by JD Nixon
When I heard the message, my first thought was to jump in the patrol car and tear off up there. But knowing that would get me into trouble, I decided that I’d better tell the Sarge first. And besides, he had the keys to the patrol car with him.
I locked the station and jogged up to his house. I banged on the front door, bringing a half-dressed Sarge to the entrance, hastily buttoning his shirt.
“What’s the matter?” he immediately asked, concerned.
“I just wanted to let you know I’m going to Big Town.”
“Why? We were just there yesterday.”
“This morning, Annabel rang me. I’ve only just seen her message. She wants to talk to me.”
“What about?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m going there to see her.”
“I’m coming with you,” he said, but then stopped. “Oh, damn. I have a conference call this morning with some of the bigwigs in the city to discuss road safety for semi-trailers. It’s some kind of working party, and the Super rang me last night to demand I be involved after the recent accident here.”
“Oh, well. Tough luck for some,” I said, happy to go by myself. “Can I take the patrol car?”
“Better not. I might need it.”
“Aw, that means I’m going to have to drive my old bomb. It will take me forever to get there. Unless . . .” I speculatively eyed his shiny, cute Beemer.
“Not a chance, Fuller. Not. A. Chance.”
“You’re mean.”
“It’s the only way to be with some people,” he smiled. “Enjoy the drive.”
I blew a raspberry at him and bounded down the stairs, striding back to the station where my Land Rover sat forlornly alone in the carpark.
“Have you got your phone?” he called out after me. Without turning around, I held it up for him to see. “Do you have enough petrol?”
“Of course I do,” I shouted back, though I wasn’t sure if I had or not.
“And don’t plan on taking all day about it.”
At the Land Rover, I gave him a mock salute, before climbing into the driver’s seat. The engine started on the third go with a sick splutter, and I gloomily wondered if I’d be stranded by the side of the road trying to make it to the hospital. And then that made me think about the cost of the petrol driving to Big Town and back. I’d put in a compensation form for that when I returned, I decided, pulling out on to the Coastal Range Highway in a cloud of exhaust fumes that seemed to get worse every day.
I listened to the Big Town radio station on the drive, about the only one the Land Rover could pick up reception for amongst the mountains of Little Town. After suffering through a swag of ancient tunes, droning news, and alleged ‘banter’ between some monotonous hosts, I hastily turned it off when I caught the snooty tones of Mrs Villiers, the Little Town representative on the District Council. I didn’t hear much of what she said before I killed the radio, but she was moaning on about something or other. Probably the Council accounts, about which she was often quite scathing.
Or maybe she was complaining about me, I thought with a quietly wicked giggle. I wasn’t her favourite person, but then, she wasn’t mine either, so we were evenly matched in that respect. Since a few months ago, when Teddy had almost beaten her in the election for her long held councillor position, she’d become a strident champion for all things Little Town. That didn’t always include the town’s police though, especially me.
The drive to the hospital seemed interminable, and I longed for the cruisy comfort of the patrol car, with its powerful engine, comfortable seats, and air-conditioning. And maybe the company of the Sarge, as well. It was a long, dull trip to undertake by yourself.
At the hospital, I parked in one of the emergency vehicle spots. Walking to the ward, I narrowly dodged the attentions of the stern nurse who’d already told us off twice, by ducking behind a corner at the last minute. After I poked my head around to assure myself she’d disappeared, I made my way to Annabel’s room.
When I arrived, she was busy changing her baby’s nappy. I could see she was struggling with the task, but as I probably knew less about nappy changing than she did, wasn’t able to offer any concrete assistance or advice. Though skilled at subduing people, I was pretty confident that wasn’t the right approach to take in this delicate situation.
She wrangled the baby into the nappy, and then into a cute little onsie. With great care, as if she was trying to replicate instructions she’d been given, she placed the baby in the crib, tucking the blanket carefully up to her midriff. When the little girl began to drift off, she turned her attention to me. We sat on her bed.
“Hello, Officer Tess,” she said softly.
“Hello, Annabel,” I replied with gentleness. She looked tired, as if she hadn’t slept much the night before. “You left me a message this morning.”
“Yes. I’ve been thinking a lot since I spoke to everyone yesterday.” She cast her eyes down at her hands, before shifting them to her daughter. “I’m scared for both of us.”
I took one of her hands and squeezed lightly. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“I didn’t want to talk to the detectives again. And even though you were tough on me with your questions –”
“I’m very sorry about that. It wasn’t the right time.”
“It’s okay. At least you seemed to care. And you did deliver Jamie. I haven’t really thanked you for that, or for you being so kind to me.”
“You’re calling your baby Jamie?” I said, wondering if she’d called me here just to thank me.
“Yes, I’ve decided on Jamie Holly. It seems the right name to give her.”
“I’m sure Jamie would have been proud of that.”
