Urban Myth (6 page)

T
emple woke up just before his alarm went off. It was 6 a.m. He’d had a restless night, taunted by vivid images of the dead girl out on Cranes Moor. He would have to see her again today in the mortuary and the prospect filled him with dread. It was an aspect of the job he detested and he always found it hard to suppress his emotions.

He would have been quite happy to stay in bed and spend the day snuggling up to Angel. She had that effect on him when she stayed over. Made him realize that the job did not have to be all-consuming; it
was
possible to become detached from it, however briefly, without feeling guilty.

It was to his eternal shame that he hadn’t discovered this sooner so that he could have spent more quality time with his late wife. But during their years together he’d been a workaholic, devoting too much time to catching criminals. Not that Erin complained. She remained loyal and supportive right up to the end when the cancer finally claimed her. But she missed out on an awful lot because of his
obsession
with the job. They’d had relatively few holidays and little in the way of a social life. After their daughter Tanya moved out, Erin spent most of her days – and many of her nights – at home alone.

Knowing that he should have been a more thoughtful husband was with him all the time, gnawing at his conscience. It was one of the reasons he’d found it difficult to move on after she died. He just didn’t think that he deserved to. Which was why, when he felt himself being drawn towards Angel, he tried to resist.

It happened gradually over a period of months. He sensed there was a mutual spark as soon as they started working together. But the relationship took on a personal dimension when she got all emotional
one day in the car after hearing that her ex had got engaged. She told Temple that all the men in her life had been total shits and she was fed up being by herself. Like any understanding boss he listened and he sympathized. He saw himself as a shoulder to cry on and nothing more.

But the next day she asked him about his own life outside the office. Did he have a girlfriend? Would he ever marry again? How did he manage to cope after his wife’s death? He wasn’t sure how to react at first because nobody had ever dared to broach these subjects with him. But he was touched by her interest and he found himself opening up to her.

It wasn’t long before they were meeting for drinks in the evenings, unbeknown to their colleagues, and a quiet intimacy developed between them. Even so, Temple got the shock of his life when Angel said after one too many gin and tonics, ‘Here’s the thing, Guv. I fancy the pants off you and I know you like me. But I also know you won’t make the first move. So let me be the one to suggest that we take this relationship to a new level. I’m sure it will do us both the world of good.’

It took Temple three days to take up the offer and invite her over for drinks. During that time he wrestled with his conscience and spent hours looking at photographs of Erin. Feelings of guilt and betrayal weighed him down, but in the end he asked himself a simple question:
Would Erin really want me to go on punishing myself for not being a better husband?
Of course she wouldn’t. She’d want him to get on with his life and stop feeling sorry for himself. And so that’s what he decided to do. And five months on this was where he was at – waking up next to a sexy young detective whose only flaw seemed to be that she had questionable taste in men.

Temple sat up and looked down at her. Not for the first time he felt like pinching himself. She had a natural beauty, with soft, gentle features and a slightly upturned nose with a dash of freckles. She also had a body to die for – toned and shapely and with not a single blemish. How could he be so lucky?

‘What time is it?’ she groaned, without opening her eyes.

‘Just after six,’ he said. ‘I’ll jump in the shower first and then fetch you a cup of tea.’

He switched off the digital alarm and then leant over to give her a kiss on the forehead.

‘You spoil me,’ she said.

He smiled. ‘That’s so you won’t be in a hurry to end our little arrangement.’

Her eyes flickered open. ‘What makes you think I will? You have only to say the word and I’ll move in.’

He stared at her, dumbstruck.

‘That’s right, boss,’ she said. ‘I did say what you think I said. And I mean it too. It’s about time we took this relationship to another new level.’

His breath lodged in his throat and he struggled to find his voice. He was caught totally off guard. It was the last thing he had expected her to say.

‘Why look so surprised?’ she said, touching his face. ‘Isn’t it bloody obvious that things have got serious between us?’

He started to speak but she put a finger against his lips and grinned.

‘I don’t expect you to respond right now,’ she said. ‘You need to think about it and we need to talk about it. But it ought to wait until after this latest case because that’s what we should be fully focused on.’

