by Jackson Lear
“If that’s true then it’s someone who doesn’t have a dog,” said Josh.
“He didn’t have many friends in town, did he?” said Anthony.
“Maybe he had lots of them,” said Josh.
“Not if he’s hanging out with three teenagers on a regular basis.” He flipped through another set of aerial photos until he came to one that focussed on the train tracks. “Whatever happened to his old friends, Loomer and Nicky Kalistar?”
Josh closed his eyes and scrolled through everything he remembered from his notes. “They both moved away. Even the parents.”
“And James’ parents?” Anthony asked.
“Yeah. By the rumours, James’ dad was an abusive arsehole.”
“Where did James used to live?”
“Windemere Road,” said Josh.
Anthony looked over the map. They had walked past it everyday on their way to school.
“The school,” Josh and Anthony said at the same time. They both stared at each other and smirked at how infrequently that happened.
Anthony’s eyes narrowed to a look of stern concentration. “He was never seen leaving the school and it’s been empty for days.”
“Easy buddy, let’s not go on a murderous rampage just yet.”
“No?” asked Anthony. “Even after what he did to my family, and to Zofia, and to Warrick in front of twenty five of his friends who were in the same room at the same time? I have access to an entire warehouse of power tools and heavy machinery. I’m pretty sure Warrick’s parents will thank me for it, if I ever get caught. Perhaps even the parents of every kid in Warrick’s class who now have to deal with their child’s broken psyche. I can have twenty five alibis within half an hour.” His eyes burned with ferocity at Josh and Amanda, forcing them both to shy away in the hope that maybe a united silence would soothe the venom coursing through Anthony’s veins.
“His dad worked in construction,” said Anthony. “Remember when we first started at St. Bart’s, they built a time capsule to be dug up in twenty five years? They had a picture of everyone who worked on the project with their names attached. I asked Naomi McIntyre if that was her dad, but it was James’. No relation, by the way. Just the same surname.”
They all tried to picture any kind of advantage that might give James. Even though nothing jumped at them they each admitted that if they had to hide in Banyew, especially in an area near Portal Close, then they would certainly be able to find somewhere that would keep them hidden.
“There’s a cafeteria, the teacher’s lounge, and a thousand rooms to hide in,” said Josh. “The guy probably snuck in and out a hundred times in his life without being seen by a teacher. All he’d have to do is wait for the school to re-open and Ian and Daniel would come to him.”
Amanda shook her head. “There is no way Ian and Daniel are ever going back to that school, right?”
“Not likely,” said Anthony.
“Maybe he’s realised that now but he’s stuck,” said Josh.
Anthony stood and pocketed his phone.
“What are you doing?” Amanda asked.
“I’m going to call the police and get them to check the school.”
Amanda squinted at Anthony before quickly looking to his jeans. “You’re going to call the police from your pocket?”
Anthony glanced towards Josh, gritted his teeth, and looked back to Amanda. “I’m going to check the school.”
Amanda squeezed her eyes shut, silently counted to five, then returned to glare at Anthony. “You graduated primary school, and then high school, and then university, and you can’t see that going to hunt down a murderer is a bad idea? He has at least two guns.”
“No, he had two guns,” said Anthony. “One he gave to the boys and they hid it. The second must have been in his house. If he had a gun with him, he would have shot Warrick instead of beating him with a hammer.”
“That’s not making me feel any better,” said Amanda.
Anthony turned to Josh. “Do you think James McIntyre killed Catherine?”
“Yes,” said Josh, giving his friend a solemn nod. “But I’m with Amanda on this one. We will call the police. We can do it anonymously and say we saw someone sneaking into the school who matched his description. Let them catch the guy.”
“If you leave this house without calling the police, I’ll do it myself,” said Amanda. “I’m not having you run off after this guy and fucking up the rest of your life. Let – the police – catch him.”
“And when he tells them about what Ian, Daniel, and Warrick did to Zofia?”
“What, that he kidnapped a young woman and forced three boys to have sex with her while he watched? I’m sure it will be uncomfortable for Ian to sit through and be questioned, but considering what happened to Warrick in the middle of his classroom I don’t think it’s unreasonable to believe that the police will agree that …” Amanda gritted her teeth, “… that maybe Ian didn’t have much of a choice in what he did happened with Zofia.”
Anthony all but growled at her. At last, though, he removed his phone, placed it on the table, and sat back down.
“Good. And thank you. If anything was to happen to you ...”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Anthony, as he waved his hand dismissively.
Amanda shot a pleading look to Josh. It was followed by a quick nod to the staircase.
Josh sighed, pushed his chair away, and looked from Amanda to Anthony and back again. It wasn’t until Amanda heard the creaks and groans from the floor upstairs that she was willing to proceed.
“If you go after James you will lose,” said Amanda.
“Then help me,” said Anthony.
“No. There is only so much I can tolerate and going on the run with you is not as much fun as it sounds. I love you too much.”
Anthony leaned back in the chair and lowered his chin towards his chest. “You keep saying that like any kind of future we have is not going to be a ball ache of divorce, selling a house, moving somewhere away from here, dealing with joint custody, and having Gemma treat the both of us like we conspired to ruin her life. I’m sorry if I led you on.”
