The Beth Papadakis Thriller Box Set

by Cara Alexander

  ‘You see Beth,’ she whispers. ‘He's really worried, maybe you should go back to Athens.’

  I'm just about to say something when she changes the subject.

  ‘Oh, I forgot, I've transferred some money to your account, go and buy some new furniture, I’m not waiting for the insurance to pay up, we need it now.’

  ‘Okay Mum, any particular style or colour?’

  ‘You choose, now take care, I'll call you tomorrow, and say hello to Helen for me.’

  I hurry downstairs to the garden. ‘Helen, Mum said to say hello.’ I stop when I see her, she’s peering at her iPad with such a worried look on her face.

  She smiles. ‘That’s nice, I hope they’re enjoying themselves in Spain.’ Then she points to the coffee. ‘Have some while it's hot. Are you sure you’re not hungry?’

  ‘I had a piece of toast at Nicks.’

  She sits staring at her iPad. ‘Beth, I've been thinking, I know you want to stay here but if you come back with me, just for a few days, it will give you a chance to think more clearly.’

  Here we go. ‘Helen, I know you're trying to help but you know I have to stay here, Nick says they're doing all they can, but I'm not so sure.’

  She gives me a reproachful look. ‘So, ask him to get more people on the case?’

  She's right. Then I think of that awful place – what if they take more women there? Nick says it's a crime scene now, but who's to stop them? The police aren't there all the time.

  ‘Just a minute Helen, I must call Nick.’

  Maybe there's CCTV inside the shed?

  I quickly tap in his number, but it goes to voicemail, I leave a message for him saying it's urgent, and to call me back quickly.

  Helen's frowning. ‘Beth, you know I can't stay here any longer, Tula has another job, she's only filling in for me to make some extra cash. I'm booking a flight for the morning. I can get tickets for your Mum and Jamie to come to Athens, it will be like old times, imagine how happy Jamie will be.’

  I knew she'd try to make me go back with her, but this is getting ridiculous. ‘Helen, we both know I've got to stay, so let's not discuss it anymore, please.’

  She shrugs, goes back to looking at her iPad, I pick up the empty cups and go inside.

  I start washing up then suddenly feel bad. She's only trying to help. I'd probably do the same if this was happening to her. Leaning forward over the sink I open the window.

  ‘I know, let's go to the pub, we can have an early lunch?’

  She looks up, closes her iPad and comes inside. ‘Beth, you know we can't, anyway we don't need to, there's lots of food in the fridge.’

  ‘I'm beginning to feel like a caged animal, I can't stay in here.’

  She laughs. ‘I know, so come back to Athens with me.’

  I roll my eyes; will she never stop?

  ‘Okay, but if you want to stay here promise me, you'll stay inside, and if you have to go out, take Nick with you.’ She suddenly looks very serious. ‘You do realize it might take weeks to catch them, what will you do when your Mum comes back?’

  I look at her in desperation, hasn't she been listening to me? ‘That's why I'm so worried, Helen. Mum and Jamie can't come back here with those nutters on the loose. The police won't keep the officers guarding us here for much longer, they can't afford it. I think Nick's behind them being here, I thought it from the start.’

  I start pacing around the garden. ‘It’s very good of him and all that, but for how long can they do it? What happens when they leave. What if Mum and Jamie come back and those evil bastards still haven’t been caught.’

  Helen sits staring at her iPad. ‘I’m so worried about you, you've been through so much, what with Athens and now this…’

  ‘What happened in Athens seems a lifetime ago, but you’re right.’ I shrug. ‘Why the hell does everything go wrong.’

  She comes over and hugs me. ‘I just can’t bear to think of you being here all by yourself.’

  I look at her sad face, she came all the way to see me, I feel so angry, so frustrated.

  Why haven’t the police caught them?

  ‘Are you alright, Beth?’

  ‘Of course, I was just thinking.’ I force myself to smile. ‘I know, let's make something nice to eat or shall I order something online?’

  She opens the fridge. ‘There's lots of vegan and veggie cheese so we can make macaroni cheese, it's quick and easy, you used to love it.’

