Chapter 22
Lewis’ POV
After spending all afternoon searching in the cold forest we made our way back into town so we could speak to people again, hopefully someone will have seen something, someone knows where she is. We walked down the high street stopping everyone and showing them her picture, I tried not to look at it though, it was too painful.
I walked passed an old book shop and saw that same man from the other day. He was holding three plastic bags full of books. I nudged Henry, “Hey, that’s that guy. He got loads of knitting stuff the other day and now he’s got books.” That’s weird right? What does he want with tons of books and wool?
“Maybe he likes to read,” he said with a shrug as he walked off to stop an old couple that just come out of a cafe.
He saw me and looked nervous. Something was wrong and I couldn’t ignore it this time? I walked over to him and decided to act innocent and see if I could find anything out, I didn’t even know if there was anything!
He looked like he wanted to run off but as he saw me approaching him he turned to me properly and forced a smiled on his face. “Hello Lewis,” he said politely, holding onto the bags tight.
“Hello...err,” I said trailing off.
“Colin.” He reached out his hand and I shook it briefly. Colin who? I needed his surname. He looked a little awkward, clearly wanting to get away.
“Have you seen anything? No matter how little it might seem w-”
He shook his head cutting me off, “I’m sorry Lewis I haven’t seen Summer. I do hope you find her soon and if there’s anything I can do to help I will.”
He expected me to decline but I couldn’t do that, something told me I needed to keep him around; there was definitely something about him. Maybe I’m just being crazy but I can’t let this go just in case. Sum needed me to find her. “Actually we do need more volunteers, you know people to join the search parties and going door to door. If you have the time to spare we’d appreciate it.” I stared at him, trying to keep my cool when inside I was pleading with him to say yes.
He shifted on his feet and smiled, “Of course. I have some time at the weekends, I’d be more than happy to join.” I breathed a silent sigh of relief and explained to him where and when to meet on Saturday. His eyes were tense and I wasn’t sure if he’d actually turn up or not. “Well I’ll see you on Saturday then,” he said, turning to walk away. I saw Henry walking over to me frowning and Colin used the opportunity to slip away, I had to fight the urge to follow him.
“What was that?” Henry questioned, frowning at me.
“Something’s wrong,” I said shaking my head. “I got him to join the search on Saturday, maybe I should follow him.”
“Lewis, what are you doing? You can’t just go around harassing people!”
My eyes narrowed at him unconsciously, “I’m trying to find my girlfriend!” I walked off, needing to get away from him. What the hell does he think I’m doing? I’ll harass whoever I need to if it means finding her, Henry can get lost.
I was seriously in a bad mood when we decided to go back. It was getting too late now, no one was out anymore and we could barely see anything. Neither of us said a word as we drove back to his house. Not long until Saturday and I can try finding more out about Colin, if I still feel like something’s wrong then I’m following him home.
Henry walked ahead of me and didn’t look back as he walked upstairs to his room. I made my way into the kitchen, keeping my eyes down so I wouldn’t see all the pictures of her hanging on the walls, every time I looked at one it felt like someone was kicking me in the stomach. Summer’s parents and my Mum were sitting around the kitchen table. Dawn looked up at me hopefully; her face fell when she saw my expression.
“I’ll just get your dinner,” Mum said, getting up and pulling a plate out of the microwave. Do I tell them about Colin? Part of me wanted someone to tell me I’m not crazy and that I shouldn’t drop it but what if they just have the same reaction as Henry? Or what if I get there hopes up and it turns out to be nothing like every other ‘lead’ we’ve had so far.
“Thanks,” I said to her as she put a plate in front of me. Jacket potato and chilli, we’ve had this a lot, they would make a load of it to feed the people out looking for Summer.
After dinner and small talk I went up to Summer’s room, I needed to get some sleep. I haven’t slept in my room for so long now and I really didn’t want to, I felt close to her here. She has so many pictures of us, I would always tease her about being a stalker but I loved that she had so many.
I woke up earlier than usual, it was only half four in the morning and I had ages before it would be light enough to look properly so I pushed myself off the bed to have a shower, ignoring the urge to just curl up in her covers and pretend this wasn’t happening. I had a long shower and got dressed ready for another day in the forest. We were getting close to the edge and would soon be searching the fields next to it, they had already been searched but it can’t hurt to look again just in case someone missed something.
