A Time of Secrets

by Deborah Burrows

  ‘No, sir.’

  ‘Is that what he’s trying to do?’

  ‘It’s not my place to say anything. Sir.’

  ‘Has Violet told him anything interesting?’

  ‘Violet?’ The surprise in my voice was obviously not false. His face seemed to relax slightly.

  ‘You know what’s really odd?’ he said. ‘Captain Molloy’s not too sure just what it is that you and Ross are doing either. And he’s come up against a brick wall with Blamey’s office when he’s asked for more information.’

  He leaned forward, staring at me, still smiling. I thought of some Shakespeare that Ross hadn’t yet quoted: That one may smile and smile and still be a villain.

  ‘Captain Molloy and I just want to keep abreast of what’s happening at APLO. So, tell me, Sergeant, are you and Lieutenant Ross looking into Destro?’

  ‘You really need to speak to Lieutenant Ross, sir.’

  ‘But I’m asking you, Sergeant.’

  ‘May I be excused, sir? I’m expected in Captain Deacon’s office.’

  ‘He’ll have to wait. Answer my question.’

  ‘I don’t know, sir.’

  ‘It’s a simple question. I have top-security clearance. I’m asking you a question and I expect an answer. I’m ordering you to answer, Sergeant.’

  ‘I don’t know, sir.’

  He got up from where he was half leaning against the desk and took a step closer to where I was sitting. Now he was standing directly in front of my chair, looming over me and no longer even pretending to smile. He bent forward and put his hands on the arms of my chair, so that his face was very close to mine. My heart started to race and my chest tightened. I couldn’t look at him, so I focused on the buttons of his jacket, counted them. One, two, three, four, five buttons. He can’t hurt me here, not in APLO headquarters.

  His voice was soft, low and throbbed with anger. ‘Tell me, Sergeant: are you and Lieutenant Ross looking into Destro?’

  He could hurt me, I realised. There were worse things than physical violence. If I screamed, he couldn’t physically harm me, but it would spell the end of my time at APLO. He’d say I’d overreacted, had become hysterical. I’d be moved out of APLO, away from the work I was doing with Ross.

  ‘Answer me, Sergeant.’

  I wanted to stay in APLO. I wanted to keep working on this assignment. I wanted to try to protect men like Eric, who were being sent into danger. I wanted to find the traitor or the fool.

  I needed to get Cole’s mind off Destro.

  So I looked up at him, straight into his eyes. ‘I know you used to hit Violet. I heard you. It was me who told her to drop you. I told her Nick Ross would treat her better. And I was right.’

  The blow was hard and very painful. He used the back of his hand but the knuckles smashed into my cheek, just below the right eye, so that my cheek seemed to explode into a stinging agony of sensation. I made no sound, but my eyes flooded with tears. That happened every time; there was nothing I could do about the tears, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of making me cry out. Frank had been left-handed, so when he used to do that I’d end up with a blackened left eye. This time it would be my right. At least the chair didn’t fall over.

  Cole’s hand was pulled back for a second blow, but a sharp knock at the door caused his head to jerk up.

  ‘Lance, we need to talk about –’ It was Captain Deacon’s voice.

  There was silence as Cole stepped back, took a breath, composed his face, straightened his shoulders. He looked over my shoulder to where Deacon must have been standing and his face softened into his easy smile.

  ‘The sergeant slipped over outside my office. Hit her head on the doorframe. I’ve been trying to help, but I think she’ll end up with a shiner. She’s rather distressed.’

  ‘Silly of me,’ I said, without turning around. Instead, I stared at Cole. He was now smiling at me, but the look in his eyes was a challenge.

  I pulled a handkerchief out of my pocket, wiped my face and blew my nose. Then I stood and turned to face Captain Deacon. The sympathy in his eyes almost undid me, but I couldn’t make accusations against an officer. They’d transfer me immediately.

  ‘Yes, I think I’ll end up with a black eye. I’m frightfully clumsy, unfortunately. The lieutenant has been very kind.’

  ‘Steak,’ said Cole. ‘You see if Sergeant Harper has any steak. That’ll help.’

  Nothing would help. Not really. And I’d made an enemy.

