The Secrets that Lie Within (Taylor's Bend, #1)

by Elisabeth Rose

  ‘Last year.’ A weird, frightening smile lit her face. ‘Two storeys onto the concrete. Broke his neck.’

  Abbie swallowed. ‘An accident?’

  ‘That’s what they decided. Tragic, everyone said.’

  ‘Did you have something to do with it?’

  She didn’t answer for a moment, just smiled again and drank more wine.

  ‘I was helping him,’ she said.

  ‘But you couldn’t have prevented a fall if he slipped,’ said Aaron.

  ‘No, that’s right.’ Again the odd smile.

  No-one spoke. Abbie locked eyes with Georgia. They had to get away. This girl was a psychopath. She’d had horrible experiences in her short life and wanting some form of payback was understandable, but taking her revenge by cold-bloodedly pushing her father off the roof was pretty extreme. Was she travelling around the country targeting all those who’d wronged her? Was Aaron aware of what she was up to? He hadn’t known about the father so what was his agenda? Why was he here?

  ‘Aaron, why are you going along with this? You’re not involved with Kaelee’s family or her issues with Georgia, you’ve only met recently, haven’t you?’

  ‘I have my own problem with you,’ he said.

  ‘How, we’ve never seen you before in our lives,’ said Georgia.

  ‘Your father knew my sister.’

  ‘Oh god.’ Abbie’s closed her eyes briefly. ‘Was she a student?’

  ‘She was until he raped her. Then her life turned to shit. She got depressed and she wouldn’t go out of the house. She couldn’t do anything. And then they caught him and we thought now she might start to recover.’

  ‘But he got off,’ whispered Abbie.

  ‘And she committed suicide.’

  ‘And you know what? You stood next to him and you gave him an alibi,’ spat Kaelee.

  ‘You lied.’

  ‘I changed my testimony … I fixed it …’ Tears began dripping down her cheeks. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  ‘You didn’t fix it. He was set free.’

  ‘But that was something else, that was a legal issue. I didn’t want him to get away with what he’d done. I divorced him as soon as I could.’

  ‘You were part of the whole problem. You lived with him and covered for him. You knew just like you knew he had me alone in that study. Don’t lie, I know you did.’

  ‘Mum?’ Georgia’s eyes radiated shock and most frighteningly, doubt.

  ‘Of course I didn’t know. How could you think I’d ignore something like that? I wish I’d opened that door instead of just calling out as I went by. I wish I’d insisted on driving Kaelee home. But I didn’t and I can’t change those facts. I’m sorry.’

  But had she heard anything from that room? Another voice, a noise? Had she ignored it and walked on without bothering to check? Could she honestly say she had no suspicions when her husband seemed to attend far more evening meetings than his colleagues, or stay back helping students when other lecturers left the campus as soon as they could?

  If she had she would have thought he was having an affair, the way she herself eventually did. She’d never have imagined that he was the Uni Rapist. But were these all excuses because she simply wasn’t interested in him or what he was doing, too focused on her own life and her own work? Too selfish? Was that what Georgia thought all those years ago?

  ‘What was your sister’s name?’ asked Georgia.

  Aaron stared at her, pale-faced, eyes big and filled with memories. Would he answer? After a long pause he finally said, ‘Debbie.’

  ‘What was she like?’

  ‘Quiet, shy. Very smart. She wanted to be a biologist.’ Close to tears, now, his voice wavered. What a tragedy.

  ‘Don’t listen to her,’ snapped Kaelee. ‘She’s not interested in your sister, she just wants to get away and she thinks you might let her go if she’s nice to you.’

  Aaron said without taking his eyes from Georgia, ‘I’m not going to let her go but I want them to know what that man did. He destroyed her completely.’

  ‘We know he was a monster but he’s dead now,’ said Abbie quietly. ‘He won’t destroy anyone else.’

  ‘And you can thank me for that,’ said Kaelee.

  ‘For what?’

  ‘Falling off a roof, falling off rocks—not much difference really.’

  ‘Did you push him?’ Again Aaron stared, clearly as astonished as Abbie. Did he have the same chill in his stomach? The same dread at what this unpredictable girl would do next? Was he beginning to fear her too? Was he a possible ally?

