Shadow of Suspicion (Haunted by the Past) (2 page)

“Can I stay the night?” His eyes
scanned the room. Surprise lit his features as he spied his daughter slumped on
the sofa. “Fay? What the heck are you doing here?” He waved his hand
impatiently “Never mind. Probably just as well. There’s no use you being at
home tonight. Not the mood Sandra’s in.”

“I don’t have the room to accommodate
you both!” Jason protested. “Can’t you work things out with…………”

The doorbell rang out yet again and
he went to answer it. Jason was beginning to feel like he was in the middle of
Piccadilly Circus. What did a guy have to do for some peace in his own home?
Sandra flew into the flat before he could utter a word.

“You are not dumping me with this!”
she yelled at his father, her expression murderous. She poked Doug in the chest
with one long fingernail. “You got me into this, you’re damn well going to be
there when she arrives! In fact, you can be the one to tell her to go home!”

“I don’t get you, Sandra. This is
your daughter we’re talking about. How can you not want to see her? Aren’t you
in the least bit curious to know how she’s turned out?” Doug frowned at his
partner. Jason had to admit his father had a good point. It seemed strange that
Sandra exhibited no desire to see her own flesh and blood.

Sandra slumped slightly. “Of course a
part of me wants to know how she’s turned out. I’ve thought of nothing else
since the day she was born. But it’s not as simple as that. My whole family
live around here. What am I going to do about them? You never saw what happened
when I fell pregnant.”

Doug drew her into his embrace. “This
isn’t about your family, honey. It’s about you meeting your only child. It is
important for you and for her. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing
by contacting her for you. I can’t imagine not knowing my kids.” He squeezed
her shoulders.

Sandra stiffened. “I know you meant
well, but you don’t understand. My family will not approve of her being here.
You have no idea how bad they can be. I really think it’s best that we tell her
to leave and I don’t want to do that on my own.” She whirled around to face
Jason and stabbed a finger in his direction. “You’d better not tell Mitch about
this. He’ll only report the whole affair to the rest of the family. I’ll skin you
alive if he finds out.”

Jason exchanged a shocked glance with
his father. Doug shook his head slightly, warning Jason to say nothing. He
rubbed Sandra’s back gently. “Of course he won’t tell Mitch. Nobody’s going to
do anything you don’t want them to. There is no pressure. Just think about
things. Don’t make your mind up about this right now. Wait and see how you feel
when she arrives.”

“I won’t change my mind!” Sandra
slumped back against his chest, the sound of her tears were muffled by his
thick coat.

“I hate to state the obvious, but
can’t you just write and cancel the whole thing?” Jason suggested. “It seems
the obvious solution under the circumstances.”

Doug cast a pained grimace towards
Jason. “I kind of left it a bit late to spring the surprise on Sandra.
Unfortunately, her daughter will arrive here before a letter gets to her. It’s
too late to stop her visiting, I’m afraid.”

“And you don’t have her email address
or phone number?” Doug shook his head. Jason sighed. Great! He pinched the
bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He could feel the beginnings
of a headache.

Right now, he wished his father had
never visited him when he’d moved to Devon. They wouldn’t be in this mess if
Doug had never clapped eyes on Sandra. And now her daughter was being thrown
into the mix. A daughter that none of the other Fuller’s wanted anything to do
with.

The sinking in the pit of his stomach
warned him that trouble was headed their way. He could feel it on the horizon
like a thunderstorm.

“So, when does she arrive?” he asked
his father, resigned to the inevitable. Nobody could mess things up quite like
his dad.

“She’ll be here tomorrow.”

Sandra’s head shot up, her eyes
blazing. “She’ll be gone tomorrow too. I won’t have her stay here, Doug. I
won’t!”

Jason stared at the woman’s hardened
face. She was hiding something, he was sure of it. Her eyes flashed with fear.
What was going on? Judging by the expression on Sandra’s face, he rather
thought it would be better for this long lost daughter to stay lost.

*****

Callie shifted in her bed and rolled
over. She sighed. A soft breeze wafted against her face. Something tickled her
nose. Callie raised her hand and swatted at the air. She wrinkled her nose and
scratched it.

Shifting around in the bed again, she
tried to relax her body so she could drift back to sleep. She was just on the
edges of slumber when something icy cold touched her cheek.

Callie’s eyes popped open. For a
fraction of a second she saw a small pale face staring right into hers.
Shrieking, Callie sat up in bed and snapped on her nightlight. The warm glow
flooded the room. She stared around, blinking rapidly. Her heart thudded wildly
in her chest. There was nobody present.

