Finally the hall light flickered on and off. Megan’s skin swam with sudden goose bumps.
Oh God. Adeline’s grandmother had robbed Eliza of not only her man and her happily ever after, but of her life. She shivered as a tear for what Eliza had lost snuck down her cheek. No wonder the ghost had taken an instant dislike to Adeline. She was the spitting image of her murderer.
The question was, what could Megan, without any proof, do to set things right?
Chapter Thirty-two
Totally buoyed for the weekend ahead, Lawson stooped down to lift his overnight bag off the floor by the front door.
‘Have a fabulous weekend,’ Tab said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. ‘And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.’
He rolled his eyes and grinned at his sister. ‘That means I can do pretty much anything.’
‘Yep.’ She smiled and nodded. ‘Live recklessly. You deserve the break. And don’t call home every five seconds, okay? Both Ned and I will be fine and we’ll phone if there are any emergencies. Just enjoy yourself.’
‘I promise I’ll try,’ he replied as Tab turned to open the front screen door for him. It felt a little reckless heading off on a naughty getaway with his girlfriend the day after they’d been given the devastating news about their dairy contract, but, as Tab had said, spending the weekend lamenting their problems likely wouldn’t resolve them.
And the truth was, his arm hadn’t needed much twisting.
The fact the retreat had a cancellation and thus could fit them in at such short notice made it feel as if it were meant to be.
‘Well, hurry up then.’ Tab gestured through the now open door. ‘You don’t want to leave her waiting.’
‘All right, all right, I’m going.’ Lawson chuckled as he stepped through the door and headed for his ute, once again finding himself whistling as he walked.
He was putting his bag in the back tray when he heard a vehicle coming up the drive. Not expecting anyone, he frowned and squinted a little, identifying it as Adeline’s pristine white four-wheel drive. How did she keep it so clean? And what the hell was she doing there? He groaned. If he got stuck talking to Adeline, he could be waylaid for ages.
With this thought, he wrenched open the door of his ute, jumped inside, turned the key in the ignition and sped off down the drive. He offered Adeline a cheery wave as he passed but couldn’t be sure she saw it due to the dust blowing up between the two vehicles.
Sorry, Tabitha, she’s all yours.
He didn’t slow down until he reached the end of the gravel driveway and turned right on the road that would take him to Rose Hill. Then, he let out the breath he’d been holding since he’d leaped into the ute, and smiled. With the car stereo blaring and the responsibilities of the farm getting further and further behind him, Lawson felt lighter than he had in years. Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel and singing along to his favourite country song, he let his imagination run away with him dreaming of what he and Meg would get up to in Margaret River. He’d booked them into a flash restaurant for the evening—he’d meant it when he said he planned on wining and dining her before keeping her up all night.
The sound of a horn blaring snapped him from his fantasy. He glanced up into the rear-view mirror and the smile fell from his face. ‘What the …?’
Adeline’s four-wheel drive was so close to his back bumper that if he braked fast she’d slam into him. Her lights were flashing on and off and she hadn’t taken her hand off the horn. He’d been so lost in fantasies of the weekend ahead he hadn’t even noticed her following him.
Cursing loudly, he indicated to stop, giving her a chance to back off a little, and then he pulled over onto the gravel strip at the side of the road.
‘This better be good, Adeline,’ he called, slamming the driver-side door shut behind him and crunching across the gravel towards her.
She was already out of her four-wheel drive and heading towards him, clutching what looked like a bunch of papers to her chest. ‘I’m afraid it’s not good at all, it’s terrible. But please, don’t shoot the messenger.’
Lawson folded his arms across his chest, making his annoyance clear. ‘Whatever game you’re playing, I don’t have time. I’m going away for the weekend, to use that spa retreat I won.’
Adeline’s lower lip wobbled a little as she nodded. ‘You’re going with her, aren’t you?’
He swallowed and tried to maintain his cool. ‘If by her you mean Meg, then yes.’
