The Weekend Escape, page 30
‘Went back? When?’
‘When you were all off at the harbour, flashing your torches at the Sound Café. Juliet and Amanda were faster walkers than me, and I was pissed off with Juliet and her opinions, so they took off ahead of me. By the time I got halfway there, something suddenly clicked in my mind. I realised how the poison must’ve got into Bobbie’s system.’
‘It was in her purple water bottle.’
‘It was – hey, how did you know that? Did you figure it out too?’
‘Amanda told me.’
Val pursed her lips in annoyance. ‘Well. I figured it out myself, at least. It was the best way of administering the poison that any of us could’ve managed – and, even better, it could’ve been set up before we ever got to the island.’
‘Amanda refilled Bobbie’s water bottle before they left to catch the boat. She put the poison in it then.’
‘You are ruining all my revelations.’
‘Sorry.’
‘It’s fine.’ Val still looked irritated. ‘Did you tell all of this to the police?’
‘Yeah, but without the actual bottle itself, we’ve got no evidence.’
‘And that’s where you’re wrong.’ Val beamed at her. ‘It’s why I went back to the bunkhouse. I figured the bottle had to be important, so I went back and got it. I was going to put it in my bag, but seeing as at least two people had been poking through my stuff already that weekend, I stashed it in my jacket pocket instead.’
‘You did?’
‘Yep. Wrapped it in a plastic bag to keep it uncontaminated. Then I was going to come find you lot, but Amanda turned up at the bunkhouse. Said she needed to speak to me urgently about something. I don’t—’ Val frowned. Almost unconsciously, she reached to touch the back of her head, where a neat line of sutures closed the wound. ‘I don’t remember exactly what she was talking about. She was upset. I remember that. I turned my back on her for a second, and—’ She let her hand fall. ‘That’s it. That’s all I remember. They still don’t know for sure what the hell she hit me with. A frying pan, maybe. I guess forensics will figure it out eventually. But, the good news is, when I woke up, the water bottle was still in my pocket. I kept telling the bods in the helicopter about it. One of them passed it to the police.’
‘Do you think it’ll be any use?’
Val shrugged. ‘Well, it should be. None of us handled it except Bobbie and presumably Amanda. I wore gloves when I touched it.’
Lyndsey had a moment of true panic. She remembered seeing the water bottle in the bunkhouse and picking it up. Had she been wearing her gloves at the time? She tried to think, but couldn’t be certain.
‘So,’ Val went on, oblivious, ‘if there are any fingerprints to find, the police will get them. Plus, any residue that’s left in the bottle.’ She paused. ‘I hope there’s residue. Otherwise, we might never find out exactly what type of poison Amanda used. I mean, toxicology blood tests on Bobbie will give us a broad idea of what it could be, but I’d like to know for definite. Or else I’m going to wonder about it forever. Those exact symptoms, the confusion and disorientations, the hallucinations – auditory and visual, do you realise how particular that is? And everything else as well—’
Lyndsey nodded and tuned her out. She didn’t want to think about any of this. If she’d had any choice in the matter, she would’ve gone back to sleep, and stayed asleep until everything had been resolved, one way or another.
My friends are dead. Bobbie and Amanda, two people whom Lyndsey had known for longer than she could remember, now both gone forever. Sonia was almost certainly gone as well, despite whatever Val thought she knew. And Marne as well … Marne, whom Lyndsey had barely got a chance to know. There was a deep pain in Lyndsey’s heart that she knew would never fade. My friends are dead.
Val cleared her throat. ‘Once we’re past all this,’ she said, ‘I was thinking of writing about it.’
‘Val, no.’
‘Just, like, a factual account. To make sure all of our stories are told correctly. There’s going to be a lot of speculation, y’know.’
‘Don’t you dare. I mean it.’
Val pulled a face. ‘Fine. I’ll leave it for the moment. I guess no one will want to talk about it until we’re all out of hospital, at the very least.’
‘We need more time than that. I’m getting let out today.’
Val went quiet. ‘Who told you that?’
‘The doctors.’
‘They said you’d be released today?’
‘Well, y’know. They never say anything directly, do they?’ Lyndsey turned her head towards Val, frowning. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘It just doesn’t fit precisely with what I heard,’ Val said carefully. ‘It sounded to me like they wanted to keep an eye on you for a bit longer.’
‘Yeah, they said that to me too,’ Lyndsey admitted, ‘but how can we trust anything they say? We don’t even know if they’re telling the truth about Sonia or Marne or anyone else. So how can I believe them when they say I need to stay here for longer so they can assess my state of mind, or whatever it is they want to do.’ Lyndsey closed her eyes. ‘I’m getting out of here as soon as I can.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with accepting a bit of help, Lynds.’
Lyndsey snorted. ‘I’m doing just fine. Thank you for your concern.’
‘If you reckon.’
Lyndsey leaned her head back into her nest of blankets, eyes still closed. She felt like the storm was still going on within the confines of her skull. How was she supposed to know what to believe? People kept telling her conflicting stories – about her friends, about her health, about everything. She didn’t know who she could trust. She wasn’t even sure she could trust her own mind.
She untangled her hand from the blankets and reached out for Val. Her searching fingers encountered only air.
‘Val?’
Lyndsey raised her head. Val’s chair was empty. The room was empty. She hadn’t heard Val get up to leave. Maybe Lyndsey had lapsed into sleep for a few moments, and her friend had snuck out. It was difficult to be certain.
