Casey felt her stomach tighten as she found Samantha lying perfectly still on the ground. She had chosen to hide between two tombstones at the darkest part of the cemetery which had made it more difficult for them to find her. Casey looked down and saw that the girl’s eyes were barely open and her breathing had almost slowed to a halt. She looked like she was about to take her last breath.
Carla gently moved her sister out of the way and grabbed for Samantha’s wrist. Her arm felt heavy and stiff in Carla’s hand. She looked at Casey, who was frozen in shock, and commanded softly, “Call an ambulance. Right now!” She felt for a pulse even though she only had the vaguest idea of what it should feel like. “I think her pulse is slower than it should be.”
A third vehicle illuminated the cemetery and caught Casey’s gaze as she rumbled around Samantha’s pocket for her phone. She stood and watched as Ida Webster’s car pulled up beside Joanne’s car.
Samantha’s mother, Mary, stepped out of the passenger side and spotted them immediately. She was followed by Ida and Lizzie, who ran as fast as she could to get to her sister.
Casey felt the bile rise in her chest as she held the phone to her ear. The truth was coming home to roost.
Mary kicked up a snow storm as she ran towards them. She finally caught up to her daughter and let out a loud wail. She threw herself down and pulled Samantha into her arms. “It’s alright darling. I’m here.”
“Are you sure it’s wise to move her?” Carla tried to help but stepped back when she saw Mary’s worst death stare. This wasn’t a moment to be messing with her.
“We’ve already called an ambulance Casey,” Ida said as she reached for Casey’s arm and lowered the phone away from her ear.
Mary continued to hold tight to Samantha, taking only a moment and a single stare to let Casey know that Ida had told her everything.
Casey lowered her head in shame. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was barely more than a terrified whisper.
Mary cocked her head and tightened her eyes until they were almost slits. “Sorry doesn’t cut it, sweetheart. What you and that monster Shannon have done is barely human. Now’s not the time to talk about it, but I’ll be having a serious chat with your mother later. At least you’re here trying to make amends. Which is more than I can say for Shannon. When I get my hands on her.”
Carla frowned. “I’m sorry Mary, I think you’ve missed your chance.”
Mary looked up at her and understood that somebody had beaten her to it. When she looked at her daughter though, she knew she couldn’t find an iota of sympathy for Shannon. In Mary’s eyes, Shannon wasn’t a child. She was a grotesque creature who had manipulated everybody to her own means. Karma had done it’s all.
An ambulance and two more police cars arrived. “What happened out here?” Mary stared at Carla and waited on answers.
“Dan killed Shannon. He’s been sleeping with her. Joanne knows about it as well. They’re at the Bluebell bridge. I’m guessing she’s giving him it between the eyes.” There wasn’t any other way to dress it up, so Carla delivered the news with a punch.
Mary’s shoulders dropped and she watched the paramedics race towards her. “I knew there was something not right about him. If he laid a finger on my daughter,” she didn’t need to finish the sentence. She watched as Ida directed the paramedics in Samantha’s direction. She leaned down and kissed her daughter. “Everything’s going to be alright now my girl.” She ran her fingers through Samantha’s hair and moved out of the way of the paramedics.
FORTY
Joanne was still hanging from the bridge when she heard the police sirens. She had kicked at Dan but he had shown more tenacity on that bridge than he had ever shown in their years of marriage. She heard the rip of the lining inside her jacket and she wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to hang on. Her hands and shoulders were throbbing.
The drop into the river would be a steep sharp fall. The water ran forty feet below the bridge and would probably have dipped in temperature to lower than minus five. The current itself would be enough to kill them before they’d even frozen to death. It was no more than Dan deserved. Then her thoughts returned to Archie. Did he really deserve to lose both his parents in such a horrific chilling way?
Joanne tried to pull herself up. Every time she made any progress, Dan pulled her back down again. He had managed to clutch on to the iron edge of the bridge with one free hand whilst still pulling at her with the other. Joanne, by contrast, had no interest in trying to kill Dan now. She only wanted to free herself and climb back to safety. She peered through the railings and saw the bloody head of Shannon as she lay dead on the other side.
Suddenly Dan had managed to pull himself far enough up that he was now glowering into her face. He looked disturbed as the dark shadows of night passed across the grooves in his skin. She had never seen anybody with that much evil intent on their face. He let go of her coat and wrapped his arm around her so he could grab her by the throat. She began to whimper. If she lived for eighty years, she would never understand what Dan had done or how they had got to this terrible moment in their lives.
