She looked at the pair of them fiddling about in her kitchen, making themselves at home, preparing to eat the dinner she’d been looking forward to eating with Georgia. Anger began to build, and with it a determination to free herself and her daughter and force these two out of her house. The problem was, apart from being restrained, how to go about it. Violence wasn’t going to work yet, the psychological approach might. Separate them, set them against each other.
Who exactly was in charge in this relationship? According to him, Kaelee had killed the family pet but according to her he’d doctored the meal that made Abbie sick. She’d surrendered the gun to him without a word but she was the one with the grudge against Georgia. She’d also said they hadn’t arrived at the main reason for the attack. So what the hell was that? All her thought trails led back to the same unanswered question.
Abbie shifted on the chair. The wooden seat was hard and her shoulders were fast growing sore with her arms stretched back and down. Kaelee had pulled tighter when she redid the tape after the toilet break and now her hands were going numb.
‘Kaelee, would you mind loosening the tape on my wrists a bit? I think the circulation’s cut off.’
Kaelee paused in taking plates from the shelf. ‘That’s unfortunate, isn’t it?’
‘Maybe she needs tape on her mouth, too,’ said Aaron. ‘Would you like that, Abbie?’
‘No.’
‘Well, shut the fuck up.’ Kaelee dropped the two plates on the floor. ‘Oh dear, look what I’ve done.’
Abbie kept her expression blank. Plates weren’t important.
‘Plenty more where they came from,’ said Aaron. ‘But don’t break too many or we won’t have anything to eat off.’
Kaelee used her foot to shove the broken pieces out of her way and took two more plates from the shelf, this time depositing them safely on the bench.
‘Let’s eat.’
While Kaelee served the chicken and vegetables, Aaron opened the second bottle of wine. The more they drank the sounder they’d sleep tonight, if sleep was what they had in mind. Even if they didn’t, after downing two bottles of wine their movements and reactions would slow and become clumsy.
Abbie twisted her hands, trying to change the pressure on her wrists, but succeeded in tightening the bond instead. No way could she break that tape. It would need to be cut or rubbed against something abrasive but she wasn’t close enough to anything, and neither was Georgia. Freeing her legs would give her a chance of getting to the workbench and finding something useful. He’d missed a palette knife in his rampage of destruction. It had dropped to the floor when he hurled the watercolours off the bench and stomped on them. With a wide, flat, rounded edge, it wasn’t sharp but it might be better than nothing.
She tried moving each leg, feeling for give. The left ankle had more leeway. The tape hadn’t stuck as firmly to her jeans as it had to the skin on her wrists. She began wriggling her ankle surreptitiously, twisting her foot, working on loosening the grip bit by bit.
Kaelee and Aaron sat at the table wolfing down their meal.
‘I can’t eat with her staring at me,’ said Kaelee after a few moments.
‘Help me move her.’ Aaron got up and walked across to Georgia’s chair. He tipped her backward and began dragging her. The chair legs screeched against the tiles but luckily didn’t collapse as Abbie suspected they might. Kaelee grabbed one side and together they pulled Georgia over to Abbie and left her with her back to the kitchen.
‘Much better,’ Kaelee said.
Aaron flicked the studio light off and they went back to the table.
In the gloom of the darkened room Abbie strove to make out Georgia’s expression. Her scalp shone pale through the ragged, patchy clumps of hair left by Kaelee’s scissors. Her own head would look similar but she didn’t care about the hair and doubted Georgia would either. As a means of humiliation it was petty, as was breaking crockery. Like little kids running about unsupervised, trying to think of naughty things to do.
She mouthed, ‘Are you okay?’
Georgia nodded. Abbie smiled what she hoped was reassurance. She looked down and wiggled her left foot, trying to indicate what she was doing. Another nod but this time she shrugged her right shoulder and tilted her head to the same side. Abbie frowned and she did it again, but rolled her shoulder forward and back. Maybe her right hand was looser. If one hand was free, both would be. The trouble was her back was to the kitchen so her arms were visible to their captors. The kitchen light didn’t reach to the studio end of the large room but enough would spill onto Georgia to make any movement obvious.
