Page 44 of Her Hidden Shadow

‘It’s either here or at the caravan. My collection is all over the place. Yes, I’ll have a look.’ She left the room and hurried up the two flights of stairs. A few moments later she returned. ‘It’s at the caravan, it has to be as I can’t find it with my others in the wardrobe. I’m sure I left it there.’

Gina glanced at DI Collier. When she and Wyre searched through the scarves at the caravan, there was no blue flowery scarf there at all. Gerard Hale was still firmly in the picture for the murder of Sienna and Robbie.

Thirty-Two

Tiffany

With a fuzzy brain, Tiffany went into the kitchen and reached into the cupboard for her diazepam, but it wasn’t there. She ran into the living room and the bathroom, but again, her tablets were nowhere to be seen. Last night, Kieron put the tablets away. Her hands began to shake. She needed her tablets now. All night, she’d lain awake with rushing thoughts and palpitations. All she wanted was for her skin to stop crawling and her innards to stop partying away. She grabbed her phone and punched out a message.

Where the hell are my tablets?

The reply came back instantly, like he was waiting for her message.

Please, Tiff. I’m worried about you. I have them here. I can’t risk a repeat of yesterday. I love you so much. Please understand. I am so scared of coming home and finding you dead one day. When I get home, we’ll book an appointment with the doctor. This needs sorting. I’ve left you a healthy fruit salad in the fridge. XXX

Fruit salad! That was meant to help in this situation. Right now, she hated Kieron. Her heart rate was through the roof and her stomach was churning away like nothing she’d ever experienced. For the past hour, she’d been in and out the loo like she had a stomach bug. Her irritable bowel was playing up like never before and now she couldn’t even take a chill pill for her anxiety.

She ran to the door to check that the chain was on. It was. Kieron’s alarm had gone off about six. While she still lay awake, he’d quietly got dressed and left after kissing her goodbye and telling her that he loved her. She clenched her fists. Around that time, he probably had her tablets in his bag. As she’d finally drifted off a sense of peace filled her, but that was short-lived.

Tiff, are you eating the fruit salad? Love you. X

She hurried back to the kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled out the bowl of berries. Lifting it up, she went to hurl the fruit at the wall but then she took a deep breath. Slowly she placed the bowl on the worktop and burst into a huge sobbing mess. Tears fell and her nose began to fill. Kieron was wrong to take her tablets, but she could see where he was coming from now that the red mist was clearing. He loved her and he’d left her a healthy meal and sent her such a loving message. What was wrong with her? She would eat the berries but not yet, not until her stomach had calmed down. Right now, she would have nothing but water and sit in front of the television until the jitteriness subsided. With every step, she felt a deep muscular ache, like her whole body was made of lead. She slumped into her chair and pressed the remote.

The look on Kieron’s face the night before flashed through her mind. She had hurt him for a second time. No longer did she know or trust herself. That horrible dream was a message. It was her brain trying to unlock the memories of all the bad things she’d done. She swigged her water and spilled a few drops on her pyjama top. She shivered as the cold water reached her skin.

Last night, her mind showed her that she had walked to Lauren’s on the night of Sienna’s murder. She had been there, so why couldn’t she remember it properly? Why was her brain only giving her cryptic snippets? The fog wasn’t lifting. She slammed the glass down on the coffee table and screamed into a cushion repeatedly until she was dizzy.

Her phone rang. It was Kieron. There was no way she could speak to him at this moment. She let her answerphone pick it up. When she calmed down, she’d drop him a message. She didn’t want him to leave work to check on her. His boss wouldn’t be pleased as it had happened too often. Breathe in, breathe out, she kept telling herself as her stomach growled.

The local news flashed up on the TV screen. She turned the volume up and stared at it intently until the newsreader finished speaking. They were looking for a woman who was seen close to Lauren’s bungalow on the night of the murder. They described a blonde woman wearing pyjamas with lemons printed on them. Her mind flashed back to Kieron bleeding after she hurt him, then it darted to Lauren and a whirl of other thoughts, jumbled and not making sense. Her feet had been gritty on the night of Sienna’s murder. She was now certain she had been standing on Bell Road.

