Jeff laughed. ‘It was hard to find trustworthy people at the start, let alone those who could use their brain. Gabe was loyal but,’ Jeff tapped his head, ‘not much up here.’
It was him. He’d admitted it. She could see his smile in the reflection from the window. He was far away. Reminiscing?
‘You ruined my life!’ Her eyes filled with tears and she brushed them away, angry with herself for being weak. She was in control here. ‘You know that, don’t you? It was you on the phone the day after I escaped, wasn’t it? You told me you had your eye on me and you told me to forget. That was sixteen years ago, and not one day did I forget, you son of a bitch. Those threats froze me. They put my life on hold. But I guess that was the point.’ With a shaking hand Faith picked up the weighty award and threw it at him. It glanced off the back of his head and connected with the picture window, leaving spidery veins across the glass.
Jeff shouted in pain, grasping at the back of his head. He swung around, eyes full of fury, nostrils flared. ‘You’re fucking crazy!’ He held a hand to his head and brought it away, smeared with blood. ‘Always knew you were. And that’s the reason I was glad you got away from Gabe that night. After many years in this business I judged you wrong. Well, Alex did. The women I want need to be broken.’ He was breathing hard now. ‘But there was no breaking you. Maybe if we had a bit longer we could’ve. They all break in the end.’
He walked over to her and without warning punched her. She fell and hit her head on the corner of the glass coffee table. ‘I will get away with this. You escaped from me once, but not again. I won’t let a piece of trash like you ruin everything I’ve made.’
Faith’s blood dripped onto the white carpet, making petal-like patterns on top of the wool. Her head swam, making Jeff look as if he was floating. She watched him pull out his phone. Before he dialled, he bent down in front of her. His breath smelled of whisky and he had the look of a lion sizing up an injured antelope. ‘Who knows you’re here?’
‘No one,’ she said.
Shit, she thought. She wasn’t thinking straight, her whole head felt like it was on fire. She could’ve told them Zoe knew, or that the police were right outside. Idiot. She wiped the blood from her eyes and held her hand to the gash on her forehead.
Jeff held his phone to his ear. ‘It’s me. I’ve got a job for you.’
There was silence as the other person responded. ‘I don’t give a fuck if you’re hiding out. I pay you good money to get rid of garbage. The Ranges. One hour.’
He pocketed his phone and said to Faith, ‘We need to go.’
‘I’m not going anywhere with you,’ she said, struggling to get up but her injured head prevented her, and she lay her head on the carpet again. At least if they never find my body, she thought, there’s enough of my blood here for the cops to know something’s happened.
Jeff pulled her up by the arm and her mobile fell with a soft thud onto the carpet. He picked it up, an arrogant smile on his face when he realised what she’d been doing. ‘Playing detective, are we?’ He stopped the recording, deleted it and slipped the phone into his pocket. He dragged her through the lobby, into the kitchen and out a door to a triple garage. There was a black Mercedes in front of her, another car further along and a boat taking up the last position on the far side. Jeff pointed a fob at the car to open the boot. ‘No!’ Faith said, finding the strength to struggle for the first time.
‘I should have done what I planned to do all those years ago, but you got away.’ He was breathing hard as he forced her around to the boot. ‘It’s over, Faith. You’re just another loose end now. Just like Lillian, just like Alex’s young piece of arse. You got too close, you got too cocky.’ He bent down and lifted Faith into the boot. She lashed out and felt some satisfaction as her stubby nails left scratch marks down the side of his face.