As the wind blew past them, Joanne felt his hand tighten around her jugular. She could feel her arms ache as she continued to hang. The only thing that had stopped her from falling already was that he was no longer hanging on to her; pulling and tugging at her from behind. Finally, she thrust her shoulder back. There wasn’t much force behind it but it was enough that when she twisted her head, he had let go of her throat and was dangling by one hand. He looked at her with the fear of death in his face. She gave one more nudge, just enough that she wouldn’t fall herself, and watched as he howled and lost his grip.
Joanne watched as Dan fell towards the water. The world slowed down for the merest moment. As everything went into slow motion, she could feel her hands begin to numb. The cold was getting the better of her. She could still hear Dan holler and thrash as he flailed wildly in the river. The sound faded as he was carried off. There would be no fighting against the tide. Joanne hurtled herself up and wrapped her hand around a pole. As cold as it was, it would be colder if she dropped. She had to muster all her determination so she could take back her son.
“Give me your hand.”
The voice startled her but she was relieved to hear it. She gazed up and saw the kindest eyes staring down. PC Irving, who had been at her house the night before was stretching towards her. She was only moments away from the snatch of death when Irving finally pulled her over the fence and allowed her to fall breathlessly onto the cold white ground. As she lay there, she stared into the face of the 15-year-old girl who lay beside her. It was hard, in that moment, not to feel some compassion. If not for Shannon, then at least for her friend Laura.
“What the hell happened here?” Wallace bulldozed past Irving and helped Joanne to her feet. She was still trying to wrap her mind around everything that had happened over the past 24 hours.
She stumbled towards the railing and let her eyes widen. “I don’t know. One minute I was standing here trying to talk him down from the bridge, the next he grabbed me and we were both over. It happened so quick,” she paused and allowed her face to contort, “I’m still in shock.”
Wallace looked at her sceptically. “Why would he pull you over? And what happened here?” He pointed towards the dead girl on the ground.
Joanne stepped to the side and looked down at Shannon. “He was having sex with her.” It all sounded so predatory when the words tumbled out of her mouth. “I don’t know what they were doing here, but when I got here, he had killed her.”
Irving moved up beside her and exhaled quietly. “How do you know what happened?”
Joanne flushed slightly. “Well I think it’s pretty obvious, don’t you? He obviously met her here and he’s killed her.”
Wallace was interested in what the Miller girls and Samantha Bradley had to say. He had been directed by them to find the Wilson’s hanging from the bridge. By marital warfare standa
rds, it was up there with ‘The War of the Roses’. All of his suspicions about their unhappy marriage had been confirmed. “How did you know where they were?”
Joanne shrugged her shoulders. “I was driving back from the hospital when I saw Carla rushing towards the cemetery. She waved me down and told me that Samantha had been found and that it had been Shannon who had taken my baby. I didn’t know Dan would be here until I got here and saw him attacking Casey.”
Wallace tusked irritably. He’d run out of patience with these people. “What a bloody mess. I’ll need you to come down to the station and make a statement Mrs Wilson.”
Joanne swirled round angrily. “Your statement can wait. I have a baby to attend to. Haven’t I been through enough for one day?”
“I’m sorry about that, but I have the dead body of a 15-year-old girl to explain. I appreciate you’ve been through quite an ordeal yourself, but I think her parents deserve answers. Don’t you?”
The mention of Laura and Paul softened Joanne once more. “Yes,” she answered meekly. She had tasted minutes of losing her child. Her friends would have to live with it for a lifetime. As more police arrived to begin the gruelling task of putting together the details surrounding Shannon Gilfeather’s death, Joanne took a deep breath and prayed none of her neighbours had seen the exchange prior to Dan’s death. If anybody knew she had tried to push him, she might find herself on attempted murder charges.
FORTY-ONE
Ida joined Mary at the bedside and gave Samantha a gentle tug of the arm. “You look brighter this morning. It looks like you’ll be home in no time.” She handed Mary a flask filled with hot tea. “I’ve tasted the tea here. You wouldn’t put it out for a stray cat.”
“Thanks Ida.” Her lips drooped and it looked like she might fall apart again. “For everything.”
