Blood Tears (20 page)

“
Why
are you reading about them if you don’t even know who they
are?”

“
I
like to see how the other half lives.” I shot him an archly
calculated look. “Though I suppose I could just read the emails you
sent me instead.”

“
I’m
not the other half,” he replied, refusing to rise to my
bait.

“
Well, you’re sure not in my half,” I retorted, flicking
through the rest of the news, not finding anything of interest in
the various tense international situations or tumultuous domestic
politics.

“
How
are the chickens going?” he asked, deftly changing the
subject.

“
Good,” I said, taking my mug to the sink.

“
I
was worried the Bycrafts might get to them again in
retaliation.”

I laughed, but it
wasn’t a pleasant or joyful sound. “I bet they wanted to, but none
of them had the guts. They’re smart enough to know that I would
have unleashed hell on them if they had harmed even one tiny little
feather.”

“
Worse than what you did last time?”

“
Oh,
yeah,” I laughed again. “Much, much worse. I wouldn’t have taken
any prisoners.”

“
Just
as well they left them alone then.”

“
Just
as well,” I agreed.

“
Otherwise Baz would probably have ended up with a permanent
position here.”

“
Nah.
That would never happen. Don’t you know how many cops need to be
wrangled in this state? I’m not the only one. Or so he kept telling
me.”

“
Probably not, but you’re the only one whose work situation
I’m interested in.”

I frowned at him, not
sure what that was supposed to mean. “You finished your tea yet? I
want to get moving.”

“
What’s the hurry?”

“
From
what my friend, Marianne, tells me, they don’t keep women in
hospital long after having a baby these days. I don’t want Annabel
to be released before we even get to talk to her, just because you
want to linger over your tea.”

“
Can’t a man even enjoy a cup of tea in peace in this place?”
he grumbled, tipping the rest of his mug down the drain.

“
You
should have got here earlier, then you would have had time. And
besides, you’re not paid to drink tea,” I said, waiting for him at
the front door. “You’re paid to boss me around, make me horrible
tuna salad sandwiches, buy me Tim Tams, and occasionally do some
police work.”

He smiled. “I really am
going to have to look at my job description again. It seems to have
changed a bit since I last did.”

In the car on the drive
to Big Town, there was only one thing I wanted to talk about.

“
So,
are you ever going to tell me about what happened between you and
Melissa?” I asked, burning with curiosity, but trying not to be too
obvious about it.

“
What’s there to say?” he replied coolly. “We went our
separate ways.”

“
Why?” I asked.

“
Does
it matter?”

“
I
guess not, but I’d just like to know,” I confessed.

“
Why?”

“
What
if you get back together and end up leaving here again? I don’t
want a revolving door of sergeants in my life.”

“
We
won’t be getting back together again, and I won’t be going
anywhere.” His eyes slid in my direction. “It’s well and truly over
between us, and there won’t be any reconciliation.”

“
You
sound so sure.”

“
I am
sure.”

“
Who
ended it? You or her?”

“
Does
it matter?” he asked again.

I sighed. “Just answer
the damn question, will you? Who ended it?”

“
I
did.”

“
Why?”

He sighed, even more
heavily than me. “Are you going to just drop this?”

“
No.”

We drove for a while in
silence, before he caved in. “I really didn’t want to go overseas,
and I didn’t enjoy it. I suppose I wasn’t very subtle about hiding
that, and it caused a lot of tension between us.”

“
You
didn’t enjoy spending that time together?”

“
To
be blunt – no. I was concerned about what was happening here, and I
was concerned about my future. I didn’t have a good time at all. In
fact, it was impossible to have a good time in those
circumstances.” He spared me another glance. “Did you have a good
time?”

“
Of
course I didn’t,” I scorned.

“
Exactly. We were both being punished for something that we
had no control over.”

I stared down at my
hands, my mind whirling. “You and Denny saved my life, and I was
angry that the brass wouldn’t acknowledge that. I’m still angry
about it.”

“
They
left you to the mercy of the Bycrafts. I was furious about
that.”

“
Baz
helped.” I admitted quietly. “He’s very calm. He helped defuse
quite a few volatile situations that I probably would have made
worse.” I looked at him. “You didn’t seem angry to me. You were
very accepting of being suspended. I couldn’t believe
it.”

“
I
did what I thought was the best at the time for the both of us. I
could have appealed my suspension, sure, but that would have just
dragged the whole process out. And I would still have been made to
leave town until the appeal and the original investigation were
finalised. If I’d done that, I still wouldn’t be back
here.”

I wasn’t sure what to
say. “You looked as though you were enjoying yourself in the photos
you sent.”

“
I
did that for my mother. She was very upset about me being
suspended. I didn’t want her to worry about me while I was
gone.”

I’d ponder on all that
he’d said later tonight in bed, but for now I returned to the
original topic. “Melissa wasn’t happy you weren’t enjoying
yourself?”

He laughed quietly.
“That’s putting it politely. Well, you know Melissa. She wanted to
party and shop and dine and meet up with her friends who’d decided
to join us, mostly with me paying for everything. I wanted to visit
my father and my other family. I wanted to lay low. I wasn’t really
in a partying mood.”

“
Guess you wouldn’t have been.”

“
I
suppose I found myself feeling increasingly distant from her and
what she wants in life. And we haven’t spent much time together
since I first moved here, so the strain of being together
twenty-four seven, and trying to make it work was too much for me.
I knew that it was never going to work anymore. So I called it
off.”

