Du Rose Family Ties

by Bowes, K T

  “There is no dope.” Logan stood, towering over the assembled crowd as his voice cut through Hana’s anger. He sounded bored. “I already told the rest of your toxic little gang. A few wilting stems got collected onto the rubbish truck by accident; you’re welcome to trawl the dump for it. You’re getting nothing from me; keep the kid, he’s your blood, not mine.”

  “Logan!” Hana looked shocked and he warned her with his eyes. She searched for Caleb in the darkness and saw his eyes glinting in the moonlight. He didn’t look scared but his plight appealed to her rescuer mentality. “We’re gonna have to fight our way out,” she hissed to Logan and heard him suppress a snort.

  “On your own, kid,” he said and gave her a wink, his facial muscles fighting to suppress the amusement.

  “I know you’ve got the drugs,” Flick’s son persisted. “Caleb here said he brought them to your place and you took them. You said they were crap just to get rid of Asher.”

  “That’s right. You’ve still got the dope.” Caleb pointed at Logan and Hana intercepted his gaze, her eyes narrowed. His betrayal stung.

  “He knows we don’t have it,” she protested. “He lost it; it’s nowhere in the house.” She lifted her hand and pointed her index finger in Caleb’s direction. “Now, he’s on his own. I’m done.”

  “That’s my girl.” Logan smiled at her. He put his palms together in a loud clap and then made an action as though wiping them clean. “We’re done here, guys. Don’t call me again.”

  “But we know you’ve got more than that to trade with. We want cash and you’ve got lots of it.” The surrounding males jeered in agreement and slapped Flick’s son on the back. “Caleb said you’re loaded. Millionaire or something.”

  Logan peered through the darkness at Caleb’s ashen face. “Come near my home or family again kid and I’ll hurt you worse than you could ever imagine.”

  Hana heard the scraping of shoes on grit as Nev crawled out from beneath the vehicle. He slipped into the passenger seat and Logan held the rear door open for her. “Would you like a proper seat or are you happier clinging onto the tailgate?” A smirk lit his eyes and Hana glared at him. She opened her mouth with a rebuke on her tongue and caught sight of a flash of metal in her peripheral vision.

  “Logan!” she screamed and he turned, pushing his elbow through the youngest Dressler boy’s nose. The crow bar clanged to the floor and the young man followed it face first. When his brother started to run forward, Nev emerged from the passenger door and leapt over the bonnet.

  “Come on then!” he shouted, teeth gritted as he took a fighting stance. The man slowed to a hesitant walk and then backed off, beckoning to his brother. Hana’s heart pounded with the adrenaline release as Flick’s boy clambered upright, his hand held under his nose. He staggered back towards his assembled mates, none of whom attempted to help him.

  “Any more?” Logan asked, opening his arms and cocking his head.

  “Na, bro’,” someone answered. “We heard about you, dude. We’re good.”

  “Let’s make sure it stays that way then!” Logan snapped. Bending, he retrieved the crow bar and hurled it towards them, smiling in satisfaction at the sound of metal scarring metal as it dented the first vehicle’s paintwork. He jerked his head towards Nev and waited until he and Hana closed their doors against the dark car park and shadowy danger. Then he made a rude gesture and climbed into the ute, gunning the engine and sending a spray of grit flying up behind them.

  Hana breathed out through pursed lips and swallowed the sense of regret at seeing Caleb in all his treacherous glory. She remained silent even after they entered the school site and watched the automatic gates clang shut behind them. Creeping indoors she went upstairs to bed without speaking to anyone, seeing Logan and Nev laughing about Flick’s boys through the slats of the bannister rails.

  “You’re an idiot, Hana Du Rose,” she breathed to herself in the darkness as she undressed and exchanged her torn nightdress for a pair of pyjamas.