  ‘He was a bit surprised to see me but …’ She shrugged. ‘He got over it.’ She drained her wine glass. ‘I’m wondering if you should shoot them now.’

  ‘No!’ Aaron held the gun firmly in both hands. ‘I’m not shooting them.’

  Kaelee studied him for a moment. ‘I’ll have to do it.’

  ‘No, no-one is killing anyone.’ He took a step back, shaking his head, face white but determined.

  ‘I thought that’s what you came here for.’

  ‘I … I … just wanted …’

  ‘Revenge,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, but not murder. I wanted to frighten them. Show them …’ His voice trailed away.

  ‘Okay.’ She smiled. ‘I’m going to have a sleep then we’ll be on our way. You coming?’

  ‘Yes. Goodnight ladies.’ Cradling the gun, he followed Kaelee.

  ‘Isn’t that some old song?’ she asked

  ‘What?’

  ‘“Goodnight Ladies”.’

  ‘No idea.’

  Their voices faded.

  ‘My god,’ murmured Abbie. She sagged in the chair, releasing the air trapped in her lungs.

  ‘I always thought she was weird but not … she’s totally deranged. Two murders? Was that true? Is she planning to kill us?’ Georgia’s voice shook.

  ‘I don’t know but her method seems to be to make it look like an accident, so shooting us doesn’t fit.’

  ‘But she was pushing him to shoot us.’ She shuddered. ‘I was terrified.’

  ‘Me too, I could hardly breathe. He was as shocked as we were. I don’t think he really knew what he planned to do with us and he sure didn’t know about her ideas. Let’s hope he doesn’t hand over the gun to her.’

  ‘She didn’t seem to care much when he refused.’

  ‘She might have been testing him, to see how far he’d go.’

  ‘Not as far as her. Maybe she plans to gas us. Or blow the house up so it looks like a gas leak.’

  ‘We have to get out of here.’ Abbie tested the strength of the tape on her wrists but it held tightly.

  ‘Do you really think they’re going to calmly go to sleep?’

  ‘Who knows. What else would they do? But like I said, if they use my bed I’m getting a new one.’

  ‘They’re probably screwing.’

  ‘Thanks a lot.’ Abbie grimaced. ‘I don’t want that image in my head. You know, I don’t think he’s quite as insane as she is, despite what she said. Not homicidal anyway.’

  ‘Doesn’t make much difference, does it?’

  ‘It might if she wants him to help her kill us.’

  ‘I’m not waiting around to see.’ The note of grim desperation in her voice chimed with Abbie’s own.

  ‘We can’t start trying to break the chairs now, we have to wait until they’re asleep, if they are going to sleep, but how will we know?’ Georgia asked.

  ‘And how long will they sleep?’ added Abbie. ‘It sounded as though they’re going to leave tonight.’

  ‘Where’s their car?’

  ‘It must be in the bush.’ Abbie frowned. ‘It could be over at Rita’s. They might have been there.’ She looked at Georgia as another frightening thought occurred. ‘I hope they haven’t hurt her. She’s pretty feisty and could piss them off without any trouble.’

  ‘That’s her gun, isn’t it?’ Georgia said.

  ‘I’d say so.’

  ‘Shit.’r />
  Panic surged up, choking and disabling. She sucked air in with shaky breaths. ‘My palette knife is under that pile of stuff.’ Abbie indicated with her head. ‘You’re closest.’

  ‘I wish it’d start raining again. Covers the noise. A thunderstorm would be even better.’ Georgia tried jerking her chair forward by moving her body and digging her toes into the floor. She managed about a centimetre, accompanied by a dull scraping sound.

  The toilet flushed and voices murmured. Abbie held her breath, waiting for one of them to come charging in asking what the noise was. A few minutes later, Georgia resumed her efforts. Then an uneven floorboard prevented more progress.

  ‘Bugger,’ she said. ‘I’m stuck.’

  Abbie wriggled her body as much as she could, testing the chair’s strength. ‘This one is wobbly,’ she said. ‘I might be able to loosen the back or the legs enough.’

  ‘It’ll take us hours.’ Georgia glanced at the door to the hallway. ‘The best thing would be rocking back and forward on the back legs.’

