Page 148 of Serenity Falls

‘We’ve got him.’

I looked up at the sheriff. He shook his head. ‘What the hell were you kids thinking?’

‘We just—’

The other man again: ‘You just need to calm down.’

I felt a sting in my arm. And then blackness.

41

Sadie gets back to the house, locks the door and runs upstairs. She shoves the rucksack under her bed and turns on the shower in the en suite. She’s hot, sweaty and shaken. Today has been fucking full-on weirdsville. Right now, she just wants to wash it away. The dirt, the sweat, all the craziness.

After hiding in the alleyway for a while and trying Dad’s phone a few more times (still going to voicemail) she finally worked up the courage to walk home. No sign of the creepy ice-cream van nor Larry Broom, but she can’t shake the jittery feeling. Why was the van following her? Why was Larry Broom visiting Stella? Why isn’t her dad answering his frigging phone?

Eventually she steps out of the shower and dries off, towelling her hair vigorously and sticking it in a bun. She slings on her shorts and T-shirt and pads out on to the landing. Below, the front door opens. Dad. She trots quickly down the stairs. Dad is already in the kitchen, pulling a can of beer out of the fridge.

He turns as he pops it open. ‘Hi.’

She glares at him. ‘I’ve been trying to call you. Where’ve you been?’

His face falls. He pulls out his phone. ‘Shit. Sorry. I must have put it on silent at the hospital. Is everything all right?’

‘Not really. That weird ice-cream van I saw the other night followed me.’

‘Followed you? I mean, are you sure?’

‘Yes, I’m sure. And I saw Larry Broom again.’

Her dad’s face darkens. ‘He didn’t talk to you, did he?’

‘No.’

‘Good. You stay away from him.’

‘He didn’t see me. He was coming out of the coroner’s. I think he knows Stella.’

‘Stella?’ It takes Dad a moment. ‘The coroner. Right. Well, we should probably tell Jerry.’

Sadie doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t want to tell Jerry. She doesn’t trust Jerry. Instead, she asks: ‘Why were you at the hospital?’

‘Remember Hailey, the young mum I told you about?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Well, I gave her a lift to visit her aunt.’

She squints at him. ‘What’s wrong with her aunt?’

‘She’s being held under psychiatric care. They want to put her into a home.’

‘Because she handed out some leaflets?’

‘Well, it’s more than that.’ He pauses. ‘She’s insistent that Davey didn’t drown and someone called Milo saved him. Hailey has never heard of this Milo. He probably doesn’t even exist.’

Sadie feels a jolt. ‘You’re sure she said Milo?’

‘Yes. Why?’