The Shape of Truth: A completely gripping crime suspense, page 21
I reached for the door handle – it had been a huge mistake to get into the car with Mark Appleton.
43
ANNA
The soft thunk of the door locking mechanism was followed by the purr of the engine as Mark floored the accelerator until we were speeding through the built-up area, his driving reckless to the point of madness. I instinctively drew the seat belt around my body, securing it with trembling hands as the speed increased exponentially.
‘Stop, please!’ I yelled. Fear pressed me back into the seat. ‘This will only make things worse. Let’s stop and talk about it.’ My words were met with a feral laugh as he swerved past traffic on the increasingly busy road, heading north out of town. What was he doing? Where were we going? Mark’s face was closed, inscrutable, but I knew instinctively that this wasn’t going to end well.
How could I have been so stupid as to get into the car with this madman and what would my poor mother be going through. Hopefully she’d have rung the police. I silently prayed that the traffic police would spot us and stop him as his driving became increasingly erratic, dangerously wild. He was in peril of killing us both and perhaps other innocent motorists too. The thought then struck me that maybe this was his intention…
‘This is madness, Mark, please stop!’
‘Madness, I’ll show you what madness is – bitch!’ He drove even faster, out of control. We were on the edge of town now moving parallel to the river which was swollen with the recent heavy rainfall, bursting its banks in places. When he overtook a beast of an articulated lorry, I closed my eyes as the driver honked his horn in angry protest.
Surely this was a nightmare but the fear in my body spoke of reality, an appalling, terrifying reality which I was certain could not end well. My thoughts turned to Joel. What would he think about my stupidity? I suddenly felt sick at what I’d done.
A car travelling in the opposite direction swerved to avoid us as Mark veered across the lanes. The car ran off the road onto a grass verge. I swivelled my head to look back, praying no one was hurt. Other vehicles were blaring their horns as I sat helplessly, tears streaming down my face as Mark rampaged on, wild and unchecked.
A police car appeared and my heart lurched, but it was on the opposite side of the road. Would it be able to turn and catch us? It sped past and as I followed it with my eyes it disappeared from sight, taking with it my last hope of being saved.
As we almost bounced over the brow of a hill, Mark fiddled to unfasten his seat belt and I heard it click into place behind his seat. The significance escaped me until suddenly he swung the steering wheel sharply to the left – the car veered through a wooden fence shattering it as if it was mere match wood. We were flying, nothing but air beneath the wheels for what seemed like minutes but must only have been a couple of seconds.
The car struck the ground forcefully at a forty-five-degree angle, the sound of grating metal filling my ears. I was instantly blinded by the airbag, suffocating in the folds of fabric which threatened to smother me. I fought to drag the bag down to see what was happening as the car bounced twice more like a rubber ball before the front end hit the water and slowly began to submerge. Pinned to my seat by the seat belt, I turned to my right and saw Mark’s body, thrust forward by the sudden impact.
Lifeless eyes stared back at me. Blood leaked from his nose and mouth and his head nestled in the now deflating airbag at an unnatural angle. I turned away, nauseous. My screams filled the vehicle, sounding hollow and distant as a whooshing noise surrounded me. Was it the blood pounding in my ears or the swollen river seeping into the car?
‘No, no!’ I shouted, banging my fists onto the window but it was futile.
Struggling in vain to unfasten my seat belt, freezing water was covering my ankles and then my knees. I’m going to drown, I thought as the water oozed into the car and very quickly reached my thighs. I banged again on the steamy window and rattled the door helplessly.
In a last-ditch effort I reached over Mark’s motionless body and fumbled for the keys in the ignition but would they turn? Would I be able to unlock the door? My fingers couldn’t reach and I fell back into the seat exhausted and sobbing.
The water covered my chest and continued rising; it was freezing and stank of sewage. Lifting my chin to keep it from my mouth made breathing difficult. Dirty, foul-tasting water was gushing into my mouth, my nose became submerged and then finally my eyes. I was cold, so cold and afraid.
