by Dan Clark
“No, it’s fine,” Carolyn says.
“You’ll freeze out here. Please, take it,” his soft voice beckons. Carolyn accepts and slides it over her shoulders before zipping it up. The fleece feels like a tent on her, but warm, very warm. She can’t wait for tonight to be over, and for her to be in bed sipping tea.
Headlights bounce in the distance as a vehicle hits the potholes, racing towards them. But it’s not a police vehicle, and the speed of the car shows it’s not a passer-by either. The person driving can only be heading for them.
Barry strains his eyes and watches as the vehicle comes into focus, then shoots Carolyn a quizzical look.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Are you fucking joking me?” Frank Lloyd asks as he steps down from his pickup truck and heads towards the three of them.
Owen is still sitting on the ground.
Carolyn had remembered that she’d saved Frank’s number in her phone from the flyer that Gwen had given her, and had decided to leave the police out of it. Though now she wonders if she’s done the right thing by not calling them. Barry looks at her, still with the questionable face, and draws himself up to his full height.
“Get up off the road, you fucking idiot,” Frank shouts, giving his son an evil glare. “Get the winch attached to that car, and start pulling it out of the ditch. NOW!” He murmurs something else under his breath that Carolyn and Barry don’t hear. Carolyn sees Owen’s face turn pale, and she knows that whatever his father whispered isn’t going to be pleasant for him.
Owen stands up, brushes the mud from his bottom, and heads straight over to the pickup. The winch makes a whirring noise as he pulls on it and slides himself down the muddy embankment.
“Thank you for not calling the police. It’s the last thing that idiot needs right now… Thank you,” Frank Lloyd says, examining the car as Owen attaches the hook of the pulling winch to a place near the wheel. “It’s not that bad. Looks worse than it is, I swear.”
“So you’ll fix it?” Carolyn asks, standing next to him.
“Oh yeah. It’ll take me a couple of days at least, but I’ll get it back to you good as new. He’ll be doing most of the work himself. I’ll see he’s punished properly.”
Carolyn doesn’t like the sound of that. She wonders what Frank’s punishments would be. Thinking back to the scar on Julio Alcala’s face, she feels a slight chill. A small part of her actually feels sorry for Owen, being the talk of the town whenever his back is turned, and paying for a mistake his mother had made years earlier.
“Frank, go easy on him,” she says. “I felt like strangling the life out of him before. But I think he’s just angry and upset that Dylan is still missing. I think it was just his way of expressing it, and me poking my nose in probably didn’t help either.”
Frank’s eyes are fixed on his son as he climbs back from the upturned motor. He looks back at Carolyn and gives her an expression she can’t make out. Is Frank wondering how much she knows? Has she heard the rumours about Mark Buckles and Gwen Lloyd?
Frank turns and looks at Barry. “What are you doing here?” he asks.
Barry steps forward, his big frame making Frank look small. “I was heading back from a job and saw what had happened. I had to interfere. Sorry about his nose.”
Frank smirks a little. “He deserved it. Lucky you turned up. Thanks. Are you ok driving her home?”
Carolyn looks from Frank to Barry, then back at Frank again. She is about to refuse, but Barry gets in first.
“Of course. I can get her home.” Barry smiles at her. The questions she has for him swim around her head.
They walk over to where Barry’s van is parked and Carolyn is about to climb in when she remembers her bag. The battered car is now at the top of the ditch, and the sensation of anxiety hits her. She wonders how she is going to explain this to her mother.
“I need my bag from the back,” Carolyn shouts, and Owen pulls it from the back seat and jogs over. It’s a little scuffed but not drenched with water.
“I… um… I’m sorry. Thank you for not calling the police. I’m sorry.” Owen says. He turns to walk away.
“Owen,” she shouts. “I did you a favour so your dad will go easy on you. Now you must promise to do me a favour. Stop beating that dog.”
He agrees before looking back down to the road, then walks over to his father.
It’s cold in Barry’s Ford Transit van. It would be a lot colder if Carolyn weren’t wearing the thick fleece. The heater is on high, but it’s only producing cold air and is making a wheezing noise like an asthmatic struggling to breathe. It’s also very noisy. Tools, ladders and planks of wood rattle and bounce around the back with every pothole and bump in the road. After briefly examining the cut on Carolyn’s head, Barry insists she should go to the hospital and have it looked at in case of concussion. The hospital is based in St Davids. Llanbedr only has a medical centre, which closes at five. Carolyn agrees. This way, she gets to question him a little. A slight wave of shame clogs her mind at the way she’d stereotyped him only a few days before. She can see he’s thinking of something to say, to break the silence, so she decides to go straight in with it.
“How come you lied back there?”
“Lied about what?” Barry asks, looking insulted.
“You told me that you saw Owen following me as I left your flat. You told Frank that you were just passing through after finishing a job.”
“I didn’t think you’d want Frank knowing you were at my flat. He’s aggressive and usually jumps to conclusions without thinking them through.”
“So you were home, then? How come you didn’t answer the door to me?” Barry looks at her and then back to the road. He blows out his cheeks and takes a moment to answer.
