by Sarah Barrie
The lanky teen had stepped back to play with Luna but stared at the photo thrust in front of him. ‘Whoa, man. Can’t be. Shit.’
When he backed away from Ally, her confusion deepened.
‘What? I don’t understand.’
‘What’s the problem, boys?’ Cam asked.
‘What were you doing with him?’ Kyle asked Ally.
‘Him? David? He was my husband.’
‘That’s not David.’
‘I can pretty confidently assure you it is.’
‘Who do you think it is?’ Cam asked sharply.
‘That’s Billy.’
She heard Cam’s curse, felt the world tilt. ‘B-Billy? Did you say … as in …’
‘Yeah, the ghost. The one we saw.’
‘Excuse me.’ Close to panic, heart pounding, she forced her shaking legs to take her inside. She hadn’t been imagining it. She wasn’t crazy. She had been seeing David – Billy. Unless …
‘Ally, wait.’
‘I don’t understand. I don’t understand. Is this some kind of sick joke?’ she said, as she made it to the kitchen.
‘If it is, I’m about to kick their butts. Just stay here. Don’t panic.’
He came back a moment later, bending in front of her hunched figure. ‘They swear they’re telling the truth. There has to be an explanation. They must have seen David on at least one occasion when he was visiting. They’re probably just mixed up. Maybe Mavis called him Billy by mistake?’
‘You’re right. Of course. That’s a possibility.’ She pushed her fingers into her hair and thought about it. ‘But, Cam, what if she didn’t call him that by mistake? I have been seeing someone. And I know David’s dead. His remains were identified. But … what if there is another man that looks like David?’
‘And your hallucinations haven’t been hallucinations?’
‘If the boys and I have been seeing the same person …’
‘And it’s not David.’
‘Maybe there is a Billy.’
Mavis looked so sick Ally didn’t even want to go in. ‘Cam, we can’t bother her when she’s like this. She’s too far gone.’
‘We have to know.’
‘You said she hasn’t been able to tell you about the devil … why do you think she’ll be able to talk about Billy?’
‘We can gently ask a couple of questions, see if she answers. We won’t stress her, Ally, I promise.’
Reluctantly she made her way in after Cam and sat beside the old woman. ‘Mavis?’
Mavis’s eyes opened slowly. ‘Oh, it’s you, Ally,’ she breathed. ‘And Cam, hello.’
‘Hi, Mavis.’ Cam spoke gently, softly. ‘We wanted to let you know all the animals are doing well at the farm, Ally’s staying, you know that, and she’s doing a great job looking after everything.’
Mavis nodded a little. ‘Good.’
‘The only thing we weren’t sure about was how often we should play Billy his music.’
She stared dreamily at the wall. ‘My little boy.’
‘Mavis?’
‘No, no, you can’t take him! Don’t take my baby! Ah … here he is, here he is.’ Her arms rocked feebly, her eyes closed. They opened with a start, her face drawn and tight while her arms dropped back to her sides. ‘The line’s bad, it’s bad. Shoulda stopped with us.’
Ignoring the chill that raced up her spine, Ally pressed on. ‘David wasn’t bad, Mavis.’
‘I’m glad you didn’t have children.’ The heart-rate monitor began a speedy staccato Ally didn’t like.
‘It’s all right, Mavis, it’s okay.’
‘Devil’s bad. Billy’s got the devil in him.’ Her eyes turned on Ally, her lips thinned. ‘Devil didn’t plan on you, though. You were supposed to burn, like my David,’ she croaked, coughed. ‘You watch out or he’ll get ya this time. The devil will get ya.’
Cam leant forwards. ‘Mavis, Billy was your brother, remember?’
‘Billy died, Billy died. I loved little Billy.’
‘Yes, that’s right. You loved him, but he died.’
‘That’s why I named my boy after him.’
‘Your son’s name was David,’ Cam said gently.
Mavis closed her eyes, and it was several seconds before they opened, before she spoke. ‘Billy was a long time coming – after they’d taken David. Went a bit wrong. Billy’s special, but he’s got the devil in him. Not his fault his father’s the devil. Shh, don’t tell.’
