Lead Me Home: a clever and engrossing psychological thriller

by CS Savage

  Three hours later, they left the college, walked across the car park to the bus stop. Rowan was alert, checking ahead, her eyes searching through groups of students, looking for anywhere someone might lie in wait.

  'What are you going to do?' Amy asked. 'He's got to have broken the law posting that picture without your consent. Where do you think he got it from?'

  'He must have taken it while I was asleep. I had no idea he had it. I need to get it off him. God knows what else he's going to do with it. Mum'll kill me.'

  Amy grabbed her arm, pulled her into a hug, let her cry into the padded shoulder of her coat.

  'Look, I'd better get home, Sam's coming round. Are you sure you're going to be ok?'

  Rowan nodded. 'Catch you later,' and their paths separated. Rowan's shoulders hunched, she held her head low as she walked down Park Lane towards home.

  When she got in, the smell of fried onions hit her. Beth was standing at the hob, stirring a pan of what looked like stew.

  'Hi, how was the exam?'

  'Ok, I s'pose.' Rowan shrugged.

  Beth stirred the stew, waited before replying. 'Everything ok?'

  Rowan nodded, didn't speak, didn't trust herself, but the welling of tears gave her away.

  'What's happened? Not Vic again?'

  Rowan nodded, remained silent.

  Beth left the pan to bubble, raced across the kitchen, threw her arm around Rowan. 'Are you hurt? I'll kill him if he's hurt you.'

  Rowan shook her head, gulped. 'Well, not physically, no.' She explained about the Facebook profile, the picture, her cheeks flaming red. 'I've no idea who’s seen it.' Rowan pulled her laptop out of her bag, flipped it open on the kitchen table, brought the profile up. It wasn't there, it had gone. 'Thank God, they've taken it down. I reported it.'

  'Well, that's something, at least.'

  'What if Fariq sees it? He's very specific. He'll only go out with a virgin. I lied, told him I was.'

  Beth pulled her arm tight around Rowan's shoulders, but then suddenly leapt up as a smell of burning filled the room. She rushed to the stove, lifted the pan from the ring, stirred. 'Damn. I think I just saved it in time.'

  But Rowan was in no mood for food. She was already on the way up to her room.

  50

  Clancy

  By the time Clancy pulled up outside the house, it was long gone dark. She checked her watch, nine pm. The smell of cooked stew struck her nostrils as she opened the front door. Walking to the kitchen, she lifted the lid off a plate that had been left on the side. Mashed potatoes and veg – she could get used to this, perhaps Beth could train Rowan how to cook. Popping the plate in the microwave before placing it on a tray, she poured a large glass of wine and went through to the lounge. Beth was sitting in her usual place, feet up on the footstool in front of her, looking vacantly at the TV.

  'Okay?' Clancy asked.

  Beth nodded, but didn't expand, just continued staring at the TV set.

  'Thanks for this, looks lovely. Where's Ro?' Clancy asked, glancing at the empty end of the sofa.

  'In her room…I think.' Beth said no more, continued to stare, her face looking troubled.

  Clancy started forking stew and potato into her mouth. 'This is beautiful...I might take the recipe.'

  Beth just nodded.

  Five minutes later, Clancy was scraping the last of the food off the plate. She looked up at Beth who was still staring blankly. 'Is everything ok? Has something happened?'

  Beth bit her lip, shook her head. And then, a look of resignation flashed across her face. 'She said not to say anything, not to tell you.'

  'Who? Ro? What's wrong with her?'

  'She's been having problems with Vic. He's been stalking her, she thinks he threw those eggs, and now, he's put a photo of her up on Facebook.' Beth continued, explained the whole story.

  Clancy felt the blood drain from her face. Their conversation about the eggs ran round in her head. Shit, I’m a terrible mother. She should have been less critical, perhaps Ro would have opened up to her. She started to stand up. 'Where is she? I need to see her.'

  Beth leapt up, 'No, please no, don't say anything. I promised I wouldn't tell you. She thinks you'll blame her. She was really upset after the eggs. She'll be mad at me if she knows I've said anything.'

