Shadow of Suspicion (Haunted by the Past) (22 page)

“Oh no! Please tell me this isn’t…..”
She broke off, unable to continue.

“It is indeed. This is where little
Sophie died,” the cold voice behind her announced, “or more accurately, where I
killed her.”

“No!” Callie whirled around to face
Sue. “That’s not possible. Why would you do something like that? I don’t
understand!”

The woman stood by the bank, her gaze
unfocused. Callie could almost see the memories dancing behind Sue’s eyes. She
wasn’t even sure that Sue had heard her words. The woman was completely out of
her mind.

Sue turned to look at her. “I suppose
I ought to tell you. I guess I owe you that much. It would be kind of nice to
get it all off my chest for once. I’ve had to suffer in silence for so many
years.” She nodded with her chin towards a fallen tree stump a short distance
away. “Take a seat. I think you’ll need it. The truth isn’t easy to hear.”

Callie moved towards the tree stump
on stiff legs. She collapsed onto the wooden seat. Sue stood a few feet away,
the gun still trained on Callie.

“I don’t understand why you are doing
this.” Callie swallowed hard. She kept her gaze on Sue. Maybe if the woman
dropped her guard, she could rush her and grab the gun. It didn’t seem likely,
but she was starting to get desperate.

“Why? Because I couldn’t allow my
husband’s bastard children to live, that’s why!” Sue thumped her chest with her
hand, her voice bitter.

Callie jerked. “What? Are you telling
me that you’re married to my father?”

“Yep, and he was Sophie’s father
also.”

Callie stared at the woman, stunned.
“But I was told Sophie was Sandra’s younger sister.”

“Not true. Sandra gave birth to
Sophie when she was fourteen years old. Rebecca just pretended she was pregnant
to be able to claim the child and keep the secret. Of course, she had no idea
who the father was at that time.”

Callie shook her head, tears blurred
her vision. Sophie wasn’t her aunt. She was her sister! How could Sandra keep
something like this from her? She had the right to know. No wonder she’d felt
so connected to Sophie. It explained so much.

Trish’s words flowed through her
mind. Sandra had been more like a mother to Sophie than Rebecca. That made
sense now. Sandra had obviously wanted to mother her child, but Rebecca hadn’t
wanted anyone outside the family to know who Sophie’s real mother was.

“I can’t believe this.” She glared at
Sue. “I know it’s an awful thing for your husband to do, but Sophie didn’t
deserve to die for his adultery. How could you snuff out such a beautiful little
girl’s life? She’d done nothing wrong.”

Sue laughed, the sound brittle and
bitter. “You don’t understand. Neither of you can live. It’s not natural that
you exist. You should never have been conceived, let alone born. I can’t bear
it. There is no reason why I should!”

Callie stared hard at her. Sue’s
rough voice had started to change. A more refined infliction crept into her
accent. It sounded familiar, but Callie couldn’t place why.

“You are not making any sense.”
Callie curled her fingers into the fabric of her skirt.

Sue glanced down at herself and
returned her gaze to Callie. “Do you know that I used to be in the theatre? I
was a fine actress, I can tell you.”

Callie shook her head, wondering
where in the world Sue’s mind had gone now.

“I still have it, you know. I stand
here before you and you have no idea who I really am.” She laughed. “Maybe this
will help.”

Sue grabbed her hat and yanked on it.
Callie stared in fascinated horror as the hat and Sue’s hair came off in one
sweep. Sue’s fingers dug into her face and pulled away the layers of fat.
Little by little, her appearance changed until the woman standing before Callie
became obvious.

“There has to be some mistake!”
Callie cried out, recoiling against the tree stump. “Is this some kind of sick
joke?”

“No, dear. It’s no joke.” Trish
replied, her face deadly serious.

Jason stared at the blackened, burnt
out area where half his garage had once been. He mentally calculated the cost
as he scanned the damage. It would take a lot of work to put the place back on
its feet, not to mention the money. He only hoped the insurance company would
pay out. His father had promised to help him if they refused, but Jason would
rather it didn’t come to that.

Even though he’d been in a
relationship with Lucinda, he’d never given her keys to his garage. He had to
wonder how she’d obtained them. If the insurance company deemed this a scam or
that he’d been negligent, they wouldn’t pay him a penny.

