Текст книги "The Lake House"

Автор книги: Helen Phifer

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 20 страниц)

‘You know I’m worried about you, Officer Annie. You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.’ He peered over her shoulder and waved at Jake, who waved back.

‘Come to the front. You don’t have to wait in this line. You know that.’

‘I don’t like to be cheeky.’

‘Nonsense, it’s my privilege to serve the brave officers of the constabulary.’

He walked her to the front of the queue.

‘Meg, two large lattes and two slices of lemon sponge to go, please.’

The girl smiled at them and turned away. Annie looked at her but she didn’t look anything like the girl in the picture. This one was far thinner with dark brown hair. She wouldn’t be working in one of the busiest shops in Bowness either. Annie scolded herself for being stupid. The girl handed her a bag with the cakes in it, her hand brushing Annie’s.

‘Sorry.’

Annie laughed. ‘No, sorry, it’s me. I promise I wasn’t trying to hold your hand.’

The girl smiled back, put the lids on the coffees and passed them over as well. Gustav began to chatter to Annie once more and she nodded her head, thanking both him and the girl who was now busy serving the next customer.

‘My offer still stands. You would make a fine barista, Officer Annie.’

‘I’ll think about it. Thank you so much.’ She winked at him and turned to leave, grabbing a couple of sachets of sugar and a wooden stirrer before walking back out into the cold. Jake leant over, opening the passenger door for her.

‘Bloody hell, those coffees better be good. How long does it take?’

‘You’re so ungrateful at times, Jake.’

‘I’m starving. Did you get any decent cake?’

‘Yes, but not for you – he only gave me one slice.’

Jake looked at her in disbelief and she thought he might actually start to cry. His bottom lip had stuck out like a small child’s.

‘I’m only kidding. You can have them both if you’re that upset. Jesus, it’s like working with a four-year-old.’

***

Jake drove away from the café but not before Megan had managed to get a good look at him. She nodded her head in approval. Lucky Annie. She wouldn’t mind working with him. He was gorgeous. That made her dislike the woman even more. Not only did she have a good job, rich husband and a nice car, she also got to work with a hottie like that copper. She couldn’t wait to tell Henry she’d actually touched her. He would totally freak but she didn’t care. She knew it would drive him mad. She had no doubt that when he was fucking her he was thinking about Annie Graham – only he’d never admit that and she knew full well that he wasn’t a rapist. He might be a sick, cold-blooded, murdering bastard but he wouldn’t do that.

She looked at her watch. She only had a couple of hours to go before the end of her shift, and judging by the queue it would be home time before she knew it. There had been a flurry of activity in the village. She had never seen so many yellow jackets walking up and down the main street. Normally it was only a passing police van a couple of times a day. Two officers had been in earlier handing out flyers and speaking to the staff, asking if they had seen anything suspicious. Of course none of them had because she knew Henry was meticulous. In fact he was so slow at everything he did, sometimes she wanted to tell him to get on with it, but she was grateful to him because if it had been up to her they would probably have been caught by now. Another PCSO came through the door and Megan smiled at her. ‘Sorry, we’ve already been spoken to.’

The woman rolled her eyes. ‘Cheers, I think we’re going around in circles now to tell you the truth. Thanks.’ She left and once again Megan wondered how come none of them had realised who she was. Of course it was so blatantly obvious, they would never expect it. They would be expecting her to be hiding away somewhere with Henry. Well, it was a shame they were so stupid that they couldn’t see what was right in front of their faces, because it was all going to come back and bite them on the arse big time. She went back behind the counter and began smiling and serving the customers once more, excited to go home and see Henry.

Henry was lying on his bed thinking about Annie. She looked different from the last time he had seen her and he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. She looked a little slimmer and a little older but then again didn’t they all. He thought that she looked… He was fumbling for the right word to describe her. It was very important. And then it came to him. Annie Graham looked haunted. Yes, that was exactly how she looked. He wondered if it was because of him. Of course it’s your fault, you idiot, he scolded himself.

