What You Left Behind by Samantha Hayes Page A

the man was shrouded in darkness. Unidentifiable.
    Freddie wanted to throw up, and pressed his hand over his mouth to quash the gagging sounds, even though there was little chance of being heard over Lenny’s shrieks. The man just sat on him, pinning him down, thrashing the rock at him—on his head, neck, chest, everywhere. It wasn’t long before Lenny’s desperate attempts to free himself lessened, and his body went still.
    There was nothing Freddie could do.
    The man grunted and stood up, wiping his forearm across his balaclava, shaking out his shoulders. He then stamped around the area, making guttural noises with every step, scuffing the undergrowth with his foot. Seconds later, a beam of light shone out from waist height.
    Shit. He’s got a flashlight .
    Slowly, quietly, Freddie made his way back to the bush and sank behind it. The man was coming his way. If he ran, he’d be caught, just like Lenny. If he stayed put, the flashlight would pick him out.
    He wasn’t even aware of throwing the rock, making it smack against a tree trunk on the other side of the hut. The beam of light quickly swung round to where the noise had come from, then went down to Lenny, caught the twitch of his leg as he spasmed.
    The man grunted again, satisfied, and resumed his search, this time closer to the hut.
    After a few moments, when he’d found nothing, he beat his fist hard against the hut door, which fell from its hinges and dropped to the ground. Several night animals screeched in the distance.
    And then another sound, causing Freddie’s heart to leap, his breath to stop. The noise from the phone was shrill and clear, piercing the darkness with an out-of-place jazz piano ringtone.
    It wasn’t his. Shaking with relief, tears welling in his eyes, he watched the man silence the call before making his way back to Lenny and picking up the pack that had fallen at his side. He tipped the contents out, and swore gruffly again. He gathered up the items, shoved them back in the bag, then paused for a few moments, as if he was thinking.
    Freddie couldn’t see what the man was doing as he was facing away from him, crouching down, hunched over, the flashlight beam shielded by his back. After a few more seconds he put something else in the bag and slung it onto his back. Then he hefted Lenny’s limp body over his shoulder. Stuff came out of Lenny’s mouth and Freddie could see that his arms were outstretched, as if he was reaching for help.
    The man lumbered off in the direction of the railway embankment.
    This was Freddie’s chance to escape. Slowly, his knees stiff from crouching, he stood up and took a couple of steps from behind the bush. He could just make out the diminishing light beam as it disappeared down the slope toward the tracks. It was now or never. He ran for it.
    He stifled the shriek as pain seared through his ankle and up his leg. Before he knew it, he was flat on his face, dirt in his mouth.
    Fuck!
    His foot was caught in something—he’d gone down barely five strides from the bush. He turned, saw the white of a plastic bag handle trapped around his sneaker. Reaching to unhook it, he felt something weighty inside. He opened the bag. It was the laptop.
    Scrambling upright, clutching the computer to his chest, he spotted a jumping, zigzagging light cutting through the trees at speed.The man must have heard him fall. Freddie reckoned he only had about a five-second lead.
    He started to run as fast as he could, but almost immediately his hoodie got tangled in thorns. He wriggled out of it in a flash and was soon leaping over stumps and fallen branches, smashing his way through the undergrowth, tearing back toward where he thought he’d left his bike. But he’d obviously got it wrong. As he turned round and round, trying to get his bearings, the flashlight struck him full on.
    The man was just a shadow behind the beam, but he’d seen Freddie. Seen the look of horror on his face as he searched for his bike, then turned