  ‘It’s too risky. What if you fell over backward? They’d hear it for sure and you’d hurt yourself. You might knock yourself out.’

  ‘Mum, we have to try.’

  She began pushing herself against the back of the chair but without a proper push from her feet, she couldn’t get the front legs off the floor. ‘Bugger, bugger, bugger,’ she muttered and redoubled her efforts.

  A sharp crack echoed round the room. Georgia froze but nothing happened.

  ‘That was the right back leg,’ she said softly. ‘I think it broke where it joins the seat. It feels loose.’

  ‘Be careful. If it collapses, what will you be able to do before they come in? You’ll still be tied up but lying on the floor. And maybe hurt.’

  ‘Hmmm.’

  ‘Wait a while.’

  ‘How long?’

  ‘Half an hour?’

  ‘I’m starving.’

  ‘Me too.’

  ‘What time is it, do you think?’

  ‘Ten-thirty or eleven, maybe?’

  Later, the rain started softly. Abbie had no way of judging time now. They’d been sitting for hours, forever. Georgia had fallen into a fitful doze Abbie was reluctant to disturb. The pair in the other room had been so silent she could almost imagine they weren’t there, lying in her bed, the bed that was now doomed to destruction. Could they have left via the front door without her hearing them? It was possible, but unlikely. She was sure she’d been awake the whole time. How could she sleep in this situation?

  But she must have slept because she jerked awake at the sound of the toilet flushing. Predawn light filtered through the treetops and the magpies were busily singing to each other in their fluid warble. She could barely move her head from the unnatural position it had found during the night.

  Georgia said, ‘They’re up. You’ve been asleep for ages.’

  ‘My neck’s stiff.’

  ‘My whole body’s stiff. So much for escaping while they were asleep.’

  The shower started.

  ‘I don’t think we could have done it,’ said Abbie. ‘I’m really thirsty.’

  ‘So am I and I need the loo.’

  ‘Don’t talk about it, it makes it worse.’

  Kaelee appeared in the doorway. She flicked the light on as she walked across to the sink.

  ‘Good morning. Have a good sleep? Your bed is really comfortable, Abbie.’ She opened and closed a couple of drawers, poking about, then looked in the pantry cupboard and put something in her pocket.

  ‘Can we go to the toilet?’ asked Georgia. ‘Please.’

  ‘I don’t think so. We’re leaving now.’ Aaron appeared behind her. ‘Ready?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes, let’s get out of here.’

  ‘What about us?’ asked Abbie.

  ‘You’re staying.’

  ‘Bye,’ said Aaron. ‘It’s been … entertaining.’

  ‘Goodbye Georgia,’ Kaelee said. ‘I’m so glad we had this chat. It was good to tell you how I feel.’

  Georgia wisely said nothing.

  ‘Aaron, I’ll be a minute, I just need to … you go on.’

  ‘Okay.’

  The back door banged and he was gone. Kaelee hurried back down the hallway. Five minutes later she reappeared, smiling.

  ‘I nearly said see you later,’ she said. ‘But I won’t be.’

  And she was gone.

  ‘What the hell was all that about?’ asked Georgia.

  ‘No idea.’

  ‘Can you break that chair now?’

  Georgia began rocking as hard as she could against the back of the chair.

  Abbie sniffed. ‘What’s that smell?’ A faint pong had wafted into the room. ‘It smells like …’ She sniffed again. ‘Something burning.’

  ‘Outside. A wood fire?’

  ‘No, not wood smoke, more chemical. Can’t you smell it?’

  Georgia stopped moving and concentrated. ‘They’ve set the house on fire.’ She redoubled her efforts.

  Abbie frantically tried moving her own chair but it wasn’t giving at all and her hands and feet were almost numb. Useless.

  ‘She did it when she went back. She must have set it in my bedroom,’ she said. ‘The maniacs. You were right. It’ll make it look like an accident.’

  ‘Apart from us being tied to chairs,’ said Georgia grimly. ‘And neither of us being smokers.’

  ‘No-one will know they were here.’

  ‘The cop does, you told him Kaelee was back.’

  ‘But they’ll be long gone before he realises that, if he ever does.’

  ‘Mum, we’re not going to die here. That’s ridiculous. We’ll get out.’

