Don't Look Behind You: A dark, twisting crime thriller that will grip you to the last page (Detective Eden Berrisford crime thriller series Book 2)

by Mel Sherratt

They have taken your life, your friends and your support system are gone. They grind you down until you have no self-esteem, nothing to get back up from. And the worst feeling of all is that you let them do it.

  And that’s when the acceptance sets in. The feeling that you have to put up with it because you are worthless. Ryan kept on saying that no one else would want me. My friends were few and far between as I didn’t get to see them much, if at all. I hardly ever saw my parents, as Ryan would cause a fuss if I arranged it without checking with him first or cry off sick so that I would stay home with him. I lost count of how many times he said I was a useless piece of shit.

  And when you start believing that – because if you are ever in this position, eventually you will believe it – then he has you. It’s a vicious cycle. It doesn’t have to be about violence. It can be about power, taking away your emotional well-being, your financial freedom, your independence.

  The control was one thing and it crept in slowly, even though I could feel it there in the background, tensing myself up for the onslaught that was inevitable. Brick by brick, the wall went up around us – and I couldn’t penetrate it to knock it down again.

  It wasn’t long into the honeymoon that the cracks started to appear: the moment I told him I was unwell and I didn’t think it was because we’d had some dodgy food in the Caribbean. The stomach bug turned out to be morning sickness. And that’s when all my troubles really began. Because Ryan always wanted to be the centre of attention.

  For me, it was too late. I was already under his spell. No one knew what was going on behind closed doors. To the outside world, I was just a person who got on with life and enjoyed it. Inside those four walls I was a totally different me. I was trapped. The minute the ring went on my finger, there was no looking back. But getting married wasn’t the defining thing for me in our relationship. That would be the first punch.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Eden scrunched up the wrapper from a chocolate biscuit and wiped her hands of crumbs. She glanced at her team, who were all sitting at the desks around her. ‘Okay, so far what do we have on the attacks?’

  Jordan and Amy automatically looked up, eager to get going with things. Phil busied himself popping a mint into his mouth. He’d only come in a few minutes ago and looked as if he’d got up less than ten minutes earlier and not had a shower or taken an iron to his clothes. There was a stain on his tie and last night’s stubble on his chin, which was only attractive on someone who looked after himself. Eden noticed his eyes were a little bloodshot when he finally gave her his attention.

  ‘Phil, are you with us?’ she asked him.

  ‘Oh, yeah, sorry.’ He nodded, arms folded, now sitting back in his chair.

  ‘How far have you got with checking CCTV footage, Amy?’

  ‘I’ve checked all through when the taxi driver says he dropped off our attacker on the high street but I can’t find him anywhere.’

  ‘You mean he didn’t go into The Snooker Club?’ Eden looked puzzled. ‘I thought that was where he was heading. I wonder if that was a decoy?’

  ‘No.’ Amy shook her head. ‘I mean, I can’t find sight of his taxi dropping off anyone in the street at that time. I’ve looked through everything half an hour each side of the time and there’s nothing.’

  Eden frowned. ‘Where does he drop him off then?’

  ‘Well that’s the thing. The next time that particular taxi is seen in the street pulling up at the rank is forty minutes later.’

  ‘Okay, Phil, can you take over from Amy and check the camera footage from the multi-storey car park please? We need to go back to where the attacker was picked up from.’

  Phil’s sigh could be heard all through the office. ‘I thought I’d be coming out with you this morning,’ he said.

  ‘Not today. I need someone to go through the footage.’

  ‘Amy can do it.’

  ‘Right. Because I haven’t got a gazillion other things to be dealing with.’ Amy slammed her pen on the desk. ‘There is no “I” in team, Phil.’

  ‘Are you saying that I’m not a team player?’ Phil snapped.

  Amy raised her eyebrows and was just about to reply when Eden shook her head as she caught her eye.

  ‘Of course Amy can do it,’ said Eden, ‘but I have something else for her to do this morning. Besides, I’m asking you to do it. You know how soul-destroying looking through footage hour after hour can be. It’s a mental and physical challenge. One I’m sure you’re up to though.’ She looked at him until he dropped his eyes. Another loud sigh followed.

