A Doctor Beyond Compare

by MELANIE MILBURNE

  ‘I have no intention of reporting you to the Regional Board. You just got under my skin this afternoon, that’s all. It was just a throw-away line.’

  ‘Well, try this on for a throw-away line.’ She gave the door another savage nudge against his foot. ‘You can take your dinner invitation and shove it up your—’ Holly had every intention of finishing her sentence but his mobile went off just before she got to the best bit. She watched as he took it from his belt and answered it, his brow furrowing as he listened to the voice on the other end.

  ‘When?’ he asked. ‘Is she all right?’

  Holly found herself straining her ears to pick up what she could of the conversation but it was hard to make out what was being said with any accuracy, although Cameron’s expression seemed to imply that it was something serious. He ended the call and confirmed her fears.

  ‘You’d better cancel your date,’ he said grimly. ‘That was Jacinta Jensen’s mother. Apparently Jacinta was attacked earlier this afternoon. She’s only just told her mother and stepfather. They’re going to meet us at the clinic in five minutes.’

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ‘DID she tell her parents who attacked her?’ Holly asked as they made their way out to Cameron’s car, her heart thudding with alarm.

  ‘Yes, she did.’ He gave her a sobering look as he unlocked the vehicle. ‘Noel Maynard. Rob Aldridge, the local cop, is on his way out there now to bring him in for questioning. He wanted to make sure he had Noel in custody before he took a statement from Jacinta in case he went into hiding.’

  Holly strapped on her seatbelt with hands that were visibly shaking. How could she have been so easily duped? Noel’s act as the interned innocent had been so convincing, but even still she was annoyed with herself for falling for it so readily.

  ‘Still think he’s innocent?’ Cameron threw her a quick glance once they were on their way.

  ‘I was only speculating,’ she defended herself. ‘Those test results threw me a bit but I’ve since organised genetic testing.’

  ‘How did you manage that? I thought he refused to have a blood test?’

  ‘When I went out there to visit his mother he had a scratch on his arm so I dressed it for him and asked his permission to use the swab for the test.’

  ‘I thought I told you not to go out there alone.’

  ‘I didn’t want to waste time introducing myself to the pastor’s wife. I thought it would be quicker just to go straight there.’

  He angled his gaze at her once more. ‘Did he tell you how he got the scratch?’

  ‘No, but since he was carrying a bundle of sticks for kindling I assumed he’d done it on one of them.’

  ‘The Maynards, just like everyone else out at Tolly’s Hill Lookout, have electricity connected,’ he said as he pulled into the clinic car park. ‘And it’s the middle of summer, and there’s a total fire ban in place. Didn’t you think it a bit unusual for him to be carting firewood about?’

  Holly chewed her bottom lip as she thought about her oversight. When she’d gone inside with Betty to take her blood for the test she hadn’t noticed a fuel stove of any sort. She’d noticed an electric stove and cook-top but no sign of anything that would require firewood.

  ‘No…no, I didn’t…’

  ‘What time did he come back from town?’ he asked as he led the way inside. ‘Try and be as accurate as you can so Rob can profile his movements in case Maynard comes up with an alibi.’

  ‘It was mid afternoon, about three, I think.’

  Valerie Dutton came through the front door to greet them. ‘She’s in your consulting room with her mother and stepfather, Dr McCarrick. I thought it would be more private than the cubicles next door.’

  ‘Good thinking,’ Cameron said and led the way through.

  ‘Oh, thank God you could come!’ Renee Jensen cried, her face ravaged by tears. ‘Look what that animal has done to my daughter!’

  Holly looked at the slumped figure of Jacinta sitting in one of the chairs, quietly sobbing. She had a black eye and the tops of her arms were heavily marked with bruises as if someone had dug their fingertips in savagely.

  Cameron squatted down in front of her but she turned away as if she couldn’t bear to look at him and started sobbing all the harder. He exchanged a quick glance with Holly as he straightened, then, turning to Clinton and Renee, took them to one side. ‘I think it might be best if we let Dr Saxby talk to Jacinta. This has been a terrifying ordeal and we don’t have a female police officer in town. It might be better to let Holly handle this. Let’s go out and wait for Rob Aldridge to arrive. He shouldn’t be much longer.’