‘Bitch!’ He grabbed a towel from a shelf and held it to the wound at the back of his head, which was now bleeding heavily. ‘We’ll have matching scars. When that idiot Gabe injured you that day, he called me in a panic. Thought he’d killed you, which wouldn’t have been ideal. I had to come out and we had to stitch you up. I had a doctor friend who was, let’s say, familiar, with The Secret Garden. It was the first time I’d seen you and I remember thinking Alex had done a good job. You were just what we were after.’ He stroked Faith’s face and then brought his hand around to the back of her head, locating her scar. He caressed it with bloody fingers. ‘We’d better hit the road. We’re going far away, Faith. Some might miss you, I guess. Zoe? But just like last time, they’ll think you’ve done a runner. You’re good at running, aren’t you, Faith.’ He winked at her and slammed the boot shut.
Chapter 63
Faith must have passed out. She remembered the car starting and reversing out of the garage. She remembered turning out of the driveway and trying to judge what direction they were going in. She’d tried to find a light in the boot or wires, anything to help her see or even open the damn thing, but then there was an intense pain at the front of her head and then —nothing. She awoke to her head bumping on the carpeted surface of the boot floor. She wasn’t sure how long it had been, but her body ached as if she’d just run a marathon and her head felt as though it had been cracked in two.
I can’t let this happen. He’s going to kill me. I got away all those years ago. I can do it again, she told herself. Then: Who am I kidding? I can’t even get out of the boot without help.
The car turned sharply, sending her rolling further to the back of the boot. It slowed and then came to a standstill. In the ensuing silence all she could hear was her own breathing, strained and ragged. She could smell the fear coming off her body. The car door slammed and there was a soft click as the boot opened. A torch was shone into her eyes, making her turn away and blink hard a couple of times before the yellow orbs disappeared. ‘Out,’ Jeff said. He manhandled her out of the boot and dropped her to the ground where stones pressed into her knees and elbows.
‘Do what you do,’ Jeff said.
There was someone else here. Faith looked up at the looming figure. She knew the smile, the dirty ropes of hair that hung either side of his face as he lifted her from the ground. Tai.
‘I want my money. It’s a big risk for me coming out here. The cops are looking for me everywhere,’ he complained as Faith struggled to free herself from his iron grip.
‘The money will be in your bank account in the next twenty-four hours, as usual. Put her with the others, but after her we’re going to need another spot. Must be getting a bit full back there,’ Jeff said. He looked uncomfortable. He’s probably never been involved in this end of his business before.
Jeff got in his car and slammed the door, and that’s when she heard it. She wondered if it was the ocean, but it was getting closer. The drone of an engine? Then she saw headlights through the thick trees. They disappeared and reappeared again as they took corners, playing a game of peekaboo. Tai saw them too. She felt his body tense. She felt his indecision as his hands loosened around her waist.
‘I’d get out of here if I was you,’ she said. She looked at Jeff’s outline in the car, tanned face illuminated by the glow of the mobile he was checking. He still didn’t realise what was happening.
Four cars appeared around the last corner. Three were police cars, the other an unmarked Ford. Police officers were out of the car before they’d even stopped moving. Two ripped opened Jeff’s car door and pulled him out. Tai dropped Faith and ran, but not soon enough. Two officers with powerful torches playing over the thick copse of trees gave chase. Tai had dropped his torch and was running into darkness.
Faith laid her head on the ground, the only position she could find that gave any kind of comfort to the wound on her head. Tan-booted feet approached, quick footsteps over the gravel. Someone bent down close to her, so close that his beard tickled her neck.
‘Faith, it’s Detective Abernathy.
Can you hear me?’ His voice was full of concern, his hand warm where it touched her bare arm.
‘Did you get him? Did you get Jeff?’
‘We got him,’ he said.
Faith looked past the detective and saw Jeff Worthington being led away in handcuffs, stripped of his arrogance, defeated, head down, feet dragging.
Chapter 64
Zoe sat in the straight-backed chair at the side of Faith’s hospital bed. On the other side sat Megan Harper, black hair pulled into a low ponytail, pale skin free of make-up. She was staring past Faith, into space, and Zoe hated to think what she was thinking of, or how often, in the most random of places, her mind took her back to what she had been through. She broke out of her stare and gave Zoe a wan smile.
