One Left Behind

by Carla Kovach

Genres: Mystery

Synopsis

Music and loud voices echo through the woods surrounding her. Wiping her tears, she hears the rustle of leaves close by. Footsteps. She has no time to scream before a hand covers her mouth and her entire world goes black.

In a patch of forest on the outskirts of a small town, five teenage school friends prepare to spend a night away from home. Carrying their tents and sleeping bags, they laugh and joke as they make their way into the darkest part of the woods, away from prying eyes. But as the sun rises the following morning, only four are left alive.

Devastated, Leah’s friends all swear they didn’t see or hear anything. Her best friend sobs as she recounts what she remembers from that night – dancing, roasting marshmallows, sipping warm cans of beer by the fire – but is it grief, or is she hiding something? What happened to Naomi in the hour that no one can account for? And what troubled past lies behind the perfect manners of the boy who organised the trip, and who is prepared to lie to keep it buried?

As the cracks in their stories grow, it’s clear one of them is lying, and one of them is next…

Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh, One Left Behind is a thrilling crime novel that will have you hooked from the very first page!

What readers are saying about Carla Kovach:

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‘I am completely hooked on this series. I read this in a single sitting, unable to put it down.’ NetGalley reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Wow!… Absolutely amazing!… An incredibly clever and gripping story. I was hooked from the first page.’ Goodreads reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Fantastic. Five stars from me.’ NetGalley reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘My head was spinning… Finger licking good.’ B for Bookreview

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Wow! What a great read!! This was full of so many twists and turns… This book touched every possible emotion. Can’t recommend enough!’ NetGalley reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Wow… A fabulous book… Brilliantly addictive. I loved every page.’ Goodreads reviewer

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‘Had me on the edge of my seat, my heart in my mouth and the sweat pouring out of me from nerves and apprehension.’ @Chloesreadingroom

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘What an amazing thriller!Absolutely loved the storyline and the heroes.’ Goodreads reviewer

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‘One hell of a series.’ Nigel Adams Bookworm

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‘An easy five stars.’ Goodreads reviewer

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‘I was gobsmacked!… A fast-paced, captivating read.’ @My_reading_Narnia

Release date: July 15, 2021

Publisher: Bookouture

Print pages: 350

Sample

The librarian’s head disappears through the door marked Staff Only. That’s the moment you take your opportunity. That librarian has a bobbing head and she reminds me of one of those nodding dogs that people put on shelves in cars. It’s like her head isn’t properly attached to her shoulders.

My attention goes back to you. You think that no one can see what you’re up to but there’s little me, peering between Roald Dahl’s BFG and Fantastic Mr Fox on a shelf, watching in silence. I stand so still, I can’t even hear my own breath.

Then, you come to life. Charlotte leaves her pencil case and books on the table to go to the toilet. As soon as she’s left the library, your trembling fingers root through her pencil case until you come across her gel pens. You like shiny things: stationery, stickers, fluorescent pens. It’s all that art you do. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you taking other people’s stuff. I hold back a laugh, not wanting you to see me.

As you walk around pretending to look at books, I glance out of the window. It’s a gloomy February. There’s a fog on the horizon and a frost glitters on the ground with no sign or promise of spring. A smell of strawberry gum hangs in the air. I think that was Charlotte’s but it soon fades, only to be replaced with the damp smell that follows you around. I know your family are poor like mine and you sleep on a sofa bed in the living room. I’ve heard the other kids call you names. We have a lot in common really. Both outcasts, definitely unpopular and we both look a bit scruffy.

You pat down your clothes and glance around one more time before leaving just as Charlotte is coming back through the door. I run after you, almost tripping over my own feet to catch you up outside. ‘Hey. I saw what you did.’ With a downturned mouth, you look like you might cry. You go to hand the pens to me but I smile and push your hand away. ‘I won’t tell. I’ll never tell. We’re friends.’ That’s how it started. I don’t think you’d noticed me up until that point.

You tell me about your brother and your family. I tell you that Mum and my sister and I live with my nan at the moment. I feel we know each other better and I don’t want you to go and ignore me next time we see each other at school. I like being with you. It’s fun. ‘Do you want to come to mine for tea tomorrow?’ I know my mum won’t mind, she’s always telling me to make friends.

