Every Little Breath: A Tense Psychological Thriller Full of Twists

After taking Phoebe for a late-afternoon walk, Casey indulged in a bath. It was the first time she had used the tub since moving in, usually preferring to shower, but the stress of the day had left her with a banging headache that she was certain was tension-related.

Learning about Saffron Pollard’s murder and knowing that the threat from Psycho Steven was real, then the phone call and subsequent visit she had received from the detectives in the Major Investigation Team, had put her on edge for much of the afternoon.

The detectives had insisted on going through everything again, picking apart her original statement and, unless she was just being paranoid, acting as if she might be guilty of something. Then, of course, there was the added stress of Finn Murphy and knowing she would be spending much of the night alone with him was freaking her out, especially after what had happened in his apartment earlier in the week. How the hell was she supposed to concentrate on doing her radio show while he was sitting there right in front of her?

As she poured her favourite bubble bath into the running water and waited for the tub to fill, she pinned up her hair and rolled her aching shoulders, trying to relieve the tension, and telling herself to relax. Finn was going with her as a favour, to make sure she was safe. Tonight wasn’t about hitting on her. Besides, she would be working and busy with her show.

Still, she took a little extra time in the bathtub, exfoliating and shaving her legs, then using some of the fancy moisturiser Zoe had given her for Christmas that she seldom bothered with, selecting some of her better underwear and fussing about what top to wear with her jeans.

It wasn’t for Finn. There was no way she was going to sleep with him. No, this was all for her. A confidence boost.

Convincing herself the lie was true, she dabbed on her favourite perfume, then glanced at her watch. She still had an hour before she was supposed to meet him downstairs and guessed she should really have some dinner, especially as she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. Not that she was hungry. She was far too stressed for that.

Still, she went through the motions, heating up a bowl of leftover chilli and pouring a naughty glass of wine from the open bottle in the fridge. She never drank on show nights, wanting to have a clear head, plus, of course, usually she was driving, but tonight was an exception, and she hoped the one glass might help calm her nerves.

She switched on the television as a distraction, picked at her food, but had no problem emptying her wine glass.

Now Saffron’s body had been found, would Psycho Steven make contact again and how was she supposed to react if he did?

Just the thought of talking with a murderer made her want to throw up. Unable to stomach any more chilli, she scraped her plate into the bin, cleaned her teeth, then grabbed her handbag. As always, she left a couple of lamps on before leaving, hating coming back to a dark home. She toyed with not bothering with her cotton boobytrap, but reminded herself it was better safe than sorry.

Downstairs she drew in a steadying breath before knocking on Finn’s door.

He opened it almost immediately, looking sinfully good in worn jeans and a loose blue T-shirt that emphasised the colour of his eyes, his lips curving in appreciation as he looked her up and down. ‘You look nice.’

‘Thanks.’ The compliment made Casey blush and she fussed with the pretty floral gypsy blouse she had settled on. It was over the top and made her look like she was trying too hard. She should have worn a T-shirt. ‘Are you ready?’

‘I am. Come on, Bert.’

Casey’s eyes widened as the beast moseyed on through. ‘What are you doing? You can’t bring your dog with you.’

‘Says who?’

‘Says me. He’s far too big and clumsy. The studio isn’t big enough for him. He’ll break stuff.’

Finn nodded to Phoebe who sat obediently by Casey’s feet. ‘You’re taking your dog.’

‘Phoebe always comes with me. She’s smaller, better behaved. She–’

‘Are you saying my dog has no manners?’

‘No, but he… look, this won’t work.’ She was getting flustered now, as Finn blatantly ignored her, clipping on Bert’s lead and pushing past her into the hallway, closing the door behind him. Nothing against the dog, but he was just too boisterous for the studio. If he damaged any of the equipment, Casey would be in a whole heap of trouble. ‘I’m sorry. Maybe I should just go by myself.’

Finn was grinning broadly at her now, lines crinkling in the corners of his eyes, and her temper rose a notch.

