Bad Sister(87)

Her stomach flipped.

The top result was: Luke 24:19:21. A bible reference.

Another tattoo that was meant for her? She read the passage about Jesus of Nazareth being sentenced to death. Tears pricked her eyes. She went back to the search results and looked to see if it was a fluke. Underneath that reference was another, this time Leviticus 24:19:21. She relaxed. Good, there was a possibility it wasn’t a personal message, then. The first hit being her dead brother’s name was only a cruel coincidence.

But the next passage alarmed her.

Leviticus 24:19-21 New International Version (NIV)

19 Anyone who injures their neighbour is to be injured in the same manner: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death.

This was to do with Luke. It was apparent that someone was purposely involving her in this for whatever reason. What had her dad been up to? He was clearly covering something up from years ago, as she’d suspected. The questions as to what, why, when and how would need answering. Whether he’d intended to or not, he’d put her life in danger.

Connie was a target.

She paced like a caged animal until she saw the headlights of Lindsay’s car draw up outside. She opened the front door before Lindsay had stepped out of the car.

‘Where’ve you been? I’ve needed to speak with you all day.’ Connie’s tone was unintentionally abrupt.

‘Let me in and I’ll tell you all about the latest development,’ Lindsay said. She walked through into the lounge. ‘What on earth has happened here? You had a break-in?’ Her eyes were wide with concern.

‘Er … no. That was me. I’ve got something interesting to tell you, as well. Well, two things, actually.’ Connie was full of nervous energy.

They sat together on the sofa, Lindsay with her feet tucked up beneath her, the most relaxed Connie had ever seen her. They shared the day’s events. It was a relief to talk to someone other than Amber, and even though she was afraid, beyond any fear she’d ever experienced, having Lindsay with her calmed her. She felt protected.

Before getting to the nitty-gritty of what happened, Connie grabbed them each a glass of white wine, in an attempt to calm her nervous energy. How would Lindsay react to what she was about to tell her? She smiled as she handed Lindsay her glass, then took a deep breath and began. Lindsay listened in muted silence as Connie retold the story of her being followed, bumping into Kelly, then another man following – all resulting in a chase through a back street of Totnes.

When Connie had finally finished, she saw that Lindsay was shaking her head. ‘What’s going on? Why would someone want to follow you – do you think it’s scare tactics? I can’t figure out what this has all got to do with you – it’s driving me mad.’

This was a good time to tell her about the code.

‘I’ve cracked it, Lindsay.’

‘Cracked what?’

‘The tattoo – well, the one that we thought was a code, anyway.’

Lindsay lowered her wine, her face brightening. ‘Give it to me then, don’t keep me in suspense.’

Connie jumped up, gathering the notes she’d made from the table and the laptop showing the results of her search.

Lindsay looked on with her mouth slightly gaping as Connie described her thought processes, and how she’d finally worked it out.

‘That’s so clever. How did this guy think of that?’

‘Some people are good with puzzles. If it is this “Flint” guy – which I suspect it is – according to Brett his brain works differently since an accident, so perhaps this is another side effect of his condition?’

‘Well, it sounds promising, but obviously we’d need more than that to confidently link him to your mirror writing and a murder.’ Lindsay leant across, placing a hand on Connie’s leg.

Connie felt her excitement about cracking the code slip. It wasn’t enough. She bowed her head.

‘We’ve had some positive leaps forward in the last two days, though,’ Lindsay said brightly. Her obvious attempt at lifting Connie’s mood back up. ‘But they’ve come at a price.’ Lindsay’s expression became serious again, the look that Connie had become accustomed to. ‘I’m glad today has had a better ending than how it might have done. You should’ve called 999, Connie. If I’d had any firm evidence that you were in danger …’ Lindsay’s head fell forwards. ‘I’m sorry. Had I listened to Mack right at the start this could have been prevented – he did bring up the possibility you were at risk and I played it down.’

Connie laid her hand on Lindsay’s. ‘Don’t be stupid, there was no real reason to think I was a target before. Up until now it was just me being paranoid. Anyway, what would you have done, put me into protective custody? No thank you.’

‘We would’ve given you a DC to keep an eye on you, at the very least.’ Lindsay rubbed the back of her neck.

‘To be fair, you have been keeping an eye on me yourself – I’ve had the best of the best watching out for me. Anyway, enough of what might or might not have been the best thing to do, the question is, where do we go from here?’ Silence fell on the room while both women drank some wine. Then, Lindsay stood and walked to the window.