Page 104 of The Girl in the Woods

Ana wobbled; the effects of the painkillers mixed with the Valium had made her unsteady. She lost her balance and fell, hitting her head on the corner of the coffee table. For a few seconds, her head spun and then exploded into a frenzy of pain. Something wet ran down her cheek. She wiped it away then gasped at the bright red blood on her fingers. She frantically looked around for her phone.

Panicking, Luke hurried to help her up. ‘Ana, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…’

‘Get away from me,’ she cried, scrambling away from him, her hands grasping at the rug and feeling the stickiness of her blood.

‘Oh, why did you have to go poking your nose into things that don’t concern you? Can’t you see you’ve left me with this awful dilemma?’

Luke reeked of desperation, and too late, Ana realised she was in grave danger. She crawled backwards and using the arm of the couch as leverage, lifted herself to her feet, ready to try for the door again. But before she’d had time to steady herself, his fist crashed into her jaw. Ana found herself back on the floor, helpless, with her head throbbing unbearably and her ears ringing.

In that terrifying moment, it occurred to her that Luke Carpenter might be capable of killing her.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

Tim had assumed that Constable Rawlins lived locally, so he was surprised to find her address was in a plush area of Oxford. He was driving too fast. He was angry, but most of all, he was fearful for Ana. She was alone with a man who had a lot to lose. Ahead of him, the lights had turned red.

‘Shit,’ he groaned.

For a moment he considered calling 101 himself, in case his mother forgot, but a honking behind him jolted him back to the present moment, and he saw that the lights had turned green. He pushed his foot down on the accelerator. He was minutes away from Rawlins’s apartment block. At first, he wasn’t sure he had the correct address. He checked the card. It had to be right; Ana had signed it herself.

After a few seconds of thought, he decided to buzz the flat below, hoping someone would be in.

‘Hello,’ said a man’s voice.

‘Hello, sorry to trouble you. I can’t get a reply from number 8. I wonder, would…’

‘I’m not surprised,’ said the man. ‘She’s got the music on so loud, I doubt she can hear anything else. Can you ask her to consider the neighbours? It’s past ten.’

‘Yes, of course.’

The door clicked and Tim rushed into the foyer. He could hear the pulsating music. Ignoring the lift, he raced up the stairs.

Ana screamed, the punch taking her by surprise. Fearing someone might hear, Luke turned up her music player.

‘What would you do in my position?’ he shouted, standing over her, his voice shaking. ‘Would you allow some jobsworth to ruin your life? Because that’s what you’re doing.’

Ana’s jaw was throbbing, and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. She knew her eye was swollen because she had trouble opening it. ‘You know this is making things worse,’ she said. It was difficult to open her mouth, and there was a strange clicking sound when she did. Shit, she thought, her hands trembling. He’s broken my jaw. How is he going to explain this? There’s no way he’s going to let me go.

Her mind tried to organise itself into coherent thoughts, but there was too much pain to focus on. Somehow she had to sidetrack him and get to the kitchen, where she could grab some sort of weapon, but even then, she would most likely be too weak to tackle him.

A loud banging on the door startled them both. ‘Turn that bloody music down, or I’m calling the police.’

Luke turned to her. ‘Don’t make a sound,’ he warned. Then he called, ‘Sorry, mate, turning it down now.’

The banging on the door continued. ‘Open up, you arse ’ole.’

‘Shit,’ mumbled Luke. He lifted Ana from the floor and into an armchair before going to the door. He slid the safety chain across and then opened the door, his mouth partly open with the apology he was about to make, but he’d barely got the first word out when a machete sliced through the chain.

The man kicked the door open, and Ana saw he was wearing a balaclava. The Vigilante. Ana wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or afraid.

She gasped when The Vigilante punched Luke hard in the stomach. Luke heaved as he struggled to breathe but was punched again several times, first in the face and then the groin. He battled to fight back, but the rage in The Vigilante burnt wildly, enhancing his strength.

Luke fell to the floor only to have The Vigilante kick him violently in the ribs several times.

Ana sat frozen in shock. Her eyes locked on the machete that The Vigilante had dropped to the floor. Luke was struggling to protect himself and had curled his body into a trembling ball of fear, but The Vigilante was not stopping, and Ana felt Luke’s warm blood as it showered onto her dress.

‘You no good piece of scum. Covering for someone who’d knocked down an old lady. What kind of a policeman are you?’ yelled The Vigilante.

‘Stop,’ screamed Ana. ‘Please stop.’ She forced her shaking legs to work, pulled herself from the chair, and dived for the machete. ‘I said stop!’ she screamed. The machete wavered dangerously in her hand and Ana stood, shaking, her eyes not leaving The Vigilante.

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