Spoilt

by Joanne Ellis

  “I’ll be right behind you,” he told her as they loaded her in. “I love you,” he whispered but she didn’t hear him.

  Once the ambulance was on its way, Lucas walked around to the side of the house and sunk slowly to the ground. This was where Maggie found him sitting with his back against the house, his head and arms resting on bent knees.

  “Hey, you ok partner?” she asked him.

  “Yeah, I just need a minute.”

  “She’s still alive, Lucas. You found her.”

  “Yes but did you see what he did to her?”

  “Yes I did and also what we can’t see.”

  “You think I’m worried about whether he ... touched her?”

  “Well, yeah, maybe.”

  “If he did, I can deal with it and so will she.”

  “Then what’s the problem? I thought you’d be tailing that bus.”

  “I came so close to losing her and I don’t ever want to feel like that again.”

  “Well hopefully you won’t have to.”

  “Exactly, if I’m not with her, then I won’t if anything does.”

  “Are you saying you’re going to walk away now, after everything she’s just been through? I can’t believe it. She makes you so happy.”

  “I can’t go through this again.”

  “She’s not your parents, Lucas. She isn’t dead.”

  “Yes but what if something else happens to her? I’ve had a taste of what that would be like and I don’t think I could take it. I lost my head when she was gone. I have not been doing my job properly since I met her. I lost focus. I should have been at the house when he turned up and took her. If I’d shown her the sketch we may have been able to identify who Chad Wilson was and we could have prevented this from happening. And we still don’t know where Wesley Robinson is, because that wasn’t him.”

  “I don’t think Wesley had anything to do with this. I think Chad Wilson was working alone.”

  “Why? What could the motive be?”

  “We’ll have to wait and ask Chelsea about that when she is recovered enough to talk to us, if she even knows. Are you in love with her?”

  “Totally and unconditionally but she’ll be better off without me. I didn’t protect her. I’d rather try and get over her now than have to do it later, when it will be that much harder.”

  She shrugged. “It’s your happiness. Good luck with that.” She shook her head and walked off.

  * * *

  At the hospital, a nurse came into Charlotte’s room to inform them that Chelsea was alive and being treated.

  “Oh thank heavens,” Sarah murmured. “Please let us know when we can see her.”

  “Is Lucas Hudson here?” Charlotte asked.

  “Yes, I believe so. He’s in the waiting room.”

  “Can you ask him to come and see me please?”

  “Sure, I’ll go get him for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  A few minutes later a tired and drained looking Lucas trundled into the room.

  “Lucas,” Charlotte said. “Come here.”

  He ambled over and perched uncomfortably on the edge of her bed. She sat up awkwardly and gave him the biggest hug she could manage with an arm in a sling.

  “Thank you for finding my sister.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said.

  His expression was blank and unreadable.

  Charlotte introduced him to the rest of the family, who each in turn, showed him their gratitude.

  “Is she ok?” Sarah asked him.

  “She’s a little banged up but she’ll be alright.”

  “Did he …. do anything else to her besides ...?”

  “Um, I don’t know.” He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry but I have to go to the station and fill out some paperwork. I just came to see if you were both ok.”

  “Who was he?” Sarah asked.

  “Chad Wilson.”

  “Who is he and why would he have done such a thing?”

  “We are hoping Chelsea will be able to tell us that.”

  “She’ll want to see you, Lucas,” Charlotte said.

  “I’ll come back later.”

  He stood up abruptly, said his goodbyes and strode out.

  “Something’s not right with him,” said Charlotte. “I thought he would be happy and relieved, but he looks almost sad. I thought he’d be anxiously pacing the hallways, not going into work.”

  “Maybe he’s just tired or in shock. It has been a long couple of days,” Bradley assured her.

  “Hmm, I just hope he’s not running away,” she replied with a grim expression. “Chelsea will need him more than ever now.”

  * * *

  Alone in the room Chelsea attempted to block out the recurring horrors. The screams and pleas of the other poor girl filled her mind as she tried to rest. Chelsea gave up on sleep. Her thoughts switched to Andrew and her confusion over his complete hatred for her. What had she done that was so terrible? Ignored him because she didn’t know him at school? Become engaged to his cousin and unknowingly shattered their relationship? These were very unstable and flimsy reasons to take the lives of five young girls. She couldn’t comprehend it. And he had murdered Wes too. She couldn’t believe Wes was dead. When the reality hit, she choked back a sob. He hadn’t walked out on her – he had been murdered. What possible actions on her part could have provoked such a cruel plan? Was she really the spoilt snob she’d been dubbed most of her life? Was she responsible for Wes’ death? Guilty tears streamed down her face. Lucas, where are you? I need you. This only prompted fresh tears and agonising sobs.

  Chapter 33

  Case Closed

  Sunday

  Consumed by guilt and sorrow, Chelsea tossed in her sleep. When she woke the next morning her entire body throbbed. Although the morphine was dulling her physical pain, it could not alleviate her emotional scars.

  The previous night, when the doctor came to see her, she buried her troubles and put on her bravest façade. He advised her she would have to spend several days in the hospital, to rest and recover. She’d listened numbly as he ran through her injuries.

