‘Just drop me here, Di. It’s fine. It’ll save you from meeting any late-night tractors coming the other way.’
Diane looked supremely grateful to be heading back toward the main road and proper street lights at last. They’d said their goodbyes and she’d got out of the car not giving it a second thought.
It wasn’t like it was far: a few minutes, that’s all. There was a cut-through between the cottages that brought her practically opposite her front door. It was lit at both ends and she’d walked through there a hundred times; just five strides of darkness right in the middle, that was all, and then—
That was exactly where he’d been standing.
She instantly knew it had to be him. Her eyes locked and her feet automatically slowed. He didn’t move. There he was: a black silhouette, caught in the moonlight. The alleyway was narrow, the pausing strike and scuff of her heels and her slightly laboured breath were the only sounds.
And then he started coming towards her.
She took a step back. She couldn’t see his face. She could run, but he could catch her easily. The adrenaline surged – she was trapped and terrified, her mind whirled – but then he stopped suddenly and put his hand on the wall, before turning and walking away.
Nothing would work: her legs were wobbling and her heart was thudding painfully as she fumbled in her bag to find her phone.
‘Alex? Alex, can you come outside?’ She could hardly get the words out.
‘Outside?’ He sounded slightly anxious. ‘Where are you?’
‘Can you come outside and meet me? Diane’s just dropped me off…’ The words tumbled. ‘It’s a bit dark… I’ve come down the alleyway and I haven’t got a torch.’
She heard his worried exhalation of breath. ‘What the hell did you come that way for? Hang on. I’ll be there in a sec.’
He’d hung up and in less than a minute, she saw the reassuring swing of a light coming towards her. She nearly ran to meet him, her legs barely holding her, containing her shivering and attempting to smile.
‘You alright?’ He put his arm around her, frowning. ‘Has something happened?’
‘I thought there was—’
‘Was what?’ He was sharp and protective. She bit the words back. Why the hell had she said that?
‘I only said “thought”. It was nothing. Just shadows. I was being daft. And why do I ever put these heels on?’ She tutted, clinging onto his arm and pretended to be checking out the sole of her shoe allowing her to turn her face away. She’d panicked. Alex couldn’t ever know. Her fingers skimmed the wall for balance. He’d put his hand there – there on that wall. A shiver went through her.
‘I forgot I can’t walk down this path in these. Complete madness.’
He’d laughed, made fun of her, allowing her to change the subject; she was aware the whole time of the scene playing over and over in her mind, joining all the other incidents: the calls, the flowers, the letters. He’d shown himself. He’d come out of the shadows. He was getting closer and more daring. Jesus.
The Black Eyed Peas have morphed into Lady Gaga as the finger signpost towards her village comes into view. The familiar fields line her road, guiding her home. It’s comforting and utterly familiar – the lit cottage windows on either side, the shapes of cars and hedges parked out front – and then the heartening sight of her house. A tremble of relief instantly runs through her.
All she has to do is get from the car, up the path, to the doorway – It’s just a matter of a minute, two at the most. Then she’ll be safe. Totally safe.
Pulling onto the driveway, she forces herself to compartmentalise every thought and anxiety and put it away, at least for now, setting her face into a bland happy-to-be-home mask. Alex must not know. Killing the engine, she starts to count the seconds she knows it will take, gathering her briefcase from the back and then finding her keys from her bag and zipping it firmly back up. She focusses on steadying herself, fixing her face. She glances down, suddenly seeing that her clothes are beyond filthy; there are stripes of black across the front of her thighs and down her jacket.
Slotting her key in the lock, she pushes the door quietly open. The house feels empty.
‘Hiya?’ she calls out tentatively.
‘I’m in here.’
She can tell by his voice that Alex is not happy but at least he’s trying. As she treads down the backs of her sneakers and eases them off, the hallway light shows her just how filthy she is.
‘Jesus! What’s happened to you?’ He is standing in the doorway looking her up and down.
‘Ah…’ She peels off her jacket. ‘Yes, well… Thank god I was wearing flats this time. It’s a bit of a story.’
‘It looks like it.’
‘I talked a girl down off a roof.’
‘Jesus Christ, Frankie.’
‘I climbed a ladder to get up there.’
His jaw drops in shock. She thinks for a moment that he might be angry but then he laughs, his whole face crumpling as he shakes his head. He’s got such a lovely laugh; it’s such a shame that she doesn’t hear it so much these days.
He raises an eyebrow in amusement. ‘Off a roof, eh?’
‘Yeah. She was threatening to jump.’ She dumps her bag down. Her hands look as though she’s been changing car oil.
‘Jump?’ he frowns. ‘Jeeze. She must have been in a state.’
‘Yeah, I was scared the emergency services wouldn’t get there in time. I happened to be around when it all kicked off.’
‘You already know this girl?’
‘Keeley? A bit. She’s only been a resident for a couple of days, but I’ve seen her file so I know what she’s been through. I’ve
