Under Hidden Skies (Shadows Between Lies Book 3)

by Nicky Webber

  Maddy and Fred sat across from Erik in the overcrowded living room, where ornaments of all kinds festooned nearly every fragment of wallpapered space. Erik sat sipping his mug of coffee, wringing the years from his wrinkled hands as Fred and Maddy took turns to explain to him how much they loved him. This pleased Erik, and he waved one dismissive hand in the air. ‘I know that you two. There’s no need to say.’ Fred and Maddy shared a look. THE look.

  Maddy stepped up to the plate. ‘Look, Erik, it must be a genuine struggle for you now, rattling around here in this old house?’ She paused, hoping he would respond, but he just looked down at the half-empty mug he held with both hands on his lap.

  ‘Fred and I thought you need to go into a better place, more comfortable where there are people to look after you.’

  ‘I’m okay,’ he said, his feeble voice uneasy. He had been waiting for this conversation for some years, and here it was. ‘I can look after myself. Don’t go worrying about me.’

  ‘But we do. We all do,’ Maddy explained. ‘I’m not saying you have to move straight away into something you don’t know about. Let’s talk about the options. You know, just the ideas about other places that might work out better for you. You won't be alone if you have a fall, for instance.’

  ‘We just can’t afford it,’ Erik said, knowing full well the impact of the expenses his son had carried in the past few years. ‘I mean, how is it even possible?’

  Fred stepped in. ‘Dad, we figure we can sell this house, and it will finance you into a place where you can be properly cared for.’ The discussion rolled on over mountains, hills and twisted along tortuous deep valleys, and eventually, they arrived at a semblance of a partial agreement.

  ‘I’ll think about it,’ was all Erik repeated as he bid them both goodbye at the front door.

  He clutched a cane, waving his right hand at them as they reversed down the driveway before slowly walking back into the house, locking the front door behind him. Exhausted, Erik shuffled into his bedroom and glanced across at his reflection in the oval mirror sitting above the old wooden dresser. One thing was true, he thought. I am totally alone and isolated here. A tall, ornately carved mahogany stand-alone wardrobe dominated the room and had once belonged to his grandmother. She used to polish the wooden surface religiously. He kept his old suit for funerals and weddings in there. More of the former these days. Already this year he had attended six funerals in as many months. His heart contracted. There was barely anyone left he could call a friend.

  Erik’s watery eyes tracked to the hand-painted plywood headboard behind his old double bed. He designed and built it himself in the garage over 23 years ago. He remembered how proud he was of the finished product, but now he could tell it looked down-home and tatty. Later that afternoon he hand-washed the week’s socks and underpants, hanging them outside on the clothes-line by the back door.

  A neighbor called out to him. ‘Hey Mr. Davis, I’ll give you a shout when the washing’s dry.’ Erik fluttered his right hand at the younger man over the low fence between their properties. It was true. He sometimes forgot to pick his washing off the line and once imagined all his undergarments stolen, only to find them hanging in the yard three days later.

  When Maddy and Fred returned home, they found Hawke talking to Logan seated at the kitchen island. They sat drinking tea. Tea?

  ‘Are you seriously drinking black tea?’ Maddy asked them both in disbelief.

  ‘Yeah,’ Logan grinned. ‘Would you like some?’

  ‘No thanks,’ chipped in Fred. ‘After Sunday afternoon’s visit with Erik, a cold beer is all I need.’

  Logan grinned, swung around, and opened the fridge, passing Fred a cold one. ‘That bad, eh?’ he asked them both.

  ‘Why?’ asked Hawke. ‘What’s wrong with Grampy?’

  ‘Nothing, darling,’ smiled Maddy reassuringly. ‘It’s just time to get him into a retirement home.’

  ‘His bum leg will be his death knell if we don’t do something soon,’ said Fred. ‘Did you see how wobbly he is on his feet, even with that cane?’

  ‘So what are you doing here on the weekend?’ Maddy asked Hawke.

  Logan answered. ‘He’s not been feeling too well. Have a look at the rash he has all over his back.’

  The three adults exchanged split-second expressions of anxiety, all thinking the same thing. No one mentioned lymphoma, but everyone was thinking the worst.

