Ashley glared at Jude, and he wondered if they would still be friends after this.
Ashley went home via police car for the second time in as many days. Fortunately, her dad was at work until 4 p.m., so PC Riaz had to speak with her mum. She had been too shocked to say anything besides, “Go to your room, young lady, and wait for your father to get home.”
Ashley and Jude were on lockdown at each of the houses while the police investigated the woods, and two hours went by without Ashley knowing if the police had found anything. She spent the time in her bedroom, sitting cross-legged on her bed and staring at the wall. Thoughts ran through her mind like bees in her brain. Not only was her head full of horrifying images – Lily Barnes being torn apart and rotting children – but she was also furious at Jude. She tried not to hate him too much, but it was hard.
To distract herself, she opened the locket and examined the children’s smiling faces. The photographs were old, not quite black and white, but almost – like the sepia filter on her phone. She wished she had her phone now and wondered if her mum had taken it to the market yet. She wanted to talk to Jude, wanted to yell at him for being such a dumb fucking idiot. Now the police were investigating a murder, and she and Jude would most likely become the prime suspects. They hadn’t found Rose the last time, and she had a grim feeling they wouldn’t find her this time either. The woman possessed an impossible ability not to be seen. Lily Barnes didn’t see her right until the moment her throat had been torn out. How was that possible? What was different about Lily that meant she hadn’t been able to see Rose? How on earth was Lily like the police in that they could not see the woman either?
Ricky had seen her, though. In fact, he was the one other person who could back up their story. She hadn’t mentioned his name to the police yet, not entirely sure why, but she wouldn’t hesitate to get him involved if need be. No way was she going down for Lily’s murder.
I’m glad she’s dead.
If anybody deserved it, it was her.
As mad as she was at Jude for stabbing her in the back and not going along with the plan, she wanted to speak to him more than anyone else. He was her best friend and the only person who understood her – or at least the person who understood her most. She understood him too, which was why she knew he couldn’t lie to a police officer. When PC Riaz glared at him and demanded answers, he had crumbled. Dishonesty just wasn’t in Jude’s nature, and she couldn’t blame him for being who he was. Still, it would feel pretty good to give him a mouthful of abuse right about now.
Ashley stared at the clock for another half-hour, continuing to sit in silence. She waited for news, for PC Riaz to arrive and tell her she was right about everything and that they had caught Rose and placed her under arrest. But that didn’t happen. Instead, she flinched as the front door opened and her dad’s voice sounded in the downstairs hallway. He already sounded grumpy, but his tone quickly worsened and his volume increased as he spoke to her mum in the kitchen. Then she heard his heavy footsteps on the stairs, loud and angry.
Ashley’s bedroom door flew open and her dad stormed in, red-faced and seething. He pointed a finger at Ashley and growled. “What the hell have you got involved in, Ashley? Do you know how much trouble you’re in? The police are looking for a dead girl because of you. You tell me everything you know, this instant.”
Ashley’s mum crept in behind her dad but kept silent.
Ashley hopped up off the bed, her heart pounding. “Dad, I swear, I didn’t do anything. I only went back to look for the woman because the police couldn’t find her. Jude and I wanted to prove she was there.”
“Oh, so you two are kid detectives now, are you? The police said they found nothing, so why didn’t you forget it? Why did you have to stir up trouble? What the hell happened to this Lily Barnes girl? You told the police she’s been murdered.”
Ashley shook her head desperately. “No, Jude said that. But it’s true. The woman killed Lily. Rose killed her.”
Her dad’s eyes bulged. “You need help, Ashley. First thing tomorrow, you’re going to see a doctor. You’ve been getting away with this kind of ridiculous behaviour for far too long. I don’t work as hard as I do to—”
She groaned. “Oh, here we go again. Yeah, Dad, we all know how hard you work because you never stop telling us. Sorry that I was born, okay? Sorry that you have to feed me. Sorry you didn’t get to open your stupid restaurant and live out your dreams. Sorry that—”
Ashley yelped as her dad slapped her across the face. She twisted and fell sideways onto her bed, bounced on the mattress and tumbled to the floor. He stood over her and glared, pointing a finger. “Don’t you ever talk to me like that, young lady, do you hear me? I’ll throw you out on the goddamn street.”
Ashley’s mother moved from the door and reached out a hand to him. “Honey, calm down. This isn’t helping.”
Ashley’s dad threw an arm out and caught her mum across the chest. She cried out, more in fright than pain, and tumbled into the wall. “Quiet!” he yelled at her. “I’m sick to death of having to deal with everybody else’s problems around here.