‘You OK?’ Zoe asked.
She nodded. Both knew she wasn’t.
It was Saturday morning. Zoe had received a phone call from Emma Barnes early that morning saying they’d apprehended Jeff Worthington and Tai Ngata and that Faith was in hospital with a head injury.
When she arrived at the hospital Megan was sitting with Faith. Their meeting was an emotional one. They had never set eyes upon each other but each immediately knew who the other was. When they embraced Zoe felt tears prick her eyes as Megan whispered ‘Thank you’ in her ear. ‘If it wasn’t for you and Faith and Lillian I’d be dead, or still in that place. If it wasn’t for you and Faith—’ She couldn’t finish her sentence. The enormity of the ‘what if’ was too big to put into words.
Faith was still sleeping, plus she was dosed to the eyeballs with medication. Zoe and Megan sat in silence. Over the last few days Zoe had tried her best not to think too much about all that had gone on in the last month. There was so much loss, so much violence. They still didn’t know where Aroha or Tania were. Detective Abernathy had told her in a roundabout way not to expect too much. The newspapers, TV and radio, both local and national, had grabbed at the story. The public were in disbelief, shaking their heads at how tragic it was, how horrific — and would then go about their lives as they had been doing, safe in the knowledge that they and their loved ones, their daughters or granddaughters, were far removed from this seedy, unspoken side of what they still assumed was a wonderful country.
Faith groaned and moved her head from side to side, her forehead furrowed. She cried out and opened her eyes wide in alarm.
Zoe grabbed her right hand, Megan her left. ‘Faith,’ Zoe said, leaning in close to her, ‘you’re safe. You’re in hospital. They got Jeff.’
Faith’s breathing returned to normal. She turned her head to Megan and smiled. ‘Megan?’
Megan nodded, again overcome with emotion.
There was a knock on the door and Detective Abernathy entered, his bulk instantly making the room feel smaller. ‘I’ve just come from the station,’ he said, swiping a meaty hand across his bristled chin. ‘Thought you should hear it all first. Jeff Worthington’s been denied bail. He’s been remanded in custody and will appear in court Monday morning and will be charged with abduction, conspiracy to commit murder, party to murder plus a few other things. The same goes for Tai Ngata. He’ll be charged with multiple counts of murder. As far as we can tell from Jeff, who’s talking a lot, making excuses mostly and shifting blame, Tai Ngata was the heavy. He’s given us a list of women Tai’s killed.’ He looked at Zoe. ‘Lillian is one of them.’
Zoe nodded. Not surprised by this piece of information but surprised how emotional she felt. Again, the wasted years between her and Lillian were brought to the forefront.
‘Max Vincent has lost his job and both he and Garth, the owner of the Crawton Tavern, have been charged as accessories to the abductions of Tania and Megan. Donna, the woman who ran The Secret Garden, has been charged with disabling — administering drugs to knock people out,’ he explained, ‘and abduction.’ He paused while the three women took it all in.
‘We’ve had a team out at the Waitakere Ranges all night — that’s where he took you,’ he said, looking at Faith. ‘They’ve unearthed at least ten bodies. Some have been there for at least a year.’ He hesitated. ‘Some not so long.’
‘Tania?’ Megan whispered.
‘Aroha,’ Zoe said, covering her mouth.
‘Quite possibly. None have any ID on them, but I think it’s safe to say that’s where they’ve ended up. I’m sorry.’
‘How did you know I was out there?’ Faith asked.
‘After we questioned Jeff Worthington last week we weren’t overly happy with his answers. He’d lawyered up and wasn’t talking much, and unfortunately our case against him was pretty thin. We did have him down as a shareholder in Phoenix Corp, which was who Alex purchased the property off back in 2006, plus after going through years of bank statements we noticed a few hefty deposits into Alex’s bank account spread out over a year from Worthington Construction.’