‘I’d love to. Sounds good. I’ll tell my mum tonight and maybe I can walk home with you after school.’ She bites her bottom lip. ‘Please promise me you won’t say anything to Charlotte. She’s so popular, if anyone finds out the whole school will be out to get me.’

‘Never.’ I make a zip motion with my finger across my lips. ‘Best friend’s pinkie promise.’ I beam a smile as we hold our little fingers up, link them and shake them. Now we’re bound together forever and I like that. It makes me feel all fuzzy. I’ve never had a proper best friend, one that I can tell everything to.

The other kids can be nasty, especially about my hand-me-downs but I like you a lot, and I don’t want to lose you, ever. You’re my new best friend and you’ll always be my best friend. I want someone to play games with, someone who’ll come over for tea and maybe sleepovers. I’ve never had a slumber party before. Maybe I’ll get to draw with your new gel pens.

‘Why didn’t you tell Charlotte about me?’ She scrunches up her nose.

‘Because you’re my best friend and if anyone finds out they won’t talk to me either for being your best friend. The other kids hate me. They wouldn’t care that I didn’t do it, they’d blame me anyway. It’s not just that though, friends don’t tell on each other and they look out for each other. I won’t tell on you ever but you can’t tell on me either.’ I find myself staring hard at her, then I look away quickly. ‘Say it. I will never tell on you.’

She presses her lips together before speaking in her sweet voice that now shakes a little. ‘I won’t tell.’

‘Say promise.’ I stand even closer to her.

‘Okay, I do.’

‘Say it.’ Why has she gone quiet on me now?

She swallows. ‘I promise.’

I smile. ‘See, that was easy, now you have to be my best friend forever.’

The gentle sound of chirping birds sent a sharp stabbing pain through Naomi’s skull. Already it was sweltering hot and lying in a sealed canvas tent was making her stickier. She almost heaved as she inhaled the smell of vomit on the tissue that she still clutched from the night before. Never again. It had been fun at the time – so much fun. We’re going to have the best party ever, Oscar had exclaimed as he’d emptied the shopping bag of several bottles of cider. Some he’d stolen from his father’s stash and the rest had been bought from a small shop on the estate, a shop they all knew would serve them without question. They’d pooled their funds, determined to have the best night ever.

As her stomach turned, Naomi reached for her phone in an attempt to try to push the nausea from her mind but the sour taste in her mouth wouldn’t let her forget too easily. She reached into the tight pocket of her jeans and smiled as she pulled out a packet of mints and popped one into her mouth. The relief was instant. Her heart hummed as she swallowed. That crack on her phone screen wasn’t there last night. She pressed the button on the side of the phone to turn it on. Great. Not only had she broken her new iPhone, she’d used all the battery up too. Her mum was going to freak like never before. That present was only a week old and it was a reward for all her study in the run up to taking her GCSEs.

Reaching for the tent zip with shaky hands, she peered out at the ashen grass where they’d lit a small fire last night and she wondered if the others were awake. She spotted Jordan scratching his bottom, hand down the back of his trousers before he peed up a tree. She needed to pee and it was getting more urgent by the second. As she swallowed again, the roof of her mouth almost stuck to her dry tongue. Reaching for her water bottle, she shook it and threw it. Empty was no good to her. She reached into her yellow handbag, no water in there either. A glint of sunshine reflected from one of their empty bottles, almost blinding her. She knew she needed water but her bladder told her she needed to pee more. Maybe one of the others had something to drink.

‘Good morning, lazy ass.’ Jordan zipped up his fly as he headed back towards the tents.

‘What time is it? My phone has run out of charge.’ She didn’t mention that it was damaged too, opting to have it out with everyone when they were all awake. Someone must know how it happened.

‘About nine. The others are still out of it.’ He grinned. ‘You were so wasted last night, it was hilarious, especially when you tried to strip off. Elsa had to fight you to keep your clothes on.’ He scratched the ginger stubble on his chin.

