Cry Wolf Read online

  Maybe I’m just bitter. Either way, tonight’s going to be rough.

  I see Kev sitting around outside the bar and I think about walking away and coming back when he’s fecked off. Then he sees me and I have to pretend I wasn’t just thinking about running back the way I came. He looks at me, his expression melancholy.

  “Hey, Kev,” I say, trying not to sound too friendly.

  “Hey, Maggie,” he says, his words a little slurred. Already drunk for the day then. Probably have to cut him off if he comes into the bar.

  “You okay, Kev?”

  “Something ripped one of Lance’s cows to bits.”

  “I know, I heard. It’s awful, eh?”

  “It’s weird,” he says. “Lance almost didn’t find the poor thing. He’d been hidden so well at the back of the farm under an old bit of driftwood. Must have been dragged there, but there were no signs of that. Lance only found him because he’d looked everywhere else already.”

  “Oh, really?” I ask, a chill settling over me.

  Lance’s field ends before the cornfield, where a search was carried out for the body of the woman I’d seen being murdered. I don’t think they searched his property.

  Then the investigation was called off and I was forever to be sentenced to being known as a liar.

  What if I really saw something that night? I know I did, but everyone else thinks it was bullshit. What if they’re all wrong?

  I know at that moment, I’m going out there tonight, after I close the pub, to take a look around. Can’t hurt, right? Least, I hope not. I’ll probably find nothing, but the thought of it won’t leave me.

  “Mrs Wallace said she heard howling last night,” Kev tells me as he gets to his feet. “But no-one saw anything. Weird, eh? Another mystery in Widow’s Walk. Well, I mean, the first one wasn’t real, but still... Not much excitement around here these days. Got to take what we can get.”

  He staggers away and I open up the pub. I’m early, so no-one else was waiting around outside. I just had to get out of the house. Now? Now, I know I have to find out if there’s actually evidence out there of what I saw that night. Not that it’ll be much now.

  That thought sobers me. What am I really expecting to find? A body? It’s been twenty years. Bones are all that will be out there, and they might be buried. Otherwise they would have been found by now, right?

  Sighing, I root around behind the bar. I know my Da kept his tool-bag behind here somewhere, and there was a huge torch inside that I used to love messing about with, playing Nancy Drew as a child.

  I guess I’m about to pull a real life Nancy Drew if I can find what I’m looking for.

  It’s probably not out there. Not after all this time. I find the tool-bag, brush off the dust and locate the torch. Batteries are dead, but I find more and get it working. I smile as I stash it next to my purse under the counter.

  Fergus is the first to arrive. He comes straight over, his eyes wide.

  “Did you hear...?”

  I nod. “It’s all anyone’s talking about.”

  “Pretty weird, eh?”

  “Really weird,” I agree, glancing at the time on my phone and then frowning at the door. “Didn’t pass anyone on your way over?”

  He shakes his head. “I don’t think anyone else is coming. Lance was talking about starting a hunting party, to look out for the thing that killed his cow. He has to drive out of town for supplies so it won’t be tonight, but everyone else is staying home and locking their doors.”

  Nice of the arseholes to tell me, though I suppose that would have meant someone walking round my house, since the phones don’t seem to be working and my mobile might as well be an expensive brick for all the use it’s been to me out here in the middle of nowhere.

  “Beer or coke?” I ask Fergus, wondering when it’ll be dark enough to sneak around Lance’s farm. He’s probably out there right now, keeping an eye on things.

  “Coke please,” Fergus says.

  “On the house,” I tell him, getting a can from the fridge.

  Probably need to hit the cash and carry a couple of towns over next week, but we’re fine for now given that there are only a handful of regulars.

  “So what do you think?” Fergus asks, as he opens the can.

  “Huh?” I ask. “Sorry, Fergus. My mind went for a wander there.”

  “The story about the cow looking like it had been dragged, but when they found the body, there was no trail of blood or flattened grass that would prove it had been dragged.”

