Little Secrets

by Anna Snoekstra

  Rose couldn’t hear what the person was saying on the other end of the phone, only the deep tones of a man’s voice.

  “That’s fantastic. Now, I had one of your drivers drop off a load a few days ago, and I just noticed the silly fellow left his hat behind. His name was Rob, I think. Rob James?”

  She paused, listening. Rose couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of doing this herself.

  “Okay... No, that’s okay. Thanks, darling! Bye-bye now.”

  Mia ended the call and looked at the phone in her hand.

  “Well?” Rose asked.

  “He said Rob was laid off six months ago.”

  PORCELAIN TERROR INTENSIFIES

  AS MORE DOLLS DISCOVERED

  by Rose Blakey

  The mystery of the porcelain dolls continues to rock the quiet town of Colmstock. It has now been confirmed that four families have received these horrifying figurines, all nearly identical to their angel-faced young daughters.

  Mr. and Mrs. Hane spoke to this reporter from their idyllic suburban home about the horror they have been experiencing during this bizarre case. “We thought it was strange,” Mrs. Hane stated, her arm around her frightened six-year-old daughter, as if to shield her from the worst of human depravity. “These are our children!” her husband added.

  The Hanes may be right to be worried. An inside source has revealed possible links to child abusers in the area. So far, local police have had no luck apprehending the perpetrator. The same source revealed they are yet to find a solid lead.

  For the Hanes, who are currently living every parent’s nightmare, their child will not be safe until this vile perpetrator is off the streets. As terrified mother Mrs. Hane stated, “It’s enough to make you sick!”

  13

  Rose rubbed her eyes.

  “Still hurting?” asked Mia.

  “Yeah.”

  Her eyes were red rimmed and stinging from too long in front of the computer screen. She’d found the thing impossible to write. All she could think about was Rob, and everything she wrote made her feel even sicker about it. She knew the article didn’t have to be long, but still, it had felt almost impossible to stretch the story any further. Plus, she hadn’t wanted to focus on the police-incompetence angle like she had before. It didn’t seem fair.

  “What if they don’t want to publish it?”

  “They will. Here.” Mia passed her the bag of sour worm lollies.

  “These are so gross,” Rose said, putting two in her mouth and wincing at the concentrated sourness on the back of her tongue.

  “Yeah,” Mia said, using her toe to skip the song that had just started playing.

  They were in Mia’s car, with the seats back as far as they would go, listening to one of Mia’s favorite CDs.

  “It was so crap—I already know they won’t want it. There just wasn’t anything new to say.”

  “Nothing new is kind of good though, right? It means no more families have gotten one.”

  “I guess.”

  Mia slumped back onto the headrest, recrossing her legs on the dashboard. “Do you really think Will might be involved? The teddy bear was probably for his niece or whatever. He did say he had family here.”

  “Maybe.”

  She knew Mia wasn’t as convinced as she was that Will was up to something. It was a hard feeling to explain, but she was going to trust it. This was something she could figure out. Rob, on the other hand, could be up to anything right now.

  Rose sucked at her bottom lip and tasted the rough, sweet sugar granules. They stared back out the windscreen. The car was parked across the road from Eamon’s. They’d been waiting there for a few hours for Will to come out, planning to follow him. So far he hadn’t made an appearance. Rose imagined him lying on his bed, reading his book probably. Resting her arms over her head, she exhaled slowly. They were probably going to be here awhile.

  “We could just ask Mr. Hane what the deal is with Rob?” Mia said. “Maybe there’s an innocent explanation.”

  “I already tried to get it out of him, remember? He’s not going to tell us.”

  They sat in silence a few minutes longer.

  “I think your car needs a wash,” Rose said, eventually. The windscreen was grimy with dust and dirt. There were squashed bugs stuck on the sides where the windscreen wipers didn’t reach.

  “I know.”

  A plastic set of purple rosary beads were hung around the rear-vision mirror. Rose watched Mia tap the cross with her toe, causing it to swing back and forth. The car was Mia’s domain. It was where Mia seemed to feel the most comfortable. She had tampons in the glove compartment, cracked CD cases all over the carpeted floor and a Polaroid of the two of them taped onto the sun visor.

  The sun started to sink. Will wasn’t going anywhere.

  “I’m sure if you told Mr. Hane how worried you are—”

  “He won’t tell me, Mia,” Rose snapped. Then, “Sorry.”

  Truth was, she really was worried, no matter how much she told herself there was no reason the two things should be connected. That just because Rob had been fired didn’t mean he had anything at all to do with the dolls. But still, the sick feeling in the back of her throat was growing.

  Mia started the ignition. “This is dumb. If we are going to stake out anyone, it should be the Hanes.”

  “I guess it’s worth a shot,” Rose said. It seemed unlikely that Rob was just going to turn up at the Hanes’ house, but she couldn’t think of a better idea.

  When they were almost at the Hanes’ street, Rose caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. A flash of orange.

  “Shit,” she said.

  “What?”

  “Turn around.”

  “Why?”

  “Just do it!”

  Mia swerved into a driveway and turned the car around, its joints creaking angrily.

