Page 34 of The Girls in the Lake
Josh turned around. ‘Why do you say that? About him being a pig, I mean.’
‘He’s a creep; he’s always standing too close to you when he speaks. His eyes never look at your face, always your cleavage. Thank God it’s cold and we all wear roll-neck jumpers in this weather. He brought in a uniform of tight, white shirts with low necks that we had to wear in the summer. They were bloody awful. I’ve never been so glad to see the back of the warm weather, and I hate the cold.’
‘We spoke to Andrea; she said something similar. Have you not thought about reporting him?’
‘For staring? He doesn’t do anything you could report him for, at least I don’t think so. Plus, we need the money. He pays pretty good wages and most of the time he’s okay. Staff accommodation is pretty cheap as well; he only takes a tenner a week out of your wages. Some places take up to eighty. Did Julia tell you why she left?’
‘There’s no easy way to tell you this, Stacey, but we’ve found a body floating in the lake and it’s highly possible that it’s Julia.’ He watched her face, feeling cruel. He didn’t want to tell her it was a definite until the family had been notified. Her jaw slackened as her mouth fell open; her eyes opened wide as they brimmed with tears. Sam glared at him as she reached over and patted Stacey’s arm.
‘We don’t know for definite yet; it’s a possibility though. Do you think you could talk us through the last time you saw her before she left?’
Stacey moved her head up and down. ‘She told me she was going to see a friend about a job she’d heard might be available, working on one of the boats in the marina. I can’t believe it. I mean, how did she get into the lake? No one in their right mind would go into the water this time of year. It’s flipping freezing.’
Josh rubbed the side of his head, the dull throb inside his brain signalling he was in for a real killer of a headache. This seemed to be the consensus: why would two healthy young women go into water so cold it would kill you in minutes? There had to be more to this than they’d figured out.
Thirty-Nine
The setting sun set the sky aglow; hues of red, orange and pink spread across it andThe Tequila Sunriselooked like a fairy tale all lit up with thousands of tiny white lights. Banners and balloons were hanging from the side and the mast. It looked amazing even if he said so himself. He and James had worked hard on it all afternoon. Thankfully, the driving rain and wind had subsided over the course of the morning and it was a perfect autumn evening.
Ethan hadn’t wanted to help; he hadn’t been back on the boat since the morning he’d found the girl in the lake. He was tired and hadn’t slept much either. He’d finally dozed off to be woken by James continually phoning him this morning. He’d ignored him for the first hour until after the tenth call, when he’d given in and James had practically begged him. He’d also asked another of their old school friends, Marcus, to pitch in. This was a big charter, and there were to be lots of teenagers on board the boat tonight. It crossed Ethan’s mind to wonder why their parents would be letting them anywhere nearThe Tequilaif they knew the girl found dead had last been seen on here drinking before she died. James was so matter of fact about it all; he didn’t seem to care one bit. Marcus was no better most of the time. What was it with these rich kids? Maybe they needed to live like a normal working class person for a while, to see what life was like when mummy and daddy couldn’t afford to pay for everything. He wasn’t jealous, or bitter, it was just a fact. He would have loved it if his parents had been able to afford to buy him nice things, but they didn’t even buy each other stuff. They’d both worked hard all their lives, and Ethan had the same work ethic, although he wasn’t so prudish about being working class when James offered to buy the beers. Besides, they were friends and friends didn’t care whether you were rich or had acne. The whole point of being friends was because you liked each other the way you were, no strings attached.
‘Christ, if I had a pound for every time you were daydreaming or skiving, I’d be rich. What fantasy land are you in now?’
He turned to look at James, shaking his head. ‘You’re an idiot, you already have enough money. I don’t even know why you bother doing this. It’s not as if you need the cash, and is it really worth the hassle?’
Marcus stopped what he was doing, turning to watch them both.
‘I do this because it’s easy money and you’re almost guaranteed an easy lay. All those gorgeous, young women drunk on champagne and desperate to lose their virginity. It’s only right to oblige. Who am I to say no? I see it as my civic duty. Who wouldn’t want to sleep with me?’
Marcus laughed. ‘You might as well just advertise a shagfest and be done with it.’
James joined in. The only one who didn’t think they were funny was Ethan, who scowled at the pair of them.
‘Wankers, both of you. I’m amazed you can even fit below deck with the size of your heads.’
‘How would you know how big it is?’ More raucous laughter, then James continued. ‘No, you’re the wanker. All alone in your smelly cabin filled with ancient issues ofPlayboywith the pages stuck together.’
Now Ethan was really annoyed with him; how dare he? He turned to leave, and James shouted after him. ‘Sorry, don’t take any notice. I’m being an idiot. Blame Marcus, he’s a bad influence.’
Ethan hesitated. He could leave and go back home to his damp little room, or he could stay, put on the tuxedo James had loaned to him, smile at people all night, hand out glasses of cheap champagne and pretend to be nice. It was better than being on his own, and James always paid him a hundred quid cash in hand. Better than a kick in the teeth, as his dad used to say. For a hundred quid he could put up with these two idiots for another couple of hours.
Forty
After talking to Stacey, Josh nipped back to the station with Sam to check in with everyone and do a team briefing before jumping in the car again and heading to Ferry Nab car park. If this was summer, they’d be hard-pressed to find a space on a grass verge somewhere miles away to squeeze into, but the lake warden’s office was only a short stroll away from their space.
Josh pushed the door handle of the office; it didn’t move.
‘Shit.’
Sam peered through the window. ‘I think there’s someone in. It’s dark inside but I can see movement at the back.’
Josh rapped his knuckles against the glass. They waited as hurried footsteps crossed towards the door. It opened and he was surprised to see Sergeant Karen Taylor, out of uniform, on the other side.
‘Well of all the people to open this door, I didn’t expect to see you here.’
She grinned at him. ‘What do you want? I’m helping out; they’re short-staffed. My son works here.’
‘A huge favour. I don’t know if you can help or not, but thought it was worth asking.’
