Page 14 of The Girl in the Woods

Skinner, feeling more confident now, pretended to shudder. ‘Oh, I’m so scared,’ he said mockingly.

Maybe it was the hangover, the anniversary, or just the headache, but before Matt could react, she had Skinner pushed up against the wall of his room with his arm twisted behind his back.

‘Beth–’ began Matt, shocked.

‘DS Harper,’ she corrected before returning her attention to Skinner. ‘Now, listen carefully, you little turd. I’ve got a bloody awful headache, and you’re not helping it. You start showing some respect to your mum and the police, or next time I’ll break your arm, and if I hear any more complaints about your music, I’ll confiscate all the equipment you own, and that’s not a threat. It’s a promise.’

She released him, and Skinner fell, shaking, onto his bed.

‘This is fucking harassment; that’s what this is,’ he snarled. ‘I could do you for assault.’

‘Yeah, make my day,’ said Beth.

Matt followed Beth downstairs to where Mrs Skinner stood wringing her hands nervously. ‘I tried to tell him,’ she said.

‘We’ll be in touch with the RSPCA,’ said Beth. ‘These animals are being mistreated, and if either of you should suddenly remember who owns a trail bike, call the station.’

‘Bloody hell!’ exclaimed Matt as the door closed behind them. ‘That was a bit OTT, wasn’t it?’

‘No discipline anymore,’ she said, yanking open the car door.

‘Ah,’ said Matt, like that explained everything.

CHAPTER TEN

LAURIE

At seven months pregnant, Brenda began to worry about their finances. Charlie was hardly home, claiming to be working overtime, but there seemed to be less and less money coming in, and Brenda was concerned for their baby.

The cranky radiators barely gave out any heat, so Brenda had borrowed an electric heater from her mum, which Charlie would turn off as soon as he came home. ‘We’re not fucking made of money,’ he’d shout.

The money Brenda earned working as a cleaner at the Co-op hardly brought in a fortune, and she knew that would have to stop once the baby came. The night Brenda confronted her husband about money was the worst night she could have chosen. Charlie, having just lost on the horses and fuelled by cocaine and booze, had given Brenda the beating of her life. He’d hit her before. A slap here and a slap there, but Brenda had put it down to Charlie being stressed about money. This time, it was different. This time, it wasn’t just a slap.

‘Don’t you dare ask me about my business or my whereabouts,’ he’d yelled while his fists rained down on her pregnant body. Brenda had shielded her unborn baby as best she could, taking the beatings to her face, arms and back while begging him to stop.

‘The baby,’ she’d pleaded. ‘Please, our baby.’

There was blood. Brenda felt it flow down her face and tasted the metallic liquid as it ran into her mouth.

‘That fucking baby,’ he’d screamed. ‘It’s all you fucking talk about.’

Charlie had stormed from the house, leaving his bleeding pregnant wife lying on their living room floor. Brenda had crawled to the phone and called Anika.

The sound of her pregnant friend begging for help had made Anika sick to her stomach. ‘Dil, phone for an ambulance,’ she’d called to her husband. ‘Charlie’s gone too far. I’m going round.’

‘No,’ he shouted. ‘Not on your own. Not while that bastard is still there.’

‘He’s gone,’ said Anika, hurrying from the house.

Brenda was barely conscious when Anika arrived. Blood flowed from her ears, and her eyes were so puffy that Anika barely recognised her.

‘Oh my God, what has he done to you?’

Brenda opened her swollen lips to speak but realised she was unable to.

‘You’re going to be fine,’ Anika said gently, stroking Brenda’s forehead. ‘So is the baby.’

Dil stood in the doorway, fuming. He wanted to beat the shit out of Charlie, but the coward had legged it.

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