I Am Watching You(49)
‘People do think we’re odd. Some kind of kooky commune. But we don’t care. We find it makes us stronger to be together like this.’
‘But why haven’t you been to the police since, Lily?’
‘I did want to but I just wasn’t strong enough. And they don’t pressure you here. It’s up to us. Our choice.’
‘Is that why they are being so protective? They know?’
‘Yeah. They know everything. And they know I tend to spiral down again when I think of you. And home. And Mum. They were worried.’
Sarah is watching her sister’s hands again, trembling and fidgeting.
‘Well, I’m sorry. And I really don’t want to make it worse for you, Lily, but I need to tell you a bit about that night with Anna. It’s why I came here and why I’m so worried now.’
‘Go on then.’
‘I haven’t told the police this before because . . . Well. I don’t know why I didn’t tell them. I was scared I was being ridiculous. I thought it was Karl and Antony. But I’m more and more afraid that what’s happened to Anna is my fault.’
‘Why on earth would you think that?’
‘Dad texted me the night Anna disappeared. He knew from Mum that we were in town, and he wanted us to meet him at a hotel in London. Some swanky place he was staying at for his new job. Did you know he’s a manager now – big haulage firm? Anyway. I said no. But I showed Anna the text.’
‘You don’t seriously think she met him, do you?’
‘That’s the problem. I just don’t know. But we had this big row, me and Anna, and she said something which has played on my mind.’
‘I’m not understanding.’
‘She said she didn’t feel safe, Lily, because we’d had so much to drink. And she suggested I ask Dad to come to the club and see us back to our hotel . . .’
CHAPTER 31
THE WITNESS
I am in the kitchen with Luke, my mouth dry and my heart racing.
Tucked in my pocket is the flat piece of plastic I found on the floor outside the shop. A simple piece of plastic that has so confused me. Why would Luke lie to me? Deep down is he cross, with everything going on in his own life, that I’ve been so wrapped up in Anna’s disappearance?
‘You know that map-magnifier thing you had for the Ten Tors? The one they gave you with the medal?’ I try to make my voice sound relaxed.
‘What?’
‘That plastic magnifier. Can I borrow it? Some of the new order lists are in really tiny print and I’m struggling to read them.’
I watch his face but see nothing that helps me. I wonder if he came down to the shop to check on me. Changed his mind. But why would he do that? Why lie? It makes no sense.
‘I lost that ages ago. Why don’t you just buy a magnifying glass. Or reading glasses?’ He sounds irritated. ‘Or are you too embarrassed to wear glasses?’
‘When did you lose it?’
‘Oh, for God’s sake, Mum. What does it matter?’
My phone is on the worktop next to the kettle and it vibrates with a text. I ignore it.
Then my phone starts ringing. I move over and see that it is Matthew and hold the phone to my ear. What he says – speaking very quickly – is such a shock, it is difficult to absorb.
‘We need to put the television on.’ I am gesturing towards the shelf above the vegetable rack for the remote control.
‘What is it? Who is it on the phone?’
‘Put the TV on, Luke. News channel. Any news channel.’
He is fiddling with the remote for the small flat-screen that is perched on top of a bookcase full of recipe books and files. As the picture finally comes up, Luke scrolls for a news channel; there is no sound as the familiar Facebook photo of Anna fills the screen with words scrolling beneath it. Dear God. Just like in the hotel all that time ago . . .
‘Put the sound up, Luke. Quickly.’
I am reading the ticker tape of breaking news as Matthew tells me the little he knows.
The scroll of words names Karl Preston as a suspect in the case of missing schoolgirl Anna Ballard. A second headline confirms that the streets around an apartment block in Spain have been sealed off by police after several gunshots were heard about an hour ago.
As the volume bursts in – much too loud at first – the picture is back to the studio, where the blonde presenter is shuffling bits of paper, holding her right hand up to her earpiece.
‘We don’t know any more at the moment, Ella. I’m going to have to go.’ Matthew’s voice in my ear is struggling to compete with the television now. ‘But I will ring you if I hear anything more at all. The police had been hoping for a media blackout, but the neighbour who phoned the police rang the local TV station straight after.’
I thank him, and lower my voice to ask briefly after his baby. He says he will be back at the hospital in a few hours but I can text if I need him.
And now Luke and I just stand in shock in the kitchen – the whispered word, baby, hanging between us – as the presenter sums up what they know.
‘It’s a confused picture at the moment, but from what we understand so far, police had called at the apartment block on a small development about two miles outside Marbella. They had been tipped off by someone who recognised a man from recent police appeals in the UK looking for two suspects wanted for questioning regarding the disappearance in London a year ago of teenager Anna Ballard . . .’