Covet

by Tara Moss

  ‘So what do you think of my posse?’ she asked.

  The officers of the day were sitting in the breakfast area near the elevators across the lobby. Although they were in plain clothes, they were conspicuous by their ‘alert-idleness’—reading the paper with their eyes elsewhere, backs too straight, looking a little too awake. Mak had noticed that they were watching her and Andy with interest. Perhaps they knew something about the past they had shared. She supposed everyone knew.

  ‘Yeah, I spotted them.’

  ‘Recognise them?’

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘They’re not detectives. They’ve been alright with you, I hope?’

  ‘I couldn’t say yet. I’ve only had those two since nine this morning.’ She leaned towards him and lowered her voice. ‘So do you really think Ed would bother coming after me? It would be a bit risky for him, wouldn’t it?’

  Andy didn’t say anything at first and Mak waited for an answer. She went to take a sip of her latte, but her stomach had begun freezing up at the thought of Ed.

  Will he really come after me?

  ‘Mak, I don’t think we should take any chances,’ Andy told her. ‘I’m glad we have protection for you while you’re here. Risk and rationale have little to do with how someone like Ed Brown operates. The whole time he was in remand they kept his cell pretty spartan, but when they turned it over the other day they found a newspaper photo of you taped to the back of a picture of his mother. That’s not good. He would have had to go to some lengths to hide it, too.’

  The base of Makedde’s skull began to ache. He had a photo of me. Her toe began to tingle. It soon became a full-blown itch.

  ‘Right,’ she said in a dull voice.

  ‘I wasn’t sure if I should tell you that, but I think it’s best that you know everything. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have forgotten about you. I thought you should know.’

  Jesus. He is going to try to come after me. He really is.

  ‘Mak, I…’ He trailed off. ‘I’ll be sad to see you go tonight.’

  ‘I know, Andy, but I think we both agree that it’s best.’

  He took her statement in, and said nothing. She wanted him to say something, anything. She realised that some part of her wanted him to protest. But he remained silent.

  ‘I had a good time, Andy,’ she said, holding back her emotions.

  ‘Me too,’ he said.

  It really was over. That was it.

  CHAPTER 33

  Lisa Milgate was in a foul mood.

  In her own mind, she had long since reverted to her maiden name. Inconveniently, however, she was still technically Lisa Harpin, though not for much longer. Her soon-to-be ex-husband had not returned any of her recent phone calls, and now she had to resort to knocking on his door. His lack of respect for her time infuriated her. Did Ben think she had nothing better to do than chase him around?

  This is probably some lame attempt to rekindle our relationship, Lisa thought as she parked her new baby-blue Jaguar in the street—a gift from Heinrich, complete with custom paint job. She stepped out of the car and squinted narrowly at the house that was once their marital home. The yard looked unkempt. Ben had obviously not cut the lawn recently. The neighbours would be unhappy with him, she thought. There were certain standards that must be kept.

  He knows I’ll come knocking. He’ll be loving this. The arsehole.

  Lisa wanted her divorce. Now. And she wasn’t going to take any more of Ben’s procrastination. It had been just over a year since she had moved out and moved on, and now she wanted to make it legal. She stormed up the driveway to the front door with her fists clenched. The familiar doorbell chimed through the house. Lisa waited impatiently for the sound of Ben’s footsteps. She thought she heard something stir upstairs.

  Come on, hurry up.

  She pressed the bell again and anticipated his presence at the door, probably wearing a filthy T-shirt and jogging pants, looking as if he hadn’t left the house in days. She stood ready with her hands on her hips, chest out. Her new car was parked directly across the lawn so he couldn’t possibly miss it. He would take one look and know how beyond him she was. Success is the best revenge. He couldn’t argue with that.

  Lisa was distinctly uninterested in having any discussions with Ben about saving their marriage, or about the prospect of marriage counselling, which is what he kept asking for. He’d fucked around on her and the time for negotiation was over. She was with Heinrich now, and that was that. Heinrich, who among other positive characteristics had a job, for starters.

  She leaned on the doorbell.

  No answer.

  This is bullshit. He’s in there. I heard him. He’s in there sitting on his damn couch in front of the damn television drinking a damn beer and ignoring me.