Amanda locked eyes onto Anthony and was dead-set serious. “You made love to me the other night. You even whispered it to me before you fell asleep.” She reached out and wrapped her hands around his. “I would marry you in a heart beat.”
Anthony paused, looked away for a moment, and knew that he would have given anything in the world to have heard the same person say the same thing to him just ten years ago. Instead, the agony of his future got the better of him. “You should move on and find someone else.”
Amanda nearly shrieked with laughter. “You can talk. Move on and find someone else? Why can’t you move away from James and find something, or someone, that makes you happy, instead of living in a rage that has engulfed you for days?”
Anthony dropped to a squint and bit back. “We’re hardly talking about the same thing.”
Amanda turned her head upwards to hide the tears that began to swell within her eyes. “I don’t know why I love you and why I don’t love Josh. God knows it would be easier if it was him, but I’ve only ever felt it with you and I hate that it has taken me so damn long to come out and tell you. I’m scared out of my mind by how long it has taken me. I’ve known for fourteen years and I’ve missed every opportunity because I couldn’t handle it if you turned me down.”
“And I’m turning you down now,” said Anthony, with a calculating nod.
Amanda leaned forward. Her face strained under the weight of having an ‘I love you’ thrown back at her, but it was nothing compared to seeing him actually lie to her. “Why?”
Anthony threw his hands out in a frustrated moment of despair. “Because I’ve been angry since the moment you came back to Luxford. Do you think it’s been any easier for me to go through these past ten or twenty years, knowing what I felt for you, and only now it comes out? I’m angry at the both of us for not saying this sooner and I’m angry that
my whole life has up-ended itself and gone to shit since you came back.”
They were interrupted by a message on Anthony’s phone. It vibrated on the table, but they both ignored it.
“I understand why you would want to stay with Gemma,” said Amanda. “I get it. But you’re in love with me.”
“I know I am,” said Anthony.
“And if you’re still so angry then what’s the harm in telling me when you’re not half asleep and barely coherent?”
Anthony gritted his teeth again and heard Josh coming down the stairs.
Amanda snapped her head around. “Josh! Stay up there!”
Josh retreated back upstairs.
“Tell me,” said Amanda.
“I love you,” said Anthony, and a thump burst through his chest that he had been holding onto for decades. “But–”
“But nothing,” said Amanda, as her mouth quivered against a smile and forcing herself to not burst into tears of delight. “I love you. You love me. It’s complicated but it’s not impossible.”
Anthony closed his eyes as Amanda squeezed his hands. “I don’t know if I can deal with hardly seeing my kids.”
“Regardless of what happens, they’ll understand.” She stood, came around the table and kneeled in front of her best friend.
A moment of panic shot through Anthony as he realised what might actually be happening. “What are you doing?”
“Anthony Baxter ...”
“Oh no. Wait …”
Amanda shook her head at him. “You have always been my best friend ...”
“Uh …”
“And you have always been my soul mate.” Without lifting her eyes from his she locked in as a tremble engulfed her entire body. “Will you marry me?”
Anthony’s eyes shot open as his mind obliterated itself with panic and confusion. “What? What?”
“Will you marry me?” Amanda asked again.
Anthony’s mind screamed into overdrive. He retraced everything that Amanda had just said and felt her hand squeeze him tighter. “You’re asking me now? I’m still married to Gemma!”
“I want us to spend the rest of our lives together, starting now. Will you marry me?”
Anthony glanced at the table full of plans to locate James McIntyre and turned to Amanda in front of him on one knee. “How did we go from that to this?”
“I was proposed to in New York and in a split second I knew who I wished was doing the proposing. It was supposed to be you. But I don’t think you’re going to propose to me, so I’m doing it for the both of us. I know it’s impractical, and kind of insane, but I want to marry you.”
Josh bellowed out from upstairs. “Is it safe yet?”
Amanda bellowed back. “I’m asking Anthony to marry me!”
It took Josh a couple of seconds to realise that he heard her correctly. “Mazel tov.”
“I’m not Jewish!”
“You guys have two minutes to wrap up whatever you’re doing before I’m coming downstairs,” said Josh. “And Anthony, for fuck’s sake, bite the bullet and tell her ‘yes’ already. You know she’s going to make you deliriously happy!”
Anthony locked eyes with Amanda. “I love you.”
“Good.”
Josh, though, was still bellowing. “And you know you’re going to try as hard as you can to make her just as happy!”
“And I’ve loved you for a long time,” said Anthony.
Amanda ran a finger under both eyes to catch a set of tears.
“So … Yes.”
Amanda’s face dropped the moment the words hit her.
“And for Christ’s sake, you’ve dreamed of asking her since you were a teenager!”
“Really?” Amanda asked.
“I will marry you,” said Anthony. Then came something he hadn’t felt in years – a feeling through his entire body and soul that nearly exploded, as though he had finally come to the right decision after working so long to ignore it.
Josh continued. “So, for the love of–”
“Josh?” Anthony said. “I just said ‘yes.’”