  Georgia’s chair gave an almighty crack, tilted, wobbled and went crashing to the floor. She yelled in pain as she landed on her side, her taped-together hands helpless to break the fall.

  ‘Are you all right?’

  She lay awkwardly on her right side with her back to Abbie, the broken chair holding one leg and her upper body still attached to the back of the chair. Her right leg was free but still taped to the chair leg and caught under her left.

  ‘My elbow and shoulder are buggered and my leg’s caught under the chair.’ Gone was the determined girl of minutes before. Now her voice wavered and came in sporadic gasps. ‘Christ that hurts. I feel sick.’

  ‘Just lie still.’

  ‘I can’t do anything else. I don’t think I can move at all.’

  ‘But can you take the weight off your leg a bit?’ Georgia just groaned. Abbie tried desperately to nudge her chair closer to where she lay, stomach churning in fear. A fall like that could upset the baby. ‘Darling, if we can get close enough together you might be able to undo my feet.’

  ‘I can’t move,’ she moaned. ‘My shoulder is... I think a bone might have broken.’

  ‘We have to try. That smell is stronger and smoke is coming in.’

  Now that noise wasn’t an issue, Abbie struggled as hard as she could and succeeded in moving a few centimetres. If only Georgia could summon the strength to wriggle closer but she was obviously in agony and incapable of any movement at the moment.

  The wisps of smoke were stronger now, writhing through the open doorway from the hall, dancing sinuously with the draught coming in under the back door and through the open windows. What had they lit? Her bedding? Something that would smoulder before really catching alight. Not bedding, the smell was woody, like the fire she lit in winter in the fireplace in the living room. Maybe she’d taken the woodbox into the bedroom and put a match into the few remaining leftover logs. It didn’t matter, whatever it was it was doing its job. Had Kaelee been looking for candles in the kitchen drawers and found them in the pantry cupboard? The plain ones Abbie always had handy in case of a blackout. One of those would stay alight long enough for the logs to catch fire. Along with a box of matches sitting next to the packet. Perfectly placed for an arsonist.

  Jet barked. She’d be smelling the sm
oke. She must still be tied up at the front. No-one would hear her and she’d become more and more frantic the more the fire took hold. Kaelee must have forgotten about her or she would probably have set her free. If only she had.

  ‘Darling, can you try to push yourself closer?’

  ‘Mum, I can’t. What about my baby?’

  Abbie’s heart broke at the wail from her daughter; normally so strong, now reduced to tears and pain and fear.

  ‘It’ll be fine. Babies are pretty tough in our family.’ She had no idea if that were true but her pregnancy had been straightforward and so had her mother’s pregnancies.

  ‘I really want this baby,’ she sobbed.

  ‘So do I, darling.’ And she did, fiercely.

  Abbie gave a couple more gigantic pushes with her whole body, lurching the chair forward another half a foot length. She was within a metre of Georgia now but would have to align her leg with Georgia’s taped-up hands and hope she had enough movement in her fingers to grasp the tape. And enough strength to find the end and pull at it.

  Smoke caught in her throat, making her cough. What time was it? Seven, maybe? The sun was well up behind the clouds and occasional brighter light shone through the now misty rain visible through the windows.

  Her chair legs gave a couple of ominous noises. She stopped her efforts. If her chair broke she’d could be injured and that would be the end of it. They’d choke to death in the fumes and the smoke. Was smoke visible outside yet? If so, Rita could well wonder why and come over to investigate, ready to complain. Tim would only see it when the place was properly alight.

  Jet’s barking was more insistent now. Maybe Rita would hear that?

  ***

  Rupe was up and cooking porridge for breakfast by six-thirty. Rain dripped relentlessly from the eaves outside the kitchen window. Might have to get up there and clean out the gutters. He’d go out early and try to catch Rita before she got going for the day. With the rain she’d probably be indoors or close to the house, especially as she’d been sick recently.

  He’d like to drop in on Abbie and meet her daughter but they’d be on their way to Wagga this morning and he’d get in their way if they hadn’t already left. Pity, he hadn’t seen her for a few days. He missed her.

  That thought surprised him but it was true. He liked being around her and he liked that she confided in him about the problem with her daughter and that she’d called him when she learned the girl was visiting. Called him and not someone else, one of her female friends, for example.