‘This isn’t funny, Finn. It’s my job that will be on the line if he breaks anything.’

‘Casey?’

‘What?’

‘Relax.’ He winked at her, then focused his attention over her shoulder. ‘Thanks for agreeing to do this at such short notice.’

What? Confused, Casey turned, realising the door to the apartment opposite Finn was open and he was talking to the woman who had stepped out.

‘It’s no problem, Finn. I told you, we’re happy to take him any time. Buster loves Bert and it’s nice for him to have the company.’

‘Doesn’t he just,’ a man agreed, stepping forward with a chihuahua in his arms. ‘Look, Buster, who’s come to see you for a sleepover?’ he cooed to the tiny dog as Finn handed Bert’s lead over to the woman who Casey assumed was the man’s wife.

She smiled at Casey, clearly amused by the exchange she had overheard and Casey’s cheeks heated further. ‘Hi there. I don’t think we’ve met yet. And your little dog is adorable.’

‘This is Casey. She recently moved in upstairs. The beagle is Phoebe,’ Finn introduced, the shit-eating grin on his face suggesting he was enjoying himself. ‘Casey, meet your neighbours, Dee and Stuart Beharrie, and Buster the chihuahua.’

‘It’s nice to meet you, Casey and Phoebe.’

From behind Dee, Stuart gave a little wave. ‘Hi, Casey. Finn’s told us all about you.’

He has? ‘Umm… It’s nice to meet you both too.’

Finn slipped his arm around Casey’s waist, catching her off guard and pulling her close. ‘Dee and Stuart look after Bert for me when I’m on shift and they’ve kindly agreed to take him tonight. I didn’t think it was fair to leave him home alone all night when I’ve already been out all day.’ He glanced down at her, amusement glittering in his eyes.

‘That’s very nice of them,’ Casey agreed, trying unsuccessfully to extract herself from his grip without it looking too obvious to Stuart and Dee.

‘Don’t worry about Bert,’ Dee assured Finn. ‘He’ll have a great time. Just pop over and pick him up tomorrow, whenever you’re ready.’ She gave a sly smile. ‘We don’t want to get you up too early.’

‘Thanks, Dee, Stu. You guys are lifesavers. I owe you both another bottle of whisky.’

‘We won’t say no to that.’ Stuart winked. ‘You kids have a good time. Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.’

As the door closed and Finn guided Casey down the hallway towards the main entrance, the beagle tugging ahead of her on her lead, she tried yet again to wriggle free of his arm. ‘Why does he think we’re going to have a good time? What did he mean by that? Where exactly did you tell him we were going?’

‘I told them I was taking you out on a date.’

‘What?’ When she couldn’t shake off his arm, Casey stopped abruptly. ‘Why would you tell them that? This isn’t a date.’

‘Would you rather I told them the truth, that I’m going with you to the studio because some whack job who was calling your show might have killed someone?’

‘Well… no, but you didn’t have to tell them we were going on a date.’

‘I needed them to take Bert for the night. I had to tell them something.’ Finn leant down so his mouth was close to her ear. ‘And you might want to keep walking and play along,’ he whispered. ‘Mrs Fletcher has her door ajar and I can guarantee you that her radar ears will be listening to everything we’re saying.’

Casey was tempted to glance over her shoulder and see if he was telling the truth, but thought better of it. ‘Can you please let go of me?’ she grumbled as they reached the door. ‘I am capable of walking out to your car by myself.’

‘Sure thing.’ He dropped his arm and her body immediately missed the contact, despite her head telling her she had won the argument.

She was being ungrateful and irrational, she knew that. But first he had made her look foolish over his dog and now she had found out he had told his neighbours that they were dating. He was purposely pushing her buttons and making her bite. As she followed him down the steps and over to his car, she wondered again if taking him with her tonight was a huge mistake.

