Keep Your Friends Close: A gripping psychological thriller full of shocking twists you won’t see coming

She trusted Will with her life.

Louie, she was never going to see again.

Karin closed her eyes, trying to hang onto these positives. When she opened them again she registered they were heading north up the M6, the sign for Morecambe having fleetingly caught her eye. ‘Erm. Are we going to the coast?’ she asked, turning quickly to look at the sign even though she knew it would have disappeared by now.

Aaron didn’t pick up on the panic in her voice. ‘We might be,’ he said, a boyish grin spreading across his face.

But the signs repeatedly said Morecambe. And after a while there it was. Marine Road West. She could see it up ahead, a building of elegant white curves. Of all the places to bring her. Why here? It was her birthday, a simple meal in Leeds would have been perfect. Couldn’t they just go back to Leeds? Couldn’t she suggest that? Was it too late to turn round?

They swung into the car park of The Midland hotel, gleaming white in all its restored Art Deco glory, and Karin felt herself shaking. As beautiful and magnificent as it was, she never intended coming back here.

Not ever.

It stood before her now like a defiant ghost, keeper of memories she didn’t want to revive. Karin held onto her wrist so tightly her fingers turned white. She thought she had left all this behind.

6 (#ulink_46154af1-da41-5394-ba4f-c42d5081e490)

Mel (#ulink_46154af1-da41-5394-ba4f-c42d5081e490)

Mel had heard Will come down for a second time, boil the kettle then go back upstairs. That was nearly an hour ago. Now she was in the kitchen chopping up ingredients for a simple pasta dish.

They had taken Will in on the Room for a Night scheme, another initiative of the charity Karin worked for, but he had been here for nearly eight weeks now ‘as a friend’, which wasn’t really how Mel had understood it would be. She didn’t mind as such, not really. The Ashby Road project was very near its completion, so he would be gone soon enough. It was just that, as Karin was hardly around, the responsibility for Will was falling mostly on her shoulders.

Mel took the same precautions with Will as she had done with Karin in those early stages: stowing her handbag and papers away, changing passwords on her computer and locking it in her desk whenever she went out. Mel was in the habit of such measures in any case, given the nature of her job, handling complaints at the call centre. But taking a total stranger off the street and into the house was a risk. She was also aware of the scare stories surrounding such types, suddenly turning on those who showed them kindness, repaying them with violence. And worse. It had been a gamble taking Karin in, of course, but Karin was different.

Most of the time Will stayed in his room reading, curled up in his sleeping bag on the floor with a mug of tea. All Mel really knew about him was what Karin had told her: that he was born deaf, rejected by his parents, let down badly by the system and ended up living on the streets, which was where he and Karin had become friends. Allies too, apparently. However, Karin’s track record on being able to judge a person’s character was not exactly reliable. Not if Louie was anything to go by.

Will could be any age from twenty-five to forty; his long Russian beard and dark eyes gave away few clues and Mel found his Rasputin stare most unnerving. He seldom smiled. She had begun to feel the tiniest flicker of unease in his presence. Perhaps it was his silence. It definitely wasn’t the same as with Karin. Mel hadn’t wanted to leave her festering on the streets of Leeds, falling prey to anyone who came across her. At the same time, she certainly didn’t want to make a habit of feeding and housing all of Leeds’ waifs and strays. That would be a lifetime’s work. Besides, Mel had her own sob story. Growing up with a sick mother and not much money was far from easy. Her education suffered, as did her youth, both seeming to slip away from her at an alarming rate.

Mel tapped lightly on Will’s door. She knew this wasn’t necessary, but she did it anyway, pushing the door open slowly so as not to startle him. Will was leaning against the radiator, his head bowed into a book. His sleeping bag was in a heap next to a small, tatty rucksack blotted with greasy patches; a few old newspapers were piled on the pillow. His decorating overalls had landed on top of his work boots. They were shabby too, a hand-out, like everything else he owned. His elbow was resting on a tower of books stacked up by his side. Will seemed to be acquiring more and more, perhaps for the first time having somewhere to store them. The ironing board, laundry basket and other household paraphernalia had been pushed into the corner so that Will wouldn’t feel quite so cramped. That was Karin’s doing. The room smelt mouldy, due more to the leaky roof than to Will, to be fair. It was a matter Aaron hadn’t got around to addressing, although he said it was on his list.

Mel waved her arms to get Will’s attention. He looked up and she began a ridiculous mime of shovelling food into her mouth with an imaginary knife and fork. Will closed his book and stood up, following her downstairs.

‘If you want to wash your hands,’ she suggested when they got to the kitchen; once again performing a stupid hand-washing action pointing to the sink. Will never seemed to scrub up clean, and Mel longed to cut off his hair and get rid of that beard. Aaron had donated some of his clothes, which Will had changed into, but even then he just looked like a dirty homeless man in a smart man’s shirt and trousers.

After giving his hands a cursory rinse, Will continued eyeing her as she dished out the pasta.

