The Girls in the Woods (14 page)

She had already typed the address into Google maps so she wouldn’t get lost; she put her headphones in, took her sunglasses from her oversize bag and put them on. As she reached the village hall she saw Annie bending down speaking to someone in a car. Scurrying past as fast as she could she followed the directions that the voice in her ear was telling her. She reached the cream-coloured cottage and walked around to the side where he’d told her the entrance to his studio was. She looked around. There was a copper standing some distance away in the woods at the back of the cottage but they had their back to her. She walked up to the brown wooden door and lifted her hand to knock but it opened before she had the chance. The man standing there smiled and she felt all the anxieties she’d had about this melt away. He wasn’t very old – maybe in his late thirties, early forties – and wasn’t bad looking. He was a big bloke, but he didn’t look like a pervert. She had expected him to be in his fifties with grey hair and big thick glasses.

‘Come in. That was good timing, wasn’t it? I was just going to nip to the village shop for a bottle of wine for later, but I can go after.’

‘Oh don’t let me stop you. I don’t mind waiting.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m not desperate – I’ve already got some but was just going to get another bottle in case I needed it.’

‘Is that in case I’m terrible and you need to blot it all out, drown your sorrows?’

He laughed and took hold of her arm, leading her into the studio.

‘No way. I think you are going to be a complete natural at this. You’re so pretty, it will be the easiest session I’ve had all month.’

Tilly felt a burning sensation begin to creep up her neck; she liked him, he seemed very kind. She’d always wondered what it would be like to go out with an older man. She hated the boys her age – they were so immature. Annie had met Will, and Tilly had been gobsmacked the first time she’d set eyes on him because he was so good looking. In fact, the first few times she’d met him she’d had to excuse herself because her cheeks would turn bright red and it was wrong to fancy your auntie’s boyfriend… but he was so cute. She’d managed to cure herself of that little crush when she’d seen how happy Annie was – how happy Will made her. She didn’t know all the details but she knew that Mike, Annie’s first husband, had hurt her a lot and she deserved to be happy. Snapping herself out of her daydream she smiled at him.

‘Sorry, I hope so. I’m so nervous about this, you wouldn’t believe it.’

‘You have nothing to be nervous about. I promise you will love it. Now, should we take some shots of you just as you are, so that you don’t feel uncomfortable and let you get used to the camera? Then we can progress from there?’

He walked away, shrugging off his jacket which he slung over a chair, then he picked up a camera which was on the long bench at the back of the studio in front of a full-length mirror and turned towards her.

‘Now if you just stand in front of that screen we’ll do some test shots.’

Tilly felt sick as he led her across the room to the huge white screen. She was so embarrassed – what if she looked like a whale on the pictures. What if he thought she was a complete freak? She smiled at him and, feeling stupid, let him walk around her snapping pictures. After five minutes he stopped.

‘I’ll take a look at these and we’ll go from there. You know you don’t have to be so nervous. I promise I won’t bite.’

‘Sorry, I just feel so stupid.’

He smiled at her.

‘I understand – most people do, but you’ll get used to it. How about a nice cold glass of wine to put you at ease? It works wonders; obviously only the one because it’s no good if a model is too drunk. It makes them harder to photograph if they can’t stand still and are falling all over the place – but just a small one might help you feel a little bit better. Or I have vodka if you prefer?’

‘I don’t know. I don’t really drink wine, to be honest; I don’t like the taste. Maybe a small vodka, if that’s okay?’

He grinned.

‘Of course it is. You won’t get the best shots if you’re too wound up like a coiled spring. You need to be relaxed. You wouldn’t believe how many bottles of vodka I’ve gone through this year.’

He opened a small fridge and pulled a bottle of vodka from out of the freezer compartment; she recognised the bottle straight away – it was the really expensive one that was so strong you only needed a couple of shots before you were drunk. She watched him pour out two shot glasses and carry them over, handing one to her.

‘I will if you do, how about that. Although I can only have one – I don’t want to take any fuzzy photos of you.’

He winked and she took the glass from him. Before she could think about it he downed his and coughed.