Finn had taken a book to read, but he found himself mostly distracted by Casey, watching her as she spoke into the mic, chatting to her audience, a slight crease in her brow as she checked her email and text messages. She had been fairly quiet on the ride over and initially he thought she was still annoyed with him for winding her up, but as they got closer to Mundesley he realised she was nervous about her show, the telltale signs obvious from the way she fidgeted with her hands in her lap, kept knotting them together, hard enough for her knuckles to turn white, in an effort to keep them still, and she seemed distracted, was biting into her bottom lip each time he glanced in her direction, a gesture that was getting him a little hot under the collar, given that he would like to be the one doing the biting.

Don’t go there, Finn. He pulled his mind out of the gutter, reminding himself he was here tonight as Casey’s friend. He had promised her he would give her time, would wait for her to come to him, and he intended to do that. Well, within reason. He might give her a few little nudges along the way. He was a patient man, but not that patient.

When they had arrived at the radio station the only other person in the building was the deejay who Casey was taking over from. A guy old enough to be her granddad, with more fur on his face than a womble, who she introduced as Kenny Lee. The man was harmless enough, certainly didn’t set any alarms off on Finn’s radar. She asked Kenny to lock the door on his way out, settling herself in the chair and getting ready to take over following the news, while Finn made himself comfortable on the sofa with Phoebe.

She was right that Bert would never have coped in the studio and he recalled her panic when she had thought Finn was serious about bringing him. She had bitten so easily, he hadn’t been able to resist winding her up, enjoying her reactions as her eyes sparked with anger and her cheeks heated as she became flustered. Looking at her now, headphones on as she spoke into the mic, she appeared cool, calm and collected, but he knew she hid her fears well, that beneath the surface she was a jittery bag of nerves.

Psycho Steven. He had chuckled at that nickname, but guessed it was quite apt. The arsehole was scaring Casey, had likely murdered Saffron Pollard. Finn wanted to nail him. It was out of his hands though. The case was with the MIT now. The best he could do was try and keep Casey safe on his own watch.

She hadn’t spoken to him since the show started fifteen minutes ago, hadn’t even seemed to notice he was there, and he enjoyed the view of her over his book, her long dark hair tied back in a loose knot, tendrils that had escaped framing her face whenever she leant towards the mic, and that pretty pink blouse she wore, covered in delicate flowers, demure on the sleeves, but thin enough for him to see the outline of her bra, and dipping low enough in the cleavage to have his mind really working overtime. He had listened to her show a couple of times in the last week, her voice always conjuring up a picture of her in his mind, but the reality of what she looked like sat behind the big desk with those oversized earphones on, was far better than anything he had imagined.

As the next song started playing she glanced up, locking eyes with him, and slipped the earphones off her head, a half-smile lingering on her lips. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ She pushed a strand of her hair back self-consciously.

Because I’m thinking about that blouse you’re wearing and how much I would like to rip it off you with my teeth.

Seriously, do not tell her that. You’ll freak her out.

Finn grinned, tried to push the thought away. ‘I like watching you work. You get caught up in what you do.’

That was better. Casey wasn’t a Vicky. He needed to take it slower, be a little more patient, but that was okay. He figured she was worth the effort.

Her smile widened and she gave a nervous laugh, shoved at her hair again. ‘Yeah, I guess I do get a little caught up with it all.’

Was he really making her that anxious? He didn’t like the idea of that at all.

But then her eyes drifted to the clock and he mentally kicked himself, understanding. She wasn’t scared of him. It was twenty past ten and that meant the request half hour started shortly. She was worrying about Psycho Steven, was fretting in case he made contact again.

‘He may not call.’

‘Huh?’ She had been distracted, caught up in her own thoughts, and she looked back sharply at him, having missed his comment.

‘I said he might not call. It’s nearly the request half hour, right?’

Her smile was tight this time. She was definitely worried. ‘I know that. He hasn’t called for the last two nights. No need for him to call tonight, right?’

When Finn went to speak again, she raised a finger to silence him, slipping the earphones back on. ‘You’re listening to Casey Fallon on East Coast Radio and we’re coming up for the request half hour. If you have a special song you would like played, either for yourself or a loved one, give me a call, or if you’re shy, you can drop me a text or an email.’

