Secrets of the Dead - PAPERBACK - DCI Pilgrim Crime Thriller Book 3

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1

Turning the car into the deserted parking area, Lizzy switched off the engine and slammed her fists on the steering wheel.
“Fuck,” she cursed, as tears fell and her vision swam. They streaked down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut, feeling their warmth on her face as she gripped the wheel, her knuckles white.
“Why did you do this?” she whispered under her breath into the night. “Why did you put this on me?” But she knew the answer to that, and honestly, she didn’t blame him.
Lizzy sat back in her seat and sniffed as she wrestled her emotions into submission and got herself under control. Still gripping the wheel, she sucked in a deep breath, filling her lungs and holding it before letting it go slowly. For the next few moments, she repeated the process, doing her best to empty her mind of the events of the day and forget the excruciating time she’d spent with her family. She’d known it wasn’t going to go well, but she’d owed him. A promise was a promise, and she’d said she’d be there.
She couldn’t let him down in his twilight years. He’d come to her because he’d trusted her, knew she could do what he needed, and deliver him some peace of mind.
Little did he know just how right he was about them.
Despite him asking about it, she’d saved him from that torment for today. She couldn’t ruin this day for him. She needed to let him enjoy this time, let him think well of these people for just one more day before she destroyed his world, because that’s what it would do.
She wasn’t under any illusion about the consequences the truth would unleash. It would change everything, and the family would never be the same again. She couldn’t do that to him today.
Tomorrow would be here soon enough, she’d tell him then.
Taking another long, cleansing breath, Lizzy climbed out of the car and stepped into the mild spring night. She smiled at the deserted car park. She was the only one here, just as she’d hoped.
Locking her car, she walked past the sign pointing the way to Silent Pool, and up the dirt path into the undergrowth, surrounded by trees and bushes.
This late at night, the pathway was dark, lit only by the dim light of the mostly full moon, but she’d been here often enough and knew her way along the winding track, past the first pool on her right, up towards the second body of water.
Bearing right, she took the pathway between the two ponds and stepped out from under the trees. Walking beneath the clear dark sky, the smattering of stars that made up the Milky Way were just barely visible, arcing overhead in the velvet darkness.
She loved this place. It was so tranquil and calm and had become a personal retreat of sorts. The place she would come when she wanted to escape the chaos and judgement of her family.
That was less often now that she didn’t live with them anymore, but back when she did, she’d come here all the time to walk and lose herself, forgetting her troubles and the self-absorbed idiots she was supposedly related to.
She hated most of them, and she felt sure the feeling was mutual in most cases. She’d not lived her life as her family had expected her to. Instead, she’d done her own thing, taking an interest in viewpoints that opposed what her family preferred.
But she didn’t care what they thought about her. She didn’t care about their outdated views or what they stood for. She had her own life to lead, and she’d lead it in the way that she wanted to.
But maybe things might change tomorrow once Harold knew the truth of who his children, grandchildren, and their partners were. Nothing would be the same after that. How could it? And she would be the catalyst, the spark that would light the dynamite’s fuse.
She was a ticking time bomb, ready to blow this family apart at the seams.
Part of her didn’t want to go back to that house and see everyone. The thought of staying one more night in that nightmarish place was almost too much to bear. She wanted to get in her car and drive back to London.
She could email Harold, after all. There was no need to do this face to face, but she felt like she owed him. She needed to see this through to the bitter end, no matter the arguments and hurt it caused, because this was what the family needed.
It needed a fresh start, it needed to escape this quagmire that it was stuck in, and for that, she needed to lance the boil.
It would be some short-lived pain that would lead to a better future for all of them.
At least, that’s what she told herself. Whether that was true or not was still to be seen.
Walking to the nearby bench, Lizzy sat and put her head in her hands as the first signs of a headache started to claw at her mind. She felt exhausted but really didn’t want to go to bed. Looking up, she gazed out over the eerily still water, dark and mysterious in the night. There were stories about this place, ghost stories about a spectral woman who could sometimes be seen on the water, but she’d never experienced anything like that, and she’d been here at night many times before.
The day hadn’t been all bad, and she’d enjoyed talking to Roza and Portia. It was good to catch up with them, as well as Harold. But the others…? Well, she usually just did her best to avoid them, including her parents. Spencer had been off with her all day, he was even more hostile than usual. Did he know something? Did he suspect what she’d been up to recently?
But as she thought about it, she realised she just didn’t care that much.
Instead, she found herself looking at the view over the pond and realising how much she missed this place. It had been ages since she’d last been here, and it was so good to be able to come back.
That was one good thing to come out of this, she guessed.
Reaching into her pocket, she felt her phone and the little book that was tucked in there. She held it briefly, its well-worn leather reassuring. With a sigh, she realised she wanted to capture this moment. She wanted a photo of the lake to remember it by.
Pulling her phone out, she opened the camera app, switched it to night-mode, and lined up a photo of the lake.
She took a couple and then stood up and started to move around, circling back where she’d walked in to get a better shot. It was lovely to see the place so deserted. Backing up towards the trees and bushes, she lined up the next photo, only to hear movement behind her.
An intense stabbing pain exploded in her back, right between her shoulder blades. Surging forwards, she wailed, gasping as she reached behind her, trying to grab whatever it was. It was still there, lodged in her back. As she struggled, her breath grew short and wet. She couldn’t breathe, no matter what she did. The edge of the water was suddenly right before her, looming large and dark.
On wobbly legs, she turned to see a figure following her, staring at her, their eyes boring into her. As feeling faded, the world tipped, and she was suddenly, briefly weightless. Then the cool waters of Silent Pool took her, pulling her down into its unfeeling oblivion, as the figure stood above her, watching as her life ebbed away.