by Helen Phifer
‘I’m not getting fried by lightning, let’s wait in the car.’
He threw the keys to her and she hurried back to the silver Ford Focus. Josh had a walk around the perimeter of the apartments. The rain began to bounce off the floor, huge drops that were soaking him to the skin. He ran towards the car, throwing open the door just as a loud crack of thunder filled the air.
‘Shit, it’s raining cats and dogs.’
Sam laughed. ‘You don’t say?’
She had the engine running and the heater was blasting warm air around the car. Josh’s radio began ringing, and he answered to a hushed Paton.
‘Boss, he’s here at the marina. Just got out of a taxi. He has a woman with him.’
Sam put her foot on the accelerator and raced the short drive to the marina.
‘Not too fast, we don’t want him to get spooked by us speeding in there.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because if we screw this up, he can afford the best legal defence money can buy, and he’d walk. We need to get irrefutable evidence, something that can’t be dismissed or glossed over by some smart-mouth lawyer.’
She slowed down. ‘Let’s hope she doesn’t go into the water before we get there then.’
‘Why?’
‘Paton can’t swim.’
Josh closed his eyes for a second, then radioed the control room.
‘I need extra patrols to make the area of Glebe Road marina, but I want them to hang back and stay quiet unless you get a signal from me.’
The control room operator acknowledged his request and began issuing orders.
No more girls were dying in that lake, Josh would make sure of that.
Seventy-Two
Beth scribbled down the address of the site where Ethan Scales worked. Courtesy of his Facebook page she knew he worked at the Freshwater Biological Marine Centre, that he lived on site there and was a keen fisherman. It couldn’t hurt to talk to him; he might be able to tell her a little more about what happened that day eight years ago when he went into the lake and lost a friend. She’d left the house lit up, afraid to come home to the dark.
As she exited her front door, the huge raindrops turned torrential before she’d opened the car door. Even with her windscreen wipers on the fastest setting it was still difficult to see clearly, until a flash so brilliantly white illuminated the lake for the briefest of seconds. Her heart skipped a beat. Then thunder cracked so loud she jumped, even though she knew it was coming. She thought about going back inside and leaving her questions for tomorrow, but something told her to push on. Not least because the sooner Josh had the killer behind bars, the sooner he’d be able to come home to her.
As she reached the entrance to the marine site she saw the gates were fastened shut, meaning she was going to have to climb over the gates and walk down on foot. The storm was raging, and the whole driveway was surrounded by trees. She knew the chances of being struck by lightning were very low but still she double-checked that her shoes had thick rubber soles before she got out of the car and ran to the gate. She scaled it easily, but lost her footing jumping down on the other side because the ground was so wet and slippery. Breaking into a jog, she kept to the middle of the driveway on the better ground and to avoid walking directly under the canopy of Scots pine trees that bordered either side of the narrow road.
As she rounded a steep bend, she thought she heard the faint sound of a woman’s laughter carried in her direction on the wind, and she froze. When she heard it again, she followed the sound towards a row of wooden cabins. Looking around, she spotted a couple in the distance. The girl was inside the boat and the guy was untying it from its mooring. Waiting for a break in the thunder, she cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted as loud as she could.
‘What are you doing out there? I need to speak to you.’
Her voice carried back towards her in the howling wind. So she had no choice but to push on closer to the water’s edge and hope she could get their attention.
Seventy-Three
Josh and Sam parked where they could see the ramp down to the lake, but the boat was out of view. Paton came running over to the car and leant through the window.
‘They’ve gone onto the boat and straight below deck.’
‘What’s the plan of action, Josh?’ said Sam.
Josh wasn’t sure. All he knew was they couldn’t afford to mess this up. That girl’s life depended upon it.
‘We’ll find somewhere to take cover down by the boats. There might be one we can get on close by. We can’t go barging in there and mess everything up or he’ll walk.’
They got out of the car and hurried down towards the water, the driving rain lashing against their faces. There was a light on below the deck of The Tequila, but no signs of movement above deck. Josh pointed to the pub balcony that jutted out, giving a little shelter from the weather, and whispered, ‘You two stand there; you can always pretend you’ve taken cover from the weather if they come out. Pretend to make out or something.’
Both Sam and Paton looked horrified but still rushed towards the small concrete balcony with a tiny dry patch underneath it.
Alone now, Josh walked onto the metal jetty which ran alongside The Tequila Sunrise, treading cautiously; it was slippery with the rain and he didn’t want to go into the churning, black waters of Windermere unless he had to. There was a speedboat a little further down, the gate to gain access to it swinging in the wind. Deciding to take shelter there, he was just reaching out his foot when a flash of fork lightning lit up the entire marina; this was followed by a crash of thunder. Through the noise of the thunder he thought he heard a woman scream. He stopped and turned back around to make sure it wasn’t Sam, but she and Paton were huddled together in the shelter of the pub. Another screech filled the air, and he lifted his radio, shouting ‘Go, go, go,’ as he turned and ran towards The Tequila Sunrise as fast as he could.
