‘He was frightened,’ said Georgia.
‘He said he was frightened,’ Abbie said. ‘Bit different. We never knew who was telling the truth with that pair.’
‘We never will now.’ Georgia ate a small piece of steamed broccoli then put her fork down.
‘The police will investigate it thoroughly and the coroner will decide if it was murder—which it was. If they can prove Aaron did it, case closed. If they can’t, the investigation will continue until they find who did do it.’
‘They’ll be able to prove that easily,’ said Georgia. ‘No-one else was there.’
After a small silence, Rupe said, ‘You were.’
‘But he’d already stabbed her,’ said Abbie.
‘Didn’t you hear a voice?’ Rupe glanced at Georgia. ‘You said that’s why you went inside.’
‘I thought I did. Mum didn’t. Maybe I was wrong.’ She spoke tonelessly.
‘Maybe she called out before she died. Maybe he’d only just done it when we turned up. Or she was still alive but weak and made an effort to call for help when she heard us.’ Abbie glared at Rupe, her appetite shrivelled, a hard lump in her throat.
‘He had no blood on him. Did he have time to wash himself and change his shirt?’
‘Maybe he didn’t get blood on himself,’ said Ben calmly.
‘It’s possible.’
‘Maybe he did get blood on himself but we didn’t see it,’ said Abbie suddenly. ‘His clothes were filthy. There’s soot and muck everywhere in there.’
‘That’s also possible,’ Rupe said. ‘Forensics will find it if it’s there.’
Minutes passed. Ben and Rupe ate, Georgia and Abbie didn’t.
‘I can’t live there anymore,’ said Abbie softly. A couple of tears followed the path of earlier ones. She sniffed and wiped at them.
‘Don’t make any decisions yet,’ said Rupe evenly.
‘That won’t change. No-one would want to live there, not after what’s happened. That house will have to be bulldozed.’
‘Come to Melbourne and live with me,’ said Georgia. ‘Please?’
Abbie stretched her hand across to grasp Georgia’s. ‘I probably will. For a while at least, until I decide what to do.’
‘We can find our own place.’
‘I’d like that.’
Abbie ate a few more mouthfuls and discovered her appetite had partially recovered.
When the meal was finished, Georgia and Ben went to collect Ben’s things from the Crown. Rupe sat with Abbie on the squashy old couch in the living room area, not close, at the other end. Distancing himself?
‘Do you want to live in the city again?’ he asked.
‘Not really. I love it here but Georgia needs me at the moment.’
‘Of course.’
‘I think …’ She glanced at him, trying to gauge his feelings. Was he disappointed that she would leave? Did he care?
‘What?’ He met her eyes but she couldn’t tell a thing.
‘I think I need to get away for a while.’
He nodded. ‘I understand.’
‘Do you?’
‘Of course I do.’ A tinge of annoyance entered his voice. ‘After what’s been going on I don’t blame you.’
She said nothing. Clearly whatever little flicker of interest had danced between them was extinguished on his side. Accept it. No point embarrassing him by asking for a more definitive expression.
‘When Georgia is free to leave town, I’ll go with her,’ she said.
Silence.
‘How’s your jaw? Do you want another icepack?’
‘No, it’s okay, thanks.’ Rupe had produced a sports icepack when they arrived at his house and she’d sat holding it to her face while she gave her statement.
‘Will you be able to complete the pieces for the gallery?’
‘Louise already has three. She’ll understand.’ She sighed. ‘I don’t think I can paint for a while. Not after …’
‘You need time.’
‘I suppose.’
‘Trust me.’ He reached across the space between them, took her hand in his and squeezed gently. ‘You should talk to someone. Both of you. A counsellor.’
‘I saw one before. She didn’t help much. She was about twelve, straight out of her degree. What would she know about … anything?’ All her attention focused on his hand—big, enveloping hers. Comforting.
Rupe chuckled. ‘There are others around. I know someone in Willoughby.’
‘Do you see a counsellor?’ she asked, surprised.