  CHAPTER 18

  Illegitimate Love

  ‘Do you think you’ll catch him?’ Suzie asked her new husband, discussing some of the criminal cases he was working on at the FBI. Bruno had started off as a Trainee Special Agent with the Fraud Investigation Department before taking the advanced training into criminal investigation techniques the previous year. Although Bruno was still an intern, his excellent pass-rate on the money laundering exam was one of the key reasons he was hand-picked to join this specific unit. He was only an intern, starting at the bottom rung, but he felt assured of a successful future career. He and Fred had exchanged a few thoughts over the issue at one of their family weekend gatherings, which gave both men some insight into how the process should work.

  ‘It’ll surprise you to know the scam’s people pull these days. Cyber-crime is on the up,’ Bruno explained to Fred.

  ‘How prolific is it?’ Fred asked, genuinely interested.

  ‘Some guys believe that thirty percent of all transactions come from money laundering.’ Bruno was on a roll, and all eyes were on him. ‘There’s a whole underground black economy out there, not paying taxes and spending up large.’ he grinned. ‘That’s usually how we catch them. Blowing large wads of cash on big purchases.’

  ‘It sounds pretty basic stuff. Fraud 101,’ smiled Fred. ‘I guess most criminals are idiots and that’s how most of them get caught.’

  ‘Hell yeah,’ grinned Bruno. ‘No doubt. There are some serious dumb arses out there.’

  Suzie pressed her lips together, sighing, her cropped blonde fringe fell across her eyes as she stared at him over her plate of food.

  Lunch on the weekends was always casual, and the following Sunday. Suzie was finally glad to have time alone with Bruno. They continued to share an apartment with her older sister Sacha and Hawke, who were away for the weekend. Sacha did not lose the irony with Bruno scheduled to work while they had the place to themselves. Suzie imagined she could distract and entice her husband back into bed even though he had a 1pm start.

  ‘I’d get fired or have to kill you if I told you any more details, but honestly, you’d be seriously horrified to know how many criminals are living around us. Here, within a few blocks of our apartment.’ He nonchalantly shoveled in another forkful of pasta, swallowed, and continued. ‘Pedophiles, murderers, narco dealers, the works. Like I keep saying, you can never be too careful and, never ever leave the doors unlocked.’

  ‘It’s good to know you’ve got my back.’ she smiled. Bruno stopped chewing. Something in her tone made him look directly at his beautiful wife. ‘And my front covered too.’

  ‘You know I gotta go,’ he said, as a broad smile crept across his face. ‘Things to do.’

  ‘Yeah, well, there are things to do right here, too,’ she teased.

  He stood up, wiping his face with a paper napkin, and flung it onto the plate. ‘Duty calls. At least I’m off next weekend.’ He thanked her for lunch, briefly kissed her lips, and disappeared through the front door.

  On Sunday night Sacha returned to the apartment without Hawke. ‘He’s gone to watch the ball game with the boys’ she said to her sister sitting at the dining table. ‘Bruno mentioned

  catching Hawke over at Clive’s place,’ she said, throwing her purse on the kitchen counter.

  Suzie’s cell phone bleeped, and she flipped it open. ‘Ahhh, yeah, his text says he’ll be home later. I guess that just leaves the two of us for a wild girls’ night in?’

  ‘Actually, I wanted to talk to you, and this is probably the best time,’ Suzie said.
r />   Sacha stood still, regarding her sister, trying to decipher what was going on.

  ‘Shoot,’ Sacha responded, but could tell by the way Suzie bit her lower lip and frowned that something was up. ‘This looks serious. Do I need a drink first?’

  Suzie shrugged. ‘Let’s just sit down and chat. There’s no simple way to tell you this,’ she said as she walked towards the long beige open-ended sofa.

  Sacha plonked herself in the middle as Suzie positioned herself opposite, in an old armchair across from the wooden coffee table strewn with half-open magazines and three empty coffee mugs.

  ‘It’s really none of my business,’ Suzie started. ‘But I think you need to…’

  Sacha cut her off in mid-sentence. ‘Please tell me you won’t hassle me about Hawke again?’ Her casual demeanor had vanished, pressing her lips together in a hard, determined line, holding back the avalanche of instant anger, desperately wanting to force its way into the room.