  Chapter 53

  An Ill-advised Alliance

  Hana sat on the porch steps and listened to her son pad around behind her on his hands and knees. Short breaths panted from his lips as he exerted himself, crawling away from her and then back again. He crept behind her, his breathing giving him away as he tapped her back with his forehead. She turned with her eyes wide and her hands raised, shouting, “Boo!” even though he couldn’t hear. He jerked backwards at her face expression and a delightful belly laugh erupted from his slender body, his lips dribbling saliva and his eyes squeezed tight shut. Hana tickled him and then turned her back, waiting until he crawled away and sat on his puffy nappy. She faced him again, making the movement sudden and he jumped and squealed, the laugh rocking his whole body until the hiccoughs began. Hana turned away and heard him set off towards her again, stifling her giggles until he got close. She waited, but he didn’t touch her and she swivelled around in alarm.

  Lincoln Haines stood on the front door mat, clutching her son in a grip which displayed his lack of experience with babies. Mac didn’t appreciate being held at arm’s length and appealed to Hana with his eyes and a series of pitiful wails. She stood and moved towards the towering male, seeing only the need to retrieve her baby. “Give him to me!” Her green eyes wide and wild with desperation, they flicked to Mac and then back to Lincoln. “You hurt him and I’ll kill you!”

  “I’m not gonna hurt him!” Lincoln looked horrified, his face paling to a sickly white. “What do you think I am?”

  “You tell me.” Hana edged closer. “You walk into my home, watch me being attacked and then use that fact to threaten me. Now you’re holding my baby, who clearly isn’t enjoying the experience.” She gritted her teeth and held her arms out, watching as Mac pitched forward in an attempt to meet her embrace. “Give him to me right now. If you hurt him, it will be the last thing you do.” Lincoln drew his arms closer to his body but Mac still dangled in mid-air, his agitation growing. “I mean it.” Hana cast around for a ready weapon and saw an abandoned tree support lying inside the balustrade. She reached down and seized the stake, eyeing the spiked edge where it was meant to be hammered into the ground. “Say goodbye to your nuts!” she snapped and Lincoln took a step back against the front door.

  “Don’t be stupid, woman! You’ll hurt the kid.”

  “I’ll take the risk.” Hana stepped towards him, jousting the hefty stake at groin level. Better an injured baby who fell on a springy deck than never seeing him again.

  “I’ll drop him!” Lincoln gasped as the spike touched the front of his jeans along his zipper. “Don’t be an idiot!”

  “Don’t you threaten me!” Hana raged. “You make me sick. He can’t hear you; he doesn’t understand what’s happening, you dumb cowboy! He’s deaf!” She swallowed at hearing the words spoken aloud and saw the confusion on Lincoln’s face. She pressed the stake harder into his groin, hoping she caught Mac if he dropped him and Lincoln saw the determination in her face.

  “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Take the kid.” He held the squirming baby out to Hana and she clasped him to her, the embrace too hard for the child’s liking. The stake dropped to the ground and Lincoln kicked it away. “Geez, you’re a psychopath!” he exclaimed, inspecting the dirty mark on the front of his jeans.

  Hana snorted. “Says you! Blackmailer, adulterer, murderer, general asshole! Do you want me to go on?”

  Lincoln swallowed and held his arms outstretched, palms facing Hana. “I wanna call a truce. I need to talk to you.”

  “Whatever!” Hana snapped. “Get out of my way and off this property before my husband gets here.” She eyed the livid bruise encircling Lincoln’s right eye and smiled in satisfaction. “I see he already taught you a lesson the other night. He’d love the opportunity to finish it.”

  “Don’t call Logan!” Lincoln shook his head. “I never expected you to tell him. I trusted you.”

  “Trusted me!” Hana raged. “Trusted me to do what you wanted under threat?
Grow up, man. Nothing is more important than my marriage and children so think again, loser.”

  Lincoln stepped away from the front door mat and Hana felt relief thudding through her chest. She made a dash towards it but didn’t get the heavy door closed before Lincoln pushed his cowboy boot into the gap and shoved his way through. “You’re gonna listen to me!” he huffed, “You have to.” He slid on the inside doormat and cannoned into the staircase, groaning in pain as his shoulder took the force. Holding his hands up in supplication, his body language showed defeat. “I get it, Hana; I get it. Just give me a chance to talk to you, please?”

  “Why should I?” Hana demanded. “You men think because you’re bigger than me that you can be overbearing, threatening and make me run on fear.” She shifted Mac to her other hip and started in surprise as he used his little hand to make the sign for hungry. “Hungry?” Hana asked, pride blossoming in her chest. She positioned her empty right hand as though holding a cup and moved it from her throat to her sternum. “You hungry?”

