‘You don’t need parsley,’ said Aaron. He brought the gun up and casually pointed it at Georgia. ‘And if you think you might like to run away, don’t forget your mother would still be here.’
Georgia folded her arms across her chest. ‘What do you have against my mother? Or me? The least you can do is tell us what this is about.’
‘I don’t have to. Not yet. Pour me some more wine.’
Georgia didn’t move.
This time he shot at the floor near the pantry cupboard. The blast hammered into Abbie’s eardrums and emptied the air from her lungs. She clutched the kitchen bench to stop herself collapsing on legs gone weak.
‘You must be insane,’ yelled Georgia. ‘You stupid bloody idiot. Are you trying to kill someone?’
‘Georgia.’ Abbie relinquished her grip on the bench and grabbed Georgia’s arm. ‘Stop.’ Georgia tore her gaze from Aaron and focused on Abbie. She touched her cheek gently although her eyes were blazing with fury. ‘Mum, you’re bleeding. Something must have flown up and hit you.’
‘It’s nothing,’ said Kaelee. She downed some wine. ‘A scratch, that’s all.’
‘It needs a bandaid,’ Georgia said fiercely. ‘Unless you want blood in your dinner.’
‘In the second drawer.’ Abbie put fingers to her cheek, stinging now, and they came away red and sticky.
With a wad of damp kitchen paper, Georgia cleaned the wound and applied the bandaid. Abbie washed her hands.
‘Don’t just stand there, get on with our dinner,’ said Aaron.
Ten minutes later, Abbie sat the lid on the pot, adjusted the heat and said, ‘That will take about an hour.’
‘Now what?’ asked Georgia.
‘Now we tie you up.’
‘And you think we’re just going to let you do that?’ She planted her feet firmly.
‘I think you should collect the knives, Kaelee,’ Aaron said. ‘Put them outside where they’ll be safe. It’d be awful if someone was cut.’
‘Good idea.’
‘Move over there out of her way, ladies.’ He pointed with the gun barrel.
Kaelee jammed the two newly used, sharp knives back into the knife block. She checked the cutlery drawer and removed a couple of smaller ones then went out into the near darkness. A minute or two later she was back, empty-handed.
‘Take a seat, Abbie,’ said Aaron.
Abbie sat on the nearest chair. Kaelee pulled a new roll of gaffer tape from her coat pocket and fastened Abbie’s wrists together behind her back. Then she taped her ankles to the chair legs. Aaron smiled and drank more wine. They’d guzzled down over half the bottle.
‘Good job, Kaelee. Your turn, Georgia.’
‘I need to pee,’ she said.
‘Okay, let’s go.’ He waved the gun. Georgia stalked out of the room with Aaron following. ‘Leave the door open.’ His voice floated down the hallway.
‘Kaelee, what’s this about?’ Abbie said softly ‘Is Aaron forcing you to go along with him? Are you frightened of him?’
Kaelee glanced towards the door and nodded quickly. ‘I can’t …’
The toilet flushed.
‘I have to get my washing in,’ she said.
A moment later, Georgia and Aaron came back. He glanced around, frowning.
‘Where’s Kaelee?’
‘Getting her washing off the line.’
‘Sit,’ he said to Georgia. She sat.
‘How many bullets have you got for that thing?’ she asked.
‘Plenty. Don’t worry, I won’t run out.’ He smiled, wine glass in hand.
‘Have you got a .22 rifle?’ The question popped into her head and straight out her mouth.
He laughed but didn’t answer. A few more chuckles erupted as he studied her. ‘Got any cheese or something?’
‘In the fridge.’ Abbie said.
‘Kaelee,’ he yelled. ‘Get in here.’
‘I’ll get it,’ said Georgia. ‘There are crackers in the pantry.’
‘Stay!’
Kaelee burst through the door, lugging the washing basket full of clothes. She scanned the room quickly then dumped the basket on the floor. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Tie this one up then get some cheese and crackers out. Check the dinner too.’
Kaelee pulled out the roll of tape and fastened Georgia to her chair.
‘You don’t have to do what he says, you know, Kaelee,’ said Abbie.
Kaelee flung a startled glance at Aaron.
