Strings (47 page)

             
Melissa knew they would follow, but she didn't have time to think about how to leave unnoticed, and right now she couldn't give a damn. ‘Please let me be right,’ she whispered to herself. ‘Please be alive.’

*****

‘Please stop this,’ Luke mumbled. He was groggy and his head pounded. He still had no idea how long he had been there because he kept drifting in and out of consciousness. His wrists and ankles were bound so tightly, it was agony.

Amber gave him more water, which right now was the only thing keeping him alive because he refused to let her feed him. He wasn’t a baby
, but knew he needed the water. His surroundings were oddly familiar, but the room was dark and the only faint light came from two candles in the corner. The place was old and dirty, with old chairs and tables, toys and books scattered around the floor. Amber sat a few feet from him, cross-legged in denim crops and one of the Eagles’ tour jumpers. Her hair was now blonde and she had attempted to style it like Melissa’s.             

             
‘No, Luke. We have to stay here and play,’ she whined in a childlike voice, whipping her head backwards and forwards oddly.

             
Luke shifted into a different position, wincing as he did so. The ties cut into his wrists, tearing his flesh even more. He begged her to untie him, but she refused, scared that he would run. They had been there for days and Amber kept knocking him out with an unidentified liquid, forcing it down him until he passed out.

She kept showing him the newspaper cuttings
, so he knew something about what was going on. He had seen Melissa in one picture and she’d looked so tiny and frightened. He’d seen the press conference too. Amber had shown him the video on the new phone Jay-Den had given her. Luke was so proud of his girlfriend but he desperately wanted to hold her, to tell her everything was going to be OK, and most importantly that he was alive.

‘Amber, they think I’m dead
, for god’s sake.’ He begged her to stop and give herself up. He would never love her, and she needed help.

             
Amber screamed at him to shut up, and cried again. It was looking hopeless. She was in her own world, and she wouldn't listen to him. Luke had tried to reason with her, he had even been nice to her, but nothing helped him. She would switch from anger and fury to weak and sobbing in an instant, and at times he couldn't decide which was worse. ‘I hate you, Amber,’ he said finally.

             
‘Melissa’s lucky it's just her face. She should be dead. I thought she was, but no. She wasn't so easy to get rid of, not like Chloe,’ she yelled. Luke went even paler, if that was possible, and his mouth dropped open. Amber, now in defence mode, paced the room back and forth, shaking as she tried to rationalise what she had done all those years ago. He should have noticed her, and Chloe shouldn't have got in her way. The boxes had caused the big fire, she hadn’t meant it. And luckily for her, a few weeks later her parents had taken her away travelling, and the police never solved the case.

             
Amber was sixteen when they returned to Portsmouth. She had forgotten about Luke and erased what she’d done to Chloe from her mind. It was only years later when she met Jenny, who kept going on about some band she had seen and really liked, that she found him again.

             
‘You walked on that stage and I fell in love with you all over again. I knew then that we were meant to be together,’ she said. The look on her face was vacant, as if she was remembering something, or maybe creating another false memory. Luke didn’t want to know. He was still trying to take it in the revelation that Amber had killed Chloe, his childhood friend. Adorable, funny, beautiful Chloe, who he had never forgotten, and never would. Melissa was his girl now, but if Chloe was still alive they would certainly still have been the best of friends.

             
‘Drop dead, Amber. You’re a murderer.’

             
Amber’s heart collapsed on itself, as she realised that he would never love her now. Loneliness, rage, and many other emotions rushed through her body and exploded outwards. ‘I love you. I did it all because I love you. Why won’t you love me too?’ she sobbed.

             
Luke wouldn’t even look at her. He was so tired and had no energy left to argue with her. ‘I hate you, you’re insane.’

             
Amber shook and screamed, kicking out violently. She caught him on the side of his head, and it hit the wall, knocking him out. ‘No! I'm sorry, Luke, wake up,’ Amber shrieked in panic as he lay there, lifeless.

*****

‘I knew Jay-Den was up to something.’ Jack had called and confirmed that Jay-Den had been hiding something. From what he’d seen, he agreed with Megan that she was on the right track. But to prove it would take a long and detailed investigation.

             
Megan sat, frozen, as she listened to Jack, and the tears fell. He hated telling her. He couldn’t believe what he had found. Jay-Den was so arrogant, or stupid, that he hadn’t even hidden the emails between him and Amber. Jack had found a folder, created the day after the O2 gig, full of pictures from the Luke scandal. There were also emails between himself and Amanda Green, discussing payment terms for the exclusive. It seemed that
Juice
magazine had already sealed the deal before the bidding war even started. Jay-Den had personally pocketed £400,000 to break the hottest couple in the rock world, and he had nearly succeeded.

He had something on Dean, the guitar technician, from some years before and had blackmail
ed him to take Luke’s key. Dean had to betray Luke or his secret would be published, and he would lose everything.

             
Megan switched off, unable to take it all in. Jack had also found photoshopped pictures of Megan, showing her face on another girl's body, appearing to do a line of cocaine. Jack and anyone who knew Megan would never believe it. She had never touched anything other than a painkiller in her life. But of course the rest of the world didn’t know that, and the fact that she was dating Toby would make it more believable. The story he’d concocted would be about how Toby had turned her into a bad girl and got her into drugs. Toby knew how she felt about drugs and he was glad she didn’t touch them. Jack had been so upset over the photos and wanted to protect her from them that he had deleted every trace of them so they could never be leaked.

