Shadows Over Wongan Creek

by Juanita Kees

  ‘You know we’ll need to talk, Fen.’ The sarge’s words were quiet, his touch comforting.

  ‘Not now.’ Not with the visions still raw in her memory and her scars needing soothing from the heat and strain of fighting the fire. Not when her mind was defenceless, and her body was too exhausted to keep the demons out.

  ‘Tomorrow then,’ Riggs agreed.

  ‘I have a wedding to host and I won’t let them down.’

  ‘Then the day after that. You can’t hide from it anymore, Fenella. They won’t let you.’

  ‘I know. I’ll come in, Sarge. Just not tomorrow. I want to go home now.’ She rubbed a hand over her face, tired, drained, empty.

  ‘I’ll take you.’ Kieran steered her towards the passenger door of the water truck, lifted her up into the seat, his hands around her waist strong and comforting.

  They drove in silence, Fen curled into the corner against the truck door, the blocks of vines passing by, merging from black and charred to autumn colours. The distance from the back block to the cellar building further, taking longer than ever before. Relief flooded her as Liv came into view, Liam in her arms. Fen leaped out of the truck as soon as Kieran engaged the park brake. Liv saw her coming, read the look on her face, said something to Liam before she lowered him from her hip to the grass, and opened her arms.

  Fen crashed into them, the terror coiled inside her releasing on gut-wrenching sobs as she sank into the warmth and security of her mum’s embrace and let go the horror from her mind. She didn’t see Kieran leave with Liam, but she knew he was gone. The same way she knew the events today had cracked open the door a little wider, making the nightmare real again, and this time she wouldn’t be able to bury it in the past.

  ‘Let’s get you cleaned up, honey.’ Liv’s hand soothed her back. ‘We’ll have a nice cup of tea. Chamomile, I think. And a nice long soak in a warm bubble bath.’

  ‘Stay with me, Mum.’

  Liv grounded her, chased the fear away, the way she always had on the dark, cold nights when dreams turned to nightmares. But now the nightmare had become reality to threaten everything she’d worked so hard to forget, the life she’d built with a family who cared for her. She’d succumb to the relief of tea and warm baths and the love of a real mother. She’d make sure Liv was safe from the reaches of the monsters who threatened them. And when she had her feet back under her and her facts straight, Fen would fight this.

  Lights shone warmly from the windows as Fen made her way up the path to Kieran’s cottage later that night. The vineyard lay silent in the distance, the fire extinguished, the crew gone until morning when an investigation would begin.

  She’d phoned Harley and Tameka, told them about the fire but not about the body, not when Riggs had specifically said they weren’t making any statements yet. She would have cancelled the wedding, refunded them, taken the loss if they’d requested it. Instead, they’d agreed it was too late to cancel and reassured her she and Liv would have the community’s ongoing support and assistance to repair the damage to their vines.

  Fen’s thoughts turned to the woman they’d found. She shivered. Who was she? A threat, a warning, a reminder of what Luke and his club were capable of. She refused to let that happen to Liv.

  She’d fired off an email to the security company, requesting the installation of more cameras, more motion detectors and movement activated spotlights, and debated between guard dogs or security patrols. Her mum understood the threat, accepted the consequences it could bring, and ignored Fen’s urging her to go away somewhere safe, take a cruise, a holiday away until the threat had passed. Liv had only shaken her head, planted her feet stubbornly on the floor and argued against it until she thought Fen had given up and accepted she was staying.

  Fen stepped up onto the verandah and tapped on the door with her knuckles. She tucked her hands back into the sleeves of her jumper and waited, wrapping her arms tightly against her belly to ward off the flutter of nerves. With the risks running higher than ever, she’d give him the choice to take his son out of harm’s way and leave.

  The door to the cottage opened and Kieran appeared in the doorway, shadowed by the light. ‘Hey, you okay?’

  He’d filled out in the years he’d been gone, grown into his height, his legs no longer long and skinny, but strong and solid in denim that wrapped them like a lover’s hands. Fen shrugged off the thoughts. She didn’t want a picture of Kieran in or out of his denims in her head. Or remember how safe she’d felt in his arms with a firestorm at her back and a threat to her future. It could only bring trouble.

