Page 12 of The Girl in the Woods

‘Never been here at night?’ Matt smiled, taking in Beth’s expression at the girls hanging out on the corner of the street in their short skirts and laddered tights, touting for punters.

‘Can’t say a night visit to Ludbrook Grove was on my bucket list.’ She grinned.

‘It’s on my patch, so I’ve had the pleasure. Can’t see it in all its best points in the dark.’ Matt smiled, climbing from the car.

‘When you say you’ve had the pleasure. I’m presuming you don’t mean literally,’ she said, nodding at the girls.

‘Do I look that desperate?’ he asked, affronted.

‘I bet they egg you on, though, a good-looking lad like you.’

‘I feel sorry for them. It’s a rough start in life, and no one bothers to help them or highlight the problem. They have their banter with me. I don’t mind. Let me show you Ludbrook Grove in all its glory.’

‘I can see enough,’ said Beth, taking in the piles of rubbish.

‘You’re not nicking us tonight, are you, sweetie?’ called one of the girls.

‘More important things to do,’ replied Matt.

‘Aw, more important than us?’ The girl pouted.

‘I’m afraid so.’

‘Let’s stroll around and see if we can spot a trail bike,’ Beth said, tripping over something on the ground and wobbling slightly. Matt’s hand steadied her. She realised that any other time, he wouldn’t have needed to do that. I’ve got to stop drinking, she thought. Could Matt smell the alcohol on her breath?

‘What the hell was that?’ she said, shining her torch onto the ground. She’d tripped over an empty beer can. Beside it were cigarette butts and used hypodermic needles.

‘Not again,’ exclaimed Matt.

Beth sighed. ‘We need to contact social services.’

Matt shrugged. ‘I’ve already done it. You know how it is. Cutbacks everywhere.’

‘I don’t give a shit about cutbacks. Get onto them first thing.’

‘Right,’ he said, looking at her oddly.

Beth let her shoulders sag and felt the tension ease slightly. ‘Sorry,’ she said quietly. ‘Not a good day.’

‘I know,’ he replied softly. Matt shone his torch on a garage that read ‘Benson’s Repairs.’

‘No sign of a trail bike here,’ he said. ‘It could be inside, of course.’

A cat scurried from behind a bin, making Beth jump.

‘Be grateful it wasn’t a rat.’ Matt smiled.

Beth shuddered. ‘You’re really cheering me up tonight, aren’t you?’

From across the street, loud music blared out from an open window. Beth crossed the road and entered the garden, carefully stepping around a broken satellite dish. The doorbell didn’t seem to work, or she didn’t hear it over the sound of Harry Styles.

Matt looked at her and then hammered on the door. Through the door’s glass panels, they saw the light go on in the hallway, and then the door was opened just enough for Beth to glimpse through the crack into a cluttered hallway.

‘Who is it?’ a woman asked.

‘Police,’ said Beth, pushing her ID through the gap.

‘What’s the problem?’

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