  ‘We’d rather stay, if you don’t mind,’ Clinton Jensen said.

  ‘I don’t want you here.’ Jacinta scowled at her stepfather.

  ‘Listen here, young lady, that is no way to speak to your—’

  ‘You’re not my father!’ she cried. ‘I hate you and your stupid son. I hate you! I wish you’d never come into our lives.’

  ‘Jacinta!’ Renee Jensen gasped. ‘How can you say that after all Clinton has done for you?’

  Cameron took Jacinta’s mother and stepfather each by the arm and led them out of the room, doing his best to reassure them as he went. ‘Dr Saxby will be able to handle this a whole lot better if we get out of the way. Come and I’ll make you both a cup of tea and you can tell me your side of this afternoon’s events.’

  Holly waited until they had gone before pulling over a chair and placing it close to Jacinta’s. ‘Jacinta, do you feel up to telling me what happened?’

  The young girl buried her head in her hands and began to sob again. ‘He grabbed me and tried to kiss me. I thought he was going to kill me.’

  Holly felt a wave of nausea pass through her. It seemed unbelievable that such a short time ago she had been sitting chatting to Noel Maynard when she’d taken the forms out to him to sign.

  ‘Did you see his face?’

  Jacinta kept her head in her hands. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Enough to give the police a good description?’

  She nodded without lifting her head from her hands.

  Holly tried to recall the sexual assault procedure she’d been taught. ‘Do you mind if I examine your injuries, Jacinta? I promise to be very gentle. You’ve had a terrible shock and it can be very traumatic recalling what happened, so only tell me what you feel comfortable telling me, OK?’

  The young girl lifted her head out of her hands but didn’t quite meet Holly’s gaze. There was nothing unusual in that, Holly reminded herself. Victims of sexual assault were often filled with shame at what had happened to them.

  ‘I don’t need examining,’ Jacinta said. ‘He didn’t do anything…sexual. He just…grabbed me and hit me in the face…’ She began to cry again.

  ‘Did he threaten you in any other way?’ Holly asked gently once Jacinta’s sobs had subsided a little.

  ‘Yes…He said if I told anyone he was going to…k-kill me.’

  ‘How did you manage to escape?’

  ‘I scratched him with my hands,’ she said.

  Holly looked down at the girl’s well-bitten fingernails. ‘Have you washed your hands since he attacked you?’

  Jacinta nodded. ‘I had a shower and scrubbed myself all over. I felt dirty and ashamed of him touching me.’

  Textbook reaction, Holly noted grimly. It was a wonder she’d reported the attack at all. So many victims didn’t.

  ‘You did the right thing reporting this, Jacinta. I know it’s hard for you but it means the police can stop this happening to someone else. The police officer will have to take a formal statement from you so charges can be laid.’

  Jacinta started to worry her bottom lip with her teeth.

  Holly held her breath. This was also textbook—the last-minute rethink about laying charges. The judicial system had had a complete overhaul in recent years over the handling of sexual assault cases but it was still a harrowing experience and far too many victims pulled the plug
at the last minute.

  ‘Your mum will support you no matter what, Jacinta,’ she said reassuringly.

  ‘I don’t want to go through with this.’ Jacinta got to her feet in agitation. ‘I can’t. I just can’t.’

  ‘But whoever did this to you must be brought to justice,’ Holly said. ‘You said you can positively identify him. That’s all the police need to begin the process. He hurt you, Jacinta. You have a black eye and bruises all over your arms. It could have been much worse and if you don’t follow through on this he could do it to someone else, maybe even one of your friends.’

  ‘Please…’ Jacinta was almost hysterical. ‘I want to go home. I don’t want to talk to the police. I don’t want to lay charges. Let me go home!’

  The door burst open and Renee Jensen came in with her arms outstretched to embrace her daughter. ‘Don’t worry, poppet. I’m here now.’ She gave Holly a quelling look over her daughter’s head. ‘I won’t let the doctor upset you any more.’