             
‘They’re gone, Megan.’ He heard her sigh with relief. 

             
It hurt so much that she’d been right, but she had got much more than she bargained for and she sobbed hysterically. ‘He took my future away, and he hurt my friends.’ The pain flooded out. Her boss had betrayed them all, and she felt responsible, having been so loyal to him.

She would never be a mother
now, and if Toby stayed with her, he would never be a father. Luke had nearly lost Melissa, now they had all lost Luke, and Jay-Den had planned on ruining her name and blaming it on Toby. God knows what else he has planned, she thought. He was selling all the stories and getting rich while their lives were being ripped apart. It was pure evil, and he needed to be stopped.

             
Toby heard her cries as he came along the corridor, and running into the room he took the phone from her and chucked it to one side. She told him everything through her sobs and he listened, numb with rage.

             
‘That was what I was trying to tell you,’ she admitted. ‘I just wanted to be sure before I opened my mouth.’ Toby held her tight as she sobbed her heart out. Jay-Den Lake was a dead man walking.

*****

Melissa focused on the road ahead. Her pulse raced because she had nearly reached her destination. The floodlights were on as she passed Fratton Park, home of Portsmouth Football Club. She could hear the ‘Pompey Chimes’ and the roar of the crowd. It sent a shiver down her spine as the familiar sound confirmed she was home.

             
A few minutes later, she pulled into a deserted car park. Her hands shook as she reached for her phone. She regretted not answering the frantic calls from her loved ones, but there was no time for that. Getting to Luke and ensuring his safety consumed her thoughts. She instinctively called Beth. She told Beth her location, and to get her some help, pronto. She had no time for a conversation, or to listen to a lecture on how stupid she had been for going out there alone.

Beth relayed the message to
Fox, who contacted the local police and instructed them to despatch a team immediately, but it would take them a while to get there because of the manpower being used to police the football match, a feisty local derby against Southampton.

Luke's parents had been informed and told to wa
it at home with a family liaison officer, but they were naturally frantic with worry, as were Jean and Mick who had arrived to support them. They were all angry with Melissa for going alone. She should have called Fox and left it to the police. ‘Stupid, crazy, idiot girl,’ Mick raged, as his call was ignored again by his beloved only child, who he knew was in grave danger.

                                                                     *****

The former buildings of Rosewood Primary School stood back from the road, hidden by an overgrown wasteland which used to be the playground.

It was
the photo, and Amber’s ramblings about ‘going back to where they first met’ that had given her the clue. Melissa now knew that Luke and Amber had first met here, so it had to be where she had taken him. The school had been abandoned for years, making it a perfect hiding place. From the road, the main building was almost invisible, obscured by the weeds, security fencing and all manner of rubbish which had been dumped there.

The school
had closed down nine years ago because of poor Ofsted reviews and Government spending cuts, and since then it had been left to rot.

             
Melissa turned off the engine and took several deep breaths before getting out. At the front of the building, she noticed a green plastic sheet covering something large. It blended in and had been hard to make out, but as she got closer she could tell it was hiding a car. She lifted the plastic slowly and seeing the matt paintwork made her body shiver.

It was Luke’s car.

*****

‘Jay-Den, please help me,’ Amber begged into the phone, frustrated to hear his voicemail. She needed him now. She checked Luke over again and again, terrified
that she had gone too far. He was so cold and he hadn't moved for over ten minutes. She moved him away from the wall and lay him down on his back. She stroked his face, and whispered to him ‘I’m so sorry.’ 

             
This was all such a mess. She never wanted to hurt him, but she just couldn't control her rages. Amber knew she couldn't keep this up and eventually they would find them. She hadn't looked after him very well – she knew that – and now he needed medical help. He looked so thin and his skin was white, but still she wouldn't give up her obsession to have him. It was a much stronger feeling than any other emotion she had ever felt.

             
‘Please wake up!’ she begged, shaking him. But there was nothing. She sighed with relief when she heard a noise behind her. Jay-Den had come to help her. She knew he would, he always did.

             
‘Get your fucking hands off him,’ Melissa hissed as she stepped into the light.              

             
Amber spun round to face her, panic and confusion filling her face. ‘What are you doing here? Get out!’ She screamed.

             
‘No chance.’

Melissa
focused her eyes on Luke who was motionless and bound on the cold floor. Amber blocked her way and whipped the knife from her pocket, waving it around in front of her and making it difficult for Melissa to get anywhere near him.

             
‘Amber, it's over! Let me take him and get some help,’ Melissa said, staying as calm as possible. She was relieved she had found him, but fearful at the state he was in. She couldn't tell if he was alive and the blood that soaked his hair and shoulders looked like a mix of new and old.

             
‘You can't have him back,’ Amber yelled, jabbing the knife at her and feeling the fury ripping through her body and taking over again. ‘I’ll cut your throat this time. Don't even try to take him from me again.’ She backed away, shielding Luke.

             
‘Amber, he’s dying. Open your eyes for once. Just stop and think about what you’re doing,’ Melissa shouted now, with panic in her voice. ‘This isn’t about you or me. He needs help or he’ll die.’ She was running out of time. 

             
Amber shrieked loudly, and grabbing Melissa by the hair, dragged her across the room while screaming threats to kill her and anyone else who tried to stop her this time. She threw Melissa against the wall, then flipped her round and held the blade to her neck. ‘I hate you so much.’