Be Careful What You Hear (11 page)

‘I’ll call the
police if you don’t turn it down,’ Mr Henderson shouted, before
breaking into a bronchial cough. But Emma had already turned the
corner at the top of the stairs.

She reached
her front door, fumbling with the keys. Dan never played music that
loud, and the thought only intensified her sense of foreboding
about what lay inside.

‘Dan!’ she
shouted. ‘Are you in there?’ The key wasn’t going into the lock, so
she began banging on the heavy wooden door with her fists.
‘Dan!’

‘Come here,
Em,’ Will said, taking the keys gently from her. ‘Let me do
it.’

Emma stepped
back, surprised to find that she was crying.

Lizzy hugged
her. ‘Everything’s going to be all right,’ she said. But she didn’t
sound convinced any more.

Will unlocked
the door and a crescendo of guitars and drums swept out onto the
landing. ‘Danny, you in here?’ he shouted, moving into the flat. He
turned left towards the living room from where the music was
coming, while Emma and Lizzy headed for the kitchen.

‘Dan?’ Emma
neared the kitchen. ‘Where are . . . oh my God!’

‘What is it?’
Will shouted, his voice sounding even louder in the silence after
he’d turned off the stereo.

‘Something’s
wrong,’ Lizzy replied.

***

Emma stood
next to her in stunned silence, taking in the scene. She placed a
steadying hand against the fridge-freezer. The kitchen was smashed
up: broken plates and dishes littered the floor, the bin had been
overturned and emptied, the blinds were half torn down, and the
water was running in the sink.

‘My God,’ Will
said, as he appeared breathlessly at their shoulders and surveyed
the damage.

‘What the
hell’s happened?’ Lizzy asked, of no one in particular.

‘The other
rooms,’ Emma said, pulling herself out of her shock.

She turned and
headed for the bedroom, flinging open the door, expecting to find
something horrible inside. But there was nothing. The bed was
immaculately made, just as she had left it; everything was in its
right place. A faint hint of Dan’s aftershave hung in the air. Emma
turned to head for the bathroom, the last remaining room of the
flat.

‘Oh, shit!’
she heard Will shout from behind her. ‘Shit! Call an ambulance!
Somebody get an ambulance!’

‘What’s
wrong?’ Emma rushed out into the hallway.

Will appeared
from the bathroom, his hands covered in blood.

‘Oh, no,’ she
said, covering her mouth and shaking her head. She backed against
the wall. ‘Please say he’s okay.’

‘
It’s not Dan.’ Will’s face was pained as he held his
blood-soaked hands out in front him. ‘It’s Richard. I think he’s
dead.’

***

The complete
Emma Holden trilogy is now available in ebook and paperback.