Jade barged into the room, her
dressing gown half on. “What’s wrong?” she demanded, scanning the room as if
she expected a burglar to spring out at any moment.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake
you.” Callie clasped a hand to her chest. “I thought I saw someone peering down
at me. I must have been half asleep and dreamt it.”

“Well for goodness sake, don’t do
that again. You stole ten years off me!” Jade blew out a breath and stumbled
back to the bedroom door. She turned at the threshold. “You are okay with going
to Devon tomorrow, aren’t you? It’s not that giving you a bad night, is it?”

Callie sighed. “I’m nervous, of
course, but this was just a silly dream. It’s nothing to worry about. This trip
is something I have to do. Besides, I have a job to do there now too,
remember?”

Jade bit her lip. “Yea, I know. But
if it all gets too much, you’ll come right home won’t you.”

“I will. Don’t worry about me.”

Jade smiled softly and left the room.
She shut the door behind her. Callie grasped the glass of water sitting on her
bedside table and sipped it slowly. The cold water slid down her dry throat like
nectar. She put the glass down, snapped out her light, and shuffled back down
under the covers. Her stomach bunched into painful knots of anxiety. She
gripped the edges of her sheets tightly in her hands and stared into the
darkness. Tomorrow was a big day. She had quite a journey to reach Devon. It
was a long way from London. She only hoped it would be worth it in the end.

Closing her eyes, Callie spent the
next hour tossing and turning until she finally drifted into sleep. Just before
oblivion set in, she thought she heard a soft whisper against her ear.

“
Don’t go. It’s too dangerous
…………”

Callie ran her fingers through her
long red tresses and flicked the layers back into place. She stared at herself
in the mirror. The dark circles under her eyes stood out against her pale face,
a testimony to her lack of sleep the previous night. Callie sighed. She pulled
her compact from her bag and applied a little camouflage. It wasn’t perfect,
but at least she didn’t look like the living dead anymore. She threw the
compact back into her bag and zipped it shut.

A toilet flushed and a woman exited
the cubicle behind her. The next woman in the long queue leading all the way
down to the exit, hurried into the vacated facilities. Callie knew just how the
desperate woman felt. She’d been so relieved to see the roadside services sign
that she’d nearly cried. She’d been stuck in a traffic jam for hours thanks to
an accident on the motorway. Callie’s bladder had been on the brink of bursting
when she’d finally cleared the holdup. How she’d made it the extra five miles
to the services, she’d never know!

Callie sighed and slung her bag over
her shoulder. She pushed her way through the crowd by the door and exited the
women’s restroom. Callie slowly meandered through the service station, glancing
into shop windows as she made her way back to the exit she’d come through when
she’d arrived. The service station was packed. A mass of bodies heaved their
way through the many café’s, restaurants and shops. Their voices blended
together into one continuous hum. Callie could barely hear her heels tapping on
the shiny surface of the floor.

Her eyes caught onto a child standing
a short distance away from her. The little girl stared intently in her
direction. She paused. Something about the tiny face felt familiar, but she
couldn’t put her finger on why. The child could be no more than five years old.
She was dressed in a flowery dress that was far too summery for the wintry day
outside. Her small hands were folded in front of her and her face held a
serious expression that seemed far too adult to be on the face of one so young.

Callie scanned the area but could see
nobody with the child. Frowning, she headed towards the little girl. Maybe she
had lost her parents. Callie had to make sure the child made it safely to her
family if that were the case. There were always so many awful reports in the
news of children being snatched. She would never forgive herself if that
happened to this girl and she could have prevented it. She reached the child’s
side and hunched down to be on eye level with the girl.

“Hello, honey. Are you lost?” She
kept her voice soft and unthreatening. She didn’t want the girl to feel unsafe.

The child shook her head, her soft
reddish brown hair bounced around her tiny face. She leaned forward and stared
deep into Callie’s eyes. Callie froze, as though the girl had placed her under
a spell.

“
Don’t go. You have to turn back
.”
The child’s voice held a strange quality to it. Almost as if she wasn’t even
speaking. It was more like a whisper on the wind. Callie shivered and goose
bumps broke out all over her body.

“What do you mean?” She hadn’t
expected such a statement to come out of the child’s mouth. The girl stared at
her, almost as if she knew something Callie did not. It was like she was
looking at an adult in a child’s body.