He listened to her give out the mobile number for texts and her email address, before cutting to an advert break, and she immediately turned to her computer screen to check the emails.

‘Anything suspicious?’

She had told him about the odd email exchange with another ‘Steve’ that had happened on the Thursday night, recovering the messages from her deleted folder and pinging them over to him. Given the song request, ‘Harder to Breathe’, and the fact the email exchange had taken a lewd and creepy tone, Finn was convinced it was the same person.

‘No, nothing from him. Just one sixtieth birthday song request.’ As she set up the song, the mobile pinged a couple of times and as soon as she had finished, she read the texts. ‘These are fine too. There’s nothing from Psycho Steven.’

Still, for the next half an hour Finn could tell she was on edge, her relief clear when she played the final song before cutting to the news.

After the clock struck eleven she started to relax, going through into the breakroom while the adverts played and making coffee, and she was far more talkative between songs, seemed happier in Finn’s company. As Phoebe snoozed they chatted about everything from the paths their lives had taken including past relationships (one failed marriage and two steady girlfriends for Finn, quite a few short-term boyfriends, but zero engagements or marriages for Casey. That had him curious, wondering why she had never settled, but he decided to save poking that wasp’s nest for another day), Finn’s career in the police and Casey’s freelance web design work, and their friends, Casey telling him more about Ricky and how protective she was of him and Zoe, who he remembered from that fateful night in the pub, while Finn told Casey how he was still best mates with Johnny, who Zoe had hooked up with that night. Neither of them mentioned Steve or Gareth Noakes or that Gareth had taken his own life. Instead, they kept to lighter topics, Finn groaning about some of the music that was being played, teasing Casey for having terrible taste despite her protestations that she didn’t get a say in the music, that the radio station bosses decided on her playlist. They also discussed the book Finn was reading, Helter-Skelter, about the Manson murders, Casey admitting she preferred chick-lit, no longer having the stomach for anything darker, then they had fun creating their top fives – bands, foods, smells, dinner-party guests and movies among the topics.

The more time he spent with her, the more tempted he was to break his promise to give her the space she had asked for. Pushing her away that night all those years ago was one of his biggest regrets and, while it had been the right thing to do, he still wished he had done things differently. Now she was back in his life and they were both single, and he didn’t want to waste any more time.

As her show entered the last half hour, he got up to stretch his legs, taking their empty cups through to the breakroom and washing them up before using the loo.

Out in the hallway of the building he spent a couple of minutes checking out the place, wanting to be certain that the building really was secure and that if Casey was here by herself in the future, no one could get in.

Satisfied it was, he returned to the studio, heard Casey announce she was going to play a Rod Stewart track followed by a Fleetwood Mac classic back-to-back. He studied her for a moment as she removed the earphones and busied herself with checking her emails. The knot she had tied her hair back in had become looser as the night wore on and she kept flicking the loose tendrils back in annoyance.

Sensing he was there, she glanced up from the screen, arched an eyebrow when she saw him leant against the door frame. ‘What’s up with you?’

‘Nothing. Just watching you.’

She gave an impatient little laugh at that, turned back to her emails, looking up again when he wandered over to her.

‘What are you doing?’ she demanded as he stepped behind the desk, moved to stand behind where she was sitting. ‘I need you to stay over there. If you accidentally touch anything, you could mess everything up. Go!’

Ignoring her, he swung her chair around so she was facing him, leaning over her when she started to get up, placing a hand on each arm of the chair, his legs straddling hers, effectively trapping her.

Her eyes widened. ‘This isn’t funny. Go sit down. I mean it, Finn. Shoo!’

‘Shoo?’ Finn wrinkled his nose. ‘Did you seriously just tell me to shoo?’

‘You’re annoying me. Go sit down! The song is almost finished and I need to go back on-air.’

Damn it, she was bossy.