‘Be careful,’ she mouthed.
Georgia rolled her eyes and Abbie almost laughed with relief and a flood of love for her feisty daughter, mixed with renewed determination to free them both. And her unborn grandchild. Even more of an incentive.
Kaelee and Aaron sat at the table for ages. They finished the chicken then Kaelee searched the fridge for dessert, coming up with the ice cream and a tin of apricot halves. The level in the second wine bottle dropped steadily but neither showed any signs of falling asleep.
It was dark outside now but Abbie couldn’t see the clock from where she sat. It couldn’t be much after about nine. Her bottom was numb and she’d lost feeling in her hands. She tried rotating her wrists and flexing her fingers, managing a tiny release of pressure. If she didn’t get some relief soon, who knew what would happen to her hands.
‘Kaelee, could I go to the toilet, please? And Georgia?’
‘Again?’
‘Sorry. I really do need to.’
Aaron muttered something to Kaelee and they both continued eating. Should she ask again or wait? Wait. If she annoyed them they’d refuse, and she didn’t want that. She wanted the circulation restored to her hands.
A brisk wind had started up outside, making the old wooden house creak and groan. Her bedroom door banged shut as it always did in the wind when her bedroom window was open.
Kaelee got up and shut the back door. ‘Looks like it might rain,’ she said as she sat back down.
About ten minutes later, Aaron stood up and casually retrieved the shotgun from where it lay on the bench. Kaelee picked up the scissors and together they walked across to Georgia.
‘If I take the tape off, will you keep quiet?’ Aaron asked.
Georgia nodded. Kaelee ripped it from her mouth. Abbie grimaced. Georgia gasped but didn’t speak. She ran her tongue over her lips and drew in deep breaths as Kaelee cut the tape around her ankles and wrists. She stumbled a little when she finally stood up but Kaelee said, ‘Don’t try anything stupid or Aaron will blow a hole in you. Okay?’
Georgia rubbed her wrists but didn’t reply.
‘Go,’ said Aaron.
The trio moved into the hallway. Abbie waited, straining her ears for any talk but heard only the thud of feet and then the sound of the toilet flushing, followed by water in the basin. Odd that they allowed hand washing. Did that mean they weren’t out to kill? Or was it ingrained hygiene?
Was there anything in the bathroom she could use as a weapon when it was her turn? She could throw the potted fern at Aaron but it wouldn’t be easy and she’d be on her own with two of them to contend with even if she knocked the gun from his hands. Her only hope would be getting hold of it herself. And if she failed …
The trio returned.
‘We should lock them in somewhere,’ said Aaron.
‘Where? The bedrooms don’t have locks. What’s wrong with leaving them where they are?’
He shrugged. ‘Nothing. Sit,’ he said to Georgia. She cast a look at Abbie but did as she was told. No doubt she’d been assessing the bathroom for weapons too.
‘Could you please leave our hands in front?’ asked Abbie.
‘No.’
Kaelee released Abbie’s hands and feet. Unbearable pins and needles made her wince and rub ineffectually at her wrists to help the blood flow faster. She eased her shoulders up and down to release the c
ramping pain. Sitting all night in that position would be crippling.
Aaron followed her but kept several paces away. Until her stiff joints loosened up, any attempt to attack him would be a dismal failure. She’d probably fall over first. As before, he left the toilet door open then stepped back to allow her access to the bathroom. Kaelee leaned against the wall with her arms folded, watching.
Abbie splashed water onto her face and drank thirstily from her cupped hands. Had Georgia done the same? She hoped so.
‘Get a move on,’ said Aaron.
Abbie cast a quick glance at the fern. Too far away to grab quickly. He’d blast a hole in her before she took two steps. What if she elbowed him in the ribs as she went past, or stamped on his foot? Or grabbed the gun barrel. But Kaelee was right there and no way could Abbie fight off the pair of them. She was no fighter and even if she was, that gun was the decider. The police always advised people not to try to tackle an intruder or a robber with a gun. People did though. Georgia was probably one of those who’d give it a go and end up shot.