‘Jeff gave Alex the money,’ Zoe said.
‘Yeah. So we were listening in to his phone calls — mobile and landline — plus we had surveillance on him. Our guys saw Faith arrive at his place last night and weren’t too sure what was going on. We picked up the call he made to Tai Ngata and knew something was going to kick off. Our guys called it in when he left and tailed Jeff out to the Waitakeres where we met with other officers. One of our guys got into Jeff’s place when he left because we were worried about what might have happened to Faith. There was a lot of blood on the carpet so we knew it was serious. But in the end, Jeff led us right to him.’
‘Thank fuck,’ said Faith, closing her eyes.
‘Indeed,’ Abernathy said. ‘Faith, I’ll need a statement off you soon, but I’ll come back this afternoon.’
She nodded, closing her eyes.
After Abernathy left the room Faith reached forward for Megan and Zoe’s hands. ‘We got them,’ she said. ‘We got them all, one way or another.’
Megan offered up a tight smile and closed her eyes, a tear running down her cheek.
Faith squeezed Zoe’s hand. ‘It’s over,’ she whispered, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat. ‘It’s over,’ she said louder, a command.
Zoe nodded. After sixteen years, Faith’s nightmare was finally over.
She thought of Lillian with a smile. Reading her diary entries had been shocking, but cathartic. She’d only ever wanted to know why Lillian was the way she was. Lillian had gone through life blaming Zoe for how her life had taken such a turn, and Zoe had felt that sting since she was a small child. She knew that, as an adult, she wasn’t blameless, that she could’ve picked up the phone, but in the end she was her mother’s daughter — she was stubborn and she’d closed down, blocked off, moved on. Lillian had taught her to look after herself, to make herself a priority and no one else. Zoe had gone through life keeping other people at arm’s length, and it was only in the last month or so that she had come to realise how this had constricted her, confined her, limited her.
In the end, Zoe thought, even though Lillian was sick she cared about Megan and Aroha, cared about helping them. She’d been making amends and Zoe felt that she’d been doing the same. She knew she wouldn’t be returning to the Crawton she had known. She didn’t want to.
She thought of their old selves: Alex, Faith and her. Lillian, Pam and Jeff. No one was as they were twenty years ago. Yet she could start afresh in Crawton. She had Dan, and Faith, and maybe even Megan. She could let go of Lillian.
She could make Crawton her home again.
Acknowledgements
As always there is a long list of people who have supported and motivated me to finish this book.
Starting from the beginning, thank you to Tina Shaw who assessed a very early draft. Your comments and advice were, as always, right on point, and thanks to you the story shifted in a whole different direction.
To my editor Stephen Stratford who spent so much time and effort making sure the plot and characters, and everythin
g they did, were plausible and fitted into the storyline. Your editing made for a manuscript that was ten times better than the original.
To Casey and Nathan, thank you for your help on all of the police-related scenes and procedure. Any errors made are, of course, my own.
Thank you to Julia for Zoe’s little science experiment. Again, any errors are my own.
To the pharmacist in my local chemist, who didn’t blink an eye when (after telling her I was a writer) I asked her what a certain drug would taste like once crushed and put into a glass of whiskey to kill someone. Thanks for the info (and not calling the police on me).
To Carolyn McKenzie, my eagle eye proof reader. Thanks for your work and advice.
Thanks to all the Paper Plus and independent book shops that have stocked my books. Your enthusiasm for my last book was fantastic. I don’t know where I’d be without the support you’ve given me and my books.
Special thanks to Sharon. You were one of the first people I approached to sell my first book and since then you have been so enthusiastic about promoting my books. Thanks for all your support.
Last but not least my little family. Simon, thank you, as always, for your hard work and support (both technical and emotional) which have got this book over the line — once again. And to my two favourite little people: Cate and Abbie, who happily chat about names for my characters around the dinner table and still celebrate with me when I let them know how many books I’ve sold.
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