Ally closed her eyes. ‘I wasn’t hallucinating. I wasn’t seeing David. They’re twins. And Billy’s in my house.’
‘Billy’s in his house. Was supposed to go to Gus, ’cept he won’t. Loves his house, Billy does. Loves his pets.’
‘Why is he hiding?’
‘Devil don’t want people knowing about him. You play the music every day.’
‘Okay, I will. I’ll do that.’
‘Follow the rules, follow the rules.’ Her eyelids closed.
Ally got to her feet and, sending Cam a shaky look, headed slowly for the door.
‘I wasn’t imagining it. I thought it was David but they’re twins. Billy’s in my house. “The devil will get ya.” Shit. Billy’s the devil she’s talking about.’
‘Let’s just … reserve judgement, okay? I should have brought you in the first place. I don’t think she ever had any intention of telling Ben, Lee or I anything. She wanted you to know, though. It’s got to be important to her that you’re okay – that you stay and look after Montrose. We’re going to see Rob. I’ll call Ben, make sure they’re both there.’
Ally and Cam sat in Rob’s office and relayed their conversation with Mavis. Rob was shaking his head in disbelief. Ben was taking notes.
Rob got up and walked around. ‘Look, the whole pregnancy and adoption was hard on Mavis. She wanted to keep the child – call him Billy after our brother. But she couldn’t. So I arranged the adoption, took the baby myself to be picked up at the courthouse after she delivered him. She’s never forgiven me. That’s why we don’t speak.’
‘Why couldn’t she keep him?’
‘An unmarried, forty-year-old schizophrenic surviving on welfare? She could barely take care of herself. Doctors, the social services people – they wouldn’t allow it. Said she was incompetent. Back then people weren’t as sympathetic with mothers as they are now, it was all cut and dried.’
‘The father?’
‘You’ve heard her. She says it was the devil. I didn’t pursue it.’
‘She said Billy was a long time coming and something went wrong. Is it possible you’d already taken the first child before a second one made an appearance?’
‘No, it’s not possible. I left her with Noelene. She would have said so. How could she hide a child for thirty-odd years?’
Billy’s good at hiding.
‘Who’s Noelene?’
‘She’s Gus’s wife, died years ago. Mavis is just confused. She’s dying. Mixing things up.’
‘But I’ve seen him,’ Ally said. ‘Several times. I thought I was hallucinating. I thought it was David. They’re twins.’
‘Now, Ally, look, I know you’ve got some problems –’
Ally’s brows shot up. ‘Excuse me?’
‘I’m just saying it’s all a bit ridiculous. She couldn’t have had a child out there with no one knowing about it.’
‘She says she did, and he’s been seen around the place,’ Cam replied calmly. ‘So whether or not it seems ridiculous, it needs to be looked into. The other interesting thing she mentioned was that when she left, Billy was supposed to go stay with Gus.’
‘Then I guess I’ll go pay my cousin another visit. See if he knows more than he did last time.’ Rob got his things and walked out.
‘He doesn’t want to believe it,’ Ben said, watching him go.
‘It would be a hard one to take in,’ Cam said.
‘I want to go over the medical records. There might be some clue to something in there. If I can find it.’
&nb
sp; ‘Take Ebs. She might be able to make more sense of anything medical.’
‘Will do. We’ll talk after I’ve had a look at those records.’
‘Come to my place, bring Ebs back with you. Ally and I will grab food.’
Cam watched Ally prepare two chickens, which she put in oven dishes, before turning her attention to cutting vegetables.
‘You know, we could have just ordered pizza.’
‘We had pizza last night.’
‘And?’
‘And I need something to keep me busy.’
‘Right, well that was the stuffing. I never appreciated how many things go into it. It just seems too complicated for something that turns into mush and soaks up gravy.’
‘Uh huh.’
‘You’re using your own herbs right? The ones growing in those pots by the vegie garden?’
‘Yep.’
‘That’s cool. But also complicated.’
Her look was disbelief. ‘Herbs are complicated?’