  Eden continued with the meeting. Only two and a half more weeks.

  ‘Phil whiffs a bit, doesn’t he?’ Jordan said as they got into the pool car to drive over to EveryDay Taxis.

  ‘You’ve noticed too?’ Eden wrinkled up her nose. ‘At least he’s not with us for much longer.’

  ‘I suppose, if it wasn’t for the chip on his shoulder, he’d be quite a nice bloke.’

  Eden smiled. Jordan was one of the most upbeat people she had ever come across. If something was getting him down, you might not notice. He always saw the positive in everything, which was a great outlook to have as a police officer.

  ‘Considering he’s getting on,’ Jordan added, ‘he makes a mean dash to the bookies when he leaves the office.’

  ‘Ah. That’s why he’s so keen to leave dead on one o’clock.’ Eden indicated to pull out of the yard. ‘He won’t be with us forever. And, love him or loathe him, everyone needs a second chance.’

  ‘Oh, you and your second chances. Not everyone deserves one.’

  Eden glanced at Jordan to see him smiling. What he said was true, but Eden was a firm believer in the philosophy that people can change. Not many of them did in her line of work, admittedly, but she was always ready to give someone a second chance. Only the once though. She might be nice and smiley most of the time, but she wouldn’t allow people to take advantage of her good nature.

  In the reception area of EveryDay Taxis, the same woman was sitting at the front desk. Eden wondered how she found it working predominately with men all day, every day, and possibly through the night. Did she have a laugh and a joke at their inevitable banter, or did they, like her team, look up to her as a senior figure, someone who would care for them, someone they could turn to for help? She seemed to be in her late fifties, although, with hard life written all over her face, she might have been younger.

  She smiled at Eden. ‘You want the boss again?’ she asked, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. ‘He’s just arrived. Do you want a cuppa? I’m making him one.’

  ‘No, thanks, Doreen,’ said Eden. ‘DC Ashcroft, my colleague, would like to have a chat with any of the drivers here. Is that okay?’

  Doreen nodded and pointed to a door. ‘Through there, first Portakabin on the left. It’s rush hour for us so there might not be too many of them around.’

  As Jordan went outside, Eden followed Doreen through the tiny reception area.

  ‘Police again, Ray,’ said Doreen, knocking on the door of his office to get his attention.

  Eden hid a smirk as she watched him scowl before he put on a plastic smile.

  ‘What can I do for you again, Sergeant?’ he asked. ‘Have your lot not heard of picking up the phone or emailing?’

  ‘Email?’ Eden scoffed. ‘I’m surprised you have a system that will allow that. Your computers are so old.’

  Eden noticed that this time there was no chair pointed at. It was clear that her visiting twice in such a short space of time was a nuisance for him.

  ‘Scott Daniels. How long has he worked for you?’

  ‘Only a few weeks, why?’

  ‘You know anything about his background?’

  Ray shifted in his seat, skin reddening slightly. ‘Not yet – should I?’

  ‘How irresponsible.’ Eden shook her head. ‘Are you registered with the city council?’

  ‘Yes, I’m all legal, if that’s what you’re asking.’

&nbs
p; ‘And is he?’

  Ray leaned back in his chair. ‘Drivers, they come and go so frequently. I can’t always keep on top of them.’

  ‘So in the meantime you let anyone drive your taxis? That’s a real smooth operation you have here.’ Eden couldn’t hide her distaste any longer. ‘Do you have GPS in your cars? Or provide the drivers with phones with it installed?’

  ‘No, but drivers are booted out if the Disclosure and Barring check comes back and I don’t like it,’ he insisted. ‘All drivers need clean ones. I’m waiting for him to bring his in.’

  ‘That would be reassuring to hear if you weren’t allowing him to work while you waited on it.’ Eden sat down across from him. ‘In the meantime, your taxi drivers could be on the Sex Offenders Register and picking children up from schools. Your drivers could be thieves casing up properties to rob when they drop clients off at their homes. Your drivers could be—’

  ‘Okay, okay.’ Ray held up his hand for her to stop. ‘I get the picture.’

