Текст книги "Jessica Daniel: Think of the Children / Playing with Fire / Thicker Than Water"

Автор книги: Kerry Wilkinson

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Текущая страница: 23 (всего у книги 56 страниц)

5

Blending in was something Andrew Hunter had always felt able to do. Some people turned heads when they walked into a room, their natural charisma drawing people towards them. Others would attract attention for negative reasons, exuding a lack of confidence as strongly as somebody else might exert natural magnetism. Andrew knew he fell almost exactly in the middle of those two extremes. He first realised it at school when he was eleven. His form tutor, who had been his teacher for eighteen months, couldn’t remember his name one morning. She had asked a question and, when Andrew had raised his arm, the teacher pointed at him. She stuttered and, as her face turned to confusion, the woman reached across her desk and checked the register book. Eventually she looked up and said, ‘Yes, Andrew’. Some students didn’t understand what had happened but Andrew did. She had simply forgotten who he was.

Keira was the first person who saw him in a different way. For whatever reason, she saw something in him most others didn’t.

Andrew was thinking of his ex-wife as he leant back into the chair and tried to avoid touching the armrest, which he had discovered rather disgustedly had a distinctly sticky coating. He glanced sideways towards where Sienna Todd was staring at her mobile phone and chatting to her friend, seemingly oblivious to the film playing on the cinema screen in front of them.

If Andrew had any interest in the movie, he might have been annoyed by the distraction but he was more interested in keeping an eye on Sienna. He had followed her unnoticed from the college she attended to her friend’s house, then to the more-or-less empty cinema for an early-evening screening. The first thing that struck him about the young woman was how striking she was – although how much of it was natural he didn’t know. She had long bright blonde hair and a glow to her skin that most likely came from either a sunbed or a bottle. Despite that, she possessed that invisible attraction that didn’t just come from her looks. If anything, her friend was the more physically eye-catching of the two with her tighter clothing and loosely tied black hair – but Andrew would have felt more drawn to Sienna even if he wasn’t being paid to find out who the father of her aborted baby was. Despite being just eighteen, there was something about her that seemed older. He figured it could come from the growing up she had to do after discovering her pregnancy and the subsequent termination. Either way, there was something alluring about her that went far beyond her looks.

Sienna started giggling as she held the phone up for her friend to see. Even through the darkness, Andrew could tell there was something about the laugh that was forced. Someone towards the back shushed loudly but the young women didn’t seem to notice as Sienna dropped it into the large bag she had been carrying all afternoon.

Andrew glanced towards the screen where something apparently funny was happening. A man towards the rear of the cinema, possibly the person who had made the shush noise, was laughing hysterically to himself as the character on screen said something that Andrew didn’t think could have amused anyone.

The investigator was across the aisle, five rows behind the two women. He switched his eyeline back towards the pair, who were leaning in close whispering to each other. Because of the way the screen flickered, it was hard to tell exactly what was happening but what seemed like light-hearted chatter moments before now appeared to be becoming a little heated. Their whispers grew in volume until Sienna uttered a perfectly clear and taut, ‘Right, well, fuck off then’, only to be shushed by the person at the back again.

Sienna stood and, for a moment, Andrew thought she was going to storm down the aisle out of the room. That would leave him in an awkward position considering how tough it would be to follow her without being obvious. As he held his breath, Andrew watched the young woman straighten her loose-fitting tracksuit bottoms, and then sit down again. He realised that not only had she been talking into the phone rather than to her friend, but also that he had been oblivious to her taking it back out of her bag in the first place.

Focusing back on the women instead of the film, or the laughing buffoon at the back, Andrew watched them lean in and begin whispering – this time definitely to each other. The friend put an arm around Sienna’s shoulders and pulled her closer, seemingly consoling her about whatever had been said on the phone.