  The wound at her throat required twelve stitches and her chest more than twenty per wound. The injuries to her face, though nearly as painful, were much less serious. Her eye and cheek were bruised and her x-rays revealed no breaks. A small laceration on her left eyebrow also required stitches and her nose was fractured. He told her it would heal straight but it didn’t matter to her, she was far to numb to care. As she’d lost blood and was dehydrated they were replacing her fluids via an IV drip. The doctor, concerned about infection, was also giving her medication to starve it off.

  After the doctor left, her whole family, except Charlotte, came to see her with concerned expressions.

  “I’m alright, really,” she said to them. “He didn’t do anything to me that you can’t see.”

  “Who was he, Chelsea?” her dad asked and she explained everything she knew and they commiserated Wes’ loss with mournful expressions.

  She asked after Lucas and they told her he came to see Charlotte but had to go back to the station. They stayed with her until she went to sleep, thoroughly exhausted. Staying asleep had been the problem.

  * * *

  A nurse wheeled Charlotte in, wearing a sling and an unreadable gaze, while Chelsea was attempting to eat her breakfast. When the relief at seeing her safe and well washed over her, fresh tears began to fall.

  “I’m so glad you’re ok,” Charlotte said, hugging Chelsea as best she could. “I was freaking out, Chelsea.”

  “I’m so happy you’re ok too.” Her tears stung her lip as they cascaded down.

  “It takes a lot more than that to stop me.” She smiled. “Chelsea, please don’t cry, are you ok? Are you in pain? Should I get the doctor?”

  “No, I don’t need a doctor. I’ll be alright in a minute. I’m just really glad to see you.”

  “Me too,” she paused. “Where’s Lucas?”


  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him. He’s probably busy. I’m sure I’ll see him later.” Hoped was more the word.

  “He’d better.”

  “Why wouldn’t he?”

  “No reason.” She shrugged and averted her eyes.

  “Charlotte?”

  “When we saw him last night, he looked kind of sad and made excuses about why he wasn’t waiting until he could see you. He had on his stone face detective look. He was most likely just tired and still in shock. I’m reading into nothing.”

  Chelsea didn’t say anything for a few moments trying to gather her thoughts. “I thought he would be here after the doctor left last night or at least this morning. I know it would be hard to see me like this, but I still thought he’d be here.”

  “You do look pretty awful.”

  “Gee thanks, Charlotte.”

  “You know what I mean. He loves you. He was doing it tough when you were missing. I’m sure he’ll be here as soon as he can.”

  Chelsea nodded but she wasn’t feeling as confident as Charlotte appeared to be.

  “Time for you to return to your room,” said the nurse as she walked in. “You both need to rest.”

  Charlotte rolled her eyes and waved as she was wheeled away.

  By mid morning Chelsea still hadn’t seen Lucas since he put her in the ambulance. Her despondency grew with each passing minute.

  * * *

  Chelsea managed to get a couple of hours sleep before lunch arrived. She attempted a few bites but found she couldn’t stomach it and proceeded to push the peas and tasteless mashed potatoes around the plate. Thoughts swirled around her mind like the marks left by her fork in her food. She gave up and pushed it aside. Her heavy heart filled with angst. The pain living inside her chest was more vivid and intense than the wounds on the outside. Where was Lucas?

  It was late afternoon before she received another visitor, however, it wasn’t from the detective she longed to see.

  Maggie sat on a chair beside the bed. “Hey, are you feeling?”

  “A bit sore but it could be worse. I’m not even going to think about looking in the mirror for a while,” she said, trying to be cheerful.

  “You look a little beat up but not too bad.” Maggie smiled. “Do you mind if we run through what happened just so we can close the case. If you’re not up to it, I can come back later or tomorrow.”

  “No, it’s fine.” She looked down at her hands clasped together in her lap. “Where’s Lucas?”

  “He hasn’t been to see you yet?”

  Chelsea shook her head without lifting her eyes.

  “I thought he’d already been. He kind of opted out from doing this part. It was a bit more than he wanted to hear I think. He went home to get some rest. He didn’t sleep much the last couple of days. He was kind of going out of his mind.”

  “Yeah, well me too and I’ve been told that already. Still doesn’t explain his absence,” she said, still looking down. “Let’s get this out of the way.”

  “Sure,” said Maggie warily. “I’ll ask the tough ones first.”

  Chelsea nodded her consent.

  “Can you tell me what happened?”

  Chelsea began from the beginning and told Maggie the story as she relived every moment again in her mind. She finished by voicing her confusion and guilt. That she couldn’t understand how he’d been driven to kill first Wes and then the girls. That it appeared he been consumed with jealousy and anger that she didn’t know she had caused or how. That, because of his obsession with her, and his jealousy of Wes’ love for her, he had destroyed five lives and families. When she reached the end of the horrific story, guilt threatened to consume her.

  “I’m sorry about Wes.” Maggie paused and Chelsea offered a weak smile of thanks. “The doctor has filled me in on your injuries but he didn’t do a rape kit so I have to ask whether you were sexually assaulted?”

