Along Country Roads

by Mandy Magro

  ‘So where do we go from here?’ Ryan said exactly what she was thinking.

  Sighing heavily, Sergeant Fuller placed his notepad and pen back in his pocket. ‘I’ll explain where we stand at the moment, and then we can all decide what to do. I believe everything you’re saying, Tilly, so please don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s your word against Mr Lewis’s. It’s a sorry state of affairs, I know, but that’s how the law works. As this has all happened across the Northern Territory border, the New South Wales police have no jurisdiction over this case. The only way it could be dealt with would be for you to go back there and have the matter heard before a court.’

  Matilda shook her head resolutely. ‘There’s no way I’m ever going back.’

  ‘Well, in that case, nothing will happen on either side with the domestic violence issues, but as for the accusations of a stolen vehicle, it will be up to Mr Lewis as to whether he wants to press charges, or not.’

  ‘What happens to me if he does?’

  ‘Then the matter will be brought before a judge, but don’t you worry, I will be strongly advising Mr Lewis it would be much better for him to not press charges in this matter.’

  Matilda was surprised to notice Sergeant Fuller’s jaw clench as he raked his hand through his shock of copper hair.

  ‘Does he know you’ve found me?’

  Cracking his knuckles Sergeant Fuller shook his head. ‘I’ve notified the Northern Territory police we’ve found the car and that I will be questioning you, but to my knowledge Mr Lewis has not been advised of anything as yet.’

  ‘Oh thank God.’

  ‘But there is the matter of him needing to collect the vehicle from where it’s impounded at the police station in town here, Tilly.’

  Her relief was short-lived. She sucked in a shaky breath. ‘So then he will know where I am.’

  ‘I won’t be divulging your actual address here at Heartsong, in fact I will lead him to believe you have left town, not that that’s something I am meant to do.’

  Matilda wished she could move from the couch. She needed to walk, pace, run, scream—do anything but sit still any longer. ‘Yes, but seeing as his car is here he will put two and two together and know I’m still here, in Moonstone Valley. He may be an arsehole, but he’s far from an idiot.’

  The sergeant nodded. ‘It will be left to him to assume if you are still here or not. I won’t be making him privy to such information. I can give you my word on that.’

  Desperation filled her. ‘Can I get a restraining order placed against him?’

  ‘Yes, you can, but to be honest, it won’t be worth the paper it’s written on because he lives in the Northern Territory and you are here in New South Wales. Also, to have one placed, you have to appear in court, with Mr Lewis, to plead to the judge why you want one put against him in the first place.’

  ‘Whatever happened to protecting the innocent?’ Matilda threw her hands up in the air and groaned. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths.

  ‘So basically, what you’re saying, is there’s nothing you can do to protect her?’ Ryan’s voice was laced with irritation.

  Sergeant Fuller managed a deadpan expression, although his sorrow-filled eyes spoke otherwise. ‘Apart from parking out the front and keeping watch twenty-four-seven, which is an impossibility, I have my limits, Ryan.’

  ‘For God’s sake, Jim, you of all people know only too well what can happen to a woman in this situation. Is Tilly meant to be close to death, or worse, before the law does anything? This is so ridiculous.’

  Matilda was taken aback to hear Ryan call the sergeant by his first name, and also to curse so strongly in front of him. The two men exchanged tense glances, something unspoken passing between them. What was going on here? Ryan’s arm tightened protectively around her shoulders. His nostrils flared and his face reddened in anger.

  There was a measured silence as Sergeant Fuller looked out the lounge-room window. His hands were clenched, his knuckles white. ‘Yes, I do know, Ryan, as of course do you, but as much as I wish I could do something, there’s nothing I can do legally. But with that said …’ He brought his gaze back to them, the burden and shadows in his eyes tugging at Matilda’s heart. This man had clearly seen the devil’s work throughout his time as a police officer. ‘If Troy Lewis does show up here, or anywhere near you or Tilly for that matter, contact me straight away and I’ll take whatever action I can to keep you both safe and out of harm’s way. Please believe me when I say I’m not taking his threat to Tilly’s life lightly.’

