Thorn In My Side (20 page)

Jill shuddered
and held Cassie closer.
Thank God for Cassie,
she thought,
looking up at the ceiling in much the same way as Cassie had done a
few minutes ago.

Danny stared at
the blinking light. It was starting to drive him crazy now
.
Should I check it?

It could
be
important
.

'No, better
not,' he muttered, shaking his head, 'it's probably none of my
business. It’ll be some friends wanting to know about Alicia, and
how Evan is, and I really don’t think I can face them myself, never
mind poor Evan.'

He went into
the kitchen, and opened the fridge. 'I could murder a can, though.'
Realising what he’d said, he shuddered and swung his head to the
door, praying Evan hadn’t heard.

'No
joy'
,
he sighed a moment later, looking at bottles of
mineral water, and a couple of bottles of wine, which he’d never
developed a taste for. Picking a glass up from the drainer, he
filled it with water and wandered aimlessly back into the sitting
room. The damn light was still blinking at him.

'Shit.' He put
his glass on the coffee table then, remembering that Alicia had a
thing about glass marks, hastily picked it back up and placed it on
a red coaster on the hearth.

A moment later,
he realised what he’d done. Alicia wasn’t here any more to care
about glass marks, or anything else, for that matter. She wouldn’t
ever be here again. He swallowed past the lump in his throat as he
pictured her laughing. She’d always had an easy way about her. No
way did she have Shelly’s stubborn streak, nor her temper. If her
family, friends and Evan were happy, then Alici
a
was
happy.

'Don’t think
Evan’s ever gonna get over this.' He frowned, wondering again,
who and why?

'Alicia never
hurt a soul in her life.'

There had to
be a reason, and why in my bed?
He shuddered, remembering how
he’d thought it was Shelly. He knew he would never be able to get
rid of the picture in his head of Alicia lying there so pale on the
cold slab.

Is somebody
trying to frighten me, or what?

But why?

He sighed. It
was all pretty much beyond him.
And the fucking
phone is
still blinking
. 'Damn it. Can’t stand this any friggin’ more.'
Picking it up, he pressed the message button. He froze in shock
when he heard Shelly’s voice, so much that he took none of the
message on board.

'Friggin’
hell.' Quickly he stabbed the button to replay the message, then
again, four more times.

'Etal,' he
finally murmured. 'What the hell does she mean by Etal?'

He flopped down
onto the settee.
Etal, Etal
… 'Oh God.' He clasped his hands
together to stop them shaking with excitement as a thought occurred
to him. 'She’s still alive… She
is
still alive… Thank you,
God.'

He stared at
the phone, then got up and pressed it again just to hear her voice.
He listened to it again and again.
Yes, she definitely
said Etal
.

Sitting down
again, he put his elbows on his knees and rested his chin in his
hands, running the word ‘Etal’ over and over in his head.
Etal
what?

It just
doesn’t make sense! Why the hell hadn’t she said more on the phone?
Unless she was in a hurry ‘cos someone was after her?

Chewing his
thumbnail and totally perplexed, he sank back into the
cushions
.

What the
hell’s going on?
The frown line between his eyes grew deeper.
What if it’s the nutter who murdered Alicia? What if he’s
chasing Shelly?

He took a drink
of water. 'Unless…' The next moment, he sat bolt upright in the
seat, spilling most of the water over his jeans. Ignoring the cold
wet patch, he yelled, 'Yes. Yes. That’s got to be it. Etal Castle.'
Satisfied with himself that he’d remembered the first time he’d
told Shelly that he loved her, and she had told him back, was in
the grounds of the ruined castle. He snapped his fingers. 'Gotta be
Etal Castle.' He punched the air with his fist. 'Yes!'

Jumping up, he
ran to Evan’s bedroom door. His fist, ready to knock, hovered in
the air for a moment before falling to his side. 'No,' he
whispered, 'Evan’s not gonna appreciate a trip out to Etal Castle
at this time of night. No way, man.'