  “No, he tried but I distracted him. He was interrupted again when you and Lucas knocked the first time, thankfully.”

  Maggie could see the guilt in Chelsea’s expression and hear it in her voice. She determined she needed to prove to Chelsea that she didn’t do anything to incite Andrew Smyth to murder. “Chelsea, this wasn’t in any way your fault, any of it. This man was unstable, probably insane. You absolutely mustn’t blame yourself.”

  Chelsea didn’t answer.

  “Are you ok?” Maggie waited and Chelsea offered a quick nod. “I don’t think there is much more we need to know. We’ll do more background work on Smyth but he is deceased and all the evidence is in his house so we should have all we need. The rest you probably don’t know anyway, so we can close this without going into any more detail from you. If I do need anything else, is it ok if I come back?”

  “Yes of course, whatever you need.”

  * * *

  As Maggie walked out of the hospital, she realised that Chelsea hadn’t looked up once. It appeared that guilt was destroying Chelsea’s soul and the one person she needed had abandoned her. When she got back to the station, she found Lucas finishing off some paperwork.

  “Did you get some rest?” she asked.

  “Yeah, a bit and then I cleaned up and came back.” He cleared his throat. “Um, how is she?”

  “How do you think, Lucas?” she said tightly. “You could go and find out for yourself and stop being a coward. If you are actually going to break up with her at least have the decency to tell her.”

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. I’m not ready to see her like that again just yet.”

  “This isn’t just about you, Hudson. She’s just been through a horrific ordeal and found out her fiancé was murdered. She needs you more than ever now. You can at least go and see her, for her.”

  “Get off my case, Maggie. I’ll go when I’m ready.”

  “I’m just about to type up my notes and I think you should read them. Do you at least want to know who he was and why he did this?”

  “Knowing the gory details aren’t going to help.”

  “She blames herself for everything that happened.”

  “Well she shouldn’t.”

  “He didn’t touch her either. Not in the way he did the others. She said he got distracted and then interrupted by us. I don’t know whether that makes any difference to you or not.”

  “It doesn’t, I told you it has nothing to do with that but I’m relieved she didn’t have to suffer through that as well. I’m still not going to read your notes. I don’t want to know ... it’s hard enough. Are you able to finish closing the investigation? I don’t want to think about it anymore and we have an arson case with a body and someone needs to attend the scene.”

  “Fine, go,” she said curtly.

  After he left she shook her head.

  Men!

  She typed out her notes and left the file on his desk. He needed to know how much she needed him. Knowing how stubborn he could be, Maggie did the only thing she could think to help them. She picked up the phone to call Carrie, for the second time that week.

  Chapter 34

  Heartbreak

  Sunday

  Gavin and Lauren called by to see Chelsea with a large bouquet of flowers from Bloom, which brightened the room but did little to shift her dread. She put on a brave face for her visitors who filtered in over the afternoon and felt slightly comforted by the friendly faces of her family and friends. None of them was Lucas. Chelsea’s heartache was more intense than all her external injuries combined.

  Her thoughts went to Wes and her heart broke for the loss of his life. The only consolation was that their love had been torn apart by a heartless killer, not because of anything she had done. Then again, Andrew had murdered him because of her. What was worse?

  Her first love was murdered because of his association with her and the second absent when she needed him. Lucas. How could he stay away for so long? Why was he avoiding her? If it was him and not her lying in the hospital bed, she would never have left his s
ide. She understood he was working but was a five minute visit too much to ask? Annoyance replaced despondency for the moment until realisation hit. Did he care so little about her? Did he love her at all? Maybe she was only a passing fancy? Another conquest. Or had she simply driven him away? Despair overwhelmed her again. Deciding to find out once and for all, she reached for the phone.

  “Hudson,” his voice sent her heart into sudden nervous palpitations. Did she really want to hear this?

  “Hi,” she squeaked. Now that she had him on the phone, she didn’t know what she wanted to say.

  “Hello, Chelsea,” he answered her in a formal, polite tone. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’ve been better.”

  “Yeah, um, I suppose you have. I hope they’re looking after you.”

  What is with the tone? Why is he being courteous, polite, just as he would with someone he didn’t know? Like a witness!

  “Of course, it’s a hospital, Lucas,” she said. Was it possible her heart could break further?

  “I’m sorry I haven’t been in to see you. I’ve been swamped and there’s a new case.”

  “Five minutes wouldn’t hurt you, Lucas.”

  “I’ll come a bit later, okay?”

  “Suit yourself.” She hung up.

  What was with him? Why was he being so indifferent? She was right he didn’t love her. What little was left of Chelsea’s broken heart shattered to the floor.

  * * *

  After attending the arson scene, Lucas drove around for a while and tried to get his head together. Chelsea’s call caught him off guard and he hadn’t known what to say. Guilt clutched his chest but he still could not bring himself to see her. He couldn’t bear the thought of ending it with her either. Confusion played havoc in his mind.

  His thoughts drifted back to the previous day. After leaving the hospital, he’d gone back to the station and filed his report regarding the shooting. He wanted to get it out of the way so the case could be closed and he wouldn’t have to think about it or her.