2.0 - What Lies Below

by Helen Phifer

  ‘It’s okay, I’m not judging you. I love it. I watch all the documentaries on Sky and Netflix. Although I shouldn’t. I live on my own and freak myself out every time I hear a noise.’ She started laughing and he joined in.

  ‘Yeah, me too. Although obviously I’m far too much of a man to admit that in public.’

  ‘You just did.’ She noticed Maddy hovering at the back of the shop and waved before turning back to her customer. ‘Hey, have you read that best-selling thriller Death Wish that’s taken the charts by storm? I think you’d like that. It’s brilliant, and it’s got a really creepy killer in it.’

  He shook his head. ‘No, sorry. I like true crime; I don’t like the made-up stuff.’

  Maddy turned away, but not before giving Stella a death stare. She shrugged and carried on talking.

  ‘Seriously, you should. The author happens to be a very good friend of mine, so I can vouch for her. In fact, she’s standing over there. Pretending to ignore me and not doing a very good job of it.’

  Maddy lifted her hand and waved. Onion guy turned to stare at her.

  ‘I’m sure it’s a very good book,’ he said. ‘I’ll make sure I buy it next week.’

  ‘Oh, you don’t have to do that.’ Maddy smiled, embarrassed. ‘Ignore her. She thinks she’s my agent on commission.’

  ‘I am, it’s a bookshop. I’m supposed to sell books to people, it’s what I love. There’s nothing better than recommending a book to someone and them coming back to tell me how much they loved it. You don’t think I do this for the money, do you? Because there’s not much in it, to be honest.’

  Onion guy held out his hand to Maddy. ‘I’m Joe Thomas, I work down the street at the new burger place. If you ever need a place to hang out and write, you’re welcome to come in and sit there.’

  Maddy smiled. ‘Thank you, Joe, I’m Madison Hart. That’s very kind of you.’

  ‘And I’m Stella Sykes, owner of this fine establishment.’

  Joe took his book from Stella. Pushing it into his backpack, he took her hand as well, giving it a shake. ‘Nice to meet you both. I’ll see you next week, Stella.’

  As he began to walk away, Maddy shouted, ‘If you go to the library, you can get a copy without having to buy it, in case you don’t like it.’

  He laughed, then walked out of the shop.

  ‘I hate it when you do that, Stella. It’s all very embarrassing and he seems nice. You’ll put him off coming in if you try to force him to buy my book.’

  ‘I’m trying to help you. He is nice, isn’t he? Apart from the smell of onions that lingers around him.’

  ‘What smell?’ Madison asked.

  ‘You didn’t smell him?’

  ‘Not really, and there are worse things to smell of. He could be the guy for you, Stella, and he must like you if he keeps coming in every week. Why don’t you give him a chance? Ask him out for a coffee?’

  ‘Why don’t you mind your own business? Every time he comes in, I want to go eat my body weight in hot dogs. If he works in that fancy burger joint which, by the way, is supposed to be very good, I’d be screwed. I’d end up that big, I wouldn’t fit through the front door.’

  ‘You know, I have no idea why you don’t write books. Your imagination is far better than mine. Anyway, I only popped in to tell you I sent an email about that house. It’s amazing, creepy, probably scary as hell at night in the dark on its own in the middle of nowhere, but it would be the perfect escape. So, thank you for sending it to me.’

  ‘Yeah, it’s bound to be haunted. They usually have the odd ghost knocking around that the owners can’t get shot of, everyone knows that. Even more inspiration for your book. Aden reckons onion guy likes me.’

  ‘He probably does, a lot. Aden is never wrong. If I hear back about the house, I’ll let you know. I just wanted to let you know that I’d done it, and if I get the chance, I’ll take it.’

  A customer came over to speak to Stella, so Maddy left them to it.

  Chapter Five

  S eth climbed out of his ancient Land Rover, groaning louder than the driver’s door’s badly rusted hinges. Every part of him was aching, and he wondered if he was coming down with something

  He spotted Alfie come running out of the kooky shop. When the boy saw Seth, he headed his way, just as the door burst open and his mother Glenys ran out.