‘Knowing which is what. I’d lose the tags and I’d be completely screwed. I’d end up with chives instead of parsley or something.’
‘I think you’ll find they both look and smell very different.’
‘No wonder you wanted to prepare it all down here. My pantry must be way too ordinary for you. By any chance, are we desserting tonight?’ He looked so hopeful it drew another smile from her.
She arranged some potatoes around the seasoned chickens. ‘If you take these up, put them in your oven, I’ll do something here.’
‘Nope. Not a chance. We’ll take these up, put them in the oven, and you can bring all your fancy Nancy cooking stuff up to my house and make it up there.’
She paused, glanced up. ‘Fancy Nancy?’
‘Yeah, got a problem with that … Nancy?’
She snapped the tea towel, smacking him on the butt. He lunged, snatched it and used it to reel her in. When his lips were a millimetre from hers, he paused. ‘How much time is all that cooking going to take?’
She smiled against his lips. ‘I’ll get the chickens on, make something quick and easy for dessert.’
‘There’s no record of a second child or a father for David,’ Ebony reported later. ‘However, it’s not impossible that two babies were born.’ She put down some photocopied sheets and spread them out. ‘David’s records are complete, and from them, we can see that Mavis had a home birth, midwife was Noelene Littleton – Gus’s wife. David was born at approximately thirty-six weeks’ gestation. He was healthy, five and a half pounds.’
‘That’s early isn’t it?’ Cam asked.
Ebony nodded. ‘And probably why he was on the small side. But, this information would also gel with him being a twin. Gestation length is shorter in multiple births and twins are generally always smaller.’
‘So it fits,’ Ben said.
‘But keeping him a secret must have been difficult,’ Ebony commented.
‘Gus knew, so Noelene must have been present for both births. Mavis was pretty isolated out there, didn’t really have many friends.’ Ally picked up the birth certificate. ‘Cassie at the nursing home seems to know a lot about them all. She might have some information. But I’d say Mavis cut herself off from everyone on purpose to keep the baby, because she knew he’d be taken away. How horrible.’
‘It must have been horrible for Billy. No formal education, isolation, and let’s be blunt, a mother like Mavis,’ Cam said.
‘She said he had the devil in him.’
‘If he’s involved in the hunt group, someone has to know him. We don’t have a picture of Billy, but Ally said they’re identical, so I’ll start circulating pictures of David – ask the members whose identities I do know if they know of Billy. Though I’m surprised it didn’t come up when David visited.
‘Rob reckons he’s never seen him,’ Ben continued. ‘And he’s visited those idiots on many occasions while they’ve been out. I don’t think Billy’s an active member. At least, not in person.’
‘But if he’s not hunting with them, what’s he doing on the forum?’ Ebony asked.
Cam shrugged. ‘Maybe he enjoys the sense of community he gets from it. Maybe he hunts – just not socially.’ He looked at Ben. ‘What do you get about this guy?’
Ben looked down at his notes. ‘The rules make sense. The animals – he sees them as his, was sending Ally a message about removing them, not particularly threatening, just letting her know she was being watched. The bleach episode – some sights, smells and sensations can trigger psychotic breaks in unstable personalities, bleach could be a trigger for him. The whittling, if he’s done it himself, is also consistent with a long-term hobby he could have picked up from Mavis or Gus. The gates of hell, don’t know – however, if Mavis and Billy are linked to this forum group, it could be a place connected to that. Last, if he’s lived in the house all his life, he’s going to have a higher chance of knowing how to get in and out without being detected. He can run between Mavis’s and Gus’s and, assuming he has no job – and I’d just about guarantee that – he has nothing to do all day except stalk Ally.’
‘Why is he suddenly attempting to hurt her? Why the escalation?’ Ebony asked.
‘I think I can answer that,’ Cam said. ‘Mavis wanted to leave Montrose to the church, on the stipulation they don’t touch it for seventy years. Except her will wasn’t valid because she was only to inherit if both David and Ally died before her.’