‘I take it you still don’t want any,’ she said, pointing to her wine glass.

Will shook his head.

She handed him his plate and some cutlery, indicating it was fine for him to eat in the lounge. He hung back, waiting for Mel to lead the way and then sat down cross-legged on the floor, propped against the other sofa.

Mel was glad of the distance he put between them, but still said: ‘You don’t have to sit there, you know.’ He was looking the other way, so probably didn’t even realize she had spoken. She handed him the remote, thinking he might need the subtitles.

The clock on the TV box said 7.40. Still no news from Karin as yet and Mel had been keeping a close eye on her phone. Had he proposed yet? If so, what had she said?

She realized Will was staring.

‘Good?’ she asked, putting her thumb up.

He gave a solemn bow of his head, continuing to eat.

‘Actually, do you mind if I take a photo to send to Karin? She likes to know you’re eating properly.’

Will shrugged, acknowledging the fact that he probably didn’t have any choice.

‘She worries about you, you know,’ she added, getting him to lift his plate in the air and give a thumbs-up. A smile was out of the question, it seemed, even for Karin.

‘Thanks,’ she said, feeling the need to excuse herself. ‘I have to go and do some work now. But feel free to stay and watch TV.’

Mel went into the kitchen and drank a glass of water, taking another with her upstairs. When she got to her room she thought again about Will’s cold watchful stare. How he moved silently about the house. Suddenly it began to bother her that she had left him downstairs on his own. She liked to monitor his movements, just in case. There had been one or two issues of late.

7 (#ulink_0122edbf-3bc7-506e-accc-f85398ae7ddd)

Karin (#ulink_0122edbf-3bc7-506e-accc-f85398ae7ddd)

The girl on reception gave her a glossy smile while Aaron was busy signing the checking-in form in his illegible sprawl. Karin didn’t recognize the girl.

She looked around nervously; her mouth had gone dry. Might Louie still work here? What if Louie discovered that she was living in Leeds and that she had lied about going to the States? Aaron’s details were in the system now; it would be easy to track her down properly this time. Could she never escape?

Karin felt her whole life unravelling.

Please let Louie not be here any more.

When Aaron was done with the paperwork he put his arm across Karin’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head. Their suitcases were instantly swept away as someone else escorted them to the lift. It was strange to be back here. As far as Karin was concerned the past had no place in the present. The only fragments of time she actually wanted to keep were pieced together in the scrapbook of her dad. Not a real scrapbook, the one she carried in her head. Everything else could go.

Memories are pebbles. Pebbles on a beach. Pick up the ones you want and put them in your pocket. Throw the rest into the sea.

It was something else the bereavement counsellor had taught her. But at the time, Karin had only been able to do the pebble thing in her imagination. Her school was a long way from the sea. This was another reason for heading to Morecambe, so she could see those pebbles exploding into the waves.

Karin taught Louie to do the same. They would stand on the beach side by side and throw their ‘bad shit’ into the water together. Sometimes a pebble might wash back up onto the shore; the counsellor warned this might happen. ‘Throw it away again, Karin. That’s if you still don’t want to keep it. Although, you might find that you do. It happens.’

She never did. She would never want to keep any of them, especially the most persistent one of all which drifted back in on every tide. Her stepdad swinging from the beam. That one would never go. Nor would Birgitta. But then Louie became one of those pebbles too. So what on earth was she doing back here in Morecambe at The Midland hotel? After everything she had done to get away. As if leaving Louie hadn’t been agonizing enough.

Karin scanned the foyer. It was magnificent, but she felt exposed. She looked beyond the brilliance of the architecture, the white curvature of the walls; instead, taking note of each member of staff who happened to glide past. With any luck, by now the entire workforce had changed. Working at The Midland had been a lifeline to her, at least for a while. It had given her a focus, a purpose, after she had bailed out of sixth form, trying to get as far away from school as possible. It was Louie who had thrown her this lifeline, putting in a good word when the hotel needed seasonal staff.

As they stepped into the lift, her heart was pounding so hard she feared it would give her away, that Aaron would be able to hear it above the lift’s murmuring as they ascended. She felt him staring, desperate to please her and no doubt trying to gauge her reaction. Although she wanted to make him feel at ease, it was impossible to meet his gaze or give him any sense of reassurance. Not yet. Not until she knew it was safe.

Their bodies jolted to a standstill. Aaron hung back for Karin to step out of the lift first. He had booked them into a luxury roof-top suite. Karin was able to picture it before the door was even opened: the quirky furniture, rotating chairs, the sea view extending the full length of the balcony with its Art Deco curve. The red cushions. Decadent bathroom. Sadly, all she wanted to do was lock herself away in the cleaning cupboard along the corridor.

Why on earth hadn’t he asked her?

‘You okay?’ said Aaron.

‘Yes,’ she replied, suffocating under the pressure. ‘It’s just a bit strange to be back here, that’s all.’

‘In a good way I hope?’