‘Hurry up,’ said Kaelee.
Abbie turned and went back to her chair. This time the tape was looser, giving her a little more leeway to move her hands.
‘Are we staying here all night?’ she asked quietly as Kaelee straightened after taping her ankles to the chair legs.
Kaelee threw a quick glance at Aaron but he’d turned away towards the kitchen.
‘Kaelee? You don’t have to do this. If Aaron’s forcing you, we can help you if you let us go.’
‘Let you go?’ Her eyes widened and she laughed. ‘Why on earth would I do that? Having Georgia tied up and helpless is one of the greatest pleasures of my life.’ She looked at Georgia and snarled, ‘You bitch, you nasty fucking bitch. You’ve no idea how much I’ve dreamed of a day like this. You sitting there all helpless and scared, wondering what nightmare is going to happen next. That’s how I felt every day at school. It’s no fun, is it?’
Shock barrelled through Abbie like a tidal wave. Had Georgia really been the school bully? Surely, as her mother, she would have been told by other parents, if not the school. That sort of thing was stamped on hard at Georgia’s school. Or so she’d assumed.
‘I’m so sorry you feel that but I truly don’t understand where this is coming from,’ she said.
‘How would you know? You didn’t have a clue what was going on in your own house, let alone the school.’
Abbie bit her lip. She was right. Abbie had no idea what her husband had been up to. Was Kaelee right about Georgia as well? There must have been serious emotional damage done for her to be still nursing this pain years after finishing school.
‘Why didn’t your parents move you to another school?’ she asked.
‘My father said I had to toughen up.’
‘What about your mother?’
‘She did what my father said. We all did.’
‘And the school? What did they say?’
‘Nothing. They didn’t believe me.’
‘No-one ever said anything to me or the others about bullying you,’ said Georgia.
‘That’s because your type always gets away with everything.’
‘Or because we didn’t do anything.’
‘If Kaelee feels that way then something happened,’ Abbie said.
‘Stop talking to them,’ Aaron called, ‘Come and have some more wine.’
Kaelee hurried across to him.
‘Why the hell are you sticking up for that looney?’ Georgia whispered.
‘Because they’re both looney and who knows what they’ll do if we upset them.’
Georgia frowned. ‘I suppose.’
‘This could get way out of hand really fast,’
‘More out of hand, you mean.’
‘I mean dangerous. At the moment they’re not sure what they’re doing so given he’s got that gun, we don’t want it to step up a level. We don’t want them to panic.’
‘Better hope that cop friend of yours doesn’t turn up. They might shoot him.’
‘That’s what I mean, but he won’t. He thinks we’re going to Wagga for the day tomorrow.’
‘Bugger!’
‘Indeed.’
Rain began in a sudden staccato burst of sound on the roof. It was so loud she and Georgia could talk in near normal voices.
‘So. We can’t rely on being rescued, Mum, we have to get out of here ourselves.’
‘Yes. Got any good ideas?’
‘Maybe. But we can’t do anything with them sitting there.’
‘I wonder if they’ll go to bed.’
‘If they drink enough they might pass out.’
‘Is there any more wine?’
‘One more bottle, I think, and some gin.’
‘I didn’t know you drank so much.’
‘I don’t, that’s why it’s there. There are vineyards around here, remember? People gave it to me.’
‘Sure.’ But she was smiling.
With the rain still thundering down, a few minutes later, Abbie said, ‘I reckon we could break these chairs if we tried, but they have to go to sleep first.’
‘Or at least go into the bedroom.’
‘If they sleep in my bed I’ll have to burn it.’
‘I hope you get the chance,’ Georgia said grimly. ‘We don’t even know what they want.’
‘Maybe they’re coming to tell us now. Ssh.’
