Remember Me

by D. E. White

  ‘Shit.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Okay, so firstly, I have been trying to trace the person who put those photographs up, and the IP address bounces around all over the place. I looked at your childhood friend Leo, and with his contacts and finances it would be pretty easy for him to be responsible for any of this.’ He took a breath and waited.

  Ava didn’t hesitate, despite the fact she was beginning to think Leo might be telling the truth. He was an easy target for a set-up, but she would need proof of innocence before she struck him off the list, ‘Agreed.’

  ‘Nothing that the local police won’t be able to find on that university rape – there is very little about that as the charges were dropped.’

  Ava waited a moment, but he clearly wasn’t going to mention anything about Ellen, or that her job was hanging in the balance. It didn’t matter, anyway, she told herself. Nothing mattered but finding Bethan alive. ‘Fine, thanks, Boss. Sophie Miles is a smart woman, although some of her team seem a bit wary of any outside involvement. Thanks for doing all this, I know how stretched we are at the moment.’

  ‘No problem. I was curious, so I’ve been digging in my spare time. Keep me updated.’

  ‘Will do.’ She ended the call and turned to Leo. ‘Thanks for the coffee. I need to go now.’

  ‘And who are you going to interrogate next, Detective?’ Leo stubbed out his cigarette. He grabbed another pastry, sinking his teeth into the flaky centre and ripping it apart.

  She scowled at him. ‘You seem to forget I have no jurisdiction over here, not to mention being personally involved, so I won’t be interrogating anyone. I’m going to see if Huw’s girlfriend will talk to me, then I might come back and piss you off some more.’

  ‘Sure, anytime. It’s not like I have anything to do at the moment.’

  He leant over and handed her a key. Surprised, she turned it over in her hand, letting it rest on her palm. ‘What’s this for?’

  ‘I said I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you, Ava. Someone already did whilst you have been staying at the B&B. If you want to move in here, have a base in Aberdyth where you are safe, it’s all yours.’ His face was serious, with no trace of mockery.

  ‘Thanks.’ She was thrown a little off balance by the unexpected gesture. ‘I’ll think about it.’

  ‘Do. Keep it for now, and if you want to use it, do. I have plenty of spare bedrooms.’ The smile was back now, and the mischief danced in his eyes.

  Ava said no more but finished her coffee and headed out into the cold. Her boots crunched on the white gravel as she stomped over to her truck, and the phone buzzed again. Fumbling with numb fingers she missed the call, cursing as she noted the unknown number. She slid into the driver’s seat and checked – one voicemail.

  Starting the engine, Ava listened. The words were robotic, eerie and an echo rang out in the background. It could have been anyone, male or female. Having heard similar calls before, she could tell someone was using a voice distorter, but that didn’t stop the words sending chilly fear spiders scuttling across her shoulders.

  ‘You had a little cat called Boots, didn’t you, Ava? He ran away. He might even have run all the way to Big Water and drowned. I hope not. I’m sure you remember that, but do you remember me?’

  Almost before she had time to process the message, her phone rang again. Hand shaking, she answered quickly.

  ‘Ava? It’s Jack, I’ve had another link to more photographs. Same person posting them, but the pics aren’t of you. It’s a girl, maybe late teens, dark hair… Sound anything like your mispo?’

  ‘Fuck, yes. What…’ Ava cleared her throat, trying to take a hold of her whirling thoughts, trying to focus. ‘Is she hurt?’

  ‘A few cuts, again impossible to say if they were added during editing, and she looks to be unconscious, but nothing obvious. The thing is, she doesn’t look like she’s in a room anywhere. She looks like she’s in some sort of cave. We can see stone floor, rocky walls, and some camping equipment. Didn’t you say she was a contestant in that reality show?’

  ‘Yes. A cave. These hills are full of them, but of course they aren’t all marked. Thanks, Jack. Did you send them to Sophie?’

  ‘Yeah, just before I called you. Pretty big clues this perp is throwing out now, aren’t they?’ A siren drowned his voice for a moment, as he added something else.

  ‘Sorry, Jack, I missed that.’ Ava was staring at her snow-covered windscreen, noting the light but steady fall of white flakes that would hinder any rescue teams trying to search the hills.

