Fry Read online

  I clench and unclench my fists as she pulls an old shoe box out from under her bed and begins rifling through it, with the same lack of urgency as she’s conducted the rest of the search.

  “Ah, here they are.”

  I look up in surprise. Triumphantly, she pulls something out of the box.

  Penney and his partner take a closer look.

  “The times and dates look right,” he confirms.

  She nods.

  “So do I still need to come down the station?”

  They look at each other.

  “I think we’ll leave it, for the time being.”

  I sink back against the bed as their footsteps retreat. I don’t want to stay here in Alicia’s room but neither do I have the strength to get up. I can barely even string a sentence together.

  “Don’t worry, it’s going to be OK now,” Alicia tells me, putting the box back in its place.

  “But why did you do that?”

  She smiles sweetly. “Anything for a friend.”

  “But why did you?”

  “I didn’t want you to get into trouble.”

  “But why did you think I’d get into trouble?”

  She flicks some fluff from her jumper.

  “I knew you were at Filbert’s that day.”

  “How?”

  “Oh, come on – you were acting shifty all morning. Where else would you be going? It’s not like anyone else is recruiting - not at this time of year.”

  She’s right.

  “Well, thanks, I guess.”

  I feel more confused than ever.

  *

  I don’t sleep very well that night. I wake up at two, and then again at three and four, and end up pacing around the living room with the shopping channel on in the background.

  What the hell is going on? Nothing makes sense anymore.

  I’m supposed to be driving over to Julio’s in the morning but I’m nervous about leaving Alicia alone with my friends. If only I knew for sure whether I can trust her. Still, there’s no backing out now. Julio’s really looking forward to introducing me to his fiancée. And besides, I have to admit I’m kind of curious. I try to picture Holly, but it’s useless. My brother doesn’t have a type, unless it’s female. Sometimes I wonder what all these women see in him.

  Since I’m unable to get back to sleep, I set off early, before the traffic has a chance to build up and I pull up outside Julio’s new house just before lunch-time. It isn’t hard to figure out which house is his. The dismembered body of an old Morris Minor litters the driveway. The poor thing is leaking buckets of oil, and spare parts are splayed out like guts all over the grass. A familiar pair of boots sticks out from under the car.

  I’m just considering how to rouse him, when the garage door opens and someone, presumably Holly, teeters out on high heels, carrying a tea tray. She is tall and blonde, with endlessly long legs and rather well-dressed for my dishevelled brother.

  “Oh, hello! You must be Isabel!”

  “And you must be Holly!”

  “I am!” Her smile reveals a slight overbite, which only adds to her appeal. “Julio! Your sister’s here!”

  My brother slides out from under the car and makes a futile attempt to dust the dirt off his overalls. He tries to hug me, but I bat him off.

  “Not in those clothes!”

  “Go and take a shower,” Holly tells him. She’s what my mum would call ‘well spoken’.”

  “Come on in, Isabel. I’ve just made some tea.”

  The two of us sit in the living room drinking tea and eating Jaffa Cakes. The coffee table is stacked high with bridal magazines and honeymoon brochures. Holly talks enthusiastically about the wedding, which is due to take place in the spring. She seems keen to include me in their plans, which is very sweet, but kind of awkward since it wasn’t so long ago that I was helping Julio plan his wedding to Kate. This would all be so much easier if I could dislike Holly, but so far, I see nothing to dislike.

  “It all sounds like a fairytale,” I say, admiring the lavish dress designs she shows me. She nods. “We’re getting married barefoot, down on the beach. I was thinking it might be fun to arrive on horses, but Julio doesn’t have a clue how to ride. Still, I’m sure he can learn in time. And after the ceremony, we’ll have the wedding breakfast in the grounds of Seymour Castle.”

  “Sounds lovely.”

  “And instead of a disco, we’re going to finish with a candlelit dance. Doesn’t that sound romantic?”

  “It does.”

  It really does.

  I don’t think Kate was that bothered about the details when she married Julio. Theirs was a very simple wedding. She didn’t even wear the traditional white meringue. It just wasn’t her. I’m not sure a big fancy wedding is really Julio either but then, my brother is a chameleon. He twists and changes with every woman he’s with. Sometimes, I’m not sure I know the real Julio at all.

  His capriciousness weighs heavily on my conscience. Holly is so excited about this, she’s making so many plans, spending so much money. What if he ditches her just like he ditched Kate and all the others?

  I have to say something. I can’t just let her do this, not knowing what my brother’s really like.

  I take a deep breath, and the words all come rushing out at once.

  “Don’t get me wrong, Holly – you seem fantastic, but are you really sure you want to marry my brother?”

  Holly laughs. Yes, actually laughs.

  “Don’t worry about me, Isabel. I know his reputation. I know what I’m getting myself into.”

  I feel a little taken aback. This isn’t the reaction I was expecting.

  “Well, just as long as you know. I would hate for you to get hurt.”

  “Don’t worry,” she says, with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Julio’s met his match with me, I can promise you that.”

  Well, she seems sure enough!

  I wrap my cardy a little more tightly round me as a cool draft blows through the room.