His smile crinkled the corners of his eyes, reminding her just how attractive he was. ‘No. I met him through cricket. He’s a wicketkeeper. He’s seen a fair bit of life. You’d like him, I think. Stephen Fairbrother.’
Abbie smiled too. ‘I forgot. Everyone knows everyone round here.’
His smile faded. ‘You’d have a lot of support, Abbie, if you stayed.’
Was that the same as asking her to stay? Wanting her to stay for purely selfish, personal reasons? She waited for more but there was no more.
After a few moments she said, ‘I can’t believe this is really over.’
His hand slipped from hers. ‘Not quite. DS McGrath will want to talk to you all again, especially Georgia.’
A surge of anger straightened her spine, a jarring return to the reality of the situation. Rupe wasn’t a potential, tentative lover, he was a policeman with a murder in his community.
‘Is she a suspect?’ she asked harshly. ‘Why would she murder Kaelee? Is that really what you think, Rupe? That she walked in there with me outside and stabbed that girl, and Kaelee just lay there and let it happen? Didn’t scream, didn’t fight?’
‘She might have been asleep.’ He regarded her with that blank, policeman’s face. Assessing and infuriatingly logical.
‘For god’s sake! Do we need a lawyer?’
‘She hasn’t been accused of anything. It’s a murder investigation. You have to be prepared to answer awkward questions and it does no good to lie.’
‘No-one’s lying.’ She sprang to her feet. ‘What happened to innocent until proven guilty?’
Rupe remained seated, an immovable object. ‘The police are trying to get to the truth, that’s all.’
‘The truth is Aaron stabbed that girl, pretended to be frightened of her to gain our sympathy, but when Georgia went into the house he panicked, hit me and stole my car. Isn’t that blindingly obvious?’
‘On the face of it, yes.’
‘On the face of it? What the hell does that mean?’
His eyes bored into her. ‘I told you before it’s dangerous to jump to conclusions.’
‘But what does your gut tell you?’
To her surprise he hesitated, looked away, jaw firm.
‘You know that’s the truth, don’t you?’ she said. She’d won and he knew it. Why be so stubborn? ‘Admit it, Rupe. Don’t hide behind that police jargon. You sound like a press release.’
‘Gut instincts aren’t always right, Abbie.’ He glanced at her and away just as fast.
She sucked air in sharply. ‘That was mean.’
She knew that better than most, having trusted a despicable man for years with no instinct or feminine intuition telling her he was capable of such depravity.
He looked at her then, shocked. ‘No. I wasn’t … I was talking about me not you.’
‘About liking me, wanting to kiss me, you mean? That it was a mistake?’ That was just as bad. Worse.
‘No! It has nothing to do with you. Us. How I feel about you. Or this situation.’ He rubbed his hands over his face. ‘Sit down. Please?’
She sat in the chair across from him, intrigued despite her anger. How did he feel about her?
‘I wasn’t completely honest with you when I said I left the city to come back to the country. Even though Benita died, I would have stayed except for … something that happened at work.’ He studied his hands, fingers gripped tightly together. ‘There was a cas
e involving a robbery and home invasion. An elderly man was attacked and nearly killed. Like Rita.’
He glanced up and she grimaced. ‘Nasty.’
‘I was on the scene first. I knew the area and I was pretty sure I knew who was responsible. There’d been other similar attacks and we thought it was a gang of teenagers but couldn’t prove it. The poor old chap couldn’t tell us anything about the attack.’
Abbie sat silently, scared that if she spoke he’d stop talking.
‘The neighbour said she saw a boy in the street just before it happened and gave a good description. He was a kid I knew from the Police Youth Club. He’d had a tough time but was doing well, turning his life around. I’d taken an interest in him because I’d brought him in once and thought he just needed guidance. I knew it wasn’t him, knew he wasn’t part of that gang but as it turned out, I was wrong. Completely wrong and he’d been playing me.’
‘What happened?’
‘It was proven beyond any shadow of doubt he was responsible, along with a mate he wasn’t supposed to associate with anymore. He’d sworn to me he hadn’t seen the kid for months and kept away from that gang. I believed what I wanted to believe and I stuck my neck out for him. If I hadn’t been so convinced I was right and that boy was telling me the truth, that man wouldn’t have been attacked.’