  ‘I’m okay. You?’

  Shivering against the cold, she stamped the wet grass from her rubber soles onto the coir mat. He stepped back for her to cross the threshold into the hallway and closed the door behind her. Kneeling, she undid the laces and pulled off her boots. Coming back to her feet, she realised how close he stood, how warm the heat was he generated.

  ‘Yeah. Come through. Liam’s asleep.’ Kieran waved her towards the archway where the warmth from the wood fire filled the living area. ‘I didn’t think you’d come over after today.’

  The narrow hallway felt even smaller with him standing so close, all broad shoulders, hard chest and firm, comforting arms. ‘We need to talk about … things. It’s nice and toasty in here. Has Liam settled in okay?’

  ‘Yes, thank you. He’s not quite ready to be alone in his own room yet, but we’ll get there. Thank you for dressing it up the way you did. He loves it. He’s fascinated by the lizards.’

  Fen allowed her smile to light her eyes. Liam deserved to be happy, to have a normal childhood rather than to be another lost soul and unwanted child. ‘I’ll have to introduce him to Lucky then.’

  ‘Lucky?’ Kieran closed the door against the cold air.

  ‘My bearded dragon.’

  Kieran chuckled, the sound sending trickles of pleasure down her spine all the way to her toes. ‘I should have guessed. No cats or puppies. Too tame for you.’

  ‘Lucky is a survivor. He was dumped at the vet in Perth with a dislocated shoulder. The vet was a client of mine and when he mentioned it to me, I offered to take care of Lucky. He had to have his leg amputated in the end because of an infection, but he’s adapted.’

  ‘Ah, Fen.’ He put an arm around her shoulder and led her into the lounge room where the fire blazed merrily in the old wood-fuelled heater. ‘Always rescuing lost and damaged souls.’

  Not anymore. Not since the last lost soul had turned out to be a scumbag thief and a dirty, rotten, scheming bastard. ‘Thank you for today. I couldn’t have held off that fire without you.’

  ‘Fire, I can handle. Arson and murder … well, that’s a whole other story.’

  Fen shivered. ‘That poor woman. No-one deserves to die that way. I can only believe she was already dead when they put her in that bag.’ Another horror to haunt her nightmares.

  He squeezed her arm. ‘We’ll find out who she is, and when we do, we’ll do something nice for her.’

  ‘How did it get this bad? Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the police. I should have let it go, started afresh.’

  Kieran blew out a breath. ‘If you’d let it slide, he and his friends still would have come back for more. You did the right thing.’

  ‘Except now everyone is in danger. You, Liam, Liv …’ She shivered in the heat of the room. ‘I’ll understand if you don’t want to stay on.’

  He stepped closer and eased his arms around her. ‘I’ll tell you the same as I’ve already told Liv. I won’t leave you alone here, unprotected. I don’t care what it takes, but we’ll make sure everyone is safe until this is over. If that means putting twenty-four-hour security in place, that’s what we’ll do.’

  She sank into the warmth of his embrace and solid wall of his body, accepting his comfort and reassurance, because Kieran was a friend and even if things could never be romantic between them, she’d at least have his warmth and strength by her side through this.

  ‘Prom
ise me that if it gets too dangerous, you’ll take Liam and go. He’s been through enough.’

  ‘I promise you we’ll do everything we can to make sure that won’t be necessary. I won’t let anyone hurt him again.’ He eased his arms from around her and stepped back. ‘Make yourself comfortable while I get the coffee then we’ll talk it through.’

  Fen watched until he disappeared into the kitchen at the back of the cottage, then she snuggled into the corner of the sofa opposite the fire, legs tucked up on the cushions and the rug over her feet. The cottage glowed warmly in the light of the fire and low wattage globes that cast a soft light through the room. At any other time and with anyone else, she might have considered it romantic. But romance wasn’t something she could afford to think about with threats, theft and property damage dogging the future.

