Evidence of Love

by Elisabeth Rose

  ***

  Two days later Lara went to see Brooke again. She phoned the hospital first, half thinking she may have been discharged but the nurse said no, she was still there. Much improved and would be happy to have a visitor.

  This time she cycled because the weather gods had had a complete change of mind and decided to bring summer in early. She loved cycling despite the traffic and Ellie’s exhortations about the danger of being knocked off her bike by a bus. Not everyone drove like Ellie, but Lara took quiet streets as much as she could, enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine after so much rain. Wafts of perfume from flowering vines and shrubs twined into her nose as she glided passed, revelling in the freedom of being in control of her life for the first time she could remember. Somehow running and cycling symbolised this new stage, this release from the strictures of a male-dominated world. First her father’s then her husband’s. No more. Never again would she allow herself to be controlled by a man.

  She chained the bike to a rack, stuffed her helmet into her backpack then headed up to the ward. Lara paused in the doorway. Brooke wasn’t alone this time, the other beds were occupied. One had the curtains pulled, the other two held elderly women, both dozing. The daffodils glowed on the bedside table. Brooke was propped up reading a magazine. She still looked as though she’d gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson but she was free of the drips and oxygen and when Lara appeared she turned and smiled. A lovely smile. She’d be a pretty girl once the bruises faded.

  ‘Hello. I’m so glad you came back. I wasn’t sure you would.’ Her voice had lost the hoarseness.

  ‘How are you? I wasn’t sure you’d still be here.’

  ‘Much better. But they want me to stay because of my head.’ She touched light fingers to the bandage. ‘They said I must have fallen and hit it on something.’

  ‘Can you remember anything yet?’

  ‘Bits and pieces but they’re like snippets from dreams and I’m not sure if they’re real. I remember things from a long time ago. Where I grew up. My cat. Mum.’ Her lips trembled. ‘I remember her funeral.’

  ‘It’s good that things are coming back, even if they’re difficult.’

  Brooke nodded. ‘I’m glad I remember her. I loved her.’

  ‘Do you need anything? Can I get you toiletries or something?’

  ‘One of the detectives went to my place and packed a bag for me.’ She smiled. ‘When she brought it in I had no idea if it was my stuff or not.’

  ‘Do you remember where you live?’

  ‘Annandale, they said but I don’t know where that is.’

  ‘It’s very close. Only a few suburbs away. It’s a nice, older area. Lots of big trees.’

  ‘Do you live close by?’

  ‘Yes. I rode my bike here today.’

  ‘A bike! I can ride a bike.’ Her face lit with childish delight.

  Lara smiled. ‘Most people can.’

  ‘My mum couldn’t.’

  ‘Really? Do you remember?’

  Brooke shrugged with a smiling grimace. ‘I don’t know where that came from. I just know it’s right.’

  ‘How strange. Still — it means your memory is coming back. Maybe if we just chat other things will pop up like that.’

  ‘Lara, do you have children? Are you married?’

  ‘I was but now I’m a widow. I have a little boy who is nearly three. Peter. Petey.’

  ‘A widow. I’m so sorry!’

  ‘It’s okay. He was...it wasn’t a good marriage. Not that I wanted him dead,’ she added.

  Brooke’s eyes widened bright blue amidst the purple and black of the ravaged face.

  ‘What happened to him?’

  ‘He had a heart attack.’

  ‘Gosh.’

  ‘It happened a couple of weeks after Petey was born.’

  ‘But you’re so young. He must have been young too.’

  ‘He was much older than me. I’m twenty six. But yes he was relatively young. It was a heart defect. He was a walking time bomb.’ And that was the truth. The heart defect being he didn’t have a heart and it was a matter of time before the inevitable happened. Tony Petrovic’s days were always numbered and she’d never forgive her parents for handing her over to the man knowing exactly what he was.

  ‘Did you ever love him?’

  Lara licked her lips then shook her head slowly. ‘No.’

  ‘Why did you marry him?’ Why indeed? She could have said no but what then? The truth was she wasn’t brave enough to confront them all and live with the consequences. When a crime boss wants something he gets it; especially if the owner, her father, owes favours and has a vested interest in the profits from the deal.