Sam and Paton were already close behind as he scrambled up the ladder to get on board. Sirens blared in the distance. If he doesn’t know we’re here, he will now, he thought to himself as his feet hit the deck, and he turned around to grab Sam’s hand and pull her up, Paton right behind her.
All three of them rushed down the narrow steps and into the kitchen area, only to find it was empty. Pointing, Josh slammed his shoulder into the bedroom door and burst into the room. His mouth fell open as the girl who was naked on the bed screeched so loudly he wanted to cover his ears. James Marshall, wearing only a pair of black Gucci boxer shorts, walked out of the small bathroom.
‘What the fuck are you doing?’
Confused, Josh looked at him, then the girl. ‘I thought…’
‘You thought what?’
His phone began to ring in his pocket and he snatched it out.
Seventy-Four
Ethan and Grace clambered into the boat, and Ethan began to row out towards the middle of the lake singing, ‘Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream,’ into the crashing storm.
Grace giggled as the boat rocked from side to side. ‘I wouldn’t say this is the gentlest boat ride I’ve ever been on.’
He stared at her, wet hair slick to her face, eyes wild. She was perfect. Everything James Marshall liked in a woman, but Grace was interested in him. Oh, how he’d coveted the things James could buy without so much as even thinking about it, the lifestyle he lived, the women he chose. Ethan had spent the last eight years living his life through James and his money. He wasn’t bitter that he’d been born into a poor family; he was furious. Everything was so easy for James, but that was all about to change.
The first time he had only meant to teach James a lesson – he hadn’t meant for Tyler to die, just scare him in to focusing his attention back on to him. Scared by what he’d done, he’d sworn he’d never do anything like it again. But then he’d found Julia sobbing in the car park of The Hounds Inn.
He’d taken her to James’s boat, moored only a short walk away from the pub. She began to tell
him how much she hated working for Marcus and how she was going to go to the police about him. Ethan, who felt some misguided loyalty to Marcus, had begged her not to, and she’d slapped him, telling him he was as bad as the others. Angry, he’d pushed her away from him and she’d tripped and fallen overboard. He’d tried to grab her, he really had, but the rain had made everything slippery. Mortified, he’d watched as she slipped under, but the abject horror soon turned to excitement when he realised she couldn’t swim. He’d watched from the shadows of the boat enjoying every last struggle until she’d gone under for a final time. It hadn’t taken very long before the lake had taken her to her watery grave.
Then Leah Burton had blatantly turned him down when they’d been left alone on the boat. Telling him she didn’t like him, she liked his friend with the cute, floppy hair.
Grace was staring at him. ‘Ethan, are you okay?’
He looked at her, then nodded. ‘Fine and dandy, you?’
‘I, erm. Yes.’
A loud clap of thunder exploded above their heads, and she screamed.
He started to laugh.
‘I think we should go back, this is dangerous and probably very stupid.’
‘I think you’re right. It is dangerous and extremely stupid. We should carry on.’
‘I don’t want to. Please take me back.’
He shook his head. ‘No, I don’t think so. We’re here now. I wanted to ask you, what did you think of my friend who owns the big boat you were on?’
Grace paused. ‘I don’t really know him, he seems all right. Why?’
He shrugged. ‘No particular reason. Do you think he’s handsome?’
She turned to look around and see how far they were from the shore.
‘Please, let’s go back now. You’re scaring me.’
‘Am I? Sorry, it’s only a simple question. You just have to answer and then we’ll go back and get dry. Tell me, Grace, do you think James Marshall is good-looking?’
‘I guess he is, I mean he’s bound to be with all that money. Even if he was ugly he could afford to have himself made nice.’
‘Ah, you know that’s a shame.’
‘What is?’
He dropped the oars and stood up, rocking the boat dangerously from side to side. Grace screamed as he lunged forward and grabbed hold of her shoulders. Then he gave her an almighty push.
As she tumbled over the side of the boat he shouted, ‘Wrong answer.’
Then he started to laugh, rain pouring down his face, thunder crashing all around him.
Seventy-Five
Beth watched in horror as the boat lurched to one side when the man violently pushed the girl. She lost her balance, and the scream that erupted from her lips echoed around the lake. And then she was in the water with a loud splash. Taking out her phone, Beth pressed Josh’s contact name, and he picked up immediately.
‘Oh God, Josh, I think it’s Ethan… he’s pushed her in. At the Marine Centre. I’m coming,’ she shouted down the phone, and the line went dead.
Beth had little choice. She unzipped her coat, throwing it onto the floor and kicked off the heavy walking boots. The girl was splashing around in the water which meant she was still alive, but not for long. Ethan was manoeuvring the boat back towards the girl as best he could in the wind and rain. Saying a silent prayer that Josh had heard her and was on his way, Beth tugged off her jeans, which would weigh her down, and ran into the lake.
A scream left her lips at the biting coldness of the water that washed over her – she didn’t know how long she would last in the cold, but she had to try and get to the girl in time. Fully submerged, her limbs in shock and her teeth chattering, she swam towards the floundering girl as fast as she could. She watched in horror as Ethan reached the girl, calmly leant over the boat and reached out as if to grab her hand. For a moment Beth felt a surge of relief; it was an accident, he’d gone back to help her, it was all right, everything was going to be okay. But then his extended hand grabbed hold of the top of her head and he pushed it under the water.
