Page 121 of The Girl in the Woods

Sajid shook his head and Jassy sighed with relief.

‘Anyway, Tim doesn’t have the kind of money that Laine was spending. I think we should phone Sergeant Rawlins. I’ve got her number. She’s all right, she is.’

Sajid shook his head. ‘We need to think about it.’

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

Ana struggled not to hyperventilate. Her pulse was racing, and she could hear it thrashing in her ears. The footsteps grew closer and then stopped.

Ana wiped her sweaty palm on her trousers, took the hypodermic from her pocket, and grasped it tightly. Please don’t let me drop it, she prayed. She fought back the vomit that threatened to surge violently from her oesophagus.

‘Ana,’ said a voice that sent a chill through her.

She opened the creaky door.

‘Couldn’t we have done this somewhere more civilised?’ he asked. ‘Or is this more what you’re used to.’

His scathing words were the final slap in the face, his way of gaining control over her again by making her feel small and insignificant. His hand slid into his pocket. She panicked. Had he not done that, she might have been more gentle. Instead, she stabbed the needle deeply and viciously into his neck. He cried out and staggered in shock.

‘Jesus, what the fuck was that?’ he said, panicking, his hand flying to where she’d injected him.

‘Rohypnol,’ she said and was surprised at how calm her voice sounded. ‘Sorry I couldn’t offer it to you in a glass of water, but it works quicker this way.’

His eyes filled with fear and he went to lift an arm to hit her, but she backed away.

‘I’ve researched the drug. That was a fairly high dose,’ she said, aiming her taser at him. ‘I don’t think the taser and the drug combined would be pleasant. So, if I were you, I’d do exactly as I ask. Sit in the chair.’

‘Bitch,’ he slurred, the drug starting to affect his body.

Ana pointed to the old chair in the middle of the room. He just made it before losing control of his muscles.

‘Now you know what it feels like,’ she said triumphantly, grabbing the B&Q bag. Her hands weren’t even trembling. How could that be?

She waited patiently with the taser on him until he almost flopped forward and fell from the chair. Pushing him back, she carefully and methodically removed the cable ties from the bag and used them to tie his hands in front of his chest. Then she tied his legs. Just to be sure, she used another cable tie to loop them together. He was now slumped forward in the chair, unable to move.

‘I could do anything I want with you,’ she whispered into his ear. ‘But I’m going to wait until you come round because I don’t want you to miss anything.’

Ana then sat on the floor opposite the chair and stared at Ray Grace.

It was impossible to deny his handsomeness. Wasn’t that what had appealed to her all those years ago? He was older now, of course. There were streaks of grey in his hair that she hadn’t noticed before, but then she’d been too panicky to look too closely at him. Slowly, she stood up and approached his slumped body. A slight tremor of fear washed over her. Visions of him pulling free and grabbing her around the throat made her hesitate for a second. Realising she was being stupid, she slowly and carefully went through his pockets.

The sharp blade nicked her finger, and she removed the Stanley knife and his mobile phone. She could tell it was an expensive jacket, and the urge to slash it with the knife was hard to suppress. The other pocket held his wallet and a bottle of Rohypnol. Two great minds think alike; she thought and smiled at the irony. If he was really on the level, the wallet should contain £20,000.

Ana opened it to find two credit cards, a driver’s licence and a £20 note. He had no intention of paying her anything. He was intending to finish her off like he did Laine. Now, she was really pissed off.

After pushing his thumb onto the phone and seeing it magically open, she sat back on the floor and began going through his messages, emails and photos. If he’d ever exchanged messages with Laine Lees, he had deleted them.

The images were innocent enough: photos of him and Sandy at after-conference parties, pictures of their child, holiday photos and images of them with Beth. He had albums for everything: Holidays, Family, Friends, Zoe and Work. She could imagine him being very organised. She fiddled with the phone while waiting for him to wake up. Suddenly, she found herself in a file marked ‘hidden’. She eagerly clicked into it only to find it was password protected.

‘Fuck,’ she muttered.

Then he groaned. She looked up, and his eyes met hers.

He struggled with the cable ties, cursing her the whole time, but they were too tight, and he was too weak.

‘You only brought £20,’ she said, sounding insulted.

He saw she’d emptied his pockets. ‘I haven’t done anything wrong,’ he said, struggling against the ties. ‘Why should I pay you £20,000?’

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