As I screwed my eyes tight shut and held my breath until my lungs felt they would burst I knew I was going to die. Mark Appleton, a man I’d pursued relentlessly and who had won the final battle, was dead. The very man who had inadvertently given me life was now taking it away.
44
ANNA
I opened my eyes with a jolt but could see nothing. Noise filled my ears but different sounds this time, the clattering of trollies and distant voices. My skin felt warm, no longer numb with cold – was the freezing water just a nightmare? Where was I? Hospital?
As my eyes slowly focused, the first person I saw was my mother, tearful as she clasped my hand. Joel sat on the other side of the hospital bed with a stern-looking Samantha Freeman standing behind him.
‘I’m alive.’ Talk about stating the obvious. My voice was hoarse and barely a whisper. Relief washed over me as the memory of the cold dirty water rising around me and filling my mouth rushed back into my mind. Then suddenly I couldn’t breathe again – I was back in the car with Mark Appleton – his dead empty eyes staring at me. I sat up, panicking and greedily gulped in the clean dry air but the taste of cold dirty water lingered in my mouth.
‘It’s okay. You’re safe now.’ Joel stroked my hair reassuringly, gently pressing me back down onto the bed.
‘What happened?’ My breathing steadied and curiosity took over. How had I got out of the car?
Samantha spoke, her voice solemn. ‘It was touch and go. Your mother rang us when you got into Appleton’s car and we arrived in time to see him driving away with you beside him. You probably didn’t notice us behind you, he was driving like a madman, but we managed to keep up. It wasn’t safe to stop him on the road, there would have been too much collateral damage and we knew he’d have to stop sometime so we kept you in sight with other units joining us in the chase.
‘We assumed it was only a matter of time – that we could outrun him but when he drove the car into the river it appeared to be all over. The recent rains had raised the water level way beyond normal. It was only the quick thinking of DC Paul Roper which saved you. He was in the second car following you and must have anticipated Appleton’s actions.
‘When we stopped, he had the presence of mind to grab the jack from the boot, slide down the bank and wade in the river. The water dragged the car under almost immediately but Paul was determined. He managed to smash the window at your side and drag you out, unconscious by then but still alive. Not so Appleton I’m afraid.’
Samantha paused and looked directly at me. ‘I don’t need to tell you what a bad idea it was to get into his car, do I?’ She half smiled to soften the words but I still felt like a naughty school girl and deservedly so.
‘No, and I’m sorry to have caused such trouble. He tricked me but that’s no excuse. My actions were stupid, inexcusable. Please thank DC Roper for me. I know how lucky I am to be alive.’ My mother was sobbing quietly beside me. ‘It’s okay, Mum, it’s over and I feel fine, honestly.’ She simply shook her head. A man losing his life isn’t a good outcome in any situation even if he was a rapist and I knew Mum would feel this acutely.
‘The doctors are amazed you have no physical injuries but they want to keep you here overnight for observation.’ Joel spoke softly but I wondered if I’d be getting a lecture from him too when I eventually returned home. All I could do was smile and nod, we could discuss the details later. Samantha left us then, but Mum and Joel stayed until a nurse tactfully suggested I needed rest and they left promising to visit in the evening at the correct time.
My lungs and throat were sore and I felt filthy, in need of a shower. A nurse helped me out of bed and surprisingly, I managed to walk to the bathroom unaided. It was a relief to stand under the hot clean water – to let it rinse away the smell of the river from my tangled filthy hair. I used almost a whole bottle of shampoo and was in the bathroom so long that the same nurse came to check I was okay. Eventually the taste of the river dissolved in the hot water but the memory of it would remain with me forever.
Returning to bed I slipped gratefully between the clean warm sheets. Sleep came, probably from sheer exhaustion and I woke rested and keen to get home, but not wanting to cause any more trouble I agreed to stay overnight. Being agreeable was the least I could do.