  Oh, yeah, I forgot he’s more obsessed than even I am with the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me. Well, it might be relegated to second biggest if it turns out I am pregnant, but we’ll see about that when it happens.

  I plonk the torch down on the bar. “I was planning on looking around behind that barn tonight. You game?”

  He almost spits out a mouthful of coke. I smile as he puts the can down and stares at me as if I’m insane. The smile that slowly grows on his face says the opposite though.

  “It’s almost exactly what I was thinking,” he says, with a grin. “Do you have anything to dig with?”

  I shake my head. “I just thought of it. I wasn’t that prepared.”

  He reaches into his back pocket and produces a trowel.

  “Kinda small, but I like it,” I tell him, turning it over in my hand. “It’s a lot less conspicuous than a spade, that’s for sure.”

  “That’s what I was thinking,” he tells me.

  “We might not find anything,” I warn him, though really I’m trying to temper my own expectations.

  “I know,” he says, picking up his can again. “It’s worth a shot though, right?”

  I smile. It feels good to have someone on my side. He truly believes I wasn’t lying all those years ago. He might even be the only one, ever. My parents wanted to believe me, and they used all kinds of ways to show me that they only cared that I wasn’t hurt. Hearing them talk about it behind my back had hurt like hell. They wanted to believe me, my Mam especially, but I’d told too many tall tales to be worthy of their belief this time.

  “It is. We need to be careful though. Do you know how late Lance usually stays up?”

  He shakes his head. “I think the farm house lights go off after midnight, but sometimes he’s out on the porch drinking beer past that time. Usually see him on a Saturday night when we get the bus back to town from a night out. I mean, we used to. Maria always said she never liked him, that he was creepy.”

  I get that. Lance is in his sixties and he squints at everyone and everything, and barks demands at any kids who come to close to his property to get the feck away. He’s been turning into a crabbit old man for years, though he seems physically fit enough to chase kids away from his fields easily enough. His da’s a bit of a prick too, as I’m being reminded every night that he stinks up the pub with his bad attitude.

  “Okay so we sit here planning until midnight then,” I tell him.

  “Is your husband going to mind that?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

  “Nah,” I brush off, thinking about Lukas and wondering what he’s been up to all day since I kicked him out. Probably moping. He seems like a moper. “He won’t care.”

  “You mind if I order pizza?” he asks, getting up to go to the pay phone next to where Lance’s father usually sits for his drink.

  “Hold it. There’s a pizza delivery place in this hole?” Why the hell don’t I know about this?

  He smiles wryly. “Don’t get too excited. It’s not Dominoes. It’s just this guy who lives down my street. He used to be some big shot baker and he knows how to make dough and stuff so he started a delivery service. Has to be regular orders though, so this is my usual day to get one. I can ask for an extra for you if you tell me what you want on it.”

  “Plain cheese and tomato will do me. Thanks, Fergus. And you’ll need to let me know this guy’s name.”

  He nods as he calls the order in, and comes back to the bar a
fter.

  “He’ll bring them round in half an hour. First one’s always free, and he’ll give you a menu with his phone number.”

  “Awesome,” I say, glad that I’m not going to have to attempt to cook every night, though so far my dinners have consisted of beans on toast, roasted cheese and chopped veg dipped in hummus.

  Blondie appears close to the usual closing time, and my stomach does little flips as he walks in.

  “Hey,” I say, trying to remember why I was pissed at him.

  “Hey,” he says, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He glances at Fergus who’s picking at the left over crusts from his pizza from earlier. Then he turns back to me. “Can we talk?”

  I nod, coming out from behind the bar. “I’ll be back in a sec,” I tell Fergus.

  We go outside and Blondie seems uncertain as he stares my way.

  “I’m not good at this,” he says. “Relationship stuff. Never really had one. Not properly.”