She had no memory of stripping off and her clothes were intact now. As the sun beamed through a broken cloud, she winced and covered her eyes with her arm, resisting the urge to heave. Rolling the mint around her tongue, she spread its flavour all over.

‘Hangover?’ Jordan bent down and laughed as he pretended to vomit in a comedic way. ‘That was you last night. It was like that scene in The Exorcist.’ He burst into laughter. ‘So embarrassing. You kept begging Elsa to not let you get it in your hair. She was trying to hold it back as you ran around in circles like some deranged headless chicken. I filmed it. Do you want to see?’

‘Shut up and no, I don’t. Delete it now.’ She felt her face flush. A flash of recollection came back to her. Had she been crying at one point? There had been an argument and then there were the eyes in the bushes. A shiver ran through her body. She forced her fingers through her long tangled blonde hair but it didn’t make her feel more human, they simply got tangled in the lugs.

‘Soz, I didn’t mean to upset you.’

‘I’m not upset and you’re not sorry.’

‘So are.’ He wasn’t, she could tell. Then he laughed and continued to make mocking vomit noises.

Naomi shook her head and shoved past him, knocking into his firm arm as she hurried towards the bushes. ‘And don’t follow me. I’m going for a piss. If I see you lurking, I’ll…’ She held up her fist and scrunched her nose. ‘I’ll break your face and that’s a promise.’ She wouldn’t have a hope in hell of hurting her rugby-playing friend but he knew she was serious. How dare he film her when she’d been suffering? That was the biggest breach of trust going. What happened at the parties was meant to stay at the parties. They weren’t meant to collect evidence of what had gone on.

His smiling eyes creased at the side. ‘Why would I want to watch you taking a piss? I already saw that last night when you pissed just there,’ he said, nodding towards her tent. He shrugged and winked before turning back to where they’d lit the fire. It was nothing more than a charred hole in the ground where they’d attempted to toast marshmallows.

Although the sun had come out bright and early, the ground was slightly dewy, or was it a little bit cold? Her flip-flop cladded feet were chilly and she felt a shiver under her vest top. Crows cawed just beyond the line of trees that surrounded them, obviously disturbed by her movement into denser woodland. She stepped over a line of ants that were disappearing into a crack in the earth below and glanced around one more time, making sure that no one was lurking. She’d already put on enough of a show last night.

This was where she’d take a pee, a few steps away from the ants. Backing into the bush a little, she took one last glance. The coast was clear.

Pulling her jeans down, she squatted and felt instant relief as the remains of last night’s cider drained out of her body. Crack – that was a branch. She stiffened. It had come from just behind a mass of foliage to her left. ‘Jordan. Shove off will you!’ Fuming, she pulled up her jeans and parted the leaves and branches but he was nowhere to be seen. ‘This isn’t funny. Come out now.’

Pushing through the branches, Naomi took another step and all she could see were close-knitted trees and bushes. Maybe she didn’t hear anything.

Another crack. Her heart battered against her ribcage. Someone had been watching her and now they were running away. Her head jolted to the left, then to the right as she swiftly sobered up. That’s when she saw something fleshy in the undergrowth. ‘Leah.’ She recognised the pink and black trainers and ran over. ‘What the hell are you doing here? Did you sleep here all night?’ Her freezing cold friend felt stiff and heavy as Naomi tried to pull her by the legs from in the dip, under the bush. Giving up, she dropped the girl’s legs and swallowed. ‘Leah?’ Kneeling down, the branches shredded her bare arms as she pushed through, then she let out a scream when she saw the blank pale face of her friend. Eyes open and protruding, a pallor to her skin and her tongue lolling and swollen. Leah wasn’t breathing.

Bile spurted from her mouth as she quickly turned to the side, then she began screaming as loud as she could. No one was coming, then there was that cracking sound again. Stumbling back, she fell onto her bottom and tried to peer through gaps in the leaves. ‘Please don’t hurt me.’ Tears began to spill down her face. She wished she hadn’t come to the party. Someone had killed Leah and now they were watching her.

