Page 119 of The Girl in the Woods

Now she was mad as hell. Did he think she was totally stupid? He wasn’t coming to pay her. He was coming to kill her.

A cluster of dead wasps lay on the soft padding of an old creaky chair – a wasp coffin waiting for its burial. Ana shuddered and dusted them off, pulling the chair into the middle of the room. She took a few things from the B&Q bag and then put the bag in the corner of the room.

Back outside, it took her longer than anticipated to attach the padlock to the door. The wood was so old and damaged it just splintered. Eventually, it was done, and she replaced the tools into the B&Q bag, padlocked the door and walked back through the woods to her car, knowing that no one could enter the barn until she returned.

Back at the station, she pretended to study something on her computer. At six, she stood up, yawned and said, ‘Just going to check a lead at the woods.’

‘Want me to come?’ Matt asked.

‘No, I’m due to knock off soon, so I’ll probably go home after and rest this jaw.’

Jonny was convinced that he’d done something wrong. Ana still hadn’t answered his text. She had acted weird after the dinner at Sandy and Ray’s, and he couldn’t understand why.

He’d gone over and over in his head the events of that evening and couldn’t remember anything that might have upset her. Had she regretted sharing her past with him? He was reluctant to call her. What if this was her way of pulling back? He knew he had fallen in love, but had he made a big mistake? Had he moved too fast? An email pinged into his inbox and he pushed Ana from his mind. He was on a deadline. He’d phone her later.

Sajid cycled to Tim’s house to try to get into the garage. Maybe he could tell Tim’s mum or her carer that he had a puncture. Hopefully, they’d let him into the garage to pump it up. He couldn’t break in. He didn’t have it in him to do that. At the house, Tim was loading up his van.

Careful that Tim didn’t see him, Sajid bent down to fiddle with his bicycle. He had to push the nail hard into the tyre to puncture it. ‘Oh no,’ he said, pushing the bike towards Tim.

‘You okay?’ called Tim.

‘I was going to the library and must have gone over a nail. I don’t suppose you’ve got a puncture kit?’

‘Sure. I think it’s in the garage. Come on in.’

Sajid followed Tim and looked around as Tim searched for the puncture kit. ‘It ought to be here somewhere,’ he muttered.

Sajid surreptitiously glanced around the well-ordered garage.

‘You know what?’ said Tim, making Sajid jump. ‘I think I left it in the shed. Hold on.’

Tim entered the house from the back of the garage. Sajid held his breath and then cautiously began looking around. He couldn’t see anything unusual and then spotted the rucksack on the floor in the far corner. He hurried over to it, listening for footsteps before unzipping it. He’d only moved a few things inside before he reeled back in shock at the sight of the shiny blade of the machete and the balaclava beneath it.

‘I’ve got it,’ called Tim.

Sajid pulled the zipper closed and almost fell in his haste to drop the bag.

‘Let me fix it for you,’ said Tim helpfully. ‘It’s only a temporary job, but it will get you home.’

Sajid stared at Tim’s back as he pumped up the tyre. Was he really looking at Laine’s murderer?

CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE

To say Ana was frightened would have been an understatement. She’d already made one mistake with Luke, but she had to do this alone. There was no one she could tell. Not yet. This was her revenge and hers alone. It was personal. The physical signs of fear were manifesting themselves on her body. She could smell the sweat from under her armpits. Her breath was bursting in and out of her chest like that of an asthmatic. Fuck. It was too warm to wear a police uniform, but she wanted as much equipment on her as possible.

What if he didn’t show? What the hell would she do then? She pulled her phone from her pocket. It was 6.45. He should be on the playing field or close to it.

Then, to her horror, she saw she had no phone signal. How could she have overlooked something so important? Damn it. She checked and double-checked everything, but it wasn’t easy because her hands shook so much. She needed to calm down. One mistake, and it could be the end for her.

A terrible thought entered her head. Should anything go wrong, Tim was bound to get the blame. Eventually, they’d discover he was The Vigilante, and he’d go down for everything. Oh God, she thought, her breath catching in her throat. If anything happens to me, he may well hand himself in. She should have told Jonny the whole truth. At least he could have saved Tim.

A slight crackle reached her ears, and Ana froze. The sound of footsteps trampling on the leaves drew closer.

Oh. My. God. He’s come.

Sajid just wanted to escape from Tim, but Tim was chattering about how pleased they were that Luke Carpenter had been arrested and that his mother had finally got justice for what had happened to her.

‘If it hadn’t been for Constable Rawlins…’ Tim said. ‘I can’t praise her enough. That’s the police doing their job properly. Of course, we know now why Carpenter didn’t do his properly.’

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