Turning, he
went to the hall closet and picked Evan’s black leather jacket off
the peg. Shrugging it on, he searched for Evan’s car keys. 'Damn
it, where the hell are they?' he muttered, after searching all
round the sitting room for the third time, looking under cushions,
under the coffee table, even tipping the chair up. Scratching his
head, he looked around again. 'For fuck’s sake!'

Exasperated,
and impatient to be away, he went into the kitchen on the
off-chance they were somewhere stupid, like in the sink. He’d found
his own house keys there more than once. He spotted them
immediately, hanging on the key rack. Tutting, he reached for them.
'Might have bloody well known.'

He stopped for
a moment outside Evan’s door, chewing his lip. He really didn’t
want to leave him, but Shelly needed him more. He had to go. He
left in a hurry and headed into the street. Evan’s car, a black
Audi, his pride and joy, was parked at the curb. Danny got in,
started the car, and, excited that he would soon be with Shelly,
headed across the bridge where Shelly had fled a night ago. He
failed to see the car, nor the men sitting in it, waiting across
the road. Slowly they pulled out behind him and started to
follow.

Shelly sat with
her back to the ruined inner wall of the castle. She’d managed,
more by luck than any planning, to catch a bus that dropped her at
Etal, knowing that she would never have been able to make it on
foot. Her feet were really killing her now, even though the shoes
were pretty comfortable. Her feet felt damp, and she knew they were
probably still bleeding. A hospital was needed, far away from here,
and as soon as possible.

She sighed,
cursing herself again for having become involved.
Yeah, it was a
great story. Secret families running the world since God knows
when. How the hell did I think I could take them on
single-handed, when they had their fingers in every flaming pie
imaginable?

Who would
believe me anyhow? It would just get put down as
another
stupid conspiracy theory, if that, seeing as they
control
the newspapers, and the fucking Internet. We’re all just a herd of
cows to them, that’s all we’ve ever been. Nothing more than
cash cows to the bastards!

When she’d
first found out about the whole business of the families, it had
had a devastating effect on her. She realised now that it would
probably have the same effect on everyone, everyone on the
planet.

Would it be
kinder to keep what I know to myself?

She tutted,
thinking,
quite a lot of people may even commit
suicide
if the truth ever comes out. The knowledge would be
catastrophic. Suddenly finding out that we are nothing more than
puppets. Used and abused by a bunch of fucking creeps.

But should
they be allowed to get away with it? Can I let them get away with
it?
She clenched her fists in angry frustration.

Can I live
with myself if I do?

For fuck’s
sake… They have cures for just about every illness in the world,
and they just sit on them.

Damn it, they
have got away with it for centuries. My parents died, and they
could have been saved… Along with how many others?

It all boiled
down to the same question
. Who can I trust?

She looked up
at the crumbling walls of the old castle and sighed. She loved it
here. She and Danny visited often, and after a bit of a panic
attack when she got here a few hours ago, she’d even managed to
grab a cup of tea and a sandwich at the Lavender Teahouse set in
the village post office, before it closed for the day, without
actually drawing too much attention to herself.

Using the
toilet, she’d taken her insulin, and collected enough food from the
shop to see her through a small war. Now she was seriously
wondering if she was going to have to spend the night here
alone.

'Where the hell
is he?' she muttered, staring up at the full moon.

She figured it
was around eleven o’clock
. Surely he’s got the
message by
now, the stupid idiot?
She fumed as she wrapped her arms around
herself. A chill seemed to have set in, and she was starting to
feel cold. She transferred her gaze from the moon to the stars as a
tiny drop of rain tickled her cheek.

'That’s all I
bloody well need,' she said to the rabbits. She could only just see
them as they hopped around the well-mown grass. At the sound of her
voice they froze, then slowly one by one they started to
disappear.

'Where are
you?' She wanted to stamp her feet in frustration, but, knowing the
pain it would bring, she kept it in check.

Really, I
should have phoned Alicia
. But the last thing Shelly wanted was
to get Alicia into the same sort of trouble that she was in. Alicia
would have insisted on coming to help her.