‘Gets me every time.’

She laughed – following his lead, she threw her head back, swallowing it in one. It burnt the back of her throat and she also began coughing. Her eyes began to water and she felt his warm hands begin to pat her back.

‘Are you okay?’

She couldn’t speak but stuck her thumb up.

‘I’ll give you a couple of minutes whilst I check these and get my other camera, then we’ll try again.’

He walked out, leaving her alone. She hadn’t noticed the drops of liquid that he’d slipped into her glass. He knew this was far too risky, but he couldn’t help himself. No one knew she was here – even the police hadn’t noticed her coming, because he’d been watching her from the upstairs bedroom window. The whole time, the officer out the back hadn’t turned around once. This time he wouldn’t be burying her out in the woods because that was too dangerous, but he did have his morgue fridges in the garage which were perfect. Once she was dead he could put her into one of them until he was ready to take his photos for his special album – and the beauty of it was he could keep on doing it again and again as long as he kept the heating off in the studio and didn’t keep her body out for too long.

Tilly began to feel light-headed. The room began to swim and she stumbled to her bag to pull out the bottle of water she had in there and her phone. She didn’t feel well at all. There was no way one shot of vodka would do this to her – she was used to drinking it, although normally only the cheap stuff from the corner shop. Trying to sit on the stool to steady herself she completely misjudged it and slid to the floor. Her mind wasn’t working like it should and she felt as if her head was disconnected from her body. The thought that he’d drugged her screamed into her brain, but she didn’t want to believe it. Why would he want to drug her? He was so nice. She began to press the buttons on her phone, trying to find Annie’s number. Annie would know what to do, but Tilly couldn’t see the screen – everything was blurred. Holding the home button down she tried to speak into it, ‘Phonnnne Argnie.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t get that, Tilly.’

She tried her best to speak clearly but her tongue felt as if it was far too thick for her mouth and was sticking to the roof of it. ‘Call Annnie…’

‘Calling Annie.’

And then the room went black.

He got his camera from the garage and went back in to see her slumped on the floor. Her eyes were unfocused but she had her phone in her hand. His heart began to race; fuck, had she had time to phone for help? Snatching the phone he saw that she had indeed called someone called Annie, but there had been no answer. He couldn’t think what to do first. He needed to get rid of the phone, but where? Not in the village, because the police would be able to trace it. It was an iPhone so it probably had that ‘find my iPhone’ app on it. He turned the phone off and slid it into his pocket; she had mentioned that her family thought she was going to Bowness. He needed to dump it in Bowness somewhere, now – before anyone noticed she was missing. His heart was beating so fast he thought he might be on the verge of a heart attack. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Shit. He didn’t have time to do anything with her now; instead he grabbed hold of her arms and dragged her from the studio out into the workshop where his darkroom was. Taking a rag from the bench he tied it around her mouth as tight as it would go and then he took some of the washing line he had used on the others to tie her hands and feet together. He didn’t care if she suffocated, it would save him the job, but he needed her to be secure until he’d disposed of her phone and whilst the village was flooded with coppers. This would give him some much-needed time to figure out what he was going to do. When his head was thinking straight he could decide how long he was going to keep her for. He pressed two fingers to her neck; she still had a strong pulse. Turning off the light he shut the door and locked it, then dragged a heavy bench over just in case she managed to escape somehow.

‘Heath, sorry to bother you, but are you busy? There’s someone here who would like a word.’

Her voice called through the studio door and his heart sank to the bottom of his shoes. Who the hell wanted a word? If it that was smarmy copper he’d be fucked.

‘Be out in a minute.’

He knew that his voice sounded different. It had almost quivered when he’d spoken. The sweat was pouring from him and he ran across to the sink and splashed handfuls of cold water all over his face, hands and hair. He checked the door to the darkroom, then turned the light off in the workshop and locked the door behind him. Her phone felt like a brick in his pocket and he couldn’t wait to get rid of it. As he walked into the kitchen he saw a heavily pregnant woman sitting on one of the chairs sipping from a glass of water.

