Running in Circles: An international mystery with a heart-stopping twist (Lucy Lewis Thriller Book 1)

by Claire Gray

  ‘Okay,’ I interrupt. ‘Honestly though, he’s right, you don’t need a knife.’

  ‘We’re not taking sides or anything like that,’ Steve adds. ‘We’re just out here to talk. We’re just journalists.’

  ‘Pamela didn’t show up. I think maybe they can help us,’ Dolph says. He kicks his feet in the dirt and fallen leaves. The four of us are standing in a circle now, like we’ve just met at a party.

  ‘But why do they want to talk to us?’ Maliwan asks, looking sideways at me but lowering the knife just a little bit. ‘You know you have blood on your legs?’

  I look down. ‘I scratched them on some plants, I think.’

  ‘I think they might be able to give us a ride into town,’ Dolph says. ‘We need to pick up supplies, don’t we?’

  ‘No, too dangerous.’

  ‘But Pamela didn’t show.’

  ‘She promised,’ Maliwan says, with a snarl. ‘Where is she?’

  Dolph shrugs. ‘I don’t know. I did say. I did say we shouldn’t trust her.’

  ‘Can I ask something?’ Steve says then, loudly. No one replies but we all turn to look at him. ‘Why are you pointing a knife at us, please? If you’re just out here camping, why would you feel the need to do that?’

  Maliwan takes a step towards me, lowering the knife to her waist. ‘What are the newspapers saying about my boss? Bernie Shuttleworth. I know he’s missing.’

  ‘Don’t,’ Dolph says, raising his arms but not actually making contact with anyone. ‘Why would you ask about him? That’s nothing to do with us.’

  I’m trying to read Maliwan’s face but I can’t. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be, to tell if someone is a criminal just by looking into their eyes and at the shape of their mouth. Back in England, when I had to report on court cases, it was easy to assume that people were guilty when they were framed by glass boxes and had guards standing beside them.

  Dolph says to Maliwan: ‘They’re out here because of the bomb, really. That’s the main thing, right? You’re not really interested in the other thing.’

  ‘What do you know about that?’ I ask, my eyes fixed on the blade. ‘The bomb.’

  ‘Nothing, why would I?’ Maliwan says. She shifts about on her feet and looks at Dolph as if she doesn’t understand the question, but he’s scratching at his neck and staring at the sky now.

  ‘And your boss is dead,’ I say. ‘He’s dead.’

  ‘How do you know that?’ Maliwan asks in a quiet voice, like a child.

  ‘We saw him,’ I tell her.

  ‘Where?’

  ‘On the beach in town. The one by the laundrette.’

  Dolph and Maliwan share a look. Maliwan bites her lip and I think I see a tear hang heavy beneath her eye for a moment. Dolph is frowning and shaking his head just slightly.

  ‘You’re very calm,’ Maliwan says to me. ‘It’s nice. Dolph keeps talking and shaking, making lots of crazy plans and sweating and trying to light fires. You seem very sensible.’

  ‘Okay,’ I say. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Can I talk to you alone?’

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I think Maliwan is about to murder me. Perhaps she’s behind everything and Dolph is the one out here against his will. I dig my fingernails deep into my palms and decide that I’ll kill these people if I have to; I’ve dropped my rock somewhere, but I’ll grab a handful of the stones scattered around the doorway to this crooked temple, and I’ll smash everyone’s heads in. My heart picks up and I get ready to move. But then Maliwan says: ‘It’s about women’s stuff.’

  ‘Oh. Okay.’ My voice wavers as the strength drains from me.

  We walk to where a lizard is carved into the wall of the temple, and where hornets are flying in and out of a hole in the ground. Maliwan keeps hold of the knife but her arm relaxes. Dolph is watching us from beneath his mess of hair, and peeling bark from a tree; he won’t be able to hear anything we say over the noise of the river, which is flowing somewhere behind the temple. Steve tries to follow us but I tell him it’s okay, so he waits alone with his arms folded around his chest, his eyes darting from one face to another.

  ‘What is it?’ I ask, suddenly unsure of what to do with my hands. Maliwan seems smaller now that we’re close to each other. Her arms are skinnier than mine, and she’s maybe a foot shorter. Her black hair is wild, with actual leaves stuck in it. I think about pointing this out to her but decide not to; surely that’s Dolph’s job. Although he has leaves of his own. I keep one eye on him; he’s twitching and scratching.