  ‘I’m a big boy. I don’t need you to protect me, Jim, it’s Tilly I’m worried about.’

  ‘Naturally so.’ The sergeant heaved another heavy sigh. His face was even more solemn than before. ‘Just promise me, Ryan, that if the situation does present itself, you won’t take matters into your own hands. You know what can happen if you do, and as proven before, not a lot of good can come of it.’

  Proven before, what were these two men on about? Matilda shot a glance from one to the other, trying to work it out. She had to bite her tongue not to ask.

  ‘I can’t promise you a damn thing.’ Ryan’s voice was brusque as he tugged his arm from around Matilda’s shoulder. ‘Because, as proven before, if the law doesn’t step in where it should things can get out of hand and innocent people can lose their lives.’

  ‘I couldn’t do anything other than make a house call, Ryan, which is what I did when you notified me of your concerns, and she told me there was nothing to worry about.’ Sergeant Fuller shook his head.

  Matilda found herself becoming more and more confused, and more and more curious.

  His lips set in a grim line as he held Ryan’s gaze. ‘Look, I know this would be bringing up unwanted memories for you, but a very strong word of advice: as you’ve seen, you’re not above the law, Ryan, no matter what, okay. I’m not in a position to get you out of trouble if you choose to overlook this. Last time you were fortunate, but this time round you might not be so lucky.’

  Ryan remained silent, his gaze steely.

  She couldn’t bite her tongue any longer. ‘What are you talking about, Sergeant Fuller? Ryan?’ Matilda shot them both a concerned look. This was all getting very weird. She had thought this was all about her, but clearly it wasn’t.

  Neither man chose to answer her. It was as if she wasn’t even in the room.

  ‘You need to keep those kinds of thoughts to yourself, Ryan, because I can only ignore threats such as those for so long. You’re lucky I know what you’ve been through, and why you feel like that, because any other copper would not turn a blind eye. I know deep down you don’t mean it, it’s the anger and grief talking.’ The sergeant stood then, signalling the interview was over. ‘I have to get back to the station.’ He pulled something from his shirt pocket and handed it to Matilda. ‘Here’s my card, which also has my afterhours number on it. Please feel free to use it if you need to. No matter what time of the day or night. Okay, Tilly?’

  She nodded as she added it to the counsellor’s business card. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘You want to see me out, Ryan?’ It was more of a demand than a question.

  Ryan stood. ‘All right. You wait here, Tilly, won’t be long.’

  ‘I’ll be sure to keep in touch and let you know as soon as I hear when Mr Lewis will be coming to collect the vehicle.’ Sergeant Fuller locked eyes with Tilly and for a fleeting moment she felt as though she’d known him longer than an hour. She watched as he and Ryan disappeared down the hallway. Something much deeper than her own demons was at play here, and she wanted to know what and who they were talking about. But, with silence meeting her question only moments ago, she wasn’t so sure she’d be asking again.

  CHAPTER

  10

  The late afternoon sunshine glinted off the windscreen as Ryan drove along the outskirts of town, the intensity of it making his eyes water. In his haste to get out the door so he could drive the truck back to the depot, he had left
his sunglasses behind. Flipping the sun visor down, he then pulled his wide-brimmed hat down a little further to ward off the glare. With the radio turned up loud enough to drown out the silence between him and Tilly, he was trying hard not to let what Sergeant Jim Fuller had said to him as they’d walked to the police car consume him.

  But, try as he might, it was. Big time. If it was true, and the sergeant’s hunch was right, what the hell was he supposed to do with such life-changing information? Keep it to himself or lay it all on the line? And how was Greg, the town publican, going to react to such surprising news? Would he acknowledge it? Or would he choose to discount it? If Greg did overlook it, did that mean he should too? Wasn’t that so wrong of him when Tilly might end up working for Greg? What a bloody mess. There were so many questions and no clear-cut answers. His head felt as though there was a whirly wind in there. He sighed loudly, copping a weird glance from Tilly. But she remained silent, as she had since they left the house, and turned to look out her open window.