Another time and place, things might have worked out differently. If he hadn’t started killing maybe he could have met her in a different way – even asked her out for a drink. A voice in his head began to laugh. If you hadn’t started killing you wouldn’t have even known she existed. Everything happens for a reason, Henry, remember that. And your reason is to hold her in your arms, stroke her hair and whisper words of comfort to her as she takes her last breath. A shudder ran down his back so hard he made the bed shake. He forced himself to get up and do something, anything, to take his mind off her before he couldn’t think about anything else, and the desire to kill her became too strong for him to control.

He wondered how Megan was getting on. She had texted him in her break to tell him the village was crawling with police and to keep away. She would let him know if it was safe to come and pick her up. He went into the living room and turned the small digital radio on then switched it straight off. It wasn’t even the end of November and they were playing Christmas songs.

Movement by the hedge caught his eye as something ran past the hole. He turned to look and see what it was but it had gone. Henry got the feeling that someone had been watching him. He pressed his face against the glass and looked around. There was no one walking around in the garden of the big house from what he could see. He looked up and saw the old woman who lived there looking out of her bedroom window, but she wasn’t looking down at him; she was looking towards the lake. He stepped back, not wanting her to know he was watching her.

Whatever it was had moved so fast it had looked like a black blur. It might have been a deer. He had been driving home the other night and one had jumped across the stone wall on one side of the road, taken two jumps and was across the road and over the hedge on the other side. He had scared himself. It had been huge and if he’d hit it he didn’t know who would have come off worse. He wouldn’t have liked to put a bet on it, that was for sure. They were so fast and big.

He sat down on the sofa where he could still see the woman looking out of the window but she wouldn’t be able to see him, and he wondered who she was watching for out on that lake. Maybe her husband had gone out on it and never come back, because day after day she seemed to spend her time staring at it. He wasn’t sure if he should make an effort to try and befriend her. She was always on her own except for when the younger woman went in to clean, or whatever it was she did. If she had no family it might be nice for her to have some company. It would be nice for him as long as she didn’t act like his mother.

He doubted she read the newspapers or watched much television so she wouldn’t have a clue who he was, and she probably had a big cellar. He liked cellars. They were much better for doing what he had to do in than some draughty old barn or ramshackle boathouse. In fact that was a brilliant idea. It would be much better to take Annie there on his own. Megan wouldn’t know about it, which solved the problem of him having to share Annie. He began to pull his shoes on. He had no idea what he was going to say to her but what the hell. She might not even open the door to him. Pulling his baseball cap on he stepped out of the caravan and slipped around the back, through the hole in the hedge, and strode across the lawn to the front door. He pressed the bell and waited a minute before knocking on the door. It took a while but then he heard the sound of the hall door being opened and her frail figure came into sight through the glass.

‘Who is it?’

‘Hello, sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you had a telephone I could use to ring my wife. I need to tell her I’ll be late to pick her up because I’m charging the car battery.’

The figure on the other side of the glass came closer and the door opened an inch, the brass safety chain not letting it open any further.

‘We’re stopping in that caravan park next door and my phone isn’t working. These mobiles are great when you can get them to work but a nightmare when you can’t.’

Martha Beckett ran every scenario through her brain. She knew she shouldn’t open the door because he was a stranger, but then she’d already broken that rule once this week by letting that Irish man push his way into her home. And look what had happened there. This man sounded much more polite and a lot older than the Irish one, so she slid back the locks from the front door. She had spent her entire life on her own, being careful. Maybe it was time to throw caution to the wind and start being more adventurous.

The sound of the chain being slid along and taken off was like music to his ears.

‘I wouldn’t have one of those things if you gave it to me.’

The door opened and she smiled at him. He grinned back.

‘No, me neither, but I have to have it for work. We’re up here on holiday and she’s gone shopping. I hate it – the shopping, I mean, not the area, because that’s beautiful – but I’ve left her to it and she’ll go mad if I leave her stranded.’

