It should have ended there. His mum had been working at that school for nearly four years by then, and Rose should have trusted her. But instead, he told her that she couldn’t just leave on a whim. That she needed to clear it with her manager. Then he wanted the name of her manager, so he could check she followed his instruction. But his mum was confused by then, dehydrated, exhausted, and the name wouldn’t come to her. And that bastard looked all triumphant, like his superior brainpower had exposed Sean’s mum as a lazy, lying scam artist.
And then she was sick on the floor.
Rose looked horrified, not sympathetic. Lizzie looked ashamed, not redeemed.
And Sean had the strongest urge to kill them both.
He settled on Rose. Got up in his face, told him what he thought of him. Ignored his mum when she begged him not to use those kinds of words. Then that prick of a teacher got a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his cheek. As though Sean had been spitting on him, and he didn’t want to be infected by scum.
Sean knew he couldn’t control himself after that, so he took off. It was the right decision, but when he finally got home, their neighbour told him that Lizzie had taken herself off to the hospital. And she didn’t come home for another three weeks. And when she did, it was with a bunch of pills and a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Rose was his sworn enemy after that. And as it’s turned out since, the teacher seems to have a surprising capacity for hate himself.
And now his wife is tied up in Sean’s flat.
He knows what his mum would think of that, how she’d bawl him out, but what about the other dead female in his life?
Amber would love it of course. He can almost see her eyes lighting up with the drama of it. He smiles at the image.
Is he sad that she’s dead? It’s hard to say.
There was a time when he liked her hanging around him. When things were difficult at home, his mum getting skinnier by the day, nurses and carers all expecting him to do his bit, when he didn’t have a clue how. And him trying to impress the right people, to find ways to make money without being shafted like his mum had been. It was good to be someone’s hero. But she let him down big time last summer – or at least her sister did – and then just two months after his mum died, the greedy bitch stole from him.
The pipe is empty now and Sean is properly wasted.
His mum’s gone. Caden’s probably in hospital snitching on Sean as soon as his jaw’s fixed. He can’t even remember what he said to him, but he knows he was rambling about Amber. Maybe Jess too. So the feds will come after him.
But he’s not run out of road yet. Business has been good lately, so he’s got cash. Plus, he knows people now who’ll be able to get him off the feds’ radar.
And Rose’s wife is tied up in the next room. Maybe she’s a final gift from Amber.
He’ll sort her, and then he’ll be gone.
AFTER
Monday 13th May
Milla
Milla makes eye contact with the school receptionist. She needs to find a balance between friendly and assertive if she’s going to get what she wants. It worked with Felix – convincing him to lend her his ancient Fiesta – but she had more collateral with him. Like bringing up his snogging session with Ava behind the old railway carriages. Fucking Ava, for Christ’s sake.
‘It’s a family emergency,’ she explains to the older woman with pencilled eyebrows and an electric blue streak in her hair. ‘Mum asked me to pick Lucy up. Can you get a message to her?’ She squeezes out a tear. ‘Please?’
As soon as the detectives left, Milla announced that she needed some fresh air, and escaped the house without having to make eye contact with her dad. She phoned her mum from a few metres down the road, but her mobile went straight through to voicemail, and her office said she hadn’t been in. So now Milla is trying the other person who might know the truth. The girl who’s been suffering the most from all of this.
‘From the timetable it looks like Lucy is in a biology lesson. I’ll pop down to the science block and get her; you wait here.’
A few minutes later, the receptionist reappears with Lucy trailing behind. Her face is ashen white, and Milla feels a pang of regret for the family emergency line that she ran with. ‘Hey, Luce, I’ve got Felix’s car, come on.’ She turns her back before Lucy has the chance to ask her anything, but she can sense her sister following so doesn’t slow her pace. She parked in the leisure centre car park next door, so it’s an awkward five minutes as they cross the school grounds to reach it.
‘What’s going on?’ Lucy asks as they sink into the threadbare seats.
Milla swallows, prepares herself for the question she needs to ask. The truth that she needs to know for anything – everything – else to make sense. ‘Did you kill Amber, Luce?’
‘What? You can’t actually think I’m capable of murder?’ There’s a mix of shock and hurt in Lucy’s voice.
‘It wasn’t murder though, was it? Just one hit that led to her dying. And I wouldn’t blame you, not with all the fucking shit she put you through.’
‘But when have you ever seen me do anything violent? Even once?’
‘Well, in that video for starters.’
‘That wasn’t a fight … hang on, what do you mean “for starters”?’
Milla pushes the heel of her hands against the steering wheel, stretches out her fingers. ‘When I got back from the party, and Mum said you were missing, I knew you’d gone to meet Amber,’ she starts, the rest of the explanation feeling sticky on her tongue. ‘I didn’t tell Mum and Dad about it, but I went straight to the railway line where she’d asked you to meet her. There was no one there – not surprising because it was past eleven by then – but I saw two sets of footprints heading up towards the Ridgeway.’
‘Amber went up that way, but I didn’t,’ Lucy whispers. ‘There can only have been one set.’
Milla knows what she saw; and she had her dad’s torch with her, so the two sets of fresh footprints were high-definition clear. ‘Maybe,’ she murmurs. ‘But then I did see you. A little while later.’
‘Saw me where?’ Lucy asks. ‘Why didn’t you talk to me?’
‘Because you were covered in blood.’ Milla says it quietly, but the sound bounces around the constricted space. ‘And out of breath. You were rummaging through a black bin liner outside the charity shop. I saw you take a T-shirt out, and a jumper, then go to the churchyard and change into it.’
‘You followed me there too?’ Lucy’s voice is vague now, almost dreamy.
‘I watched you get changed, then throw your top and jacket away,’ Milla goes on. ‘Afterwards, when Mum had found you and taken you home, I took them out of the bin. They were so bloodstained. And the church bin was a properly shit hiding place,’ she adds, ‘so I took them up to Kiln Lakes. Chucked them in with some rocks. I got blood on my own jacket too, so that had to go in with them.’
‘You thought my clothes were covered in Amber’s blood?’ Lucy asks. ‘That I’d hurt her that badly?’ Her voice softens. ‘But you got rid of them anyway,’ she reflects. ‘To protect me.’