  Leaning forward, Suzie rested her forearms on her thighs, clasping her hands together in a movement of supplication to her older sister. Partly pleading for her concentrated attention and acknowledging, she felt uneasy, finding the situation difficult to address.

  Silence suppressed any instant response.

  ‘Let me start at the beginning,’ Suzie calmly said.

  Sacha stood, holding up the flat palm of her open hand. ‘Stop. Hold that thought. I need a drink,’ she said. Two minutes later her sister returned with two glasses of red wine, handing one to Suzie.

  ‘I was at Dad’s while the others were out. We got into a massive discussion, well a full-on fight really,’ Suzie started the conversation.

  ‘Right. Dare I ask what about?’ asked Sacha, looking skeptical.

  ‘Well, it was about Hawke and you,’ Suzie sighed, her expression warning Sacha to hold her tongue. ‘There’s more to it than you think. It’s more serious than you imagine.’

  Sacha heaved a sigh and stared into the replica blue eyes of her younger sister. ‘What could it possibly be?’ Then, as if struck by a lightning bolt, she said. ‘Oh no, tell me it’s not about cancer?’ alarm rising in her voice. ‘It hasn’t come back, has it?’

  ‘No, no, no! Hawke’s perfectly fine,’ Suzie said. ‘It’s actually more serious than that.’

  ‘Now you make little sense,’ snorted Sacha, taking a swig from her glass. ‘What could be worse than cancer?’

  ‘Well, that’s just it. But you have to promise not to say anything to Dad.’

  Sacha looked at her sister with growing intensity and said nothing.

  ‘Promise!’

  ‘Okay. Okay. Keep your hair on. I promise,’ Sacha said reluctantly.

  Suzie explained the conversation and how it had turned into an argument about Sacha and Hawke’s relationship.

  Suzie had quickly established that she supported the young lovers and that it was none of anyone’s business. The discussion soon escalated, with both Suzie and Logan shouting at one another.

  ‘Keep out of it!’ Suzie shouted back. ‘Who the hell do you, Maddy or Fred, think you are, dictating to anyone else, about who they should love?’

  ‘Love?’ argued Logan. ‘How can it be love?’ He spat the word out as if it had caused a lump in his throat. ‘It was just a convenience, the two of them shoved together in New Zealand and again sharing the apartment with you and Bruno. It’s just a flash in the pan!’ They had both stood up, shouting head to head in the living room.

  ‘How can you talk like that about your own daughter, Dad? Bruno and I are living with them, and I can tell you they love one another!’ Her strained voice pulled taut with emotion, fighting back the tears of anger and frustration.

  ‘It’s crazy! It will never work,’ he responded, his hard voice resolute with anger.

  ‘None of your damn business!’ she shouted back, her face only inches from her father’s.

  He jerked his head back, his face flushed with rage. ‘It’s incest! It’s against the law!’

  Her father’s words sliced through the heat between them, thrusting a mortal blow to the heart of the argument that neither could recover from. His uncompromising words reverberated in the silence as Logan looked more shocked and distressed than Suzie.

  She took a step back, breathing fast as the adrenalin forced its way into her brain. The implications were well beyond any question of disbelief. Logan stepped forward, contrite and shocked, clasping his daughter’s shoulders with outstretched arms. He pulled her towards himself.

  ‘I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean… to say that.’ He mumbled and hugged her as their eyes filled with tears. It took a couple of minutes before one of them spoke again.

  ‘Tell me, Dad. What makes you think it’s incest?’ Suzie asked.

  ‘I spoke out of turn, in the heat of the moment,’ he said.

  ‘Don’t give me that shit,’ Suzie said. ‘I’m not a fool, and this may come as a surprise to you, but I’m actually an adult. This whole thing stinks of something being not quite right. You wanted me to promise to keep a confidence. Why? What’s the big deal?’

  Logan fell back onto the sofa and took a deep breath, contemplating if an explanation would help or hinder the situation. He could kick himself for blurting it out.

  ‘This has all the makings of a major family explosion,’ he stated, trying to put some context around the fear and frustration between them both. ‘We have to tread with Sacha carefully. I can’t impress that on you enough.’

  Suzie sighed. ‘Okay, Dad, I get it.’