Joel arrived that evening spot on visiting time and I smiled at the sight of him and the look of concern in his eyes. I think we were both pleased to have time alone before Mum arrived; maybe she’d hung back deliberately, it was the sort of thing she’d do.
‘You had me so worried, Anna.’ His words piled on the guilt. I was well aware it had been a foolish thing to do.
‘I’m sorry. I know it’s not an excuse but Mark tricked me. He said he wanted to discuss making things easier for Mum, but I should have known better. It was stupid of me and I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.’ My emotions suddenly let me down and I found myself sobbing on Joel’s shoulder – he must think me a right blubberer. He held me until the tears ceased, kissing me gently on the forehead.
‘I love you, Anna. If anything had happened to you I don’t know how I’d have coped.’ Joel had tears in his eyes too. We held each other for several moments drawing comfort from the physical contact. Eventually he pulled away and looked at me. ‘My timing’s never been very good but this experience has given me such clarity as to my feelings, Anna, and I want you to marry me. Will you? Please? I know it’s an inappropriate time to ask and we should be in some romantic setting but I can’t wait any longer. I need to know if you feel the same way I do.’
Hardly believing what I was hearing, I knew I didn’t deserve this wonderful man but I wasn’t going to refuse – it was what I wanted too.
‘Oh, Joel, yes I’ll marry you if you’re sure you want me? I love you too and your timing’s perfect.’ We sat there like two soppy teenagers gazing into each other’s eyes, which is how we were when Mum arrived.
For the next hour we didn’t talk about Mark Appleton – an unspoken agreement that he’d dominated our lives for too long and there were other subjects to discuss, happier prospects to consider, so we pushed him and the events of the day to the back of our minds.
Mum and Joel stayed until the visitor’s bell rang and I was glad we would only be apart for one night. Once alone again, I tried out what would be my new name, repeating it aloud and rolling it on my tongue, Anna Amos, a new alliterative name for a new phase in my life. It sounded perfect.
Tossing and turning that night with far too much on my mind to sleep, I vacillated between joy and sadness. Did I deserve to be so happy? I know Mark was a rapist and more but my mind reeled with the thought that if I hadn’t got into his car, he might still be alive. It may have been indirectly, but I was responsible for a man’s death and I knew it would always haunt me.
45
SAMANTHA
Sam reported the tragic events to DCI Kent late on Saturday afternoon before going back to the scene of the tragedy to see how the clean-up operation was progressing. The site was cordoned off, shielded from the gathering press and public view by canvas screens, yet sadly sightseers were gathering by the riverbank and press photographers risked a soaking in their attempts to secure a good angle for the best shot. Sam couldn’t believe how people would come to gawp at the site of such a tragedy.
A recovery lorry had already winched Appleton’s car from the water, his body no longer inside having been recovered shortly after Anna’s rescue. Sam watched the car being loaded onto a truck and covered with a vast tarpaulin before being taken away for forensics to begin their painstaking examination to rule out mechanical failure. There was little doubt that their assumptions would be confirmed; it was a deliberate attempt at murder/suicide.
Sam had seen enough, it was time for her to go, her mood one of sadness and regret at the way the case had ended. For once she had no desire to go back to the station where no doubt they would be inundated with calls from the press, frantic for information. In due course a press statement would be released with the wording carefully formatted but not until Appleton’s family were informed of the tragedy.
Wearily, Sam headed home to spend the rest of the weekend alone with her thoughts. She’d instructed Jenny to take time off and Paul needed a medical check-up after which he too needed to go home. They would make their official reports on Monday. The only other person she spoke to during the weekend was Ravi Patel who she rang on Saturday evening.