  ‘He wasn’t like this before,’ Maliwan says. ‘He was always a bit nervous. His family are horrible to him. They told him he’s stupid so many times that he actually believes it. But he’s a scientist. He’s very clever. But he is much more nervous now. Much worse.’

  ‘Oh?’ I say.

  ‘He’s different to the other foreign men I’ve met. But in a good way. I knew it the very first time we spoke. I love him. Is that man your husband?’

  ‘Steve? Oh no,’ I say. ‘We work together. He’s my friend.’

  ‘Maybe we shouldn’t have fallen in love,’ Maliwan continues, as if I haven’t spoken. ‘We’re living in the wild now because of it. I’m pregnant,’ Maliwan says, her shoulders sagging, like she’s been waiting to tell someone this and she expects me to immediately take care of the situation. The way she’s staring at me, I wonder if she’s even out of her teens yet.

  ‘You haven’t told him?’ I say, glancing at Dolph. I can’t help her with this. I was pregnant for nine weeks. And I killed that baby because of who its father was. I don’t know anything.

  ‘I told him. But he doesn’t know I’m having pains. They’re really bad.’

  ‘Look, I’m really no expert. I think some pain can be normal early on.’

  ‘This doesn’t feel normal. Will people be looking for me in town? The police?’

  ‘Maybe.’ I peer hard at Maliwan; her dry lips, chipped pink nail varnish, silver birds dangling from her pierced ears. I wish I had better news for this girl.

  ‘Let me come back with you. I need to see a doctor. I can’t lose my baby. I love her so much already.’

  ‘If you want a lift, I’ll take you,’ I say. None of this is what I was expecting. My mouth is dry.

  ‘Thank you.’ Maliwan sighs. She puts the knife into her pocket.

  ‘They can come with us,’ I say to Steve, walking back towards him with Maliwan by my side. ‘I think it’s okay.’

  ‘Yeah?’ Steve says. He catches me by my elbow and pulls me aside. ‘Are you sure? Because I’m really not sure. They both seem crazy.’

  ‘We’ll get them back into town, let them go wherever they need to go, and then we’ll go straight to the police,’ I whisper.

  ‘I think they might try to kill us,’ Steve hisses.

  ‘I think the safest thing is to do what they want.’

  ‘What did she say to you?’

  I hesitate and then say: ‘She’s pregnant. She’s scared. I feel sorry for her. I want to give her a chance.’

  ‘Where is your car?’ Maliwan demands. Dolph has heaved the backpack onto his shoulders and is reaching for his girlfriend’s hand.

  ‘Back this way,’ Steve points vaguely.

  The four of us move off into the trees. We’ve only gone a few steps when Maliwan lets out a little gasp and doubles over, pressing her fists against her knees. Dolph puts his hand on the small of her back but she jerks him away.

  ‘It’s nothing,’ she says. ‘Keep going.’

  ‘Are you sure? Let me help you.’

  ‘No, not you. Her,’ she says pointing at me. ‘She is calm. You always panic and make me feel worse.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Steve asks.

  ‘I need just one minute,’ Maliwan says. ‘Feel sick.’

  ‘I need to pee anyway,’ Steve says. He looks at me. ‘You okay?’

  I nod and he steps away through the trees, disappearing almost immediately. I hear sticks sn
apping beneath his feet but then that sound, too, is absorbed by the forest.

  ‘Are you sure you’re just sick?’ Dolph says to Maliwan, his face drooping. ‘I think I left the water by the tree. I’ll go back and get it for you.’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ Maliwan says, breathing hard.

  ‘Do you want to sit down?’ I ask. She’s wrapped her fingers around my wrist now, and I try to think of something to say or do that will make this faith she’s placed in me seem justified. I’m a woman older than her, but that doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing. She seems to think that it does.

  Then we hear a vehicle approaching.