All the bad things happening had to be down to her attacker. He was playing with her mind, and she was certain he was enjoying every moment. He must have seen her there because, however much she thought she could hurt someone, she knew she wasn’t capable of murder. With weak, trembling legs, she crept to the front door and checked the chain again. It was still on. She glanced through the kitchen door. The panic button was on the table. She crept towards the kitchen window and peered out. A man walked past and grinned at her, then another did the same. Then another followed. They were everywhere. After rubbing her eyes, the men had gone. There were no men. She fell to the floor and hugged her knees, wishing it would all stop, then she scratched at her neck and chest.

Maybe she should call the police, or an ambulance. She felt so ill. Or should she shut up and remain still until Kieron returned? The men weren’t real. Her mind was playing tricks on her. Maybe there was just one grinning man or none. There may have been no one. She shook her head frantically. There was definitely one. While her attacker was still out there, he would always be in her mind. He never left, ever. It was like he’d crawled under her skin and was living in her body, battling to take her mind for his own. Not content with attacking her and nearly killing her, he wanted to drive her insane.

She wondered if she should call the police and confess to being outside Lauren’s bungalow on the night of the murder. She couldn’t remember anything, but she had been there. How many other women could be out and barefoot on that night? She glanced down at the exact pyjamas the news reporter had described, and she traced one of the lemons with her index finger.

Her phone rang again, and her hands began to tremble with relief as she remembered that she’d dropped a tablet in her bag about a month ago. She’d have to turf out all the old tissues and bits of make-up, but it was in there somewhere. After running to the kitchen, she grabbed her bag from the chair and began tipping it upside down. Knees digging into the cold floor, she rummaged through the clutter until her fingers fell upon not only a tablet but a whole strip of them.

On standing, the shock of what she saw made her chest tighten. She gasped for breath as she came face to face with a man in a balaclava at the kitchen window. Her attacker was back.

Thirty-Three

Gina held on to the passenger seat as DI Collier took a corner faster than expected. She doubted that Sullivan would approve of his driving right now. As soon as Briggs called her with the news that Tiffany Crawford had pressed her panic button, they were on their way. Collier pulled up behind the police car that was parked up on the road outside the block of flats. PC Smith and another officer were already searching around the area. Gina hurried out of the car and ran towards them, wasting no time waiting for DI Collier. ‘What happened?’

PC Smith held his side and took a few deep breaths before speaking while the other officer continued searching the bushes to the side of the building. ‘We arrived about ten minutes ago. Mrs Crawford said that a man wearing a balaclava was staring through her window, that’s when she pressed the button. We’ve searched the building and down a few side streets, but we haven’t seen anyone around. If he scarpered when the button was pressed, he could be anywhere by now, especially if he had a car parked up in another street. She’s shaken, but we haven’t had time to properly speak to her yet.’

‘That’s okay, we’ll do that now. Keep looking. Can you please arrange for a few officers to assist with knocking on neighbours’ doors. One of them might have seen this person acting suspiciously or hanging around, or they may have seen which direction he ran in. Also organise for an officer to remain outside these flats for the foreseeable. She needs more than drive-bys. Given all that is happening, we need to ensure her safety. Have the downstairs flats got back doors?’

DI Collier joined her and began punching out a message, no doubt keeping Sullivan fully updated. He glanced up as if scrutinising how Gina was handling the situation before continuing with his message.

‘No, so that’s less of a worry.’ PC Smith hurried back towards the other officer and then began talking on his radio.

‘What has Tiffany Crawford got to do with the case? I was rushed in this morning, so I’m not fully up to date. The super has filled me in on the two murders, and I know that DS Driscoll and Gerard Hale are the main suspects. I’ve read those case notes.’ DI Collier waited for her to explain.

She almost shuddered at those words mentioned together – DS Driscoll and suspect. ‘A few years ago, Tiffany was attacked in her own home. Her attacker weirdly stabbed her in the back of the neck with an earring at the scene and then attempted to strangle her with her scarf.’

‘I see, that’s why you asked Ms Hale about the scarf?’

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