The Dark Series

by Catherine Lee

  The picture crossed to a reporter standing behind police crime-scene tape, which Cooper knew to be about half a kilometre away from the actual house. Fortunately, they had managed to cordon off a large area before the media made it down there. That didn’t stop the helicopters though, and the television was now showing an aerial view of Fraser Grant’s killing ground. You wouldn’t want to be a resident of Darkes Forest right now.

  After initial cheers when the news anchor announced Amanda was safe, most of the detectives and officers in the room lost interest and went back to their celebratory drinks. Cooper picked up the remote and turned the volume back down.

  “Beer, boss?” Quinn had a bottle in each hand. “The team are heading down to Cassidy’s for a few after this. You in?”

  “Nah,” replied Cooper, accepting the not-quite-cold beer. “Got to interview Amanda Fox. Make sure that husband of hers is in the clear. And then, it’s about time I spent an evening with my wife.”

  “Didn’t we get enough from Amanda this afternoon to clear him?”

  “Yeah, but I’ve got a few follow-up questions. It won’t take long. I’ll have another chat with Andrew, too. Maybe he’ll be in a better mood, and we’ll find out about those missing hours.”

  “Surely that can wait, boss. She’s going to be okay. We got a good result today.”

  “I know. No-one’s more relieved than I am Joey, believe me.” Cooper took a long swig of beer. It was usually banned on the premises, but when they had a result like this, a case of light beer often appeared and no questions were asked. The real celebrations took place afterwards down at Cassidy’s, the local bar popular with the City Central cops.

  “What’s the problem, then?”

  “No problem, I’m just not really up for a celebration, you know? I mean, you saw that place today. That room, those photos on the walls. That’s where he kept them. That’s where they died. All the women I couldn’t find. The ones I failed.”

  Quinn put a hand on his partner’s shoulder.

  “You can’t erase the past, boss. They’re dead, and that’s shit, but it’s over now. He’s dead, too. We pulled a woman out of there alive today. With a bit of luck she’ll go on to have a long and happy life, thanks to our work. I think that’s worth celebrating.”

  Cooper smiled. “You know, we might just make a detective out of you yet. You’re right, that is worth celebrating. But I’m still going home to my wife.” He raised his bottle and clinked it to Quinn’s. “Cheers, kid. You did some good work this week.”

  Quinn puffed with pride, if it was possible for his frame to get any larger.

  “Does that mean I can take the weekend off?”

  “I think we both deserve a break, don’t you?”

  “Yeah. Hey, is Max still in town? He’s gonna want to see that place. What’s the bet he ends up writing a book about Fraser Grant?”

  “If he does, he won’t be the only one.” Cooper sat down at his desk. They’d been standing most of the day and he could feel his feet beginning to swell. Quinn leant against the desk opposite. “Max went back to Melbourne yesterday. I’ll give him a call later, although he would have heard it all on the news by now. I expect you’re right. He’ll want to go over that house to see what more he can learn about the creep.”

  Quinn finished his beer and put the bottle back in the empty carton behind him. “I don’t get how Grant made it so far up the food chain after seventeen years in prison. And how could he afford to have two lives like that? I can barely afford one.”

  “Yes, but his two lives were very different to your one, remember. I doubt he spent much money on what normal people would call entertainment, and material possessions, except the props in his apartment and the house. His life revolved around stalking, capturing, torturing and murdering women. He would have worked to a budget, too. He was a planner, and a very patient one. Seventeen years in prison is a long time.”

  “So you reckon he worked it all out while he was inside?”

  Cooper tidied some of the papers littering his desk.

  “A large part of it, yes. We know he was already in the real estate game before he went in, right? So he knew the business, knew how things worked. He used that information to plan his moves. All he needed was someone to give him a go when he got out. He knew he’d have to start at the bottom again, but there are things you can do while you’re inside to help yourself.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, for one thing, I bet when we look at his prison records we’ll find he did real estate courses to keep himself up to date. Plus, we already know he was a model prisoner, on his best behaviour. Remember his story — that the murder he was in for was actually consensual sex that got out of hand? He tried to make everyone believe it was an accident, and he stuck with that story. Had his dad believing it, at least.”

  Quinn nodded. “So he keeps his nose down and his skill levels up in prison, and convinces some unsuspecting boss that he’s been wrongly convicted, and if given the chance he’ll prove himself as the best darn real estate agent his company’s ever seen.”

  “You got it. The guy was a master manipulator, I really don’t think he had too much trouble getting as far as he did.”

  Quinn shrugged. “You can’t get this guy out of your head, can you?”

  Cooper ignored the question and lowered his voice. “We still have to find out who killed him, you know.” Finding out who ended the life of the serial killer was not a high priority for most of the others in the room.

  “I know. Murder is murder, right?”

  “It’s the truth that’s important in this job, Joey. It’s our job to find out the truth, no matter where it leads us. No matter the outcome.”

  “Okay. But we can continue our quest for the truth on Monday, can’t we? I’m beat.”

  “I thought you were heading down to Cassidy’s with the others?”

