The Key (8 page)

The lengthy news report was filled with innuendos and hearsay, but the gist of the report was that
Scott
was missing from the pub and the police wanted to talk to him urgently.
It was
reported
that his car was still
outside the pub, with a flat tire.

The news report said that the police from Harvest Spring Junction were seeking
Scott
Halliday, in order for him to ‘help with their enquiries’
. Carly knew from experience that whenever police said that, what they really meant was that they suspected someone of being involved in a crime.

Damn it, what have I done.
Scott
must have woken up and panicked. He probably got scared and ran off. What can I do? It’s no good going back in time and warning
Scott
, just in case he tries to stop me going to the police. I need to find him now and
convince
him
to talk to the police
. It’s no good him protecting his brother; it’s murder, and he needs to think of himself. But what if
Scott
goes crazy with me
?
This is all my fault, if he doesn’t give himself up the police will think he really h
as got something to hide! What a mess!

In a blind panic
,
Carly decided
that
she needed to act fast. She had never tried
to travel back in time during daylight hours before,
but she
urgently
needed to
get
back to the point
when
Scott
left the pub. If it worked, she’d follow him
to see where he went
.

Hurrying to the bedroom, she lay down on top of the bed and set the CD to play.
She hoped that her agitated state of mind
and the brightness of her bedroom
would not stand in her way.

It may have taken a little while longer, but the
CD did its job
. C
arly was in a deep sleep
and starting out on her travels once more.

The next thing that Carly knew
,
she was
standing across the road from
the
Cabbage Tree pub. Her
fake orange-strapped Millage Luna watch
indicated that it
just after 9
a.m.
She
at first
wondered if
Scott
had already
left the pub
, but
then reasoned that so far she’d
never arrived too late to sort out a problem.

Waiting anxiously for
Scott
to appear from the pub, Carly wondered what she would do if he spotted her. Realizing he would probably be extremely angry with her, she decided to go with her gut inst
inct and stay well out of sight.

When
Scott
did appear
from the pub entrance, large duffle bag in hand,
he looked
furious. Carly had indeed m
ade the right choice not to approach him. When he saw that he had a flat tire
,
he cursed it, kicked it, and then
scurried
away.

Carly follow
ed
behind at a safe distance.
“Oh, he looks really pissed. The flat tire hasn’t helped him, but it sure helps me,” she whispered to herself.

She watched him enter the railway station and then make his way onto the platform.
He obviously planned to buy a ticket when he was on the train.
“Brilliant!” Carly
muttered to herself i
n a sarcastic tone, “now he’s going to jump on a train, and I’m going to end up who knows where. Let’s hope it’s not too far and I’ve got enough for a ticket.”

Checking the train timetable on the wall she could see the
re was only one
train due
, and that was
in
five
minutes
time
. Thankfully the last st
op on the train was to
Sunholme
, so even if she had to follow
Scott
all the way there
,
it wasn’t too far
.

Sunholme
was a fairly large town; a town where a stranger would go unnoticed and where most people kept themselves to themselves. M
any
of the inhabitants had had ‘run
ins
’ with the law
; it was a place that wouldn’t be at the top of your bucket list of places to visit.

Lurking behind a pillar
,
Carly felt like a criminal
herself
, but she knew
that
she couldn’t let
Scott
see her
. The five minutes waiting for the train seemed to last an eternity.
When it
eventually
pulled into the station
, she let Scott board first. S
he climbed aboard the adjoining carriage and positioned herself where she could
clearly see him; a place that had a favorable balance of risk; a very small chance of being seen, but a clear line of view were it would be unlikely that she lost sight of him.

Usually Carly enjoyed riding on a train, but today was different. She barely noticed
the
colorful green fields and other splendid views, because today she needed to keep her eyes on
Scott
.

With only two stops of the journey remaining,
Carly wondered
what was in Scott’s mind. And w
hen he didn’t leave his seat as it approached the
penultimate station, she knew for sure that they
would be getting off at
Sunholm
e
.
Bloody marvelous
be
moaned Carly
,
just where I didn’t want to be
!