He gave Abbie a long look. ‘I don’t trust my gut anymore, not on important things.’
Abbie licked her lips. ‘In that case, we shouldn’t be here. We should move into the hotel tomorrow. I don’t want to compromise you in any way. I’d go now but I’m too exhausted.’
‘You don’t need to …’
Abbie cut him off. ‘We do need to.’
She left him slumped on the couch and went to bed.
Chapter 20
Rupe remained deep in thought until Georgia and Ben came in through the back door.
Ben took his bag in the direction of her room. Georgia sat in the chair her mother had been in. ‘Rupe, Ben and I have been thinking. We really shouldn’t stay here with you while this is going on. Yesterday it was different, we were victims, but now … it’s awkward. You’re not sure about me, are you?’
Rupe licked his lips and looked at her, sitting opposite, pale and earnest with her shaved head and her haunted eyes. Still a victim.
‘As a policeman I have to be sure. I can’t commit myself one way or the other until I am. I’m sorry.’
She nodded slowly. ‘I think we should move to the hotel or somewhere tomorrow. It’ll be better for you.’
‘Your mother just told me the same thing but she was … a bit more forceful.’
To his surprise, Georgia smiled. A little flicker, but still a smile. ‘Mum really likes you. She’s just trying not to because she’s scared. And she also thinks you think I stabbed Kaelee.’
He raised his eyebrows while his heart did a secret little skip of delight. He was scared of how he felt about her too. ‘Did you?’
‘No.’
‘Fair enough.’
‘So you believe me?’
He smiled but didn’t answer. He wanted to say yes, of course he believed her, but didn’t dare.
Georgia stood but leaned down quickly and deposited a kiss on his cheek.
‘Don’t give up on Mum. Goodnight.’
‘Night.’
He knew she had no real motive for killing Kaelee beyond the events of the last few days, and if she did strike out against someone it would be in self-defence, in the heat of the moment. There’d been no signs of a fight, no yelling or screaming, she’d only been in there a matter of minutes and this was hardly an opportunistic murder. And by the amount of blood on the bed, Kaelee had been stabbed earlier and left to die. Possibly Aaron had been interrupted by the arrival of Abbie’s car and hastily tried to cover his crime by washing then smearing more black residue on himself.
He’d had time, Abbie hadn’t gone straight into the studio, she’d shown Georgia and Ben what to water in the garden. He could have stayed hidden but when she entered the house he probably thought he’d try the ‘frightened of her’ story. He’d at least manage to get away from the house.
Whatever the truth of Aaron’s movements and thinking, it was a far more likely scenario than Georgia being a murderer. He wasn’t sharing that feeling with Abbie until an official result came through, which wouldn’t be very long. Surely she understood his position. Georgia did. He couldn’t allow his feelings for Abbie to interfere with a murder case. Especially one she was involved in.
***
Abbie woke before dawn after patchy, restless and unrefreshing sleep. An uncertain future stretched before her whereas less than two weeks ago she’d been secure in the knowledge that Taylor’s Bend was her home and becoming more so every day. Her work was going well, she was happy, the past was receding rapidly and only the estrangement from Georgia marred a perfect existence.
And there was Rupe with a kiss that surprised and promised far more than she’d thought possible. He was a quiet man, well-liked and respected but private without being secretive.
What a misjudgement that was on her part. She sat up abruptly and flung the bedclothes away from her legs.
Rupe didn’t trust her or her daughter. He thought they were both lying and he suspected Georgia could be a murderer. His reasoning was understandable in a way but neither she nor Georgia were dodgy teenage boys with questionable backgrounds. Surely he could see the difference and the fault in his logic? Caution was good but taken this far was too much.
If he couldn’t trust his instincts where she was concerned over something as crucial as this, what chance did she stand as a possible woman in his life? Couldn’t he see how insulting that was?