  ‘Alfie, get back here now or you’re going to be sorry for the rest of your life!’ she screamed.

  The boy ran past Seth, his eyes wide, breathing heavy. ‘She’s gonna kill me this time. She’s flipped.’

  Seth watched the big lad pump his legs even harder as he pushed himself to gain some distance from his banshee of a mother. As she caught up to Seth, he put out his arm to slow her down.

  ‘Calm down, Glenys, he can’t have been that bad you want to kill him in public. What’s the big lad done now?’

  Glenys stared at him. Struggling to breathe from only running a short distance, she was sucking in gulps of air. Putting her hands on her hips, she bent forwards to try to calm herself down. Finally, able to breathe, she shook her head.

  ‘It’s not easy, you know.’

  Seth smiled. ‘I can’t imagine it is, and I never said that it was.’

  ‘Yeah, well. I see the looks you lot give me when you think I’m not watching. I’m not a crazy kook, like you all refer to me. I have gifts, and I use them the best way I can to make a living to keep me and Alfie. You know I like a drink, but if I didn’t try to relax with the help of a couple of glasses of cider, I’d be in the madhouse for sure. He’s not easy to live with. God knows I love him, I really do, but he’s hard work. I spent hours setting up a new booking system on my desktop computer for clients to book appointments, and it drove me mad. But Alfie’s just gone and deleted the entire thing, along with my contact numbers, so I can’t even phone them to rearrange. The whole lot has gone because the flipping icon was in the wrong place on the screen and he didn’t like where it was.’

  ‘I can understand you being mad, but battering him isn’t going to help, is it? Haven’t you got a Facebook page?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Well, just write a post explaining you’ve had a technical glitch and ask everyone to get in contact with you to confirm their appointments. Most people our age spend more time on Facebook than they do anything else.’

  She stared in the direction her son had headed, then looked at Seth. ‘You know that’s not a bad idea, why didn’t I think of that?’

  ‘I’m sure you would have once the anger had subsided. Why don’t you come in the pub for a nice cold glass of cider on the house? You can use the Wi-Fi to get on Facebook and everything will be okay,’ Seth offered. ‘It will all work out.’

  ‘You do know that one day you’ll make someone a great husband, don’t you?’

  He laughed. ‘Is that Mystic Meg speaking, or an observation?’

  ‘Cheeky.’ Glenys laughed. ‘It’s both, if you need to know. Thanks, Seth, for calming me down. I shouldn’t get so wound up, and I know he doesn’t mean it.’

  ‘You’re welcome. Now, come on, I could do with a drink. You go in and I’ll go and tell Alfie he doesn’t have to sleep under a bush on the fells. Last thing I need is to hear Mountain Rescue has been called out to because he’s been reported missing.’

  Glenys smiled and walked towards the pub, while Seth went in search of Alfie. He knew the boy would be hiding in the playground, because he’d seen him there many a time, crouched down in the tunnel which ran through a grassy hill.

  Letting himself in the gate, he called, ‘Alfie, it’s okay, it’s me, Seth. Your mum has agreed she isn’t going to kill you.’

  He waited and heard the shuffling as Alfie emerged on his hands and knees. His huge eyes looked up at Seth, who nodded at him.

  ‘Come on, lad, have you had any tea?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘Right, well, your mum is at the pub having a quick drink, and I’m starving. You can come and help
me make some sausage sandwiches.’

  ‘I like sausages.’

  ‘I know you do.’

  Alfie stood up and they walked back to the pub in a comfortable silence.

  Chapter Six

  M addy hauled the last of her bags out of the tower block lift, dragging it to her car where her gran was sitting in the passenger seat, guarding the contents with her life. She grinned at the sight of her tiny grandmother, who scared even the toughest of teenagers because she shouted louder than an army drill sergeant.

  Pushing the bag into the back seat of her VW Beetle, Maddy slammed the door shut and her gran stepped out of the car. There was no mistaking the tears in her eyes. She was a tough cookie and would never cry in public or in front of Maddy, which made her granddaughter realise how much she loved her.