Apart from Andrew wondering if the man at the back might have some sort of medical condition that made him laugh at incredibly unfunny situations, the final hour of the film passed without incident. As soon as the credits began to scroll and the lights came up, Andrew heard shuffling at the back and turned to see a massively overweight man in a blue uniform bounding down the aisle with a dustpan and brush. The middle-aged laughing man from the back was brushing a mass of uneaten popcorn from his jumper and trousers. In a snap judgement Andrew decided he probably worked in insurance and had a wife and two kids. He didn’t know why those things seemed true – or why that might equate to the type of enjoyment he had apparently taken from a bad movie. Either way, Andrew followed him out before stopping to one side and untying his laces.

As he crouched on the floor slowly retying them, Andrew watched Sienna and her friend walk past, both talking on their respective mobile phones. He waited until they had reached the corner that led back to the foyer and then stood, walking briskly in the direction they had gone in. Sienna’s powder-blue tracksuit was hard to miss and her friend’s skirt was so short, the two of them were attracting looks from both males and females as Andrew followed around thirty metres behind them. They walked through the heavy front doors, before stopping to talk to each other. Andrew had little choice than to carry on past them but he took his phone out of his pocket and held it to his ear, speaking to a non-existent person as he passed.

As well as his interest and degree in criminology, Andrew felt it was his ability to blend into his surroundings that made him a good private investigator when he was doing something that motivated him. He wasn’t bothered who the father of Sienna’s aborted child was – but he was engrossed enough in her father’s story to take the man’s money and trail his daughter.

A handful of people passed Andrew as he leant against a thick brick pillar. He continued to talk into his phone, half-watching the two young women chat with each other. Eventually, Sienna spun around and started walking along the pathway that ran around the giant car park. The complex comprised the cinema, a couple of restaurants, half-a-dozen large electrical outlets and a few fast-food chains. In the far corner, Andrew could see a small blue hatchback racing along before handbrake-turning to the delight of the handful of young people standing around watching. Other than that, the area was surprisingly quiet, with a smattering of vehicles manoeuvring around the car park and even fewer people meandering along the walkways.

Andrew pocketed his phone and walked towards his car, entering the driver’s side without taking his eyes from the two females who were now around a hundred metres away. From the direction they were heading in, the pair seemed to be returning to the bus stop on the main road. He started the engine and began to crawl towards the exit when the women moved off the pathway and started crossing the car park towards a burger place. Andrew eased his car forward, before edging into the separate parking area that served the restaurant. He watched Sienna and her friend enter the restaurant, still chatting to each other, and then reversed his vehicle into a space that ensured he could see most of the inside of the building.

Sitting up straighter to get a better view, Andrew watched the women sit at a table without approaching the counter. The investigator was wondering what they might be up to when he heard a screeching noise. He turned to see a small blue car racing into the car park, its wheels squealing from the harshness of the turn. For a moment, Andrew didn’t think it would stop before cannoning into a bollard, but the vehicle skidded to a halt mere centimetres before colliding with it. All four doors opened in unison and Andrew could hear thumping music blaring before it stopped abruptly. Three young men and a female stepped out of the car. Andrew could see they were all in their late teens or early twenties, the woman wearing a pink tracksuit very similar to Sienna’s in style. One of the men pulled up his jeans so they were covering the lower third of his backside, allowing his white boxer shorts to hang over the top, as another focused on straightening a baseball cap.

It was faced with groups like this that Andrew felt his age. Being in his mid-thirties he wasn’t that old but the types of young people he saw around were so alien to those of his own youth that he couldn’t comprehend how much things had changed in what felt like a relatively short period of time.

The group of four slouched their way towards the restaurant, bumping through the door at the front, before Andrew watched Sienna and the other girl stand up. Sienna kissed the female on the cheek and then hugged each of the three men individually. Andrew watched the final one squeeze her bottom, for which he received a playful slap.

Sitting up further, Andrew reached into the footwell of the seat behind and picked up his camera. He had never had much of an interest in photography but it was a necessary part of his job. As such, and with money not being a big issue, he had bought the third most expensive one from the biggest camera shop in the Arndale Centre. He figured the one that cost the most was probably overpriced, with the next one down inferior to the first. He guessed the third one would probably have most of the same functions as the first but likely be better than the second, albeit with a lesser-known brand name. It wasn’t the most scientific of theories but, either way, he was happy with what he ended up with.

