‘I don’t want to hear your excuses.’
Tai took Megan’s other arm and they dragged her into the storage cupboard.
‘Good try,’ the man said. ‘But not this time.’
Chapter 34
Aroha could hear the tremor in her voice as she counted louder and faster, hoping the time would pass quicker. There were noises around her; she could even hear them in the car, over her voice. Cracking branches and rustling in the overgrowth that had overtaken the driveway. There was no sign of him after she got to two hundred, so she got out of the car, her mobile shining on her feet and ran up the stairs. She wrenched open the heavy door and stepped into darkness. She waited until her eyes adjusted to the dark and swung her phone left and right. She was in some sort of lobby. There was a reception desk in front of her; to her left were glass double doors. She walked over and peered through. The huge room was bare apart from a few tables and chairs stacked in the corner. She could see floor-to-ceiling glass that looked out to the lake and towards Crawton.
She heard voices. Walking to the other double doors, she opened them and walked down the long hallway. There were doors every couple of metres or so on her right. Hotel rooms.
The voices were getting closer. Two men, and a woman, pleading. She regretted getting out of the car now. She reached the end of the corridor.
‘Megan, stop your begging. It’s never worked for any of the others, so I don’t know why you think it’s going to work for you.’
‘Please, I just want to go home.’
Aroha heard a slap and more sobbing. She waited for a second then poked her head around the corner. Two men were standing in front of what looked like a storeroom. She could just make out Megan, sitting on the floor. She knew her from the pub. She saw the other guy’s profile and knew he worked at the Crawton Tavern as well. She adjusted her footing and the floorboards gave her up in one accusatory groan. She turned and ran down the corridor, through the double doors, out the front door and down the steps, her phone’s torch light dancing across the gravel. She sat back in her seat, taking deep breaths, in and out. What had she just witnessed? What was going on?
She looked up as she heard footsteps. ‘All set? Told you I wouldn’t take long.’
She smiled at him, hoping it looked genuine, wondering what the hell Megan was doing there and what the fuck she was supposed to do about it. She tried to put it out of her mind. She was getting to be an expert at that.
‘Food?’ he asked.
She nodded, and smiled as he placed a cool hand on her thigh.
Chapter 35
Zoe took her first sip of coffee and cursed when she heard a knock at the door. When she opened it to come face to face with Max Vincent she tried her best to keep her cool.
‘I hear you’ve been having some trouble.’
‘Oh, it’s nothing. Really.’ She wanted him off her property.
‘Well, no, it’s not nothing.’ Zoe felt as though she’d been told off. ‘Your house, Lillian’s house, has been vandalised. Constable Barnes tells me you had no idea who could have done it. Who was responsible. You have no enemies around here?’
She looked at him, trying to figure out if he knew more. His face gave nothing away.
‘No, no enemies. I haven’t been here for long enough,’ she joked.
‘We had no luck on the fingerprints taken in and around the house.’
Zoe wasn’t surprised.
‘We can’t do a lot more. We can put it down to vandalism. Kids, probably. As long as you’re sure there’s no one from around here who wants to scare you? Do you harm?’
‘There’s no one,’ Zoe said again, wondering if she should mention Richard Bailey, then talking herself out of it. He was a property developer, not some heavy trying to scare her.
‘OK,’ Vincent said. But he kept staring at her, as if trying to will some kind of information out of her.
‘If that’s all, Sergeant, I should probably get on.’ Zoe stepped back to close the door.
‘Of course. If you have any other problem be sure to call me direct.’ He pulled a card from his wallet. ‘I won’t have anyone scaring or threatening you.’
His words had been so caring, as if he truly wanted to protect her, but all Zoe felt as she closed the door, was anxious, uncertain of what kind of man he was.