  Lisa tossed back her hair, set her mouth with grim determination and laid into the door with the palms of both hands.

  ‘Open up!’

  ‘Who is that woman? What does she want?’ Ed Brown demanded, holding the Prison Lady tight by the arm and squeezing fiercely. He had her on her knees, frozen with fear. The two were in the living room near the closed curtains, being as quiet and still as possible until the intruder went away. Ed pulled the curtains aside a fraction and peered out at the stranger, not letting go of Suzie’s arm. The woman was not budging.

  ‘Who is this person?’ he whispered again, angrily.

  With the Prison Lady kneeling on the carpet in pathetic, numb silence, the strange woman continued to drum on the front door and yell. Was she a neighbour? A friend of the Prison Lady? Would she bring the police? Was she a plainclothes police officer herself?

  ‘Ben, open up!’ the woman shouted, and rang the doorbell several times in quick succession.

  Ben? Who is Ben?

  ‘Ed, sweetheart, just calm down,’ the Prison Lady began in a whisper.

  Ed looked down at her impassively. Pleading on her knees as she was, she looked like she was praying to Jesus, as if he, Ed Brown, were the Saviour himself. It was almost enough to make him laugh out loud.

  ‘I can explain…’

  ‘Dammit, I know you’re in there!’ came the screeching voice outside the front door.

  ‘Who is she?’ Ed demanded with another hot flash of rage. With one mighty shove he pushed the Prison Lady to the ground until her face was squished into the carpet.

  ‘It’s okay, honey…just relax. I’ll explain everything, I promise,’ she managed to say in a voice muffled by the carpet. ‘Don’t look out the window again or she might see you.’

  Ed let go of her and stood rigid next to the closed curtains. He wanted to peek out again and see if the police were surrounding the house. But maybe she was right. Someone might see the curtains move. He turned towards the entrance to the kitchen and spotted the knife rack. He could take one of those and put it to the Prison Lady’s throat. He could use her as a hostage if the police stormed in.

  ‘It’s okay…It’s okay…’ the Prison Lady mumbled, still on her knees.

  He ignored her and listened for movement outside. After a few tense minutes, the knocking finally stopped.

  Ed heard heels click on the driveway. He peered through a crack in the curtains and saw the woman get into the shiny blue sports car, slam the door and drive away. Relief. Things were quiet again. The emergency had passed. For the moment, at least.

  Ed paced in circles in the living room, trying to calm himself and decide what to do. Ed did not like surprises. He did not deal well with surprises. When he did anything, he planned it carefully. Everything had to be perfect. Organised. The last time he had been surprised it was by Andy Flynn and his detective partner when he had been alone with Makedde, and that surprise had led to his arrest. The deep, jagged scar on his shoulder was testament to the bullet that had brought him down, but not killed him. No, he did not like surprises at all.

  Ed had never before been at the mercy of someone else in a situation like this, except for his mother. His head was full of murder n
ow. He imagined grabbing the Prison Lady and gutting her with one of the kitchen knives. He’d spotted a hefty butcher’s blade that would be suitable for that purpose. He could gut her, grab whatever valuables he could carry and speed off in the car. Then there would be no more surprises or unanswered questions. No more of this ugly woman with her awful kisses and dirty mouth. It would all be up to him again. He could be out of the city in an hour with a carload of things to pawn. The main problem was that if he killed her now, the hope of getting a decent amount was gone. The money he got for what he sold would quickly dry up, he knew, and getting a job at the moment was not an option. That simple reality stopped him. He’d waited this long. Killing her now was not in his plan. He had to calm himself and think.

  Be nice to her. You still need her money. Don’t kill her yet. Just find out who that was and how much time you have to get out.

  ‘Sweetheart, don’t worry. That was nothing…’ the Prison Lady was saying, still trying to placate him. Noticing that he was calming down, she rose slowly from her knees, apologetic. ‘Darling, I’m so sorry. I understand you must be scared. Just trust me. There is nothing to worry about. I can explain,’ she said.