  ‘I still do, I love home-made food, but recently I haven't felt much like cooking.’

  ‘I know, I often eat salads and ready-made meals, it's not worth cooking just for one is it?’

  I look at her in surprise. ‘But you're not on your own, what about your Theo, he loves his home cooked meals?’

  She pulls a face, mumbles something about him always working and changes the subject.

  After we finish eating, Helen calls Tula about her flight, I go into the garden. A few minutes later there's a knock on the door, it's Nick. He sniffs the air and gives me a huge grin. ‘Something smells good, Beth.’

  He follows me into the kitchen, opens the oven door and peers inside. ‘Wow! I didn't know you could cook.’

  I laugh. ‘Well, hurry up and get changed before it gets cold.’

  He disappears upstairs to get out of his work clothes, I go back into the garden.

  About fifteen minutes later, after he's changed and eaten, he joins me in the garden, Helen’s gone to the bathroom.

  ‘Thanks Beth, it makes a change to have home-made food, it was delicious.’

  I laugh. He gives me one of his funny looks and plonks his laptop down beside me.

  I move up to give him some room and glance at him sideways. He's changed into lighter clothes and there's a hint of French cologne - I suddenly realize how good looking he is. I'm still watching him as he taps in his password, and without meaning to, I see what it is, it's quite simple and wouldn't be difficult to hack. He seems oblivious, so I take a quick sip of wine and look away.

  Helen comes into the garden, she’s watching me with a smile on her face.

  I give her a frown. ‘I’ll get another bottle,’ I mumble, jumping up. ‘Be back in a minute.’

  As soon as I'm in the kitchen, I jot down his password on the back of Mum's calendar. You never know, I might need it.

  Back in the garden, Helen gives me one of her knowing smiles, I just ignore her and tell them about the new furniture I ordered.

  ‘Mum asked me to choose the colour, I hope its alright, it's being delivered tomorrow.’ Then I remember the state of the living room. ‘Oh no, the room, I’ll have to clear it out.’

  ‘Great,’ Nick mutters, not looking up from his laptop. ‘Where are you going to put all the rubbish?’

  ‘Don't worry, we'll help,’ chimes in Helen, laughing. ‘I need a bit of exercise. We'll need black rubbish bags and a couple of strong brushes.’

  Nick groans, puts down his laptop. ‘I’ll change into my old clothes, be back in a minute.’

  With three of us doing it, we're soon finished. Nick takes the rubbish bags out while I get the drinks and nibbles ready.

  ‘When's your flight, Helen?’ Nick asks, coming into the kitchen to wash his hands.

  ‘It’s at 9.30 tomorrow morning, from Luton Airport.’ Then under her breath she mutters. ‘I just wish Beth was coming with me.’

  Nick starts sipping his wine but I can see him watching me out of the corner of his eye.

  ‘Fancy an early morning drive, Nick? The roads won't be busy if we leave early. It'll only take an hour if we hurry.’

  He shakes his head. ‘I would if I could but I’ve a lot on tomorrow.’

  Helen stands up. ‘I’ll take the train back to the airport, it doesn’t take long, so please don’t worry, Beth.’

  ‘Okay, then I'm booking you a taxi.’

  Nick looks over at Helen. ‘Don't worry. I'll look after her when you’re gone.’

  15

  HELEN LEAVES
>
  Early Morning

  ‘Taxi’s here. Hurry!’ Nick shouts, opening the front door.

  Helen wraps her arms around me and hugs me as if she'll never see me again. ‘Take care and call me.’

  One last wave and she's gone.

  Nick says something to the young police officer in the garden, then gets into his car and winds down the window.

  ‘If you're worried about anything, let the officer know or call me - okay?’

  I nod.

  He gives a mock salute and drives off.

  I feel restless, Helen's on her way to Athens, Nick's gone to work, and I'm stuck here. I watch his car until it turns the corner, then go inside.

  On the kitchen table sit the remnants of breakfast. Helen's half eaten croissant and Nick's empty plate – he had two slices of toast with beans on top, and two more on the side, one of which he left.