  Scooping the elderly woman into her arms, she squeezed tight, then rocked her back and forth. ‘Thank you for letting me stay with you. I’m going to miss you so much.’

  ‘Honey, you’re always welcome here, you know that. Are you sure you want to do this? I know you want to get away, and I understand that. But that house is far too big for one person to live in and look after. Are you any good with a hammer? It’s in the middle of nowhere. What if you need a pizza at two in the morning?’

  Maddy laughed. ‘Aw, you’re funny, Gran. I’m just going to have to make sure I keep plenty of pizzas in the freezer and make my own.’

  Her gran arched an eyebrow at her. ‘Now who’s funny? Last time you cooked pizza the whole block had to be evacuated because you set off the smoke alarms. I’m being serious, Maddy, it’s going to be lonely out there. I worry about you.’

  ‘You don’t have to worry. I promise I won’t try to burn the building down.’

  ‘You better not, it’s been standing for hundreds of years. I don’t think the owners would be too happy if you did.’

  Kissing her gran’s wrinkled cheek, Maddy let go and stepped back. ‘It’s what I need. I have to write this book. I can go for walks in the fresh air or swim in the lake, then I can spend the rest of the day writing. It’s perfect. I don’t have to worry about bumping into Connor, and it will be like being on holiday for six months and getting paid for it. As soon as I’m settled and the place is liveable, you can come and stop for a couple of weeks. You can have a holiday as well. Get some fresh air in your lungs.’

  ‘Maddy, I love you, girl. I do. But I don’t want to be stopping in no haunted mansion in the middle of a mountain. I bet they don’t even have Netflix out there.’

  Maddy giggled. ‘You’re not selling it to me.’

  ‘I’m not trying to.’

  She got into the car, putting the window down. ‘I love you and I’ll ring you as soon as I can. I don’t know what the phone signal will be like, so don’t worry. I promise it’s all good. I’m excited to escape for some peace and quiet.’

  Lifting her hand to her mouth, the elderly woman kissed her fingertips and blew the kiss in Maddy’s direction, then she turned and headed back into the block of flats.

  Maddy’s heart felt as if it was tearing in two; she hated upsetting her gran. It wasn’t as if she was moving to New York, although that was on her bucket list. It was the English Lake District, where she was going to be living in a house on her own, surrounded by sheep. It would probably be an added bonus if she couldn’t get Netflix, because then she wouldn’t be likely to binge watch every episode of Stranger Things and The Killing. No, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity which had come along at the right time, and she was grateful that the owners had said yes to her email.

  She had one last person to say goodbye to: Stella.

  Chapter Seven

  C onnor stared out of the wall of windows overlooking the Thames. When he’d asked for a few days off work, his concerned boss had actually left his office to come and see if everything was okay. The miserable old sod had been impressed when Conor had explained that he wanted to spend some time with his girlfriend. He hadn’t told him that the spending time with her involved beating her to within an inch of her life and breaking her fingers.

  Connor knew he worked too much, but it was his choice. He wanted to be the best he possibly could. At school he’d been an overachiever, and he harboured a dream to write a book one day. Maddy had appealed to him because she was already on her way to being published when they met. He’d thought he’d be able to use her to further himself, maybe even get her to help him write his book. But that wasn’t going to happen now, was it? She had taken herself, her success, and her contacts in the industry, away from him, leaving him with nothing of value from their relationship and a bad taste in his mouth. Not to mention a burning rage inside of him he hadn’t realised could send him over the edge.

  He knew he was a complete control freak – or so his many previous girlfriends had told him. Even if he could change, he wouldn’t. He didn’t want to. He liked knowing exactly how things were going to be, how much money he was earning, and what he was going to do with it. But he had never expected Maddy to pack her stuff and leave him, after the time they’d spent together. It wasn’t right. He finished relationships; it wasn’t the other way around.

