“What am I going to do now?” asked Anna. “I needed thatjob.”
“Don’t worry,” replied Kay. “You can’t do anything now untilafter Christmas. Just try and enjoy the night.”
What else could she say?
Anna’s friend, Lauren, had come over to the bar now. She hadbeen far enough away by the pool table not to hear what was going on. That wasprobably just as well, thought Kay. She had seen how feisty Lauren could get,and if she had been drawn into the argument as well, all hell could have brokenloose.
“What’s taking so long with these drinks?” asked Lauren,swaying about, clearly drunk.
“Just coming now,” said Anna, putting a brave face onthings. “Here, give me a hand.” She passed a couple of bottles of lager toLauren, and picked up a tray containing the rest of the drinks. Just before sheleft, she turned back to Kay.
“Thank you for sticking up for me, Kay,” she said.
“I thought it was the other way round,” replied Kay.
“We stuck for each other. You are a good friend, I think,”replied Anna, smiling. She took the tray and made her way carefully through thecrowded bar towards the pool table.
That smile well and truly broke Kay’s heart. She knew theywere probably the last words Anna would ever speak to her.
With Anna safely out of earshot, Kent said, “Was that reallya good idea? You’re not meant to be getting involved with her. What happenedback there could have changed things irretrievably. What if she decides to gohome early because of it?”
“I didn’t have a lot of choice,” replied Kay. “She spottedme when she came to the bar: I could hardly blank her. Why were you so long inthe toilet, anyway? If you’d not left me for so long, a lot of that could havebeen avoided.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” replied Kent. “I was on thetoilet. Deb’s sister came round with some of her home-made mince pies earlier.I don’t know what she puts in them. They taste gorgeous, but they always gostraight through me.”
“Too much information,” stated Kay. She found the idea oftaking a dump in a pub toilet repulsive and certainly didn’t want to hear aboutit.
“Sorry,” said Kent. “Let’s have one more drink, and then youhad better be thinking about getting yourself in position.”
The disco seemed to be getting louder and was now beltingout a selection of Christmas classics. When “I Wish It Could Be ChristmasEveryday” came on, Kay reflected that, just recently, it really had been forher.
They lost sight of Anna for a while as she headed over tothe dance floor with Lauren and their group of friends. The pub was full ofyoung people tonight. Kay was relieved to see that Maddie was not among them.
A potential complication she had feared was that herdaughter might turn up here tonight. Such a meeting could have been adistraction, not to mention awkward. In this timeline there had been noreconciliation between them. But thankfully Maddie was not here. It was highlylikely that she was in The Wheatsheaf, a goths’ and rockers’ pub up the otherend of town which was more her scene.
McVie’s continued presence was also a worry, but they didn’thave any more trouble with him. They could see his flabby frame leaning againsta wooden beam at the edge of the dance floor, downing pints of lager with aface like thunder. He didn’t seem to be speaking to anyone very much, but thatdidn’t surprise Kay. The way he went on, she didn’t expect that he had manyfriends.
At half past eleven she took her leave of Kent to head tothe woods, heeding his many warnings to take care. Meanwhile he took up a newposition further along the bar where he could better observe the dance floorarea.
It was very cold outside again and getting foggy, but Kaywas prepared, having bought herself a nice, thick Christmas jumper during theafternoon. It wasn’t as cold in the woods, where the trees offered a degree ofprotection from the freezing wind. For the next half an hour she kept in touchwith Kent via text, as he provided her with regular updates.
Just after midnight, he texted to say that Anna’s friend,Lauren, had gone. Apparently she had left with some bloke, her tonguepractically halfway down his throat. That might explain why Anna had ended upgoing home alone.
A few minutes later her phone vibrated to let her know shehad a call. Concealed behind a tree, she had put her phone on silent, just incase the killer was already around. The last thing she wanted was her mobileringing out, alerting anyone to her presence.
“She’s just left and she’s walking up the High Street,” Kentinformed her. “She should be with you in about ten minutes.”
“OK, well, I had better ring off now,” said Kay, as quietlyas she could. “I can’t risk being detected.”
“I’m going to give it another five minutes and then startheading slowly your way,” replied Kent. “Ring me and let me know when it’s allover and I’ll come straight to you. I think you’re being incredibly brave, bythe way. Good luck.”
“Thank you,” said Kay, and hung up. She didn’t feelincredibly brave. She felt terrified. This was a terrifying situation to be in,alone in the freezing cold woods, about to be witness to a grisly murder. Itwas dark, too, there being no lighting on the woody path.
Right on schedule, ten minutes later, she peered around thetree and just about picked out the solitary figure of Anna walking towards herout of the thickening fog. She checked her watch. It was 12.32am. She made anote of the time: it might come in useful later.
Kay shrank back undercover and listened, as the girlapproached. Then she heard a male voice call out.
“Anna,” he called.
It was a voice Kay recognised immediately and a dreadfulrealisation dawned. Of course, it all made sense now.
“What do you want?” replied Anna. “Leave me alone.”
“I wanted to apologise for earlier,” came the reply. “Ididn’t mean what I said. You can have your job back. I’ll even give you theminimum wage, if that helps.”
Kay could not resist another quick peek around the tree,even though the two of them