  I sit absentmindedly spreading Vegemite over the leftover slice, when suddenly my foot touches something hard. I take a quick look under the table and see Nick's laptop, he must have forgotten it.

  Wiping the crumbs of toast from my hands, I reach down and haul it up onto the table. I sit looking at it for a few minutes. This is his work laptop, so everything relating to these awful rape and assault cases could be right here. He doesn't have a key, so he'll have to knock to come in. I remember his password so quickly login.

  It takes me a while to find what I'm looking for but when I do I'm stunned. Some of the details are missing such as where it happened, but there's a lot to go on, much more than I expected.

  A slight tap at the door makes me swing round. Shit, he’s back. I quickly logout, shove the laptop back under the table and stand up.

  There's another tap at the door.

  I run to the living room and peer through the blinds, it's a delivery man. It's the furniture I ordered.

  Ten minutes later I'm surveying a new red sofa and two large red chairs, the plastic covering will have to stay until we've decorated the room, we also need new flooring, or a carpet fitted, but for now this will have to do.

  Then I remember Nick's laptop - Mum has a printer in her bedroom - with his laptop under my arm I run upstairs.

  Fifteen minutes later Nick's laptop is back under the kitchen table, and I’m upstairs going through my printouts.

  All the women who reported being raped or assaulted and subsequently retracted their statements, I highlight in green. There aren't many, but they must be investigated.

  The notes made by Nick, I circle in red, then I jot down a couple of the victim's names and addresses and phone numbers, I’ll call them later.

  Now what am I going to say to them? Will they talk to me? These are all things I must be prepared for. I try to imagine what I would say if someone called me, would I put down the phone?

  I must tell them who I am first and why I want to talk to them, then arrange to see them as soon as possible.

  I scribble a few ideas down, then I put the printer away, hide the printouts in Mum's wardrobe and glance out of the window. It’s such a lovely day, I’d love to go for a walk to clear my head, but the police officer downstairs has strict instructions to keep an eye on me. If I leave the house, he'll call Nick.

  Just as I'm about to move away from the window a white van catches my eye. Someone's in the driver's seat, I can't see them clearly. I look for a little longer, then realize I'm getting paranoid. It’s just a van, it could belong to anyone.

  16

  BETH

  Late afternoon

  A spanakopita (feta cheese and spinach pie) and a tray of fat red peppers, stuffed with rice and herbs, are cooking in the oven. I'm curled up on one of the new chairs in the living room, a large glass of white wine in my hand. After dinner I'll tell Nick what I intend to do, I have no choice. Hopefully he'll help, but whatever happens, I have to meet at least one of the women I found on his laptop.

  My phone rings. It's Nick.

  ‘Sorry I'm late. I'll be there in a few minutes. Do we need anything for dinner?

  ‘No, I've cooked, it’ll be ready soon, so hurry up.’

  Ten minutes later he's in the kitchen, he squats down in front of the oven and peers inside.

  ‘I could get used to this,’ he says sniffing the food. ‘Scrumptious looking pie, stuffed peppers and all home made.’

  He stands up, gives me a sort of hug, then disappears upstairs. ‘I'll get changed, be down in a minute.’

  I know his few minutes, he’ll probably have a shower and I’m hungry. ‘I'm going to eat, I'll be in the garden, you can serve yourself.’

  Fifteen minutes later he comes out and joins me with a plateful of food. Scooping up a forkful of pie he pops it into his mouth. ‘This is delicious Beth; you should be a cook.’

  I sit sipping my wine thoughtfully while he cleans his plate, glad he's enjoying it. I don't really know much about him, he never talks about his ex-wife or says anything about a girlfriend.

  ‘When you were married, did your wife do all the cooking?’ I ask, then regret saying it, what do I care if she did or not. Alex and I started out doing everything together, but that didn't last long.

  ‘I wasn't there much,’ he says wiping his mouth on a piece of kitchen roll, then he glugs down some beer and carries on eating. ‘I ate at work most of the time and at weekends we'd get a take-away or she cooked.’ He pauses, as if remembering then smiles. ‘It was all so quick - I asked her out and a month later we were married.’