The six young people approached the serving counter and Andrew snapped multiple photographs as they turned with their food to walk back to the table. He focused especially on the males, wondering if any of them – particularly the bottom-squeezer – was the person he was being paid to find. In the fifteen minutes it took them to finish eating, the sun had dipped towards the tops of the trees on the far side of the car park.

One of the males whispered something in Sienna’s ear, making her laugh, while the third fed her chips as she sucked his fingers seductively just a few moments later. Andrew took photos of it all, barely managing to capture everything before the light faded too much.

By the time he had finished, all three of the young men had enjoyed some sort of potentially erotic interaction with Sienna. Andrew wondered how Harley would take it if he could see the way his daughter acted around the young men.

It had been hard to judge in the cinema when she was with only her friend but the investigator could see she exuded sexuality, despite her age. There was an absolute confidence about the way she treated the males and, despite her unflattering attire, all three of them were clearly entranced by her at the expense of the other girls. Andrew didn’t need to see her around other men to know she would have this effect on pretty much anyone, especially the young, inexperienced ones. He watched the way she smiled at them and the way she flicked her blonde hair to one side each time she was halfway through a conversation. Everything about her movement appeared so natural and yet, at the same time, there was something that didn’t feel quite right.

Apart from the flirtatious hair flicks, Sienna touched her face a lot, almost as a way of self-reassurance. It was very subtle but Andrew also noticed that she barely ate anything. Aside from the chips she had been fed, most of her food was played with and then discarded back into the brown paper bag it had come from, in such a way that you wouldn’t know she was doing it unless you were watching her closely.

The six young people left the fast-food restaurant together, and Andrew watched a weary-looking cleaner shake his head at the mess left on their table. At first, he thought they were heading for the car but the group continued past it, walking in the direction of the cinema. Unsure of the best way to follow them with the light fading quickly, Andrew started the ignition and drove on slowly to the main part of the car park with his headlights switched off. He weaved in and out of the parked vehicles, keeping his revs low and watching the young adults skirt around the outside of the area. Andrew pulled into a space and left the engine idling. He used the viewfinder of the camera to zoom in on the group and could see Sienna holding hands with one of the men. The light wasn’t clear enough to be sure but Andrew thought it was the bottom-squeezer.

From where he was sitting, Andrew had a view of the entire complex. More people had appeared since he had left the cinema and couples were steadily streaming into nearby restaurants.

For a few moments Andrew lost sight of the six people as they disappeared behind a thick pillar that was similar to the one he had leant on outside the cinema. As two of the girls at the front emerged on the other side, the investigator felt a moment of panic as Sienna didn’t appear. He shunted over to the passenger seat to see if he could get a better view but there was still no sign of her. Andrew reached across and turned off the engine, stepping out of the car and walking in an arc across the car park in an effort to see her again.

Two of the other men were following the women closely but none of them were looking backwards. As he moved quickly, Andrew heard a car’s wheels squeal and then the sound of a horn. Bright lights illuminated him in the rapidly increasing darkness as he realised he had walked straight across the road in front of a car. Before drawing any more attention to himself, Andrew stepped out of the vehicle’s way and slid between two parked cars. From where he was, he should have been able to see fully behind the post but it was too dark. The other four people from the group were now close to the front of the cinema, at least fifty metres away from where Sienna had dropped out of his view.

Andrew walked as quickly as he thought he could get away with without attracting further attention. He dashed between two more parked cars before reaching the walkway and striding past Sienna’s friends in the opposite direction. At first he couldn’t work out where Sienna might have gone as there didn’t appear to be a gap between the buildings. As he neared the corner, Andrew saw what had happened. One of the young men had Sienna pinned up against the wall. One of his hands was inside her tracksuit top and she had a hand hooked around the back of his neck pulling him into her. For a moment, Andrew thought about taking a photograph but he realised there wasn’t enough light unless he used a flash. He took a few steps closer to establish the male involved was the bottom-squeezer and then turned and walked back to his car, taking extra care not to stride in front of any other vehicles.