‘Cheese,’ he said. ‘Crackers.’ Some kind of understanding flashed between them. She turned abruptly and opened the fridge, busying herself with preparing a plate of snacks.
Aaron said, ‘I’ll have to tape your mouth shut if you say things like that, Abbie. You too, Georgia.’ He raised his glass to each of them in turn.
Georgia muttered something to herself.
‘Lucky I didn’t hear that.’
Kaelee put a loaded plate on the table. She’d cut most of Abbie’s new block of cheddar into bite-sized pieces, and sat the Danish blue vein in the centre with a dinner knife on the edge of the plate, along with the crackers.
‘When are you going to tell us what this is about?’ Abbie kept her tone reasonable, as if she was asking if they thought it would start raining.
‘When we feel like it.’ Kaelee answered this time. ‘I’m enjoying this. Being in charge for a change.’
‘Me too.’ Aaron clinked his glass against hers.
‘Who has been in charge up till now?’ asked Abbie.
‘Everyone.’ The snarl was sudden and alarming in its animal like ferocity. Even Aaron shot her a look of surprise. ‘My whole life.’
‘Are you doing this to us because you think I was mean to you at school?’ Georgia’s voice echoed Abbie’s amazement. Had her daughter really been that nasty? Wouldn’t some inkling of her behaviour have filtered through to her parents?
‘Didn’t you?’
‘Like I said, it wasn’t intentional, but if you think I did then I suppose I did.’
‘Georgia wasn’t a bully,’ said Abbie.
‘You’d know, I suppose? It wasn’t just her, it was that group she hung out with. Stuck-up bitches.’
‘But you were part of the group, weren’t you? That’s how I know you.’
‘I thought I was.’
The concept of sweet-natured, caring Sophie, Amy who played the viola, was built like a greyhound and wanted to run in the Olympics, and the happy-go-lucky Lisa being regarded as stuck up-bitches and bullies was difficult to grasp.
‘You were,’ said Georgia. ‘You stopped hanging out with us and we didn’t know why.’
‘And didn’t care.’
‘I’m sorry. We were sixteen or seventeen and pretty self-centred.’ Georgia caught Abbie’s eye helplessly. ‘I don’t know what else to say.’
‘Kaelee, bullying is cruel and should never happen, but Georgia has apologised and I’m really sorry too. Can’t you let us go now? What more can she or I do?’
‘We won’t tell anyone what you’ve done here,’ added Georgia.
Kaelee laughed. ‘I’m so enjoying this. But no, this is really a bonus, a bit of a treat. You being a bullying bitch is not why we’re here. Not at all.’
Chapter 12
Rupe checked his messages when he returned to the station later that night and was pleased to hear Abbie’s voice, but disappointed when she said she’d be away tomorrow. He’d been hoping he’d get to meet the daughter. Good news about Rita, however, confirming the sighting of her in the blue ute.
No need for a trip out there.
He’d be able to call Abbie tomorrow while she was out, and tell her about the phone company. Maybe invite them both for dinner in the pub. Learning more about Abbie had become surprisingly desirable.
The dead possum popped into his mind as he was brushing his teeth. No-one else had reported anything remotely similar in this recent spate of vandalism and prowling despite what the sergeant had said. How many
.22 rifles were registered in the area? Fifty? A hundred? More?
When he checked on the database, there were thirty-two in the diameter he’d predetermined. Rita was on the list.
Perhaps he should take a drive out there tomorrow after all.
***
‘The dog needs feeding and a run around,’ said Abbie.
‘It can wait.’ Aaron barely glanced her way.
‘Kaelee, it’s cruel to leave her tied up and unfed.’ Abbie addressed her directly, ignoring Aaron. He was most likely the possum shooter—the budding serial killer. Didn’t they practise on animals first? Perfecting their technique. She swallowed the rising panic, kept her eyes firmly on Kaelee. ‘She isn’t part of this.’
‘Where’s her food.’ Kaelee rose to her feet.
‘I don’t know why you’re bothering.’ Aaron sighed and drank more wine.
‘I like dogs.’
‘The cans are in the cupboard on the bottom shelf. Thank you.’ Abbie sent her a tiny smile but Kaelee ignored her, opened the can, took a spoon and disappeared down the hallway. The front door opened and closed. Silence.