  He's surprised me now. ‘So, it was an on the spur sort of thing?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose you could say that. At first, we were happy then I changed jobs. Viv, that's my wife, well she was often alone. I thought she was okay; I was making good money.’ He looks thoughtful for a minute then gives a shrug. ‘We had a lovely house. Then one day she just upped and left.’

  ‘That's awful, Nick, I'm so sorry.’

  He nods in agreement. ‘Yes, and a few days later she calls and leaves a message asking for a divorce.’ He shrugs and finishes off his food. ‘What about you?’

  ‘Oh, it was just one of those things,’ I mumble. Only Helen and Mum and a few good friends know about it. I don't feel comfortable telling Nick, although I like him a lot, I don't really know him.

  ‘What happened?’ he asks, leaning forward, an unlit cigarette in his hand.

  ‘Oh, it's a long story.’

  He sits drinking his beer, watching me. ‘Did Helen know, was she in Athens with you?’

  ‘Yes, but she was having problems with her travel agency, she's lucky James was there. Do you remember him? He was in our class at school in Evesly.’

  He nods. ‘Yes, he moved to Athens also, didn't he?’

  I'm amazed he remembers; we were never really close; I didn't think he knew James that well.

  ‘Yes, he’s a good friend of ours, Helen and him are very close.’

  He looks surprised. ‘I thought she was married?’

  I laugh. He knows everything, doesn’t he.

  ‘Yes, she is.’

  I stand up and stretch then catch Nick watching me, he looks away and lights his cigarette.

  ‘Nick, we've got to do something, this has gone on long enough. It's not safe here and Mum will be back soon.’

  He nods in agreement. ‘You're right, so what do you suggest?’

  I take a deep breath. ‘I know how we can catch them I've been doing some research.’

  His eyes nearly pop out of his head, he sits staring at me for a long time then sighs. ‘You must leave this to me, Beth. You're already a target, you'll only inflame the situation.’ He raises an eyebrow and looks at me strangely. ‘And we don't want that, do we?’

  I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but this is ridiculous, what the hell's wrong with him?

  ‘Nick, I've got to do something, if I leave it to the police, nothing's going to get done, is it?’

  He sits looking at me for a moment, stubs out his cigarette and stands up.

  ‘For God's sake N
ick, sit down and listen, I'm only trying to help. I've been researching cases of rape and assault in Evesly and the Oxford area.’

  He sits down and stares at me, now I've really got his attention.

  ‘The people who commit these crimes are just plain evil, they enjoy hurting people.’

  A muscle twitches in his cheek, his lips are pressed together in a thin tight line.

  ‘You don't do anything, okay?’ His voice is so cold, I feel a shiver run down my spine.

  ‘You have no idea do you Nick? Have you ever wondered why victims of rape don't confide in the police?’ I lean forward and lower my voice. ‘These cases should have been solved a long time ago, but they haven't been, have they?’ Before he can say anything, I carry on. ‘The women need someone too confide in. They need someone like me - someone they can relate to - someone who understands what they've gone through.’

  He suddenly grabs my face with both hands, it's as if he's going to kiss me, then he laughs. ‘You may be right, Beth, but that's never going to happen.’ He's looking at me with a strange expression on his face, then he lets go of my face and picks up his beer.

  ‘Nick, I can phone a couple of the victims, arrange to see them, I can go by myself, or you can take me.’

  He raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. ‘You're stark raving mad!’ Then his eyes narrow. ‘And how do you know their names and phone numbers?’

  Shit. Now what do I say?

  ‘How do you think? I went on-line, found some articles, the rest was easy, I’m not an investigative journalist for nothing. Come on Nick, it won't take long, I’ll try and arrange to meet one of them tomorrow, what about in the afternoon?’

  He sits shaking his head. ‘And if I don't help?’

  ‘Need you ask?’

  He stands up as if to go. I jump up and stand in front of him.

  ‘I'll disguise myself, even you won't recognize me.’

  He's watching me closely, his eyes are like slits, he looks different, and then he smiles. ‘Okay, show me.’