“I was really upset yesterday when you told me about him, but I feel a little better today. I knew something bad must have happened, because he would never have abandoned me. Never.” Tears welled in her eyes. “We planned to get married when we were old enough. We were going to be a family. He wanted that as much as I did. We talked about it all the time after I found out I was going to have a baby.”
“But you had to get away first.”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you, Annabel.”
I wanted to ask her about the fake name she’d given Mr X and Zelda, but thought it best to let her tell her story in her own time.
“Okay.” She peered up at me. “I lied to everyone yesterday. And now I feel guilty about it.”
“Oh. Okay. Do you mind if I take out my notebook?”
“No.”
I slipped it from my pocket and flicked open to a fresh page, writing down the date, location and her name. “What have you lied about?”
“I don’t know where to start.”
I smiled faintly. “I’ve found it’s always best to start at the beginning.”
She gathered her thoughts for a moment. “I am a runaway. That part is true. But, I ran away when I was thirteen, before I met Jamie.”
“Do your family know where you are? Would you like me to contact them for you?”
“No! That part is true too. I’m never going back there. Never. And I’m never taking my baby there.”
“It’s okay,” I soothed, not wanting her to become any more upset. “Nobody’s going to make you go back. But, one thing. That man I told you about who came looking for Jamie and said he was his father? I noticed you reacted to that. You know who he is, don’t you?” She nodded silently. “Is he your father, Annabel?”
“No.”
“But you do know him? And before you answer, let me show you that photo of him and Jamie again.” I pulled out the scanned photo I’d brought with me. “Does he look like a man you know?”
“Yes,” she affirmed, so quietly I could barely hear her. “I’ll tell you about him soon.”
“Okay. So how did you survive when you ran away from home?”
“I met a man. That man.”
“The man who came to
my station looking for Jamie?” I clarified for the record.
“Yeah.”
“What’s his name? He gave me a false name and address.” I looked up at her. “And you did too with the detectives.”
She flushed slightly. “I know. His name’s Merrick. I don’t know if that’s his last name or first name. We all just called him that.”
“We?”
“Me and the rest.”
“Who were the rest, Annabel?”
“The other kids.”
“So, let me get this straight. You and a bunch of other kids knew a man called Merrick.”
“We all lived together. That’s how I met Jamie. He joined us after I had.”
“This Merrick . . . he, um, gathered kids?” She nodded again. “Were you all runaways?”
“Yes.”
“So he gave you shelter and fed you?”
“Yes.”
“He wasn’t part of a charity or religious group helping runaways?”
A bitter laugh burst from her. “No. Not him.”
“Okay,” I said, writing furiously. “So what did he expect in return for giving you shelter and food?”
She didn’t answer, but merely looked at me plaintively. I read a whole world of pain and disillusionment in her eyes.
“All right,” I said gently. “I’m getting the picture. Was it just the girls he expected this from, or all of you?”
“Just the girls.” She flushed again, this time with unwarranted shame. “But that wasn’t all he expected.”
“What else?” I prompted.
“He expected us to steal for him. We stole whatever we could whenever we got the chance. He taught us how to shoplift and how to pickpocket.” Her smile was wry. “Some of us were very good at it. He rewarded those ones. The ones who weren’t so good, he punished.”
“Which were you, Annabel?”
Baby Jamie stirred and she leaned over to gently pat her back to sleep. “Not so good.”
“And what about Jamie?”
“He was okay, but not as good as some of the others.”
“Were you based here in Big . . . in Wattling Bay?”
“We moved from town to town. When it became too hot for us, we moved on again.”
“Did Merrick steal too?”
Again that bitter laugh. “No. He always said he was our manager, and needed his time to keep the accounts. That’s what he called them – the accounts.”
“Did he do the fencing of the stolen items?”
She shrugged. “I guess so. He never told us about that part of his job. But he did seem to have a lot of friends in each town. Some of them were pretty dodgy.”
“You didn’t just steal money? You stole goods – jewellery, watches, portable electronic devices, phones? That kind of thing?”
“Like I said, we stole anything we could find.”
“Who did you target?”
“Any easy mark we spotted. Some of our favourites were women not paying attention to their handbags, and men with their wallets in their back pockets. School kids on buses were sometimes good for a haul if they left something behind on the bus seat. We’d swoop in on it, pocket it, and get off at the same stop.”
“Sounds pretty organised. Did you ever rob houses?”
“Sometimes. If it looked as though the owners were away. You know, if there was mail piling up, or the yard looked overgrown, and all the windows were shut up.”
She glanced down at her baby with such tenderness that I felt a small stab of jealousy. I wondered if I would ever feel such love?
“I never liked the house breaks. We stole precious things from people. Things they could never replace. Things like medals and cameras holding family shots. We’d take expensive photo frames. We’d ditch the actual photos and sell the frames. I remember once a couple of the guys stole Christmas presents that some parents had hidden in the cupboards for their kids. Once they came back with a valuable urn. They tipped out the ashes of the person inside, and sold it.”
