The temperature increased inside the car as they drove to Manny’s place. Grace glared at Astrid in the mirror.
‘Why would you tell her that? What makes you think I want to foster anyone? What gives you the right? I’ve only known you for two days, and you do this? You’re giving the girl false hope.’
Her face smouldered like the surface of Venus, her eyes darting from the road, and then to Astrid. They bounced through the woods and towards Senator Brady’s youth centre before Grace took a sharp turn away from it, cutting onto a path that didn’t do Astrid’s back any good.
‘Pull over,’ she shouted as Grace’s irritation transferred to her driving.
She scowled at Astrid before stopping. The wheels skidded through the dirt and grass, braking inches from a huge tree; only the seatbelt prevented Astrid from thumping into the front of the vehicle. It cut into her ribs, and she grimaced. She undid it and turned to speak to Grace, but the tall woman was out of the car in a flash, slamming the door behind her. Astrid was more circumspect, slipping from the seat and doing her best to avoid the mud on the ground.
‘Did you do this so you could manipulate the kid?’ Steam slipped out of Grace’s ears. ‘How is she going to feel, you getting her hopes up, and then letting her down?’
Astrid waited for her to calm down. Branches crunched underfoot as she moved towards her, scaring squirrels across the woodland floor.
‘How far away is the well?’
Grace scrunched up her eyes. ‘What?’
‘The well you fell into; is it near here?’
‘If we walk to Manny’s, we’ll go past it. Why?’
‘Have you been back since the incident?’ She was being hard on Grace, with this and the girl; she knew it, but she also accepted it needed broaching sooner rather than later. When Grace mentioned what had happened in her childhood, Astrid recognised her repressed emotions. ‘Can you show me where it is?’
‘I’ll take you there.’
They marched through the trees for about half a mile, the river rumbling somewhere in the distance, until Astrid saw the danger sign up ahead.
‘They never sealed it?’
‘I don’t think they can. It connects to the town’s water supply.’ The anger had drifted out of Grace, the fear only noticeable by the tremble at the edge of her mouth. ‘What are you going to do about Polly? You’ve made her a promise you can’t keep.’
Astrid took a deep breath, ready to give the speech she’d prepared on the bumpy journey into the forest.
‘You told me you wanted to have a family, Grace, but you didn’t have the time, or your job was too dangerous, or you didn’t think you’d find the right person to be a parent with. You don’t have to worry about any of those things; you’ve got a ready-made teenager to try out for a few weeks. There’s no need for maternity leave or the messy business of getting pregnant, shuffling around for nine months, and then changing nappies. You can have two weeks, four at the most, to test out motherhood. If you don’t like it, then at least you tried, and you’ll know either way.’
Grace stared at her, eyes as big as the moon, mouth as wide as the ocean. ‘Looking after a kid isn’t like picking clothes from a shop. You can’t treat the girl as if she’s a commodity or a puppy you get for Christmas. And you can’t use me as some kind of parenting experiment because of what went wrong in your life.’
Astrid let Grace’s frustration wash over her. ‘This isn’t about me. Maybe I made a mistake and took you for granted, but perhaps this isn’t about you either. That girl calling herself Polly needs some guidance and affection, and I think you’d be great for that.’
‘You’re unbelievable, do you know that? Even if what you said is true, and I’m not saying it is, why this kid? Why not any of the others desperate for a foster home?’
Astrid shrugged. ‘She was there, in the right place at the right time, and why not her? Someone has to teach you what good music is.’ She didn’t wait for Grace’s protestations, strode past her, ignored the warning sign, and leant over the top of the well. An aroma of dirty water and fresh mud rushed up from the bottom. ‘What’s the likelihood Alex might be down there?’
Grace grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back. ‘This isn’t a game.’
‘What do you think happened to Katie Spencer?’
Grace let go of her. ‘She fell into the river and banged her head. It was an accident.’