‘Come in. I’m afraid I only have a good old-fashioned house phone but you can use it to phone her. British Telecom will think I’ve broken the habit of a lifetime by using it.’ She winked at him and Henry laughed. He liked her. She wasn’t at all what he’d been expecting. She was old and frail but she had a sparkle in her pale blue eyes and a sense of humour. Nothing at all like his mother, which was a good thing for the both of them.

‘I can’t tell you how much this means. I’ll pay you for the call, of course.’

‘You’ll do no such thing. I’ve paid them every bill on time my whole life and I rarely use the thing.’

‘Thank you so much. I’m Henry by the way.’

‘You’re welcome. And I’m Miss Beckett, but you can call me Martha.’

She led him down the corridor to the sideboard with the phone and pointed to it.

‘I’ll be in the kitchen just down the hall.’

Henry smiled and picked up the phone, dialling his own mobile number to leave a voicemail. He couldn’t phone Megan because for now he didn’t want her to know what he was planning. After a minute he walked along the dark corridor, stopping to look at a heavy oak door which was covered in padlocks and bolts. He continued along to the bright, modern kitchen where the kettle was boiling.

‘Thank you so much for that. I’ll see myself out.’

‘No, you won’t. I hope she isn’t too mad at you. Would you like a drink before you go?’

‘Only if it’s no trouble. That would be lovely. I’m stuck until the car battery is charged anyway. You have a beautiful home, Martha. I can’t imagine how nice it must be to wake up to the view of the lake every day. Tell me, does a house this size have a cellar? I imagine it would have a pretty big one.’

Chapter Nineteen

They were on caravan park number two. Annie had eaten all her cake and managed to get crumbs everywhere. Jake looked across at her. ‘How did you miss your mouth? I mean, what a waste of cake.’

She couldn’t answer him because she was too busy sucking buttercream off her fingers, so she stuck one up at him.

‘Charming.’

‘Not all of us have a mouth that can fit in almost a whole piece of sponge cake in two bites.’

‘No, it’s a gift. Have you put your Christmas decorations up yet?’

‘No, it’s not December. Oh my God, I bet you’re going to, aren’t you? What are you like?’

‘You know I love it. I can’t get enough tinsel or glitter to keep me satisfied.’

Annie giggled, which was one of Jake’s favourite sounds. He grinned.

‘Don’t let Alex hear you say that. It’s very unmanly.’

‘I don’t care. He knows exactly how manly I am. Anyway we have a good excuse this year. I want Alice’s first Christmas with us to be magical, even if she won’t remember. I’m going to photograph everything and put it in an album for when she’s a stroppy teenager and hates us both.’

‘Aw, Jake, you are such a sweetie. She is one lucky kid and if she does turn into the teenager from hell I’ll remind her how lucky she is to have you both. I wish you could have adopted me.’

‘Thanks, Annie, I’ll hold you to that. Anyway, what do you mean? I feel as if you are my kid, I spend so much time looking after you.’

She reached over and poked him. ‘You love it, though, don’t you? I mean, how boring would your life be without me in it?’

Neither of them spoke. Annie was wondering if she would live past Christmas with Henry Smith lurking in the shadows.

Jake knew what she was thinking, and he was thinking about just how much pain he was going to cause the sick bastard for making his best friend have to worry about her own mortality. Annie couldn’t sense anything when it came to herself. She knew she was in trouble but had no idea how much. She was relying on them catching Henry before he could catch her. It was like a grown-up game of Mousetrap with Annie as the bait.

Jake indicated to turn off at the next site. A small silver van drove past them. The driver didn’t even give them the time of day. Annie assumed it must be the camp maintenance guy; Jake didn’t look because the road was so narrow it was a work of art getting the car around it without scraping one side. They drove down to the site office. After getting out of the car they took the clipboard and knocked on the door.

‘Come in.’

As they walked in the face behind the desk dropped, the smile gone in an instant.

‘Now then, Michael, how are things?’