  I fled to the ladies’ cloakroom to wash my face and put a cold flannel on the bruising. In my years with Frank I’d found that a cold compress helped much more than steak. Cole’s blow wasn’t the sort that would cause bruising for two weeks. It would be bad today and tomorrow and then the purple would gradually fade. I’d need to ask Dolly for some of her foundation, though, because in my experience, powder never covered the bruising completely.

  Faye entered and did a double take. ‘Crikey, Stella. What happened?’

  I wet a flannel, wrung it out and put it on my cheek. ‘I fell.’

  ‘Bulldust.’ Her face was red and her eyes wild. ‘Who hit you? Was it Ross?’

  ‘It wasn’t Ross. Please, Faye, I’m fine. Really, it wasn’t Lieutenant Ross.’

  I could see her mind working, running through the possibilities. Clunk, the penny dropped.

  ‘It was that bastard Cole. I know the type. It was him, wasn’t it?’ Her voice rose. ‘Bastard. I wish I could –’

  ‘Let it go, Faye. Captain Deacon thinks I fell into a doorjamb. Please, I want everyone to think that’s what happened. If I complain they’ll send me away.’

  She thought about that, nodded slowly. ‘You’re probably right. Officers always come first. Who’d believe an AWAS sergeant over the wonder boy Cole?’ She threw me a calculating look. ‘Can you bear to work with him now?’

  ‘I don’t see him much, really, and I’d rather stay in APLO. So . . . as far as anyone knows, I fell over in the hall and hit my head on a doorjamb.’

  ‘Why’d he do it?’

  ‘I made him angry. Told him I knew he’d been hitting his girlfriend. Told him I’d advised her to throw him over for Lieutenant Ross.’

  Faye laughed and shook her head. ‘He must have gone berko when he heard that.’

  Holding the flannel over my bruised face, I looked at her.

  She gave me a wry smile. ‘Why’d you tell him that?’

  I shrugged.

  Faye’s expression now was shrewd. ‘I know that what you’re doing with Lieutenant Ross is all super secret, but Mary and me, we’ve got our own ideas about it.’

  I turned away to rinse the flannel out in fresh water and didn’t reply.

  Faye went on. ‘Helen Avery works in Cole’s section. She’s got something to say about Destro.’

  ‘What sort of things is she saying? She should keep mum or talk to the proper authorities.’

  Faye glanced around. ‘We’ve all got security clearance in this place. Stella, I think you need to talk to her. Bloody men can’t see what’s in front of their eyes. Or ears.’

  ‘All right. I’ll hear what she has to say.’

  ‘Why don’t we all go out for a drink tonight? Join the six o’clock swill in the ladies’ lounge at the Botanical?’

  My cheek was throbbing and the cold compress wasn’t all that effective. I wanted to go home and forget all about the day.

  ‘Let’s make it tomorrow night,’ I said.

  When I entered Ross’s office a few minutes later I was reminded of the first time we’d really spoken, when I’d gone to tell him about what I’d overheard in the laneway. Then, it had been Ross who’d been battered and bruised, now it was me. His eyebrows drew together in a puzzled frown when he saw me.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘Lieutenant Cole wanted to know
what we’d been doing.’

  ‘He hit you to make you talk?’ Ross’s lips, thin at the best of times, seemed to have disappeared and his eyes seemed very dark.

  ‘No. He’d ordered me to tell him what we knew about Destro. So I told him I knew about him assaulting Violet. Said I’d told her you’d be a better bet.’ I shrugged. ‘And he hit me. I knew he would. Then Captain Deacon came into the room and Cole told him I’d fallen in the hallway.’

  ‘I don’t need a bloody martyr.’

  ‘It was all I could think of to stop the questions about Destro.’

  ‘To play the victim?’ His voice was clipped, angry. ‘You need a better role, Stella. That one’s getting tired.’

  I flushed, set my jaw and glared at him. ‘If I’d refused to tell him he’d have reported me. Or hit me anyway and lied about it. Either way I’d have been sent away from APLO. He can’t report me over this, not after lying to Captain Deacon about how it happened.’

  ‘You lied, too, you little idiot. You should have reported him. He has no right to order my sergeant to answer questions. And absolutely no right to strike you.’