Aaron and Kaelee, both with glass in hand and Aaron holding the bottle, kicked art debris out of the way and came to lean against the workbench.
‘I suppose you’re wondering why we’re here,’ said Aaron. ‘I would be.’ He giggled and Kaelee snickered.
‘Abbie,’ he said. ‘I really can’t believe you had no idea what your ever-loving husband was up to for all those years. How is that remotely possible?’
‘I didn’t know.’ Something inside Abbie’s stomach sagged, like a bridge collapse. What was happening now?
‘Impossible.’
‘It’s not impossible,’ said Georgia. ‘Neither of us had any idea. Why would we?’
‘Because your father raped me,’ screamed Kaelee. ‘Right in your own house while you were watching a movie on TV.’
‘What? When?’ cried Abbie. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? Us? Your parents?’
‘You know when—you walked right past the door and you did nothing.’
‘I don’t remember that at all.’
‘When was this?’ Georgia demanded.
‘Year eleven. The October holidays. You had a sleepover but you were all teasing me and your father was nice to me and said I should come with him to his study to calm down and get away from you for a bit.’ Her lip curled as tears began streaming down her face. ‘He was nice to me and then he raped me when I thought he was being kind.’
‘But you’d gone home. You said you were going home,’ said Georgia. ‘We thought you’d left.’
‘I hadn’t gone home.’ She glared at Abbie. ‘And you knew I hadn’t.’
Abbie stared back in horror, trying feverishly to remember that sleepover, that evening. October? The girls giggling and laughing in the rumpus room watching some movie, eating popcorn. They were sixteen and seventeen, old enough to take care of themselves in that situation, not wanting parental interference. Except Kaelee wasn’t.
‘I saw you coming up the stairs from the rumpus room. You said you were going home but not why. I asked if you needed a ride and you said no. I thought you left.’
‘I was going to until your husband …’
‘Kaelee, I’m so, so sorry.’
‘Too late. You had your chance and you chose to ignore what was happening. You knew I was in that study with him. You knew what he was doing.’
‘I didn’t. Why do you think that?’
‘You knocked on his door and said you were going out—he said okay, because he was busy with me,’ she snarled. ‘I called out but you went away.’
‘I didn’t hear you. If I’d had
any idea I would have been straight in there.’ Where had she gone that evening? Book group? Most likely. And left that monster alone in the house with a group of teenage girls.
‘Don’t believe you.’ Kaelee dragged in air and tilted her head back, looking away. ‘You didn’t want to know.’
Chapter 13
‘Did you tell anyone?’ Georgia asked.
‘Don’t pretend you care.’
‘I do care, of course I do. My father did horrendous things for years. How could Mum and I not care about all those women …’
‘Refill, Aaron.’ Kaelee held out her glass and he filled it.
‘So that’s why you stopped hanging out with us.’
‘You think?’
‘You should have said.’
‘Would you have believed me? I don’t think so. Even my parents didn’t believe me. In fact, my father slapped my face for telling lies.’
‘My god!’
‘He was always hitting one of us for something.’ She reached out and touched Aaron’s cheek. ‘Aaron’s the first person who really has been kind. He’s the first person who likes me. Really likes me. He understands what I’ve been going through. I trust him.’
Aaron grasped her fingers and kissed them. ‘Feel the same.’
The rain stopped suddenly, like a tap turned off.
After a moment Abbie asked into the quietness, ‘Kaelee, does your father hit your sisters?’
Kaelee swung her gaze to Abbie. ‘No, not anymore. I fixed that.’
‘How?’ asked Georgia, and by the tone of her voice Abbie knew she was wondering the same thing she was—just what did she mean by fixed?
‘He’s dead.’
‘Dead?’ That was Aaron, sounding as shocked as Abbie. ‘You never told me that.’
‘He died,’ said Kaelee. ‘Unexpectedly.’
‘But … how?’
‘He fell off the roof of our house cleaning the gutters out.’
‘When?’ asked Georgia.
The Secrets that Lie Within (Taylor's Bend, #1) Page 16