  “We slept together once, Lukas. It’s not exactly a relationship.” Well, twice really, and a little more, but who’s counting?

  “Well, I want one. With you.”

  “Because some mystic person told you I was your soul mate.”

  He shakes his head. “Because you are my soul mate. I feel it every time I look at you. I’d do anything to protect you, Maggie. Anything.”

  He sounds so earnest. I let out a sigh.

  “Listen, I like you but we’ve barely just met. You’re coming on a little strong. You realize that, right?”

  He nods, his expression totally crestfallen.

  “So let’s just slow things down, okay? If you want to date me, I’m fine with that. Just no more sex without protection. We barely met. We can’t be having kids on the first date. Right?”

  “I understand,” he says. “Can I walk you home when your shift is over? I’m not trying to get you into bed. It just might not be safe. Something attacked one of the farmer’s animals last night.”

  “Okay, but I’m not going straight home tonight,” I tell him, feeling as if I’m about to contradict myself here and wondering why I even care about that.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I’m going to look around where they found that cow. Something happened here years ago that no-one believed me about and I want to go see if the same thing happened then.”

  He stares at me. “You can’t.”

  “I can, and I will.”

  What the hell is up with this guy?

  “Listen, you can’t say you’d do anything for me, and then turn around and tell me I shouldn’t do something. It’s contradictory, and it’s pissing me off.”

  He frowns. “I just want to keep you safe.”

  “And I just want to prove to every fecking arsehole in this town that I didn’t lie about seeing a woman die here when I was a kid,” I hiss at him.

  We stare at each other for a few minutes before he nods.

  “Fine. I’ll come with you and keep you safe. You have to do what I say so you stay safe. That’s my only condition.” He crosses his arms and I can tell by the stony expression he’s wearing that this isn’t negotiable.

  My stomach flutters. Then I clear my throat. “Fine, but I’m not going home until I find something. That’s my only condition.”

  “Is the boy coming with us?” He asks, nodding to the pub door.

  “He is. He believes me, and he’s my friend.”

  I wait for him to make a complaint about it. He doesn’t, he just nods again.

  “When are we going?”

  “After midnight. It has to be after Lance goes to sleep.”

  He sighs. “That’s the farmer’s name, right? He was telling people he’s not going to bed. He’s staying up to catch the monster that killed his cow.”

  “You’re serious?” I ask, knowing he is. He’s too honest, and he takes everything seriously. Two things I know about the guy I might be co-parenting with. It’s a start.

  “He doesn’t have any shells left for his hunting rifle so he can’t try to shoot us at least,” I mention. “But he is probably fit enough to catch us if it turns into a chase.”

  He nods again, and runs a hand through his hair. I remember how soft if felt when I touched it and that only brings back memories of being in bed with him, feeling everything with such intensity that I never wanted to be without him. I understand why he feels so strongly about me.

  He takes everything seriously and if I did that I’d think we were destined to be together too. There’s just one little elephant in the room that isn’t going to go away until we address it properly, and I don’t think I’m ready for that.

  “I’ll take care of the farmer,” he tells me, taking my hand to kiss my knuckles before he leaves.

  “Um, what?” I call after him.

  “Go inside. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  I’m a bundle of nerves by the time Lukas comes back, just under an hour later. I raise my eyebrows at him as he enters. He doesn’t look like he just killed someone, thankfully.

  “Well?” I ask, slapping his arm when he doesn’t just volunteer the information willingly.

  He glances at Fergus.

  “He knows what you said,” I tell him.

  “I took him beer and I crushed sleeping pills into it,” Lukas admits.

  Fergus nods approvingly. “Smart. He only lets people onto his property if they come bearing gifts.”

  “Did you talk to him?” I ask.

  “I told him I was sorry to hear about his cow. He wasn’t sure who I was so I told him and I offered him a beer from a six pack I brought over. He basically talked about everyone he hates in town before he passed out in the chair on his porch.” He shrugs.