  ‘Brooke...’

  ‘Sorry, I’m sorry, Lara. It’s just that I can’t remember much of anything. I need things to put in my head.’

  ‘It’s okay. I’d rather not dwell in the past, that’s all.’

  ‘I can’t dwell in the past.’

  Lara smiled and Brooke grinned and began to laugh.

  The woman in the next bed said caustically, ‘Will you please be quiet? I’m trying to sleep.’

  ‘Sorry,’ said Lara, and turned back to Brooke with an exaggerated expression of alarm which made Brooke laugh even harder.

  ‘Oh gosh,’ she gasped. ‘I shouldn’t laugh. It hurts.’

  ‘Laughing is supposed to be good for you.’ Even if it had a touch of hysteria. This girl wasn’t operating normally at all.

  ‘Not when you’ve got bruised ribs.’

  ‘No.’ Lara glanced at her watch.

  ‘Do you have to go?’ The dismay was evident.

  ‘Soon. I’ve left Petey with my neighbour but I promised not to be away too long. She has to go out.’

  ‘Could I meet him?’

  ‘Petey? Yes, I suppose. One day. How much longer will you be in here?’

  ‘I’m not sure. The counsellor came this morning and she said they don’t want to send me home on my own if my memory hasn’t returned. The detective said I live alone and I can’t go to my father so...’ She gazed at Lara with a helpless expression.

  ‘What about friends?’

  ‘I don’t think I have any. No-one’s come to visit except Jasmine who I work with, apparently. She hasn’t come back. I don’t think we were friends.’ Lines of a frown appeared below the edge of the bandage. ‘I had friends when I was a kid.’ In a sudden spurt of memory she said, ‘My best friend was Anna. And there was Joanne, too.’

  ‘Maybe the police could contact one of them to see if you could stay. What are their last names?’

  ‘Anna Merrick and Joanne Wadie. Joanne’s family moved when we were in high school.’ The frown deepened. ‘I can’t remember where they went.’

  ‘The police will find her if necessary. What about Anna?’

  ‘I don’t think Anna and I have spoken to each other for a long time. We were best friends when we were little. Then something happened but…’ She shook her head. ‘It’s not there.’

  ‘Don’t worry.’

  How could she steer her onto something more relevant, more contemporary? Something that might jog useful facts loose about her attacker.

  ‘Lara?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘If they can’t find anyone could I stay with you?’ Desperation poured from her.

  Lara hesitated, but the girl was all alone in a frightening new world. If she turned her back on Brooke, what then?

  ‘Yes. If you have nowhere else to go. But only until your memory comes back and you can go back to your life in your Annandale flat.’

  Brooke closed her eyes on a long sigh of relief. ‘Thank you. I promise I won’t overstay. I won’t turn into a nuisance and I can help with the baby and things.’

  ‘Maybe. We’ll see.’ What had she let herself in for? She didn’t know this girl at all. And what if the attacker turned out to be some crazy boyfriend who tracked her down at Lara’s place? ‘I’ll have to talk to the police about it first.’

&
nbsp; ‘Oh. Okay.’

  Lara stood up. ‘I have to go now, Brooke.’

  ‘Goodbye and thanks. Don’t worry, I’m not a nutter. At least I don’t think I am.’

  Lara smiled. ‘I’m sure you’re not. See you.’ She swung her backpack over one shoulder and headed for the door, tossing a smile at the grumpy woman in the next bed who wasn’t trying to sleep at all but lay pretending to read, really eavesdropping.

  She went to the nurse’s station and asked the man behind the desk about Brooke. He peered up at her through rimless glasses.

  ‘How much longer will she be in here, do you think?’ But she really wanted to ask ‘is she sane?’

  ‘A few more days. Her head trauma was quite severe so the doctor is monitoring that although there don’t seem to be any complications. The ribs will heal, not much to be done there and the bruising on her face will go, of course. The swelling has already subsided.’

  ‘Yes, I noticed that. She said you wouldn’t discharge her unless she had somewhere to go, someone to be with.’

