Page 141 of Serenity Falls

Dream a little dream of me.

For some reason a chill snakes down her back. The windows of the ice-cream van are dark. She can’t see if there’s anyone inside. No one is queuing for cones. The van simply sits there, music tinkling out in that tinny, distorted way.

She swallows. It’s stupid, irrational, but she doesn’t want to walk past it. So, instead of turning towards home, she walks in the opposite direction, away from the town. She tells herself she’ll double back when the van is out of sight.

At the corner of the street, she glances back. The ice-cream van has pulled off, heading in the same direction as her. She walks a little faster, crosses the road and takes a left along another residential street. She can hear the tinny music behind her. Okay. She stops and waits for the van to pass.

She looks back. It’s stopped the exact same distance away. Panic starts to clog her chest. She hurries along, thinks about knocking on the door of one of the houses, but what’s she going to say – I’m being stalked by an ice-cream van? Plus, the residential streets are starting to dribble out, replaced by business premises and apartments. And there’s still no one else about. The tarmac wavers under the glare of the sun and the white buildings shimmer in the heat, like a mirage.

She spots a set of pedestrian lights ahead. She hurries up to them and hits the button even though there’s no traffic. The van crawls towards her. The lights change to red. The van slows and stops. Sadie takes her chance and sprints down the street and around the next corner. There’s an alleyway between two apartment buildings on her left. She darts in and crouches down behind a large green industrial bin.

She hears the music from the van grow louder as it drives past and then slowly fade away. She waits, trying to breathe through her mouth to avoid the sour smell of the rubbish bin. Eventually, she can’t hear the music any more. She straightens and walks to the entrance of the alleyway. She pokes her head out and peers up and down the street. Empty. The ice-cream van has gone.

She lets out a breath. Shit. Sweat coats her body, her clothes are sticking to her like clingfilm. What the freaking fuck was all that about? She steps out of the alleyway. She doesn’t even know where the hell she is. She gets out her phone to call her dad. It goes to voicemail. Jesus. Of course. Just perfect.

She looks around. Across the road is a two-storey building painted tastefully in light grey with bright flowers in tubs outside. A sign hanging above the door reads: Serenity Funeral Care – here for you in your time of need. There’s a second door a little further along. A much smaller sign reads: Coroner’s Office and Morgue.

Stella. Her van is parked in a bay outside the building. She could go and talk to her, Sadie thinks. Maybe even call Dad from there. Get him to come and pick her up.

She’s about to cross the street when the door to the coroner’s office opens and a man steps out. Instinctively, or maybe because she’s still a bit twitchy, Sadie steps back into the shadows of the alleyway.

The man’s back is to her, but she can see he’s wearing maintenance overalls and a baseball cap, blond hair poking out from underneath.

No, it can’t be.

Stella places a hand on the man’s arm, says something and closes the door. The man turns and ducks his head to light a cigarette, face shadowed by the cap. Sadie holds her breath. Look up, she thinks, show me your face. And then he does, blowing out a cloud of smoke.

Fuck.

Nothing in Serenity happens by accident.

Larry Broom.

40

I catch up with Hailey a couple of streets away. She’s walking fast, a determined set to her stride. I check my mirror – no one behind me – and slow the car to match her pace.

I wind down the window. ‘Hey!’

She glances at me and then turns away.

‘You want a lift?’

‘Nope. I’m good.’

‘You’d get there quicker.’

‘Why do you care?’

‘I just want to help.’

‘Really?’

‘Mostly really.’

She stops. ‘Mostly?’

‘I also have questions.’