  ‘I don’t think you do.’ Eden leaned forward, resting an elbow on the desk and her chin in her hands. ‘Because if I do checks and find out this firm is dodgy, I’ll see to it that you’re investigated – and closed down if necessary.’

  ‘Wait – there’s no need—’

  ‘People are in enough danger each day without the risk of taking an unsafe car home.’ She stared at him, enjoying his blush. ‘So, Scott Daniels. What do you know about him?’

  Ray glanced at her sheepishly before reaching among a pile of brown files. He pulled one out and opened it. ‘Not much, I have to admit. I was a driver short as Charlie Dixon’s done his back in so I took him on temporary to see what he was like.’

  ‘Where does he live?’

  Ray flicked through the paperwork. ‘Sudbury Avenue, Warbury. Number forty-eight.’

  Eden could see an upside-down image of Scott Daniels. She leaned over and tapped her finger on it. It was a photocopy of his driving licence.

  ‘Can you do me a copy of this please?’

  Ray gave the paper to her. ‘Take this one. I won’t be using him again if he’s this much trouble.’

  Back in her car, as she waited for Jordan to finish, Eden studied the image on the photocopy. Scott Daniels was just a regular-looking man, but there was something edgy about him – he obviously had some kind of charisma. It was a shame that the women who had been attacked hadn’t seen the face of their assailant.

  She started the engine as she saw Jordan walking towards her.

  ‘Nothing doing out there, Sarge,’ Jordan told her as he buckled up. ‘Only two drivers in and neither has worked with Daniels for more than one shift. Neither of them had much to say about him. One of them said he felt he didn’t trust him but that’s only gut instinct and could be because I’m talking to him.’

  ‘Well either way it will get them thinking about him when they do see him next. And that can’t be a bad thing.’ Eden gave the paper with Daniels’ photo on it to Jordan.

  ‘He looks familiar,’ the DC said.

  ‘Oh? Let’s go see if he’s at home.’

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sudbury Avenue was a narrow road consisting mainly of terraced properties. The bins were out today, and Eden absent-mindedly wondered how the wagon would get down the narrow street to empty them all. After squeezing the Mini into a row of parked cars, they got out and she knocked at number forty-eight.

  Scott Daniels frowned when he opened the door and saw them standing there.

  ‘Hello again.’ Eden flashed her warrant card. Jordan did the same behind her.

  The door opened straight into a large open-plan room, a flight of stairs on a diagonal across its middle. The front of the room was empty bar a small dining table; the back of the room lived-in with a large three-seater settee, widescreen television and a coffee table with a mug on top.

  ‘Do you live here alone, Scott?’ she asked.

  ‘This is my brother’s house. He’s working away so I’m staying here until I can get a place of my own. He’s just split from his wife. She took most of the furniture, so I’m paying him rent. I guess it will come in handy.’

  Eden nodded. ‘We’ve discovered some discrepancies in the information you gave us the last time we spoke. I asked if you had picked up a fare at twenty past eight on Saturday just gone, and you told me a man had flagged you down and you’d taken him to The Snooker Club on Stockleigh High Street. Is that correct?’

  Scott picked up the remote control and muted the sound on the television. ‘Yes, but I was mistaken.’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘It wasn’t me who picked him up. I was nowhere near the multi-storey car park. I collected someone from the car park outside the Old Sally pub on Butler Street, further up the road.’

  ‘And why haven’t you contacted us to let us know?’

  ‘I was just about to. You beat me to it.’

  Given her conversation with Ray Minton, Eden didn’t believe him for a minute. ‘Where did you drop off that fare?’

  ‘He went to the train station, Station Road.’

  ‘So you didn’t drop anyone off by The Snooker Club?’ Jordan checked.

  ‘Yeah, I did but it was about an hour later.’ He looked at him. ‘Really sorry, I got my times mixed up. I’m new to the job.’

  ‘I gathered,’ said Eden. ‘Ray, from EveryDay Taxis, said you’d only been working there for a few weeks?’

  A dark look passed over Scott’s face, recognition dawning that they had been to see his boss. Eden watched as he composed himself quickly and smiled.