Digging her nails into the hard earth, she managed to stand on her jellied legs then she ran as fast as she could, entering their makeshift camp where she screamed at the top of her voice. Oscar had now woken up. He threw his stub end to the ground and puffed the last of the smoke from his mouth and then she spotted Jordan’s ginger hair emerging through the bushes.

‘What’s up with you? I bet she saw a spider.’ Oscar burst into laughter. A clump of his brown hair was kinked from where he’d slept. ‘Want a smoke?’ He offered her one of his roll-ups.

Naomi pushed the packet away. ‘I need a phone, now. It’s Leah, she’s dead.’

Gina jolted awake from a deep sleep, heart pounding in time with her buzzing mobile phone that was about to fall from her bedside table. It was Sunday and she wasn’t scheduled in at work. Saving it just in time, she snatched it up and placed it to her ear. ‘DI Harte.’ Flinching at the booming of the voice, she moved it away from her ear a little.

‘Guv, a body has been discovered in the woods that run alongside the river, not too far from the Waterside Café where the truckers stop for food.’ DS Jacob Driscoll sounded perky, like he’d already had plenty of caffeine that morning.

‘Do we know anything?’ She wiped the thin film of perspiration from her forehead and noted the fact that today was set to be a hot one. Bodies and high temperatures were not the best mix. Her curtains blew a little in the warm morning breeze as she threw the sheet off her body and her cat, Ebony, darted from under it and hurried down the stairs.

‘All I know is what was reported in the emergency call. Sixteen-year-old girl and she has been named as Leah Fenmore. Her friend, Naomi Carpenter, called it in after finding her in the bushes. They were all camping out together last night. Having a party apparently.’

‘Damn. Have forensics been notified?’

She could hear Jacob clicking his mouse. ‘Yes, they are about to arrive and uniform are there cordoning off and taking statements.’

‘I’m on my way.’

After ending the call, she hurried out of bed, quick shower and brushing of her teeth, then she spotted DCI Chris Briggs at the bottom of the stairs sipping his coffee. Against her better judgement, he’d come over last night. What should have been a pleasurable evening had turned sour when he received that anonymous message on his phone. Someone knew about her past and they knew what she’d done and they were making sure that Briggs knew too. She’d left him asleep on the couch about two in the morning before creeping up to bed and having the most atrocious nightmares. Her skinny black cat, Ebony, began to wind its body around his legs, pining for food. He held up his phone. ‘I just got the call too. Murder by the Waterside Café.’

Gina wished that a girl’s murder was the main thing on her mind, but it wasn’t. Gina’s secrets were coming back to haunt her. Their mystery messenger knew things that could end her career and take away her freedom, and they were making sure that Gina and Briggs got the message. ‘What are we going to do about the message?’

He ran his fingers through his floppy uncombed hair, some still half stuck to his head from sleep. ‘I seriously don’t know. Just sit on it for now.’

‘Why are you protecting a murderer?’ Gina blinked as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. ‘How does this person know what I did and why are you helping me? You could just turn me in for what I’ve done. I wouldn’t even deny it and this whole mess that is my life would be over for you.’

‘You are not a murderer. Terry was no husband to you. He was an abuser who got what was coming to him.’ Briggs pulled her in and kissed her on the head, both of them knowing that they were slowly drowning in Gina’s murky past.

She took his coffee from the ledge and finished what was left. ‘I don’t think a jury would see it that way.’ She frowned and wiped her eyes.

He reached out and stroked her cheek. ‘This message could be nothing. It might not even be about you. We’re jumping to conclusions. I’ll head to the station straight after you and see you there in a bit. Got to work out how we tackle the press. I can guarantee that because a bunch of teenagers are involved, this poor girl’s murder will already be all over social media.’

‘I just love it when our job is made harder.’ Her phone beeped again and she froze.

‘It’s a message, isn’t it?’

Gina gulped down her panic, unsure of how she was going to get through the day. ‘It just says, murderer.’

‘Let me see.’ Briggs glanced over her shoulder.