  “Okay, I’m impressed. Well done,” I tell him, picking up the torch and looking at Fergus. “Ready?”

  He nods and we head out. It’s time to hunt for evidence in a murder case that goes back twenty years.

  We walk through the cornfield to get to the back of the field where the barn is. Lukas holds me close as we walk, while Fergus moves a little ahead of us with the torch. He keeps the beam low. If anyone sees it from afar they’ll guess that Lance is wandering around, trying to look after his livestock.

  It’s dark out and I’m shivering. Lukas keeps rubbing my shoulder, as if I’m shaking because it’s cold. It’s not. Everything just feels so wrong tonight. I’m walking past the place where I saw a woman killed, and I can’t steady myself at the thought of that. I know I was just a kid back then, but there must have been something I could have done. Something better. Something more.

  Maybe then... I blink back tears and catch Lukas watching me strangely. I force a smile, but he doesn’t seem reassured by it.

  “Listen, Maggie, if this is too hard for you we don’t have to...”

  “I need to,” I whisper back, crossing my arms under my chest as I walk away from him, getting to the edge of the fence as Fergus jumps over it.

  He lands with an, “Oof!”

  It’s higher than I realized. I’m about to start climbing when I’m lifted into the air. A second later and my butt is on the edge of the fence, my legs dangling on the field side of the fence.

  I look back, and see Lukas move to my side.

  “Don’t move,” he tells me as he climbs over deftly beside me. He lifts me down when he’s at the other side and I fall into his arms easily. He does everything so perfectly. If only he’d stop spouting so much insane shite when he talks, then he might just be perfect.

  Fergus is already flashing the light around, inspecting the ground. I move to his side quickly, and Lukas follows, grabbing at my hand.

  “Stay close,” he murmurs, freaking me out ever so little.

  He’s just worried about me, but right now being reminded that some big scary animal is on the loose isn’t helping with my already frayed nerves. I let him take my hand though.

  “I think this is where they found the cow,” Fergus stage-whispers.

&n
bsp; He circles a patch of ground that looks darker, where the grass is flat. There’s a large piece of decrepit looking wood off to the side, haphazardly positioned as if it was flung aside hastily.

  “Looks like it,” I agree, letting go of Blondie’s hand to crouch down.

  There’s nothing obvious lying around, but we didn’t really expect that anyway.

  Fergus gets out his trowel. I frown at the place the wood has been stacked, shaking my head when Fergus starts digging the spot where the cow had been. I stand up and Lukas follows me past Fergus to the large piece of wood.

  He knows what I’m getting at and moves the wood further down the fence. The small mound of daisy covered grass feels a more likely place for a two decade old body to be resting than the piece of ground that’s been flattened by the cow. I tap Fergus on the shoulder and he looks up, his gaze coming to rest on the mound.

  “Oh, shit,” he whispers, his eyes widening.

  I wonder for a second if we’re doing the right thing. We’re about to disturb a body. If I’m right, that is. The chill that settles over me as Fergus carefully digs around the dirt feels like it’s penetrating right to my core. Even with Lukas hugging me close I’m shaking like a leaf.

  When a dull thump comes the next time Fergus stabs his trowel into the soil, I know.

  He uses his sleeve to wipe the dirt from the bone. There’s no question over whether this is a human bone or animal. It’s a skull. We’ve found her.

  We’ve found the evidence that I told the truth about witnessing a murder.

  Fergus gets to his feet and looks at us. “Holy shit,” he breathes, dropping the trowel.

  “What now?” Lukas asks, still rubbing my arms to keep me warm, even though I’m not shaking anymore.

  I take a shaky breath before I say it, “It’s time to call the police.”

  We agree it should be me who makes the call, even though I protest that the local cops will hear my name and instantly discredit what I tell them. They can try to discredit this all they want. I just found a human skull in a field. Someone was murdered. Maybe it won’t be the woman I saw, maybe it will.