Jason sighed and ran a hand through
his newly shorn hair. It felt strange. He just couldn’t get used to it. The
barber had cut away all the singed areas for him, which left his head feeling
rather bare. Thankfully, his eyebrows were already showing signs of growing
back in. He’d been slightly worried that they may have been gone for good. He’d
been teased mercilessly by the lads that worked for him and couldn’t bear the
thought of years of bad eyebrow jokes.

The sound of the church bell pealed
through the air. Jason’s stomach plummeted into his boots. The funeral was
over. He closed his eyes, guilt weighing heavy on his chest. He knew Callie had
attended this morning, but he hadn’t wanted to go. His mind continuously played
the image of Lucinda’s death over and over again as it was. The sight of the
coffin holding what remained of her body was too much for him to handle. He
already couldn’t sleep from the nightmares.

“
Danger, danger. You must help her
.”

The soft whisper tickled at the
corners of his mind. Jason scratched his head and turned around. He scanned the
surrounding area, but could see no one. 

“Is there somebody there? Who’s in
danger?” He spun on his heel once more, his head moving in all directions. Only
the wind rustling through the trees and the sounds from the nearby town
disturbed the air.

Shrugging, Jason glanced around one
more time, but there was still no sign of anyone around. Chalking the strange
incident down to lack of sleep, he decided he may as well head off since there
was nothing more he could do here. He glanced over at his van parked a short
distance away. Thank heavens he’d left it at his flat the night Lucinda had
planted the bomb, instead of the garage as he normally did. At least he could
still cover break downs. It would keep him in business for a while, until
things could be sorted out.

“
You have to save her. The bad
lady came back. She’ll hurt her. Please hurry
!”

Jason jerked at the childish voice
that seemed to carry on the wind. He whirled around once more. His jaw hit the
ground and shock held him immobile. Right before his astonished eyes, a small
figure began to form. At first all he could see was a shimmer. It reminded him
of the heat haze that rose up from the ground on hot days in summer. Since the
air was bitterly cold, he knew what he was seeing couldn’t possibly be that.

A glow spread out from the centre of
the hazy blur, getting steadily brighter as he stared. Finally, a small figure
formed and he realised he was seeing a child. The girl’s face was screwed up,
as if she was concentrating hard. Her tiny hands were curled into fists at her
side. She wore a summery dress, full of tiny flowers.

Jason licked his suddenly dry lips.
“Sophie?” he breathed out. He couldn’t believe what he was apparently seeing.

The small girl’s eyes popped open and
she smiled. She nodded her head, her curls bouncing around her chin. “
You
have to save her. Please
.”

Jason rubbed his eyes, but the
phenomenon remained. Her words slowly penetrated his stunned brain.

“Callie? Are you telling me that
Callie is in trouble?” He rubbed his chin, confusion rolling through him. “But
that’s not possible. The woman trying to hurt Callie is dead now.”

The child shook her head. “
Bad
lady came back. She has Callie. You must go and save her.
”

Jason’s whole body turned to ice and
his mind struggled to comprehend. It had been Lucinda trying to hurt Callie,
hadn’t it? Why then was he seeing Sophie? Anxiety rose up and almost choked off
his breath. They must have missed something. The question was what?

“Who is the bad lady and where did
she take Callie?” Jason ignored the part of his brain that told him he’d lost
the plot. He knelt down in front of the small, ghostly child. “Can you take me
there?”

The child’s eyes widened and fear
shot through her expression. “
Can’t go back there, please
.” A sob
escaped the child; the sound echoed with a strange hollow quality. “
Don’t
want to go back there. I was so cold
!”

Jason bit down a frustrated growl. He
had to encourage the girl to talk. “Where is she? Can you tell me?”

The child faded slowly before his
eyes. Her small hands rubbed at her arms as if she tried to warm herself. Her
soft crying lingered in the air as she disappeared completely.

“No, please tell me where?” Jason
sprang forward, but his hands connected with only air. “Damn it”

He leapt to his feet and kicked a
nearby piece of metal across the ruined forecourt. It hit the remains of a
brick wall with a resounding clang. “Think,” he demanded of himself. Where
could Sophie have been talking about? She’d been so afraid.