  Ryan bit his tongue. Even though he hated that Tilly had clammed up since the interview, it was also a blessing because it had given him time to think about the impact of this news for all concerned. Jim had tried to be casual about it, but knowing a little about Tilly’s background Ryan had cottoned on to what was behind Jim’s subtle questions as he’d walked him to the cop car. Ryan had let Jim know that in no uncertain terms too. He wasn’t about to play stupid with something so serious.

  Begrudgingly, Jim had acknowledged that Ryan was right and asked him not to say anything to anyone about it, especially to Tilly, at least not until he’d had a chance to talk to his brother. Fair call, as it was a very sensitive subject. Still, Ryan was having a hard time weighing up whether Tilly would understand why he hadn’t said anything, or if it would end up being another wrong decision on his part. He seemed to have made his fair share of them this past year. He had learnt the hard way this morning that butting into other people’s business, even as a Good Samaritan, could lead to things going more belly up than they already were. With Tilly having been through hell and back he didn’t want to risk stuffing up anything else in her life. He was afraid that if he did go against her wishes, she would leave and he would never see her again. He really couldn’t bear the thought of that happening. Not only did he want to protect her from her past and help her to heal, no matter what the cost would be for him, there was so much more he wanted to discover about her. He wanted to find out her likes and dislikes, what made her tick, her dreams and secrets. There was also a part of him, a deeply hidden part, that wanted to kiss her full beautiful lips, that wanted to feel her body tremble in throes of passion and hear her cry out in pleasure as she fell over the edge of ecstasy with him, that wanted to love all the hurt right out of her big beautiful heart and feel her soul from the inside out. That terrified him beyond words, because it would mean exposing his own heart and soul, and he couldn’t have that. He seriously needed to keep a lock and key on these raw emotions, for both their sakes. They had both been hurt enough. But it didn’t mean he couldn’t fantasise about it, did it?

  With the hourly news broadcast starting Ryan finally turned the radio down. He had hit the main street of town and wanted to point out a few places to Tilly to try to take her mind off things and to help ease the tension. Hopefully he’d distract himself in the process. He was tired of going over and over everything in his mind. He would send himself round the bend if he didn’t stop.

  ‘Would you like a running commentary on the hippest places to go?’ He tried to sound chirpy, probably too much so.

  Tilly finally turned to him.

  He flashed her a movie-star grin, hoping it might make her smile too.

  His plan worked.

  For the first time since sitting at his mum’s table Tilly smiled. ‘What if I said no?’ There was a hint of cheekiness in her voice.

  Encouraged by her sassiness and knowing from his experience of the past forty-eight hours with Tilly that this was their unique way of connecting, Ryan leapt into the banter headfirst. ‘I thought I’d give you a tour of the most happening street in Moonstone Valley, whether you wanted me to or not.’

  ‘Well, go ahead then.’ Matilda rested her feet up on the dash and readjusted her sunglasses. The sunshine made her skin even more radiant.

  Enjoying the way the wind was whipping her hair across her freckled cheeks a little too much for his liking, Ryan thumbed to the left as they passed the Railway Hotel. ‘This is my old stomping ground. I used to ride my mare here to avoid the whole drink-driving thing. At the end of the night I’d flop into the saddle and she’d bring me home. One time, when my mate Ben and I were at a party around the corner, we took the ride-on mower from the shed and rode it through the drive-in bottle shop to pick up a carton of beer.’

  Matilda’s laughter filled the cab. ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘Uh huh, we thought we were clever and would avoid getting booked for drink driving but the copper didn’t see the funny side of it when he pulled us over. I lost my licence for eleven months.’

  ‘Fair enough, I suppose,’ she said, still grinning.

  He pointed to the Chinese restaurant. ‘They make the best damn honey chicken and Mongolian lamb ever there.’

  ‘Oh yum, I love honey chicken, and honey king prawns, and deep fried ice-cream with strawberry topping.’