  “Go left. I think I just saw the Hanes’ car go down that road.”

  “Are we following them?” Mia said, as she shot back down the street and turned the corner.

  “Yeah!” Rose laughed; they were probably just going to the supermarket.

  Mia caught up with the car when it stopped at the intersection. Through the back window they could see the back of Mr. Hane’s head.

  “He’s by himself.”

  “This is exciting!” Mia said.

  “I know. Is that depressing? We’re young. We should have more excitement in our life than this!”

  Mia shrugged, turning the music up a bit and following his red taillights. Rose was glad. She still felt sick, and she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Rob had been laid off. He was hiding it from her mum, letting her work in that factory while he did God knew what. Best-case scenario was that he had nothing at all to do with the dolls. But even then, with just her mother’s wage, how would they survive? Streetlights flashed past and the other possibility forced its way back into her head. The one she and Mia had avoided mentioning. What if the dolls meant what she’d said they had meant in her article? If it was true, Rob might have been doing something to her siblings. Doing something to Laura, in her house. Even the idea of it was unbearable.

  “Where on earth is he going?” Mia said over the music.

  “Dunno.”

  “No, seriously.” Mia turned the stereo down. “He’s going out of town.”

  Rose looked around properly. Mia was right. He was leaving Colmstock.

  “Maybe we should stop,” Mia said.

  “Aren’t you curious though? It’s Mr. Hane. It can’t be that bad.”

  “You never know—what if he’s one of those family-man serial killers you always hear about? I’m going to pull back a bit.”

  “Yeah, but don’t lose him.”

&nb
sp; Mia slowed down, letting Mr. Hane get a strong lead. After driving for another five minutes, there were no more streetlights, so even from a distance they could see the red of his brake lights, and his headlights beaming left around the corner.

  “Fuck,” Rose said, “I know where he’s going. Turn your headlights off.”

  “Why?” Mia said. “I’ll hit a roo.”

  “He’s going left—the only thing around there is Auster’s.”

  Mia turned her headlights off and pulled the car onto the gravel side strip. They both knew that this wasn’t good. Auster’s Automotive Factory had been closed down for close to a decade. No one had a legitimate reason to go there at nighttime.

  “I really want to know what he’s doing.” Rose was worried Mia was going to wimp out on her. She couldn’t just leave it; she needed to find the truth.

  “So do I,” Mia said. They grinned nervously at each other.

  “Okay,” Rose said, whispering now, “why don’t we drive up to the corner with the lights off, and then walk around the back way.”

  Mia started the ignition and began driving. “It’s probably something innocent.”

  Rose let her believe it.

  They didn’t speak as Mia slowly directed the car up the road. The dark was impenetrable. Without headlights on it was like they were sliding through negative space. She couldn’t see Mia’s face. She could barely even see her own hands. Something bad was going on; Rose felt dizzy with it. She desperately wanted to tell Mia to turn back, but instead she crossed her arms tight to stop them from trembling in the black heat.

  When they got to the corner Mia smoothly drove onto the dirt. Rose still winced at the crunch of the tires. They climbed carefully out of the car. Rose’s knees felt soft. She looked at Mia over the car’s roof but she couldn’t see her eyes, just the line of the side of her face, the shadow of her hair. She didn’t need to see her. She could feel fear coming off Mia in waves. They didn’t shut their doors, just in case the sound carried. The sky was vast and black all around them. In front of them, the steel car factory loomed, gray stone against the black. They tried to tread as lightly as they could as they approached it. Mia’s hand grasped for hers and she held it tight, feeling its clammy warmth.

  “Let’s go in from the side,” Rose whispered. Her voice sounded loud in the perfect silence. “There’s more coverage.”

  They huddled down into a half run toward the side of the building. Then, very slowly, they crept quietly toward the front entrance. The factory wall was still hot from the day’s sun. Rose could feel it radiating as she inched along next to it. Something stung at her arm and she almost yelped as she turned. It was Mia’s other hand, her fingernails digging slightly into Rose’s skin. There was light coming from somewhere; she could see Mia’s eyes now. They were shiny and dark.

  “Look,” she mouthed, and Rose felt the word hot on her cheek.

  To their left was the orange car. Rose inhaled sharply. Mr. Hane was sitting inside it. Fuck. That was where the light was coming from, the dim globe inside his car.

  There was nothing between him and them. Despite the dark, he might have already seen their movement.

  The click of his door opening echoed across the yard. Rose squeezed her lips together to stop any sound escaping. Mr. Hane took a step out, his sneakers grinding against the gravel. She could feel Mia’s whole body tremble next to her. He slapped the car door closed behind him and strode past them, so close they could smell his aftershave. If he turned his head, even an inch, he’d see them.

  A crack as he opened the heavy factory gate, and the whoosh of it closing behind him. He hadn’t seen them, thank God. They looked at each other. Rose thought she might be sick.

  “Hey, mate, you got it all?” Mr. Hane’s voice came out of the silence inside the building.

  They heard the rumble of a reply.

  “So that’s, what? Twenty kilos? Not bad!”

  Rose squeezed Mia’s hand tighter. They both knew exactly what that meant.

