The Girls in the Woods (13 page)

Chapter 13

Annie left the house and for a split second debated about driving into the village, but then told herself off for being lazy. It was another gorgeous day and the exercise would do her good, so she began the familiar walk – or waddle, as it was fast becoming – up the narrow lane which led onto the main road into the village. She felt restless. She couldn’t settle in the house and had phoned Jake to see if he was at work, hoping that he would be able to find an excuse to come and see her, but he wasn’t on duty until two and she would drive herself mad if she stayed in the house on her own until then. She would see if she could find out where the lovely but slightly mysterious Jo lived and invite her out for coffee. She needed to do something to keep herself busy. As she got to the village she saw Will’s car and her heart skipped a beat; she had never known she would love someone so completely. She had scoffed when watching love films back in the day when she was married to Mike, not believing it was possible to care about another person so much. It made her wonder how many people actually married partners that weren’t
the one
, or how many actually managed to find
the one
. Maybe it was a complete fluke that her and Will were so compatible and they were the exception to the norm; although, he did drive her mad with his almost permanent state of happiness. He rarely sulked, but he did like the ladies – or should she say, he
used
to like the ladies. He’d never cheated on her, but she still found it hard to believe that he had managed to stay so faithful considering his track record. As she turned the road into the village she saw not only Will, Stu and a couple of PCSOs coming out of the little café she loved; she also saw Jo walking up the small street past the village hall.

There was one advantage to living in a place so small – you couldn’t help but fall over everyone. She watched Will run across the road to speak to Jo, gently taking her arm and pulling her to one side away from the others, and for one insane moment she felt a spark of jealousy ignite inside her. One which she tried her best to dampen before it had chance to take hold. Stu and the others wandered back in the direction of the village hall, leaving Will and Jo in deep conversation. Annie began to walk as fast as her stomach would let her, the whole time telling herself to behave because she was being completely irrational. It was Jo who spotted her first and waved at her, pulling away from Will and walking towards her. Will saw Annie and smiled; it didn’t look as if he had anything to be feeling guilty about.

‘Annie, how lovely to see you, how are you today?’

‘I’m great, thanks. I was just on a mission to see if I could find you and see if I could tempt you into sharing some cake.’

‘I’d love that; you don’t need me, do you?’

Jo turned to Will, and Annie noticed the woman had her fingers crossed behind her back.

‘No, I don’t, but if you think of anything at all you’ll give me a ring, won’t you?’

His tone of voice wasn’t his usual one and Annie opened her mouth, about to ask him what was up, when he shook his head at her.

‘Morning again, how are you getting on?’

She had no idea what was going on but if he thought he could give her the cold shoulder and pretend he didn’t know her then two could play that game.

‘Oh you know how it is, officer – I’m lonely being stuck on my own all day and wondering what on earth is happening and what exactly my husband is up to while he’s at work.’

‘That makes the two of us then. I have no idea, either. Enjoy your coffee, ladies.’

He turned and walked away and for the first time in forever Annie actually felt angry enough with him that she could have run after him and wiped the smile from his face. He had his head bent and was busy texting on his phone. Instead of running after him she forced herself to turn away and smile at Jo. The bruising underneath her eye had faded to a yellow colour and was harder to detect than it had been yesterday, but the point was it was still there, and it very likely hadn’t got there through any fault of her own.

‘I don’t like this. It’s scary – all these police men and women are everywhere asking questions. Have they been to your house as well?’

‘Erm, yes, sort of. I already know him.’

‘Do you? He seems very nice. He came to my house yesterday with another detective because we look out onto the woods where that body was found. It’s so horrible thinking that all this time someone was buried behind my house. I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about it – gave me the shivers it did.’

Annie’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out.

‘Forgive me, don’t be angry. I’ll tell you everything later, but can you try and get as much info out of her as possible? She won’t speak if she knows you’re a copper and I’m your husband. I’m worried about her. Love you xxx’

Annie didn’t know whether she was even more annoyed with him after that text or not. She tucked the phone back in her pocket. She had no idea what was going on, but it didn’t seem as if Jo knew him very well so maybe she should stop being so paranoid.

