Chapter 49
FORTY-NINE
Morgan stared at the cupboard. She was alone for the time being and knew that if she was right and Angela’s body was inside, then she wanted to be the first person to find her.
Her legs still shaky, her fingers trembling now too, she stood up and felt in her pockets for a glove, pulling a single blue one out.
She snapped it on. Took a deep breath, turned the key and pulled open the door.
‘Oh no.’ She stared at Angela’s lifeless, glassy eyes and a sob escaped from her swollen lips.
The yellow discolouration of her skin and the overwhelming smell of rusty nails told her that she was dead and had been for some time.
Her beautiful pink hair was streaked with dark red dried blood, and Morgan began to cry. She didn’t care who saw her.
She couldn’t contain the tears if she tried, and the anger she felt towards Stan was like a bubbling volcano inside her chest. She wished he was still here, on the floor cupping his balls, because right now she would happily keep smashing that heavy cast-iron pan into the side of his head again and again.
‘Is that Angela?’ Ben’s voice whispered into her ear.
She hadn’t even heard him come back in. Unable to speak, she nodded.
‘Cain,’ was all Ben said, and she knew exactly what he meant. Their friend was going to be devastated beyond belief.
Morgan didn’t want to leave Angela alone any longer, but Ben gently led her outside, guiding her to the van where he opened the door and sat her inside.
‘Wait, I can’t leave the dog.’ She clambered out and ran back inside to fetch Barney from the bedroom he’d been locked in.
Scooping him up, she carried him back out to the car.
Ben arched one eyebrow at her but kept quiet.
Once she was inside, Barney safe on her knee, he leaned over her and turned the heating up.
The engine was still running, so desperate to find her, he’d left it parked up, keys inside and the doors unlocked – a car thief’s dream.
She stroked Barney softly and watched as Ben spoke to Bigfoot, who then followed him back inside.
A sadness filled her heart beyond anything she’d known. There was only one thing she could do for Angela now and that was to break the news of her death as gently as she could to Cain.
Her vision blurred. She couldn’t begin to imagine the scale of the devastation Cain would be under as she tried to think how she’d feel if she’d opened that cupboard and saw Ben’s lifeless body staring back at her.
The tears were flowing freely now, and she didn’t even try to stop them because life was so fucking cruel.