  Mac grumbled and repeated the action, his hand movements jerky and inaccurate. Everything in Hana softened at his efforts to communicate with her and nothing else mattered in that moment. Ignoring Lincoln as he hovered near the bottom of the stairs, Hana turned her attention to her son and walked towards the kitchen, rewarding his attempt to communicate by letting him choose a biscuit from the tin in the pantry. His tiny fingers flickered over the assortment of wonderful biscuits and his green eyes narrowed in concentration. He frowned at Hana before drawing out a chocolate digestive and poking his tongue over the treat.

  “You’ve made me want one now.” Hana took one and popped it into her mouth in three bites, abandoning the tin on the counter. “Let’s get you in your chair and I’ll grab some warm milk.” Her voice sounded muffled as she spat biscuit and she winced at her bad manners. Hana made her right hand into a fist by squeezing the fingers closed and then opening them like she milked a cow. “Milk?” she asked and Mac wiggled his legs and dropped his head forward and back. “Gorgeous boy.” Hana pressed her lips to the side of his soft face and he grinned at her through chocolate coated lips.

  “Don’t suppose I could have something to eat?” Lincoln slipped into the room and Hana cringed. “Logan turfed me out so everything I own is in my car.”

  “Do you expect me to feel sorry for you?” Hana poured formula powder into a feeder cup and added hot water from the kettle. She topped it off with sterile water from the fridge to cool the temperature. “Here you go, baby. Milk.” She made the motion with her fingers again and he licked the biscuit and a coy expression settled over his features. “Yeah, you know more than you make out, little man. You’re like your father.”

  Lincoln edged towards the counter and selected a plain biscuit. Hana heard his stomach growl from across the room. She raised an eyebrow. “So, you couldn’t stop at a burger place? Logan took your wallet too, did he?”

  “Na.” Lincoln hung his head. “I wasn’t hungry until just then. Lost my appetite.”

  “You only have yourself to blame.” Hana clapped as Mac lifted the beaker two handed and supped the warm milk. He beamed in response. “I might have helped you if you’d asked me.” She raised an eyebrow at Lincoln. “But I’m tired of being bullied by men. It’s not happening anymore.”

  Lincoln nibbled the biscuit and watched her from under his lashes. “I heard you were a maverick; you did what you wanted even if it went against your hoa tāne’s wishes.”

  Hana shrugged. “I used to, but it was foolish. Logan told me to leave situations alone and he was always right. I’ve learned the hard way.” She sighed and watched her son munch on his treat. “I wish my life was as simple as choosing a biscuit.”

  “Mine too.” Lincoln pushed the last mouthful between his lips. “Please can we start again? I’d love for you to help me find the fifth man and discover who killed Pania.”

  “What will you do if you find the answer though, Lincoln? Will you show the cops your evidence and let them put that person in prison? What then?”

  “I don’t know.” Lincoln raised his hands and let them fall to his sides with a slap. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

  Hana pulled up a chair so she could sit opposite Mac and pursed her lips. “I don’t know how to help you, Lincoln. I already asked Logan and Leslie what they remembered and came up with nothing. For what it’s worth, Logan still believes you’re innocent.”

  “That will make me feel a heap better when I’m bedding down in a homeless shelter tonight.”

  Hana shrugged. “Feel free to take a few extra biscuits.”

  Lincoln sat at the table and watched her play with her baby son. “I wanted children,” he said and his voice lowered almost to a whisper. Hana turned to meet his gaze and compassion filled her eyes until they shone a soft green.

  “I’m sorry,” she replied. “Some women need to feel ready; it’s a huge commitment.”

  “It’s not an excuse, but it’s the reason I started sleeping with Pania. Fiona and I couldn’t communicate. We didn’t want the same things and I should’ve left then, but I loved her. I’ve thought about it heaps since and realised maybe I wanted her to find out.” He gave a low, sardonic laugh. “Just not like that.”

  Hana nodded in understanding but kept her mouth shut, unable to share his pain. Lincoln ran a hand through his hair and left it sticking up on end. “Do you hate me?” he asked, biting his lower lip as though making it bleed might drain away some of the misery. “I know you hate cheats.”

