SIX
It was a teenage boy whom Morgan had gone into the lake to retrieve, his body cold and wet. His pale face illuminated in the torchlight, he looked as if he was asleep. Ben had to fight the urge to shake his shoulders to try to wake him up. The lake water had washed most of the blood away from his face, but the gaping wound to the side of his head that showed pieces of white bone fragments from his skull poking through made Ben, who had seen every unimaginable thing possible, feel queasy.
As annoyed as he was with Morgan for risking her life to bring the boy in, he was also proud of her. She really was fearless, reckless and everything he could never be. The fact that she didn’t even pause to think of the dire consequences of her going into that icy-cold water had humbled him. She was on her way to the hospital to get checked out – he had insisted this time. She hadn’t argued, which was a little bit of a worry for him, as normally she’d refuse, but he could tell she was too cold, her lips blue, and chattering teeth had taken away her voice.
Cain, who had pleaded with Ben to let him come back to work, arrived with Marc. Ben was worried about Cain on a friendship level not just as his boss. He knew all too well the grief that he would carry around with him for the rest of hislife. Angela hadn’t died at her own hands, she had been killed, which didn’t make it easier, just a little less to blame yourself for, because wasn’t that what we did when we lost someone we loved? Be doomed to spend the rest of our lives feeling guilty for something we could not control, but that your mind in those darkest hours tried to convince you otherwise. He’d been on a downward spiral after Cindy had died, and if Morgan hadn’t come along, he thought that he too could be lying in a cold grave next to Cindy. Snapping himself out of it, he knew he needed to focus on the present. The shock of finding a body when they hadn’t expected to wasn’t lost on Ben.
This left another missing teenager. The fog was lifting but the far side of the lake wasn’t clear yet. They were going to have to get search and rescue out here as soon as it lifted, and a dive team, to search for the other body. Ben desperately hoped the girl had managed to run and hide like Tori. He cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled at the top of his voice.
‘Scarlett, it’s the police. Are you out there?’
His voice echoed around the side of the fell until it faded away. They had searched the area as best as they could with the visibility being so poor. Amos had led him to the overturned boat and then they had gone back to search every nook and cranny of the crumbling building that Tori had been found in. They were limited because of the fog, it was hampering the search, which Ben found frustrating beyond belief, but the scene was secured and nobody was getting on or off this fell unless they were a part of the investigative team.
‘Boss.’ Cain’s hand gently clenched his shoulder, making Ben start a little. He turned to face him. ‘It’s cold out here, we’ve searched for the suspect and secured the scene the best that we can in this fog. Do you want to get inside, get a warm drink, go check on Morgan?’
‘I don’t know.’
Cain smiled at him. ‘We need to set up a command centre or something because it’s far too cold and damp to be standing around in these conditions, Ben. What about the caretaker, will he let us use his kitchen or lounge, do you think?’
Ben thought about it. ‘We need to search his house anyway. He could have the girl, I mean he seemed okay and genuine, but I don’t know where else she could be. If she was out here and alive, wouldn’t she be screaming for our help?’
‘I don’t know, boss, it’s bad out here. Jesus, the poor lad. What happened, did he fall and hit his head on rocks or something?’ Cain was hovering over the body, blue nitrile gloves on his hands, his white crime-scene suit rustling with every movement.
Ben realised he should be suited up, but this had taken the most unexpected turn. It had gone from a missing persons case to murder, well in his opinion it was murder. The forensic pathologist would be the one to confirm it, but somehow, he thought that Declan would agree with him a hundred per cent.
He had scoured the area around this side of the lake with a torch looking for bloodied rocks and found none, no pooling blood, no sign of an accident. The boy hadn’t slipped and fallen, that much was clear. The question burning away in Ben’s mind was who the hell had been out here at the same time as three teenagers on a ghost hunt in the middle of a lonely fell, when the visibility was practically zero? It didn’t make any sense whatsoever. The mist had cleared a lot compared to when they first arrived, thankfully, making it easier to search, but Ben couldn’t shift the feeling of the hairs on the back of his neck all standing on edge. He felt as if they were being watched, but by who? Amos had gone back to his cottage. Right now he was their star witness along with Tori, but Ben knew it could change at any point and he might become their suspect. Which would make him sad, as the guy was sound, and he didn’t come acrossas a raging psychopath, but maybe he’d snapped when he’d heard the kids messing around where they shouldn’t be. Things happened, he just hoped he could find Scarlett alive. It would be too devastating for everyone if she was already dead.
SEVEN
‘It’s open.’
Cain had hammered on the door. He shrugged at Ben. ‘He’s expecting us.’ Pushing it open, they stepped inside, and the warm air wrapped itself around Ben’s shoulders like a warm hug. The cottage walls needed a fresh coat of paint, and there were scuff marks all along where Shep had brushed his muddy flanks against it. There was a thick layer of dust along the small table too. A lamp with a broken shade that barely lit the hallway enough for them to see was balanced on the edge, and Ben had an urge to push it on but this wasn’t his house.
‘In the kitchen, straight down,’ Amos’s voice echoed down the passageway.
Cain spoke in as hushed a tone as he could manage, ‘What if he’s waiting for us with a ball-pein hammer?’
Ben glared at him, but the thought now took up valuable space in his mind. He shook his head to clear it away. ‘Amos, it’s Ben and Cain.’
‘I know, I saw you heading this way and put the kettle on.’
He popped his head around the door frame as Shep wandered out to greet them, gave them a sniff and lay down as if to saythey’re good.
Ben leaned down to give him a pat on the head. He wasn’t as much of a dog person as Morgan was, he wasn’t a cat person either really, but they’d had no choice in that matter after Des had been murdered. Someone had to look after his cat, Kevin, and Morgan had convinced him it was the right thing to do. Plus, cats were easy, they only required food and warmth, they didn’t give a shit if you were home or not as long as they had something to eat.
He straightened up and followed Cain into the kitchen. It was much brighter and dust free in here, old-fashioned yes, but homely, much to Ben’s relief. Amos was putting mugs of coffee onto a well-worn pine table, along with a plate of custard creams, which made Cain’s eyes light up. He was easily bought with a packet of biscuits, all his worries of being taken out by a hammer-wielding maniac banished in an instant.
Ben smiled at Amos. ‘Much appreciated, thank you.’
‘Help yourself to milk and sugar, there’s more biscuits in the cupboard. Any luck finding the other girl?’
‘Not yet, the mist is lifting a bit, but still not enough to give us a clear view of the area.’
‘Well, you can take a look around the house when you’re ready. The outhouses aren’t padlocked; there’s two stone sheds and a wooden log store.’
Ben nodded at him, feeling his cheeks get a little warm. ‘Thank you, it’s procedure that’s all, we just have to tick it off our list.’
‘I know, wouldn’t be doing your job if you didn’t at least have a search of the nearest buildings. I’m happy for you to do that, I have nothing to hide and if you find her in one of them, I’ll be as relieved, not to mention as surprised, as the pair of you.’
