November (18 page)

‘Gotcha, boss,’ he said.

Bruno put away his phone and pulled out a large roll of electrical tape from his pocket. He wrapped Griff’s wrists behind him before dragging him to his feet. He threw the roll of tape
to Zombie Two, then hauled Griff over to the container and tossed him inside. I heard Griff grunt as he fell to the floor.

‘What have you done to Winter?’ I pleaded. ‘Where is she?’

The two thugs didn’t answer. Instead, Zombie Two wrenched my arms into position behind my back. But he didn’t restrain my hands with tape, he just lifted me up and threw me, sending me stumbling into the container.

I struggled to my feet and charged towards the opening. ‘What have you done with Winter?’ I screeched, before being knocked back down again, this time by Bruno.

‘Just shut up and you won’t get hurt,’ he said, ‘for now. The boss will be opening a bottle of French champagne when I tell him what we’ve just caught! We’ve been trying to take you out of the picture for months, and now you’ve just handed yourself over. You practically begged to be thrown into the container. It’s too easy. Like trapping rabbits!’

‘Let us out!’ cried Griff.

‘Not going to happen,’ said Bruno. ‘I guess this is goodbye.’

Hearing the container doors slamming shut was horrendous. Then came the awful sound of the locking device clicking into place, followed
by the burnout of a car speeding away.

Griff groaned beside me, half leaning against the metal wall. On my knees, I crawled around in the darkness, reaching out blindly, feeling for Winter.

‘Winter? Are you in here?’ I called.

My frantic searching continued, moving carefully along the hard, cold floor of the container. Griff joined me.

‘Winter?’ I called again.

‘Cal!’ Griff croaked. ‘There’s someone else in here! I think I just felt a leg!’

I scrambled to Griff’s side, feeling around him. ‘She’s just here,’ said Griff. ‘I think she’s dead!’

‘Winter? Winter?’ I shouted, finally feeling her wild hair and finding her face. ‘Can you hear me?’ I asked, holding her up.

There was no answer. She was cold.

‘Winter?’ I cried. ‘Winter? Please talk to me!’

I grabbed her hands and squeezed them.

Cold.

I put my head down on her chest, trying to hear a heartbeat, desperate to find a pulse in her neck.

Cold.

All I could hear was Griff Kirby whimpering and the sound of my fearful heart.

I was too late.

She’d always been there for me, and the one time she needed me, I’d ignored her.

I lifted her up and shook her gently.

My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket, reminding me again of the unheard voicemail messages. I knelt up to get a better hold of Winter and my mobile tumbled out of my pocket and hit the floor of the container.

The bump had activated the loudspeaker function.

‘You have four new messages,’ said the voice on my phone.

After a beep, Winter’s recorded voice reverberated ominously through the container as I held her lifeless body in my arms.

‘Cal, it’s me. I’m at the car yard and I have amazing news! I just found Mum and Dad’s car and got inside. It’s our car, that’s for sure—I found the tiny bird I had drawn on the upholstery in the back when I was nine! I
knew
it was here. I knew it! Call me back!’

Beep
.

‘Me again. Please call me back when you get this message. I checked the car over … and I was right. The brake lines had been cut … Cal, Sligo did it. He murdered my parents.’

Beep
.

‘Cal, where are you?! I feel like I’m going crazy
here. I’m so close to confronting Sligo, but I know I shouldn’t do it. Not yet. Not without you. Oh, Cal, where are you? I really need you right now. I don’t know what to do. I need you to talk sense into me. Please call.’

Beep
.

‘I don’t know why I can’t stop crying—I always suspected it. I always knew in my heart Sligo must have murdered them. I’ve made my decision and I’m on my way over to see him now. I’ve been waiting for six years to find out the truth, this can’t wait another second.’