Page 41 of Her Hidden Shadow

Nancy opened her eyes, and her daughter placed a tray of coffee and toast on her bedside table. She rubbed her aching elbow and the side of her head. She’d come down on the earth hard last night. ‘Thanks.’ Fifi ran in yapping and dived on her bed, getting her claws caught in the crocheted bedspread.

‘I know you refused to go to A&E last night, but I really think you should ring your doctor and get checked out. The side of your face was bleeding.’

She shook her head. ‘No, I’m okay. It was just a stupid fall. I should have been more careful.’

Lauren stared right at her in disbelief. ‘I saw that message on your phone.’

Taking a deep breath, Nancy flinched and let out a faint ouch as she sat up in bed. The message. Scream Bitch. Scream. It must have shocked Lauren to the core to see that when she came out and found Nancy in such a state.

‘Mum, who sent you that message?’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ Fifi nudged her head under Nancy’s arm and began licking her neck. ‘You have enough on your plate without me adding to your stress. That message really isn’t anything to worry about. Why don’t you tell me how you are? Did you speak to your friends?’

Lauren nodded. ‘Yes, finally they both accepted my friend requests, and I called them. They’re both really shocked, and work know I won’t be in for a while, but the signal was bad both times. I got cut off. I also called the police to see if I could go back to the bungalow, but they said no. I know Robbie wasn’t who I thought he was. He was cheating on me, and he lied to me, but he and Sienna didn’t deserve what happened. I keep thinking about Dora. I’ve been like an aunt to that little girl. Robbie was her dad and he abandoned her. I don’t know how he could do something like that.’ Her daughter swallowed and sat on the bed. ‘But I loved him, Mum. I still do and I don’t know what I’m going to do without him. All I can think about is how I found Sienna. I feel dirty, like really dirty, I’ve never been that close to death before and when I saw you last night slumped over that rock and the blood…’ Tears slipped down Lauren’s cheeks. ‘I freaked out. I thought you were dead.’ She gasped for breath.

‘But I wasn’t. It’s all okay, I promise. That message was nothing and we’re fine. I’m glad you found Fifi. Come here, you little rascal.’ She kissed the dog’s head, then gently nudged Fifi away. She’d had enough of being licked, even though her kind little dog was only doing it out of love. Grabbing her cup of coffee, she took a sip. The hot liquid was most welcome. Last night, she’d felt a touch nauseous after the fall but now her appetite was returning, and she wanted nothing more than to sit alone eating and not have to explain the message to her daughter. It’s a good job she’d deleted the others otherwise Lauren would have the police over and she didn’t want to end up on their radar.

‘When I found you, you were mumbling and telling me to get away from you. At one point you begged me not to hurt you. Then you came round. Who did you think I was, Mum? I’m not going to shut up about the message either. Was someone there? Did someone hurt you? You need to tell me.’

Nancy shook her head. ‘No, it happened like I told you. I tripped over my slipper while looking for Fifi. I’m an idiot, that’s all. I saw that message and things were a bit muddled in my head. No one was there.’ She knew there had been a manly figure dressed in dark clothes. Whoever it was hadn’t stuck around. As soon as Lauren had called out for her, he fled.

‘Okay, I believe you. Who is the messenger? I keep thinking that whoever killed Sienna and Robbie will come for me, or even you. When I saw that message, I panicked.’

‘I told you it was nothing.’

‘How can you say that?’ Lauren sniffled.

The whole conversation was getting tedious. Her messenger had nothing at all to do with her daughter.

‘There’s something you’re not telling me. What is it?’ Lauren wiped her eyes with her dressing gown sleeve.

There was no point lying. Lauren could tell she was holding back. ‘I’ve been getting into trouble and I—’

‘What is it?’

‘You know the protests I’ve been attending?’

‘The environmental protests?’

She nodded. ‘We just want the water companies to stop dumping sewage into the rivers and seas.’

‘What have you done, Mum?’

She rubbed her sore head. ‘Oh, so many things. Too many to count but last week, I broke into a water company’s head office. I’m not mentioning any names. Do you know how much sewage they’ve pumped into the sea?’

‘Don’t deflect. I’m on your side but I don’t know if I’m going to like what you did. What was it, graffiti or a bit of vandalism?’

Nancy nodded. ‘That and more. I graffitied obscenities all over their glossy boardroom and I meant it. I was so angry. We took a shedload of bleach, mustard, garlic paste, old cheese, bags full of old veg peelings. Anything and everything we could get our hands on got ingrained into their offices, into their couches. We smeared them over everything, put things in the air conditioning system, poured bleach into all the computers. We wanted the place to stink and break, so they would get a feel for what they were doing to the sea.’

‘You say we. Who are the others?’

‘Just my friends, the other activists. Anyway, that’s why I can’t tell the police. They will link the destruction to me and, so far, I’m not even a suspect, which means I can carry on the good work.’

‘It’s not one of your friends, is it?’

‘No. Why would they send me messages like that when we’re all on the same side?’

‘Well, who then?’

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