CHAPTER 37
Ella
“What if he’s taken her too? What if he’s hurt her?” I say.
My finger digs into the leather of Jude’s car seat, the roads turning in an unfamiliar way. I rarely drive this way around the community, heading away from my street and turning left, looping up parallel to our house and heading further into the heart of the little houses.
“She’ll be at home,” Jude says, her calm voice not taking the edge off.
But Immi isn’t at home. We ring and knock, but her house sits in ominous stillness.
“We need to speak to Benji.” I turn on my heel as Jude presses her face to the living room window. I already know that it’ll be immaculate in there, everything about Immi is, but it’s also empty. My gut twists, something bad has happened to her.
Years ago, Immi confided in me that she wanted to leave Benji, but she was too scared of what it would mean for her in her forties to be alone and single again. I wish I had told her to run.
By the time we’re back in Jude’s car, I’ve called Immi three more times. The endless ringing ratcheting up my worry, writhing between my ribs. I shift in my seat, trying to find a position that lessens the anxiety. My fingers keep unlocking my phone, but I know she hasn’t called.
Neither has the stalker.
Both their silence weighs on me for different reasons.
Benji’s house is off the next roundabout and down a smallish drive. My fingers push into the buckle. Unlike our house, Benji doesn’t have a gate at the front, and so we drive up easily. I realise now that I’ve never been here.
“Where is he?” I say as Jude switches off the engine.
“Ella, woah! We’re here for Immi, remember?
” Jude’s gentleness flicks a switch, the irritation bubbling so I have to plunge my fists into my pockets.
Benji stood in my house, jeering with his nasty comments as Immi defended him.
All while he and Genie were tormenting me.
It slots together without much logic. He didn’t like me, and he made that clear.
This is an escalation of a very pathetic man.
Benji steps from the house as we leave the car, a small satchel at his side. He looks at us, takes a step back and then stops. There’s panic rising across his face, and it takes a moment for him to readjust it into a smile.
“Jude, Ella, how lovely of you to come by. I’m just heading out,” Benji says, stepping around my near-shaking form. He smiles as though he hasn’t spent the past few months breaking the law. Benji clicks his keys and the red sports car in the centre of the drive flashes open with a beep.
“Where’s Immi?” I snap. He looks so calm. Why is he so calm?
“Ella.” Jude says my name from a distance.
“I don’t know, haven’t heard from her in a few days, actually. You know what she’s like,” Benji says.
I scoff, turning to follow him down the drive. On any other day, I’d have agreed with him. Immi tends to march to the beat of her own drum. Nothing ties her down, and on occasion she can disappear for days, re-emerging with a new story of exotic places she’s been. But not today.
“Where are you off to?” My voice is sharp and thick with cynicism. I ignore Jude’s pointed stare.
“Oh, I was meeting a colleague,” he says, throwing his bag in the car.
“While Immi is missing?” I take a step forward.
“Well, you know how she is. She’s always drifting off, disappearing into the night as it were.” Benji’s tone is light, but he plays with his keys between his hands, moving them back and forth.
“Look, we only want to talk to you, if you can give us ten minutes. Immi is missing and we’re concerned. I don’t know if she told you about Ella’s stalker?” Jude says.
Benji doesn’t flinch or show any compassion. His face remains in that fixed, unwavering smile.
“Oh yes, she did. I’m sorry, it sounds tough,” he says. The same little sentence that Rufus offered, the words there, but the emotion falls short.
“Did you have anything to do with it?” My skin feels warm, despite the cold air.
“What?” Benji turns to me.
“The stalking, did you have anything to do with it?”
“Ella…” Jude warns.
“Me? Why the hell would I?” Benji says.
“Who’s Genie?” I can hear the anger in my voice as I take a step forward. Benji doesn’t move away from me but his top half leans back. He’s scared.
He knows something.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says.
“Do you know Henry?” I tilt my head, mocking him slightly. The thought of Benji and Henry talking together, mocking me, picking me apart, makes me angry.
“When did you decide you wanted to torment me? Was it the day I arrived, or the day I told Immi she could do better than you?” I spit.
“Ella…” Jude repeats, reaching out towards me, but I bat her away. I nearly have him, I can feel it.
His eyes widen a touch.
“Who is Genie?” I step closer to him. Despite his size, he flinches.
“A former girlfriend of mine, way back when,” Benji says.
“I know you did it,” I sneer at him, and watch as the muscles in his jaw tighten.
Benji pushes past me, his shoulder banging into mine. “Look, I’m sorry you’ve got some shit going on, but I don’t know what you’re talking about, and now I’m late.”
“Hold on.” I grab the door of his car as he swings it open, pulling it towards me as he tries to yank it free.
“What has Genie told you? Did she force you to move here? What does she want?” The words don’t make sense, I know that. But I need to catch him enough that he tumbles on his own lies and spills the truth.
“Ella, this isn’t helping…”
“What was the end game here?” My face is close to his. My teeth clench and something wet runs down my back.
“Let go,” he says, his voice rising.
“Pathetic. What was this all about? Destroying me over a little bit of revenge?” My fingers clench to the cool metal of his car, desperation tightening its grip on my lungs. My body trembles, and from somewhere behind me, I can hear Jude.
He knows something.
“Get off the car!” Benji says, his fingers reaching up to grab mine. “Immi was right about you, you’re volatile.”
The words slap me, catching me off guard so that I move without thinking, grabbing at his wrists, sinking my nails into the cuffs of his shirt.
“Did you like watching me sleep? You sicko. You’ve been in my house.” The rage burns as I think about all the things he’s done. The letters, the taunting, the destruction in my life. Just like the other men who pushed their power until I bent.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Benji steps, but I’m faster, and I push my weight into him. I don’t miss the flicker of laughter in his eyes.
“You were there that night, standing in front of my window. I know it’s you,” I scream, because I need it to be him.
“Get off him,” Jude screams, her fingers pulling against my shoulder.
Benji pushes me, his shoulder ramming into the middle of my chest so that I fall, the gravel scratching up the side of my arm. He steps back, shoulders rising and falling fast.
I watch as he jumps into his car. Jude’s hand reaching down to me. As he turns the vehicle, I catch his eyes through the side window, a look that sends a chill down me.
He’s smiling.
Before I know what I’m doing, I’m running.
My legs pump, sending me straight for the front of his car.
The bonnet is low, and it wouldn’t take much to get on top of it.
But I’m not thinking straight. All I can see is that smile.
Benji accelerates, heading towards the opening of the drive, and I jump, my fists slamming into the side of the window.
My feet tumble away from me as Benji drives fast, his fingers tight on the wheel.
Jude’s screams echo in the distance as I fall, the wing of the car whacking me in the side.
For the second time, I find myself lying on the gravel, winded and desperate.
I look up as Benji skids away, knowing he knows more than he’s letting on.