‘Then I’m glad I got to you in time. There’s something you need to know about her.’
‘If this is about Meg not drinking tea again, then I really don’t want to—’
‘It’s not.’ She held up the hand not holding the papers to silence him. ‘This is serious, Lawson.’ A brief pause and then she landed the blow. ‘She killed someone.’
Chapter Thirty-three
Friday morning dragged longer than any other morning of Megan’s life, even worse than the day she’d been in court waiting for the verdict of her case. First she’d gone for a long run with Cane to try and combat her nerves and then she’d spent hours in the kitchen, cooking meals to take to Archie for the weekend, but nothing had been able to distract her entirely. Lawson sent a few messages of excitement and she’d responded accordingly, while inside every bone in her body had been rattling.
Although Archie had encouraged her to wait until they were in Margaret River to tell Lawson every last awful detail about her past, she’d made the decision to tell him the moment he arrived. No way she’d be able to sit in his ute alongside him for the time it would take to get to the retreat and pretend everything was hunky dory. Then there was the horror of being left stranded there if he decided he no longer wanted anything to do with her.
Her nails were bitten down to the quick and she’d cooked far more than Archie could ever eat by the time midday finally rolled around. With less than half an hour until Lawson was due to pick her up, she clipped Cane’s leash onto his collar, filled a large green recycled bag with the food she’d made for Archie and then started up the road to his place.
The first sign that something was wrong came when Buster didn’t greet her at the gate with his usual grumpy bark.
‘Archie!’ she called to alert him to her arrival as she lifted the latch to open the gate.
Before it was fully open, she saw her old friend lying on the ground, half-on-half-off the patio and his face in full sun. Buster lay beside him, his head resting on his chest, his eyes drooping as he looked up at her. Letting the leash and the shopping bag fall to the ground, Megan rushed over to Archie and dropped to her knees beside him.
‘Get out of the way,’ she ordered Buster, pushing him off as she bent over him and looked into his pale face.
‘Archie, wake up.’ Panicking, she shook his shoulders but there was no response. She bent her face to check for his breath. Nothing.
Cane came up alongside her and tried to shove his nose between herself and Archie.
‘Go away,’ she yelled. He cowered as if she’d hit him but she didn’t have time to feel bad.
Her heart thudding, she searched for Archie’s pulse. Weak but there. Just.
Had he had a heart attack? Or fallen and knocked his head?
CPR. You need to start CPR. Don’t ask questions; just act.
She rolled Archie onto his side—he wasn’t a large man so it wasn’t too difficult—and checked for obstructions in his throat. Satisfied there weren’t any, she rolled him onto his back again and prayed she could remember what she’d learned during the first aid course she’d done in prison.
Three compressions in, she remembered the need to call an ambulance. Stupidly she glanced around, looking for someone to delegate the task to, but all she saw were two terrified dogs.
Dammit. Another few compressions, a couple of breaths into his mouth, and she dug her phone from where she’d shoved it in the pocket of her skirt. She punched triple zero into the keypad, then put it on speaker and
rested it beside her as she continued pumping Archie’s chest.
It rang once and then a voice came from the phone. ‘Emergency services. Do you require police, fire or ambulance?’
‘Ambulance!’
‘Connecting you now.’
While she continued CPR, she spoke to someone, giving them the bare details—her friend was unconscious, no she wasn’t sure how long he’d been like this—and Archie’s address. The operator assured her an ambulance crew would be with her as soon as possible.
Megan couldn’t say how long that was, but by the time the dogs barked alerting her to the arrival of a man and a woman dressed in green uniforms, her arms ached and tears streamed down her face. Archie’s condition hadn’t changed at all.
‘We’ll take over now,’ ordered the man.