  ‘If I change my story now they’ll send me away. He’s more important than me. They’ll believe him over me.’

  ‘Not necessarily. Not Deacon. Or Molloy, for that matter. For God’s sake, Stella, we could have got rid of the man. Why did you think they wouldn’t have believed you?’

  ‘No one ever did before.’ I heard the bitterness in my voice. ‘Black eyes, sprained wrists, cracked ribs, broken arm. Then my father caught him one evening and intervened. Daddy was so badly hurt he spent three months in hospital.’

  Ross had become very still. ‘What happened to your husband?’

  ‘Assaulting your wife is merely a domestic dispute, but the law steps in if you severely injure a respected engineer like my father. Frank was charged with grievous bodily harm and he was convicted – despite the many witnesses who testified to his excellent character and despite his lawyer arguing that my father shouldn’t have become involved in a dispute between husband and wife. My father –’ I had to blink back tears. ‘He was a perfect witness.’

  ‘Did your husband go to gaol?’

  ‘No. Frank was a very charming man and he always tried to strike a bargain. The judge was charmed. He let him join the AIF instead and that’s why Frank went to Syria. Apparently he was a marvellous soldier, but it was a bad bargain in the end, because he ended up dead.’

  ‘Did you mourn him?’

  ‘I wept every day for months. I wouldn’t speak to my father. I blamed myself.’

  ‘What changed?’

  ‘I did. Frank died and then I joined AWAS. I’m not going to be forced out of my job here, not because of a man like Cole.’

  ‘I think you should tell Deacon the truth, Stella. Will you let me tell him?’

  I shook my head. ‘You’re right, I shouldn’t have lied. Just leave it.’

  Throwing him an unsteady smile, I stood and turned to leave the room. My hand was on the doorknob when he spoke.

  ‘Stella – Sergeant, I mean.’

  I twisted around to look at him. ‘Yes, sir?’

  His expression was one I’d not seen previously. He almost seemed embarrassed. ‘Look, I’m sorry about the other night,’ he said. ‘I was ferociously drunk, and angry at the world, but that’s no excuse, of course.’

  I looked down, wondering how to respond. Before I could do so, he said, ‘There’s still no word about Eric.’

  My stomach lurched. Stiff upper lip, Stella. Steady on.

  ‘I thought –’ I wiped clammy hands on my skirt. I didn’t need hope; that was what could destroy me. ‘I’d heard he was –’

  ‘Don’t assume he’s dead,’ said Ross. ‘Not yet. He’s got himself out of some sticky situations before.’

  My heart seemed to clench.

  Ross looked away, didn’t meet my eyes any longer. ‘Perhaps he’s been injured, gone to ground while he recovers. He’s very resourceful. Don’t give up on him.’

  ‘No, sir. I won’t give up on him.’

  Twenty-four

  The trouble was that Lieutenant Cole didn’t want to leave it alone, and I had to pass the door to his office to get to mine. He was in the corridor the following morning, waiting for me.

  ‘How’s the eye, Sergeant?’ He smiled and stood in front of me to block my way.

  I tried for defiant. ‘It’s not the worst black eye I’ve ever had.’

  ‘Such a pity, though,’ he said. ‘Spoiling your pretty face like that. You’ll have to be more careful in future.’

  He moved closer. Instinctively I recoiled and felt the wall against my back.

  ‘You were wrong about Violet, by the way. Completely wrong. She adores me, and I adore her.’

  When I tried to slip past him sideways, he put his arm in the way. So I stood absolutely still and stared at the carpet. It was the same beautiful rug I’d pointed out to Eric, all those weeks before. Eric would not have stood still to be intimidated, I thought, and neither would I.

  I ducked my head and pushed out from under Cole’s arm. He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back so roughly that my head hit the wall with a painful thud.

  ‘Not so fast, Sergeant. We never finished our talk yesterday. What are you and Ross investigating?’ His voice was a hiss, and as he spoke some frothy spit gathered in the corner of his mouth. ‘Tell me.’

  Spit landed on my face with his words; I felt it lying wet on my cheek and nausea unsettled my stomach. I stood absolutely still, staring at the carpet. My heart was thumping so hard that I felt faint.

