But Not Forgotten – A Gripping Murder Mystery
A serialised novel
“I think I’m your sister. Our father is missing.”
After receiving a call from the sister he didn’t know existed, private investigator Barty Symonds travels to a village in the beautiful New Forest to find the father who abandoned him years ago.
Then someone dies, and all eyes in the tight-knit community turn to the newcomer, the outsider, and Barty finds himself not only in the role of investigator…
But prime suspect.
11
Mary tried to push thoughts of earlier to the back of her mind, but the memories of Paige’s attack were a nimble boxer, ducking her swipes, getting past her defences, and landing blow after blow. Fighting tears, she squeezed her eyes closed and imagined a reality where she could get out of bed, go to the bedroom next door and ask her mother for advice. Freema would have known what to do. Mary’s father was never as good as his wife at easing their daughter’s mind, but he would have done his best. Together, the trio would have worked something out.
That reality no longer existed. Freema Obasi had run off three weeks ago and did not wish to talk to her daughter. In fleeing, she had also stolen from her husband most of what had made him a good man and a great father. There had been beer bottles on the kitchen surface when Mary went down for breakfast that had not been there the previous night. He seemed to be starting earlier every day. Pair that with his consistently volatile state of mind, and Mary was afraid to talk to him about her problems because she feared his reaction. As much as Mary hated Paige, she did not want the bully’s blood on her father’s hands or her dad to go to prison.
The reality was that Mary was isolated. Rather than talk to someone about her problems, she stayed curled in bed, staring at the wall until someone knocked on the front door.
Lethargy and depression might have kept her in bed. She sprung to her feet only upon hearing movement from the bedroom next door, desperate to protect her father’s shameful secret, even knowing it was already leaking out across the village.
“I’ll get it,” she called as she sped down the stairs.
Thank heavens she did. On the other side of the door, smiling an easy smile and looking so beautiful she thought she might faint, was Tyler – the boy whose actions had turned Paige from a bully into a potential threat to life.
“Hey there,” he said, his casual, lopsided grin growing. His hair was black and slightly wavy. His eyes were a crystal-clear blue. He was tall and tanned, and his shoulders were broad. There was no doubt that he was the best-looking boy in school. That was part of the reason for his popularity, but far from the only one. There was his effortless charm, his extreme confidence and his intelligence. Tyler was smart enough to pass his exams with flying colours and savvy enough to avoid the label of geek or nerd.
Then his eyes picked up the bruises on her face, the cut on her lip, and his grin diminished, then faded altogether.
“My God, what happened? Are you okay?”
Her hand went to her lip. “I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
Would he think of Paige? That was her assumption, but it was a bad one. She saw his gaze float over her shoulder and guessed that rumours of her father’s drinking had reached him, helped along, no doubt, by Paige.
“Seriously,” she said. “It’s nothing. Please…”
She tailed off, but he knew what she had almost asked – drop it – and although she hadn’t said the words, he obliged.
“You’re okay?” he asked.
The answer was no. She wished the house would fall on her head so she could escape this mortifying situation.
But she said, “I am.”
The smile began to reemerge onto his gorgeous features. “Sorry to drop in on you like this.”
“I didn’t know you knew where I lived.”
“I didn’t,” he said. “Village, though, ain’t it? I hate living here most the time, convinced I’m a city boy at heart. Still, it has its uses. Easy to track people down, ya know?”
She nodded like a gormless bobblehead.
“Had to see you, though,” he said. “You ignored my text. Not cool.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I had…”
She froze, unable to think of a reason for her failure to respond. It wasn’t as if she could say, I’m worried Paige will literally murder me if she hears we’ve been out together. When she tried to think, all she saw was Paige spitting in her face. She could only apologise to Tyler while feeling like the world’s biggest loser.
“No drama,” he said. “Hey, I’m free now if you want to do something.” He looked down the road into the trees. “Nothing major. Could go for a walk or something?”
“Um…”
Mary could feel Paige’s spit running down her cheek and hear the bully’s words.
I’m going to ruin your life, Not-So-Virgin Mary.
All because Tyler had kissed her. A one-off event. An aberration. Everyone thought that – even Paige – and she was still incandescent. What if she saw them together again?
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Big on apologising, aren’t you? Look, I’m not much for subtext or anything like that, so if it’s okay with you, I’m going to be straight. That alright?”
Mary no longer trusted herself to talk. Fearing that if she opened her mouth, she might accidentally apologise for the fourth time, she nodded.
“Sick. Here it is. That kiss, in the classroom, like, the guys, they thought it was a bit of fun, right? Like a dare, you know? Kiss some girl, and hey, I can see your face falling, and that makes me happy, which is weird, and probably makes me seem like a shit until you hear me out. Will you hear me out?”
She nodded again.
“Alright. Like I said, it was a bit of fun to them, but to me, I just really wanted to kiss you. Have done for quite a while – months, as it happens. Hey, don’t look so shocked. I mean, you know you’re hot, right? More than hot. You’re, like, beautiful. You know?”
“No.”
“What, you’ve got no mirror?”
“I do, but… I’m not pretty.”
“I think you are.”
Time seemed to be slowing down, or maybe her heart rate increasing while everything else stayed the same gave that impression.
“I didn’t think I was your type.”
This made him laugh. “What, ‘cause I dated a couple of white girls, now I’m locked in?”
“No, I didn’t mean—”
“Hey, hey,” said Tyler, reading her mortification. “I’m just messing.”
“I meant because I’m not cool.”
“I think you are. Point is, I think you’re beautiful. Point is also that it’s about more than that. You remember that Sir Francis Drake project Miss Hadley made us do a few months back?”
Did she remember? How could she forget? They had worked in groups of four, chosen by the teacher. Mary ended up with Tyler. It was the first time they’d spoken. Ever.
“Hero or villain,” she said, which was the project’s title.
“Yeah, that one. We were together, and for the first couple of lessons, you said, like, nothin’ at all. Then, you started coming out of your shell. Remember?”
A smile came to her lips.
“I guess.”
“Right, and you were so funny and easy to talk to. I couldn’t understand why it’d taken so long for you to open your mouth. When was that, anyway?”
Mary barely had to consider it. “February.”
“Right, late Feb, wasn’t it? So, five months ago? Yeah, five months. That’ll be how long I’ve wanted to kiss you. And now I’ve done it, I’d love to do it again.”
There was movement upstairs. As Tyler finished speaking, he edged towards her. At the same time, she responded to the footsteps in her father’s bedroom by stepping out of the door, dragging it behind her so he wouldn’t see Tyler if he came into the hall and looked down the stairs.
These two moves, taken simultaneously, brought them chest to chest and face to face. When he spoke again, his eyes fixed on hers, she could feel his breath on her lips.
“You ignored my text. You’ve said no to coming for a walk with me now, but I get the feeling it ain’t that you don’t want to. If I’m wrong, I’ll go, dejected but accepting, you know? But I gotta give it one more try.”
Their chests were so close, and her heart was beating so hard it was a surprise his tee-shirt wasn’t rippling. Then she felt his hand take hers, and her heart seemed to stop altogether. He lifted her hand and placed it on his shoulder.
“I’m going to kiss you again,” he said. “I hope you’ll kiss me back, but if you’re not into it, or you don’t want to for any reason, just shove me. Don’t matter how hard. Nudge my shoulder; I’ll get the picture and walk away. Make sense?”
“I—”
I’m going to ruin your life, Not-So-Virgin Mary
“I—”
He kissed her.
Her hand moved.
Except, instead of pushing him away, she was bunching his shirt in her fist and dragging him further into her, hoping the kiss would never end.
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