  ‘Mrs Jensen, I—’

  ‘I know all about you,’ Renee Jensen snarled. ‘The whole town is talking about it. You don’t think he did it, do you? You don’t think Noel Maynard killed Tina Shoreham and now you’ve convinced my daughter not to report what he did to her. Look at her, for God’s sake! She’s been brutalised by that murdering monster and you’re doing nothing about it!’

  Cameron had followed Mrs Jensen in with her husband. ‘Renee, this is not helping anything,’ he said. ‘Why don’t you take Jacinta home and if she feels up to speaking to Rob Aldridge later on then that can be arranged.’ He turned to Clinton. ‘Take them both home, Clinton. Call me if you have any worries during the night.’

  He turned to Holly once they’d left. ‘I take it she wasn’t very cooperative?’

  Holly let out a defeated sigh. ‘I thought I was handling it so well but as soon as I mentioned laying charges she became hysterical.’

  ‘The thought of facing your attacker in court is daunting,’ he said. ‘Did she give you any details of what happened?’

  ‘Not much…I didn’t want to push for too much in case it upset her but she said nothing sexual happened other than he tried to kiss her. He hit her on the face which blackened her eye and I assume the bruises on her arms are from where he grabbed her. She said he threatened to kill her if she told anyone. I guess that’s why she left it so late to tell her mother.’ She let out another sigh. ‘She said she’d scratched him in self-defence but she’s showered since the attack so there was no sign of blood under her already chewed-to-the-elbow nails.’

  ‘So it’s her word against his.’

  ‘I guess so…’

  Cameron glanced at his watch. ‘Did you call your date to tell him you couldn’t make it?’

  She put her hands to her face and gasped. ‘I completely forgot! He must think I stood him up or something.’

  ‘It’s only just gone eight. I’ll drop you off on my way home.’

  ‘Oh, do you mind?’ She gave him a grateful look.

  Yeah, I do, actually, Cameron thought. I hate the thought of someone else looking into those melting-chocolate eyes. I hate the thought of someone else kissing that beautiful mouth and I hate the thought of someone else thinking of a way to get her to sleep with them. Damn it! He wanted to make love to her, had wanted to from the first moment she had looked down her cute little nose at him and told him off. He hadn’t thought it possible to fall in love again after what Lenore had done to him but something about Holly had got under his guard. She was a delightful mixture of sassiness and self-doubt. He liked that about her. Lenore had been so full of confidence; nothing had ever dented it, not even when he’d first told her he wouldn’t consider living in the city. She had smiled at him smugly, confident she would eventually change his mind. She’d dismissed his convictions as if they meant nothing. Holly, on the other hand, in spite of her bad feeling towards him, had come to him and expressed her apology so sweetly it had rocked him to the core. Somehow he felt sure if she made up her mind to do something she would see it through no matter what. Her first three days in town had been nothing short of disastrous, but here she was, still going in to bat.

  ‘He might not have waited for you,’ he said.

  ‘I know…’ She gave her bottom lip a little nibble. ‘I didn’t think to get his number off him but I know he’s staying at the hotel so I can at least leave a message.’

  ‘Do you want me to wait in case he isn’t there?’ Cameron said a short time later as he pulled up in front of The Plover’s Rest.

  ‘I don’t want to put you out…’

  ‘It’s no trouble,’ he assured her. ‘What say I give you ten minutes and if he doesn’t show then at least I’ll be here to take you home?’

  ‘All right…if you’re sure…’

  He smiled even though it hurt him. ‘Go and have a good time. It’s been a tough few days, you deserve some chill-out time.’

  He watched her totter into the hotel in her ridiculously high heels. She was doing her best to disguise her limp but it only made him admire her more. Lenore would have milked her injury for all it was worth, insisted on being waited on hand and foot.

  He let out a deep sigh and, closing his eyes, leaned his head back against the headrest. He’d give her twenty minutes and after that he would go home…

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  HOLLY rushed into the hotel but the bar was almost empty apart from two men propping up the counter. There was no sign of Geoffrey and when she asked for the barman who doubled as the accommodation receptionist to call his room he informed her that Mr Cooper had left for Sydney more than half an hour ago.