  ‘Yes. She can’t go home the way she is without supervision.’

  ‘What happens if no-one is found?’

  ‘We’d find her a place in a transition rehabilitation unit. It’s not ideal for someone her age because the patients are generally elderly people recovering from falls or operations and so on, but there may not be a choice.’

  ‘Okay. Thanks.’

  So she would be cared for by the system, not turfed out onto the street. Lara walked to the stairs deep in thought.

  ‘Lara. I was hoping I’d catch you.’

  The call startled her. Nick. She looked round in surprise tinged with annoyance. ‘What are you doing here? More to the point how did you know I’d be here right now, today?’

  ‘The nurse told me.’

  ‘What?’ Anger rose inexorably, swamping the little spurt of pleasure at seeing him. How dare he keep tabs on her like that? ‘Are you checking up on me?’

  ‘They notify us if Brooke has any visitors or people asking about her,’ he said smoothly. ‘In case someone turns up to see her that we don’t know. Her attacker could be a friend.’

  Was that true? It sounded feasible. She couldn’t tell from his expression. He regarded her steadily waiting for a response.

  ‘Has anyone turned up?’

  He shook his head. ‘Only you.’

  ‘Why did you come then? You already knew I was coming to visit her.’

  ‘Did she say anything?’ He avoided her question. Quite blatantly.

  Lara glared for a moment but he didn’t blink. ‘I said I’d phone you if she did. Don’t you trust me?’

  She pulled open the door to the stairs.

  ‘Can’t we take the lift?’ he asked plaintively behind her as she strode through and started down.

  ‘It’ll do you good,’ she threw over her shoulder, hiding her little smirk at the muttered curse.

  Nick pounded after the straight-backed figure tripping lightly down the endless flights but she slowed after three floors and allowed him to come abreast.

  ‘She asked if she could come and stay with me when they discharge her. They won’t let her out without supervision until her memory returns enough for her to cope.’ Her tone was considerably different, more tentative then he’d ever heard from her.

  ‘What did you say?’ That was a surprise. They must have got on really well together. Better than he had with either of them. Better than he had with Lara. Surely Lara had said no.

  ‘That I’d ask you. The police.’ Why would she say that? He didn’t need to give permission, it wasn’t a police affair where she went from hospital. Was Lara asking as a friend? The possibility warmed him. Her tough facade had cracks, hairline at the moment, but definitely cracks.

  ‘Are you asking my advice? Because officially there’s no reason why not.’

  A frown flitted across her face. ‘I suppose I am.’ Much as it pained her. He nearly let slip a pleased smile.

  ‘There are other places she could go.’

  ‘I know, the nurse told me.’

  ‘But you’re thinking of saying yes.’

  ‘I’m not sure. I have to think of Petey. I don’t know anything about her.’

  ‘From what we know she’s a quiet, law-abiding girl. She wasn’t in trouble growing up — not with the police, at least. Her father might be another matter. Her employer said she’s a good worker, reliable — which was why they worried where she was that morning — and the customers like her. Her rent was always paid on time.’

  Lara nodded. Her pace slowed even more. ‘What if the man who attacked her was someone she knows who’ll come after her again?’

  ‘I doubt he’s someone she knows well, if at all, and there’s no reason to suppose he knows where you live. I think he may have been frightened he’d killed her when she fell and banged her head.’

  ‘He carried her there to hide what he thought was her body, you mean?’

  Nick glanced at her, eyebrow raised. She’d been giving this some thought and wasn’t squeamish about the details.

  ‘It’s an odd place for a couple to go,’ she went on. ‘More likely he did whatever he did at home and dumped her. The path is fairly close to the road down there.’

  ‘Risky.’

  ‘A cold, wet night? Not really. He probably lives close by. She might have come to and started struggling so he hit her with something. Did you find a weapon anywhere, or the place where she hit her head, where she was found?’

  Lara was very pragmatic about it. She spoke as if this sort of scenario was familiar.

  ‘No, we didn’t. Watch crime shows on TV, do you?’

