coming up.’ Each step creaked and the old carpet resisted her steps as it clung to the soles of her boots. ‘I don’t think there’s anyone here.’ She gazed around the last few rooms and they were much the same as the living room. ‘Clear.’ She hurried up to the top floor and took in the sight of the missing roof tiles. Her feet squelched on the rain sodden carpet. ‘It looks like no one has been up here for a long time.’
‘What was that?’ Jacob held his finger to his mouth and they listened.
The cluttering sound from downstairs came again. ‘There’s someone there.’ Gina turned to take the stairs and felt her foot slip on a damp path, sending her slipping down several steps on her bottom. ‘Dammit.’ She pushed herself back up, but it was too late – she heard the back door slam. ‘They’re getting away.’ Jacob slipped past her and carried on running down the stairs. She half-hobbled towards the bedroom window and wiped the filth off the flimsy pane with her sleeve.
All she could see was a blurred outline at the very back of the garden, beyond all the brambles. The figure turned and ran. Jacob emerged out of the bottom.
She pointed and shouted out, ‘They went that way.’ Jacob pushed through the brambles and she only hoped he’d find the way out to the other end. She suspected their stranger already knew the best way through the garden and had made the cleanest escape ever.
‘Stop. We just want to talk,’ she called in hope that the stranger would turn around and come back, but in her heart she knew it was too late. Whoever had come to the house had gone. She hurried down the stairs ignoring her aches and pains. ‘Jacob.’
Minutes later he came back from around the front covered in bits of branch. ‘I was too late, guv. They got away.’ He rubbed the fine cut on his hand. ‘Bloody brambles.’
‘We didn’t have a hope in hell of catching them and they’re not likely to come back now, are they?’
He shook his head.
‘I know this is a long shot, but we need forensics here. They’re not going to like this one.’ She paused. ‘I can’t help but think that we’ve just let Alex’s murderer get away.’
Chapter Thirty-Six
Cherie caught her breath as she slammed the door. Christian pushed past her and went to the kitchen.
‘I just went for a run.’ She followed him through and sat at the kitchen table.
‘You never go for a run.’ He stared out at the drive.
‘I needed to clear my head.’ The stitch in her side told her how out of shape she was. She had strength but speed was her downfall. She hadn’t entered a gym for years and she’d never joined Christian when he went on one of his long treks, normally when they were on holiday. ‘What time are we picking the kids up?’
‘We’re not. I said they could stay the week. My mum said she’d take them to school and they were happy with that. They can sense we’re having problems and I don’t want them upset.’ He placed his palm on the worktop and stared at his wedding ring.
‘I want the children back here. How dare you ship them off for the week without asking me?’ She kicked the table leg and winced as her big toe cracked.
‘How dare I? It’s not me that’s been caught with booze after you promised you’d never touch the stuff again. It’s not me acting all weird and secretive and losing my job. You need to sort yourself out or you’ll lose me and the kids.’
‘I…’ She closed her mouth. Say the wrong thing now and all hell will break loose. The last thing she had the energy for was a full-on argument and this was fast becoming one. ‘You’re right, about the kids. We need a bit of space to sort things out.’
‘You. You need a bit of space. I’m alright. I’m fine and present and calm, and I’ve been trying my hardest to understand but you shut me out. I feel like you’re playing me sometimes, manipulating me, like I’m nothing more than a game to you and I don’t like that.’
She swallowed and played with the ends of her ponytail. ‘I’ve been selfish, for that I’m sorry.’ Gazing up at him, she hoped that he’d look at her like he used to, but all she saw was pity and anger in his face.