  ‘I said you must be getting pretty near the end game now. Be careful.’

  ‘Will do.’ She hit the call end and replayed the message one more time. She’d forgotten to tell Jack about it. Quickly, Ava sent it to both Jack and Sophie, and then she sat for a long moment, shivering in the cab. Jack was right, but what the hell was the end game for this person?

  Chapter 25

  I wish I could have seen Ava’s face when she received my latest message. Such a clever bit of kit I got off the internet. I wasn’t sure at first, because it seemed more like a child’s toy. But now I realise if I can talk to Ava as my other self, it adds another dimension to the game. She needs to get a move on, because the girl is becoming weaker. The photographs I took the day after I took her off the hill were sent to Ava’s boss. It is important to ensure she knows I have complete control.

  DI Miles is a constant irritation, and I’m wondering if I’m going to have to kill her too. She is pretending to like Ava, I can tell, and the two are forming an alliance. The thought of them giggling in corners reminds me of Ellen. She often said when we were all much younger that she would marry Jesse. How funny that she should have been so wrong. Now they are both dead – star-crossed lovers indeed. How romantic and revolting in equal parts.

  My mind keeps flipping back to DI Miles, and Detective Cole; they are both outsiders, but Ava belongs to me.

  I am equal to their attempts at interrogation, simply because I have the knowledge that could break the case. In the meantime, I roll the dice quickly, moving my players feverishly around the board. The end is coming, and I feel a fizz of excitement touched with regret. Am I really so scared of dying? I’ve thought about it so many times, but now it is a reality, and the unarguable way to finish things, I find myself still… a little afraid.

  There was another girl missing on the hills, and one night, after I checked my own captive, I passed her, wandering around, confused and swearing to herself. It did occur to me to put her out of her misery, but I’m not a greedy person. She was not part of the game, so I let her stumble off, crying a little, her footsteps tentative and unsure.

  It seems right that I now have so many of the things I craved as a child – money, and a position, even fame of a sort. I will leave a legacy, and it is something nobody could ever imagine. It will be my gift to everyone who has suffered like I did, and when I die, everyone will remember me.

  ‘Byddwch yn colli fi, Ava Cole?’

  ‘Will you miss me, Ava Cole?’

  Chapter 26

  Skipping any thoughts of dropping in at Huw’s house, Ava drove straight back to the Birtleys’. As she bumped back into the potholed yard, there was another vehicle parked outside the stone building. Ava parked quickly and joined Sophie in her car.

  The DI was curt and got straight down to business. ‘Just to reiterate, obviously you can’t, officially, be anywhere near this investigation, but we’re running out of time. I listened to the voicemail, and Jack sent over the photos. They are definitely of Bethan and as he mentioned, definitely underground, but Christ knows where.’

  ‘I assume the search team have been all over the area where Cerys was found?’ Ava queried.

  Sophie gave her a cold look. ‘The weather has beaten us a couple of times, but yes, of course.’

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to—’

  The other woman interrupted her. ‘We’ve got bodies mapping the area at the moment, and the PULSAR T
eam are on their way with extra equipment and dogs. I’m getting more men and extra funding after the last briefing because the DCI has declared a Critical Incident. We will find her, and find the bastard doing all this. Anything else come in?’ She paused for breath, turning the car heater on to combat the bitter cold outside.

  ‘None. I keep checking my phone.’ Ava waved at Mr Birtley as he scuttled down the path to pick up his mail from the little wooden box at the gate. He half-heartedly raised a hand, slipped in the snow a little, and then continued his errand with his gaze fixed firmly on the ground. ‘Do you think Cerys is telling the truth about being attacked by the other contestants?’

  Sophie shrugged. ‘It’s possible, but equally it’s possible that this was arranged by the suspect as a diversion tactic, or as part of their game. Either way, although she has been interviewed, she insisted on staying at the camp. The medics have given her the all clear…’

  ‘What about the voicemail on my phone?’

  ‘We can’t get the voice any clearer, and of course the phone was untraceable. I’ve got divers searching the reservoir, but after this I’ll call them off. We have to assume that these pictures are meant to show us Bethan is still alive, and the game is still on, not that she’s at the bottom of the lake. It’s also a big old stretch of water, and I don’t have bodies to waste at this moment in time.’