  “I’ll go for a few, but then I’m out.” The corner of his mouth turned up in a telling smirk.

  “What’s her name?” asked Cooper.

  The smirk turned into a full smile.

  “Thought I might go over to The Ivory Bar. See if that waitress is on tonight.”

  Cooper laughed. “Go, get out of here. I’ll see you on Monday.”

  41

  Eva had dozed for an hour or so but was still too apprehensive about sleep to let herself drift off completely. Although Amanda had been found, and logic told her that the nightmares about the missing woman should stop, it was difficult to allow herself into that world. She was avoiding it for as long as possible, and right now her parents were a good distraction.

  “Mum, you read the star signs in the paper. You even had your fortune told once, didn’t you?”

  “Oh, goodness,” replied Brenda, “that was a long time ago. The woman was pretty spot on, if I remember. Said I’d only have one child, and I’d change careers twice. Why do you ask, darling?”

  “How come you believe in all that, but you don’t believe in cellular memory?” She looked to her father. “Even Dad is willing to consider it, but you’ve been dead against it since the transplant.”

  Brenda shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t believe in it, honey, it’s just that I hate seeing you get all worked up. And really, the idea you can see what that man did because you have his heart, you have to admit it is quite fanciful.”

  “So you don’t believe it.”

  “I just think your mind might be working together with the painkillers and the other drugs to confuse you a little, that’s all. Try not to worry. Things will return to normal soon enough.”

  Eva wasn’t ready to give up. Now that Andrew’s wife was safe, she wanted to find out all she could about her new heart, and what it might be doing to her.

  “Dad? What do you think?”

  “I think you look very pale,” replied Alan. “What have you been up to today?”

  Eva considered not revealing the drama of the day, but she needed information. She had
to ask her father about the house. So she sat up in the bed as best she could and started to tell them about Georgie helping her work backwards through the dream. She paused when she mentioned the house for the first time, sure it would evoke some sort of outburst from her mother, but Brenda just sat quietly listening. Eva continued, relaying how Georgie and Andrew went out to the house, finding the old couple and no sign of Amanda. She left out the part about Andrew breaking down the door — they didn’t need that much detail. When she finished, her mother was shaking her head.

  “I told you to stay away from that man. I knew he’d lead you into trouble, and now look at you. You’ve gone backwards, sweetheart. You look exhausted, and your blood pressure is too high.” Brenda actually pointed to the machine monitoring her blood pressure, as if Eva couldn’t see it plainly for herself.

  “Your mother is right,” added Alan. “This is getting to be too much for you. You shouldn’t be taking such risks with your health. It took us a long time to get to this stage, Eva. To get you a new heart. Don’t waste it.”

  “Don’t waste it? Are you serious? I don’t want it. It’s a killer’s heart. They cut me open and they put a killer’s heart inside me. And now I’m seeing what he saw, and I’m feeling what he felt, and it’s worse than before. When my own heart was dying, I could hardly breathe. But now I have this heart, I’m choking. It’s strangling me, Dad. I can’t take it anymore. I want my own heart back. I want my own heart.” The tears came.

  Alan sat on the edge of the bed and held her, rocked her while she sobbed and sobbed. Brenda stayed in the chair on the other side of the bed, watching.

  Eva leaned back and pushed her father away. No-one said anything for a long time. Eventually it was Brenda who broke the silence.

  “Do you know how Amanda is doing?”

  Eva stared at her for a moment before registering what she was saying. “No, Detective Cooper wasn’t able to tell me. He just said he hoped they got to her in time. I was half expecting Andy to come back and tell me how she is, but he hasn’t.”

  “Andy? Eva, you’re not getting too close to this man, are you?”

  “Oh, Mum, I don’t know. I thought if I could help him find his wife, I could get rid of the nightmares. It would all be over. Now she’s been found, which is great, but it isn’t over. Do you want to know what else the detective said?” The tears long gone, Eva couldn’t keep the anger out of her voice as she told her parents about the book Andrew was supposedly writing.

  “I knew it!” said Brenda. “I knew that reporter couldn’t be trusted. Don’t worry, dear. I’ll make sure he never gets near you again.”

  “Mum, it’s not that simple.”

  “Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “Because I think I love him.”

  Brenda stared at her, mouth open but no words coming out. Eva felt relieved to have said it out loud, this thing she had been thinking. It seemed crazy, she’d only known the man for two days.

  “Eva,” said Alan, “That’s a big call. Do you really think that?”

  “Yes. No. I don’t know, Dad. I’m all over the place. Maybe it’s the stress, and the drugs. But I’ve never felt like this about a man before. I think I’m falling for him. And now with this book thing? I just don’t know what to think anymore.”

  Alan took her hand. She thought he’d blame the emotions of the situation and the medications as well, so what he said surprised her.

  “Sweetheart, we can’t help who we fall in love with.”

  Eva wiped away a tear and smiled. She glanced over to her mother, silent on the other side of the bed, then back to her dad.

  “When did you fall in love with Mum?”

  “The moment I saw her. I’ve told you that before, remember? You always used to ask questions like that when you were little.”