As the ambulance officers dropped to their knees on either side of Archie, Megan gratefully crawled back and tried to catch her own breath. Her legs were almost as shaky as her arms and she couldn’t find the strength to stand just yet. She watched in horror as they assessed and then shocked Archie with a defibrillator and his lifeless body shuddered. Silently, she prayed—she prayed to a God she wasn’t sure she believed in any longer, begging him to save this kind, lovely man who’d become a friend, an ally and almost a father-figure these last few weeks.
Finally, the officers looked at each other and let out audible breaths of what she hoped was relief. They quickly rolled him into the recovery position.
‘Is he going to be okay?’ Megan asked.
The woman glanced up as the man applied some kind of oxygen mask to Archie’s face. ‘We’ve got him stable but we need to get him to the hospital as soon as possible.’
All she could do was nod as they turned their attention back to Archie. She felt helpless and hoped she hadn’t done anything to make his situation worse.
After a few more minutes, the male officer announced he was off to get the stretcher.
Megan leaped to her feet and ran to open the gate for him. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’
‘Just keep the dogs back,’ the officer said as he strode towards the ambulance, which was parked between the petrol bowsers.
She grabbed hold of Cane just as he made a dash to follow after the man. Thankfully, she hadn’t unclipped his leash. Buster hadn’t moved from his position a few feet from Archie. He hadn’t growled or tried to interfere with the medical attention—almost as if he knew the officers were trying to help.
Five minutes later, they were wheeling Archie through the gate towards the waiting ambulance.
‘Which hospital are you taking him to?’ Megan planned to follow immediately behind.
‘Walsh,’ the officers said in unison, making her feel a little stupid, but she hadn’t been sure whether they’d take him to a larger hospital in Bunbury or even Perth.
The mention of Walsh sent a shockwave through her body. In the chaos of Archie’s medical emergency, she’d almost forgotten why she’d been over here in the first place.
Her chest squeezed as if she were having a heart attack. Shouldn’t Lawson be here by now? She looked down at her phone, which she’d scooped off the ground only moments before, to check the time. Yes, it was definitely well past the time he’d agreed to collect her, but surely he’d have seen the ambulance zoom past him on his way into Rose Hill and would’ve guessed why she wasn’t at the general store waiting. Frowning, she took a few steps forwards so she had a clear view down the road, but there was no ute parked in front of her place.
She thought he’d have called if he were going to be late, but the only action her phone had recently had was with Triple Zero.
As the doors of the ambulance slammed shut, the female officer said, ‘You did well. If it weren’t for you, Archie wouldn’t have stood a chance.’
Megan blinked. ‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘for all you’ve done. I’ll make sure the dogs have water and then I’ll be right behind you.’
Once again life had thrown an obstacle in the way of her coming clean to Lawson, but she couldn’t very well send Archie off to hospital on his own. The thought of him waking up in a cold, clinical room all alone and wondering what had happened didn’t bear thinking about.
The woman smiled for the first time and then trekked round to the driver’s side of the ambulance and climbed up into the seat. She pulled the door shut behind her and seconds later they were gone.
Megan rubbed her hands up and down her arms, which felt cold, despite the warm weather. Should she take this as a sign? Maybe fate was trying to tell her something? The sound of Cane barking on the other side of the gate, jolted her from her thoughts and snapped her into action. She collected the food from the ground, put it away, filled the dogs’ water bowls and then made sure they’d be secure in the yard until she got back.
‘Be good,’ she ordered Cane, who looked at her with his head cocked to one side as she snuck out the gate again.
Without Archie, Rose Hill seemed eerily quiet, which was ridiculous considering that when Megan had first arrived she’d welcomed the ghost-town feel. The fact there was still no sign of Lawson only added to her uneasiness.
As she jogged down the street to get her keys and purse, she tried to call him but the rings continued until his voicemail clicked in. Trying to ignore her worry that something else terrible had happened, she left a quick message telling Lawson about Archie and that he’d find her at the Walsh hospital.
Chapter Thirty-four
It took a second or two for Adeline’s words to register. Lawson’s face screwed up in confusion and then every last inch of him turned to ice. She killed someone? Even as his mind asked this question, he shook his head.