‘You’re saying this has never been about some jealous boyfriend,’ Ally said, putting the pieces together. ‘He wanted to kill us both so he could keep his house.’
‘And live undetected at Montrose for the rest of his life,’ Cam finished. ‘Mavis seems to think if you follow the rules, Billy will let you stay, but he still sees you as a threat.’
‘But it doesn’t matter now if people know about him, surely?’ Ally asked.
Ben shrugged. ‘We don’t know much about his state of mind, Ally. But remember he deliberately set those stables on fire to kill you and David in order to keep Montrose. That’s not normal behaviour. He’s a murderer with psychotic triggers. He’s not going to want to be found.’
‘Did we hear back from Rob?’ Cam asked.
Lee nodded. ‘Yeah – said Gus wasn’t there. Probably fishing.’
‘We need to chase that up. Old bastard’s been lying and I want to know why.’
Ally shook her head and absently rubbed her palm. ‘I can’t believe Gus would set me up. I really thought he liked me.’
‘I did too,’ Cam said. ‘I would have put money on it. And from the conversation we had, I would have said he didn’t think Billy was in any way a threat to you.’
‘It’s possible Gus doesn’t know Billy as well as he thinks he does,’ Lee pointed out.
‘We’re not going to know until we find him.’
‘I say we take a trip out to Gus’s first thing in the morning, see if he’s returned from his fishing trip. I’ll let Rob know, but we can do this without him if we have to. It’s got to be hard. These people are his family.’
‘I agree. And Ally will stay at my place from now on, only go to Montrose when there are other people about. I have a good security system and the house is secure.’
A part of Ally resented the decision being made for her, and she opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. The look on Cam’s face was concern and she didn’t have the heart to argue. Ego aside, did she really want to?
Because Billy scared her to death.
CHAPTER
26
With one last nail buried deep into its timber frame, the dog fence was complete. It ran the length of Cam’s back veranda and covered a solid half-acre beyond it to the trees. ‘That should keep them happy. Room for Luna to run, and Bess can be nice and close to you here on the veranda. What do you think?’
‘I think you’re an incredibly talented builder – for a lawyer.’ She rose on her toes, kissed him. ‘Thank you.’
His arm s
lid around her and pulled her in. ‘My skills are varied and many.’ He began nibbling at her neck and her breath shuddered out.
‘Mmm. I’ve noticed.’
‘Before I drag you off and reinforce that, shall we go get the canines?’
‘The what?’ she asked, earning a chuckle.
They went down together, just as the last of the sun was disappearing behind the mountain. Cam checked out the house while Luna raced around, then left Ally to get some more things while he headed out to feed.
She tossed some dog food at the door, then went to the spare room and packed some fresh clothes. Jogging back downstairs, she picked up Tom’s biscuits to take out to the shed, and found her keys. She’d take her car up too.
Hand on the door to lock up, she heard her home phone beep three times in quick succession. Not ring, like it normally did – beep. Confused, she went back into the lounge room and picked it up, but the display only confused her more. It was the intercom alert. She stared at it for a moment, her thumb hovering on the connect button.
Where was the other handset? Her stomach dropped. Her eyes slowly panned to the ceiling.
Someone was in the house with her. Upstairs. Where she’d just been packing.
The sound of something bouncing lightly down the stairs made her spin around. At the bottom, a small carved figure came to rest only a few feet from where she was standing. It was a young woman, different from the others, roughly carved and unpolished. It had been hacked at with the knife, was polka-dotted with spots and dashes. Slowly, carefully, she took a step back, then another, and another. The phone started up again, loud in the tense silence.
She stopped in her tracks, lifting the phone to her ear and pressing the receiver.
For several terrifying seconds there was nothing, then she heard, ‘Out!’
At the violent command she dropped the phone and ran. But not past the stairs.
She barrelled through the laundry door, almost falling down the back steps, then stopped still. It was dark. She couldn’t run blindly. He could come out the front, she could run into him. Every sense straining for signs of danger, she searched for Cam. The shed light was on, the cows were making too much noise. If she called out, he wouldn’t hear her. But someone else might.