Annie bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. Michael Houseman didn’t like the police, especially not Jake, who had arrested him three weeks ago for being drunk and wanting to fight everyone in the chip shop one Sunday night.

‘What do you want?’

Jake shook his head. ‘Is that a nice way to greet an old friend?’

Annie stepped forward, passing pictures of Megan and Henry to him.

‘We need to trace these two as soon as possible. Do you know if they are stopping here?’

He gave them a cursory glance then threw them on the desk. ‘Nope, never seen them before in my life.’

‘Are you sure? The man’s very distinctive. He has burns all down one side of his face.’

‘Definitely not. Now do me a favour and piss off out of my office.’

Jake stepped closer, pushing the pictures back towards him. ‘If you see either of these two it’s really important you let us know.’

Annie turned to leave and Jake followed her, slamming the door behind him.

‘Bollocks. He wouldn’t tell us even if they owed him three months’ rent.’

Jake nodded. ‘I think you’re right, my friend. We’ll have to check this one out ourselves. Get some plain-clothes officers to do a search.’

Annie wrote it down on her list. They got back in the car and he began reversing. Annie spotted the roof of Beckett House over the hedge.

‘Can we nip next door and see how Miss Beckett is? She was really upset the other day about that guy who was last seen at her house. I just want to check she’s okay.’

‘Fine by me.’

He drove back along the winding road to get out of the exit then took a sharp left into her drive. He parked in front of the house. Annie got out. ‘I’ll only be five minutes. Are you coming in?’

‘No, it’s okay. I’ll wait here. I want to phone Alex.’

She ran to the front door and rang the bell. The woman came to the door. Opening it wide, she smiled at Annie.

‘Hello, dear, have you come to tell me some good news about my missing man?’

‘I’m afraid not. I just wanted to see if you were okay.’

‘Oh that’s a shame, but it’s very kind of you. Do you want to come in? There’s something I would like to talk to you about.’

Annie turned and waved to Jake, mouthing the word ‘sorry’ to him. He gave her the thumbs up and she followed Martha into the house, where less than thirty minutes ago Henry Smith had been. Annie followed her down to the kitchen, shivering as she passed the cellar door. Martha, who was as bright as a button, watched her reaction. As they went into the kitchen she shut the door.

‘That cellar scares you as much as it scares me.’

‘You saw that?’

‘I did. What am I going to do, officer? I’m getting older. I can’t be the gatekeeper for ever. If I die and a young couple with children were to buy the house, what would happen then? I can’t sleep at night worrying about whatever it is that lurks down there, stealing children and grown men who are then never seen again. Whoever said that monsters aren’t real didn’t know about this house.’

‘Have you ever seen it? Do you know what it looks like?’ Annie was thinking about the scary face she had seen in the mirror last time she was here.

‘No, I haven’t, but I remember Davey our gardener was terrified of the drainage hole in the cellar. He saw something the night he went looking for Joe. I overheard him telling Mary, our cook, that it was like a man, but it wasn’t, and it had a grey face, with the reddest of eyes and huge sharp claws. I ran from the kitchen and up to my bedroom, terrified of this monster man that lived in our house and ate children.

‘I never left my bedroom for a whole month and my parents were so grief-stricken at not being able to find Joe they didn’t even notice. For a whole month they were out searching the grounds and the lake. So many people – almost everyone who lived locally and owned a boat – joined in the search for Joe. My father was positive he had to carry on searching but my mother knew; she knew all along that Joe had been taken. She had gone down into the cellar that night on her own because she thought she heard him calling to her, and she saw it. She said she had never seen anything so frightful, and she had to run for her life up the stairs and slam the door shut.’

‘How did you find this out?’

‘She told me before she died. When she knew I was going to be left alone in this house she made me sit with her one afternoon while she talked me through everything that happened back then. Of course I knew most of it, but I never knew that she had seen it with her own eyes. After that my father made the cellar as secure as he could.