‘I have to get to work.’ She left him standing in the hallway as she slammed the door and got into her car. A sick feeling began to whirl. She’d struggled to get hold of her daughter, Hannah, lately and their relationship had never been good. Gina pressed her number again, hoping just to hear a friendly voice, but her call was immediately cut off. All she’d needed was some reassurance that it couldn’t be anything to do with her daughter. There wasn’t a reason that could be the case but there was no one else that could delve into her home life. Then, her mind whirled as she began driving through the lanes. The press had tried to mess with her head before. Were they trying it on, hoping that she’d crack and tell her story? They knew of her past. Her drunken ex-husband, dead after a so-called fall down the stairs. She’d got the message loud and clear from whoever was sending them. How many other murderers was Briggs protecting? Involving him had been strategic.

Focus – she had to get her mind on the case. There was someone dangerous on the loose, capable of killing a teenager and she had to find them and quick. Whatever was happening in her personal life was going to have to wait.

Leaving her jacket in the car, Gina stepped out onto the torn-up tarmac road at the far end of the Waterside Café’s car park, next to the three police cars, an ambulance and the forensics van. A red articulated lorry was the only other vehicle parked up. She undid the top button of her blouse and fanned her face with her hand. Not only was it hot, the occasional hot flush gave her trouble. Bloody menopause.

A man in an apron ran towards her. ‘Hey, wait.’

She checked her watch, not having time to stop and chat but it was possible that this man knew something so she did as he asked and waited.

‘Are you police?’ He wiped his hand on the tea towel that dangled from his pocket.

‘I’m Detective Inspector Harte. You are?’

‘John. Sorry, John Tallis. I own the café. What’s going on here, only I saw on Facebook that someone has been murdered?’

Briggs had been right about social media blowing up. ‘I can’t comment right now but do you know anything that might help?’ The smell of bacon oozed from his pores.

He shrugged. His peppered fair hair looked as though it was stuck to his forehead and he scratched his stubby nose. ‘I only know that there are always kids lurking around here. They come from the estates and party the night away. I sometimes open up to urine in the doorway if they venture out of the woods and I keep finding things like these gas canisters around. They’re a nuisance but they do give me a bit of business here and there.’

‘Business?’

‘They come in for chips and cans of pop, things like that. I open fairly late to capitalise on truckers passing through.’

Gina pulled out her notebook. ‘What time do you close?’

‘Ten every evening, even Sundays.’

‘Did you see anything last night?’

‘I heard music thumping. It sounded like it was coming from over there.’ He pointed into the woodland. ‘They were listening to some sort of modern stuff that I didn’t recognise, then I heard the odd shout or laugh. That was it. I don’t really take much notice as this happens all the time.’

‘Do you have CCTV out here?’

He shook his head. ‘Wish I did. I can’t afford such extravagances.’

‘Thank you, Mr Tallis. We’ll take a statement from you in a while—’

‘I have to give a statement?’

‘It’s routine.’

‘Of course.’ He linked his hands together and began fidgeting. ‘I guess I’ll wait until someone comes by. Is there anything I can do?’

He seemed eager to help in a strange way. Maybe too eager. Gina looked into his eyes for a moment longer than was comfortable, then he broke their eye contact by looking down. ‘Yes.’

‘Okay.’

She pulled her wallet from her pocket, removing a twenty-pound note. ‘Can you bring us a lot of coffee? Make it strong. If you just hand it all to the PC on a tray, whoever’s guarding the cordon, that would be great.’ She knew everyone would need a little bit of perking up. She could feel a tremor in her hands and wondered if caffeine was the best thing on a day like this. Handling a murder and those damn messages was a double burden she could do without. It was a Sunday morning and quite a few of the officers that had been called in would probably have been working last night. They would definitely appreciate coffee.

He nudged her hand. ‘It’s on the house. I want to do my bit so I’m glad to help.’

‘Thank you. That’s very kind of you. I must get on.’ She took a couple of steps back, hoping that he’d turn to go but his gaze remained on her until she left his car park.

As she approached the PC at the edge of the woods, she smiled and filled in her details on the log sheet. She checked again and John Tallis was now jogging back to his café. A wash of unease came over her as she shoved the twenty pounds and her notebook back into her pocket before following the marked-out route. She gulped, knowing that at the end of the trail would be a body.