  Through the trees I spot a dirt bike slowing down beside the temple, scattering gravel and leaving a train of dust behind it. It stops in the clearing but the engine keeps running so I don’t hear what Maliwan says to me. She raises a hand and waves in a way that makes her seem younger still, and gets me thinking about the child I saw at the golf resort. Dolph, who is standing beside the dead tree and swinging a bottle of water, is shouting something at no one in particular. Maliwan makes her way back to the clearing, still bent over slightly, her mouth open. I look around for Steve but can’t see him. I follow Maliwan but hang back by the wall of the temple. I watch as the couple greet their visitor.

  The engine is cut, and Dolph’s voice suddenly seems very loud as he says: ‘We were getting worried.’

  Stepping down from the bike, the woman removes her helmet and brushes dust from her shirt. I take in the short hair, creased eyes and bony limbs, and realise that we’ve met before; this is the woman who drove me and Lena back into town last night. Rather than say anything, I press back into the shadows, hoping to remain unnoticed. I’m going to find Steve and get back to the car, because this doesn’t feel right.

  But the woman, who must be the Pamela that they’ve been speaking of, nods in my direction, saying: ‘Who’s that?’

  The breeze dies and all of the trees stand still. I meet her gaze. A hornet flies between us, its legs trailing. I can feel Pamela’s eyes on me like a weight. She takes a packet of cigarettes from a pocket in her canvas trousers, puts one in her mouth but doesn’t light it yet. ‘Well?’ she says, when no one speaks.

  ‘This is Lucy,’ Maliwan says. She was smiling when the bike arrived but seems anxious now, tugging at her top, twisting her feet.

  ‘And who invited Lucy here?’

  ‘No one,’ Maliwan says.

  ‘What does she want? Is she bothering you?’

  I can’t tell if Pamela recognises me or not. She was drunk last night, after all, and seemed, even at the time, to forget that there was someone sliding about on the back seat of her car.

  Dolph starts to explain how we bumped into each other, and how I was going to drive him into town to pick up supplies. ‘But I guess we don’t need her to do that anymore since you’re here and, well, do you have anything? Did you bring food and water like you said?’

  ‘What? Oh, here you are.’ Frowning, Pamela searches through her pockets and then tosses over a half-eaten chocolate bar in a red wrapper. It lands in the mud near to Maliwan’s feet. All the while, Pamela has her eyes on me. ‘I find it very strange that a young girl should be out here all alone,’ she says. ‘In these troubled times.’

  Without saying a thing, I decide to return to Steve’s car. I don’t run because I can’t quite believe that I’m in any real danger yet, and the thought of running still feels faintly embarrassing. So, I walk away briskly, as if I have somewhere important to be. In fact, I look at my wrist, although I’m not wearing a watch.

  There’s a trampling of feet and then Dolph is beside me, his hand on my arm. His grip isn’t tight, and he can’t look me in the eye, but the feel of him against my skin is enough to make me freeze.

  ‘Just wait a minute,’ he says.

  ‘You are the terrorists after all,’ I whisper, although it doesn’t quite feel true.

  ‘No, no, honestly we’re not.’ He shakes his head and stares at the ground.

  ‘She doesn’t know anything,’ Maliwan is saying to Pamela. ‘We should let her go.’

  ‘She knows everything. She came out here to trap you. Let her leave, and the police will come for you today. She’s a journalist. Didn’t she tell you that? Never trust a journalist.’

  ‘What should we do?’ Maliwan asks, putting her hands up to her face.

  Dolph flinches, like he wants to go to his girlfriend’s side, and I take this opportunity to pull away and start to run. I run fast enough to send shockwaves through my knees and up my thighs, making for the trees in shoes that suddenly feel far too big and I know they will make me fall. Who comes out to the jungle in footwear so flimsy? The danger is real now; it’s a sharp tingling in my blood.

  But I’m headed in the wrong direction. The sound of the river is growing louder and I think the car must be somewhere behind me. I look back and see Dolph in pursuit, his mouth open and his hair bouncing. He’s slow, not really trying, and I know that I can outrun him. Perhaps I can loop back towards the car, and surely I’ll bump into Steve along the way.

  But then I hear the dirt bike start up. This is as fast as I can go; I’m already running like a hunted animal, diving under branches and jumping over thorns and rocks. My only hope is to get into thicker vegetation, but the problem is that by changing course towards the car I’ve ended up running through just a thin patch of trees.