Back in the driver’s seat, Andrew picked up his camera and skimmed through the images he had taken, half-watching the pillar to make sure no one emerged from behind it. He eyed the photographs of the male, wondering if he should take them to Harley. They offered no proof of who had got his daughter pregnant – but they showed that Sienna was in a relationship of sorts with someone.

He was beginning to wonder how much longer the couple could get away with such a public display of affection when he saw Sienna emerge from one side of the post walking back towards the fast-food restaurant. She was on her own, moving quickly and smoothing her top down. The man was walking in the opposite direction, towards where their friends had headed. Andrew’s fingers hovered over the key in the ignition, unsure of where Sienna was going. She strode past her friend’s car in the direction of the bus stop but then cut diagonally across the car park towards a large electrical store.

He took the keys out of the ignition and stepped quickly out of the car. Because of the speed and direction in which Sienna was moving, she had moved out of his line of vision. He jogged towards where she had headed, looking from side to side to see where she could have gone. She had been out of his eyesight for less than thirty seconds and there wasn’t enough of a crowd for her to have disappeared into. Andrew reached the front of the store, thinking her pale blue outfit was distinctive enough that he couldn’t miss her, even with the fading light.

With no obvious idea of where she could have gone, Andrew entered the store. Three washing machines were stacked in a pyramid directly in front of him and a female shop assistant with a smile that may as well have been painted on lurched towards him asking if she could help. Andrew ignored her, striding past the tills before attempting to peer over the top of the display cases to see if Sienna was anywhere obvious. He walked as quickly as he thought he could manage without drawing unwanted attention, bounding along the width of the store, checking the aisles for any sign of the woman. After retracing his steps, it became clear she wasn’t in the shop.

Andrew exited and continued walking in a straight line off the pavement onto the car park. He stopped and turned, trying to see what he had missed. If Sienna hadn’t entered the store, he couldn’t see where else she might have gone. Even if she had sprinted, she wouldn’t have reached another shop before he saw her and there was nowhere else for her to have gone unless she had got into a car.

The area of the complex he was standing in was relatively empty, with fewer than two dozen parked cars. Andrew was confused, wondering if Sienna somehow knew he was watching her, when he noticed a narrow gap between the store he had just exited and the one adjacent to it. Because of the angle he had approached the shop from, a pillar with the same brickwork as the store had obscured his view.

Annoyed with himself for missing it, Andrew walked purposefully towards the alley, not knowing exactly what he was planning to do. He had no idea where it came out or, if Sienna had headed through the gap between the buildings, how he could explain his appearance if she was waiting at the end.

Without a plan, Andrew broke into a run. The alley was only a metre wide with gravel underfoot. He crunched his way to the end, where it opened out into a concreted yard. Ahead, Andrew could see tall metal gates where he guessed delivery lorries would enter. He squinted towards the corners of the yard, trying to look for any sign of Sienna but the light had faded to such a degree that he could barely see the shape of anything except the gates. One spotlight hooked high on the store illuminated the middle part of the area – but there was nothing there, except an upturned plastic crate.

Andrew stood still, frustrated with his own carelessness. He didn’t have a brief to follow Sienna wherever she went but something about the way she had left her friends and moved away from the path didn’t seem right.

He walked along the length of the gates and then followed the wall they intersected with. The corners were dark and disorientating and Andrew took out his mobile phone, using the screen as a light. He had no idea what he might be looking for but continued to trace his way around the yard.

As he neared the corner closest to the alley’s entrance, Andrew could see a pile of wooden pallets. He flashed the light across them before realising they were arranged in a U-shape, meaning there would be a gap in the middle. The investigator walked steadily around the objects, being careful not to trip over any of the scattered pieces of wood.

As his foot squelched and skidded slightly, Andrew felt his heart jump. He shone the light of his phone towards his feet where deep, dark liquid was pooled around his black leather shoes. Time seemed to slow as Andrew lifted his phone upwards, following the trail of liquid to Sienna, who was sitting on the floor, bent over and slumped against one of the pallets. The hems of her tracksuit bottoms were stained with the same liquid as his shoe and, as Andrew scanned the light across her, he could see the slash marks diagonally across her wrists and a pair of scissors splayed on the floor.