Beth screamed ‘No!’ as panic filled her chest. She couldn’t breathe. She tried to swim but her limbs felt like anchors dragging her down. She wasn’t going to make it; there was no way she could get to the girl. Fear and frustration made her eyes prick with hot tears. She knew she had no choice, she had to keep on. The faint sound of a motorboat in the distance filled her with a sudden hope. Swimming as best and as fast as she could towards the drowning girl, she prayed it was coming their way before they both went under.
Beth pushed herself on and reached the girl. Trying to help, she lifted her fingers and scratched at the hands holding the girl under. The girl was strong and had managed to pull free from the grip on her head. Mesmerised, Beth watched as the girl swam closer to the boat instead of trying to get away; she reached out and grabbed his arm. Realising what she was about to do, Beth reached out and gripped the other, and between them they pulled him into the lake, screaming at him in anger.
Taken by surprise and wearing his outer clothes, he went under, dragged down by the weight of his coat and boots. Terror filled Beth’s veins; what if he dragged her down and took her with him?
Finally, the engine of the boat was next to them, and a man and woman reached down. Beth had never felt such relief as when they took hold of the girl and hoisted her up into the boat. Then they headed straight for Beth. She was floundering, her arms too heavy. She was doing her best to tread water but her body was weak and tiredness was making it impossible to keep awake. Her eyes began to close as hypothermia began to set in.
She felt herself being dragged out of the water by two pairs of strong hands. The next thing she knew she was lying on the deck next to the girl who had almost drowned. They looked at each other; both of them had come close to death.
The woman was shouting at them. ‘Huddle together, your bodies might warm each other up.’
Beth shuffled towards the girl and wrapped her arms around her, then the woman began to throw everything she could find on top of them: foil blankets, pieces of tarpaulin; she stripped her own coat off and threw that on top.
The boat was turning around, and Beth knew he was going to look for who she assumed was Ethan Scales. For a fleeting second she wanted to tell him not to bother. He didn’t deserve rescuing. But who was she to make that judgement call? She wasn’t God. Instead she clung on to the girl and whispered, ‘You’re okay, you’re going to be just fine.’
And then she closed her eyes. It was far too difficult to keep them open. She needed to sleep.
Seventy-Six
When Josh took the turning into the drive of the freshwater site, he saw Beth’s car. The gates were locked; he revved the engine.
‘Hold on,’ he shouted.
Putting his foot down, he did the only thing he could think of and drove straight towards the gates. Sam screeched and he heard Paton swear from the back seat. They didn’t have time to waste climbing over; he didn’t know how far the lake was from here. It could be miles. The van hit the gates and there was an almighty crash. The windscreen cracked as a piece of white gate post smacked it and bounced off. He could still see though, and carried on driving fast down the narrow winding road.
When he saw the lake, he also saw the boat and two heads in the water nearby. Instinctively, he just knew that Beth was one of them. Abandoning the van, they all jumped out, but Sam was already streets ahead of them, screaming ‘Grace!’
Paton looked at him in horror, yelling, ‘I can’t swim!’
Josh ripped off his shoes and coat, and was about to dive into the lake when he heard the engine of a motorboat coming close. Recognising the lake warden’s boat, he had never felt such relief in his life as he watched Karen and her son Cal speed towards the girl by the boat.
Sam had a tight hold of Josh’s arm. ‘Oh, my God. What is she doing out here? Why is she here?’ He couldn’t answer that; he wanted to know the same thing about Beth.
They watched in relief as bot
h of them were dragged from the water, then in horror as the boat turned around to go back for the person responsible for at least four deaths that they knew about, plus an attempted murder. The boat shone its spotlight onto the water as it circled around and around, to no avail. There was no sign of the man who had gone in head first.
After a few laps, Cal finally turned the boat around and headed to where Josh and Sam were waiting next to the landing dock along with two ambulances that Paton had requested. They rushed to the boat, and Josh held Sam back to let the paramedics get to Grace first. She was shivering, her lips were blue and her eyes were barely open – but she was alive. Once a paramedic had slipped an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, Sam rushed towards her, hugging her daughter tight. Josh stepped back, giving them a moment. There were so many questions to ask, but they could wait until later.
Beth was brought off the boat next; she was barely conscious. Josh looked in horror at the paramedic who was dealing with her.
‘She’s okay, mildly hypothermic; it makes you sleepy. She’ll be right as rain once we get her body temperature back up.’
As if on cue, Beth fluttered open one eye and looked at Josh. She tried to smile but faltered. He kissed the top of her head.
‘You’re so much trouble, Beth Adams, but I love you.’
This time she did manage to smile just in time for Josh to see it before she was whisked into the ambulance.
Josh turned to Sam. ‘Go with Grace, we don’t need you here.’
‘What about you?’
‘Beth will be fine. I’ll come as soon as I can. You can keep me updated on the pair of them.’
Sam blinked and he knew she was trying to keep back the tears, then she climbed into the ambulance that Grace had been put into. The doors were slammed shut and it sped off, closely followed by the second one containing Beth.