  “Are you cold?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  Despite my protests, Holly strikes a match and lets it flutter onto the coals. I hadn’t realised it was a real fireplace. I’d just assumed it was gas, like mine.

  For the first time in weeks, I enjoy the hiss and spit of a fire, without worrying about whether the house is going to burn down. Holly puts on some soft, soothing music and we warm ourselves in companionable silence. My eyes begin to droop as the blue and orange flames crackle and snap in front of me.

  “Izzy?” I hear Julio coming downstairs.

  “Shh! She’s asleep.”

  I am in that no-man’s land between the waking world and the sleeping one. I am aware of Holly and Julio tiptoeing around me, but my closed eyes are still faintly focused on the fire. I can almost make out a ghostly face amidst the black plumes of smoke. I see a girl with pale skin and wild curls. She throws back her head and laughs. I struggle to shake off the image, but I am no longer in control. I give in to the lull of sleep.

  “Hi, sleepy head,” Julio says, when I finally emerge from my nap.

  “Sorry - I didn’t sleep very well last night,” I apologise, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

  “We were thinking of going to the pub over the road if you fancy it?” Holly suggests.

  “Sounds good. I just need to freshen up.”

  “Of course, come on – I’ll show you your room.”

  She leads me upstairs to a neat little guest room. I smile politely while she points out the bathroom and explains the trick for getting the hot water going in the morning. I wait until I hear her feet pad back down the stairs before I ring Kate.

  Kate sounds a little frosty when she answers.

  “You’re at Julio’s then?”

  “Yes.”

  “So what’s she like, his new fiancée?”

  “She’s…” I pause. Kate wants to hear that Holly’s a screaming lunatic with a hunch-back and a heroin habit but after all Holly’
s lovely hospitality, the words stick in my throat.

  “You like her, don’t you?” I can hear the hurt in her voice.

  “She’s…” I search desperately for something negative to say.

  “She’s not you,” I finish truthfully.

  *

  Holly wakes me on Christmas Day with yet another cup of tea and a piece of homemade gingerbread. It’s the first Christmas in years that I’ve been allowed to sleep in late. Mum seems to start the festivities earlier and earlier every year. Not so much out of enthusiasm, but an eagerness to get it all out of the way. Last year, we were both tucked up in bed by half past nine in the evening. I try not to hold it against her though. After all, I like to be up bright and early to hit the Boxing Day sales.

  I put on my dressing gown and walk downstairs, eager to begin opening my presents.

  “Here - I saw this and thought of you,” Julio says, holding out a large, rectangular parcel.

  “Thanks!”

  I rip open the paper. It’s a framed picture of a little girl gazing out of her bedroom window at a purple moon.

  “I can’t believe you remembered this!”

  “Of course I did!”

  When I was a little girl, I would often dream of a purple moon – it became a bit of an obsession. Every night, when I was supposed to be asleep, I would wrap my duvet around me and tiptoe over to the wide bay window. There, I would sit and watch, waiting to see if the moon changed colour. I often fell asleep like that, my face pressed up against the glass, my warm breath leaving a strange smudge on the window that mystified my poor Mum in the morning.

  “This is really lovely, thank you.” I smile guiltily, remembering what I said to Holly about him yesterday.

  Oh god, I hope she’s not going to tell him.

  But I get the feeling Holly is someone who can be trusted. Somehow, I don’t think she’s going to repeat my warning to Julio.

  “So how are Deacon and the others?” my brother asks later, over Christmas lunch.

  I adjust my paper hat. “I don’t know. Everything’s a bit weird at the moment.”

  “How do you mean?”

  I fill them in on the situation with Alicia.

  Holly takes a deep breath. “You should be careful,” she says, stabbing a pea with her fork. “There are some very weird people out there. I should know - I meet enough of them in my line of work.”

  “Why? What do you do?”

  She flicks back her long, shiny hair.

  “I’m a private detective.”

  “Wow! That sounds exciting.”

  “Hardly. I spend most of my time sitting in the car waiting to take pictures of cheating wives and husbands.”

  My eyes flicker to Julio.

  Ha! Ha! You aren’t going to get anything past this one, Julio.

  “So what would you do, if you were me?” I ask.

  “Well, first of all, I wouldn’t have let her give me an alibi!” she says sternly. “It’s not like they’ve got any real evidence against you, anyway. The CCTV images would have put you in the clear – if they had any.”

  “That’s it!” I exclaim, snapping my fingers. “There must be cameras outside Filbert’s – why don’t they look at those to find out what happened?”

  Holly shakes her head. “They don’t always help. Some cameras only record the last 24 hours and others only show live feed, so there would have to be someone monitoring them at the time.”

  “What? Can’t they go back and look at the footage?”

  “Only if they were recording. And now you’ve lied and said you weren’t there, it’s probably for the best if they don’t have anything on camera.”

  “I suppose so.”

  “So what do we know about this Alicia girl?”

  “Very little. She gives nothing away.”

  “Have you managed to find out anything at all?”

  “Well,” I say hesitantly. “I did manage to get a copy of her personnel file.”

  “Oh, you bad girl!” Julio clicks his tongue in mock disapproval.