Temple was rarely lost for words, but on this occasion he could not think of anything to say. Angel had completely thrown him. His heart was beating furiously and there was a tingle in his eyes. He decided his best bet was to say nothing. Play it cool and be non-committal. That way he wouldn’t mess things up by blurting out something that was stupid or inappropriate. She was right. He needed to think this one through.

‘Tell you what,’ he said. ‘I’ll get you that cup of tea
before
I have a shower.’

Temple’s mood was buoyant as he drove into the city. He still couldn’t believe that Angel wanted to move in with him. He’d convinced himself that the affair would fizzle out; that when it came right down to it they weren’t a particularly good match. But before they left the house she had made a point of telling him that she was being sincere.

‘I really do think we’re great together,’ she’d said, and he was sure she’d meant it.

He glanced in the rear view mirror at her little grey Corsa. She waved at him through the windscreen and he waved back. Jesus, he thought, I feel like a loved-up teenager. He did have strong feelings for her, of course. He had known it for some time but hadn’t wanted to face up to it. And he was pretty confident that she wouldn’t lead him on. Come to think of it, hadn’t she dropped enough hints in recent weeks? She’d told him she didn’t want to have any children, and when he’d pressed her on this she’d been adamant that she did not want to bring a child into a world as shitty as this one.

She’d gone on to say that when she finally settled down it would be with a mature man who was kind, considerate and financially secure. She could have said the man of her dreams would have to be young, handsome and incredibly virile. But she hadn’t – and now he couldn’t wait to talk it through with her. It promised to be a life-changing conversation for both of them.

With a degree of effort he managed to switch his mind away from his personal life and focus on the case. Whilst having breakfast he had received a call from the incident room and been informed that the murdered girl’s fingerprints were not on the database.

However, they got a result shortly after Temple and Angel arrived at the station. A female viewer of Sky’s morning news programme saw the appeal for information and called the number that was given out. The woman claimed she lived in Southampton and was a friend and neighbour of a girl named Genna Boyd who hadn’t been seen for several days.

The description she gave matched that of the girl found in the forest.

I
snapped awake in a panic, my face and body drenched in a cold sweat. But the air in the room was warm and heavy –
claustrophobic
.

I pushed back the duvet and stared up at the ceiling, wondering why the electric fan wasn’t working. I was sure it had been on when we got back into bed last night. So maybe it was something else that couldn’t be explained, along with the snake, the doors and that terrible smell. Not to mention the muffled voices downstairs that Nicole had attributed to Michael.

Daylight filtered into the room through a narrow gap in the heavy drapes. I craned my neck to check the clock. The digital display read 09:15. I managed to get up without waking Nicole. I slipped on my jeans and a T-shirt and crept quietly out of the bedroom. I used the bathroom at the end of the landing to relieve my bladder and then went downstairs.

Thankfully there were no unwelcome surprises waiting for me. No snakes. No bad smells. All the doors were still closed and it seemed like nothing had been disturbed. I felt a surge of relief. In the kitchen I made myself a mug of coffee and carried it through to the living room. The day revealed itself when I drew back the curtains across the large bay window at the front of the house.

The sight that greeted me lifted my spirits. It was another
magnificent
morning, the sun climbing ever higher into a pristine blue sky. Its rays poured molten light over the rolling heathland, igniting bursts of colour, from the burnt orange of the dying bracken to the striking purple of the heather blooms.

‘That’s what I call a sight to behold.’

Startled, I whirled round and spilled some of my coffee on the floor.
Nicole was standing right behind me in her dressing gown, a broad smile on her face.

‘Oops. Sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to spook you.’

I swallowed an expletive and took a deep breath to regain my composure.

‘I didn’t hear you. Thought you were still sleeping.’

‘I woke up and you weren’t there. So I thought I’d come down and join you. It’s a beautiful morning.’

‘How did you sleep?’

‘Not bad considering all the excitement last night. What about you?’

I shrugged. ‘I was on edge so I struggled.’

Her arm encircled my waist. ‘Well I’m not surprised. But the more I think about it the more I’m convinced that it’s nothing to get worked up about. Michael was walking and talking in his sleep. And the
so-called
voices must have been him having a conversation with himself.’

‘I suppose that does kind of make sense,’ I admitted.

She gave a short laugh. ‘We could tie him to the bed frame tonight so that he doesn’t do it again.’

