She’d been too proud to ask Stephanie for money to buy dinner so she’d gone to bed hungry.
Instead of trying to sleep, she’d sat up late, listening to the noise of Chris chatting away to the few remaining regulars in the bar downstairs, clearly audible through the paper-thin walls. For nearly an hour his chatter had been punctuated by the rumble of Stephanie’s voice. Daniela wondered what they were talking about. Did Stephanie intend to tell him what had happened to Auryn? Who else had she told?
Daniela used a chunk of her dwindling phone credit to send a few texts. She couldn’t bring herself to make a phone call because she knew she’d break down in tears again if she had to talk to anyone about Auryn.
Got here safe, she texted instead. Gonna have to spend the night, sorry. Will be back tomorrow.
The reply came back almost immediately. Stay safe, i heard the weather’s bad.
Daniela almost smiled at that.
Eventually though, Daniela slept, but a patchy and broken night’s sleep. Each time she awoke she suffered a moment of panic as she tried to figure out where she was. She’d spent so many nights in a locked room that even the idea terrified her. Outside, the wind continued to howl through the trees. Rain battered the window.
At last dawn found her. Daniela showered, but didn’t have any spare clothes to change into. Putting on yesterday’s clothes was necessary but made her feel scuzzy. She squeezed toothpaste from the tiny complimentary tube onto her index finger and scrubbed her teeth as best she could. Her reflection in the bathroom mirror was shocking.
When she stumbled out of her room, Stephanie’s door was closed. Daniela paused, then put her ear against the door to listen. She thought she heard the hissing of a shower filtering out of the bathroom.
If Daniela wanted a chance to sneak out, this was it. But she was sandy-eyed from lack of sleep, and she could still hear the rain coming down outside. She quailed at the idea of leaving the safety of the pub just yet.
Downstairs, the smell of fresh coffee was so strong it made her heady. Her stomach gurgled. She hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday lunchtime.
You shouldn’t be hungry. How can you eat after what’s happened? But apparently her stomach hadn’t got that message.
She padded across the pub carpet on bare feet and leaned on the bar. The coffee machine was percolating quietly to itself. Through the window she could see Stephanie’s police car, a fairly posh Subaru covered in luminous facings, sitting conspicuously in the empty car park. Daniela waited a decent amount of time for Chris or his wife to appear. Then she walked behind the bar, located a ceramic mug, and poured herself one of the best cups of coffee she’d ever had.
Sitting at a table near the bar, Daniela checked her phone. She’d received another text a half hour earlier, probably while she’d been in the shower. All it said was, Thinking of you.
Daniela let out a breath. She needed to send something good in reply but her head felt scrambled. She tapped out, Same back at ya, hesitated, added, I got the money, then deleted it again. No sense making an electronic trail that someone could use against her later. Besides, it wasn’t entirely true. Not yet. Not until she was home and dry.
She finished her coffee. The bar was still deserted, so she snuck a second mugful. Might as well – no one’s going to yell at you twice. As she drank it by the window, she watched the rain and thought over the plan she’d put together last night. Judging by the water levels outside, it was unlikely she could get back across Hackett Bridge. But just because a car couldn’t get through, didn’t mean a really determined person on foot couldn’t. She just had to be certain what she was doing.
Once she’d worked up enough courage, she took her half-finished coffee and headed back to her room. She knew now that she wouldn’t get away with leaving before she’d spoken to Stephanie. At least she’d had the whole restless night to figure out what to say. Last night, emotions had been running high. They’d both been upset. Today, Daniela felt more confident that if the two of them sat down and talked, like a pair of civilised adults, they could resolve this.
Daniela pushed her bedroom door open, and found Stephanie inside.
Stephanie had pulled all the drawers out of the dresser next to the window. The covers on the bed were yanked back to show the bare mattress. Stephanie was crouched down, checking the underside of the dresser. When she saw Daniela, she sat up. She didn’t even have the decency to look guilty.