‘Sorry, Jo, what did you say?’

She laughed.

‘I was just saying that he’s a bit dreamy, isn’t he, so good looking – a bit like that guy off
The Mentalist
. Have you ever watched that? I love it. It’s my favourite television programme. But he’s married. Not that I’m interested, you know. I don’t want you to think I’m a terrible person, but he kept playing with his wedding ring when he was at my house yesterday so it was kind of hard to miss.’

‘Oh, yes, he is married. I know his wife as well.’

‘Really, what’s she like? I bet she’s drop-dead gorgeous as well. I can’t imagine how nice it must be waking up to him every morning. Some women get all the luck.’

Annie laughed.

‘Yes, it would be rather nice, wouldn’t it? What’s your husband like?’

The woman’s cheeks flared red and she lowered her head.

‘Busy, he’s always busy. We don’t see a lot of each other really, considering he works from home.’

‘What does he do?’

‘He’s a photographer.’

‘Does he do portraits?’

‘Oh yes, he does all those sorts of things – he has a lot of wealthy older women coming in, wanting him to make them look beautiful.’

Annie began to laugh.

‘That must be a nightmare. I’ve been thinking of getting a portrait done – well, not so much of me because I hate having my picture taken; more of my bump. You know, to have as a keepsake.’

‘He’s done lots of mother and bump photoshoots, right through to baby’s first birthday portraits; they seem to be all the fashion now along with those baby showers. I can’t believe how Americanised this country is getting.’

‘I might come and speak to him about it then, see if he can fit me in before my stomach explodes. That is, I would if I knew where to find him.’

Annie winked at Jo who blushed. They reached the coffee shop and Annie pushed the door open for Jo to go through.

‘I’ll give you a business card with our address and phone number on, but he’s really very busy. He might not be able to fit you in. There’s another photographer in Bowness who might be more suitable.’

Annie wondered why Jo didn’t want her to meet her husband or have him take her photo; not that she had any intention of letting him photograph her, but she wanted to see what he looked like. See if he was similar to Mike. Annie knew she was getting too involved. She hardly knew Jo, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop herself now even if she tried. They both smiled at the woman behind the counter and sat down ready to order. Annie thought about Will’s text – what did he want to know about the woman next to her? She spent the next thirty minutes trying to coax out how long Jo had lived in the village, where she was originally from and if she was happily married. Every time Annie asked about her husband Jo would try and change the subject, so she tried a different approach and didn’t mention him at all, hoping it would make Jo feel comfortable enough to relax. She did finally, until she looked at her watch.

‘Oh my God, is that the time? I’ve been ages. He’ll kill me.’

She stood up and pulled a ten pound note out of her pocket. Annie waved her hand at her.

‘Put that away – you can pay next time. I was the one who dragged you in here. I hope I haven’t caused you any trouble at home?’

Jo looked at her and opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it and closed it again.

‘Are you sure?’

Annie nodded.

‘I’m positive. Take care, Jo. Oh, do you have a business card?’

Jo passed her a crumpled one from the bottom of her handbag.

‘Thanks, Annie, I will. You look after the both of you.’

Annie watched her scurry from the café back in the direction of the village hall and the army of police officers; once she made it past them she would have to face her bully of a husband. Annie wanted to ask her if she was okay and how bad it was at home, but she couldn’t. She knew from past experience Jo would deny anything was wrong. Women like her always did and that included herself – how many times had she gone to work wearing enough make-up to cover the bruises, the long-sleeved tops in the summer. It all seemed as if it was in another lifetime, not three years ago.