  There was a window about a meter in front of Rose; pale gray light was drifting out of it.

  She stepped forward, but Mia wouldn’t let go of her hand. She turned back to shoot her a look, and then shook Mia’s hand off. Colmstock’s Drug Importation Exposed. It was too good a headline to pass up. She shuffled forward, her knees up to her ears, trying not to make a sound.

  “And you didn’t have any trouble?” Mr. Hane’s voice.

  The window was right above Rose’s head now. Achingly slowly, she straightened up. Through the window, she saw Mr. Hane’s bald head and a truck packed with lawn mowers, its trailer doors open, revealing stacks of delivery boxes. And she saw her stepfather. He was sitting in the back of the truck, swinging his legs in the same way Laura did.

  “Show me,” another voice said. Familiar. Sneering.

  She craned her neck, searching for the source. There. Leaning against the wall right under her, the top of Jonesy’s head.

  “Okay, chill out, will you?” Rob went into the truck and pulled the front panel off the nearest lawn mower. Jonesy stepped forward to look inside.

  Mr. Hane turned toward some tarpaulin, and Rose shot back down.

  “Go!” she hissed at Mia.

  They shuffled back down the wall, then leaped up and ran back to Mia’s car.

  14

  Rose sat in front of her computer with the fan on high and Laura wedged between her knees. She was softly braiding the little girl’s hair. The computer screen radiated heat onto her face, but the fan made her sweat feel cold.

  Rose was alternating between Laura’s hair and refreshing her email.

  “Not too tight, Posey,” Laura said.

  She loosened her grip on Laura’s hair slightly, trying to ignore the sound of Scott and Sophie squabbling from the other room. She’d yelled at them to stop it three times this morning already and still the noise was slowly rising up again. In some ways, she didn’t blame them. Their bedroom was tiny, barely big enough for one kid, let alone two. This was one of the reasons her mum wanted her out. Rose refreshed her email again. Nothing.

  “I forgive you,” Laura said quietly.

  “For what?”

  “For getting my doll arrested.”

  Rose couldn’t help smiling.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “When can I have her back? She didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I know,” Rose said, deliberately ignoring the question. Laura was never getting that creepy thing back.

  “So, why did the policeman take her?” Laura asked.

  Rose wasn’t sure how to answer. Laura was still so small, her shoulders impossibly narrow. She twisted another section of hair into the braid. She was going to make sure it looked perfect.

  “He thought a bad man gave it to you,” Rose said eventually.

  “Why is he bad?”

  “A bad guy like you see on TV.” She wanted to explain it in a way Laura could understand.

  “Was it a bad guy?”

  Rose stopped braiding, four sections of hair held between her fingers. She thought of Will again. The way he’d pushed that she tell him what the police knew.

  “Posey? Was it a bad guy?”

  “I dunno,” she said slowly.

  “But when can I get her back?” Laura asked, turning her head. One of the bits of hair fell out from between Rose’s fingers.

  “Careful.”

  Rose picked up the pieces of hair she’d lost and continued the braid, thinking. What she’d seen last night had kept her up. If she wrote an article about it, the Star would have to publish it, surely. Maybe she could even try for the Sage Review. But if Rob went to jail, then her mother would have to support the kids on her own. Laura was already wearing hand-me-downs.

  Mi
a wanted to tell the police, but had left the decision up to Rose. She obviously didn’t want to be the one to ruin Rose’s family either.

  Rose’s mobile rang and she jumped. Answering it, she held the phone between her shoulder and her ear. It was Mia.

  “Hey,” she said. “How’d you sleep?”

  “Badly. Mr. Hane, a drug kingpin? I still can’t get my head around it.”

  They both laughed. The fear from last night had lost some of its potency.

  “Does that make Mrs. Hane a mafia wife?” Rose asked.

  “I guess! Wonder if she’s ever kneecapped anyone.”

  “Oh, God. Stop it!”

  Mia laughed. “Heard back on the new article yet?”

  Rose refreshed her email again. Nothing. “Not yet.”

  “So listen, okay.” Mia’s tone suggested she was going to say something that Rose didn’t want to hear. “I know you don’t like Frank.”

  “I don’t!”

  “I know,” she continued, “but I quite like Baz.”

  Rose held the phone properly in her hand, gripping three sections of Laura’s hair between her fingers on the other. “I know telling them is the right thing.” She spoke seriously now. “And I don’t want you to have to lie—”

  “Oh, that’s not what I meant,” Mia said, cutting in. “That’s still your call. It’s just...”

  Rose already had a feeling she knew what was coming.

  “I really want to go out with Baz.”

  “Come on, Mia!”

  “I’ve been flirting my butt off and he hasn’t seemed to notice.”

  “That’s because he’s thick as fuck.”

  Mia didn’t respond to that. “Frank mentioned that double date again and I really want to do it.”

  “No way! I don’t want to give Frank the wrong idea.”

  “Why can’t you just give him a chance? That’s all he wants.”

  “Plus, I doubt he’ll want to now, anyway. I bet he’s still pretty angry with me.”

  Mia snorted, “I’d say you’re still in with a shot.”

  “It’d be weird.”