  ‘What? No, I hate them.’ She picked up her pace and he almost slipped rounding the landing attempting to keep up.

  At the bottom she held the door for him and didn’t bother hiding the grin at his breathlessness. ‘You don’t do enough exercise,’ she said.

  ‘Too busy solving crimes.’ He loved to see her smile, even at his expense.

  ‘Your brain works better if you’re fit.’ She switched the backpack to her other shoulder.

  ‘Need a ride home?’

  ‘No, thanks. I cycled.’

  ‘You’d get on really well with a colleague of mine.’

  ‘I doubt it.’

  He ignored her remark. ‘She spends all her spare time in the gym. Plus she does fun runs — now there’s an oxymoron — and triathlons with her husband.’

  Lara didn’t reply. He followed her across the crowded foyer wondering how he could detain her a few moments longer.

  ‘I’d better get going,’ she said. ‘I told Ellie I’d be back in time for her to go — ’

  ‘Maja!’ The voice cut through the general noise and chopped Lara’s sentence in half. Nick glanced around. A dark-haired man was staring at her. Coming towards them with surprise on his sharp-featured, narrow face. Like a rodent. ‘Maja.’

  Lara flinched, shrinking into herself when she’d been opening slowly, like a flower, as they talked. She didn’t turn her head, kept walking purposefully across the vast white-tiled area towards the exit. The knuckles of the hand clutching the strap of her backpack were pale. The man ran the last few paces and grabbed her by the arm.

  ‘Maja!’

  Nick stepped close ready to intervene but the bloke wasn’t aggressive, just extremely surprised to see the woman he thought was Maja ignoring him. He’d give a week’s pay if this rat-faced man wasn’t involved in illegal activities. How did he know Lara? Or was it Maja?

  ‘Maja Djokovic, how can you forget me?’

  Lara stopped, head down.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Nick said, eyes fixed on the man’s face. ‘You must have the wrong person.’

  The man’s hand fell from her arm but he shook his head firmly. ‘No, no I’ve known Maja since she was sixteen. I’m a friend of her brother. When I came to Australia I lived with her family for six months.’

  ‘Is that true?’ Nick, astoni
shed, turned to her but what he saw didn’t confirm the mistake this man was making.

  ‘She is Maja and she should go home where she belongs. To her family.’ An edge crept into the voice. A steely note Nick had heard from countless thugs and bullies who operated in gangs and terrorised anyone who crossed them.

  ‘I think that’s her decision,’ he said.

  ‘Who are you to say what she should do? You are not family.’ Arrogance combined with disdain now.

  Nick’s hand strayed to his pocket ready to flash his ID and get this bozo to back off.

  ‘Neither are you, Branko.’ Lara’s voice cracked out, startling them both. ‘I don’t want anything to do with my family or you, and they know why. Tell them that from me.’

  Chapter 5

  Lara gritted her teeth and steeled herself against the panic. When Branko called her name a myriad of nightmares enveloped her. When those iron fingers clamped onto her she almost screamed.

  He wasn’t Tony. Tony was dead, he’d never touch her again; but of course she recognised her brother’s friend and one of Tony’s underlings, knew his voice before she faced him, knew he’d be sadistically delighted to see her, knew he’d be as surprised to see her as she was to see him. His mouth curled with delight. A tiger studying a goat tied to a stake.

  And in the midst of the tidal wave of emotions one little part cringed because Nick was standing there watching her carefully constructed life disintegrating like a sandcastle in the tide. Watching and deciding whether this lying woman was worth a moment of his time. Thank goodness Branko had used her maiden name. Far less notorious than her married one, at least to Sydney police.

  ‘It’s good to see you again, Maja. We wondered where you’d gone. They miss you, you know, your family. Your brothers will be pleased when I tell them where you are.’

  ‘I doubt that,’ she muttered, conscious of Nick’s gaze burning into her despite not daring to meet his eyes.

  ‘They’ll be surprised when they hear about the company you keep.’ Branko sent a sneering glance in Nick’s direction. He’d know a cop the instant he laid eyes on one. ‘Are you in trouble? Maybe you need my assistance.’