‘Go home,’ he mouthed, before speaking into the phone.

She nodded, tight-lipped, not trusting her response. But she was never one to do as she was told, and made herself a cup of coffee before checking her work emails in the empty office of Operation Moonlight. The budget only ran to one shift, but the sheer volume of mysterious cases hitting their desks dictated that soon the team would grow. She scanned through enquiries and responses to earlier emails, finding nothing of relevance surrounding Will’s disappearance. Pulling on her jacket, she took to the streets in the hope of some insight. His car had to be in Haven, but where? Jennifer grasped for hope, unlikely tales spinning in her mind. Maybe he had come across the van and cut himself. Maybe he was away, chasing up leads, not knowing the Raven had been arrested. But why hadn’t he been in touch? The same ugly answer resounded in her head: Because he’s dead. Jennifer hit her steering wheel as the incessant thoughts drove her crazy. She couldn’t face the answer that had been staring her in the face all along. It was why she felt Will’s presence, breathing in the walls of her home. He had died, cold and alone, and had come back to be with her. Turning her car for home, she forced herself to face the truth. If she could not communicate with Will on an earthly plane, it was time to seek his presence on the other side.

Chapter Fifty-One

Efforts to communicate with Will had proved fruitless, and Jennifer felt like banging her useless head against a wall. Not that the communication she desperately sought came from her head. No, it emanated from her soul, and for the hundredth time she wished it was something tangible she could physically control. Her eyes danced around her home, wishing she didn’t feel his presence so strongly. It was her turn to call Christian for comfort, and she bit back her tears as she updated him on Will’s disappearance. With the police failing to turn up any leads, he was her last port of call.

‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ Christian asked. ‘Will’s been gone some time, I may not give you the answers you’re looking for.’

‘I need to know where he is, dead or alive. I hate to ask so soon after Felicity’s passing, but I don’t know where else to turn.’

‘I’m just dropping off the kids, I’ll be with you in just over an hour. Together we may be able to pick up something.’

‘Thank you,’ Jennifer said, her voice barely a whisper.

‘You’re more than just colleagues, aren’t you?’ Christian said, his soothing voice relaying his empathy with ease.

Jennifer closed her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose. ‘Yes. That’s why I need to know.’

‘Hold tight. I’ll be there as soon as I can. If you hear anything in the meantime just call.’

[#]

Jennifer was no stranger to haunted homes, having researched them in her spare time. Sometimes people haunted buildings when they passed over, choosing to stay with their loved ones rather than explore what was waiting for them on the other side. The thought of Will being trapped in the walls of her home filled her with dread – and given the soft whispers that sometimes passed through her mind, he would not be alone. It was a thought she could not bear to entertain, and yet … She shivered. It was doing her no good sitting here, sick at the thought of losing the only man she had ever really loved.

Ethan rang to inform her that Will’s parents were visiting the police station to speak to his colleagues. Jennifer apologised, saying she wasn’t up to it. She recalled something Christian Bowes said after his fiancée died. I know it sounds selfish but I just don’t have time for anyone else’s grief right now. Had it really come to that? Jennifer pushed the thought away, muttering under her breath as she admonished herself for being so morose. But all the same, she knew what they would be thinking, that Will was fine until he met her, and if he had gotten back with his wife as they advised, he would be safe and well. Jennifer’s stomach clenched, the small cramping sensations making her feel weak. She sat and wrapped her arms around her waist, leaning into the pain until it passed. She had experienced them when she was a child. Anxiety and hunger wrapped up in a painful little bow. Yet she welcomed it, because it was better than the deadening numbness inside.

Walking into the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of filtered water from the jug in the fridge. Closing her eyes, she stared inside the cool white box, inhaling the cold artificial air. The smell of cleaning fluid was barely discernible, and that unsettled her even more. She could clean it while she was waiting, use the extra thick bleach, then the kitchen cupboards … ‘And what good is that going to do?’ she moaned, closing the fridge door, pushing her forehead against the white sterile steel. It calmed her, making her think like a police officer instead of anxious ten-year-old Jenny who was lost and all alone.

She wanted to grill Bert, to demand he provide her with answers. He had to be responsible for Will’s disappearance. But she was not going to be allowed anywhere near the suspect she had been thrilled to arrest. Never before had she felt such an anti-climax. Think, girl, think, she thought, gently tapping her forehead against the fridge door. She recalled her case the previous year, when she looked to the past for answers. Her knowledge of Bert’s history was vague. He had lived between the mental institution and his home all his life. Officers had attended both addresses but it had not progressed their investigations. But they were level-headed men and women. They weren’t like her. Pulling her bag from the counter, she headed for the door, car keys in hand. If she put her foot down she could make it to Bert’s home and back in under an hour.

[#]

Satnavs weren’t of any use when it came to finding Bert’s address, so it was just as well she had scanned the police officers’ statements at work, greedily taking in every last shred of evidence. His house was beyond Raven Woods, another quarter mile down the track where she had abandoned her car the day she was attacked by the ravens. An icy trickle of unease slid down her spine. It was the last place she wanted to be, and her sergeant would admonish her for attending when they had already conducted a search. But she had to try, and anything was better than sitting alone, with the feel of Will all around her.

The journey to Bert’s home was easier than she thought, as she followed the tyre tracks from the police 4x4 dug into the soft soil of the narrow laneway. Jennifer stared straight ahead, her fingers gripping the moulded grooves of her steering wheel. She didn’t want to see the woodlands, much less the flocks of ravens overhead. A tiny voice told her to stop and call for backup. Jennifer pressed the accelerator as her internal monologue argued the toss. She couldn’t waste another minute. Will was hurt, or worse. If she found anything then she would call for help. She sighed. One side of her desperately wanted to find him, while another wanted to live in the moment of hope and possibilities. What if he was dead? Will was the kindest, most thoughtful man she knew. He didn’t deserve this. Just how would she cope without him in her life? Jennifer’s heart felt like it was being squeezed by an ice-cold grip. Taking slow, steady breaths, she eased the car up the leaf-strewn gravel driveway of Bert’s home.

The gloomy building was bigger than she imagined, and in a state of total decay. Half-drawn graffiti was daubed on the side of the home, discarded cans of paint thrown on the ground. Like many places on that side of Haven, visitors did not stay very long before beating a hasty exit. There was no beauty to be found in the grounds either. It no longer lay in the dying flowerbeds, choked by the weeds taking dominance over the soil. Rotting brickwork glistened with torn cobwebs, dancing mournfully in the breeze like silken fingers pointing, go back, go back. It was the same breeze that carried the sour smell of the woods. A crow’s caws echoed in the distance. Jennifer quickened her steps towards the crumbling building; Will’s life was at stake and she had to make the most of the fading light.