  ‘Me too. I’ll shout you a feed there sometime.’ Ryan pointed to the pub. ‘This here is where you’ll be going for that job.’

  Matilda sat forward. ‘Oh really, it looks nice. A little more loved than the last pub I worked at.’

  ‘Yeah, it used to be a dive but Greg has done it up over the last couple of years. It was my new stomping ground, seeing as I was banned from The Railway five years ago, although I haven’t stepped foot in there for almost a year.’

  ‘Why not?’

  Ryan shrugged. ‘Long story, and I don’t feel like telling it.’

  ‘Oh, okay. So what are the crowds like that go there?’

  ‘It’s a little tamer and more for the over twenty-fives. They get some really good bands in on Saturday arvo.’

  ‘Sounds good.’ Matilda’s right eyebrow rose high in question. ‘Why were you banned from The Railway?’

  Ryan tried to mimic her. ‘How in the heck do you do that?’

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Raise one eyebrow at a time.’ He tried again, sending Matilda into a fit of laughter, the little snorts in between her chuckles making Ryan laugh too.

  ‘With great skill.’ She wriggled her brows for effect. ‘You’re not going to avoid the question either.’

  ‘What question?’

  ‘Why were you banned from the bottom pub?’

  He grinned sheepishly. ‘It was all Jake’s fault. He bet me a bottle of scotch that I wouldn’t strip off and run through the public bar naked, so I did.’

  ‘As you do,’ Matilda said sarcastically as she stifled a giggle. ‘Was it the same copper that booked you for drink-driving the mower?’

  ‘The one and only.’

  ‘God, no wonder you and Jim are on first-name terms. He’s had his fair share of run-ins with you over the years, by the sounds of it.’

  Ryan tried not to focus on the last few dealings he’d had with Jim, other than the one today. ‘Oh, no, it wasn’t Jim. He’s only been here for the past four years, or so. Before him we had the same town copper for twenty-five years, and by the time he had dealings with me he was well and truly over his job and a total mean old grump.’

  ‘Oh really, a mean old grump, hey? Can you blame him, having to put up with scallywags like you lot all the time?’

  ‘Good point, I suppose.’

  ‘I assumed Sergeant Fuller was a local; he seems to know you really well. Have you had many dealings with him over the time he’s been here?’

  Ryan knew where she was heading with her line of questions, but there was no way, with what she was going through, he was going to talk about his past any
time soon. Also, he wasn’t ready to talk about the facts surrounding his sister’s death. That was a story he would tell Matilda way down the line, if she hung around Moonstone Valley long enough. It would do her no good to know right now and it might make her question why he was looking after her. He didn’t want her to think it wasn’t genuine and that he was just helping her to make up for what he felt were his failings as a big brother. That did hold some truth, but it wasn’t everything. ‘Nope, he’s definitely no local. Jim Fuller moved here after his wife left him, to be closer to his twin brother, Greg.’

  ‘The Greg who is going to be interviewing me on Monday for the barmaid’s job?’

  ‘The very same … you could probably have a chat with him tomorrow night, though, when we go for a few drinks at the pub—if you decide to come along.’

  ‘Yeah, I’m still not sure if I feel like a night out.’

  ‘No worries, just do what makes you happy.’ He pointed to a little bakery. ‘They make the tastiest lamb sausage rolls and the yummiest apple turnovers.’

  Matilda looked to where he was pointing. ‘Do they now?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Well, I reckon you best prove that.’

  ‘Now?’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘We’ll spoil what I have planned for dinner.’

  Matilda looked chuffed that he’d even thought of cooking. ‘What do you have planned?’

  ‘My famous garlic prawns.’

  ‘Are they as famous as your scrambled eggs?’

  Ryan smiled. ‘Almost.’

  ‘So do we have prawns?’

  ‘We sure do. I took some king prawns out of the freezer and put them in the fridge before we headed over to Mum’s this morning. I just have to stop at the supermarket to buy the rest of the things I need and then Bob’s your mother’s brother.’