Daniela stared at her from the doorway. ‘Okay, what exactly are you doing?’ she asked. ‘I didn’t even bring a change of underwear with me. What the hell are you looking for?’
Stephanie stood. She looked even rougher and more exhausted than Daniela. ‘I know you took the money, Dani,’ she said. ‘Where is it?’
Daniela came into the room and set her coffee down on the rickety bedside table. She had to fight to keep her anger under control. ‘Look, I’m no expert, but this isn’t legal. You can’t come barging into my room and—’
‘You left the door open.’
‘That makes no difference and you know it. You shouldn’t be here.’ Daniela pushed past her and grabbed her jumper from the floor. ‘And are you satisfied? There’s nothing here. Do you think I’ve hidden it in the light fittings? Maybe in the toilet cistern, did you check there?’
Stephanie shrugged in a particularly infuriating way. ‘I had to be sure.’
Daniela’s expression hardened. ‘You had to be sure, because you don’t trust me. That is fucking wonderful to hear.’ She pulled her jumper on, then cast around for her socks. ‘On top of that, you’re wasting time. Someone killed Auryn. Shouldn’t you be on the street, finding out who the hell it is?’
‘I needed to—’
‘You need to get out of my room. Go downstairs, get some coffee from the unguarded coffee machine, and sort your stupid head out.’ Daniela found her socks, which were damp and unpleasant and didn’t smell too great. She sat down on the bed to pull them on anyway. ‘Are the rest of the police here yet?’
‘No. We’re still cut off.’
‘So, how about instead of coming in here and treating me like a goddamn suspect, you let me help?’ Daniela tugged her boots on. ‘Someone in this town has to know something. Nothing happens here without curtains twitching.’ She stood up. Her jacket lay in a crumpled heap near the door. ‘What if the murderer didn’t get out before the roads closed? What if they’re still here? There’s no shortage of places to hide – half the houses are evacuated. We owe it to Auryn to start looking.’
Stephanie shook her head. ‘We can’t do that.’
‘Yeah? Watch us.’ Daniela snatched up her jacket. Before she could put it on, Stephanie grabbed on to one sleeve to hold her back.
‘I know you’re not telling me everything,’ Stephanie said.
Daniela tried to pull the jacket out of her grip, but Stephanie was always strong. Tenacious. ‘You keep saying Auryn had money in the house, like that’s a big thing,’ Daniela said. ‘Why? Whose was it? Yours?’
Stephanie didn’t answer.
With a final heave, Daniela wrenched the jacket away from her. The effort made her stagger back against the doorframe. Something clattered loose onto the floor but Daniela didn’t check to see what it was. ‘Looks like I’m not the one who’s been keeping secrets,’ she said.
Daniela stomped down the stairs, pulling the jacket over her shoulders. Stephanie didn’t follow.
15
Daniela started walking. The rain, which had subsided before dawn, was busy starting up again, as if it had specifically waited for her to venture outside. She pulled up her hood with a grimace.
The floodwater had definitely risen during the night. One section of the sandbagging in the pub car park had been breached, with a small waterfall creating a rapidly spreading puddle. Daniela stepped over the sandbags into the flood beyond. Water squeezed her wellies.
She sloshed away from the pub towards the main street. Each stride created little waves, which were
pockmarked by rain. She kept to where she thought the pavement was because she was fairly sure if she stepped into the middle of the road the water would be deep enough to overflow her boots.
The Corner Shoppe was already open. Daniela glanced in through the front window and spotted Margaret, cleaning the counter with her back to the door. Daniela felt a familiar scratch in her throat as she looked at the rack of cigarettes at the rear of the shop. But no matter how desperate she was, she couldn’t face talking to Margaret again, not right then.
Once she was out of sight of the Crossed Swords, Daniela found a place shallow enough to get across the road. She immediately ducked onto a familiar path that led into the woods. Within a hundred yards the ground rose high enough so that she was no longer walking through water.