‘The song has only just started and you have two lined up back-to-back.’ She opened her mouth to argue and he raised a hand, put a finger over her lips. ‘I was paying attention.’

That shut her up and rather than remove his finger, he gave in to the urge to trace a path along her bottom lip.

Casey went very still, her breathing slowing and becoming deeper as she watched him, the spark of annoyance in her eyes melting into something else. She reached up, caught hold of his hand, but made no attempt to move it, just as she made no attempt to stop him when he leaned closer so his lips were almost touching hers.

‘You said you were going to give me some time and…’

He didn’t give her a chance to finish the sentence, his mouth pressing against hers. He kept the kiss light, fighting against the need to deepen it. That wasn’t for now, not for tonight. He just wanted a taste.

Still, he almost gave in when she made a little noise in the back of her throat, her arms moving to link around his neck, trying to pull him closer. He forced himself to pull back, freed himself from her grip, saw the anger flash back into her eyes.

‘What the hell was that?’

‘You were right. I said I’d give you time and space. That wasn’t fair. I’m sorry.’

‘What?’ She was furious, but he could see she wasn’t sure how to act on it. Did she get mad at him for kissing her or for stopping it before it went further? If she did the latter, she would have to admit that she didn’t want the time and space. As she looked ready to wallop him, he quickly retreated back to the sofa, half expecting something to be thrown his way.

She ignored him after that, but made sure he knew she was pissed off, her movements jerky and angry, as she punched the keyboard and shoved things about on the desk, and Finn questioned if he had just made a really stupid move, knowing that he had to ride home in the car with her.

She had just signed off with the final song of the night and was starting to shut everything down, and he was toying with the best way to make peace with her before they left the studio, when she suddenly went completely still, her concentration focused on her computer monitor, her expression one of shock.

‘Casey?’

She didn’t answer him for a moment, just continued to stare at the screen, but then she eventually spoke. ‘It’s him.’ Her words were barely more than a whisper and without glancing up, she beckoned Finn over.

This time, she didn’t protest when he stepped behind the desk, placing a hand on her shoulder as he leant over her to read the screen.

Are you ready to play another game, Casey?

You fucked up last time and Saffron had to die. I told you not to call the police.

Poor Saffron. I made sure she suffered as a consequence of your stupidity. She knew it was all your fault when she took her last breath.

I believe in second chances, though, so I am going to give you one. This weekend I will take another. When I have the game set up I will be in touch with another riddle. I will give you a chance to save her.

Try a little harder this time, bitch. If you screw up again, I will make sure her last minutes on this earth are a living hell.

‘Why is he doing this?’

‘I don’t know, but I promise you we will find out who he is.’ It was a promise he knew he shouldn’t make, but Casey sounded so broken, it was all he could offer. ‘It’s not your fault, Casey.’

‘I shouldn’t have called the police.’

‘Hey, don’t you dare say that.’ He pulled her chair round again to face him, though this time there was none of the same tension. Instead, he dropped down beside her so they were eye to eye. ‘I want you to listen to me. Calling the police last time was the smartest thing you could have done. He wants to isolate you. He wants you fighting him alone. You won’t beat him that way, I promise you.’

She nodded at that, though he could see that she was torn, part of her wanting to believe he was right, the other part convinced she was responsible for what had happened to Saffron.

‘Can you forward me that email?’

When she nodded, he reminded her of his work address, waited until she had sent it. ‘All done.’

‘Come on, shut everything off and let’s get out of here. There’s nothing else you can do about this tonight.’

While she logged off the computer and shut down the system, Finn got the lights, waited for her to join him by the studio door. ‘You okay?’

She nodded, though the spark had gone out of her, and he wasn’t quite sure how to get that back. He ran his hand down her arm, gave her fingers a brief squeeze.

Whoever the fuck this Psycho Steven was, he had fixated on Casey, seeming to want her to save his victims. It had to be connected to Noakes. Somehow they needed to figure out what his endgame was. Did he intend to keep killing women and inviting Casey to try and save them or did he have something more sinister planned?