  Ava yawned. ‘I need coffee. I’ve been up since five. That store has a machine, not great, but better than going back to the Birtleys’ and having Mrs B trying to get all the gossip. I’m sure you agree it would be better if we aren’t seen together as much as possible.’

  Sophie nodded curtly. ‘Agreed. My boss would be going crazy if he knew that I was talking to you like this, but you have a way in, and I don’t. I’ll use any leverage I can get if it saves a girl’s life.’

  ‘Your DCI is right though – how do you know I didn’t kill Ellen, and came back to wreak havoc on Aberdyth?’

  The other woman studied her, green eyes narrowing, and she gave that harsh blast of laughter. ‘I’ve been working a long time, Detective Cole, and let’s just say I don’t think you killed Ellen. Alex Jennington? Maybe, but you aren’t top of my hit list. Believe me, you’d know all about it, if you were.’ Her expression was grim.

  Ava grinned. ‘Fair enough. I’ll go back and see if I can get anything else out of Leo later. You said on the phone you wanted me to go and see Rhodri?’

  ‘Yes. When we spoke yesterday you mentioned he seemed upset when you showed him Ellen’s hairband and bracelet. You might be able to build on that. I don’t want to pull anyone in for questioning just yet. DI Hevis agrees, and he’s working day and bloody night on this one. The way I see it, the suspect needs to think they are way ahead of us, and hopefully we just need to give them a bit more rope… I’ll wait here in the car, and you see if you can get anything sensible out of Rhodri.’

  Ava sighed. ‘Depends how much he’s taken. It’s funny isn’t it, it was such a joke at the time, the pills, and the effects, but now the effects have spread way beyond teenage amusement.’

  ‘Do you remember who first gave you drugs? What did you take?’ Sophie asked, tapping her fingers lightly on the steering wheel. Her phone buzzed and she quickly checked the screen.

  ‘I honestly don’t remember. If I had to guess it would be Paul, because he or Leo used to have them in little plastic sandwich bags. We would laugh at them, and call them our dealers, but they would never say where they came from. It wasn’t an issue. They just appeared like bags of candy, and we discovered that this type of candy made us lose our inhibitions, fly to the stars and spin around in the darkness.’

  ‘So some type of drug that would induce hallucinations? Ecstasy?’

  ‘There was a sedative too – perhaps some diazepam derivative? Blue pills and white ones with a flower stamped in the middle. It made you feel limp like a ragdoll, and then you passed out. Even Rohypnol, I suppose, would have a similar effect. Penny hated that one. She would never take it, and I was always the first to pass out. It’s terrifying, looking back now, to see what we were doing. Our silly dare game, “True Lies”, stopped being about heights, and pushing ourselves physically, and became more about mental cruelty. There was the one where you were buried in a box for five minutes, and then, fuck I wish I could remember who thought of this one, but it was hanging, semi-strangulation.’

  ‘So your games became more about hurting each other, making each other afraid?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And who were you most afraid of, Ava?’

  She could see his face, laughing down at her as he shut the box, the moment of darkness, the smell of soil, and the thump as he shovelled earth on top. ‘Buried Alive’ was Huw’s favourite dare. ‘Huw enjoyed the cruelty, and was, and still seems to be, sexist, arrogant, and angry. He was always angry, and always one to say his family would “get us” if we crossed him.’

  ‘Was he angry with Ellen?’

  ‘With all of us sometimes. He fought Leo and Rhodri more than once. I mean proper fighting, not just a few punches. Leo had to have stitches in his forehead. But we were all wild and out of control. I hate myself for not being strong enough to stop it.’

  ‘You blame yourself for Ellen’s death?’

  ‘Of course. Wouldn’t you?’

  ‘I would, but I would also remind myself that I didn’t kill her.’

  Ava shook her head. ‘But I did. I was there, and I should have stopped them.’

  Sophie looked at her for a moment. ‘Let’s get that coffee, and then see what you can get out of Rhodri.’