With the familiar press of the trees around her, she paused to breathe and collect her thoughts. No matter what she’d told Stephanie, Daniela had no illusions that she could do anything at all to help the police investigation. At best she’d get in the way. And yet, she still had that itch in her brain. She had to know what’d happened to Auryn. She told herself that if she went back to the old house, if she went back inside, maybe she could somehow find something Stephanie had missed.
It was raining heavily by the time Daniela came within sight of the old house. The place had never looked so empty.
She stopped some distance away. There didn’t appear to be any police presence, which fit with what Stephanie had said about the rest of the police force being thwarted by the weather. Someone, presumably Stephanie, had strung a line of yellow tape across the doorway.
Auryn was in there. Growing cold and stiff on her bed upstairs.
Daniela’s resolve wavered. She’d intended to get into the house the same way as yesterday, up the tree and through the window. The main issue, she’d figured, would be if Stephanie had secured the window before she left. But now, faced with the idea of climbing into Auryn’s old bedroom, where her sister was lying dead …
Daniela couldn’t do it. She couldn’t see Auryn’s empty eyes again.
Angry with herself, Daniela turned away. She set off from an angle away from the house.
Even though she’d only been outside for a short while, she was already tired and cold. She missed her footing far more frequently than she should’ve, her boots sliding in the mud or snagging on roots. The damp had insinuated its way in under her jacket again. Her fingers ached from the cold. A little water had got into her left boot, numbing her toes. She felt miserable.
She heard a car engine and froze in place. How far away was it? Noise travelled differently in the woods. It sounded like the car might be on an adjacent road.
The noise stopped as the engine was shut off. Someone driving home and parking outside their house. Daniela kept moving, increasing her pace across the sodden ground.
Some distance behind the old house, she slid down a muddy bank into a hollow. Twisted tree roots protruding from the earth were worn smooth by years of children climbing over them. This had been a favourite spot. It’d been a pirate cove, a hobbit hole, a machinegun post; a million other things. Its walls were high, protective. The smell of damp earth was soothing.
She sat while she caught her breath. The air was cold enough to hurt her lungs. How many times had she played here with Auryn and Leo? The memories were so clear she could almost hearing Auryn’s shrieking laugh. When they were very little, Auryn never cared who heard her laugh. That was one more thing their mother had taken with her when she left.
At last, Daniela slid to the other side of the hollow. The tree roots overhanging the bank created a natural shelter lined by bare earth and dead leaves.
Bracing herself against the damp and chill, she wriggled into the hole, flinching at the coldness of wet leaves against her neck, then reached up into the tangle of roots beneath the tree.
It took her a moment to work loose the package wedged among the roots.
Daniela crawled back out with the parcel in her arms. She wiped off the mud and felt the crinkle of plastic beneath.
When she’d found Auryn, it was like her mind had shorted out. All Daniela could think of in that moment was to call Stephanie. It was simple, familiar; a throwback to when they were kids. Stephanie will fix this. The package had been in Daniela’s hands when she’d phoned Stephanie and told her in broken fragments that their youngest sister was dead. It hadn’t occurred to her to mention the money. And after she hung up, with the knowledge that Stephanie was on her way but also that nothing could ever be fixed, Daniela suddenly realised she had a decision to make.
Obviously, she should’ve told Stephanie about the money. Coming clean, telling her everything, that was always the best option. She should’ve handed over the package to Stephanie immediately.
But she hadn’t.
Daniela needed money. Badly needed money. This bundle of cash would solve all her problems. And, as harsh as it was to admit, Auryn had no use of it anymore. If Daniela handed it over to Stephanie, it would end up in a confiscation account somewhere. Daniela had never been a fan of funding the police.
Plus, what if it wasn’t Auryn’s? Maybe the money really had belonged to their father. In which case, rightfully it could be the inheritance Daniela was owed, couldn’t it?