*
Zoe drove back to Auckland and her apartment to pick up more clothes. Not feeling up to discussing anything in her life, she succeeded in avoiding Mrs Dwight and got back to Lillian’s by five to prepare herself for the Crawton Community Awards night. Dan had repeatedly apologised that it was short notice but he wanted her with him. She couldn’t resist and pulled out a black cocktail dress with shoestring straps, last worn when she attended the school ball at her last school in London. She slipped into it and appraised herself in the mirror, excited that Dan would see her in the dress, then laughing at herself. She had never been one to dress for anyone. She slipped on a pair of stilettos: flats weren’t going to cut it tonight. At the chemist in Crawton a woman who would’ve been at least sixty had sold her over a hundred dollars’ worth of cosmetics and inundated her with make-up tips. She couldn’t be bothered with foundation and blush and concealer so put on a coat of mascara to her already long lashes and carefully applied lipstick. It would have to do. She brushed her thick hair out and pushed it behind her ears where it rested long and sleek down her back.
*
In the car going out to Lake Waitapu, Zoe said to Dan, ‘Tell me again, what this is in aid of?’
‘It’s the community awards night. They hand out awards, put on a nice dinner plus you get free alcohol.’
‘Sounds perfect,’ Zoe joked.
‘Fanciest night in Crawton by far. You should be happy you got an invite.’ He turned and grinned at her and Zoe’s stomach flipped.
The modern building sitting lakeside had floor-to-ceiling glass in the main event room, making it a magnet for brides and event coordinators, the most in-demand place to hold any kind of function in Crawton. She spotted Constable Barnes sitting at a table, looking as uncomfortable as Zoe felt, sipping at a glass of wine, her eyes darting from face to face. Zoe walked up to her and said hello.
‘Hi, Zoe. Did Max catch up with you this morning?’
‘Yeah, he did, thanks.’
‘Sorry, I was all set to come and have a chat with you, but he insisted on taking over.’ She rolled her eyes.
‘No problem.’ Zoe tried not to be alarmed. Why did Max Vincent feel he should become involved in what was a standard occurrence? She wanted to talk to Emma about it but couldn’t think of a way to broach the subject.
‘God, I have no idea what I’m doing here,’ Emma said, pulling at her dress.
‘You look amazing,’ Zoe said, taking in Emma’s muscular figure in a red strapless dress.
‘Thanks. Not really my scene, though. Would rather be on traffic duty, to be honest.’ She took a sip of wine. ‘And to make it worse I’m the only woman at the table. Max bought a table and invited the whole station, and as usual I’m the only female.’ She moved closer to Zoe and whispered, inclining her head to the right. ‘Plus he thinks we’re on a date.’
Zoe laughed, and turned to see Liam, who said, ‘Zoe, you look a picture tonight.’
‘Thanks, Liam.’
‘We’ve come a long way since old Crawton High, huh?’ She tried to settle her face into a smile.
‘You know him?’ Emma asked as Liam turned away.
‘Went to high school with him, unfortunately.’
‘Try working with him. Arrogant. So arrogant.’ She shook her head.
‘Come find our table when all the official stuff is over.’
Emma nodded and sat down while Zoe scanned the room. She saw Dan talking to Max Vincent, who nodded at Zoe as she approached and moved away to the next group of pe
ople.
‘What were you two talking about?’ She tried to sound casual, but it sounded like an accusation.
‘Not a lot. Just catching up.’
‘You know him? You’re friends?’
‘He’s good friends with dad. I’ve known him most of my life. Good guy.’
‘Really?’ This time her tone failed to conceal what she thought.
‘You think different?’
She shrugged off her comment, and Dan put a hand on the small of her back and led her to their table, where Zoe greeted Jeff, Pam, Alex and a few other teachers from school.
‘Drinks?’ Jeff asked.
‘Yes please.’ said Zoe.
‘I’ll help,’ Pam said, smiling up at Jeff.
‘Jeff and Pam together in public?’ Zoe was amazed. It didn’t happen often, especially on a night like this.
‘She’s my date, apparently,’ Alex said. ‘It’s a big night for Jeff and she didn’t want to miss it. So how goes the investigation? You haven’t talked much about it lately.’