“That’s a terrible thing to do to a family,” I said, shocked.
“I know,” she whispered. “I was a part of that. I’ve done a lot of terrible things.”
“What made you want to escape that life, Annabel?” I asked, even though I was sure of what the answer would be.
“Jamie,” she said, her eyes turning to her daughter again. “And her.”
“You left when you found out you were pregnant?”
“No. I didn’t have the courage to. Jamie wanted to leave, but I was scared. Even though I hated being with Merrick, at least it was shelter and food. Some kind of security. I didn’t know how Jamie and I would survive without Merrick.”
“How long were you and Jamie together?”
“About a year. But it was a secret relationship. We couldn’t let anyone find out about it.”
“Why not, Annabel?”
“Because Merrick would have been so angry.”
I laid my hand on her arm in sympathy. “Sweetheart, who is your baby’s father?”
She started crying softly. “I don’t know. I told Jamie she was his, but I don’t know for sure.”
“Were you still having sex with Merrick even when you started being with Jamie?”
“Yes,” she said, with such self-hatred and shame on her face that I regretted asking the question. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“It’s okay. It’s over now.”
“I told you I wasn’t very good at stealing. If I didn’t . . . make him happy, Merrick told me he’d kick me out of the gang. I had no money and nowhere to go. I can’t go back to my family, and I have no friends except for kids in the gang. I didn’t think I had a choice.”
My heart broke for her. “Annabel, there are groups who can help you in that kind of situation. Community Services and charities are two that pop into my mind. Also, you could have contacted the police.”
She looked at me with incredulity. “The police? Are you kidding me? What would I have told them? That I was part of a travelling criminal gang? They would have thrown me in jail. And what do you think Merrick would have done to me when he found out about that?”
“We’re not all about arresting people, sweetheart. I’m listening to you, and I’m not throwing you in jail. And the detectives yesterday didn’t throw you in jail. Part of our job is to help people too.”
“I know. Thank you. You helped my baby and me when we needed it. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.” She looked past my shoulder as if checking on something. “I’m glad you came alone. That other cop with you yesterday was a bit, um . . .”
“Intimidating?”
“Yes. He’s so big and looks really serious. I didn’t think he’d be kind to me. I thought he might judge me.”
“That’s where you’re very wrong, sweetheart. He’s probably the nicest man I’ve ever known. He also did everything he could to help you with Jamie when she was born.”
“Oh. Could you please thank him for me too?”
“I will, I promise.” I flipped through my notes, trying to get us back on track. “What finally made you and Jamie decide to leave the gang?”
“Eventually, Merrick suspected I was pregnant. I couldn’t hide it anymore, so I had to confess to him.”
“He wasn’t happy about it?”
“No.”
“Did you let him think it was his?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He wanted me to get rid of my baby. I refused to, and he became really angry. He . . . he hurt me.” Her voice faded to a whisper.
“Oh, sweetheart,” I said, pulling her towards me. She leant on my shoulder and started crying again. I patted her back.
“And then,” she gulped with tears. “He made me have sex with him, and told me the next day he was taking me to a clinic to get rid of my baby.”
“You told Jamie about this?”
“When Merrick fell asleep, I found Jamie and told him. He wanted to kill him, but I
think Merrick has some weapons, and I was afraid that he’d hurt Jamie. So we decided to leave that night.”
“Did you come to my town straight away?”
“No. We stayed in Wattling Bay for a few months because we knew it.”
“You kept working Wattling Bay? In competition with Merrick?” I couldn’t hide my surprise at their imprudence, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“Yes. But one day we were spotted by one of the gang members. It became too dangerous for us to stay here.” She leaned back on her pillows and grabbed my hand. “Officer Tess, I’m terrified of being back here. What if he comes for me and Jamie? He thinks she’s his. He might try to hurt her again.”
“I’ll talk to the social worker and see if we can move you to somewhere safer than here. Especially now you’ve told me all of this.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Maybe even somewhere in the city. It’s easy there to lose a couple of people in amongst all the others.”
“Thank you. I knew it was the right thing to ring you.”
“Maybe, Annabel, but I am a police officer, and you’ve told me about a criminal gang operating in this town. That’s not something I can ignore. I will be talking to the detectives about what we’ve discussed today.”
She nodded, her eyes downcast. “I understand.”
“I know it can’t be easy for you to confess all this to me. I just need to ask you one more question. Where was the gang staying here in Wattling Bay?”
She rattled off an address that I wrote down, but then said, “There won’t be any point going there.”
“Why not?”
“Merrick would have moved them on when we left. I don’t even know if the gang are still here. They might be in another town by now. He’s very cautious.”
“Okay. I’m sure the police here will want to investigate anyway.”
“Not you?”
I laughed softly. “No, not me. My area is Mount Big Town. I’m not supposed to do police work here. I get in trouble when I do.”