I was glad Nicole was able to make light of it. No doubt it was due to her sheer contempt for the so-called supernatural. For her there had to be a simple, straightforward explanation for everything.

I made her a cup of coffee and we sat in the kitchen and talked about the day ahead. She wanted to go into Burley to check out the shops. She also wanted to drive over to the spot where her parents’ ashes were scattered. I knew it meant a lot to her, but I did wonder how she would handle it emotionally.

Michael surfaced half an hour later. He shuffled into the kitchen in his PJs with tousled hair and a face so pale it was like wax.

‘What’s for breakfast?’ he asked.

It turned out he had absolutely no recollection of what had happened during the night. Couldn’t even recall telling us he had dreamt about being lifted off his bed by a man – or was it a ghost?

‘Sounds funny,’ he chuckled. ‘Wish I could remember.’

And that was that. He didn’t ask questions and he didn’t seem in the least bit perturbed. I suppose I’d expected him to wake up this morning feeling confused and even distraught. I’d been hoping he would shed some light on the conversation he supposedly had with himself.

‘I’m really hungry,’ he said.

I got up and ruffled his hair.

‘I’ll go wake lazybones,’ I said. ‘And then I reckon we should all have a slap-up breakfast before we go out and see what this fantastic forest has to offer.’

I went upstairs to Tina’s room and tapped lightly on the door.

‘Time to get up, sleepyhead,’ I said. ‘Breakfast will soon be on the table.’

There was no response so I twisted the knob and eased the door open. Light from the landing cut into the pitch blackness of the room, revealing a piled-up duvet on the bed. I grinned. My daughter had always been a messy sleeper.

‘Wakey, wakey,’ I said as I stepped into the room and headed for the window. As I did so I noticed a crack of light under the door to the en-suite. At the same time I heard the toilet flush which told me that Tina was already up. That was good because coaxing her out of bed was never an easy task, particular when she didn’t have to go to school.

I opened the curtains and then the window to let some fresh air into the room. When I turned back towards the bed I saw an arm and a leg poking out from under the duvet. It immediately struck me as odd. If Tina was still in bed then who the hell had flushed the toilet? I felt a cold shiver as I went straight over to the en-suite door and wrenched it open. But the tiny room was empty – not a bogeyman in sight. The fluorescent light was buzzing overhead and I could hear water flowing back into the cistern, which was concealed behind the tiled wall.

I went back into the bedroom. Tina wasn’t moving but she had covered her head with a pillow to shield her eyes from the light.

‘Did you just go into the bathroom?’ I asked her.

She stirred, moaned, pulled the duvet up over her shoulders.

‘Talk to me, sweetheart,’ I said. ‘Have you just been to the toilet?’

She moved the pillow and peered at me through half-closed eyes.

‘No, I just woke up,’ she groaned irritably.

I went back into the en-suite to check the toilet. There was nothing special about it: white porcelain pan, plastic seat and a normal domestic push-button flush control fitted to a tile.

‘Have you finished messing around in there, Pops? I’m bursting to go.’

Tina had dragged herself out of bed and was standing behind me in her PJs with her legs crossed and her arms folded.

‘Did you sleep OK?’ I asked her.

She gave me a funny look. ‘Yeah. Why?’

‘You didn’t wake up in the night or have any nightmares?’

‘No. Should I have?’

I shook my head. ‘I just wondered. Only your brother had a bad night. He went walkabout in his sleep.’

‘Well that’s not so unusual,’ she said. ‘I’m only glad he didn’t come in here and freak me out. Now can I get in there before I pee over the floor?’

Nicole was already preparing breakfast when I got back downstairs. Eggs, bacon, tomatoes and a loaf of bread had been assembled on the worktop.

‘Where’s Michael?’ I asked.

‘In the living room watching television. Do you mind laying the table?’

As I got to work, I said, ‘Something weird just happened upstairs in Tina’s bedroom.’

Nicole stopped what she was doing and gave me a long searching look.

‘What now, for heaven’s sake?’

I told her about the toilet flushing whilst Tina was in bed.

‘Is that it?’ she said.

‘What do you mean is that it? Don’t you think it’s strange?’

She shrugged. ‘Well it’s an odd thing to happen, I suppose. But so what? It’s probably a mechanical fault or something.’