‘I’ve spent numerous years researching it. I would go to the libraries in the cities and I’ve read just about every book on folklore that has ever been published, but I’ve never come across a story like this one. A part of me wonders whether it’s time to stop hiding the truth and ask a team of investigators to come in and look for it, but I’m scared to involve anyone else. I can’t sleep as it is most nights, wondering about Joe and now this man Seamus. Tell me, did he have a wife, a family?’

Annie couldn’t lie to her and nodded. ‘Miss Beckett, I think if I were you I would want to get someone in to look for it and make my cellar safe. I can’t imagine how scared you must be living here on your own with that thing in your cellar. But where does it go? You said yourself the cellars have been searched many times over the years. It has to have a home somewhere.’

‘I don’t know. If I knew, that I would go there and kill it myself. My mother believed that it lived in the sewers. We sent poor Davey down there unarmed and then the next day the farmer who used to live across the road came with his guns and the police. He said he wasn’t afraid of any monster, no matter how big it was, and he went in that tunnel watched by my father, the police and Davey. The only thing he came across was a horrific stench, which the police assured my father wasn’t my brother because he hadn’t been missing long enough to smell that bad. My mother made my father promise to seal off the cellar and that no one should be allowed down there. He died four years later and to this day I’m convinced he never got over losing Joe. I think if it had been my mother who had passed first my father would have dug the entire house up looking for whatever it was, but he couldn’t because of us.’

Jake walked through the kitchen door and they both screamed, which made him jump.

‘Bloody hell! Sorry, but what are you talking about to scare yourselves that much? My heart almost stopped. You scared me.’

Martha laughed. ‘Sorry, that’s my fault. I was telling spooky tales.’

Annie laughed too. ‘Jake, you could have coughed or something.’

‘Did you know the front door wasn’t locked, Miss Beckett? You need to be really careful. There are so many thieves and con men around this time of year. They could sneak in and out before you even knew it, this house is so big.’

‘I’m sorry. I was distracted. I do normally keep it locked at all times.’

Annie stood up. ‘I’ll have a think and come back and see you. There must be something we can do, especially with all the technology there is now. We could send in some cameras or something. Leave it with me.’

Martha stood up and nodded her head. ‘Thank you, that would be a relief. Please call in any time you’re passing. The kettle is always on and I’m tired of being on my own so much.’

Jake took hold of Annie’s arm to lead her away. ‘Oh she will, don’t you worry. She likes nothing better than a hot drink and a chat. She’ll do anything to get out of work will this one.’

Annie frowned at him but followed him out. They heard the locks being turned as the house was made secure once more.

Neither of them spoke until they got into the car.

‘Bloody hell, I was worried sick. I was on the phone for ten minutes. By the time the conversation had finished I’d convinced myself that bastard was hiding in there and the pair of you were dead.’

‘Why would he be hiding in there? He won’t know Miss Beckett. You don’t get any better do you, Jake?’

‘How can I, working with you? I should be bald by now. Thank God I got my mum’s hair and I’m wearing my lucky socks.’

‘Eh? Oh never mind. Sorry, she’s lonely and scared about where that Seamus guy has disappeared to. Right, where next?’

‘Dinner time. I’m starving. Let’s go back and see what our top team have found out. For all we know they might have already caught the bastard while we’ve been out doing care in the community.’

Annie hoped to God they had, but Will would have been the first to phone her if that was the case. Still, a bit of wishful thinking couldn’t hurt. They went back to the station, neither of them speaking. Annie was wondering how she could find the monster that lived in Martha Beckett’s house and Jake was wondering how he could find the monster called Henry Smith. Annie wanted to tell him about Beckett House but she knew it would freak him out. He had enough to worry about with being her bodyguard once more. So did Will. In fact he was under even more pressure than the rest of them because the powers-that-be would want to blame someone for Henry Smith being let out to kill again, even though it wasn’t anything to do with Will. But she knew he would blame himself, and God forbid Henry did get hold of her. She shivered so violently Jake jumped.

‘Jesus, are you okay?’