  ‘Are you sure?’ she asked with a worried look.

  The barman nodded as he poured another Scotch for the elder of the men. ‘Here you go, Fred, but you’d better make it your last. I don’t want you getting into any trouble. Remember the last time. Rob Aldridge had to let you sleep it off in the lockup.’

  The man mumbled something in reply and tossed the Scotch down his throat before he turned to look at Holly. His mouth curled up in a sneer as he addressed her. ‘So, you’re the new doctor who thinks Noel Maynard’s innocent.’

  Holly felt herself stiffening as she met his mocking gaze. ‘I don’t recall saying as such publicly.’

  ‘You don’t have to in a place like Baronga Beach,’ the man said with another smirk. ‘You have only to think it and it’s the next day’s news.’ He leaned a little closer, the strong alcohol fumes wafting over her face as he added in a chilling undertone, ‘Better be careful, missy. There’s people in town who don’t like things said that shouldn’t be said or even thought about, for that matter. It could get very unpleasant for you around here, if you know what I mean.’

  Holly tightened her mouth and turned and left before she was tempted to respond.

  She made her way out to the car park and tapped on the driver’s window of Cameron’s car. He jerked awake and looked at her bleary-eyed.

  ‘Is that offer of a lift still on?’ she asked.

  He rolled down the window. ‘What happened? Did he stand you up?’

  ‘No.’ She found herself lying to him for the sake of her flagging pride.

  He glanced down at his watch. ‘Is this what they call speed-dating? You’ve been five minutes, tops.’

  ‘It’s amazing what you can find out about a person in five minutes,’ she said with a pointed look.

  He held her fiery gaze for a moment, a small smile playing around his mouth before he jerked his head towards the passenger door. ‘Come on, get in.’

  She stalked around to the passenger side and climbed in, snapping the door shut.

  ‘So, how was Geoffrey Cooper this evening—full of himself as usual?’

  She pulled down the seatbelt without answering.

  ‘Like that, huh?’

  She turned her head to glare at him. ‘What do you mean, “like that, huh”? What’s “huh”? I arranged to have a drink with him. Is that against the
law or something?’

  ‘He didn’t ask to see you again?’

  She folded her arms across her chest and wished she hadn’t backed herself into a corner by lying to him in the first place. ‘No.’

  ‘Maybe his conscience gave him a little prick. God knows it’s about bloody time.’

  She turned to look at him. ‘What do you mean?’

  He sent her a sideways glance. ‘Did he happen to mention during your five-minute date that he’s married?’

  Holly’s stomach gave a vertiginous lurch. ‘Married?’

  ‘His wife’s name is Gillian. Nice lady, if you have a thing for loud-spoken, brassy, busty blondes.’

  Holly didn’t speak again until he’d pulled into his driveway. ‘Thank you for the lift,’ she said somewhat stiffly. ‘I didn’t expect you to wait for me.’

  He gave her a twinkling grin. ‘I had nothing better to do and it was only five minutes, after all.’

  She got out of the car but he followed her right to her door.

  ‘Wait, Holly,’ he said when she put her key in the lock.

  ‘Go away.’ She gave him a little push but it was like trying to shove away concrete. Her hand connected with his hard abdomen and bounced off. ‘Ouch!’ She flapped her hand. ‘I think you’ve broken my fingers.’

  ‘Let me see.’

  ‘No!’ She snatched her burning hand out of his grasp and, fumbling with her key, unlocked the door.

  Cameron saw it first and did his best to block her vision but it was too late. She had slipped out of his hold and was now staring at the bloodied mess on the floor right in front of her.

  ‘Oh, my God…’ She stepped backwards in horror, her heart leaping to her throat, her stomach tripping in panic.

  He pulled her back from the macabre sight of blood spattered all over the newly painted walls of the hall. Feathers from a dead chicken were all around the room. There was message scrawled on one wall.

  You will be next.

  ‘Oh, my God…’ She grasped at his arms for support, her legs wobbling in shock. ‘Oh, my God…’