‘Want some company?’ he offered when he’d listened to her sorry account of the day’s events, but she declined. Sam had drunk a couple of glasses of wine by then and intended having a couple more before going to bed and hopefully sleeping through until dinner time the following day. Ravi sympathised and attempted to cheer her up but to no avail. Eventually she ended the call and went to open another bottle of wine which would hopefully do the job Ravi had failed to do.
Sam’s feelings were an enigma, even to herself. Appleton was undoubtedly a corrupt and immoral man yet she took no pleasure from his death. Undoubtedly the choice had been his and even in death he’d tried to take his daughter with him, perhaps in a warped attempt at revenge, to make others suffer in the way he perceived he was suffering. But it was only conjecture. No one could ever know what was truly in the mind of another, especially a character as complex and ruthless as Appleton.
On Monday morning, after the initial shock of Appleton’s death and his attempt to take his daughter with him, the mood at New Middridge police station settled into an uneasy despondency. An underlying anti-climax pervaded the atmosphere now that the case which had built so swiftly to a head was suddenly over.
‘I found those emails about paying off that woman but I suppose it’s irrelevant now?’ DC Paul Roper asked Sam. She nodded solemnly; what was to have been the icing on the cake in proving Appleton’s true character was now immaterial. There was no doubt in her mind other victims would have come forward once the case was in the public domain but the MP had taken the decision to avoid conviction in the most permanent of ways.
Roper tried to cheer up his DS. ‘There’s always the fraud case. DI Patel can still proceed with the other perpetrators and Appleton’s computer and papers have been integral to his case.’
Sam smiled her thanks for what he was trying to do, acknowledging the truth of his words yet it remained a bittersweet triumph.
A selection of the Sunday papers sat on Sam’s desk which she read half-heartedly. The circumstances of the MP’s death were highlighted and embellished. His recent arrest for assault against his wife was chewed over and there was speculation as to the identity of the young woman with him in the car. Most accounts hinted that it was a lover, the reason perhaps for Appleton’s marital problems, and Sam would be satisfied for it to remain the consensus of opinion; it would ease the burdens of Caroline and Anna Greenwood.
Ravi Patel rang her again. ‘Hey, I tried to reach you yesterday. Are you okay?’ His voice held concern and Sam was touched.
‘Yes thanks, Ravi. Sorry but I switched my phone off, slept most of the day, you know.’
‘Understandable. You must be exhausted, it’s been rather full-on, hasn’t it? So as long as you’re okay?’
‘Yeah, but it’s over for me now apart from the paperwork. How about your case, anything new to report?’
‘Actually yes. I didn’t want to tell you on Saturday, you had enough to think about, but Appleton’s agent is co-operating. I saw him on Friday and he’s decided to help us in the investigation. Those emails you found for me probably tipped the balance so thanks, good work there, DS Freeman!’ Ravi was attempting to keep the conversation light, to be positive.
Sam was pleased to have been of help. The emails and bank statements gave Ravi enough information to close down Executive Car Dealership indefinitely and pursue his case.
‘We’ll have to fix a date for that dinner I owe you?’ Ravi said hopefully.
‘Yeah, just give me a little time first.’ The conversation ended and Sam went in search of coffee – anything wet and hot would be welcome. Was she, the detective asked herself, sulking that her big case was snatched away, that if you looked at it one way, Appleton had got the better of her and she was denied the opportunity of seeing him hauled into court for his misdemeanours? No. Sam wasn’t generally an introspective person – such thoughts were unworthy and she dismissed them. The reality was that she shared Caroline Greenwood’s view – any life lost was a tragedy and a waste.
Stifled by the atmosphere in the station, Sam sought out Jenny Newcombe. ‘Come on, we need to see the Greenwoods.’ She grabbed her coat with the DC hurrying to catch her up. It wasn’t a priority to visit Caroline and Anna but there were loose ends to tie up and the time was as good as any. Anna would almost certainly be at home with her mother.
A look of surprise crossed Caroline’s face as she opened the door but she smiled and stepped aside for the detectives to enter.
