Page 21 of The Girl in the Woods

Ana raised her eyebrows in surprise. ‘Is this part of your patch, then? I always thought Oxford was a posh place.’

Matt laughed. ‘Not all of it.’

‘Got a new mate?’ shouted a female voice.

Ana turned to see a young, pretty girl carrying a rubbish bag to the bins. ‘Yeah, I’m new,’ she called back. ‘DC Ana Rawlins.’

‘Is that right,’ said the girl, dumping the bag into a recycling bin. ‘Bit early to catch us, ain’t yer?’

Ana smiled, walking toward her. ‘Just exploring.’

‘Well, you’ve seen us now, so you can bugger off.’

The insult was like water off a duck’s back to Ana. She can’t be more than eighteen if she’s that, thought Ana, walking closer. Ana could now see the streaked mascara around the girl’s deep-set eyes and smell the faint odour of stale alcohol on her breath. ‘You don’t know the prick who owns that trail bike, do you?’ she asked.

The girl’s eyes widened and she turned to Matt. ‘Is she for real?’

Matt was too surprised to answer.

‘Nah, I don’t, but you’re right. He’s a pain in the arse, prick,’ she said to Ana. ‘Drives us fucking bonkers.’

Ana smiled. ‘If you do hear anything, can you let us know?’ She handed the girl her card.

‘Yeah, sure. Ta.’

‘Thanks…’ Ana deliberately hesitated.

‘Frankie,’ said the girl.

‘Great, well, you take care, Frankie.’

Matt followed her as she returned to where the panda was parked. ‘Making new friends?’ he asked.

Her steely eyes met his. ‘It’s the bastard pimps that use those girls you ought to be watching,’ she said and got into the car without another word.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SEVEN YEARS EARLIER

Anika hurried along the street. Her hands carrying the shopping bags were numb from the cold. Above her, the grey clouds were threatening snow.

‘Nippy, ain’t it?’ said Martha, her neighbour.

‘Going to get colder,’ said Anika. ‘They say snow is coming.’

‘Cheer us up, why don’t yer.’

Anika laughed and crossed the estate to her house, the shopping bags knocking against her legs as she walked. It would be good to be home and in the warm. I’ll unpack, she thought, and then I’ll go and check on Brenda and make sure she’s got some heating on.

When Brenda opened the door, Anika had to fight back a gasp. Brenda had lost even more weight. ‘Cold out today,’ she said, stepping into the hallway that needed a good vacuum. ‘Arthur at work?’

Brenda nodded. ‘I’m making dinner.’

Anika touched the radiator as she followed Brenda to the kitchen. It was stone cold. ‘Put the heating on, love,’ said Anika. ‘It’s bloody freezing.’

Brenda smiled. The word bloody coming from Anika’s lips in her Indian accent always sounded strange. ‘The electric heater is on in the living room.’

It seemed to take Brenda forever to walk to the kitchen. The state of the kitchen stopped Anika in her tracks. The rust-stained sink was full of dirty dishes. Anika glanced at the cluttered kitchen counters and began collecting half mugs of tea and empty beer bottles. ‘You sit down,’ said Anika. ‘I’ll put these in the recycle bin and then put the kettle on.’

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