‘Help!’ I holler as I fight my way through the grass.
A growl behind me shoots terror down my spine, but fear makes me flee faster. I race onward, clawing through the grass until I reach the narrow patch of woodland. Before tearing through it, I peer over my shoulder. Jim is lurching after me, still in the field, his movements slower as he reels from shock. I know it won’t last long, though. Jim is a big man. I know he has the ability to close the distance between us should I dare slow down.
So I don’t. I propel my body forward until the blanket of trees envelops me, concealing me in their darkened embrace.
‘Help!’ I screech, praying that the shout is loud enough to carry through the woodland.
The sound of grass swishing behind me warns that something, or someone, is in hot pursuit. The barks tell me it’s Bernie, but Bernie is always by Jim’s side. Who knows if they’re together now? I don’t dare stop to confirm if that’s the case.
Jim shouts again. ‘Stop!’
The proximity of his voice terrifies me. Twigs snap as my feet pummel the ground. Raggedly, I scream for help. I think I hear someone shout out from further ahead, and use it as fuel to keep going.
Another bark cuts through the air, echoing between the trees. Through the gaps in the tree trunks ahead, I see a flash of the back of the Clarkes’ house. The familiar sight makes me cry out, but it also distracts me from plotting my route. My foot catches on a thick root sprawling across the ground, sending me flying.
Shrieking, I soar through the air until I land in a crumpled heap. My body skids across the ground, the shock of the impact rattling through my ribcage. For a split second, I lie with my face in the dirt, winded and disbelieving, but then something knocks into my foot.
I spin onto my back, the perfect position for Bernie to throw himself on top of me. As his paws dig into my stomach and chest, I cry out. Bernie seems to relish the sound, barking in response before launching himself at my face.
Panic oozes from me as I feel something wet on my forehead.Blood, I think, but then I realise it’s Bernie licking me. His happiness is so unexpected, it almost makes me laugh.
‘Bernie, no,’ I say, trying to push him off, but then I hear a man shout.
‘She’s over here!’
Scrambling backwards, I do my best to rid myself of Bernie before Jim catches up, but as more shouts echo around me, I realise they’re not coming from Jim. Twisting my neck, I find DS Rani leading four uniformed officers towards me.
Relief strips me bare. Flopping against the ground, I burst into tears. As Bernie makes it his mission to lick them away, I let him. I’m too wiped to fight him off anyway.
‘Janine, are you okay?’ DS Rani says, kneeling beside me and doing her best to control Bernie so I can sit up.
‘It’s Jim,’ I sob. ‘He’s coming for me.’
DS Rani pulls me into a sitting position. ‘Who’s Jim?’
‘He lives on the edge of Bramblethorpe,’ I sniff, wiping my cheeks with my dirt-crusted hands. ‘Alexa met him for walks.’
Then there, appearing through the trees, is Jim. This tall, imposing man who looks like he could crush you with one flex of his arm muscles.
DS Rani doesn’t need to know more. She shouts a series of orders to the officers, who rush towards Jim. Panicked, Jim turns, stumbling back towards the field, but it doesn’t matter. The police are onto him. A delighted Bernie chases after them, oblivious to the fact that this isn’t a game but a manhunt.
I watch them go, not yet trusting that this nightmarish moment is over.
‘I thought you’d left,’ I croak. ‘I thought Jim was going to hurt me.’
‘You’re okay, Janine. Everything is okay,’ DS Rani reassures me.
With her steady hand on the centre of my back, I slowly find myself coming to my senses.
‘I’m just glad I hadn’t set off after Mullins and Otis yet,’ DS Rani says. ‘A minute later and I wouldn’t have been here to hear your calls for help.’
The ‘what if’ attached to those words bristles every hair on my body, then a series of shouts from the fields make us both jump.
‘You can’t arrest Otis until you’ve spoken to Jim,’ I say, grabbing DS Rani’s arm. ‘You need to ask him about Alexa. Dorrit Holbeck saw Alexa leave to go for a walk every day. She said Alexa sometimes had a tennis ball with her.’
A shout rings out in the distance, followed by a bark from Bernie.
‘The tennis ball you found wasn’t random,’ I continue. ‘It was Alexa’s. She was carrying it the day she went missing, because she was going to meet Jim, yet he never came forward to tell you that. Why would he keep that secret? What is he hiding?’