Abbie whipped the curtains aside, letting in pallid grey light. A light mist wreathed itself around the trees across the back fence, obscuring the upper branches and turning the trunks into stark black silhouettes. The sun hadn’t gained enough strength or height to penetrate the remains of the darkness yet but faint streaks hinted of an impending breakthrough.
An image popped into her head. A misty morning, shadowy and still, predawn with just the faintest promise of the sun. Trees, some ghostly, others clearer.
After a quick trip to the ensuite, she flung on some clothes and hurried to the makeshift studio.
***
‘Like some tea?’ Rupe’s voice startled her.
‘Hello. What time is it?’
‘Seven. What time did you get up?’ He studied her canvas. ‘That’s new.’
‘Yes.’ The sun had just cleared the treetops, rapidly disintegrating the remnants of mist. ‘I had an idea.’ She put the brush down, acutely conscious of what she’d stated so categorically last night about not being able to paint. ‘I hardly slept. I must have got up around five-thirty. It was just getting light.’
He nodded. ‘Breakfast?’
‘Yes, please.’ If she expected awkwardness between them this morning, she was wrong. Rupe acted as though last night’s stiff conversation and her abrupt departure for bed had never occurred.
He withdrew and she began packing up. The urge to paint had come strong and unbidden. Is that what Georgia meant about her selfishness. How nothing came between Abbie and her painting? Not even a death? Now Rupe would see how callous she was.
She shoved the paint tubes into the box and wiped her fingers. After breakfast she’d get this stuff packed up. She had nowhere to store it but Rupe would probably let her leave it here until she was ready to make a final decision. Or she could ask the Bensons. How would she transport it all back out there?
Rupe said not to decide anything too quickly. She couldn’t anyway. She had to talk to the insurance people first and they would take a while to come up with any money. They’d send an assessor and he or she would write a report.
Just thinking about it made her tired.
Rupe had made a pot of tea and a stack of toast. His half-drunk mug of tea sat on the bench and the tantalising smell of fryi
ng eggs and bacon filled the kitchen. Always smelled better than they tasted but she wouldn’t say no. She was hungry.
‘Thanks.’ She sat at the table and poured her own tea. ‘You must think I’m really callous,’ she said. ‘Painting this morning.’
‘No. People react in different ways and it’s a natural outlet for you. One egg or two?’
‘One, please.’
‘Bacon?’
‘Yes.’
He set a plate in front of her and sat opposite. She watched him surreptitiously as she ate.
‘Was your car insured?’ he asked. ‘It’s a write-off.’
She swallowed the mouthful she’d been chewing. He’d been right. Painting had cleared the horrible images from her mind. The ones that had clawed for her attention all night—Kaelee’s lifeless form; a red-stained bed; a vegetable knife; Georgia’s blood-smeared shirt. They flooded back in now along with the memory of that poor boy, Aaron.
‘Sorry,’ he said.
‘I can’t take it all in,’ she said. ‘It’s too much. Those two, sad, mistreated …’ She sucked in air.
‘Don’t forget what they did, Abbie. They had their reasons but it doesn’t excuse their actions. Or what Kaelee said she did.’
Her hand trembled as she picked up her tea. ‘No, I suppose not.’
‘I think you should stay around for a while,’ he said after a moment. ‘It’ll be easier than trying to handle things long distance.’
‘But Georgia and Ben can leave, can’t they?’
‘DS McGrath has the final say on that.’
‘Right.’ Still not willing to commit himself one way or the other. She hacked a piece of bacon in half. ‘You know she’s not a murderer, don’t you, really? You must have come across lots of criminals. You can tell Georgia isn’t one of them. You saw her yesterday, she was stunned, in shock.’
He piled egg on his fork and ate studiously. Didn’t reply, didn’t give any indication he was going to.
Abbie ate the bacon and followed it with toast and the last of the egg. She drained her tea.
‘You have a good appetite when you’re angry,’ he said.
Abbie shot him a swift look but he was refilling her mug from the teapot. Was that a slight lift to the corner of his mouth? He couldn’t be laughing at her, not now, not in this situation.
The Secrets that Lie Within (Taylor's Bend, #1) Page 26