Echoes in the Woods by Georgina Scott (ebook reader web txt) 📕

pull yourself together, you can do this, she thought to herself as she settled at her desk.

“Listen Suzanne, can we clear the air? We have to work with each other on this case and I would rather do this as friendly colleagues rather than enemies. Would you like a coffee?”

“Yes, I would like that,” she replied.

They both sat down, opposite each other, sipping coffee waiting to see who would go first. “I wanted to say sorry, for what I did to you all those years ago. It was a time when I had a big ego and an attitude to match. It’s no excuse, I know. What I mean to say is, I was totally in the wrong and I am sorry for all the distress that I caused you,” he said waiting for her response.

“I would like to thank you for your honesty and courage to admit that you were in the wrong Peter, and you were very much in the wrong. I would like us to draw a line under the past and start afresh,” she said.

“I drink to that,” he replied raising his coffee.

Over the next few hours, Suzanne and Peter worked tirelessly, eating fast food and plenty of coffee. They put together a task board and team with the current up-to-date information from the crime scene.

Chapter 18

Faith managed to walk about two miles up the road, but kept back-tracking to the farm. She then realised it would be the wrong decision to make, then turned back again and headed back towards town. The boys would enter her mind with a thousand questions and not many answers, and then the emotional guilt and heavy heart would follow, so again she would turn and head back to the farm.

She was about half way back to the farm when she heard a car approaching behind her, beeping a horn. She turned and as the car approached, she realised it was Mitch beeping and flashing his lights. Her heart skipped a beat and she started to run towards the approaching car, wiping the tears away from her cheeks.

Mitch stopped the car and then ran to her, wrapping her up in his arms, squeezing her tightly. “How did you know?” said Faith in floods of tears.

“Matthew, he phoned me on the mobile.”

“Matthew, how did he know where I hid the phone?” she said sniffling.

“Apparently, you’re not very good at keeping secrets; in fact, you’re just rubbish,” he said, with a chuckle in his voice, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.

“I have to go back. The boys, I can’t leave the boys.”

“You can’t go back, at least not now. He is angry, upset and getting madder by the minute and if you go marching on back to the farm with all fists blazing, it will all kick off again. Give him and yourself time to calm down.”

“But the boys…”

“I’m thinking of the boys. They will be fine, he won’t hurt them—he won’t hurt them,” he said, pulling her closer to him, squeezing even more tightly.

They got in the car and drove off towards the town in silence. Mitch lived on the outskirts of town. His house was painted a beautiful ivory, the gardens landscaped; it also had a pool with BBQ and outside dining area. The house had been in his family for three generations, all doctors as their profession, with each generation putting their own stamp on the place making it their own.

The interior was modern and relaxing. Faith really loved his house; she always felt at home whenever she was here. “You go and run yourself a bath and I will make coffee. I will bring it to you,” said Mitch, kissing her forehead, then walked into the kitchen. “Mitch, I haven’t any change of clothes?”

“Yeah, you do, they are in the wardrobe on the left hand side,” he replied.

“O, I forgot,” she said.

Once the bath was filled and full of bubbles, Faith slid into the water. She felt all the weight lift from her shoulders. About five minutes later, Mitch joined her with coffee. “Are you coming in?”

“I can’t babe; I have to go to the surgery for a couple of hours, then I will be back. Will you be ok?”

She nodded. “The quicker you go, the faster you will be coming home,” she said and with that, he kissed her and left. She rested back in the bath crying, wiping away the tears. She felt tired, she closed her eyes and within seconds she was snoozing.

***

Matthew took on the role as adult in a matter of minutes. He got Mark and Henry dressed and told them to do their chores around the farm with no mucking about. The younger boys did as they were told; putting on their wellies, they headed outside.

Seeing their father at the kitchen table, drinking Jack Daniels from the bottle like it was coca cola, scared them to death and they didn’t want to provoke or upset him any further. Matthew started to clean and clear up the house. Anything broken, he put in the bin outside and then he got out the hoover from the cupboard, only for his father to shout at him so he decided to put it away and got the broom out instead.

John staggered out of the house and got into his truck, then drives away. Matthew watched his father drive away. He took out the mobile phone from his pocket and was about to call Mitch Moody but thought better of it, knowing that it would upset his father. So he carried on clearing up the house and farm. Once he had done his chores and checked on his brothers, he decided to plough and seed the top fields. From the age of eight, he learnt how to use the machinery and before long it was second nature to him. It was all he wanted to do, to farm and be like his dad, though the latter part Matthew had started to question.

Lunch came and