Will leaned in closer. “Really? How did he react?”
I thought back to earlier, Connor’s face so red I thought his veins might actually burst out of his head. “He was angry. He was really, really angry.”
Will’s face lit up. “What did he say?”
“He just said it was none of my business, then Rach man-handled me out the room before he could say anything else. He was definitely rattled though.”
Will nodded while blowing on his tea in an attempt to cool it down. “You wouldn’t think he’d react like that if it was just a harmless disagreement he’d had with Norman.”
“True… or maybe he was mad because someone had been spying on him.”
Will laughed. “Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that. But by all accounts he seems to be a charming Irish man. He doesn’t sound like the kind of guy to lose it over something like that.”
“Believe me, he lost it.”
“So, are we thinking there’s something suspicious about him?”
I sighed, thinking back to him and Daniel laughing at me… and that wink. “I really have no idea. He seems nice enough on the surface.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. I bet some of the world’s most evil serial killers were described as being ‘nice’ by their friends and neighbours.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Well I don’t know about that… all I know is he’s got one hell of a temper, and I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of him.”
Will nodded slowly. “So he’s new in the area, he doesn’t know anyone and yet he starts fighting with the village’s resident grandfather figure… he loses his temper easily, and almost as soon as he appears, a young woman turns up dead. Am I missing anything?”
“Apart from the obvious, no.”
Will paused. I guessed thinking quickly didn’t come easily to him. “What’s the obvious?”
It should have occurred to me before, when we were discussing everything at the Inn, but we were joking around then. Since seeing Connor this evening, I had actually begun to believe he might have something to do with Emma’s death, but there was one major problem with that theory. “Connor was working at Cocktail all Friday night, remember? It was his first shift.”
Will frowned, looking genuinely disappointed that his Irish conspiracy theory wasn’t panning out. “According to Rach… maybe she got the day wrong.”
“No, he was there until about half one.”
That pause again. “How do you know?”
Crap. I’d forgotten that no one else knew about us following him home. “When V and I left the Diner that night, we went to Cocktail. We wanted to see Connor for ourselves.”
“Right. So basically the two of you wanted to perve on him.”
I pretended to be insulted. “No! We wanted to welcome him to the village.”
“So you spoke to him that night? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Well, no, we didn’t. He was closing up when we got there and… we didn’t want to disturb him.”
Will was staring at me, a sliver of a smile visible on his lips. “I see.” The smile vanished. “Damn it. So he’s got an alibi all evening? What about after work?”
I shook my head. “She was dead by then. According to Rick Wood.” I tried and failed to keep the sneer out my voice as I mentioned the DCI. Will didn’t seem to notice. He apparently didn’t put two and two together with the timings of my encounter with Emma, either.
“But it was his first shift? He wouldn’t have been working on his own, surely?”
“He was the only one left at closing time.”
“But earlier on, it must have been busier. There would have been someone else rostered to work that night. He could easily have popped out for a break.”
I could feel my own lips curling upwards involuntarily. “So you’re a detective now?”
Will shrugged. “I’m just saying there are different ways of looking at things. I wouldn’t trust Connor as far as I could throw him.”
A thought suddenly occurred to me. “Have you even met him yet?”
A pause. “Not physically… but I’ve heard enough.”
I laughed to myself. I couldn’t believe Will was coming up with wild, condemning theories and he hadn’t even seen Connor in the flesh. “Maybe you should reserve judgement until you actually meet the guy?”
He shrugged again. “I’m sure I’ll run into him, sooner or later.”
Something about his voice made me almost choke on my tea. “Don’t you dare.”
“What?”
“Don’t go tracking him down and asking questions. You can see how well that worked out for me.”
“Spoil sport.”
“I’m serious, Will. You didn’t see him tonight; I don’t want you pissing him off as well.”
He sighed. “Fine, I won’t.”
There was an uncomfortable lull in the conversation and I stared at my tea, trying to think of something to say.
Will broke the silence first. “So what did Rach say about the whole thing?”
I turned to look at the TV. “She said the same thing to me that Veronica said at the Diner. That she thought I should leave. In exactly the same way.” I put my hand over my face and rubbed my eyes. “I feel awful.”
He put a tentative hand on my shoulder. “Rach will get over it.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. Emma’s dead, her parents and her boyfriend are going through hell, and all I can moan about is my best friend not talking to me anymore.”
Will pulled my hand down so he could look me in the eyes. “You shouldn’t feel bad. What happened to Emma was terrible but we’ve all got our own stuff going on.”
I nodded, not knowing how to respond. I felt numb. I took my first sip of tea and the smooth, hot liquid slid down my throat, warming me from the inside and relaxing me completely. I smiled at Will, who was still looking at me with big, concerned eyes. “Thanks.”
I suddenly felt shattered and I settled back into the sofa while cradling my mug against my chest. Neither of us said anything for a long time.
After a while I realised I’d been watching the TV without really taking it in, and now the detective seemed to be talking to a dog.
“Will?”
“Yeah?”
“What the hell are you watching?”
He started laughing and I joined in. “Is that guy having a conversation with a puppy?”