‘Investigation?’ Dan asked, placing his arm around the back of Zoe’s chair.
Zoe groaned. This was the last thing she wanted to talk about.
‘Zoe here is playing Sherlock Holmes,’ said Alex. ‘Lillian left a few clues behind saying that some girls have disappeared and we’ve got a dodgy cop in our midst.’
Dan looked concerned. ‘Really?’
‘It’s silly,’ Zoe said. She didn’t feel comfortable talking about it, especially now she knew Max Vincent and Dan knew each other so well. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust them, but she didn’t want them knowing about Faith. It would seem a breach of confidence if she started gossiping about what had happened. She thought about her smashed windows and how nothing had turned up from the fingerprints. No use worrying anyone about that, either. ‘I haven’t given it any more thought. Not my worry anyway.’
‘How’s school?’ Alex asked. ‘I hardly see you there. I’m locked away in my office trying to sort out the youth of today.’
‘It’s going well. Really well. It’s refreshing, teaching normal kids.’
‘Normal? I don’t think any teenager could be classed as normal,’ Dan joked.
‘You know, just not stuck-up, rich, entitled. The kids here are different. I like it.’
‘Enough to stay?’ Alex asked, hopeful.
Zoe accepted a glass of wine from Jeff and ignored the question.
‘Sorry,’ said Jeff, passing a beer to Dan, ‘that bloody Richard Bailey was holding up the queue at the bar complaining they didn’t have his kind of whisky. Wanker.’
Zoe saw Bailey return to his seat just as a loud voice, aided by a microphone, asked for everyone’s attention and the awards got underway. They sat through business of the year, volunteer group of the year, most community-minded student and the list went on.
‘Before we get to the main event,’ the MC said. ‘We have a special award to give out. Lillian Haywood was a much-loved figure in this community.’
Zoe’s head shot up. Alex shrugged, obviously as surprised as she was.
‘It was with great sadness that we said goodbye to her a few weeks ago. She supported not only the high-school children but youth in general in this town. And she will be sorely missed. I understand Lillian’s daughter is here tonight. Maybe she’d like to come up and accept this award and say a few words?’
Zoe felt eyes on her. Not many, but enough. She heard a rush in her ears and whispered to Alex, ‘I can’t do it. Don’t make me go up there.’
Alex nodded, pushed his chair out and marched up the steps and onto the small stage. ‘I gratefully accept this on Lillian’s behalf. It was an honour to work with her and learn from her. Her death is a great loss to the Crawton community.’
Zoe felt Dan’s hand slip into hers under the table as the audience applauded. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered to Alex when he returned to the table.
Over the next few minutes she tried to pull herself together, alarmed at her reaction. There was uproarious applause at her table when the MC called out, ‘Citizen of the year is Mr Jeff Worthington for his contribution to not only our economy but also our community.’
Zoe clapped along with everyone else. Everyone else except Richard Bailey, who rose from his seat as Jeff took the stage and walked off in the direction of the toilets. A petite woman hurried after him in dangerously high heels.
Draining her glass halfway through Jeff’s speech, Zoe headed for the toilets. Her head ached and she needed a few minutes of quiet. She opened the double doors that led to the toilets and almost collided with Bailey and the petite woman. They both looked at her, the woman in alarm, Bailey in anger. His huge hand was encircling her upper arm. He released her quickly. The woman ran off to the toilets but not before Zoe noticed the angry red mark he’d left on her arm. He stalked back into the main room.
Pushing the door open to the female toilets, Zoe saw the woman applying scarlet lipstick with a shaking hand. ‘Are you OK?’
‘I’m fine,’ she said.
Zoe looked at her closely. She wouldn’t have been any more than twenty-five. Half the age of Richard Bailey. The woman pursed her lips together and walked out of the bathroom without another word.
When she got back to the table Zoe congratulated Jeff then asked, ‘Is Richard Bailey married?’
‘Hell, no. Who’d have him? He gets himself involved with these young girls who know no better, or escorts. Not a nice guy.’