‘Guv, over here,’ Jacob called her, and she caught sight of him waving his arms from behind the trees while jumping in his puffy forensics suit that hid his hair that always looked shiny and stuck to his head. It was still morning, but already the temperature was rising. PC Smith was placing cordon tape around one of the trees. She slipped through before he closed off her entrance to the crime scene.

‘Are all the other kids still close by?’ It would make her job easier if they were.

‘Yes, PC Kapoor is with them now and some of the parents have turned up too. O’Connor has just arrived and he’s headed over there to speak to everyone.’ She peered over and could just about make out DC Harry O’Connor’s shiny bald head and PC Jhanvi Kapoor’s uniform. Despite her injuries from the last case, she was recovering well and had even begun to study for her sergeant’s exam. PC Kapoor waved and hurried over. Jacob stepped aside and began checking out the area.

‘Hi, guv. We’re just speaking with all the kids now. You okay? It’s a hot one.’

Regardless of the circumstances, Jhanvi Kapoor looked as perky as ever. It never ceased to amaze Gina how such a small woman with a loud Brummie accent could be so tough. The last case they worked on could break anyone but the PC had taken a week off at most after leaving hospital and vowed to come back stronger, putting in straight away to study to be a sergeant. ‘It’ll be great to have you on the team again on this one, and PC Smith too. Only the best!’ And Gina meant it. PCs Smith and Kapoor had helped them with many murders and were always a welcome and useful part of the team.

‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world, guv. As long as I don’t get kidnapped by any killers this time, we’ll be okay.’

Again, Gina wondered if Kapoor was so perky inside. She worried that the trauma would come back to haunt her or maybe it would eat away at her, manifest itself as post-traumatic stress disorder but she’d been released from her counselling sessions. ‘I know that this is the first big case since what happened.’

Kapoor looked at her with large chocolate eyes, smiling, which emphasised her youthful dimples. ‘Guv, I really am okay. I’ll always have a few scars on my body, but up here,’ she pointed to her head, ‘I’m tip-top.’

‘Well, you know if you ever need to talk, my door is always open, day or night.’

‘I know and thanks, guv. If I need it, I’ll be the first to barge through and ask for help. Promise.’

Gina knew that was the time to shut up. She’d tried to look after Kapoor a little since but now she needed setting free from being asked if she was okay all the time.

‘Right, I best get back to it.’ Kapoor hurried back to the camp area.

‘Great. Let’s head further in.’ Gina smiled at Jacob and pulled a bobble from her pocket and tied her own wild hair up before it dampened with the heat.

‘I don’t know how she keeps it together.’ Jacob frowned.

‘Me neither. I’m in total admiration of her.’ Gina grabbed a forensics suit and pulled it on over her black trousers and cream shirt. Then came the shoe covers, followed by the stifling gloves and mask. Already she felt sluggish and the day had barely begun. ‘Is Bernard on duty?’ Bernard Small was the crime scene manager and she’d worked most of her big cases with him in charge of forensics.

‘Yes, he’s already there, assessing the scene. The CSIs have put down the stepping plates as you’ve noticed. They’re videoing and photographing at the moment.’

Gina led the way down a dried mud slope and along a trampled out path with thick bushes and tree stumps on either side. This is where the stepping plates began. They both clip-clopped, trying not to slip on their boot covers.

Beyond the lined path, she could see that there were little clearings where the big trees splayed out above. Perfect pockets for camping and partying teenagers. The telltale signs were everywhere. Bags of rubbish, empty alcohol bottles. She spotted a used condom ahead, then another. What should be a beautiful nature spot to be enjoyed by walkers and families really was the pits.

The sound of the camera clicking and the CSIs stepping back and forth over the plates alerted Gina to where they were. Bernard Small’s tall wiry frame emerged from behind a shrub as he stood up straight, blocking the sun from her eyes.

‘Ahh, Bernard. I would say nice to see you but given the circumstances.’

He nodded. ‘I know. We always meet up over a murder. Come through.’ He parted the branches for her and Jacob, and they followed him . . .