The Retreat(84)

‘Fuck this!’ Julia stood and threw the shears across the empty chapel.

I found the other flashlight and switched it on. ‘One of us should go and get the police, and the other should stay here to guard her.’

‘I’ll go. I might kill her if I’m left alone with her.’

‘Are you sure? Is your back okay?’

Julia waved away my concern. ‘It’s fine. Adrenaline’s a powerful painkiller. I think there’s a farmhouse not too far away. I’ll go there and use their phone.’

‘Okay.’

She stopped for a second, taking one last look at Heledd, who appeared to be praying silently.

‘She really believes she saw the Widow, doesn’t she?’

‘It seems that way. She doesn’t realise you’re much scarier than any witch.’

‘Huh.’

She left, leaving me alone with Heledd.

I tried to talk to her again, but she had withdrawn fully now. In the end, I gave up. I sat on one of the pews while she remained in the corner, shivering and hugging herself. I leafed through Malcolm’s journal. Heledd must have seen something in it while she was looking through it earlier, something that made her decide she needed to destroy it. It was cold in the chapel; the thought of Zara’s body rotting below my feet made it feel even colder. And then, finally, there was commotion outside, lights shining through the woods, and DC Hawkins came through the door.

‘Fucking hell. You have a way of attracting drama, don’t you?’ she said to me.

I shrugged. ‘It’s a special talent.’

A uniformed officer escorted me to the nearest road, where a number of police vehicles were parked. Getting into the car, my phone signal returned and it vibrated in my pocket. It was a voicemail, received at 10.30 p.m., from Olly Jones.

‘I’m worried about Heledd. She went out hours ago and hasn’t come home.’

I laughed darkly. He was in for a shock.

It was 2 a.m. by the time I got back to the retreat. Julia was already there, the police having sent her home. She sat in the kitchen with a bottle of red wine open before her.

‘I’m giving up being teetotal,’ she said, pouring me a glass. ‘Did Heledd say anything else?’

‘No. What about Ursula? Have you spoken to her?’

Julia pulled a disgusted face. ‘I’ve tried. She just rambled on about her spirit guide. But she swears she’s never met Heledd.’

She shook her head then picked up her phone.

‘Who are you calling?’ I asked.

‘The police.’

She managed to get through to DC Hawkins, who told her she’d ring her once they’d had a chance to interview Heledd.

‘I have to know what she knows about Lily,’ Julia said, her voice cracking. The stress of the past few hours had shaken her to her bones, and I went over as soon as she ended the call and put my arms around her. She was stiff at first, before finally relaxing and slumping against me.

We drank the wine together in exhausted silence. Julia kept checking her phone until the battery died. She took it over to the counter and plugged it in.

‘You can’t sit here all night,’ I said.

‘I can’t go to bed. What if the police call?’

She sat down at the table and lay her head on the smooth surface. I sat beside her and realised, a few minutes later, she had fallen asleep. I fetched a cushion and gently placed it beneath her head, then crept up to bed.



I was awoken by voices from downstairs. I wasn’t sure where I was at first. My body was heavy as lead, brain wrapped in cotton wool. I was naked and the scent on the sheets brought it all back to me. Naked flesh, eyes and hands and tongues. Intense, hungry, cathartic sex. I lay there for a moment, wishing I could remain in this bed, the past and future locked outside, existing only in the present with Julia beside me.

Except I was here and she was somewhere else. I could hear three voices, one deep, another higher. I dressed hurriedly and went downstairs, squinting against the light.

Julia was in the kitchen with DC Hawkins and DI Snaith, steaming mugs of tea before them. They both looked tired. I guessed they’d been up all night. I imagined them being dragged from their beds by the call that led them to me and Heledd in the woods. Any lingering hostility I might have harboured after they regarded me as a suspect crumbled away.

‘Mr Radcliffe,’ DI Snaith said. Beside him, DC Hawkins’s nose wrinkled. I no doubt smelled like I needed a shower.

‘What time is it?’ I asked.

Julia replied, ‘Just gone noon.’

There were dark circles around her eyes and she had pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail. No make-up. She was beautiful.

She shot me a ‘stop staring at me’ look. ‘The detectives are about to tell me what happened with Heledd.’

I sat down and DI Snaith nodded to his colleague, who cleared her throat.

‘She’s confessed to the attack on you, and to the murders of Max Lake and Zara Sullivan.’

‘Oh God.’ I put my head in my hands. ‘Why did she kill Max?’

‘Apparently she was only intending to do away with you, but Max saw her face so he had to go too. And Zara Sullivan – well, Heledd was terrified she was going to find out—’

‘That Heledd took Lily?’ Julia interrupted.