‘Yes, sorry. Cold shiver. I think Henry Smith may have just walked over my grave.’

‘That’s not funny.’

‘I know it isn’t. I’m not joking.’

She turned to look out of the window so he couldn’t see the tears that were filling her eyes. Life was so unfair. She hadn’t asked for any of this and as far as she knew hadn’t done anything to cause his obsession with her. She felt like a complete girl and that wasn’t a good feeling for a woman who was more used to hearing herself described as being tough as old boots. She wanted Henry to die. Why did men like him never get hit by a bus when they were crossing the road?

Jake parked in front of the station, jumping out of the car before she could. He looked around, then opened her door. Climbing out, she felt as if she could sleep for a week, she was so tired. She followed him up the steps and in through the small side door that led into the station. It was busy in there. Annie had never seen it so full. The majority were PCSOs who had just about covered the whole town with their house-to-house inquiries. Annie smiled to see her old colleagues from Barrow and went straight to them for a catch-up.

Jake went to find Cathy. He heard a couple of the PCSOs whispering about Annie and glared at them. He wouldn’t have anyone talking about her in front of him. He nodded at them, glad to see they had turned the colour of beetroot. He liked to gossip as much as the next person but this was different. It involved him and, if he was man enough, he’d also admit how scared he was. He had far too much to lose. Annie and Will were his closest friends. His life was complete with little Alice, and Alex was his soul mate. He didn’t want to do anything that would put them in any danger, but he also couldn’t shut his eyes and pretend none of this was happening, because it was. He knocked on Cathy’s door and walked straight in.

‘Just come in then. Don’t wait until you’re invited, will you?’

‘What was that you said last night? If I fed you I wouldn’t have to call you ma’am or boss again – ever?’

‘Oh yes, totally forgot and, for the record, last night I wasn’t myself. Any news?’

‘Nope, that’s what I was coming to see you about. We’ve done two caravan parks up to now. The last one we did, the manager was a complete cock. Although that might have been because I arrested him a few weeks ago. He wasn’t remotely interested, and I don’t know, but I think we should send in some plain-clothes officers to have a look around. Apparently Smith is hiding out in a brown caravan next to a hedge with a hole in the middle.’

She cocked one eyebrow at him. ‘Really? How do you know this?’

‘Classified. Well, it sort of came from one of Annie’s friends.’

‘Which friend? How come they know that but can’t tell her which site it’s on?’

‘Because it was one of her special friends.’

‘What – one with learning difficulties?’

‘No, do I really need to spell it out for you?’

Cathy rubbed her head, confused. She was starting to get the headache from hell. She nodded.

‘You know she’s gifted, psychic, whatever you want to call it? Well, it was one of her friends from the other side.’

She shut her eyes while she digested what he had just told her. Today was going down the shit pan quicker than most.

‘A ghost?’

‘Well, if you put it like that, yes, I suppose it was.’

‘Did it occur to you to ask said ghost to get an actual address?’

‘Now you’re taking the piss, boss.’ He emphasised the boss.

‘Sorry, I’m just stressed and tired. I’m worried about you lot and I’m terrified that bastard will get one of us before we have a chance to arrest him.’

‘Whoever it was could only give us cryptic clues, but it’s a start and better than what we had. Anyway, we’re meeting at my house again. I don’t want Annie and Will staying in their house in the middle of nowhere – miles from the nearest police patrol or me – should they need any assistance. At least we live in the middle of a busy town and there’s more chance of a swift response. Alex is cooking a roast dinner. He said we all need to keep our strength up, so you and Kav are welcome, as long as you stop acting like a bear with a sore head.’

‘Thanks, that would be great. Georgia is stopping at her dad’s until this is over. That conversation was almost as draining as sticking your finger into an electrical socket. He’s a complete bastard and I wonder why she’s such a bitch at times – obviously gets it from him.’

Jake nodded in agreement; he didn’t like the man either because he was such a pompous, cheating, back-stabbing prick. ‘Right, sorted then. Is there any update?’

She shook her head.