Aaron got up and looked in the pot on the stove.
‘Smells good.’
‘If it looks dry, add some water,’ Abbie said.
‘She’s lying, you know. She doesn’t like dogs.’
‘Why would she say she does?’
He shrugged. ‘Why not?’
‘Her family had a dog when she was a kid,’ said Georgia.
‘She got rid of it. Didn’t you know?’
Abbie turned to Georgia. ‘Did you?’
‘No idea. What did she do to it?’ Georgia glared at Aaron.
‘She said she got rid of it. Maybe she gave it poison. A poison bait. That happens.’ He smiled at Abbie. ‘Doesn’t it? Poisoned food.’
‘Do you like animals?’ asked Georgia.
He turned and studied her. ‘I think you both need a haircut.’
‘A haircut?’ Georgia sent Abbie a startled look.
‘Where are the scissors? I saw them somewhere.’ He began opening and closing drawers. ‘I guess I can always use a knife.’
Kaelee came back in and dumped the empty can in the bin.
‘They need a haircut,’ he said, holding up the scissors he’d finally found.
Kaelee laughed. ‘Good idea. Bags I do Georgia’s.’
‘Go for it.’
She took the scissors and snapped them open and closed a few times. ‘Make sure you stay still, I don’t want to cut you.’ She tilted her head. ‘Well—I don’t care whether I do or not, but let’s just say I don’t want to cut you yet.’
‘Oh for god’s sake,’ muttered Georgia.
‘Tape.’ Kaelee’s mouth twisted with distaste. ‘I can’t listen to her anymore.’
‘Tape.’ Aaron nodded. He slid the roll of gaffer tape across the table towards her. She snipped off a piece and jammed it roughly over Georgia’s mouth.
‘That’s better, don’t you agree, Abbie? You must have got sick of her going on all the time too. Opinionated cow that she was. Didn’t you just want to tape her mouth shut?’
Fortunately it was a rhetorical question because Kaelee didn’t wait for an answer, she picked up the scissors and hacked off a chunk of Georgia’s hair.
‘You must have paid a lot to have your hair done this way. Pity to waste all that money, but it can’t be helped, you would insist on being a big-mouthed bitch, even after I told you not to.’
She punctuated her words with vicious chops of the scissors. Clumps of hair piled in drifts on Georgia’s shoulders and lap. She brushed it roughly aside so it fell around her feet in dark swathes.
Judging by the fury in Georgia’s eyes, it was just as well she couldn’t speak. Kaelee wielding scissors could get very nasty very quickly. Hair would grow back, scars were permanent. So was death. Abbie bit at her lip. Would she go that far or was this to be only humiliation and punishment—vengeance for her unhappy schooldays?
But she’d said no, this was a bonus. What the hell did they want?
Kaelee continued cutting, pulling and snipping at Georgia’s hair until all that remained were a few rough tufts on a pale scalp. Georgia’s eyes were wide above the black tape on the lower half of her face. Fury boiled within.
‘Next,’ she said and smiled at Abbie. With a quick movement, she grabbed Abbie’s ponytail and snipped it off, holding it like a trophy for a moment before tossing it to the floor.
‘Hey, I wanted to do hers,’ said Aaron.
‘Okay.’ Kaelee handed him the scissors.
Abbie clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. Hair fell onto her cheeks and tickled her nose but she couldn’t brush it aside and didn’t dare move her head with Aaron so close. He stopped and stepped away. Abbie opened her eyes and tried to blow the prickly bits from her cheeks. No hair made her head cold. What on earth did she look like?
‘Big improvement,’ said Kaelee. ‘But I don’t want to eat dinner with them sitting there staring at us. Where shall we put them?’
‘Bedrooms?’
‘They might try to escape.’
‘I don’t see how but we’d better put them somewhere we can see them.’
‘I need the toilet,’ said Abbie.
Kaelee sighed. ‘Oh for god’s sake, why didn’t you say so before?’
‘Take her to the bathroom,’ said Aaron. ‘Just untie her feet. You can pull her jeans down for her.’
‘Like a little kid.’ Kaelee giggled. ‘Or a geriatric.’
