The End Of The Road | HEROPHINE

Chapter 24

Hero's Pov:
When me and Roger arrive at the woods, I'm immediately familiar with the area. One of my mates walks his fairly badly behaved dog here, because it's never really busy so he can trust his dog won't chase other people's dogs.
I did it for him once while he was on a work trip, so I kind of know my way around.. a little.
We park up on the edge of the road and there are no other cars here.
It makes sense why someone would use this as a place to hold an abducted person. I mean, it's totally remote and basically no one ever comes here.
We step out of the car and slam our doors simultaneously. I'm kind of grateful to have Roger here. He may be an asshole but he's extra man power and we don't know what we're up against here. He holds his gun close by his side and gestures for me to go first.
The car is no longer any use, so it looks like we'll be walking through these woods.
I open the torch on my phone for some light and we head into the darkness.

Roger and I walk for what seems like ages, not a word shared between us. I'm not sure if we're going in circles, or if these woods are just that long.
All of a sudden, Roger comes to a sharp halt.
'What is it?'
'There.' He says, shakily, pointing a finger in the direction of a tree.
'What about it? I don't see any—'
My heart drops. A pair of legs poke out from behind the tree- a body.
Not thinking, I run towards it, my whole body shaking, preventing me from actually moving that quickly at all.
Roger catches me up and I sigh in relief to see brunette hair, not blonde. It's not Jo. Thank fucking Christ.
I don't even notice Roger kneeling down over the body until he cries out, 'Clara!'
Holy shit. It's his wife. She's.. dead.
'Roger.. Rog, listen to me.' I say, holding his shoulders in place so he'll face me, despite his despair.
'Stay here, and call the police. I'll keep going. I'm sorry but I need to find Jo before it's too late.'
'O- okay.' He stammers, falling to the ground next to her, his eyes red.

At least if Roger's phone is bugged, that'll mean that whoever is behind this will track him down in these woods and go searching for him, making it easier for me to get to Jo. I know I'm being selfish, but my family comes first.
I continue to walk, with the aid of my torch light. Maybe I should have turned my phone off, in hopes that that would mean it can't be tracked. I'm no tech whizz so that may not be how it works at all. I could be being tracked right now by that shitbag for all I know, but I try not to think about that chance.
The worst thoughts scatter my brain. Is Jo like Clara now?
No. I know she's alive. I can feel it. My girl is strong and she knows I will find her.
I look down at the ground and notice what looks like footsteps, so I keep my eyes glued to them as I follow the barely visible trail.
I'm not looking where I'm going until I kick something hard.
When I do look at what's in front of me, I see what seems to be a large, wooden shack. This is it, surely. Is Jo here?
I nearly jump out of my skin at the fright my ringing phone gives me. And I answer it immediately, while feeling around on the door for a handle or some way of getting it open.
'Mr Fiennes Tiffin, this is detective Johnson.'
'Yeah, hello.'
Shit, do they know I'm looking for Jo?
'We've just had the fingerprints from your wife's phone analysed, and we found a match. It's lucky we took fingerprints and DNA from relatives and friends.'
'So you know who did this?!'
'We have a pretty good idea, sir.'
'Well who?' I ask, heart beating out of my chest.
Before another word can be said from either end of the phone call, I hear a sharp bang.. a gunshot. Pain tears through me and I topple to the ground, the world around me fading to black.