She would try and broach the subject with Jo, just to let her know that she got it. She understood the pain and embarrassment, the living in constant fear – it was no way to live. Annie also made up her mind to visit Jo’s husband to see what he was like. She would go while she was already in the village. She hadn’t bothered asking Jo if she could go back with her because she hadn’t wanted to put her in a difficult position. But if she turned up unannounced then Jo wouldn’t get in trouble with her husband, fingers crossed. Annie already had an image of him in her mind and she bet it wouldn’t be far wrong. She had no intention of paying him to photograph her, though; the thought of him looking at her naked stomach made her skin crawl, but she did want to know more about him so she could pass it on to Will. She went to the counter and paid the bill, then decided to have a wander around. As she walked outside she bumped straight into Sam, who was talking to an old woman. Sam grinned at her and Annie smiled back; no doubt she would catch up with all her friends over the next few days. A familiar car drove into the village. Inspector Cathy Hayes was her boss and friend so Annie waited for her to park up then began to walk towards the car. She reached the car and leant inside the window.

‘If it isn’t Annie Ashworth in the flesh – I was thinking about you this morning. I just said to Kav that we all needed a catch-up. How are you?’

‘Fed up. I can’t stand being at home doing nothing. There are only so many times you can hoover in one day. It’s funny you should say that about a catch-up because I was saying the same to Will. How’s my favourite sergeant doing. I hope you’re not wearing him out?’

‘As if. That man has found a new lease of life since he’s had the pleasure of my company. He’s like a lovesick teenager with a permanent erection.’

Annie laughed so loud a group of tourists turned to look at her.

‘You’re awful. Talk about lowering the tone. That’s just far too much information – you know he’s like my dad, don’t you. How about you?’

‘Me, I’m fabulous, thank you. I forgot how good it was to have a big, strong man to keep you warm at night and put the bins out every Wednesday morning.’

‘Do you and Kav want to come for tea on Saturday night if you’re not working? I was going to ask Jake and Alex as well.’

‘Are you cooking?’

Annie began to chuckle.

‘Definitely not.’

‘In that case we’d love to. It’s our weekend off. Jake is on a late but I’ll change his shift when I get back to the station. Aw, it will be like a reunion – you haven’t got any bad news to tell us, have you? Because I could get used to this, having a quiet life. I haven’t had heartburn for ages or any blinding headaches since you’ve been off sick.’

‘Nope, I just miss you all.’

‘Bloody hell, are you ill? I think this pregnancy lark is messing with your brainwaves. But thanks, Annie, I’m looking forward to it already.’

She got out of the car.

‘I see the tosser is already here.’ Cathy’s head moved in the direction of her ex husband’s navy blue Range Rover parked across the street.

‘No show without fucking punch is there. I bet he’s sat around drinking coffee and chatting shit – that is about the limit of his usefulness – in fact it always was. He’s never been much good for anything.’

Annie shrugged.

‘I can’t help you with that one but I suspect you’re right. See you at six on Saturday, and you can both stop over if you want then you can have a bottle or two of wine and not have to worry about driving home.’

Cathy stuck her thumb up at her, then began to answer a call on her radio with a ‘You have to be fucking kidding me’. Annie smiled to herself. Cathy never changed. She walked in the direction of the house on the front of the card that Jo had given to her. She wanted to make sure her new-found friend was all right and she also wanted to meet her husband – and make an appointment that she wouldn’t keep, just to see what he was like.

Chapter 14

Tilly got off the bus and the first person she saw was her Aunty Annie walking along the opposite side of the street just past the bus stop. Her heart racing, she went into the whitewashed public toilets to wait for a few minutes until she was out of sight. Of all the times for her to bump into her, now was not a good one. She never bumped into her in Barrow town centre, which was far busier. This was just her luck. Annie would want to know why she was here in Hawkshead instead of in Bowness and she didn’t want to have to explain it all to her, even though she knew that Annie was far more accepting and not judgemental like her mum. But what if she offered to go with her for the photoshoot? She would be mortified. Posing was something she did in front of the mirror in her bedroom on her own. It would be bad enough having a complete stranger taking the pictures, never mind Annie sitting on a chair watching her – she’d die of embarrassment. After five minutes she stuck her head out of the entrance to the toilets; there were an awful lot of police cars and coppers wandering around and she wondered what had happened. Typical – any other day this place was probably dead to the world, but not today, when all she wanted to do was go and have her photos taken then get back home without anyone being any the wiser.