  Clancy's face felt like a furnace. So, Beth knew how bad a mother she was as well. She allowed Beth to ease her back into her chair.

  'I'm going to have to talk to her. Who knows where he'll stop. He's obviously disturbed, could hurt her.' She stopped talking as Beth broke down in tears before her. 'Okay. But I'm going to have to talk to her about it at some point.'

  They both turned back to the TV screen, but Clancy's thoughts were miles away.

  She tossed and turned all night, her emotions switching between fear and guilt. And she still hadn't quite decided the best course of action by the following morning. When she was up and ready for work, Rowan was still asleep. She stood outside her door for a minute, prevaricating, and eventually tapped and went into her daughter’s bedroom. Clancy felt bad waking her, but she had to speak to her. She shook at her shoulder. 'Ro, wake up, I need to speak to you.'

  Rowan stirred, rolled over, her voice high in pitch. 'What now? What have I done wrong this time?'

  'Nothing.' Clancy leant over her, tried to mollify her with a hug. 'Beth told me what's been going on with Vic. I'm so sorry, Ro, I didn't realise. Why didn't you tell me?' But she soon leapt back as Ro sat up and shouted at her.

  'Well, she had no right to. I told her not to. If I'd wanted you to know, I would have told you myself. Anyway, it's nothing. He's done nothing.'

  'That's not true, is it, Ro?' Clancy knew she must look distraught, felt her face flush. 'I know he's stalking you. I can't believe you didn't tell me, I've been being nice to him, even let him in to the house. He could hurt you. We have to do something.'

  Rowan started to cry.

  'We have to tell the police. They won't judge you. They're used to this kind of thing, they have a special unit. I'll try and find out about it for you. Can we ring them together tonight?'

  Rowan looked back at her, tears falling. 'Do we have to?' Calmer now, voice lower.

  'Sorry, Ro, but yes. We've got to stop this before it escalates.' Her voice was firm.

  Rowan lowered her chin to her chest, her eyes down cast.

  'I'll see you later, I'll come home a bit early, and we can make the call together. Ok?' Clancy kissed her on the top of the head, stood up, turned to leave, looked back. 'Love you.' She left, walked down the stairs and quietly let herself out of the front door, strode to the car.

  As she drove, she slipped her fingers through the hair at the back of her neck, found the scab, now larger and still tender, felt a jagged edge, picked it. Damn, now, it would be sore again, it was never going to heal. She turned left towards the hospital and lit a Mayfair instead, inhaling deeply, blew the smoke out slowly. She could kick herself for not noticing that something was wrong, but Rowan was always slow to talk about her problems. They could sort it out later.

  51

  Rowan

  What a bitch that Beth had turned out to be. How dare she split on her, try to cause trouble. She felt like going next door and having it out with her, but knew her mum would kill her if she did. Instead, she picked up her phone, texted.

  Thanks for nothing.

  Interfering cow. It had nothing to bloody do with her. Just as well her mum had taken it well, not been angry. She was going to make her report it, but if she said it would be ok, then maybe it would. Rowan pulled some jeans off the floor, eased them over her hips, opened her wardrobe doors and took a cream shirt from a hanger. She dressed and looked at herself in the wardrobe mirror, tucked in the shirt and put a little make up on before going down to the kitchen. No sign of Beth. She grabbed a can of coke and went to meet Amy.

  They had agreed to meet outside Costa in the High Street, and as the weather was brighter, they decided to walk through t
he park to the college. As they walked, Rowan filled Amy in on her conversation with her mum that morning.

  'Can you believe Beth did that to me? After everything I've done for her.'

  'Are you sure she wasn't just looking out for you?' Amy fiddled with her bag as she spoke.

  Rowan glared back at her, 'Might have guessed you'd take her side.'

  'No, no, of course not.' Amy's cheeks flushed. 'I just thought…' she hesitated, evidently thought better of continuing. 'Anyway, how did your mum take it?'

  'Actually, she was ok. I feel bad for not telling her earlier, now. She didn't even baulk at the naked photo, didn't blame me at all. She did seem worried, though.'