“Are you okay, Miss?” Callie turned
at the light tap on her shoulder. A security guard stood behind her, his face
concerned.

“I’m fine. I just thought this child
might have lost her family.” She waved her hand in the girl’s direction.

“What child?” His bewildered
expression annoyed Callie. Honestly, did the man need glasses? How could he not
see the girl she was talking to?

“This child, right here.” Callie
pointed behind her, but to her amazement the girl no longer stood there. She
spun around in a circle and scanned the crowd around her. “Where has she gone?
She was here just a moment ago.”

The man stared at her as if she’d
sprung three extra heads. “There was nobody here, Miss. I saw you walk across
the aisle, bend down and talk to the bin.”

Callie peered closely at him to see
if he was pulling her leg, but he remained deadly serious. She clutched the
strap of her bag. Her head spun for a moment and her vision blurred. The man
caught her arm.

“Maybe you should sit down, Miss. I
could send for someone to check you over.” He cleared his throat and shuffled
on his feet. Callie could tell he just wanted to get away from her. The man
probably thought she was nuts.

“I’m fine,” she assured him, even
though she still felt light headed. “I just………” But she couldn’t think of one
single excuse to explain away her odd behaviour. “I have to go.”

She shot away from him, hoping he
wouldn’t detain her further. Callie prayed that she never bumped into the man again!
Her cheeks burned as she barrelled her way out of the swing doors and into the
car-park.

The frosty January air hit her like a
solid ice wall. Rain fell heavily from the dark sky overhead. Callie cursed.
Why hadn’t she thought to bring her umbrella with her from the car? She should
have clocked the warning signs when she’d parked up, but her bladder had been
the only thing on her mind at the time.

Callie fumbled inside her bag for her
car key. She clasped it firmly in one hand and ran across the car-park on shaky
legs with her bag held over her head in a vain attempt to keep dry. She skidded
to a halt beside her car and unlocked the door. Callie threw her bag onto the
passenger seat as she climbed behind the wheel and slammed the door shut.

Cold wet drops of water wormed their
way down her neck and slid down her face. Callie shivered and turned on her
heating. What the hell had happened back there? Had that man really not seen
the girl she’d approached? It seemed impossible. The child had been right in
front of her. Callie could still picture her as clearly as if the girl stood
before her.

She ran a hand down her face,
surprised to realise she was trembling.
I’m just cold. It’s nothing.
But
a small voice in the back of her mind warned her she was lying. Since she
couldn’t explain the incident, Callie decided to pretend it had never happened.
What no one else knew, couldn’t hurt her. She clipped her seat belt into place,
turned her windscreen wipers on, and started the engine. Callie drove out of
her parking space and headed back to the motorway.

She leaned forward and switched on
her radio. Music filled the car, its steady beat immediately cheered her up.
She sang along to the song at the top of her voice and tapped her hand on the
steering wheel in time to the beat. The miles slipped passed and Callie relaxed
as the distance increased between her and the service station. The rain finally
cleared away, but the sky remained grey and bleak.

Callie left the motorway and
travelled steadily into Devon. Her back ached from the hours of sitting at the
wheel and her head started to pound dully in the background. She couldn’t wait
to reach the B&B. The radio suddenly broke into static. Annoyed, Callie
pressed the off switch. She wouldn’t risk fiddling with the dial while driving.
Sighing, she rubbed at her neck with one hand.

“
Turn back!”

Callie screamed at the unexpected
voice whispering in her ear. Her gaze shot to her rear view mirror. The pale
face of the child she’d seen at the service station stared back at her.
Shocked, her heart slammed in her chest. The car swerved on the road and
slipped on the wet surface. Panicked, Callie fought to gain control. A loud
grinding erupted from the engine and smoke spilled out from under the bonnet.

Two cars overtook her, blaring their
horns loudly. Angry faces glared at her through their windows and one guy
actually stuck his fingers up at her. Callie ignored them all and headed for
the layby. She slammed on the breaks and came to a dead stop.

Breathing hard, she turned off the
engine and applied the hand break. She clasped a hand to her chest and closed
her eyes, grateful she’d managed to make it to safety. Callie unclipped her
seat belt and swung round in her seat. Her startled gaze landed on the empty
back seat of her car. There was no sign of the girl. 

“What the hell?” Callie covered her
mouth with her hand. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Was she cracking up? The
child had been there, large as life in her mirror. She’d heard the girl’s
strange voice right in her ear, telling her to turn back. What could it all
mean?

