Page 81 of The Girl in the Woods

‘Let us know when you hear more?’ he asked.

‘Of course,’ Beth said.

Who is this fucking vigilante? thought Beth. And why would he want to kill a young kid like Laine? The card had read, ‘The police should deal with blackmailers. When the law fails to serve us, we must serve as the law. Vigilante.’

Had Laine been blackmailing someone? And if so, who and why?

The doctors were waiting at the helipad, and Ana watched as they lifted Laine carefully from the air ambulance before rushing her into the operating theatre.

‘I’ll need her clothing for evidence,’ said Ana.

‘Of course. We’ll remove them as carefully as we can, but we may have to cut some of the garments. My job is to save her life.’

‘My job is to catch the person who has done this to her. You wouldn’t be trying to save her life if he hadn’t tried to take it. Her clothes will help find her attacker,’ Ana said.

He nodded. ‘You’ve made your point, and we’ll be as careful as we can not to contaminate. We’ve handled cases like this before, but please remember our objective is to save lives, and whatever we have to do to do that, we will.’

You’d think I was the enemy, Ana thought, taking a seat in the waiting area. Sajid waited silently with her until a nurse called him in.

Ana found the loo and locked herself in a cubicle. She sat on the toilet seat for a few seconds with her head in her hands until, finally, the tears came. Tears because it hadn’t been him and she didn’t know the first thing to do to find him, then tears for Laine, a young girl she didn’t even know, but who was only a few years younger than her, now lying on an operating table with half her brains hanging out.

‘Jesus,’ she muttered, looking down at the blood on her dress. Using cold water from the tap she did her best to remove some of it.

Almost an hour passed before a man dressed in scrubs came to the waiting room. ‘DC Rawlins?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ she stood up.

‘Dr Marcus,’ he said, shaking her hand.

‘Is she going to be all right?’ Ana asked hesitantly. Please don’t say she’s dead. Please don’t.

He glanced at the blood on her dress but didn’t say anything. ‘We’re operating on her now. The head injury isn’t as serious as we initially thought, but she’s having trouble breathing. We have her on a ventilator, and we’ve taken some blood to see if she took anything at the fair that could be causing the breathing problem. The good thing is that she’s alive, but it’s not looking great.’

The doctor continued, ‘The lad Sajid took quite a beating. He’s suffered several broken ribs and we’ll need to keep him in for a CAT scan to ensure there are no internal injuries. So are you contacting the next of kin?’

Before Ana could answer, a couple walked into the room. The woman stared at Ana’s dress, and sobs tore from her body. Shit, thought Ana, I should have phoned for a change of clothes.

‘They said a copper who came with our Elaine was in here,’ said the man. His face was mostly obscured by a scraggly red beard that clung to his skin like winter-ravaged ivy tendrils. His nose was unusually crooked, and Ana wondered if a fight had damaged it. He seemed the type that wouldn’t take any nonsense. His eyes were a sparkling brown speckled with green, and he was looking directly into hers. His strong arms seemed to hold up the woman by his side, and Ana imagined she would crumple to the floor if he released her.

‘That’s me,’ said Ana. ‘DC Ana Rawlins.’

‘Where’s my daughter?’ he asked bluntly.

Not one to mince words, thought Ana. She beckoned for them to sit down. ‘The doctor can tell you more about her injuries.’

Her mind drifted as the doctor began to talk. Why would someone want to kill a young girl? Vigilantes don’t go around killing people. A vigilante was supposed to keep crime off the street, not be the cause of it. Something didn’t add up. Her attention was sharply drawn back to Mr Lees.

‘What actually happened?’ he asked.

‘We’re not sure. Her body–’

Mrs Lees sobbed at the word body, and Ana bit her lip before continuing.

‘…was found in the woods by her boyfriend–’

‘She doesn’t have a boyfriend,’ interrupted her mother.

‘He said he was her boyfriend. Your son beat him up quite badly. The doctors are treating him as we speak. Your son is in custody.’

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