“I have a criminal record… for abduction.”
Carolyn straightens in her seat, her fingers hovering over the door handle as the internal voice speaks again. What have you done? You must be the easiest person in the world to abduct. You freely climbed into his van, literally.
“Let me explain,” he says. Carolyn listens through the rattling of the van. Barry starts from the beginning, telling her about his ex-wife, Lisa. They’d originally lived in Fishguard, and she’d always had an addictive personality, whether that be chocolate, coffee or booze. At the local pub she met this woman, Johanna, who had recently moved to the area, and Lisa and Joanna had become close friends. Things just escalated from there, Barry explains. After their daughter, Amy, was born, Lisa calmed down on her partying for a while.
Barry, thinking the birth of Amy would stop the arguing and the fighting between Lisa and him, was proved wrong. Lisa got back in touch with Johanna one night after the pair had an argument, and she took off, leaving Amy alone with Barry for three days. Her phone had been turned off and Barry was worried sick. He’d contacted the police, the hospitals and even Lisa’s parents, and he’d driven around town with Amy in the baby seat next to him, asking whether people had seen Lisa.
On the fourth day, when Lisa finally returned home, wearing the same clothes and stinking like an old forgotten gym bag, she had confessed that she’d been at some derelict house with Johanna and a few old friends. People she knew from her past, she’d said. She admitted sleeping with a man she met there, and for three days they’d shot up heroin and drank cheap cider. When Barry attempted to take Amy away to stay at his own parents with her for a while, Lisa broke down in tears, swore it was a mistake and it would never happen again. Barry decided to stay, but he’d sleep on the sofa, and they would only share the home for the sake of their daughter.
Lisa’s addiction for heroin grew stronger. She’d passed out one day on the sofa, leaving Amy in her cot starving while Barry was at work. Soon after that, he’d filed for divorced, left Fishguard and moved to Llanbedr.
Lisa was very crafty at hiding her addiction from the social services, and it was agreed that Barry would have Amy at weekends. That agreement lasted for five years, and Barry watched as Lisa
deteriorated more and more. One night, Amy called Barry as he was finishing a job painting a ceiling. Amy was crying down the phone, saying that she could hear her mother fighting with a man as she listened from the top of the stairs. Barry assumed it was about drug money, and raced over. By the time he arrived, Lisa was high and had passed out. He took Amy over to his flat. When Lisa woke she’d called the police, claiming that Barry had forced his way into her house and taken their daughter. The police arrived and demanded to know why he had taken her out on a night when he was not entitled to have her. The officer, PC Alan Raines, had accused Barry of acting aggressively towards him as he tried to escort Amy back to her mother. The statement from the officer, together with the lies Lisa made up about Barry beating her in the past, worked in Lisa’s favour and she was granted full custody. Now Barry can’t contact Amy until she’s at least sixteen, which is two months away.
His massive hands tighten around the steering wheel, and his face is as red as a London bus.
Carolyn shakes her head and apologises. “That still doesn’t really answer my question though,” she says, trying to smile and lighten the situation. “How come you never answered your door to me?”
He answers calmly. “I saw you pull up outside the function hall I’m working on the other day. You know, when you were speaking with that Spanish guy?”
Carolyn nods.
“I heard him call you a private investigator. Even people in the pub are speaking about a woman going around town in a red Volkswagen, questioning people about those boys that went missing. I saw you that day at The Coffee Shack and I wasn’t in the mood to be questioned. It started when the first boy went missing years ago. I don’t know how they got my information… Probably have a friend working in the police or something. Anyway, I’ve had a couple of private investigators in the past watching me and trying to question me. They see I have a criminal record for abduction, and that’s it, you’re Suspect Number One. It’s not good for business, you know? I don’t need people watching me from their cars as I’m working on people’s homes. And I didn’t want to have to explain that my criminal record is for trying to abduct my own daughter to keep her safe from her drug addict mother. I’m sick of it.” He slows the van down as they take a corner.
“I understand,” Carolyn replies.
“Anyway, I watched you leave my flat and get back into your car, then that scumbag Owen started following you. I had a bad feeling, and it took me a few minutes to decide to follow him. Lucky I did, hey?”
“Yes, it was. Thank you again. Oh, and I’m not a private investigator. I don’t know if Owen did just want to scare me, but it worked.” Carolyn shifts her leg as cramp sets in.
Barry looks at her with that same questioning expression. “You’re not a private investigator?”
Carolyn shakes her head. “Nope.”
“Then why the hell are you going around looking into the missing boys?”
She looks at him and sighs. “I saw a body down the well behind my mother’s home—”
“What?”
“Nobody believes that I saw it, but I did. The police think I’m crazy, my mother thinks I’m crazy, and everybody else in Llanbedr thinks I’m crazy.”
The van turns a corner and the hospital comes into view a hundred yards down, the entrance lit up with dim blue lighting.
“Well… If you say you saw it, then I believe you.” Barry smiles.
“You do?” Carolyn asks. Hearing the words I believe you feels magical.