  'Well, I'm glad she knows. When are you calling the police?'

  'She says she'll come home early, so we'll do it later.' Rowan grabbed her curl, stared into the distance.

  'It'll be fine, don't worry.' The pair walked through the kissing gate, up the main path to the college entrance and headed to the changing rooms to get into their uniforms.

  Later that afternoon, Rowan sat curled on her end of the sofa, laptop on her knee. She was surprised that the house was empty when she got there, no sign of Beth. She must have gone back to visit her flat. Good riddance, hope she doesn't come back. But the house seemed quiet without her. As she waited, she flicked through her Facebook feed, checked Vic's profile. No sign of it. He must have been banned. Moved on to check her messages, smiled as she saw one from Fariq, clicked on it to open it. She had been starting to get worried, thought he might have forgotten her.

  Hi babes, sorry been out of contact. Hope you still cool for Saturday's date. I'm gonna treat you babes. Let me know…

  Rowan could hardly type quick enough.

  Of course I am. Got the lingerie you asked for, can't wait to show you xx

  She knew she was being a bit risqué, hoped she wasn't going too far.

  Good girl. Make sure you wear the best. Will pick you up 2 pm normal place. Don't be late.

  Rowan started to type back, but he had clicked offline. No kisses. The anxiety started to swell in her chest again. Had he seen the picture? Was he cross? He couldn't have done, could he? Surely, he wouldn’t be taking me out if he knew. She fiddled with the ring on her finger, twisted it – knew she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it until she saw him. Just as she was tapping out another message, she heard a key turn in the lock. Her mum’s voice shouted out.

  Clancy put her head around the door, looked at the sofa. 'Where's Beth?'

  'Dunno. She was out when I got here. Must have gone to visit her flat.'

  'Odd, she didn't say anything last night.' Clancy shrugged. 'Are you ready to make this phone call?'

  Rowan nodded, so Clancy took out her phone, called 111 and asked to be put through to the police. Rowan watched as she clutched the phone to her ear, started mumbling into the handset, heard her saying, “ex-boyfriend,” “eggs,” “assault,” “naked picture.”

  After what seemed an age, Clancy passed her the phone. 'They need to speak to you.'

  She took the handset, held it to her ear. Gave her name, her date of birth, started telling the story again, hadn't they bothered to listen to her mum? The officer was female, sounded friendly and her voice was sympathetic.

  'You'll need to come into the station to give a statement. You're not to worry about anything, they'll just want to talk through things with you, and they'll give you some advice on getting some support. Is that ok?'

  Rowan agreed and put the phone down, looked at her mum. 'We have to go in. They're going to ring us with an appointment.'

  Clancy nodded, touched her on the shoulder. 'Well done, Ro. It'll be fine.'

  52

  Beth

  Beth woke up to shouting, could hear Rowan's voice, loud and angry. Clancy must have told her. She shoved her head under the duvet, tried to block out the noise. After a few minutes, it seemed to go quiet, she could hear a low rumble of voices, then the creak of the stairs, the click of the front door closing. She lay still, the duvet wrapped around her ears, and then heard the moan of trodden floor boards, the tap running and, after ten minutes, a bang, the front door closing again. Thank God for that. She felt awful, what a terrible friend. She picked up her phone, a text alert from Rowan. She read it, covered her face with her hands. Shit. Rowan had been nothing but kind to her, and she had let her down, betrayed her confidence. Cheeks burning, she grabbed her rucksack, looked round the room, gathered multiple items and shoved them in. She needed to get out of there, couldn't be there when Ro got back, couldn't face her. She found a sheet of paper crumpled at the bottom of her bag, scribbled on it.

  Thanks for everything both of you, you have been great. Time for me to go home now.