‘Perhaps she did, perhaps she didn’t.’ Astrid moved past her and around the other side. ‘But that doesn’t explain where she’s been for two months, or those cuts on her body. That doesn’t explain why she ran from a place where she was supposedly safe.’
Grace stepped across from her, placing her hands on the crumbling concrete top of the well. Astrid watched her avert her gaze from the drop below and stare at her.
‘What are you saying?’
‘Someone is taking kids and imprisoning them somewhere in this town, torturing them and worse. Katie managed to escape, only to fall into the river and hit her head. Whoever is doing this might also have taken Alex.’
‘You’re guessing.’
‘Some of it is supposition, but I see the pattern, Grace. I recognise it because I’ve seen it before.’
‘Is this what you did with the Agency?’
‘Partly. Serial killers, kidnappers, sadists were all part of the scumbag melting pot I dealt with. The consistent thing in every one of those cases was that someone always knew what was going on. They knew something, big or small, which could have ended the case early and saved lives. It will be no different in this town; nothing ever happens in isolation.’
‘And you think Manny could be the person who knows something about the abductions?’
‘Let’s hope so.’ She peered into the well one last time before turning to her partner. ‘What aren’t you telling me, Grace?’
A single word tumbled out of her shivering lips. ‘What?’
‘About your accident here, between these trees, and inside this well. I know when people are keeping things from me.’ Astrid moved closer to her. ‘The best purveyors of deception can hide things for a time, but even they give it away eventually. And, with all due respect, Grace, you’re not the best at keeping secrets. Something more happened here than you falling down this well.’ She was close enough to see Grace’s laboured breathing. ‘You don’t have to tell me, but since you mentioned it, I’ve seen something invisible weighing on your heart, and if you let it drag you further down, it will interfere with you doing your job.’ She touched Grace’s arm. ‘And I need you at your best to help me find Alex and discover what happened to Katie Spencer.’
She hated laying on the guilt, pushing Grace too far, but believed it would be for the best for both of them. She watched Grace struggle to breathe and scratch at the first bit of free skin she found on her arm. Her voice was hoarse as if the words refused to leave her mouth, and she only got them out by a force of will.
‘I’ve never told anyone the truth, not even Grandma.’ She scrutinised Astrid. ‘How did you know?’
She let go of Grace. ‘I’ve got so many secrets buried deep inside me; it’s sometimes easy to spot them in others.’
The only noise was the whisper of the wind and the flapping of wings far above their heads. Astrid waited for her to speak.
‘I said I didn’t remember how I got here, but that was a lie.’ She stepped towards the well, her fingers hovering over the concrete. ‘I was with a group of older girls that day, and they led me here.’ She placed her hand on the edge as Astrid joined her.
‘They brought you here against your will?’
Grace shook her head. ‘It wasn’t a kidnapping or anything like that. One of the girls said fairies lived in the well, and they granted you a magical wish for anything you wanted.’
‘So you went with them.’
‘My parents had died in a car crash six months earlier.’ She brushed her fingers across the stone. ‘It was my chance to bring them back.’
‘I thought they passed away when you were older?’
‘No, that’s just another lie I tell myself and everyone else. I was in the rear of the car, unhappy to be strapped in. Somehow I got out of the seatbelt and tried to crawl into the front. My mother turned to stop me, catching my father’s hand as she did so. I’m not sure what happened next, but we ended up on the other side of the road, heading straight into an oncoming truck.’ She scratched at her arm again. ‘The doctors said I was lucky to be alive, but I didn’t feel lucky.’
Astrid reached out to her. ‘I’m sorry, Grace.’ It wasn’t just for Grace’s suffering, but for her part in resurrecting those memories.
‘I’d forgotten or suppressed most of it until now.’ She took Astrid’s hand. ‘But you were right. It’s been killing me slowly ever since that day, and I’m glad to tell someone about it finally.’