  “It didn’t tell me much, though.”

  I reach into my handbag and pull out the crumpled piece of paper.

  “Leave that with me,” says Holly. “I’ll do some digging around.”

  “Oh, would you? That would be great!”

  “I can’t promise that I’m going to find anything,” she warns. “But I’ll definitely take a look.”

  I nod, appreciatively. It’s so great to finally have someone I can talk to about this stuff. Holly doesn’t seem to think I’m mad, and with her help, I may finally have the upper hand.

  “And in the meantime, it would be best if you keep your distance from this girl.”

  “That’s easier said than done. She’s got in pretty deep with my friends.”

  “Well, you be careful. And whatever you do, don’t let her know we’re investigating her. It sounds like she could be dangerous.”

  Her words send a chill down my spine… I’m not imagining it, then.

  Three Hours Later

  “Are you sure you can’t stay another night?” Holly asks, as I collect up all my stuff. “We’d love to have you.”

  “I wish I could, but I’ve got work in the morning.”

  I peer through the window. It’s already getting dark outside.

  “Well, take care, then.” Holly says. “It was lovely to meet you.”

  “You too. You’d better hang on to this one,” I whisper to Julio, as I hug him goodbye.

  The roads are eerily empty on the way home. There is nothing but a series of cat’s eyes that stretch out in front of me in the darkness. I turn on the radio for company but I can’t help feeling that something isn’t quite right. There are hardly any cars on the road, yet the one behind me has been tailgating for a while now. I glance in my mirror, but I can’t make out the driver’s face. Are they watching me or the road?

  Five minutes pass and then ten. The car is still right behind me, uncomfortably close. This isn’t right. I’m starting to get really freaked out.

  I just have to make it to the next services. Then I’ll be safe.

  It seems like forever before the knife and fork sign looms out of the darkness. I wait until the last possible moment to indicate, and then spin off to the left. For one, heart-stopping moment it seems like the white car is going to follow, and then the driver seems to change their mind. They swerve back onto the main road, and I heave a huge sigh of relief.

  Feeling rather wobbly, I pump some petrol into my car and get a latte from the shop. But as I sit, sipping my drink at the counter, my uneasiness returns. It’s so dead out here that the few people who are around seem very sinister. I take a final gulp of my drink and toss the paper cup into the bin.

  As the roads are so empty, I take a liberal interpretation of the speed limits for the rest of the drive home. At last, the lights of Queensbeach twinkle tantalizingly on the horizon. I wind down my window and gulp down big breaths of sea air.

  I pull up outside my house and hurry up the path, not even bothering to get my overnight bag. I ram the key in the lock and throw open the door. I am about to switch on the lights on when I hear a creaking sound coming from upstairs.

  “Fluffy?”

  There is a loud thud. That’s no cat, I realise, my heart in my mouth. There’s someone in my house!

  Chapter Ten

  I freeze.

  What should I do?

  I stand stock-still and listen. Whoever it is has gone silent.

  With shaking hands, I reach for my mobile, but something stops me before I hit the third 9. The police have not exactly been my friends lately. I’d better handle this on my own.

  I let out the breath I’ve been holding. I shouldn’t go up there, I know I shouldn’t. And yet I have to. I creep into the kitchen and grab the largest knife I can find. I grip the handle tightly as I steal up the stairs, wincing at every creak.

  I pause at the top of the stairs. A shaft of light spills out from
under my bedroom door.

  Someone’s in there.

  I edge my way along the cold, dimly lit hallway, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps. Then I burst into the room, hoping to catch whoever it is by surprise. As I do so, the knife slips from my grasp and clatters loudly to the floor. I grab it quickly, scanning the room urgently with my eyes. The bed is made, the curtains drawn and the nightstand just as I left it. I throw open the wardrobe door and rifle frantically through the clothes. There is no one there.

  I spin round, my eyes fixed on the bed. The duvet seems strangely lumpy. I whip back the covers. But it’s just my old teddy bear, Gerald.

  This is ridiculous. What am I doing?

  There is nowhere to hide under the bed or behind it. I must simply have left the light on. The wind rattles against the window and I notice my watering can lying on the floor. It must have fallen down off the shelf. That must have been the sound I heard. I stoop down to pick it up. And yet…as I stand there, berating myself for my own stupidity, I distinctly hear someone - or something - breathing.

  My eyes dart from left to right.

  There! There it is! That bulge behind the curtains. I can’t believe I didn’t spot it before.

  My heart is in my mouth as I step forward and wrench them open.

  An ear-splitting scream fills the room.

  “ALICIA!”

  “Isabel! You scared the life out of me!” She steps out of the shadows, looking the very picture of wide-eyed innocence.

  “What are you doing in my house?” I demand, my shoulders trembling with fury.

  “Kate asked me to feed Fluffy,” she says, as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “She got stuck working an extra shift at the hospital.”

  “So what are you doing up here?”

  “She said your plants might need watering.”

  She indicates the drooping plants on the window sill.

  “So why were you hiding?”

  “Me?” Alicia’s eyes grow wide. “Why were you creeping around like that? I thought you were a burglar!”