  Connor pressed his forehead against the glass. It was hot outside. The kind of heat that was perfectly acceptable if you were sat around a pool in the Maldives sipping cocktails, but not in the city. Today, he was going to track down that bitch, come hell or high water. He would find out where she was, then stalk her until he knew he could get her alone. He wasn’t going to let her know it was him; she would get the shock of her life when someone jumped her down a dark alley. He’d pay some cheap whore to give him an alibi, and all would be good. Maybe when he’d paid her back and she couldn’t write for months he would be able to move on with his life. Until that happened, this burning anger was going to fester away inside of him until it exploded.

  He knew Stella was his best way to find her, but yesterday’s search of Camden High Street for her book shop hadn’t been successful as he’d hoped. He moved to sit at his computer and Googled Stella’s name, then waited for the articles to load. Various pictures of her standing outside her poky shop filled his screen. He grinned. Why hadn’t he done this yesterday?

  A picture of Maddy with her arm around Stella, holding a copy of her book outside the front of the bookshop, brought the red mist down over his eyes. He saved the image, then printed it out, but not before punching the screen and cracking the glass across her smug face. A sliver of glass sliced his knuckle and he watched as a trickle of bright red began to drip down his finger. Red was such a pretty colour; Maddy only ever wore black or grey. He couldn’t wait to turn her skin into a bright, red explosion of marks.

  He licked the blood from his finger and picked the picture off the printer which was still spewing out paper. He only needed one for now – a little reminder of what his goal for today was.

  ****

  He strolled into Stella’s bookshop thirty minutes later. Instead of marching up to the counter and demanding to know where Maddy was, he knew he would have to play things a little cooler. Instead, he began browsing a stand of travel books, while at the same time keeping an eye on the man behind the counter who was chatting loudly on the phone. There was no sign of Stella and he’d never seen this bloke before in his life, but that might work in his favour. When the man ended his phone call, Connor sauntered over to the counter.

  ‘Hi, is Stella around?’

  The man shook his head. ‘No, sorry. She’s nipped out for lunch, then taking the afternoon off. Can I help you?’

  ‘Not really. I needed to speak to her about a mutual friend of ours. I’ll try to catch her at home.’ Connor didn’t have a clue where she lived, but it sounded good.

  The man shrugged. ‘Well, she’s not home now, or I’d have heard her size eights stomping around the flat. You wouldn’t believe how much noise one woman can make, it’s enough to give you a migraine.’ The man winked at him and Connor took a step back.

  ‘Th
anks, not to worry. Bye.’

  He turned and left, pleased that at least now he knew where Stella lived, and he hadn’t even had to ask. She wasn’t going to be very happy that her employees were so careless with her personal information.

  He’d come back later when it was darker, and the shops were closed. It would be better if there were no witnesses.

  Chapter Eight

  S tella poured the last of the wine into her glass; she’d already had a couple at lunch with Maddy. Now that her friend had set off to drive to the mansion in the Lakes, Stella was starting to regret sending her the email. She hadn’t really thought that Maddy would actually land the job; she’d had just been trying to cheer her up.

  Smooth FM was playing through the Alexa that Maddy had bought her for her birthday, and Stella began singing along with Sade in her sexiest voice when a knock at the door stopped her in full flow. She jumped, spilling red wine down the front of her top. Shit, who is knocking this time of night?

  Putting the glass down on the kitchen worktop, she went to the front door and peered through the spyhole. It was dark out there; her security light needed a new bulb, so all she could see was a shadowy figure. Too nosy for her own good, and against her better judgement, she opened the door and stared at the man standing on the other side until the silence became uncomfortable. He was smiling at her, his eyes cast down, not meeting her stony gaze.

  ‘Connor,’ she managed eventually. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I’m sorry to bother you, Stella, but I needed to talk to someone about Maddy and you’re the only person I could think of.’

  She didn’t know whether to shut the door and phone the police, or let him in, but she’d always been a pushover. She didn’t know what she could actually say if she phoned the police, anyway; as far as she knew, asking to chat wasn’t a criminal offence. The wine she’d consumed clouding her better instinct, she opened the door and stepped to one side.