‘Yeah, I can see that,’ Zoe said.
*
An hour later, as Zoe made her way from the bar with a glass of champagne, Richard Bailey appeared in front of her. ‘Zoe, so good to see you,’ he said, as if she was an old friend, as if she hadn’t seen the altercation with the young woman.
‘Richard,’ she nodded, trying to sidestep his enormous frame, with no luck.
‘Look, I apologise about our last meeting. I'm used to dealing with hardnosed businessmen, not …’
Zoe glared at him, daring him to finish the sentence.
‘Anyway, I’d like to offer you double what I offered your mother. What do you say?’
‘No.’ The more he offered the more she felt compelled to turn him down. She felt the need to join the fight Lillian, Pam and Mavis had been fighting for the last decade.
‘No? It’s a very generous offer.’
Zoe got the feeling that not many people said no to Richard Bailey. ‘The answer is no.’
He crossed his arms, slightly spread his legs. ‘Lillian and I had talked. A lot. She spoke very positively to me about wanting to sell.’
‘I don’t care what kind of deal you made or what papers she signed. She was unwell. Any kind of deal you made with her I’m sure I could get thrown out in court. She wasn’t in her right mind,’ Zoe said confidently, not really knowing what the hell she was talking about.
Bailey stared at her, a smile creeping across his smug face. ‘I didn’t mention anything about papers being signed, Zoe.’
She stared at the floor, realising her mistake.
‘She signed those papers, didn’t she?’ He kept staring at her, trying to catch her eye. ‘Those two bitches have got to you, haven’t they? Pam and Mavis.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘And Jeff, I bet. He hates to see anyone other than himself succeed at anything.’
‘I’ve known Jeff Worthington since I was a child. He’s never been anything but supportive. To me and Alex and Pam. So you might want to do your research before you bad-mouth my friends.’
He shook his head. ‘You’ll be sorry,’ he muttered.
‘What did you say?’
‘You heard.’ He walked away and within five paces was back-slapping and shaking hands with a group of men in suits.
Chapter 36
Aroha lay in bed after yet another sleepless night. She was worri
ed about Megan, plus the morning sickness lasted all day and into the night. By about 2 a.m. she had settled on a plan. She’d go and see Ms Haywood. She didn’t really know her that well, but didn’t trust anyone else. She needed to tell someone about Megan. The responsibility of knowing what she knew was too much. She needed to offload.
After throwing up the contents of her measly breakfast she left the house and arrived at Ms Haywood’s fifteen minutes later. If telling her about Megan went well, maybe she could tell her about the pregnancy. She knocked at the door, dreading that she wouldn’t be home. But the door opened and she almost fell in the door and into her arms with relief.
‘Aroha, what are you doing here? Are you OK? You don’t look so good.’
‘Bit hot out for this time of year,’ she said lamely. ‘Can I come in?’
‘Sure.’
She followed Ms Haywood down the hallway and into the lounge.
‘Can I get you something? A drink?’
‘No, thanks.’ Even water at this point would make her spew her guts out.
Ms Haywood sat opposite her. ‘What’s up?’
Her full attention was on her, and she felt like she was on stage under a spotlight and had forgotten her lines. ‘I … there’s this girl I know, and she’s, well …’
Shit, I should’ve practised what the fuck I was going to say. Aroha rubbed her face. She’s going to think I’m crazy.
‘This girl? She’s a friend of yours? Is she in trouble?’
‘Yeah. Her name’s Megan. Megan Harper.’
Ms Haywood’s body language changed. She sat forward, eyes wide. ‘What about Megan?’
‘You know her?’ Aroha said, surprised. Ms Haywood and Megan didn’t exactly hang in the same groups, plus Ms Haywood had only been here a few weeks.
‘I know of her. Do you know where she is?’
Ms Haywood’s big eyes bored into hers and Aroha began to feel uncomfortable. ‘Yeah, she’s up at this old hotel, I think it’s a hotel, up past the big lake.’
‘Who was she with?’
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