Amanda jumped into Anthony, threw her arms around him, and they both tumbled to the ground.
“I’m going to be invited to this thing, aren’t I?” Josh asked. “The wedding, I mean. Not to whatever you two are doing right now.”
“He said yes!” Amanda screamed, and she squeezed Anthony tighter than she had ever done before.
Josh kept himself occupied for the next few minutes, waiting out the festivities, and he sat on the top of the stairs wondering how he was going to break the bad news to Anthony. Eventually, Anthony came to the bottom of the stairs, holding Amanda’s hand.
“Congratulations,” said Josh.
“It’s a little complicated right now,” said Anthony.
“No kidding. Do me a favour, though. Don’t check your phone.”
“Why?”
“Don’t ask. Just give me your phone, let me delete a message, and I’ll tell you what it was in a couple of days.”
Anthony’s euphoria started to fade and Amanda loosened her grip.
“I’ll go and get it,” she said, and she went off to the dining table.
“If James or Toads was caught then it would be good news.”
“Don’t ask,” said Josh.
“Is it Warrick?”
Josh grimaced. Anthony had known him long enough to know the answer. There was bad news there. Either Warrick’s results were in and he was never going to live a normal life again, or he had just died from his injuries.
Amanda returned, handed Josh Anthony’s phone, and Josh quickly deleted the message from Claire.
“I’ll tell you later,” said Josh. “Not tonight though.”
Amanda bounced up and down. “I’m engaged!”
“Congratulations,” said Josh. “And if you need someone to edit your wedding video, I know a few people in the industry. It won’t be cheap, but it’ll be good.”
“First I have to get divorced,” said Anthony. “And that’s going to take at least a year.”
Josh slapped his knees, got to his feet, and handed Anthony his phone back. “Well then, this calls for a drink of two. I suggest living in the moment now and thinking of the future later.”
“Unfortunately, I have to go home,” said Anthony.
“Nonsense, you’re staying. Amanda, there’s a bottle of …”
Anthony’s phone buzzed with a message.
“Don’t answer that,” said Josh.
It was too late. Greeting him was a message from Claire. ‘Warrick died this afternoon. He’s now an organ donor. They just gave away his heart.’
75
Josh
There was a tap against Josh’s door. He stirred, his eyes blurring against the morning light, a bulging bladder, and a headache from not sleeping for long enough.
“Josh?” asked Anthony.
“Yeah?”
“There’s something you need to see.”
Josh crawled out of bed, threw on a t-shirt, and found Anthony wearing yesterday’s clothes and Amanda in something fresh from her suitcase. Neither of them had slept, though the look of bliss had been forced away by something unpleasant.
“What is it?”
“Toads was here last night,” said Anthony.
All three stared down at the welcome mat by Josh’s front door. Anthony had almost stood on a narrow electric-green skateboard, one with worn orange wheels, just like the one Josh had when he was eight.
He could even remember his dad consoled him while reiterating that this is why we don’t leave our toys in the garden for people to steal. His skateboard was back after more than twenty five years.
Sitting behind the skateboard was a lump of black fur. Josh’s stomach flipped itself over in a full summersault. The lump of fur had a purple collar.
Bilby.
After twenty two years, Bilby was back, lying on Josh’s doorstep. He lowered himself down and reached for the purple collar
. There was a gold medallion connected to it with Bilby’s name and Josh’s old phone number. The cat’s eyelids were open, but they had been replaced with silver ball bearings.
Josh snapped his head up and headed back inside.
“Josh?”
“That fucker knows where I live.”
“You should call the police,” said Anthony.
76
Claire
The night itself had been nothing short of a disaster. She had been forced to turn herself around in bed so her head was where her feet normally were. Somehow that simple change helped to get her to nod off, but at four o’clock a thump against the front door caused her to stir. She checked the window below, praying that no one was there. The shadows along the street remained constant, the darkness remained in retreat. After her pulse had returned to something vaguely similar to normal she crept downstairs with her phone in one hand and a knife in the other. Every corner was met from as great a distance as possible, every step disturbed the floorboards and stirred the house.
Once or twice she was sure she heard someone else’s breathing.
The front door appeared to still be locked. She peered around to the side window. Her bladder was already about to burst, God knows what would happen to it if she caught James McIntyre staring back at her.
A flash of Ian discovering the dead and mutilated body of Zofia jumped at her. She felt his frightened reaction, felt the pin prick of hairs through her ears rustling about as the dank droplets of water brushed against Ian’s body. She was convinced she saw Zofia’s face turn to face the boy. Those eyes locked in on Ian. She still had no idea if Ian had screamed that day, if he saw Zofia hoisted into the air while calling for his mother. Those terrified screams certainly ripped through that tunnel now. Behind Ian was a slow clanging gate. The murdering psychopath was somewhere in the tunnel with him, drawing himself out of the shadows like a demon from the beyond, whispering her son’s name.
Claire didn’t dare to open the front door to find out what caused the thump that disturbed her. Maybe it was her own mind playing tricks on her, maybe it was some dipshit kid throwing a rock.