  * * *

  The shop was crowded, mostly with elderly people doing the morning shop. Their baskets were crammed with brightly coloured boxes of soup and bags of bread. Talk was of the unexpected snow, the murder, and Bethan’s disappearance. A young woman with straggly highlighted hair was trying to calm two fractious toddlers, and everyone seemed to be trying to help her. Finally she burst into tears and fled, rattling the buggy over the road to the row of bungalows beyond.

  A chorus of sympathetic chatter streamed out of the open door after her. Ava caught the gist. This was Huw’s girlfriend, Isabell. Bethan had mentioned her that first night. What had she said? That Huw wouldn’t marry her or something. She hadn’t seemed to particularly like or dislike her pseudo stepmother. It had been a passing comment about her mother leaving Huw. Interesting though. Ava made a mental note to ask Rhodri what happened to Bethan’s mother.

  Clutching their paper coffee cups, Ava and Sophie brought the shop to a standstill. Whispers were hostile and glances sharp. She could guess what they were saying: that Ava Cole had come back, and brought nothing but trouble.

  ‘I spoke to her yesterday, Huw’s girlfriend. Nice girl, and very concerned about Bethan. More concerned than Huw, it seems…’ Sophie gulped her coffee, and headed for the safety of the car. ‘See you in a bit, and good luck.’

  Ava walked back up the road, as far as the turning, and then began to climb around the rubbish piled around Rhodri’s house. The metal bin was scorched black from another recent fire, and a plastic box of electrical wires was propped on the bonnet of a grubby white Audi. It took a while to get to the front door, and as she had expected, he didn’t answer.

  Sighing, she called his mobile again. No answer. The way around the back took her longer than last time, and she swore as she sliced her thumb on the skeleton of a rusty wheelbarrow. It occurred to her that Rhodri was literally barricading himself in. She peered in at the grimy windows as she navigated a heap of water troughs and farm gates. Nobody in the living room.

  The back door was still unlocked, and she slid inside. A cat was mewing somewhere, and the stench was worse than before. Whatever happened, before she left the valley, she needed to get Rhodri some help, she thought grimly. Her phone rang, but she ignored it, focusing on the chill that wasn’t just the cold outside seeping into the flimsy bungalow. The quiet, the stillness, was all wrong to Ava, who was a veteran
of hundreds of crime scenes. Something was very wrong. She slowed her breathing, long deep breaths, moving lightly on the balls of her feet, reaching for the hundredth time for a gun that wasn’t there. The beep of voicemail made her jump.

  ‘Rhodri? It’s me, Ava?’

  She pushed her way over piles of clean laundry stacked on a narrow hall table. The house was cold. The bedroom door was shut, and she knocked gently, before pushing it open.

  Rhodri was lying on his bed, sprawled on his back. One arm was flung away from him, the other was livid red and purple, and sported a tourniquet, and a syringe.

  ‘Fuck! Rhodri? Rhodri, can you hear me?’

  He was still warm, and bending to his face, she could feel the faintest of breaths touch her cheek. His chest heaved, then stopped for a while, before his rib cage heaved again. Ava grabbed her mobile.

  ‘Sophie, I need the medics, and get in here now. It looks like an overdose.’ It would be quicker for Sophie to get her team up here, than go to all the trouble of phoning 999.

  ‘On my way. Is he breathing?’

  ‘Yes, but unconscious. Don’t worry, I haven’t moved him.’ Careful not to disturb anything, Ava kept a watch on Rhodri’s breathing as she waited for help to arrive.

  The thin, sunken face was pale, lips slightly blue, and his messy red hair was greasy and tangled. His head was turned slightly to one side, and traces of vomit streaked his yellow pillowcase. How had it come to this? Had Ellen’s death set them all on their current paths, or would they have become who they were without the tragedy?

  She glanced quickly around the room. It was impossible to tell if anyone else had been in here with all this clutter. It was a good fifteen minutes before her phoned buzzed with a text, and Sophie started hammering on the front door, calling her name. Hastily she began to clear a way to open the door, chucking random objects to the sides of the hallway. It didn’t take long before she was yanking at the rusty locks, and swinging the door as wide as she could. The paramedics were closely followed by Sophie Miles, and DS Sharon.