She picked up the scissors, squatted down and snipped the tape holding Abbie’s legs to the chair. Abbie tried to stand but her taped-together wrists caught on the back of the chair, making it impossible. Kaelee hesitated then cut them free.
‘I’ll come too.’ Aaron took the gun from the table. ‘Don’t be silly, Abbie.’
With a shotgun held mere centimetres from her body, he must be joking. But his expression said he wasn’t. What chance would she have of knocking the barrel away and attacking him? Not much. She’d never taken any self-defence classes. Kaelee was there as backup and they were both hyped-up and on edge.
He wouldn’t let her close the door. He stood watching while she peed but Kaelee went to the bathroom and washed her hands.
Back in the kitchen, Aaron moved Abbie’s chair to the studio end of the room and Kaelee replaced the tape. Any chance of breaking free was gone. Georgia’s intense expression implied she should have tried, but she wasn’t Georgia and she wasn’t risking their lives in a doomed attempt.
Aaron wandered about, staring at the paintings.
‘I’ve gone right off your work,’ he said and went back to the kitchen to return moments later with the scissors.
Abbie held her breath, biting down on the furious words pressure cooking in her mind. Protesting would be useless, arguing would make him crazier.
He raised his hand and stabbed the blade into the large canvas she’d been working on—the dark tree with the translucent light in the background. She stifled a cry. He looked over his shoulder at her with a grin. And struck again, ripping and tearing at the surface until painted fabric hung down in dismal strips.
‘Now, what else?’ he murmured. His gaze fell on the stack of pictures she was sending to Louise. ‘Mmm. Watercolours. Derivative and trite.’
He knocked the pile off the workbench and proceeded to stamp on them, breaking the frames and tearing the paper until they were nothing but kindling. Tears trickled down Abbie’s cheeks but she clamped her mouth shut and closed her eyes. A crash popped them open. He’d dumped her supply of paints on the floor and was cheerfully grinding the tubes into the matting. A kaleidoscope of colour squelched out under his feet. Then came her brushes. Handles broken, bristles jammed into the floor. He worked his way through her supplies and destroyed everything.
‘You need a drink after that,’ Kaelee called.
‘Is dinner ready yet?’
‘I’m not sure. Is it, Abbie?’
> ‘I don’t know,’ she said hoarsely. ‘Maybe.’ The smell was enticing but she wouldn’t be able to swallow a mouthful without gagging. Especially after the conversation about poisoned bait.
He left her sitting in the debris and joined Kaelee.
Abbie forced herself to look at the destruction. All the canvases were ruined beyond repair, as were the watercolours. Her brushes and paints were destroyed along with all the other bits and pieces she’d amassed over the years. He’d done a methodical and deliberate wrecking job and enjoyed himself. Not only that, he’d enjoyed having her as an audience. Is this what he’d come here for? To destroy her work? Had she offended him in some way apart from asking him to leave the other day? Was it something from his past that she’d been a party to and had completely forgotten? Impossible. She didn’t teach or do critiques or sit on panels or do reviews or examine students. She’d neither seen nor heard of this boy before in her life until Kaelee turned up with him.
Georgia was staring across the room at her, sympathy in her expression, frustrated anger in her tense shoulders and creased brow.
How were she and Georgia going to get away before this escalated into something else? They’d have to go together, that was a given. How long did they have before this pair got tired of fooling around tormenting them and moved onto what they’d really come for?
Kaelee said this was just a fun bonus, so what was the real goal? Murder? Did they even know themselves?
A plan seemed unlikely, although the earlier visit now appeared to be reconnaissance—checking how close her neighbours were, if she had a car, was a shot likely to be heard. Or a scream.
Outside help was unlikely. Rita’s visits were sporadic and quite random and she may not be up to a trek next door if she’d been ill, even if she was out of bed. Rupe thought she and Georgia would be away most of tomorrow. She couldn’t expect a police rescue.
The only slim hope would be if Tim or Connie dropped in to see how Jet was getting on. Jet. What if she got away and went home? Would that alert them? Too late now. Kaelee wouldn’t go out again. She may have let Jet off her lead, but because food was on offer she didn’t leave. And if Aaron had shot a dead possum, he might not hesitate to shoot a chained-up dog.
The Secrets that Lie Within (Taylor's Bend, #1) Page 15