Page 84 of The Girl in the Woods

The noise of next door’s TV could be heard clearly through the thin walls, making Ana’s nerves jangle and her head ache even more. Frankie lit another cigarette with shaky hands and told Sharon to move some magazines from a chair so Ana could sit down.

‘Fag?’ said Frankie, offering her the packet.

Ana shook her head. ‘I don’t smoke.’

Frankie exhaled and the flat was quickly immersed in a haze of blue smoke. ‘What ’appened to your face?’

Ana touched the cut and winced. ‘I had a fight with a mirror, and the mirror won.’

‘You look nicer out of your uniform,’ said Frankie. ‘You could have been a model.’

‘That’s not for me.’ Ana smiled. ‘Are you okay, Frankie? It must have been pretty frightening to see that girl attacked.’

‘She was in a right state earlier,’ said Sharon. ‘Do ya want a cup of tea or something?’

‘Yeah, tea and a couple of paracetamol would be great if you’ve got some.’

Frankie stared at her, took a deep drag on her cigarette and said through mouthfuls of smoke, ‘How come you’re a copper? I mean, you’re more like us than the rest of them.’

Ana took the tea from Sharon and downed the paracetamol with the scalding liquid. ‘Maybe I don’t like bad people,’ said Ana. ‘Maybe I thought by being a copper, I could stop them.’

‘And have you?’ asked Sharon, who’d never spoken to any cops as casually as this.

Ana massaged her temples. ‘Not all of them.’ She smiled.

Frankie fumbled in her tatty handbag and brought out a bottle of pills. ‘Here, take one of these. Codeine, I get them from the doctor for my period cramps.’

Ana swallowed one of the pills, and Frankie and Sharon looked at each other.

‘Fucking hell,’ said Sharon. ‘That could be anything we just gave you.’

Ana smiled. ‘I think I know who I can trust. Do you want to tell me about earlier?’

Tears slipped from the corners of Frankie’s eyes. ‘It was horrible the way he chased her. She looked so scared. Is she all right? She’s not dead, is she?’

Ana shook her head. ‘Her name is Laine Lees and–’

Sharon gasped. ‘Oh my God.’

‘You know her?’

‘Only from seeing her around. She’s just a kid.’

Frankie rubbed at her eyes.

‘Can you tell me what happened, Frankie?’

Frankie stubbed out her cigarette, lit another then poured Southern Comfort from the bottle on the coffee table into a glass. ‘You want some?’ she asked.

Ana shook her head and waited for Frankie to take a sip.

‘I was having a pee,’ she said. She explained how she’d seen this couple arguing and that the man suddenly turned aggressive and tried to grab the girl’s handbag. She shivered at the memory. ‘She tried to run from him. She looked so scared.’

‘Did she fall, Frankie or–’

‘She fell, but then he was on top of her.’ Frankie started crying again. ‘She was trying to crawl away, but she must have been injured because she was barely moving. I thought he was trying to help her. It looked like he was giving her a drink or something.’

Ana could feel her headache easing. She sipped more of her tea and tried to figure out why The Vigilante would have given Laine something to drink. ‘Was he big, tall, muscular-looking?’

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