He wracked his brains. What was it
Trish had told him and Callie about Sophie? Suddenly the answer popped into his
mind and he smacked his forehead. “Of course!”

Where else could Sophie have meant
but the place where she’d died. Jason pulled his phone from his pocket with
trembling hands. He had to find out where the nature reserve was that Trish had
spoken of. He tried ringing her phone, but received no answer.

“Come on! Come on!” He clicked off.
Where the hell was she? His phone rang. Jason breathed a sigh of relief and
answered without bothering to check the caller display.

“Trish?”

“No, it’s Max.” The deep male voice
sounded irritated. “Can you come pick me up? My bloody car has just packed in.
The engine blew or something. I’m stuck just outside of town.”

“Max?” Jason had trouble processing
the words being flung at him.

“Yes, Max. As in Max Fuller, Mitch’s
father. What’s wrong with you? You sound all strange.”

Jason blew out a deep breath and
closed his eyes. “Thank goodness you called. I need you to tell me where the
Fuller nature reserve is.”

“What?” Max sounded stunned. “Why on
Earth would you want to know that?”

“Because I have it on good authority
that Callie is in trouble. She’s being taken to the nature reserve and we
haven’t a moment to lose.” Jason held in his temper. He struggled to remove the
van keys from his pocket with one hand, while holding the phone to his ear with
the other. His long strides ate up the distance to his awaiting van.

“What kind of ridiculous nonsense is
this?” Max huffed. “Callie is perfectly safe now that your mad ex is out of the
picture.”

“Max, I don’t have time to argue.
Just pretend that what I’ve said is true, and tell me where the hell that
nature reserve is.” Jason ground out.

“Alright, alright. Keep your hair on!
I can show you if you want. I’ve broken down on the way to the reserve anyway.
Pick me up on the main road.”

The phone clicked off. Jason jumped
into the van and started the engine. He shoved the gearstick into reverse, the
tires screeching in protest at the speed in which he whizzed backwards. Jason
quickly shifted into first and jammed the accelerator to the floor. He shot
down the road, uncaring of the blaring horns that buzzed around him as he cut
up several cars to reach the high street.

Callie’s face leapt into his mind.
His heart rolled over in his chest. What if he was too late? His stomach
twisted into sick knots. How could he bear it if he never saw her again? The
truth was he couldn’t. Why had he ever thought he could let her leave him? He’d
been dithering over whether to let her return to London or to risk a relationship
with her. It had been easy to consider her leaving when he knew he could always
visit her if he chose to.

Faced with the prospect of losing
Callie permanently, Jason suddenly realised what he’d refused to see before.
His fear had blinded him to his own feelings. He loved her. Truly, madly and
deeply. He just hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself or to anyone else. He’d
been so caught up in protecting his heart and now it could be too late. What a
fool he’d been.

He’d thought he’d loved Lucinda, but
he finally saw his feelings for his ex as they really were. Why had it taken
him so long to figure it all out? He’d been dependant on Lucinda after the loss
of his brother and his mother’s abandonment of her family. It had never been
real love, the kind you built a future on. He’d been attached to Lucinda. She’d
been nothing more than a habit.

What he felt for Callie went far
deeper. He thought of all the times they’d laughed, fought and the kiss that
they had shared. He’d been an idiot to hold her at a distance for so long. For
the first time in his life, he knew what it meant to be in love. He’d do
anything to make her smile, laugh, and be happy. He’d lay his life down to keep
her safe and never once would he regret it.

He’d wasted so much precious time. What
if he never got the chance to tell her how he felt? Pain ripped through him and
his eyes blurred. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision. He had to reach her.
This couldn’t be all he’d have of her. They had a life to live and a future to
plan. He’d tell her all that was in his heart, if he was just given the chance.

Please, God. Let her be okay. Don’t
let it be too late for me to tell her how I feel
. He thumped the steering wheel and
let out a roar. Whoever had taken Callie had better not have hurt her. Jason
would make the culprit pay dearly if even one hair on her head had been harmed.

He flicked on his indicator. His
tires squealed as he turned the van onto the main road. Horns blared out behind
him for the second time, but he ignored them. His eyes stared ahead with
concentrated focus. He had to find Max and then Callie…………..before it was too
late.