  Alone in the room, watching the flickering flames that reminded her of the fire in the vineyard, an edginess settled over her. A fire started by men on motorcycles. Deliberate, dangerous, fuelled to spread at maximum strength. And then they’d added a murder. A clear threat to destroy everything she loved if she didn’t keep her silence. Who’d had to die for them to get that message across?

  Kieran came back with the steaming coffee mugs and placed them on the table in front of them. He settled into the opposite corner of the sofa. ‘Spill it, Fen. I can hear your thoughts churning.’

  Fen sighed. ‘I’m such an idiot. You’d think I’d have known better.’

  ‘We’re humans, not robots. We make mistakes.’

  ‘True, but this …’ The tight grip of guilt closed around her throat. She drew in a deep breath and blew it out. ‘This is all my fault.’

  Kieran leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs, hands clasped, his thumbs rubbing at the frown on his forehead. ‘How is it your fault?’

  ‘I fell in love with a man, trusted him with too much and lost everything. I’m not sure if I’m a victim or an accomplice. I know I was blind enough not to ask questions until it was too late.’ The words left her lips in a rush as if the quicker she spat them out, the less it would hurt.

  His hands stilled, his lips pursed for a second before he blew out a breath. ‘I think you need to start at the beginning. Tell me how this all started, so I understand what we’re up against here. Don’t leave anything out, even if it doesn’t seem important.’

  She crept further into the corner, drew her legs up and pulled the blanket up to her chin, her fingers clenched around it. ‘Luke was the man I’d thought I’d marry. I trusted him with so much and I never got the impression he was anything but honest. Maybe I was too busy to notice. My mistake.’

  Kieran stood and began to pace the area between the sofa and the fire, his long legs making short work of the distance. ‘You’re too smart to make mistakes. He’s a con used to telling lies to lure unsuspecting marks.’

  Fen sighed. ‘Lies I should have been able to see through.’

  A half-smile twisted his lips. ‘You’re tough, resilient, a fighter, but you’re not psychic. If he was good at it, you’d never know. You’re nobody’s fool, Fen.’

  Warmth bloomed inside her heart. She hoped he’d still think so later. ‘Mum and I were so busy keeping the business running after Muzz died. She was worried for me, thought I needed to get out, away from things once in a while, but I’ve never been good at making friends and Wongan Creek is a small place. Almost everyone here was paired up already. I didn’t want to be a third wheel.’

  ‘Phone a friend?’ Kieran picked up his mug off the table and took a long sip.

  ‘Name one.’ The only one she’d trusted had been so far away he might as well have been on another planet. An endless highway and a marriage away.

  Fen watched him as he walked back to the fire and leaned on the mantelpiece above it. In days gone by the fire would have been set in the hearth where the flames would be drawn up by the draft from the old chimney. Now the flames were contained behind a heavy glass door in an old-fashioned wood burner built into the empty space left by modernisation.

  Kieran sighed. ‘I tried to stay in touch. It was … difficult.’

  ‘I know. I understand. I’m not blaming you. I’m just saying you were the only one I trusted, the only real friend I had. Until the day Luke came into the winery with his mates from the mine. He stayed long after they left. All afternoon he hounded me for a date. He came back every day in his lunch break, sold me his story about how unhappy he was in his job. How he needed a change. Made me believe he cared about me.’

  She stood, her arms crossed tightly, hugging herself against the chill that crept through her blood despite the heat from the fire, watching him pace, her gaze following the movements.

  Placing his mug on the mantle, he walked over and put his hands on her shoulders, his palms cupping the roundness over her black jumper, the warmth seeping through her. ‘Fen, you’re a beautiful, intelligent, independent woman. It wouldn’t have been hard for him to pretend.’

  She wrapped the warmth of his compliment around her heart and held it there for comfort. ‘Luke seemed like exactly what I was looking for. I was impressed as much by his knowledge of finances and account-keeping as I was by his smile and charm. With Muzz gone, we needed a manager, he had the skills. I got a two-for-one deal. I fell hard in so many ways.’

  Kieran’s hands dropped away from her shoulders and he shoved them into the front pockets of his jeans. ‘Did you ever suspect you were being set up?’