“Er… pretty much. I think the premise is he’s a kind of Inspector Morse mixed with Dr Dolittle. That’s his Labradoodle.”
I looked up at him to see if he was messing with me, but he seemed embarrassed that he’d been caught watching it.
“Sounds… awesome.”
Will coughed loudly. “It is actually.”
I laughed again, happy to be talking about something other than Veronica or Connor. It felt good. “Thanks again, Will. This is just what I needed.”
He frowned back at me. “What, a rubbish TV show about a dog-whispering detective?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “No, just… fun. Light-hearted fun, no Veronica, no conspiracy. You know, just hanging out.”
“No problem,” he beamed back at me. “And same here, it’s nice.”
I saw a troubled look behind his smiles and enthusiasm and I suddenly realised the whole Veronica thing was hard on him too. He wasn’t the one she was mad with and yet he’d still lost one of his best friends. “I’m sorry, Will. I’m going on about myself all the time when you’re going through the same thing. I always forget how much you and V hung out too. You had any luck contacting her?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “No, no reply. It’s not really the same as what you two have, though. I mean, had…” he trailed off and I noticed a faint hint of red gracing his cheeks. “Sorry.”
I smiled at his apology. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. Anyway, we’re doing pretty well without her. V’s name is banned from now on, OK?”
He nodded enthusiastically, and
I felt a vague feeling of relief.
“Ooh!” I jumped up in my seat.
Will looked vaguely amused. “Ooh what?”
I grinned at him. “I know you think they’re for girls, but Random Violation are playing at The Pit this Friday. Go with me?”
Will moaned, but I could tell he was trying not to smile at the same time. “Go on then. I’ll have to be pretty drunk to put up with their music though, so you’ll have to buy me a drink or ten.”
I punched him on the arm. “For your information, they’re amazing. And I will buy you one drink and one drink only.”
Will pretended to weigh up his options. “OK, deal.”
I leaned back into the soft, comfortable sofa again and let all of the muscles in my body relax. For the first time since I’d met Will, I actually felt like he was my friend, not just some annoying guy who hung around V and I all the time. It was sad that it had taken this whole Veronica mess to bring us together, but I was glad it had.
I stayed at his house for the next few hours before going home, and by the time I left, I’d completely forgotten about Rach and her beloved book club.
Patricia Hanted and Margaret could just go to hell.
Chapter Four
It was Friday night, and I was wildly throwing clothes around the room in an attempt to find the perfect outfit. I wanted to look my best, and not because I wanted the band to find me attractive (which was my usual reason), but as pathetic as it was, I wanted to look good in case I ran into Veronica. She never missed a Random Violation gig and I wanted to show her that I was doing just fine without her. Of course, I wasn’t really, but she didn’t need to know that.
I’d just zipped myself into a tight-fitting dark purple dress - a dress I still wasn’t sure I could pull off - when there was a loud knock on my door. A split second later Will entered, beer in hand and smile on face.
“Powers! Looking good.”
I blushed, thinking how close he’d come to walking in on me in my underwear.
Thinking how close he’d come to seeing my scar in its entirety.
I tried to hide my shudder and distract him from my embarrassment by smiling at him and gesturing to the bottle he was holding. “Did you walk from your house drinking that?”
“No, your mum gave it me.”
“Really?” She never offered me alcohol.
“Yeah, she seemed surprised to see me. Then she looked really, really happy.” He hesitated. “I know you think she doesn’t care but she seemed genuinely pleased you were going out tonight.”
I laughed to myself, taking another quick peep in the mirror at the dress. “Yeah, right. She’s probably just glad I’ll be out all night. Then she won’t have to pretend like everything’s normal.”
Will walked over and handed me the beer, which I gladly took and had a couple of mouthfuls from. “Did you hear about the funeral?”
I gave him the beer back and looked at his concerned face. “Yeah, my boss called us all together the other day and told us. How did you know? You been invited?”
Will took another sip of beer. “No, I don’t think Emma even knew my name. Some people at work were talking about it.”
I sighed. I really didn’t want to go on my own. Rach was going but she still wasn’t talking to me, unless we were at work and it was absolutely necessary. “Will you come with me?”
He didn’t say anything at first - he just took another drink of beer, slowly. “Is that allowed?”
“Of course it’s allowed. Please?” I couldn’t keep the desperate tone out of my voice.
He nodded, his face grave, as if Emma’s death was suddenly real to him. “Of course I will.”
I smiled, relieved, then sat down on the edge of my bed as I looked at my reflection in the full-length mirror.
I thought back to the night Veronica and I had been getting ready to go to The Pit. It seemed like such a long time ago; we were best friends and I was looking forward to a fun birthday night out. Ironically, the only thing I remembered spoiling that night was meeting up with Will.
A small but strong pang of guilt flittered through me. “Thanks, Will. And thanks for coming to the gig; I know it’s the last thing you’d want to be doing on a Friday night. I just really didn’t fancy going on my own.”
He walked the couple of steps to my bed and handed me the nearly empty bottle. “It’s cool, Powers. But you have to promise me one thing.”
I knocked back the last of the beer and looked at him questioningly. “And what’s that?”