“
Just
like that?” I asked, feeling a bit sad that a longish relationship
could end so simply. I wondered if Jake’s and my relationship would
end in a similar way. I wondered how we’d cope being together
twenty-four seven for several months.

“
Not
quite. There were other things too. She wanted me to stop doing
something that was incredibly important for me to do while I was
away.”

“
What
was that?”

“
I’ll
tell you one day, Ms Nosy,” he smiled briefly. “But also . . .” He
hesitated, as if unsure whether to confide or not. “I found I’d
lost interest in her physically.”

“
Oh.”
I didn’t know what to say.

“
Yes,
it was . . . awkward. Especially when you’re travelling with
someone and you just don’t want to . . . Well, you know. It was
hard to keep coming up with excuses. It put a lot of stress on our
relationship. I felt as though I was disrespecting her by not being
honest about how I felt.” He was quiet for a while. “We were
engaged for a long time. Honesty was the least she deserved from
me.”

“
Oh.”
I peered up at him. “I thought that with you two hardly seeing each
other for so long, that you’d jump at the chance to be together for
such an extended period.”

He laughed quietly
again, seemingly not too upset with talking about the breakup. “No.
I’ve chosen to live like a monk again. Funny how life turns out
sometimes, isn’t it?”

“
Did
you end up visiting your father and family?”

“
Yep.
Spent the last month with them. It was good to catch up with
everyone. Now,
that
I did enjoy.” He arched an eyebrow.
“Which you’d know if –”

“
Yeah, yeah. If I’d read your emails,” I interrupted, bored of
the admonishment.

“
And
how have you and Jake been getting on?” he asked
casually.

I shrugged
off-handedly. “Not great, if I’m being honest. Things are a bit
tense between us. He hasn’t taken Denny’s death well. Jakey’s not
good with negative stuff at the best of times. He feels guilty
about using Denny as a spy for so long.”

“
How
do you feel knowing that your boyfriend actively recruited his
brother to spy on you?”

I shrugged again. “I
don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it. Denny probably would
have spied on me, regardless of whether Jakey asked him to or not.”
I gave a small laugh. “It’s almost weird him not being around, I’d
grown so used to him. These days I see something move out of the
corner of my eye, and I spin around ready to tell him off. But he’s
not there, of course.”

“
Have
you had any further letters from Tommy Bycraft?”

“
No,
but I’m glad about that. He said what he needed to say. And it’s
not like I want to become pen pals with him.”

“
Any
more letters from Red?”

“
What
do you think? I’ve got a whole drawer full of them. He’s coming to
Denny’s funeral.”

“
Of
course he isn’t.”

“
He
is. Lola told me. That means that Tommy and Karl will probably be
allowed to attend as well. I mean, Denny was their brother too.” I
thought for a moment. “I suppose that means that Jakey’s father
will be let out for it as well.”

“
What’s his name?”

“
Ritchie.”

“
Haven’t heard much talk about him in town.”

“
What’s to say about him? He’s virtually spent his entire life
in jail. About the only relationship he’s had with his family is to
knock Lola up. I know Jakey has nothing to do with him. Not sure
about his other kids though.”

“
Makes you proud to have a family like them in town, doesn’t
it?” he said, pulling into the carpark of the hospital.

“
Look
on the bright side,” I said. “It keeps us employed.”

Fortunately for us,
Annabel was still in the maternity ward, sharing a room with three
other mothers, all of who appeared older than her. Her curtains
were extended around her bed, and from within, we could hear soft
voices. We stood around waiting patiently for them to finish
whatever they were doing.

Noticing our uniforms,
a nurse hurrying past with an armful of fresh linen enquired of our
business. She poked her head between the curtains and conducted a
short conversation, before advising us it wouldn’t be too long.

We leaned against a
wall, trying to ignore the curious glances of staff and patients.
The maternity ward wasn’t a place you’d normally expect to see a
couple of police officers.

After five more
minutes, a woman, who identified herself as one of the hospital’s
social workers, emerged from behind the curtain.

“
Officers,” she greeted, briefly shaking our hands. “Just a
warning – she’s quite upset. I’ve tried to get some information
from her about the baby’s father, or about her family. She doesn’t
seem to have any close support mechanisms. I’m reasonably sure
she’s currently homeless, so we obviously have strong concerns
about her and the baby’s welfare.”

“
She’s not going to be released, is she?” I asked,
worried.

“
No,
not for a few days. The baby’s doing fairly well, considering the
circumstances, but she was quite a low birth weight. We think that
Annabel probably didn’t have optimal nutrition or care during her
last two trimesters. They want to keep an eye on both of them, just
to be safe.”

“
Thanks,” said the Sarge, as she checked her watch and tutted
over being late for her next appointment.

We stepped between the
curtains, and pulled them across again to maintain Annabel’s
privacy.

She’d been crying, her
eyes and nose red, her cheeks shiny with tears. Her little baby
slept soundly in the portable crib next to her bed.

“
Hello, Annabel,” I said gently. “You might not remember us,
but I’m Senior Constable Tess Fuller, and this is Sergeant Finn
Maguire. We’re from the Mount Big Town police station, and we
helped you with your baby last night.”

“
Thank you,” she said in a small voice, her breath hitching
with tears.

“
How
are you feeling, sweetheart?” I asked.

“
Okay.”

“
Do
you mind if we ask you a few questions?”

Fear flitted across her
face, followed by a horrible heart wrenching sadness and weariness.
I sat on the edge of her bed while the Sarge pulled up the sole
visitor chair, happy to let me take the lead.

I pulled out my
notebook, and wrote
Annabel ?, 16 yrs old
. “What have you
decided to call your baby?”