Page 107 of The Girl in the Woods

Needles struggled to stop the tears, but he couldn’t. It was as if a dam had burst inside him. He swiped at his eyes, but more tears followed. They wouldn’t stop; it was like an overflowing river, and he could not stop it.

‘Here,’ said Sajid, handing him the knife.

Without hesitation, Needles cut his left arm above the tattooed words ‘Laine’. Sajid then held his bloody arm against Needles’.

‘Blood brothers,’ he said.

People held their candles and torches high as Jassy walked to a makeshift platform. The silence was eerie. Jassy tried to smile, but Ana could see it was a considerable effort. She hesitated for a moment as if weighing up her words.

‘Thank you for coming tonight. Seeing so many people coming together to remember Laine is wonderful. As you can imagine, her parents and brother are devasted, so I will talk about Laine on their behalf.’

She took a deep breath.

‘Laine was my best friend. She wasn’t perfect, but none of us are. Laine was too young to die. She had so many dreams and plans.’

Jassy broke down then, and Ana wanted to hug her but knew she couldn’t.

‘She used to love dancing and having fun, and we’re all still trying to understand why anyone would want to kill our lovely Laine.’

Jassy took a deep, trembling breath. ‘Laine’s parents ask that if you know anything – anything at all, or noticed a stranger that night, or anything odd – that you please get in touch with the police. Help us find this vigilante and stop him from doing this again.’

Ana and Matt looked around the crowd. Matt was looking for The Vigilante, and Ana was looking for the murderer. Matt nudged her in the ribs and nodded over at Will Moulson and Hale. It looked as though Hale was passing a brown envelope to Will. Will looked around as if to check that no one was watching.

Their attention was turned back to Jassy, who had started speaking again. ‘One of Laine’s favourite songs was “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi, and I think it’s fitting, so we’re going to play that now.’

There was applause as she stepped down tearfully from the platform, and Ana felt herself tear up.

‘You okay?’ asked Matt, putting his arm around her shoulder.

‘Just my jaw hurts,’ she said, covering her emotions.

The music began playing, and Ana saw Beth Harper and Tom Miller approach Will and Hale.

‘I’m just going to speak to Jassy,’ said Ana.

There was no need for words. Ana hugged her briefly and then handed her a card with her number. ‘If you ever need to talk.’

Ana looked around at the vast gathering, remembering the night of the fair. Jonny said he couldn’t make the vigil as he had a deadline. It then occurred to her he hadn’t been at the fair either. Ana realised then that Jonny had been absent on the two nights that involved Laine.

An arm hooked itself into hers. ‘You okay, Ana?’

Ana turned to see Frankie, who immediately pulled her into her arms. ‘You’re special, you know,’ whispered Frankie.

It felt like being home, and Ana knew at that moment that soon it would be over, and she could go home.

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

‘How are you feeling?’ asked Tom.

Ana thought how strange it was that she should be the one being questioned and not the other way around. ‘I’m okay. The pain meds help.’

‘Good.’ He smiled.

Ana thought how handsome he was. Everyone at the station knew he and Beth had a thing going on. They weren’t good at hiding it.

‘Obviously, we have some questions about that night with Luke. He’s owned up to everything, but there are some loose ends I’d like to clear up. I’m curious, DC Rawlins, why did you invite Luke Carpenter to your flat and not question him at the station? That would have been the correct procedure.’

Ana sighed. ‘I know. I was stupid, basically,’ she said honestly. ‘I wanted to give him a chance to own up. I thought it would look better for him. I guess I didn’t want to be a snitch. I honestly wasn’t expecting him to lose it like that.’

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