I sat in the kitchen drinking coffee and feeling guilty about wasting time doing nothing when she’s out there but I was worried that if I went out in the dark I’d miss something and I couldn’t live with myself if that happened.
Just before six Dawn came downstairs and smiled sadly at me. On the rare occasions that me and Summer would be up before her, she would walk into the room and make some sarcastic comment about it being unhygienic us being all over each other in the kitchen. Every time Summer would roll her eyes at her Mum and reply with something equally sarcastic and witty, they were quite alike really.
She poured herself a strong coffee and sat opposite me. “You won’t give up will you?” she asked quietly, looking heartbroken and vulnerable.
I was a little hurt that she had to ask that. “Never.”
She smiled and swiped away a tear with the back of her hand. “I hate the idea of her being scared out there somewhere. She does know we’ll find her doesn’t she? She knows we wouldn’t just leave her.” I nodded although I wasn’t sure; would she eventually give up on us finding her? Knowing Summer she would eventually hope we would just move on with our lives but that wasn’t possible, it’s not like when someone dies and you get to say goodbye, we don’t know where she is or what’s happened to her and that’s not something you can get past.
“She knows.” I wasn’t sure if Dawn believed me or not but she nodded anyway. “You know you’d be getting a lecture about caffeine overdosing if she was here right now,” I said as she took a big gulp or her coffee.
She smiled slightly and nodded. “Yeah she had a thing about that, probably because caffeine made her a little crazy!” I wanted to correct her, caffeine makes her a little crazy, but I decided not to. “You remember when she had those Red Bulls and was practically bouncing off the ceiling?” I wished I’d never brought the caffeine thing up now; she was talking about Sum as if she was dead.
“I remember. You all went to bed and left me to deal with her! At one point she wanted to go out for a run, then swimming, then to Disney Land but I managed to get her to watch films instead, chick flicks! It was four in the morning before she finally stopped talking at me and went to sleep.”
“We’ll take her when she gets home, to Disney Land,” she said, nodding her head. Would Summer still want to go when she got back? We have no idea what she’s going through; would she be the same girl? I clenched my jaw and forced out images that I really didn’t want to see. The thought of her being hurt was too much. Whatever’s happened to her I’ll make it better somehow.
We talked for a little while longer but about what we were going to do when she gets home. Basically we’d do whatever she needs us to do. At half six Paul and Henry came down and my parents and Theo turned up. We all ate breakfast and discussed the plan for the day; we were splitting up again so we could cover a larger area.
The day passed surprisingly quickly and the same as every other day. After dinner I went back to her room and pulled the cover up over my head. Inhaling her perfect smell that was left behind on her pillow, the smell was fading though and it scared me that one day it would be gone until she got home.
I woke up feeling hopeful for once, it was Saturday and today I was going to find out what’s wrong with Colin. I don’t even know what I think but there’s just something about him that I don’t like, maybe it won’t lead anywhere but then it might lead to my girl.
I got ready quickly and went outside to wait for him to turn up. There were already a lot of volunteers out here; each one gave me the same sympathetic look. I scanned the crowd for Colin and saw him standing awkwardly and looking at a map. “Colin, thanks for coming.” His eyes snapped up to me and he forced a smile.
“No problem. I’m going to get started,” he said, about to turn and walk away.
“Great, your group's ready.”
He frowned in confusion, “Group?”
“Yeah the volunteers work in small groups, you’re with Dan and Rick,” I said, reading their names off the list, “And me.” He looked worried for a second before he composed himself and nodded. I’m not imagining how awkward he is around me. I don’t go with the volunteer program but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity so I made sure my name was down with his.
All four of us made our way to the field that we were assigned and started walking slowly along the edge, searching in the bushes. I watched Colin carefully as well as making sure I searched thoroughly, he was really concentrating hard. Was he completely innocent or just really trying to make it look like he was?
“So the police still have nothing solid on Smith,” I said casually, hoping he’ll slip up and say something to incriminate himself.
His face fell for a second. “I’m sure they will if it’s him.” I composed myself when I really just wanted to punch him until he told me what’s going on, what he knows. He walked ahead a little and I forced myself to keep looking, I’d made up my mind though, I was following him.