  Now Ed was calm enough to talk and to hear her explanation. He tried his best to be civil for the sake of the money. ‘Oh, darling,’ he said, ‘I’m sorry for getting angry. I guess I’m just so worried about the police. I’m sorry if I hurt you.’

  ‘It’s okay, honey. I understand!’ She rushed to him and squeezed his hand. She seemed surprisingly eager to forgive his temper, and grateful that he was being kind to her again. Ed had not seen this sort of behaviour before. Not towards him, anyway.

  ‘Let’s sit down and you can tell me why someone was at the door,’ he said gently.

  They walked to the couch holding hands. Her skin felt greasy and he looked forward to washing as soon as he decently could. Ed was still on edge, but his panic was gradually fading. The sweat had dried on his brow. His head was quiet again and he could think rationally. He sat beside the Prison Lady and let her speak.

  ‘Well, I…I wanted this lovely home for us. A perfect love nest,’ she began.

  ‘Yes, darling. But we can’t have people knocking on the door.’

  ‘I know, I know…but, what I am trying to tell you is that this house was my brother’s before you came, you see.’

  ‘Your brother’s?’

  ‘Yes, Ben. Ben is my brother. The deceased family member I was talking about. That was his wife, Lisa, at the door. But this isn’t her house. She left him. It’s Ben’s…This is where I must make a confession. I should have told you before, I guess, but I didn’t want to burden you. I hope you’re not angry with me.’

  ‘Just tell me what it is. How could I be angry with you?’ He stroked her ugly face with the same hand she had already dirtied with her sweaty palm. ‘You, the woman who believed in me? The woman who saved me?’

  She smiled with thin lips. Now she seemed ready to tell him.

  ‘I had to get rid of my brother so we could stay here,’ the Prison Lady said.

  What was she saying: ‘get rid of’?

  ‘Sweetheart,’ he said. ‘I understand. You just did what you had to do, right?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘That’s okay, darling. I’m proud of you.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes. Where is your brother now?’ he asked her gently.

  ‘He’s in the freezer downstairs.’

  Suzie Harpin took Ed Brown by the hand. He was her first boyfriend in two decades and she already knew that he was the love of her life. Ed was the man she had waited for and was destined to be with. He was the man she would marry. And that was why she knew he would understand what she had done.

  They descended into the basement of the house Suzie had made theirs. She did her best to explain it all to him, and he had seemed very understanding so far. Now all that was left was to show him. He had insisted that he wanted to see.

  I had to do it for us, you see. So we could be together…

  Suzie really hoped he wouldn’t be mad with her. They just had to get through these first few days, and then everything would be wonderful for them. She just had to explain everything and he would appreciate how much she had sacrificed for him. Then they could live together like Brooke and Ridge without anyone getting in the way. Not Ben and his bitch of an estranged wife. Not the police. Not anyone.

  ‘Sweetheart,’ Ed said as they walked down the stairs, ‘you know we have to share everything now.’ He squeezed her hand gently.

  She nodded. He was right. She was so glad that he understood.

  Ed, her boyfriend, had lost his temper. She had to accept that. It had been scary and Suzie had not liked it at all. It wasn’t right for him to push her down like that and she had thought momentarily of retaliating. Suzie had imagined hitting Ed with something hard until she could overpower him, and then locking him in the bedroom until he apologised. But she was glad she hadn’t done any of those things. After some calm consideration she had realised that those kinds of little hiccups were to be expected. Even the world’s greatest romances sometimes got off to a rocky start. Ed had spent over a year and a half in a cell on his own at Long Bay. That was a lot of time, and Suzie knew first-hand that it could be a harsh and loveless place. It would take some time for him to feel safe again and to trust another person after all he had been through. That was okay. Suzie would show him how safe and loved he was. She would show him, and then things like what happened when Lisa was banging on the door would never happen again. She had to allow for a period of adjustment. That was only fair.

  But first she had to show him what she had done.

  ‘Sweetheart, please don’t be upset with me,’ she repeated as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

  ‘How could I be upset with you? You saved me, darling. You are the love of my life.’