In one fluid motion he took the bottle off me with one hand, and pulled me off the bed and twirled me around with the other. “No moping!”
I’m not sure if it was the beer or the combination of the twirl and a head rush, but I felt better than I had in days.
***
We got to The Pit while it was still relatively empty, and after a quick glance around the bar area (no one had yet migrated over to the stage), I was fairly certain that Veronica wasn’t there. Come to think of it, as she’d abandoned all of her old friends, I wasn’t sure who I expected to see her with.
We grabbed two seats at the bar, taking advantage of the gig night special - buy one beer, get one free - and making meaningless conversation with Kirsty Finch, one of the bar staff who had worked there as long as I’d been going.
When it got busy, we just sat and talked to each other while waiting for the band. It seemed totally natural and I mentally kicked myself for not getting to know Will sooner. He was obviously trying to cheer me up and despite all my instincts telling me I should be miserable, I managed to ignore them and let all my problems be forgotten. For a while, at least.
We weren’t too bothered about the support band, so when people started crowding round the stage ready for Poison Prescription, we went and sat on one of the comfy sofas in the corner of the ‘chill out’ area. It was far enough away from the stage that we could just about hear each other. Not that the talk was particularly meaningful; we covered such intellectual topics as crap music, good music, local gig venues, and which instrument we’d both like to play. I was surprised and impressed to find out that Will played acoustic guitar, and I marvelled again over how little I actually knew about him, considering the years he’d spent following Veronica and I around.
It wasn’t a particularly nice thought; if I’d been completely oblivious about Will, what else had I been missing?
Eventually Poison Prescription left the stage and Random Violation came on, at which point I pulled Will up off the sofa and almost flew over to the main gig area. I dragged him into the middle of the crowd - much to his discomfort - and screamed and clapped as the band introduced themselves to The Pit (as if they needed to - most of their fans were regular Pit-goers).
I turned to Will excitedly and was greeted by a mixed look of horror and embarrassment; I think I was confirming his niggling feeling that Random Violation were a band for overexcited females. I put my arm around him (this was quite difficult as there was limited space in the crowd and Will was quite a lot bigger than me), and whispered “Just go with it” in his ear. I saw him try, and fail, to cover up his smile before turning back to the stage.
Random Violation were one of those ridiculously good-looking bands, and it amazed me that they still hadn’t hit it big; they should have been gracing the covers of every hip music magazine in the country by now. Every single member looked like they could be a male model, and the lead singer actually had been when he was younger. Now they were all in their late twenties, and over the years I’d managed to talk to all of them on different occasions when they were at The Pit.
The lead singer - the absolutely beautiful Mark Robson, continued his spiel to the crowd. “Little Forest never disappoints! Are you villagers ready to rock?”
OK, so he could do with refining his stagecraft and being slightly more original, but no one cared. Mark was quite possibly the most attractive man I’d ever seen in real life; his long, tousled hair made him look like he’d jus
t rolled out of bed - probably one filled with lots of gorgeous groupies - but I had a sneaking suspicion it took him hours, along with finely honed skills, to perfect that barnet. His smooth-looking skin was beautifully pale next to his pitch-black hair, and his deep brown eyes were framed by thick, dark eye liner, or guy liner as V always called it.
They launched into one of my favourite songs of theirs, ‘You Want Me’, and as usual, I started jumping up and down and singing along. I think it took Will about three or four songs for him to get used to my insane teen-like behaviour, and then he seemed to give into it. I actually caught him mouthing along to one of the songs and there was definitely a bit of movement going on in his reluctant body.
My eyes hardly ever left Mark Robson, who was clinging onto the mic stand and singing as if his life depended on it. He may have looked like he belonged on a billboard advertising men’s aftershave or Armani suits, but he lost all that pretension when he was on stage. He didn’t seem to care what he looked like up there; he let the rhythm take over him and the music was the only thing that mattered. I wished I could be that passionate about something… anything.
It happened about halfway through the gig.
The band had just launched into ‘Save Me’, a slow, poignant song Mark had written about losing loved ones (yes, I knew all the trivia), when I felt a cold chill run up my spine.
Someone had emerged from the shadows at the back of the stage, and I watched (half in horror, half in wonder) as the little girl I’d previously seen in The Pit walked to the front of the platform and stood next to Mark. She was wearing exactly the same clothes as before, and was still so pale that I felt if I looked closely, I would have been able to see the veins and arteries through her skin.
Her expression was the same as before, too: a mix of uncertainty, curiosity, and fear. Her gaze shifted between the different band members, but of course none of them took any notice; the gig carried on as usual.
I stole a glance at Will, knowing that he wouldn’t be, but hoping with all my heart that he’d be staring at the strange girl in surprise. He wasn’t; he was bopping his head to the music, looking at the stage with no more shock than before. He noticed me staring at him and smiled. I tried to return it the best I could.
When I looked back at the stage, the girl was still there, and now she was staring at me; it was as if I was the only one in the room. At that thought, I glanced around the club, peering at as many people as I could see in the light radiating from the stage. They were all having a great time: dancing, singing, drinking. None of them seemed to notice the bizarre new addition to the stage line-up.