  The bike catches up with me. Pamela looks across and smiles. I feel the burning air around the vehicle, a wind like a predator’s breath. And then I catch my feet on something and begin to fall. A dead tree looms up; a big one with holes in it. I have time to think: Maybe I can climb inside that and hide. But then I hit the ground, smack my skull against the tree, and the chase is over.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I hear a voice. I feel motion. A single moment stretches forever like a dream, and then I become aware that I’m lying inside a moving vehicle, my face pressed against the seat. I’ll throw up if I open my eyes.

  ‘Are you awake?’ The voice again; a young female voice, Thai accent and an edge of panic.

  I try to speak but it comes out in a whisper; the sort of noise someone very elderly would make. I open my eyes, swallow away the nausea, and try again. ‘Yes.’

  Maliwan looks back from the driving seat. Her eyes are wide, and red at the edges. I remember her in a rush, and I remember the fear. But this is Steve’s car; I’m lying on his back seat, so everything must be all right after all. I try to sit up. But I can’t move. My wrists are trapped beneath my body. Looking towards my feet, I see blue string wrapped around my ankles. My shoes are gone. Seeing my toes, bleeding and impossibly far away, I feel sick again and shut my eyes tight.

  ‘She wants to kill you,’ Maliwan says in a rush. ‘So you have to run as soon as we get there, okay? I have my knife, so when we stop I’ll cut you free. You need to run fast. You understand? She’ll chase you.’

  ‘No, I don’t understand! Who is she? What’s she doing?’

  ‘She’s my boss’s wife.’

  ‘She is? What is she doing?’ I croak.

  ‘She’s helping us.’

  ‘With what? She’s not helping me. You bombed Main Street? All of you did it? Why?’

  ‘No, not that. She came in after I hit him. I thought he was hurt. I didn’t know he was dead. But she’s helping me now. I think she hates him even more than I do. I just wish I hadn’t told her about the baby.’

  So, this small, pregnant woman killed Bernard Shuttleworth. Steve and I solved that case. It doesn’t seem to matter anymore. My tongue feels thick in my mouth.

  ‘Where is Steve?’ I manage to say. ‘My friend.’

  ‘We never saw him again. But she doesn’t know about him, so that is good. She thinks it’s just you. We didn’t tell her, okay? We both think you seem like nice people. And we’re nice people too.’

  ‘But why does she want to kill me? Who does she think I am?’

  ‘You’re a witnes
s,’ Maliwan says, answering both questions.

  ‘Where is she? Please, can’t you just drop me off somewhere? I’m not going to tell anyone you did it. I’m really only interested in the bomber. This is all a mistake.’

  ‘They’re right behind us, on that bike. She wanted Dolph with her. I think she’s trying to keep us apart. She trusts no one.’

  ‘Okay,’ I say, attempting to free my hands by twisting against the rope. ‘Where are we going? She won’t really kill me, will she? You won’t let her?’

  ‘I’m not a murderer! Bernie wasn’t meant to die, and I’m not going to kill you. I don’t even know you.’

  I nod and then I’m nearly sick. I can taste it in my throat. I could use a trip to the toilet too. I might wet myself, actually. This realisation, one that would usually horrify, feels completely unexceptional.

  ‘We’re going to the Emerald Lake,’ Maliwan is saying. ‘You know it? The big hole? She says we can push the car over the edge. Me and Dolph have to do it but it’s her idea.’

  ‘Where will I be?’ I ask, although I already know.

  ‘You stay in the car.’

  I’ve been to the Emerald Lake before. It’s a deep bowl of water in the middle of the forest. Waterfalls drop from it and feed out over the island. It’s beautiful. It’s going to swallow me. I strain against the ropes.

  ‘We’re nearly there,’ Maliwan says, ‘so get ready, okay?’

  I grind my teeth against the seat. I can smell Steve’s cigarette smoke in the fabric. I recall a local story about a monster living in the lake; a giant octopus with lots of eyes, who stays coiled in the rocky depths, swallowing any swimmers who dive too deep.

  ‘Help,’ I say, too quietly for anyone to hear.

  ‘You must run to the right. There’s a cliff in the other direction.’

  I can hear the dirt bike. I say, talking too quickly for my words to form: ‘Does she have a gun or something? Why are you doing what she tells you?’