It was
almost
10.
20
a.m.,
and
that meant
there was
just over
thirty
minutes before the news broadcast
would hit the
airwaves
.
Pondering on whether to make the call to the police while they were still on a moving train, Carly checked her cell phone.

Damn it. No signal. I hate this damned phone. Never works when you need it.
Trains, subways, shopping malls, no signal
.
I
n the apartment when I don’t need it
, I get a perfect
signal; now when I could really use a signal
. Nothing!
T
ypical.
I’ll just have to wait till he gets off in
Sunholme
and see where he goes from there.

When the train pulled into
S
unho
l
me
ten minutes later,
Carly waited until
Scott
stepped off the train,
and then
she followed.
She’d never been there before, so the fear of losing him was now greater than the fear of being spotted.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before Carly discovered
Scott
’s destination, when he crossed the street and entered a rather
grubby-looking
motel.
Spotting the sign
,
she didn’t miss the irony of the motel’s name
;
‘
Pleasant View
’
. The Pleasant View Motel,
Sunholme
, overlooked a piece of derelict land which housed a burnt out car, a selection of house bricks, and a battered
supermarket
shopping cart.
Oh, very pleasant indeed
, she tittered to herself.

Carly
watched as
Scott
walked into
the motel
, and continued to observe
when
a few
minutes later
he le
t himself into door number 1
1.

It was now 10.4
2
a.m.
so
that meant she had to act fast. The news bulletin about Scott would air at 10.51 a.m., and if the
Scott saw the broadcast he’d panic. If the motel staff saw the broadcast they might call the police, but they might also inadvertently or deliberately tip him off. After all, this wasn’t exactly the home of model citizens!

Carly
pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, but immediately realized that the police would be able to trace her after the call. Looking around, she spotted a nearby
payphone
, which she quickly made her way over to.
She rang the Harvest Spring Junction police station
anonymous
ly and
gave the location of
Scott
Halliday
. Then she hung up abruptly before the inevitable questions of who she was could be asked.

Carly
felt the urge to convince
herself
that she had done the right thing.
I know I’ve made the right decision to help Scott. Yes, I have. Definitely. It was the best thing to do for sure. And
I’m going
to stay here and watch until
I see
him
climbing into the
patrol
car
.

Carly watched each minute slowly tick by on her watch.
It’s true
what they say about
a watched pot never boiling
, she
reflected. At 10.50 a.m
.
she
saw
a patrol c
ar silently approach
. N
o sirens
.
And no flashing lights.
It
felt
strange
to her
how
people in the vicinity
suddenly
started
to walk more quickly
the moment
a
police
car
came into view.
And b
y the time
the
patrol
car
came
to a stop outside room number 11,
the street
was devoid of people
.

The next minute or two were just a haze, but Carly snapped out of it when she saw the two officers leading Scott to their car. He looked bemused. He looked like a lost little boy. But she knew it was for the best. As the police pulled away, the street started to fill with all sorts of characters once again.
Carly became aware that a group of
dubious-looking
youths were coming in her direction, and she
didn’t think it wise to
stick around to
find out what their intentions
might be
.

Carly turned on her heels and started to quickly head back towards the train station. The faster she walked, the louder the footsteps behind
her became.
Carly’s
heart was beating like a big bass drum. Perspiration was streaming down her face. Her legs felt like mush. Then a tap on her shoulder made Carly let out an almighty scream.
“
Arghhhhhh
.”

Carly opened her eyes and realized she was now
back
in her apartment.

Carly
turned on
the TV to catch the latest update.
She knew it would take a while before the
officers
got back to Harvest Spring Junction, and even longer before the news was relayed to the news channels.

There were several big news stories
on TV
that day
,
and although she
personally
knew all about Vincent Halliday, his attaché case and Tracey Dawn Jackson’s locket, the media were still blissfully unaware
of those things
. All they knew was that the police were looking for
Scott
to help with enquiries.

Of course by now there would be reporter’s
sniffing
around like bloodhounds, but Carly knew that
when it was murder
,
everyone in law enforcement stayed tight lipped. Too many
previous
cases had been thrown out of court over a technicality, and no one wanted a murderer to walk free.