“Mary love, I didn’t do anything. I don’t think you have anything to thank me or anybody else for. If your girl survived, it’s because of you.” She gave Mary a gentle tug on the arm before moving round the hospital bed. She pulled a family size chocolate bar from her pocket and handed it to Lizzie. “Make sure you share this now.”
“Have you heard anything about that young man they arrested?” Mary had almost forgotten about him since Samantha had been rushed to hospital.
Ida shook her head. “I called this morning. He’s still helping with their enquiries. However, I spoke to PC Irving. He’s a nice chap, isn’t he? He said all charges will probably be dropped but he will be insisting that Greg gets more assistance.” She stopped and caught her breath and it became obvious she wanted to say something else. “I saw Paul and Laura being taken away in a police car earlier. They looked devastated. I think they might have been going to identify Shannon.”
Mary still couldn’t feel anything other than disgust for what Shannon had put her daughter through. Yet, she knew exactly what Laura would be going through right now. She had gone through the gauntlet herself over the past few days. She was fortunate because she would take her girl home. Laura and Paul couldn’t. “I feel for them, I really do. I just can’t get past what Shannon did.”
Ida clasped her hands. “I agree. Although I think she was just a stupid spoiled girl. I think the real culprit here was Dan Wilson. You think you know people.”
“Have you heard anything from Joanne?” Mary hadn’t been able to put her out of her mind.
“Yes. I saw her when I was coming here. She’s bearing up. The reporters are still camped out at the front of her house. It’s scandalous. The vultures have got her under virtual house arrest.” Ida shook her head in disgust. “She still can’t believe what Dan’s done, but he was her husband. So I guess it’s going to take her some time to get over it.” Ida smiled ruefully. Had there been anybody on the block who hadn’t been affected by the whole nasty business?
“She’ll get over it. Men like him don’t deserve tears,” said Mary bitterly. “He did the world a favour by jumping off that bridge.”
Casey appeared in the doorway. “Can I come in?” She was pleased when she saw Samantha remove her oxygen mask and smile.
Mary walked towards her. She saw the worried look on Casey’s face. “You don’t have to worry Casey. I know what happened. I’m glad Joanne cleared everything up with the police for you. Just promise me you’ll never do anything like this again.”
Casey wiped away a single tear. “I promise Mrs Bradley. I know how stupid I’ve been. I want to make it up to Samantha.”
Samantha, who was still finding it difficult to catch a breath without the oxygen, beckoned her to join her on the bed. When she did, Samantha reached forward so she could embrace Casey. “Thank you for saving my life,” she murmured breathlessly.
Casey didn’t feel worthy of such a compliment because she knew that by not standing up to Shannon, she had endangered it in the first place. Yet, she hoped this would be a fresh start for them. “I really wanted us to be friends Samantha. I guess I was just too scared of Shannon.”
Samantha smirked. “Me too.” A fresh cough erupted from her chest and she saw her mother dash forward to re-instate the oxygen mask.
“I should probably go. My dad’s waiting across in the car park for me.” As she stood, she felt Samantha grab her hand. She was offering her the friendship they had wanted but hadn’t been able to have. Casey tightened her grip around Samantha’s fingers and smiled.
From behind the mask, Samantha spoke. “Call me later?”
Casey chuckled. “Sure. I’ll call you later. Get better soon.” With that, she walked out of the hospital room with something to look forward to. Rather than being held in a vice of fear by a best friend who had been foisted upon her since year dot, she would now enjoy long walks and lengthy chats with someone she had chosen. To know she would be able to speak freely and not fear whatever would come next filled her with happiness. It had been a while since she’d felt anything other than trepidation.
As she walked back towards her father’s car, Casey laughed heartily because there would be no more games and no more lies. She was finally free to be 15 again.
COMING SOON
The Daughter
Death came so quickly that she barely even felt it.
One minute she had been weaving through the human traffic, the faces blurring at either side of her, and the next she was on the ground. In the last moments of clarity, she had heard someone scream something about an explosion. The girl had been one of the luckier ones because she had been thrown clear by the blast. Others had been caught in the sphere of the flames.
The smoke from the blast rose and drifted over her. It was the only movement she could see at first. Everything else had become eerily still, although only for a moment. Then, as the girl took her last breath, pandemonium erupted. The last thought she had, as sirens drowned out the screams of those fortunate enough to survive, was that she shouldn’t have said all those ugly things to her mother. They would forever be her final words!
Table of Contents
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
The Dead Of Winter Page 12