At nine o’clock in the evening we went back as it was getting dark, I thanked them all for giving up their time to help look and we all went back to Summer’s house. Colin walked off down the road and got in his car, I followed him making sure I was far enough away so he wouldn’t see me.
He pulled into a driveway and turned his engine off; I stayed a little further down the road, hidden behind a wall of trees. I got out and peered around the corner to see him unlocking his front door as soon as he was inside I ran around the side of the building, my heart was hammering in my chest and I felt slightly sick. Was I about to find out what happened to Summer?
I made my way to the back of the house, crouching under the windows so he wouldn’t see me. There were no lights on in the back so I quickly ran to the door and tried the handle, of course it was locked. There was a window that was open slightly so I quietly pulled it open a little further, holding my breath and praying it wouldn’t make a noise.
There was no sound coming from the house at all, what the hell could he be doing? I climbed through the window and lowered myself slowly; thankfully my feet hit the floor silently. I could just about make out the worktops and a large table, this must be the kitchen. I crept over to the door and peered around the side the light was on in the hall way so I could finally see but I had no idea where he was, he wasn’t making any noise. The house was spotless and didn’t look like a single man lived here but there was nothing here to suggest a woman lived here too.
The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up as I crept along the wall, holding my breath so I wouldn’t make a sound. I had absolutely no idea where he was, he could walk out of one of these doors any second. I held my hand over one of the door handles and closed my eyes as I twisted it around and pushed it open.
My mouth fell open as I scanned the dimly lit room; there were rows of bookshelves filled with books and DVD’s, bags of knitting supplies, and piles of women’s clothing folded neatly on the table. Why the hell would he need all this stuff? I opened a small wooden box and music started playing. My heard stopped, I slammed it shut as quietly as possible and turned to the door. Did he hear that?
After a few minutes my breathing returned to normal, satisfied he hadn’t heard anything I moved towards the door to check out the rest of the house. I walked along the hall towards another door when something on the side table caught my eye, it was a wage slip. I did a double take of the employer’s name; it was the same place where Smith worked. Why didn’t Colin mention he worked with Smith? I wanted to confront him right now but I couldn’t just jump into it like I did with Smith, I needed to be careful, I was no good to Summer in prison.
I heard a door open, it sounded like it was coming from the back of the house, I jumped into the nearest room and hid behind the door. I heard him, or I assume it was him, in the room next to this one. Shit how the hell was I gonna get out of here! The door opened again and I prayed he wasn’t going to come in here. Again the house fell silent and I waited a few minutes before going back out. I crept to the kitchen and climbed out of the window, sticking to the trees and bushes as I ran to my car.
I closed the car door and drove back to Summer’s. Dinner was spaghetti, I inhaled as much as I could and went straight up to her room, this time I looked at a picture of her on the wall. “I’ll find you soon Sum, I promise,” I whispered. I have never broken a promise to her and I don’t intend to this time.
“Where have you been?” Henry questioned, leaning against the wall and looking at me suspiciously.
“Colin is definitely hiding something.” Henry opened his mouth to start talking or lecturing so I held my hand up. “He works with Smith.” Henry’s eyes widened a little and he walked into her room and sat on the bed. “I followed him home, he’s got some strange things in his house, women’s clothes and knitting but no women live there. The whole place was f*cking creepy, I’m going back on Monday when he’s at work. He knows something.” I was so sure of this now.
Henry nodded, “I’m coming too. God, if he’s done anything to her I’ll kill him!”
I laughed humourlessly, “Get in line.” I hate the idea that I had to wait until Monday when she’s missing but I can’t look properly if he’s in the house and I can’t go to the police, they’ll just laugh in my face, all I have is a feeling he knows something and that’s not enough to make them do something. “We’ll go there early Monday and make sure he actually leaves before we go in.”
“Okay.” We talked about it a little more, we were going to search every room in that house until we found something that would tell us where she was or what he knew, we just needed something to make the police take action. I actually didn’t really care about the police; if we found anything we could investigate it ourselves.
Henry left and I got into bed, this time I didn’t worry about her smell fading, she would be back with me soon. “I love you Summer,” I whispered, closing my eyes to get some much needed sleep.
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So what do you think of Lewis' plan? What could go wrong hey!
I know some of you don't like Lewis' POV so sorry lol! The next chapter will be from Clover's POV :D
Pic on the side was made by Oddojotam, thank you!
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