  ‘Sergeant Aldridge.’ It was a peremptory voice. Ross’s voice.

  Cole looked up and to my right. His face became a dark red colour and he stepped away from me. I twisted around to see Ross walking towards us with an abrupt, almost jerky gait. Everything about him seemed rigid; his shoulders were back and his mouth was in a tight scowl.

  ‘If you’ve finished your discussion with Lieutenant Cole, please go to my office.’

  ‘Sorry, sir.’

  ‘Now.’

  I walked quickly along the corridor, pulled open his door, stumbled inside and collapsed on a chair. When Ross opened the door a minute or so later I was still shaking.

  He strode over to the desk and flung himself into his chair without any of his usual grace. His body was taut and his lips were almost white. A vein over his temple was fluttering. I’d never seen him so angry before. When he spoke, though, his tone was gentle.

  ‘You all right?’

  Gentle? I looked at him. ‘I loathe that man. How can we stop this without having me transferred out of APLO?’

  Some of the tension in his face evaporated. ‘I thought I’d find you hysterical and weeping. Instead you look like a vengeful fury.’

  ‘What can we do about him?’ I said. ‘Short of murder, I mean.’

  I pulled out my handkerchief and scrubbed at my cheek, only to wince at the pain. The spittle had landed over the bruise from his assault the day before. I looked at my hankie, now stained with Dolly’s foundation.

  ‘I’ve changed my mind. Including murder.’

  He smiled briefly. ‘Cole and I had some words. The gist was that if he ever threatened you again, if he ever even spoke to you alone again, I’d tell Molloy about him assaulting you. He knows I mean it.’

  ‘I don’t think that’ll stop him. Molloy’s in his pocket. I’ll try to keep out of his way.’ I remembered what Cole had said. ‘How’s Violet?’

  He became very still, breathed in and then out before answering. ‘She’s all right. Why shouldn’t she be?’

  His voice was light, seemingly disinterested. It was a bad piece of acting. So Violet had dropped him. Who’d have thought?

  ‘We were never serious,’ he said, in the same light
voice. ‘Stupid girl’s still hankering after Cole.’

  I screwed up my mouth as if I’d tasted something bad.

  ‘Oh, wonderful. If he starts seeing Violet again he’ll be around my flat all the time.’

  ‘I’ll think of something.’ His voice was clipped.

  ‘Faye says that Helen Avery, one of the girls who’s working with Cole, has some concerns about Destro. I’m meeting her after work today.’

  He looked up and there was a glimmer of interest in his eyes.

  ‘What concerns does she have?’

  ‘I don’t know yet.’ I sounded peevish. I felt peevish. My cheek was sore, and I felt like a fool for standing in front of Cole and letting him intimidate me again. Letting him treat me the way I’d let Frank treat me.

  ‘Bloody army,’ I said.

  ‘What?’ Ross sounded genuinely shocked.

  ‘You heard me.’

  ‘You don’t swear.’

  ‘I do sometimes.’

  He shook his head. ‘No. I know your type. And it doesn’t swear.’

  ‘I’m not a type, Ross. I’m me, Stella Aldridge, nee Harcourt, and I’ll bloody well swear whenever I bloody well want to. Why do you do that?’

  ‘Do what?’ He was leaning back in his chair, swinging slightly from side to side, watching me. The awful rigidity had gone and he was back to the Ross I knew, calculatedly relaxed and infuriatingly enigmatic.

  ‘Put people into boxes. I’m not a type. I’m like no one else on this earth. I’m me. I’ll swear if I want to, and eventually I’ll stop letting men like Cole intimidate me.’

  ‘Don’t be too hard on yourself. Cole’s an officer. If you thump him you’ll be put on report.’

  ‘I know that. I froze, though. Like an idiot, I just put up with it. It was in a public place. I should have said something, stood up to him.’

  ‘He won’t do it again. I won’t let him.’

  ‘Oh that’s right.’ I remembered his comments earlier and I was furious. ‘Cole has no right to order your sergeant to answer questions.’

  ‘And he has no right to strike you. I won’t let him strike you or intimidate you again. I mean that, Stella.’