  Suzie smiled. Ed was just like Ridge Forrester sometimes. So romantic. So forgiving and understanding. She had to be understanding, too, she reminded herself. She had to overlook any little temper flares he might have in the beginning. That was a natural, normal part of any relationship. Just look at Ridge and the time he and Bridget had kissed. Ridge and Brooke were able to get past that little indiscretion, and have a happy, romance-filled marriage. It was not Ed’s fault that he got nervous or scared or paranoid or angry. It was not his fault if he was sometimes taken off guard. He was only human.

  They reached the internal garage door. Suzie opened it and switched the light on. The fluorescent tubes flickered on with a hum, the air chilly and a bit dusty. Suzie was wearing little lacy socks that she had bought especially to look pretty around the house, and the cold of the concrete seeped through the thin fabric to the soles of her feet. She shivered.

  ‘That’s the freezer there,’ she said, pointing. ‘I’m sorry about the mess. I had to make room to fit him in.’ There were still a couple of wet spots on the floor.

  Ed looked at the floor and frowned. Now Suzie felt bad that she hadn’t mopped it up. She was new at all this domesticity and it didn’t come naturally. She just never imagined that she would take him down there. Not so soon, anyway. She would have cleaned it up perfectly and mopped up every last drop of water if she had known. He was so tidy himself.

  Ed started towards the freezer, walking around the water on the concrete floor, as one walks around cockroaches or dead rats.

  ‘So, ahh, your brother is in here?’ he said, gesturing to the freezer.

  She nodded.

  The freezer was about a metre and a half long, and deep enough that it came up to Suzie’s waist. Suzie stepped up to it, curled her fingers under the top and lifted. The suction let go with a tiny fwaap.

  ‘Just understand that I did this for us,’ she said. ‘I had to.’

  ‘I know, honey. You did what you had to do. I’m proud of you,’ he said.

  He loves me. He really loves me.

  Now Suzie and Ed peered inside the freezer tog
ether, looking down at a variety of frozen foods and ice.

  ‘He’s well hidden, you see,’ she explained. ‘I was careful.’ Someone could come in with their groceries and not have any idea that her brother was in there. He was near the bottom and there was a fair lot of food on top, even after the things she had taken out. She began to pull the food out and Ed helped. Eye fillet. Roast. An ice cream container filled with leftovers. Frozen meat pies. White bread. A bag of frozen peas bearing the image of the smiling Jolly Green Giant.

  And there, under the Jolly Green Giant, was Ben’s head, looking like a fleshy pink-coloured shrink-wrapped bowling ball, and almost as heavy. If you didn’t know what you were looking at it might take some time to figure out the contours. Suzie pulled it out and Ed took it out of her hands without saying a word. He turned it this way and that and examined it through the layers of Glad Wrap. He started to unwrap it.

  Please don’t let him be mad at me. Please.

  It had been a messy job. Unpleasant to be sure. The bathtub had been a swamp of flesh and blood by the time she was done. But it was nothing that hours of scrubbing had not eventually fixed. In the end, she had managed to fit Ben inside the freezer in only eight pieces—head, torso, upper legs, lower legs and arms.

  Ed had unwrapped part of the head, leaving only a layer or two of Glad Wrap around it, making the features of the face—eyelashes, swollen lips and tongue—visible beneath the clear plastic. He was now inspecting the other seven parcels with interest.

  To Suzie’s delight, he did not seem upset at all.

  He understands.

  He loves me.

  I’m so lucky to have found him. He is my perfect lovebird.

  CHAPTER 34

  ‘I guess this is goodbye,’ Makedde said.

  Andy nodded.

  The porter had taken her bags, and now they stood ill-at-ease in the foyer of her hotel suite. Andy had his hands in his pockets.

  Don’t go.

  Mak was wearing a woolly pullover that fell off one smooth, tanned shoulder, and a pair of designer jeans with stylish but unnecessary pockets all over them. They fitted her beautifully, as everything seemed to. She had flat shoes on for once, so she didn’t seem as tall as she usually did. Her hands were in her pockets as well, and her head down. Her carry-on bag, an oversized black leather purse, was on the floor by her feet. The door was closed behind them and Andy was painfully aware that this might be their last moment of privacy, perhaps ever. Her flight was at 21.35, less than two and a half hours away. She had to go. If he was going to do something, he had to do it now.