“Yeah, you don’t seem crazy to me. I’m not trying to question you…” Barry stops.
“But?”
“But doesn’t there have to be a body first?”
Carolyn sighs. It sounds louder than she intended, but is mainly for the ache in her leg as she shifts to face Barry. “I did see a body. That’s the craziest thing about it. I wasn’t dreaming or imagining it. I saw the body… his eyes were looking up at me. It was real. I could never have imagined anything that… I’m sorry… but it was too real.”
Barry parks the van and shuts off the engine. He nods at Carolyn. “Okay then. Well, until I see any evidence of you being crazy, I believe you fully. You think it’s one of the boys that went missing?”
“I’m almost certain it is, yes. I believe it’s Elwyn Roberts.”
“You think after you saw the body… that what, somebody else moved it?” Barry sounds sceptical, and, in all honesty, Carolyn can’t blame him. If it was the other way round, and Barry was telling this story to Carolyn, she would probably try to stay well clear of him!
“That sounds like the most likely explanation, I guess. I really don’t know, Barry. But I do know that I saw a body down the well, and when I came back with the police it was gone.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t spoken to Sophie yet.”
Carolyn looks at him, puzzled. “The girl who works at Llanbedr Convenience? Why would I speak with her?”
“When Frank’s boy went missing, Sophie went to the police and told them she saw something. But I guess it must have been nothing…” Barry shrugs.
“Hmm,” Carolyn replies, unclipping her seatbelt. “Do you know what it was that she saw?”
Barry frowns and shakes his head. “No, sorry. Listen, it’s going to take Frank a few days to get your car sorted. I can drive you into town tomorrow if you like. You know, to speak with Sophie.” His day-old stubbly cheeks begin to blush.
Carolyn thinks about it for a moment. “Only if you don’t mind,” she says. “That would be great, thank you.” She hesitates for another moment. “Also, I may be able to use your services tomorrow night, if you’re up for it.”
Barry pulls a confused look and slides out of the van.
The hospital discharges Carolyn just after eleven. She has a bruise in the shape of a rugby ball on her leg, and her shoulder hurts from bashing into the side of the door, but luckily there are no broken bones, fractures or concussion. Carolyn had told the nurses that she’d swerved to avoid hitting a fox in the middle of the road, and Barry, who had been driving behind her, had backed up the story.
Barry drops Carolyn off at home. She feels excited to have somebody on her side, someone who believes her story and is keen to find out the truth.
As Carolyn comes through the door, Jeanette, who had fallen asleep on the recliner, wakes and rubs her eyes.
“It’s very late. Where have you been?” she asks, showing Carolyn a worried look after hearing the loud engine from Barry’s van take off.
“I was driving home, and a fox ran out in front of me. I swerved not to hit it and the car ended up down a ditch. I’m sorry, Mum.”
“Are you ok?”
Carolyn says that she’s fine, but the car is damaged and that it is being repaired by the rescue guy. She just hopes Frank Lloyd’s work is as good as Barry had promised.
“Your head?” Jeanette runs a hand over the bandage. Luckily Carolyn hadn’t needed stitches, but she does flinch as Jeanette’s finger touches the swelling.
“I bumped it on the steering wheel, but it’s fine. Stop worrying and go to bed,” Carolyn replies, taking her weight on her good leg and trying not to show that it hurts. That would only make her mother worry more.
Carolyn can see that Jeanette is sceptical at first, but after she smiles and tells her mother that she’s already been the hospital to be checked over, Jeanette eventually heads for bed.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Carolyn waits in the front porch for Barry. Her mother had left half an hour ago for the church. She can hear the loud rumble from the van’s engine before he comes into sight. Carolyn climbs in and is welcomed by a strong-smelling aftershave. She’s smelled it before. Simon had the same one.
Barry is wearing a grey jumper with a blue shirt collar poking out of the neckline, dark jeans and smart boots. A little too smartly dressed for running a ‘friend’ into town. The van has also received a cleaning. The dash is now clutter-free and there are no empty wrappers or cola bottles in th
e passenger footwell. Carolyn hopes Barry doesn’t see this as a date. She isn’t ready for dating. She’s not sure if she will ever be ready for it again.
“Hi. You look smart for interrogating a shop girl,” Carolyn jokes.
“I like to make an effort on my days off, you know. I’m always wearing paint-stained scruffs,” Barry replies, his cheeks turning a slight pink, though now there is no stubble to conceal the blushing. Today he’s clean-shaven.
“You look fine. I was just joking,” she says, holding up a hand. “Just don’t think this is a date.” They both laugh and head for town.
Carolyn hadn’t mentioned Simon and Ryan to Barry last night. She thought that there was no need for it to come up, but then she thought she ought to explain why she’s so eager to figure out what had happened to the disappearing body she seen in the well. She decides she’d tell him later over a coffee. Although Barry doesn’t appear to need any explanations. It seems he’s already on board.
Carolyn is more relaxed on their drive into town. It feels more comfortable than last night. Barry keeps apologising over the broken heater and the worn shock absorbers. As they hit bumps in the road, his face blushes a darker shade.