  “I don’t have the energy to hate you,” Hana sighed. “Nothing excuses adultery. You could’ve left and found someone who wanted your children. Destroying your wife achieved nothing.”

  Lincoln nodded. “You’re right. Fiona wrote me off when she found out I’d cheated. She sent the divorce papers while I was on remand. I signed them the day they found me guilty. She deserved better.”

  “People in the town think you gave up.” Hana smiled at her son and watched him prod crumbs around his tray.

  “I did.” Lincoln sighed. “But not because I wanted to. He visited me in prison, a man I’d spent my whole life being a friend to and told me to plead guilty.”

  “Who did?” Despite herself, curiosity budded in Hana’s breast. “Who visited you? What did they say?”

  Lincoln looked exhausted as he faced her across the table and he ignored her probing. “Am I wasting my time, Hana? Should I just get on with my life? I could go somewhere new and start again.” He rubbed his eyes with the backs of his fists. “Only I can’t, can I? Nobody wants a convicted murderer on the payroll. Logan was my last hope.” He looked at Hana with raw expectation in his face.

  “No,” she replied. “I won’t undermine Logan’s authority. I’ve learned my lesson.”

  Lincoln nodded. “Then I have no choice but to prove my innocence by finding the real killer.” He stood and pushed the chair under the table and stopped at the kitchen door to give Hana a tired smile. “Thanks for your time.”

  “Hey,” Hana rose and turned her body to face him. “You didn’t say who came to see you or what they said.”

  Lincoln shrugged. “Kane Du Rose paid me a visit. He brought divorce papers from Fiona and the guards let me have them after he left. He said everyone knew I did it and those who donated to my defense fund were stopping. My wife didn’t want me and the town didn’t either. He said they’d hurt the ones I loved and less than twenty-four hours later, my mother died.”

  “An overdose of antidepressants? I heard. It doesn’t mean Kane killed her; it might’ve been an unfortunate accident.”

  “But I’ll never know, will I? After Liza told me, I refused to take the stand and defend myself. The judge directed the jury to find me guilty of manslaughter and I accepted my punishment. I still loved Fiona; why put her at risk too?”

  “But you were friends with Kane. Why use him as the messenger?”

  Lincoln shrugged. “The fifth man in the group sent him with a
warning; inside or outside the prison, I was a dead man.”

  Hana shook her head. “Logan wasn’t the fifth man, Linc. You’re grasping at straws. If Kane delivered the message, then you already knew that. He wouldn’t do jack for my husband, let alone be his messenger. You need to look elsewhere and I can’t help you.”

  Chapter 54

  Confessions of Guilt

  Hana opened the door with a slice of toast in her hand, Mac clinging around her neck and making fumbled grabs at the buttery bread. Sleeping late after a disturbed night, she’d awoken to find the older children and Leslie gone again. Another day of pondering Lincoln’s dilemma left her no nearer to solving the mystery. The others ate dinner and then went to get Macdonald’s sundaes as a treat for pudding and Hana stayed home, force feeding herself toast. She gaped at the sight of the visitor. “Hi. Come in.” She stepped back and reached to close the front door, relinquishing the toast to her grasping son’s tiny fingers. Mac gave a grunt of satisfaction and pushed a corner into his mouth, sprinkling Hana’s shoulder with crumbs.

  “Are you hungry?” she asked her guest, waiting while the woman glanced around the hallway. Hana indicated the open kitchen door with her hand and nodded encouragement. “The kitchen’s through there. Go ahead and I’ll make us a drink.”

  Anahera Du Rose set off in front of her, steps tentative and lacking confidence. Shaking fingers pushed the door open and she pressed through, standing in the centre of the room as though lost. Her clothes looked at least three sizes too big for her and the trainers on her feet flopped without laces to tighten them. Her vacant expression sent waves of panic through Hana’s chest.

  Putting Mac in the high chair to eat his spoils, she set the kettle to boil and eyed her sister-in-law through lowered lashes. “What brings you here, Anahera?” She kept her voice light and reached behind her for her phone, sending Logan a quick message. ‘Anahera’s here!’