She knew she was justifying her actions. The knowledge didn’t make her feel good.
But still she’d quit the house with the money tucked under her arm. She’d hurried into the woods, to this familiar hiding place, and stashed the parcel in the tree roots. Then she’d returned to the house to meet Stephanie.
She’d gambled on no one else knowing the package existed. If she’d known Stephanie was aware of it, and indeed would go looking for the damn thing after Auryn died …
Too late to think like that. Daniela had made her choice.
And now she had another choice to make. Simple, basic. Stay or leave?
Daniela hugged the package tight. She’d got what she came home for. Now she could go. Just walk away.
That thought made her grimace. Under normal circumstances, leaving the old house behind would be the easiest thing in the world. But right now, she had no idea if she could physically get out of Stonecrop.
She needed to consider her options. Stephanie said the Hackett bridge was impassable, but that could’ve been an exaggeration. It might be worth walking out there to see for herself. So long as she could afford the time it would take.
What were the alternatives? Aside from the landslide-hit Howstrake road, there was the option of going cross-country, which wasn’t much of an option at all, since the fields were waterlogged. At best she’d have to wade; at worst she might have to swim. And eventually she’d come up against the twin tributaries of the River Clynebade, barring the way. That left only the route south, a tractor trail that wound eventually to Briarsfield. It might still be passable.
If she was going to run, heading south seemed like the best choice.
She was still sitting on the cold ground, debating, when she heard a noise from down near the old house.
Splashing footsteps. Someone approaching along the flooded road.
Daniela ducked back down into the hollow, her breath catching. The sploshing came closer. Whoever was down there must’ve abandoned their car and come in on foot.
Daniela edged around the hollow with the intention of retracing her path through the woods. If it was Stephanie – and she had every reason to suspect it was – then she knew all the hiding spots within a mile of the house. Daniela had no wish at all to be found out here with the stolen parcel of money. She was pretty sure she couldn’t talk her way out of that.
What if it’s not Stephanie?
God knows what Auryn had been involved with. A concealed package containing such a large amount of money did not come from nowhere. Daniela knew the type of people who dealt in large amounts of cash. People like Henry McKearney, for example.
Someone had killed Auryn. What if they’d returned for their property?
Her hand closed tight around the parcel of money. She peeked up over the lip of the hollow. From that angle, the house blocked her view of whoever had arrived. She could see the ripples leading up to the front gate but not the person themselves. She waited, listening, then made her move.
Unfortunately, she moved too fast. She put her foot down on what she assumed was a solid tree root and it gave way. With the package in her right hand she couldn’t catch herself. She thumped down on her side, then slid backwards down the slope. She made a desperate grab for anything that would stop her. Her left boot caught in a looping tree root and twisted the wrong way. Pain shot through her leg.
She slipped down the bank until the tree root around her left foot halted her progress. Daniela was left hanging half upside down on the steep bank with her head at the bottom of the hollow. She groaned and spat mud. Fire radiated from her ankle. She tried to tug her boot loose and the jolt of pain made her gasp. She jammed her knuckles into her mouth to keep from crying out.
There was a splash from the direction of the house. The person was on the move. Daniela held her breath. She willed them to go away.
How much noise had she made when she fell? Did it carry as far as the house?
It must’ve, because the distinct sound of someone wading through floodwater was coming closer. The sloshing echoes bounced across the wide depression in the landscape around the old house.
Daniela gritted her teeth and tried again to twist her foot loose. Fire washed her ankle. The pain made her gag. She lifted herself on her arms and tried again. But the angle was wrong. The root had twisted around her boot, holding it in place. She attempted to slip her foot out of the boot but flexing the muscles was agony.
The splashing footsteps got closer, then stopped. The person had reached the drier bank leading into the woods. Daniela heard the dull crackle of twigs beneath boots. The person either didn’t know how to move quietly or didn’t care if they were heard.
The Flood Page 10