I will when
I’m safe. Have to send her a warning, tell her to back
off,
keep away.

Alicia didn’t
know the half of it, and she sincerely wished that she didn’t
either.
But it's done now.

She knew that
Danny would help her, give her money so that she could go far away,
if there
was
any place far enough away.

She sighed, her
heart feeling a loneliness she never thought possible, and a fear
of equal proportions.

A moment later
her spirit lifted as the headlights of a car pierced the darkness
in front of her. The remaining rabbits froze again, caught in the
car's twin beams.

It’s got to
be him,
she thought, jumping up. She had forgotten her earlier
resolution to keep off her feet, crying out as pain shot up her
legs from her injured soles. She moaned. Slowly lifting one foot at
a time and carefully placing it down in front of her, she made her
way to the corner of the wall.

She peeped
round, her heart somersaulting
. It could be them. I
know
they won’t stop looking for me, not until they see me dead.
She
saw the car, but it was hard to tell what make it was in the dark.
She figured it was black because there was no reflection coming off
it. Then she recognised Evan’s number plate.

'Yes!' She
jumped from behind the wall, so excited to see Danny. She felt no
pain until she was halfway to the car then, wincing, she dragged
herself the rest of the way.

The driver’s
door started to open, and Shelly held her arms out. 'Danny, oh
Danny.' Sobbing with relief, she reached the car.

Danny jumped
out of the car, ran to Shelly and grabbed her tightly. In a state
of near-collapse, thanking God that Danny had understood the
message, Shelly rested her head on his shoulder and cried. Her sobs
tore at Danny’s heart. He found himself crying along with her.

After a moment,
he held her at arm’s length. 'What’s all this about then, Shelly?
Everyone’s been worried sick, love. No one knew where you were.'
Then, before she had a chance to answer, a sudden thought struck
him. He gasped.
Does Shelly know about Alicia?

Thinking he was
shocked by the mess she was in, she said frantically, 'I… I’m in
trouble, Danny… Really bad trouble.' She put her face in her hands
and sobbed. 'You’ve got to help me. Please say you’ll help me.'

He put the
thought of Alicia to the side for the moment, waiting for a better
time. 'Of course I’ll help you, silly, you don’t have to ask… But
what do you mean, you’re in trouble? Is that why you’ve been
hiding, eh? Is someone after you?'

Sighing, she
shook her head. 'I can’t tell you. If you find out what I know, and
they know that you do, they’ll come looking for you and… and…
Ohh.'

'Who will?'

'Can’t say… But
we have to get as far away as we can now. Were you… did anybody
follow you?' She looked nervously over his shoulder.

Spooked, Danny
looked behind him. 'No, don’t think so.' He’d never thought to
check
, but why would I?

Because of
Alicia,
he answered himself.
Because some freaked-out
headcase has murdered a wonderful person, and it’s looking more and
more as if Shelly may be involved.

'Has this got
anything to do with Alicia?' he asked, frowning at her.

Shelly hung her
head for a moment, then looked up. 'Not really. Well, perhaps a
little bit… Is she all right?'

Oh dear God,
what do I say? '
Er… We best get into the car, Shelly. We’ll
talk inside. OK?'

But Shelly
refused to move. 'No. Tell me now, is she all right?' she demanded,
panic making her voice rise with every word. 'Tell me!' Grabbing
hold of his jacket, she shook it as hard as she could. 'Tell me
now, Danny!' Fear stared out of her eyes as she shook him
again.

Danny sighed.
He could tell by her voice that she’d guessed something was up or,
rather, that she knew for certain something was up. 'Please get in
the car, Shelly. I’ll tell you everything if you just get in the
car.'

'No, damn it, I
want to know now! What the hell’s going on with you? I’m not
stupid, Danny, you’re an open book, always have been, now friggin’
well tell me!'

He had no
choice. He knew that Shelly never did what anyone told her, even if
it was for her own good.

How to tell
her?

How to say
it?

Shit!!!