‘This is Annie. She lives in the village on the opposite side of the woods, and would like to have her baby bump photographed. I told her how good you were at taking photos, but she knows that you’re also very busy.’

Heath was furious with Jo for bringing this woman into their kitchen unannounced. Annie? That was twice he’d heard that name in fifteen minutes, but if she lived in the village surely she wouldn’t know the teenager he’d drugged up who was from Barrow. It must be a coincidence. What was wrong with Jo? At least she was trying to fob her off, but he would need to show her what a huge mistake she’d made later on – after he’d disposed of the phone in his pocket.

He forced himself to smile at Annie.

‘No problem – I do lots of them. When were you thinking of getting it done, and do you want like a family portrait or just you?’

He was trying his best to talk normally but his hands were shaking and he couldn’t stop the fine film of sweat that was forming on his forehead. He was so hot, it felt as if the phone in his pocket was burning his leg off. Yet he’d turned it off. He didn’t understand what was wrong with him.

‘Just whenever you can fit me in, and to be honest I’m not too sure – I haven’t thought about it a lot.’

‘Well, have a think and let Jo know – I’m really booked up at the moment, but I’ll see if we can sort something out. I need to go into Barrow for some bits. Do you need anything, Jo?’

He looked at his wife, hoping she hadn’t noticed the change in his demeanour. She shook her head, no doubt relieved to be rid of him for the couple of hours it would take him to get to Barrow and back, which was at least forty minutes each way – depending upon the traffic.

‘Nice to meet you, Annie, I’ll see you later, Jo.’

He walked out; the phone in his pocket was feeling heavier by the minute. He couldn’t breathe and when he got outside and into his car he wound the window down and sucked in a huge gulp of air. He’d totally screwed up and he knew it. Then he realised that the girl had left her handbag on the chair. Damn it, it was too late now – he couldn’t go back in. He was acting like a complete head case and Jo was sure to notice something. He knew that she wouldn’t say a thing to him, but there was nothing stopping her talking to that copper from the other day. He started the car and drove towards the village; he had no intention of driving to Barrow. Instead he would get the ferry over to Bowness, park up and think about where he was going to dispose of a phone in broad daylight without attracting any attention. As he turned into the village the sight of the many police cars and uniformed officers made his stomach lurch and he had to force down the vomit that was threatening to rise up his throat. He smiled at two female officers who were standing outside the village hall and they smiled back, then he turned and drove towards the ferry, wondering if by the time he came back they would all be waiting outside his house to arrest him.

Chapter 15

Annie finished her coffee and stood up to leave.

‘I’d better let you get on. Sorry, Jo, I’ve taken up quite enough of your time today.’

‘Don’t be daft. You have no idea how good it is to be able to talk to someone else. Let me know about the photos and I’ll see if Heath has a slot available to book you in.’

‘I will, as soon as I’ve spoken with my husband. Thanks.’

Annie walked to the front door and let herself out. She waved at Jo and began the trudge back to the village hall to see if Will was still around. She was still mad at him, but if he offered to cook for everyone on Saturday night she’d forgive him – as long as he told her what was happening.

She couldn’t make her mind up about Jo’s husband; he hadn’t looked a bit like the ogre she had imagined him to be; in fact he had been quite the opposite. But – and it was a big but – there was no discounting the bruising under Jo’s eyes and the way she seemed to get all fretful whenever she talked about him. Which in a way made it even worse. Mike had looked like a thug but Heath didn’t, which made it harder to believe. Now she knew where Jo lived she would keep popping in and checking on her, let him know that she knew without saying anything. It might make him stop, or at least think about it. There was one thing, though; she didn’t think she’d be having her photograph taken any time soon.

She rounded the corner and walked towards the hall; as she walked in, she sighed – the air was much cooler inside. She saw Will sitting in the corner typing away on a laptop. Stu was on the one next to him and they both looked as if they were on a mission. Will looked up and smiled at her and she felt the last bitter pieces of anger from earlier disperse. Damn it, how did he manage to do that? She could never stay mad at him for long, even when she wanted to. He stopped what he was doing, locked the computer and strode across the hall to kiss her on the cheek.