‘You came here hoping to bring your parents back, but what did those girls do to you?’
Grace dipped her head into the well for a brief second before arching upwards. ‘I told them I was there to be reunited with my parents. So they laughed at me and said the only way I’d be with them again is if I joined them in the next world. Then they picked me up and dropped me in there.’ She pulled away from the well, turned her back on it, and stared in the opposite direction. ‘I was so ashamed, I never told anyone, but Manny knew. He saw everything they did.’
‘Why didn’t he tell the police or someone else?’
‘Who would believe him, the town outcast against a group of kids whose parents were all upstanding citizens of Angel Springs?’
Astrid moved from the well and stood next to Grace. ‘Do you want to go back? I can do this on my own.’
Grace shook her head. ‘No, Astrid; we’re a partnership now, and we’ll do everything together while that lasts.’
‘Then let’s go and find your saviour.’
‘What if he isn’t in or he refuses to speak to us?’
‘Then we pay another visit to Alex’s mother. Christina didn’t tell us everything, of that I’m sure. How far is this place?’
‘A few more minutes on this path.’
She saw the cabin up ahead. Grace went to step off the path until Astrid pulled her back.
‘Stay on the Yellow Brick Road, Dorothy.’
‘There’s the cabin.’ Grace pointed towards it. ‘It’ll be quicker if we cut through the trees.’
‘Quicker and more painful.’ Astrid raised her head. ‘Have you seen the cameras above us?’
Grace twisted her neck up. ‘Are they on? I can’t see any lights on them. And why can’t we go through the wood?’
It was Astrid’s turn to point into the woods. ‘Look at the ground on either side of this path.’
Grace did. ‘Okay; there are leaves and branches everywhere. It’ll be tricky, but we can get through them.’
‘Not if you want to stay healthy. Look closer and you’ll see the bits of metal poking through.’
‘Debris?’
‘Traps and wires. Your former saviour only wants people approaching him along this path. Has he always been this paranoid?’
Grace knelt for a better look at the cluster of leaves, standing to answer the question. ‘I haven’t spoken to him since the day he saved me. I don’t know what goes through his mind. He keeps to himself and rarely ventures into town.’
It took a few seconds for that information to sink into Astrid. ‘You haven’t spoken to him since he pulled you out of the well?’
A breathless sigh escaped from Grace’s lips. ‘My grandma didn’t want me to. There was talk Manny had dropped me in the well so he could play at being the hero.’
‘So what did you say?’
‘That it was all my fault and I’d stumbled and fallen. And then he saved me. But you know how people are. There were rumours it was his doing, no matter what I said.’ She wiped the sweat from her chin. ‘Then it reached the point where even if I’d wanted to tell the truth about the girls, nobody would have believed me. Those that hated Manny would still have blamed him. I saw him, occasionally, on the periphery of the town, but there was never the opportunity to speak to him, to thank him properly.’
‘And what about when you grew up?’
The sigh was heavier, more noticeable. ‘Years had gone by. I thought it was too late by then. I was embarrassed, I think.’
The porch and the front door were in front of them. Astrid scanned the rest of the surroundings.
‘Well, it appears you might finally get that chance to thank him.’
She stared at the cabin, noticing the dilapidated wood and the smoke drifting from the chimney. Grace nodded at it. ‘It looks like he’s home.’
She moved up the steps and on to the porch, raising her hand, ready to knock. Astrid watched her hesitate, recognising the nervousness of someone about to revisit their past.
‘Do you want me to do it?’
‘Hello,’ Grace shouted. ‘Is anybody here?’ Astrid stepped next to her and banged her fist on the faded wood. Grace frowned before turning to the door. ‘Manny, it’s Grace Crowley; Officer Grace Crowley. Is it okay for me to come inside?’
They waited for an answer, but none arrived. Grace turned to Astrid.
‘Maybe he’s hurt.’
Then something howled, and a shiver ran down Astrid’s spine.