Definitely Dead by Kate Bendelow (howl and other poems TXT) 📕

Then her thoughts turned to Spence. Lurch had taken his phone so he could lure her here. She was sure Spence wouldn’t just hand it over, which means it had probably been taken by force. Was Spence lying in water somewhere, his dead body wrapped in tarpaulin with his skull smashed open? Maya fought back a sob and took another deep breath. Fighting back the panic attack that was mounting in her chest, she frantically thought about what she could say or do next. Instinctively she knew that it could mean the difference between life and death.

77

The moment Spence opened his eyes, he regretted it. The light was a laser beam of pain, which burnt into his retina. His mouth was dry and woolly, every part of his body ached.

‘Spencer, darling, you’re awake. It’s okay, sweetheart, I’m here.’

Spence was surprised to hear the familiar sound of his mum’s voice and took a chance with the light, squinting carefully in her direction. He smiled weakly at the sight of her sat by the side of his bed. She looked to have aged overnight, the concern on her face was palpable.

He shut his eyes again and felt his body sink into the bed. ‘I’ll go and get a nurse,’ he heard his sister say. He sighed as he felt his mother fussing with the bedcovers around him, before gently placing a cooling kiss on his forehead. He heard a sudden strangled sob before he felt her warm tears falling on his face.

‘Please don’t cry, Mum, I’m okay,’ he said in a voice he barely recognised as his own. His mouth was swollen and worryingly, his teeth felt loose. He reached for his mum’s hand and squeezed it carefully as he attempted to open his eyes again.

This time the light seemed more forgiving and he could take in more detail of the hospital room he was lying in.

‘How long have I been here?’ he asked, disorientated.

‘Since yesterday. Tania said she thought she’d heard some shouting not long after you left the house but thought nothing of it at the time. When she realised your car was still there, she went to look for you. She found you out for the count in the middle of the estate.

‘The doctors have kept you sedated since as they were concerned about a possible head injury although, thank God, everything seems fine. You’ve got a broken nose, fractured cheekbone, four broken ribs and a broken collarbone. Oh, darling, we’ve been so worried.’ Janine James broke into a fresh peal of tears as she clutched Spence’s hand for dear life, as if she was never going to let him go again.

Well, with all those injuries, at least it explained why he felt as if he’d been hit by a bus. He had a fleeting memory of chasing after Lurch through the estate and then suddenly, all the events of the last few weeks came flooding back to him. There was only one person he could think of.

‘Maya,’ he said as he made a futile attempt to sit up. ‘I need to speak to Maya. I need to check she’s okay.’

‘You were mugged, love, your phone has been stolen. Who’s Maya anyway?’

‘I need to speak to her, Mum. Please get me a phone or something.’ Spence attempted to sit up again, just as Tania returned to the room accompanied by a doctor.

‘You’re going nowhere, son, lie back down,’ the doctor commanded in a no-nonsense, authoritarian manner.

Consumed with pain and frustration, Spence sank back down onto the bed as the doctor began to examine him, poking and prodding and asking all sorts of questions. All he could think about was Maya. He didn’t have all the pieces to the jigsaw, but he knew Maya was central to it all. Tears began to fill his eyes and they had nothing to do with the amount of pain he was in.

If Lurch had done this to him, what would he do to Maya?

78

Taking deep breaths, Maya fought to stay calm. It was easier said than done in the presence of someone as intimidating and unstable as Lurch. She decided to chance flattery and distraction. ‘Sydney is a nice name. Can I call you Sydney instead of Lurch?’

Her gamble paid off as he gave her a shy, toothless smile. ‘I’d like that. I don’t want to be Lurch anymore. I want to be Sydney.’

Maya smiled with more reassurance than she felt. ‘Okay, Sydney. Can you tell me what you’ve done? Then we can work out how I can help you.’

He grimaced. ‘It’s my friend, Aiden…’

‘Aiden Donnelly?’ Maya gasped.

Lurch nodded as he swiped his sleeve across his nose. ‘He’s gonna be so mad with me…’

‘Why?’

‘I knocked him out and chained him up in our lock-up. He’s still there. It’s been days now. I don’t know what to do. Usually, him or Nowak tell me what’s what. I’ve never been in a situation like this before. My friends have always helped me.’

‘You said you’d done this because of me but I don’t understand why. I don’t even know Donnelly…’

‘Because it was supposed to be you in the lock-up. Aiden said we were going to follow you and kidnap you and tie you up in there to teach you a lesson. As a favour for Nowak’s cellmate.’ He sighed as he struggled to think. ‘And because they were all mad at you for giving Spence an alibi for the McCluskey stabbing. Aiden had fixed it that Spence got sent to prison so Nowak could come home.’

As shocked as she was, things gradually began to fall into place. She didn’t know what was worse – the thought that someone had planned to kidnap her or the fact that Naylor was behind it. It was almost too incomprehensible.

Lurch’s lower lip began to tremble with emotion. He couldn’t look Maya in the eye as he continued. ‘I couldn’t do it though. I’ve always done what they’ve told