‘But on top of everything else …’

She rolled her eyes. ‘Jack, you’re making it sound like this is some kind of horror movie – one of those cliché-packed classics where the family move into a lovely house and nasty things start to happen. Eventually they realize the place is haunted and they all get possessed or worse. Is that what you think – that this house is haunted?’

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘No, but you’re hinting at it. Christ, a couple of unusual things have happened since we got here. That’s all. It’s no big deal.’

‘Well I’m not so sure,’ I said. ‘We’ve had the snake, the smell, the light, the doors, those voices—’

‘Hold on a sec,’ she said, interrupting. ‘What’s this about doors?’

Shit.

‘Come on, Jack. Explain.’

So I told her about finding all the doors open on our return from the walk. She was unimpressed.

‘So, not content with letting your imagination run riot, you’ve also decided to keep things from me,’ she said.

I felt a pang of guilt. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you – not after the scare with the snake.’

‘I’m a grown-up, Jack. Not a child. You don’t have to keep things from me. Especially nonsense like that.’

‘It won’t happen again.’

‘I should hope not. Is there anything else you’re not telling me?’

Oh, yeah. A crazy woman phoned me a few days ago and warned me not to bring you here. She said it wouldn’t be safe. But I decided you didn’t have to know about it
.

‘No, there’s nothing,’ I lied.

‘Thank God for that.’

She turned and started putting bacon strips into a frying pan.

‘So how do you explain all the stuff that’s happened?’ I said.

She turned back to me, annoyed. ‘Oh, come on, Jack. You’re being silly.’

‘But it’s bugging me. I can’t help it.’

‘OK, let’s start with the snake,’ she said evenly. ‘It obviously managed to get in at some point when a door was left open. It then crawled onto the bed to keep warm and nobody realized it was there. I’ve no idea why it died and frankly I don’t care. As for the smell, well who knows? Probably something to do with the drains.’

‘And the lights? Who switched them off and then back on again?’

She shrugged. ‘Maybe there was a power cut while we were sleeping. Then coincidentally the power came on again when you walked down the stairs. Or it could have been a faulty wire. Who knows? What we do know is that nobody tampered with the fuse box. If someone had we would have seen them.’

‘OK, so explain the doors?’

‘That’s an easy one. You only
thought
you closed them. We all make mistakes, Jack. And don’t forget we’d all just had a massive shock and we couldn’t wait to get out of the house.’

‘But it’s a bit much don’t you think?’

She drew a breath. ‘Oh, come on, Jack. Reason imposes its simplistic logic on everything. You should know that. Unless you really believe we’ve been experiencing paranormal activity. In which case you’re a moron.’

‘Of course I don’t believe that. You know I’m as sceptical as you are about that stuff. But something isn’t right. I’m sure of it.’

‘Well if you’re that concerned maybe we shouldn’t stay here. We could pack up and go home. Or book into a hotel and incur a huge amount of expense.’

‘Now who’s being silly? No way are we doing that.’

‘Then stop trying to make something out of nothing. You’re starting to creep me out and I don’t like it.’

I stepped forward, held her shoulders. ‘Look, I’m sorry, hon. It’s just that I’m uptight because I want us all to have a great time. I’m worried that the vacation is being spoilt. It’s been one thing after another.’

She rested her head against my chest and sighed. ‘The only reason it’ll be ruined is if you don’t keep things in perspective. Stop assuming that there’s something sinister behind every little thing that happens. This is so out of character for you. Normally it takes a lot to ruffle your macho feathers.’

My mind flashed back to that damned telephone call. It was suddenly clear to me that the warning from the girl was the source of my anxiety.

You have to stay away from this place … your family will not be safe here … Please cancel your plans and go on holiday somewhere else.

A knife of guilt twisted in my stomach. I should at least have tried to find out what she was going on about instead of dismissing the call as a hoax. And I should have told Nicole about it. Then she’d know why I was so uneasy.

‘Look, the last thing I want is for us to fall out over this,’ I said. ‘So let’s start over and pretend that none of the weird shit has happened. OK?’

She looked up at me and gave an impish smile.

‘OK,’ she said. ‘It’s a deal. Now go and shower while I make breakfast.’