  Hope all goes well for you,

  Love, Beth

  She left it on her pillow, had one more look round the room and went downstairs. Popping into the kitchen, she found her Olanzapine on the side counter, stuffed it in her pack, grabbed her coat and left through the front door. Standing on the doorstep, she looked around for a second – the world seemed normal. The weather was bright. She headed towards the High Street and joined the bus queue outside the chip shop. When she got to Lind Road, she leapt off the bus and walked down to her flat door, opened up and went inside. The flat was quiet, no sign of a disturbance. She tried to drown her disappointment at having to leave Clancy's so suddenly, willed herself to be pleased to be home. Clicking the boiler on, she looked through the fridge and cupboards and then made a shopping list. It took her five seconds to stuff some plastic bags in her rucksack, then she grabbed her purse, threw on her coat and left, making sure she secured the locks behind her.

  Morrisons was busy, harassed looking mothers trying to control large overflowing trolleys and unruly children, workers jostling for space by the sandwich counter. She scanned the crowds carefully, looking out for anything or anyone threatening, but could see nothing unusual. She took her time, strolled around, spent an age in front of the fresh fruit and vegetables choosing perfect-looking specimens. It would be good to go back to healthy food. Moving to the cosmetics aisle, she chose new shampoo, conditioner, shower gel. Tried to focus on a new her.

  She decided to stop for coffee on her way home. Customers were huddled optimistically outside Starbucks, sleeves still pulled down against the chill air. She ordered a Frappuccino, took a seat in the courtyard and observed shoppers as they hurried past. She saw nothing alarming, nothing unusual. Her mind raced with tasks, she grabbed a scrap of paper and dug around for a pen in her rucksack, made a quick list.

  -Ring doctors, order Olanzapine

  -Ring work, arrange restart

  -Text Clancy

  -Ironing

  She drummed her pen on the table, racked her mind. That would do for starters, but first, she was going to go for a run, start working off some of her excess weight.

  53

  Clancy

  She knew she was being silly – Beth wasn't her child, her responsibility. But she couldn't help herself, the worries just penetrated her mind. She opened Beth's bedroom door, quietly, entering in hope that she may have returned. But there was nobody there. However, her eye caught the note lying on the pillow. Picking it up, she held her breath as her eyes flicked down the page. Beth had gone back home. Strange she hadn't thought to say goodbye in person. Clancy decided she would give her a call later, check she was ok.

  By the time she got to her desk that morning, she had forgotten about Beth. Instead, her head was spinning with all the stuff she had to catch up on, so she immediately logged on and started reading though emails. More referrals, more report requests, it was never ending. She was interrupted by her desk phone. Salim's voice came down the line.

  'Hello, Clancy. Have you got a minute? I need to catch up with you about Mr Lowe.' When she didn't reply, he carried on speaking. 'He seems to have gone off the radar. I can't get him on the phone, we've had no reports from the police or A&E. Not sure where to go from here…'<
br />
  Clancy felt her fingers running over the scab at the back of her head, winced at the soreness. Leave it alone… 'Can you ring the police? See if they've had any reports? And go round there again, see if anything's changed, if there's any evidence he's been there? Don't go alone, though…and for God's sake, be careful.'

  'Will do. I'll report back to you later.' The line clicked silent. Clancy carried on reading emails, but her nail kept worrying the scab.

  Three hours later, there was a knock on her door. Salim walked in, dressed in a blue outdoor walking coat. 'I've been round there. He's definitely been about. It looks much smarter; the garden’s been cleared a bit and there's no mail on the mat. Some rubbish in the bin, odd stuff, looks like packaging and some empty bottles. And he's put new curtains up, couldn't see in, but it all looks very clean and fresh. Quite unlike Mr Lowe, to be honest.'

  'Hmmm. Wonder what he's up to. Can you write to him with an appointment? Tell him if he doesn't come or make contact, we'll have to call the police to do a welfare check. See if that'll change anything.'

  They synced their diaries for an appointment the following week. Salim turned and left the room throwing a “thanks” over his shoulder. Clancy reached into the drawer of her desk, rummaged through pens and random stationery. Damn, no painkillers. She'd have to just put up with her thumping headache.

  It was late afternoon, just as Clancy was about to see the last patient of her clinic, when Emily popped her neat head around the door. 'Time for a quick word?'