  ‘Not once.’ Fen walked around him to the fire, the cold that had crept into her bones seeking warmth. Comfort would be a long time coming. ‘Luke was so charming, so believable. Good looking, strong, athletic if a little nerdy. Exactly as you’d expect from an accountant. So convincing, I didn’t bother to check his references with the mine’s Human Resources department. If I had, I would have known he was only one step away from being fired for misappropriating funds.’

  ‘He must have been damn good.’

  She laughed, a bitter sound even to her own ears. ‘One day, I was cleaning out our room and I found this box under the bed. Inside was a leather vest decorated with patches. His club name was Spider and he’d been using the winery to launder money, and then he stole a good chunk of the takings.’

  ‘He used you, Fen. It’s not your fault.’

  She felt his warmth at her back. Not touching. Just there. A solid show of the support she hadn’t had until now, an added backbone to give hers the relief it deserved. Fighting this alone for so long had ground away at her resolve to stay strong. No-one, not even Luke, had been able to fill the size fourteens of the only friend she’d ever been able to open to.

  ‘If I’d been paying attention, I would have noticed that all the vines on the far northern boundary had been cleared to make way for a crop of cannabis. I left all that up to Luke while Liv and I got the new liqueur brand up and running. I don’t have the head for figures. None of the numbers made any sense to me, except for the bottom line on the bank balance. Then that didn’t make sense anymore either and I started asking questions.’

  Questions that were brushed aside with a logical explanation. Luke had been a master at making things seem plausible, do-able. And for a while she’d thought she’d found the next best thing to Kieran. She’d even believed she could love him the same way.

  ‘I’m guessing you didn’t get the answers you wanted?’

  Fen shook her head. ‘The day I found his vest, I must have asked too many questions. Or maybe it was the right question that hit too close to the mark. He hit me so hard, I thought he’d broken my jaw.’

  ‘Jesus.’

  ‘Liv called the police. By the time they got here, he’d taken off with his Harley and a million dollars of our money he’d been stashing into an offshore bank account, leaving me a mess to deal with and a mature cannabis crop to explain to Riggs. They’re still looking for him.’

  Kieran grimaced. ‘And the phone call today?’

  ‘From him. A follow up on the warning
I received yesterday. The man at the bar. Luke thinks I know more than I do and that’s the part I don’t understand. None of what happened seems serious enough for threats. So, what if he’s a member of Beyond Hell’s Reach. They ride with their colours, shout it to the world who they are, raise hell wherever they go. It’s not like they’re a secret group. I couldn’t think what it is I’ve seen or heard that makes him think all this is necessary. Until Riggs mentioned them opening the cold case on my birth mother today.’

  ‘You think it might have something to do with your mother’s death?’

  ‘I wish I knew for sure. It’s too much of a coincidence that the club president was the owner of the brothel at the time of her death. I’ve always believed my mother died of an overdose, but I have repressed memories of the night she died. Usually, I have flashbacks in the form of nightmares. I dream of a door I can’t see past because what’s happening behind it is too real, too confronting, too scary to remember.’ She looked at Kieran, his jaw set and a muscle twitching in his cheek. ‘I love this place, Kieran. I wish with all my heart that I’d never met Luke. But I can’t undo what’s happened. All I can do is find out what it is he thinks I know.’

  Kieran tugged her close and wrapped his arms around her, securing her firmly against him. ‘I’m so sorry, Fen. You know I’ll do everything I can to help you solve this mystery. First, we need a plan to protect Liv, Liam and the winery.’

  Fen allowed her body to relax into his warmth. Kieran was here. Everything would be okay again. But he was a man dealing with his own problems. She still needed to fight the battle herself even when the future stretched ahead of her littered with the bones of Luke’s crimes. How long before hell ascended in Wongan Creek again? She couldn’t let that happen.

  Chapter 8

  Morning dawned bright and sunny if not a little cold. Organised chaos descended on the vineyard as Liv called for all hands on deck in preparation for the Baker-Chalmers wedding. Tables, cloths and drapes went out and up in record time. A florist’s van overflowing with flower arrangements arrived to fill the air with the scent of fresh gardenias, roses, lilies and lavender in a sea of colour. And Fen, stunning out of her usual black.