  His comment reminded Eva of the house. “Dad, have you got any idea why that house is the one in my dreams?”

  Alan shrugged. “No, but let’s think about it for a minute. Assuming we believe the nightmares about the woman being raped are memories of the heart—”

  “What do you mean, ‘assuming we believe’? They have to be. I couldn’t rape another woman, for real or in a bloody dream.”

  “Alright, calm down. I’m just trying to work through this thing rationally.”

  “Sorry, Dad. I’m just tired. But can you not say ‘rape’? That word makes my skin crawl.”

  “Do you want to leave it? We can talk about it tomorrow if you need to rest now.”

  “No, I won’t sleep for worrying anyway. We might as well try.”

  Alan nodded before picking up where he left off. “So the nightmares about the assault are coming from the memories of the heart, but then when you try and get inside the memory by working backwards to see where it takes place, it seems your own mind is providing the house you were born in.”

  “Yes, but what I can’t work out is why I can clearly see the inside of the house if I never actually saw it except when I was a baby. That time when you took me to see the house, did we go inside? Did I ever see inside the house?”

  “No. You wanted to, but I didn’t want to disturb the owners. It was enough for you to just see the outside. Maybe the inside is part of the heart’s memory. Maybe it’s not the same house.”

  “That’s what Georgie said, but I’m not so sure. Something tells me it was that house, Dad.”

  “Did Georgie say anything else? What was her take on this?”

  “She thought my mind might be trying to somehow protect me from the memory of the heart. When we first discussed cellular memory, Georgie talked about how we live in a brain-focused world, and that our brains tend to take over and leave no room for the more subtle energy of the heart. She thinks my brain is trying to overrule my heart in this dream.”

  Alan shook his head. “It sounds very confusing, but then this whole thing is new for me. I’m not used to thinking about hearts and brains working together or against each other. This may take a while for me to get my head around.”

  “Tell me about it,” said Eva, trying hard to suppress another yawn.

  Brenda spoke up. “Alan, I really don’t think you should be encouraging Eva to continue with all this nonsense. The sooner she gets better and off the painkillers, the sooner things will settle down.” She turned to her daughter. “Before we know it these dreams will be distant memories and you won’t even remember what you were so worried about.”

  Eva thought about pointing out how her mother had just referred to the dreams as memories, but figured the reference would be lost on her. Instead she got straight to the point. “Mum, will you stop trying to run my life? I’m not a bloody child. I have my own life, my own successful business, and my own mind to make up.”

  “Eva, your mother is just trying to help.” Alan the peacekeeper.

  “Well she’s not helping. She’s doing the opposite. I need to talk about this. I need to figure it out and she keeps trying to shoot it all down.”

  Brenda was about to retaliate, but Alan’s look put a stop to whatever she was going to say. “Right now you need to get some sleep,” he said. “We’re going to go. Remember, the main thing is they’ve found Amanda, and she’s safe. Try not to think about it too much tonight, just concentrate on getting some good rest. We’ll tackle it all again later.”

  Eva took a few deep breaths and realised she was way too tired to argue. She nodded, and made herself comfortable in the bed.

  After they’d left, and despite her father’s urging, thoughts of the nightmare, Amanda, and Andrew were all very much at the forefront of Eva’s mind. But now that Amanda was safe, surely she’d be able to have the peaceful sleep she so longed for. Eva closed her eyes and drifted off almost immediately.

  42

  Andrew leaned against the wall watching Amanda’s parents fuss around her. He was glad they were here; she was going to need her family after what she’d been through. He could use some air, though, so excused himself and went
out into the hall, almost bumping straight into Detective Cooper.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Andrew.

  “I have a few more questions for your wife, if she’s up to it. How’s she doing?”

  Andrew no longer had the will to fight with this man, his nemesis for so long. He sat in one of the plastic chairs in the corridor, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. Cooper lowered himself silently into the next seat.

  “The doctor says she’ll be fine, physically,” Andrew said. “I don’t know how much that madman put her through, though. I don’t know if she’s strong enough to get over this.”

  “She is,” said Cooper. Andrew turned his head sideways to look up at the detective. “She made it this far,” Cooper explained. “She survived almost a week in that hellhole. I think she’s stronger than you give her credit for.”

  “You’re right,” Andrew conceded. “Hey, Cooper, I know we’ve had our differences, but I want to thank you for finding her. For bringing her back to us alive.”

  “That’s my job.”

  “I know, but I mean it. You saved her life. We’ll always be grateful.”

  Cooper nodded in acknowledgement. He paused, then said, “You still haven’t told me where you were for those two days.”

  “You don’t seriously think I killed Grant, do you? After what he’s done to Amanda, I wish I had, believe me.”

  “No,” said Cooper. “I don’t think you killed him, not anymore. But I need to cover all my bases. You know what I’m saying.”

  Andrew nodded. “I went west, took off on the bike for a few days, that’s all. Amanda and I fought before I went to Wagga, I told you that already. When the assignment finished I still wasn’t ready to go home, so I just rode. I’ve got motel receipts. You can check it out.”