Callie struggled to her knees and
leaned over to check the floor behind her seat. Empty. There was nowhere for a
child to hide. The car had nobody in it but her. Stunned and shaken, Callie
twisted back around. She stared at the smoking bonnet in front of her. She
didn’t dare attempt to start the car.

“I don’t believe this!” Callie threw
her hands into the air. Nothing had gone right on this stupid trip! She grabbed
her bag and fumbled through it for her phone. She scrolled down to the number
for Roadside Assist, glad she always made sure she had emergency numbers in her
contacts list. She pressed the call button.

A rumble of thunder rolled through
the sky and the heavens opened once more. Callie glared at the onslaught of
rain pelting her windscreen. Could things get any worse!

*****

Jason struggled through the rain. The
wind buffeted his van and he had to work hard to keep the vehicle on the road.
A loud boom of thunder rocked the sky and lightening flashed, briefly
illuminating the landscape around him. The windscreen wipers fought to clear
the torrential onslaught of water that descended down on him. It was certainly
not a day he would have wanted to venture out in, but work demanded it.

He glanced at his GPS. Not far now.
It had taken a great deal longer to reach the breakdown than he would have
liked, but the conditions on the road had worsened within minutes as the storm
hit full force. He twiddled with the radio dial, hoping to get some updated
news on traffic conditions. Static was all that greeted him and he switched
off. There had been a number of warnings in the last hour to stay off the
roads. If only!

He grimaced. Visibility was becoming
increasingly difficult. He only hoped this wouldn’t last much longer. How he
was meant to fix a car in this downpour was beyond him. He hoped to be able to
complete the job and still make it back to take Lucinda to dinner.

Jason didn’t want to have to call her
and cancel. He knew he needed to make things up to her for the previous
evening, but he couldn’t afford to turn down a call out. Not only was the pay
extremely good, but the company wouldn’t use him again if he wasn’t reliable.
Jason prided himself on taking every job they threw at him and as a result, he
was often top of their list for breakdowns in this area.

He slowed the van down and flicked
his gaze between the road and the layby. It couldn’t be far now. His headlights
reflected off a small car sitting at the side of the road. This had to be it.

He flipped his indicator on and
pulled to the roadside. Jason switched the engine off. He adjusted his scarf to
cover the lower half of his face and slid the hood of his waterproof jacket
over his head. He grabbed his torch and alighted the vehicle.

Struggling through the wind and rain,
he reached the driver’s side of the stranded car. He tapped on the window. It
slid down a small way and a pair of large, thickly lashed eyes stared back at
him warily.

“Hello, I’ve been sent by Roadside
Assist.” He had to shout to be heard over the traffic and the storm that raged
around them.

“Thank goodness you’re here.” The
woman wound the window down further, but he still had to strain to hear her.
“It’s been getting steadily worse out here. I’ve been half scared to death that
someone was going to skid on the road and crash into me.”

Jason bit back a groan. The female
staring out at him had city business woman written all over her. She wore a
blue trouser suit that probably cost a small fortune if the cut was anything to
go by. An air of sophistication and quality clung to her like a second skin.

Her face had the barest hint of
make-up that simply enhanced her delicate features. Her long red tresses were
cut in layers to frame her jawline and tumble down her back. She held an edge
of confidence in the tilt of her head and the cool regard of her gaze.

Just what he didn’t need right now!
He’d rescued enough women like her to know they usually required constant
babysitting, while insisting they were independent and capable the whole time
they stared down their noses at him. He gritted his teeth and geared himself up
for what he was sure would end up being an ordeal.
Just be professional!

“Don’t worry, hopefully I can get you
fixed up and back on your journey in no time. Can you pop the hood for me?” She
stared back at him as if he’d just spoken to her in Mandarin Chinese. Her hands
fluttered over the dashboard in front of her.

“Just how do I do that?” she asked,
uncertainty clouding her voice. Just as he’d thought. She didn’t know one end
of the car from the other.

He leaned forward and attempted to
keep his annoyance out of his voice. “If you don’t mind, I can do it for you.”

The woman hesitated, then nodded. He
stuck his head inside the car and felt around for the lever that popped the
bonnet. He didn’t miss her slight intake of breath or the subtle hint of her
floral perfume. It smelt expensive and was a far cry from the sweet musk that
Lucinda always wore. He could feel her body stiffen beside him as he located
the small device and pulled it. He frowned at her obvious discomfort.
Seriously? Did she think he was going to grope her or something? He rolled his
eyes and swiftly removed himself from her personal space before she could start
complaining.