  ‘Yes, that’s right. It’s temporary, but I’m hoping to get taken on permanently soon.’

  ‘Are you enjoying the job?’ Eden queried, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be going back to work at EveryDay Taxis.

  Another smile and a nod. ‘Too early to tell,’ he said.

  ‘And you’re new to the area? What did you do before you came to Stockleigh?’

  ‘Oh, I’m not new here. I was born and raised in Warbury.’ He glanced at her briefly before looking at Jordan again. ‘Your man here knows me from Manchester. You used to work there, didn’t you?’

  Jordan nodded. ‘You used to work on MacDonald’s building site.’

  ‘Yeah, we were always getting our tools pinched. I remember seeing you a few times. Nothing came of it though.’

  Eden saw Jordan pause and wondered what was going through his mind.

  ‘So you’ve been working in Manchester for a few years now,’ she said. ‘Any particular reason you’ve come back to Stockleigh?’

  ‘The build had finished so I decided to come home for a while.’ Scott shrugged. ‘Driving is something I’m doing until I can get fixed up with another building job.’

  After a few more questions, they went on their way. Once in the car, Eden turned to Jordan.

  ‘I left him thinking we were satisfied he was telling the truth about the night in question, but he wasn’t, was he? For starters, the taxi log said it was him who picked up the fare.’

  Jordan shook his head. ‘His name is Aiden Daniels, not Scott.’

  Eden frowned as he continued.

  ‘He’s assaulted a couple of ex-girlfriends over the years. If I remember rightly, though, only one was willing to file a domestic-abuse charge against him, which she later withdrew. A bit different from now with the CPS. At least if the woman changes her mind now we can still prosecute as long as we have evidence to back it up.’

  ‘But why the different name?’

  ‘I’m not sure. I didn’t have any dealings with him, but he seemed extremely vicious by all accounts. I think he’s been in Manchester for about five years.’

  ‘Makes sense why we don’t know him then. He’s only been in Stockleigh for about a month.’ Eden started the engine. ‘Can you check him out once we get back to the station? I don’t want to jump the gun but he knows more than he’s letting on.’

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  ‘Get anyt
hing more from Salford?’ Eden asked Jordan later.

  Jordan shook his head. ‘The guy I need isn’t in. I left a message for him to get back to me. But I did find out about a victim closer to home.’ He pointed to his screen. ‘Sylvia Latimer. According to our records, she’s still in Stockleigh. Daniels assaulted her a few times but she wouldn’t press charges. I believe one of her brothers put the boot in after his final attack on Sylvia.’

  Eden raised her eyebrows. ‘I do love it when someone gets a taste of their own medicine. Can you pass me her address? Maybe she can give us some idea of what we’re dealing with.’

  Jordan wrote down the details, tore the sheet off the notepad and handed it to her. He pressed a few keys on his keyboard and brought up a file. ‘I also remembered why I know his name. Some women in an office near to the site he was working on complained he was leering at them through the windows. He was on scaffolding two floors up so could look over at them. He was all but touching himself apparently.’

  ‘Ugh, what a creep.’ Amy, who had her head down, shuddered.

  ‘Thanks,’ Eden said to Jordan. ‘Can you check if we have any more cases connected in any way?’

  ‘Sure will.’

  Eden patted him on the shoulder as she passed him. The door was open to Sean’s office so she went in. ‘You busy?’

  ‘There’s a murder just come in. A teenager’s been stabbed. He was in surgery but we’ve just heard he didn’t make it.’

  ‘Oh no. Anyone I know?’

  ‘Paul Thistle. Lives on The Cavendales. I think he was mistaken for someone else, someone from the Hopwood Estate.’

  ‘Ouch.’

  ‘He wasn’t a member of the family in question so at least there might not be any repercussions. Just a bloody big headache for us. What’s up?’

  ‘Well I was going to chat to you about work and say that Phil is a bit of a weirdo, but I guess now isn’t the time.’ She rolled her eyes anyway.

  ‘He’ll be out from under your feet soon.’

  ‘I was always taught to respect my elders, but even I have to keep biting my tongue when I’m around him. I just want to tell him to do something.’