  ‘Many years ago.’ He stopped and raised both of his open palms to his head and rubbed them over his distressed face. He leaned in, looking closely at his daughter. ‘Maddy and I… were involved with one another.’

  ‘Really? You think this is news to me?’ Suzie said, mildly irritated now. She didn’t need her father’s entire life story, just the bottom line.

  ‘I didn’t know, but Maddy got pregnant with Hawke.’ Logan stopped to let this sink in. Suzie opened her mouth to speak, thought better of it, and closed her lips, pressing them into a hard, defiant line.

  ‘Hawke is my son,’ Logan said with no sugar-coating.

  Suzie frowned. ‘But how? I thought you were dating at Uni, but that’s years earlier.’

  Logan lowered his head, fixing his gaze on the pale carpet at his feet and simply said; ‘Yes.’

  ‘How can you be sure?’ Suzie’s mind raced into the past. All those years of growing up with the Davis family, Blake and Hawke. How both brothers looked so different. Brothers from a different father? So unrelated. It all made sense, she thought to herself.

  ‘But… But what does Fred say about this?’ She asked her father, her brow furrowed with deepening concern.

  Logan shook his head. ‘He doesn’t know. Maddy has never told him.’

  ‘Oh, my God! Oh… God! How could you?’ Suzie tried to control her anger. ‘This has always been a lie?’ She stood up and paced the room, past the family portraits on the wall, beside the ornaments and birthday gifts on the bookshelves. She turned, stalking back past the mantelpiece above the stone fireplace stacked with keepsakes exchanged over the years between the two families.

  ‘Yeah. It’s all a lie,’ came Logan’s voice, his mind numbed by the admission. ‘A lie.’

  ‘Talk to Sacha and Hawke.’ Suzie’s brain was working in overdrive to find a solution. There was none. But she registered the implications of Sacha living with her half-brother as utterly unacceptable.

  ‘No. Not now. Maddy won’t allow it, and we have agreed to see how things play out. It may all come to nothing,’ Logan offered.

  ‘Dad!’ She said his name with force. ‘Listen to yourself! The longer they are together, the more involved they get. Do you not see that?’

  ‘Suzie, take a breath. I know this is hard to get your head around in one conversation,’ Logan said. ‘Stop for a minute and think how hard it’s been on Maddy and me, watching Hawke grow up and not being able to be his actual f
ather.’

  ‘This is not about you, Dad.’ Suzie said, softening her tone but still seething in her heart. ‘No wonder! I get it now. You always seemed so focussed on Hawke. Hell, Sacha and I even talked about it once and made excuses for your unusual interest in him. You know, Hawke is the youngest of the collective children. Hawke is like a substitute son you never had. All the shit we talked, making justifications for your obsession with him.’

  ‘Listen, Suzie, you have every right to be angry, I understand, but I really need your help,’ Logan pleaded with his daughter. ‘Can you talk to Sacha and get her to see that this relationship with Hawke can’t carry on? Could you try to dissuade her, encourage her to break it off.’

  ‘No!’ Suzie drew herself up straight and unyielding. ‘You will tell Maddy to discuss this with Fred, and all three of you need to talk to Hawke and give him some pointers about how he’s going to explain this to the love of his life!’

  CHAPTER 19

  Letters From the Past

  Maddy was alone on Sunday morning, with both Logan and Fred out cycling as they usually did on weekends. It was an opportune time to relax on the veranda and finally read her mother’s diary. Vida Hawkins had been dead for over seven months now and Maddy felt she had the strength and the will to read through the old papers and piece together her mother’s past.

  She also wanted to rummage through an old shoebox of letters. Some looked very intriguing. After pulling several fragile pages out of envelopes and scanning the contents, much of which was merely domestic communications with an old friend, Maddy stumbled upon a typed letter. Some fonts were fading along with the upward strokes, but still good enough to read in context. However, the two pages were more than disturbing and simply signed with the single word, Max, that same unknown male friend of Vida’s. Maddy had never known him, and her mother had never even mentioned his name.

  Maddy felt uneasy, as if she were a voyeur into her mother’s secret, private life. It compounded her unease, because Max was a complete stranger. Judging by the postal date on the envelope, this letter was over fifteen-years old.