No, it can’t be true.
If Meg had killed someone, she’d be in prison. And he’d seen the way she was with Ned, with Cane, the way she spoke about looking out for Archie—she wasn’t a killer. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
Adeline didn’t even flinch at his harsh tone. ‘She’s a drug addict and a murderer. I’m so sorry to be the one to drop this bombshell.’ Then she lifted her hand and rested it on his upper arm—he was so shocked he barely registered it. ‘But I care about you and Ned so much that I’d never have forgiven myself if I didn’t tell you. I’ve not had a good feeling about Meg right from the start. I couldn’t sleep easy until I checked her out.’
‘What do you mean checked her out?’
‘I consulted the real estate agent that sold her the building and found out her real name—oh, did I mention she’s been lying about that too? Her real name is Megan McCormick. Once I knew her true identity, it didn’t take long to find out the truth. It’s all over the internet.’ She thrust the papers towards him.
He glanced down and saw she’d printed off online newspaper articles. The headline Deli Manager Killed—Armed Robbers Caught flashed out at him making him feel physically ill.
‘Was it even legal for the estate agent to give you her details?’ he asked.
Her eyes widened. ‘I’m not the one at fault here, Lawson. I only did what I did because I love you. I’ve always loved you.’ She moved her hand further up his arm and took a step closer but he shook her hand off and stepped back out of her grasp.
He held up his hands, warning her not to come another step closer. How could she stand there and talk about loving him when she’d just detonated a bomb in his world?
Adeline blinked, rubbed her lips together and then said. ‘I’m sorry, Lawson. Please. Talk to me. I want to be here for you.’
‘I don’t give a damn what you want!’ Right now he didn’t even want her in his sight.
He could actually feel the blood coursing through his body, his heart beating so fast he could hear it in his ears, yet strangely he struggled to catch his breath. Somehow he turned and stumbled back to the ute.
He couldn’t remember climbing into the driver’s seat, turning the key in the ignition or doing a U-turn on the road and heading back towards the farm, but less than
five minutes later he arrived home. Leaving his overnight bag in the back, not even bothering to close the ute’s door or discard his shoes on the porch as he usually did, Lawson stormed inside and made a beeline for the computer in their home office.
‘Did you forget something?’ Tab called from the kitchen.
He didn’t answer. He sat down on the swivel chair and got into the search engine. His fingers shaking—the affect of shock and anger combined—he tapped Megan McCormick and pressed enter.
A second later he had all the information he never wanted to have. Meg had obviously darkened her hair colour since the photos in the image gallery, grown it out and chopped a fringe but unless she had a twin or a doppelganger, then every awful accusation Adeline had made was true. Almost exactly the time he’d lost Leah to a senseless attack, Meg (or rather Megan) and her boyfriend had been taking the life of someone else’s loved one.
Had there ever been a bigger fool than him? She’d been lying to him by omission from that very first day and he’d fallen hook, line and sinker for her beauty and charms. Had she been laughing at him all along? Getting close to someone else, opening his heart to the possibility of a future with another woman had been a huge thing for him, not something he’d done lightly, and that only made this discovery worse.
Tab entered the room. ‘What’s going on? Why are you back?’
His stomach feeling as if it might expel his lunch at any moment, Lawson couldn’t bring himself to utter what an idiot he’d been. Instead, he stood and thrust his finger at the computer screen. Giving him a confused look, Tab stepped forwards and stooped down to peer at the screen.
He heard her gasp—‘Oh my God’—as he headed for the door and stormed out onto the back verandah. As he stood there wondering What next?, his phone started ringing. He knew it was Meg, but he dug it out of his pocket and glanced down at the screen to be sure. Then he lifted his arm and hurled the phone into the backyard. While Clyde leaped off the verandah and ran off in pursuit, Lawson turned around and punched his fist into a wooden railing.
Talk of the Town Page 31