Page 65 of The Serial Killer's Sister
My eyes feel like they’re the size of golf balls, my lids swollen with tears. I shake my head. ‘I had no clue, either, Serena. And I’m the one who should’ve.’
Her brow creases. ‘I know now isn’t the time, but I think we’ll need to have a full and frank conversation soon.’
‘Oh, Serena – what a mess.’ I sweep an arm around her. ‘How are we going to explain all this? There are two dead people in a well, seventeen years apart – one of whom is a detective inspector – and I’m responsible for both, in different ways.’ The repercussions are beyond my comprehension and a wave of panic crashes over me.
‘Breathe, Anna. Come on, we’ve not survived a madman only for you to die of a heart attack.’
‘How can you be so calm?’ I gasp. Maybe, I realise, it’s because now the immediate danger is over, she knows she’s the innocent party in all of this and there are no criminal consequences for her.
There are plenty for me.
I have the uncontrollable urge to leave now. I start walking towards the path between the trees that we came through.
‘Wait up, Anna. Shouldn’t we stay a while longer to, you know … to make sure?’
‘What, you think he’ll come back to life, like in theScreammovies?’
‘It would be your luck.’
She has a point. I move to her side and together, we both lean over and stare down into the black hole again. I absently rub at my wrists to relieve some of the stiffness and stinging.
‘It’s over,’ I say, tears clogging my throat. I bend to pick up Dean’s gun, then toss it in the hole. ‘Let’s go.’ I turn my back on the well. Turn my back on the past, once again.
Thiswillbe the last time. No one else will come after me, because there’s no one left to care.
Chapter 46
As we make our way to the cars, shadows lend the woodland an eeriness that makes my skin creep with a feeling like we’re being watched. But there’s no one left to observe us now. Serena’s arm loops through mine and we stumble over the uneven ground in a subdued silence. We’re each trying to process the past few hours in our own way.
Seeing the cars side by side forces me to face uncomfortable questions. The immediate danger is over; Dean is no longer a risk to us. But what we’ve done – what I’ve done – is. I might’ve got away with my life, got away with the death of my childhood friend up until now, but with a dead detective in the mix, how long will that last? My life has already flashed in front of my eyes once today, and now it does so again.
‘The key’s in the ignition,’ Serena says, ducking inside Dean’s Audi. ‘What are we going to do with it?’
‘We can’t leave it here to be found,’ I say. ‘If this is the last known location of his vehicle, they’re bound to searchthis entire area. It won’t take much to figure out his body is in the well.’ My heart flutters furiously at the thought of him being found and, worse, what lies beneath him. I can’t have gone through all of this only to be thrown into prison. I give Serena a pleading look. ‘If maybe you drive it somewhere else, I’ll follow, then we can dump it and I’ll take us home?’
‘Why can’t we simply tell the police he was the real killer – the one that they’ve been after? This was self-defence, Anna.’
‘Yes,thiswas,’ I say. ‘He might be the person responsible for the murders of five women – but he’s not responsible for the death of the girl they’ll unearth at the same time.’
‘Look, I know you’ve got a lot of explaining still to do, but I know you, Anna – and I know full well that whatever happened here all those years ago can have been nothing more than a horrific accident. Surely between us we can formulate a feasible story where his sister’s death can be pinned on him, too? The police are more likely going to believe us given what they’re going to find out about one of their own detectives. Or we say it was your brother who killed Kirsty, Dean killed him in revenge, then went mad and started targeting you.’
‘What if they don’t believe it, though? Think about it, Serena – all we have is what Dean told us. His confession was to us – and there’s no evidence of it. As he said, the only evidence at the scenes of the murders is what Dean made sure was there. And all of that pointed to Henry, not him. I’m not even sure the timings of your suggestion match up and without Henry’s body, there’s unlikely to be a smidgen of proof that successfully ties Dean to any of this.’
‘Heabductedme, Anna. He bound the both of us. There’ll be evidence of that.’ Serena’s eyes are wild, determined. Is she right? ‘Of course, that does entail us reporting it straight away.’ She draws in a deep breath, then releases it forcefully.
‘I can’t …’ I struggle to catch my breath, anxiety crushing my lungs as the options swim around in my head. I lean against my car, breathe slowly until I recover my composure. ‘I’m not certain enough to take the risk.’
‘Once we move his vehicle, the opportunity to go down the self-defence route will be lost, though, Anna. There’s no way it’ll look like we’re innocent if we drive his car away from here.’
‘Yes, you’re right. Whatever decision we make now will impact us forever, either way.’
And I know this to be true, because my life changed completely the last time I was in this cursed place.
Chapter 47
THEN
They stare at each other in horror, the reality of what’s just happened plastered on their faces.
