocket.

  Chapter 31

  Hands on head Eve massaged her temples, her head was beginning to throb and her mouth was dry. Even though the music no longer played, the repetitive tunes that had played on a loop all evening now plagued her mind. She pulled the bottle of water out of her bag and took a large swig before dropping it back in. What if they had killed Kevin? She asked him to stay where she left him
but he was gone. She shivered at the thought. While she had been running hard and fast to get nowhere they must’ve found him. A tear traced her cheek and passed her mouth before falling off her chin and onto her dusty neck.

  It had taken a long time for her to find someone she loved who loved her back so sincerely and now it was all gone as quickly as it had started. All the, 'if onlys' crossed her mind in a confusing muddle. If only she’d stayed with Kevin and fought; if only she had feigned illness on the day so that they wouldn’t have gone; if only they’d gone on a boat trip instead; if only she’d spoken louder and forced them all to listen to her. All she had was a list of pointless thoughts that dredged up more tears. Tears for a hopeless situation and for the grief of her lost love. As they fell, she mourned the life she had visualised, the happy family days that her and Kevin were going to share. The wedding she had already imagined, her parents acceptance. Everything that had happened over the past few days had given her hope that her life was going to change for the better. Then the worst of the tears fell for Mummy Eve’s memory being nothing more that a blur to her young son in years to come. Would he remember the mud pies and the dens and the Disney films? Or, would it simply all be gone?