It was difficult to be certain of anything.
She lay back down and waited for the police to return and speak to her again.
THE END
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We hope you enjoyed The Weekend Escape!
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Do leave a review if so to help spread the word!
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Don’t miss Little Girls Tell Tales, an atmospheric crime thriller about a body found in a marsh, the girl who no one believed, and the secret that binds their fates on the wild wetland of the Isle of Man…
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Acknowledgments
I always promise myself I’ll keep a proper list of everyone I need to thank in the acknowledgements, but, once again, Past-Rakie has let me down. So I apologise in advance to anyone I accidentally miss out. Just know that I really appreciate you all and you’re great. Also your hair looks lovely.
Thank you to Charlotte Ledger, Bethan Morgan, Lok Yee Liu, Hannah Todd, and everyone at One More Chapter, who did such amazing work transforming this jumble of words into an actual physical object. I couldn’t ask for a nicer bunch of people to work with.
Thank you to my fantastic agent Leslie Gardner, for always keeping me on track and for talking me down off the ceiling when necessary. And everyone at Artellus too, you folks are awesome.
Thank you to my family for supporting me always. I apologise for any mistakes in the climbing sections of this book – it’s been a while since I last abseiled! This might also be a good time to apologise to my sister for fictionalising some of her travel anecdotes. Again.
Shell Island is a fictional place, but some of the names and history are based on the Calf of Man, which is a cute little island off the south coast of the Isle of Man. My thanks to the folks at Manx National Heritage for answering a whole load of daft questions from me. Apologies to you as well for the liberties I’ve taken with the geography of the island. (As a side note to readers, the actual bunkhouse on the Calf of Man is lovely and not at all like the one in this book. If you get a chance, you should definitely visit.)
Thank you to the various writing groups who’ve put up with me, especially Shut Up & Write, Manx Litfest Writers’ Group, Happy People, and NaNoWriMo. I can assure you that the characters in this book are definitely not based on any of you. Not even Val.
Thank you to the Bridge Bookshop, Mobile Family Library, HBN Library, Women of Mann book group, Noir at the Bar, Manx Litfest, and everyone else for all your help and support and promotion.
Thank you to my husband for believing in me, making endless cups of coffee, and chasing me back to my laptop when I was procrastinating. Go Team Marriage!
Thank you to Jacob and Elliott for being awesome. Go Team Fam Squad!
A couple of sad thank yous to finish with: Thank you to the late, great Guy N Smith, for encouraging me to put words onto paper. You were always an inspiration. And thank you with all my heart to my mum-in-law, Helen, who sadly died just before completion of this book. I’m so sorry you didn’t get a chance to read this one; I hope you would’ve liked it.
Thank you for reading…
We hope you enjoyed The Weekend Escape!
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Do leave a review if so on all your preferred platforms to help spread the word!
Don’t miss the chilling Little Girls Tell Tales…
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Some of the boggy ponds were so deep that if a girl stepped into one it would swallow her forever…
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2004: Rosalie is walking through the wild wetland behind her mother’s home on the isolated Isle of Man when she stumbles across a body. Having strayed from the path and lost her brother, Dallin, it’s hours before she’s discovered, shaken and exhausted. With a reputation for telling stories, not many believe the little girl’s tale of the body in the marsh.
* * *
2019: Dallin, estranged from his family, returns unannounced with a woman named Cora by his side. Cora’s sister went missing fifteen years ago and she believes Rosalie was the one who found her. As dangerous secrets are unearthed, Cora and Rosalie start asking questions about a girl who some would rather keep buried…
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You will also love The Flood…
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When Daniela Cain returns to her small hometown after seven years’ absence, she finds that flooding has left the village all but deserted. She’s there to collect something she left in her childhood home, then she plans to leave. But upon entering the old house she discovers her younger sister’s body half-submerged in the water.
* * *
As Daniela tries to work out what happened to Auryn, she uncovers dark secrets from her childhood as one of four sisters in the household, when the Cains and another local family begin to turn on each other with devastating results.
Get your copy here!
Be sure to follow Rakie Bennett on Twitter @rakie and check out their website at rakiekeig.blogspot.com for all the updates on their latest work.
You will also love…
In the mood for even more unputdownable fiction?
You will love The Dinner Guest by B P Walter, a nerve-shredding domestic noir thriller that weaves a sprawling web of secrets around an opulent West London world and a dinner that ends in death…
Get your copy here!
You will adore Secrets of a Serial Killer by Rosie Walker, an utterly addictive psychological thriller following a notorious murderer who has been terrorising the streets of Lancaster for decades, far longer than should ever have been possible for a single killer…
Get your copy here!
You will also love Ransomed by M. A. Hunter, the explosive opening salvo in a nerve-shredding new crime series starring investigative journalist Emma Hunter and the twenty-year-old secret that drives her vigilante crusade to solve a string of missing children cold cases across the south of England.
Get your copy here!
Happy reading!
Rakie Bennett currently lives on the Isle of Man (home of fast motorbikes, tailless cats, and very changeable weather). Rakie shares their home with two kids, one angry cat, and an exceptionally patient husband.
rakiekeig.blogspot.com
Also by Rakie Bennett
The Flood
Little Girls Tell Tales
About the Publisher
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Rakie Bennett, The Weekend Escape
