The Lies We Tell (10 page)

“Absolutely.”

“No,” the prosecutor said. “I’m happy with this decision and quite frankly, Ms Collins, I think you deserve the break. Take your money and either give it back to the bank, or use it to give your siblings the life they deserve, but it won’t be used to bail your father out. He’s staying here.”

“Please, no.” Tears welled in her eyes.

The guard grabbed Frank’s arm and pulled him to his feet.

“Use that money to get me a good lawyer,” Frank said. “Get me out of here, Sia.”

“I will.” Sia rose as Frank was moved toward the door.

“And drop him.” Frank’s head jerked toward Todd. “Won’t be no good comes from trusting a Lansing.”

Frank was gone before Sia could ask him what he meant. The prosecutor closed the door behind him and studied Sia for a moment.

“I can see that you’ll do what he said and use that money on his defence,” the prosecutor finally said. “Not sure Collins deserves someone as loyal as you.”

Sia lifted her chin high. “Everyone deserves loyalty.”

Outside, she and Todd were again facing each other.

“So, your Dad doesn’t want you to see me.”

“He does react very strongly to you.”

“I wonder why.” Todd looked around. “So, do we spend the rest of the day engaging a good defence lawyer for your father?”

“You don’t think I should, do you?”

“I think I’ve made my thoughts on your father quite clear. But I want to support you, help you and if that means keeping my mouth shut while you do something that I think is wrong, then that’s what I’ll do. After I’ve made sure you understand my position.”

“Thank you.” Sia reached up on tiptoes and the kiss was soft, sweet and very satisfactory. “Keep that up and I may just let my hair down for you.”

They found a lawyer willing to work on Frank’s case that day and even try again to get him bail. Todd followed Sia around, impressed with her courage and tenacity, even as he foresaw it all ending in tragedy.

He’d seen too many people like Frank — drunks and addicts who took advantage of their family’s forbearance — to believe it was going to end in the happily ever after Sia wanted. Either Frank would go down, or Sia would crack. Either way, it was going to hurt.

But it was clear that for all her insight into his situation, Sia had none into her own and wasn’t going to be told what to do. Right now, he had no choice but to keep her close at hand and hope that he’d be able to help when the fall came.

On the drive home, Todd considered the changes in their relationship. When he’d realised who was standing at the door of the family home, painting equipment in her hands, he’d been ready to slam that door with the hope that it planted firmly on her pretty nose. The rage that had flooded him had been immediate.

Now, he knew he’d been all wrong about her, and the fascination that had been growing all those years ago had burst into life as a desire he was determined to enjoy.

How different it would have been, if she hadn’t taken the rap for her dad. Todd had been toying with the idea of asking her out — the only thing holding him back had been knowing his father wouldn’t be impressed with him dating a girl from Black Springs. He hadn’t wanted to ruin that relationship any more than it already was and so he’d been forced to bide his time with Sia.

But once his father was gone, he would have been free to chase after the girl he’d always liked and who had blossomed into such a hottie.

Except would he have asked her out? His blame for his father’s death would have been transferred from Sia to her father so he wouldn’t have hated her any more, but would he have still wanted her?

It was useless to focus on the past. Better to focus on the future, which promised to be very bright if the heat of last night’s kiss was anything to go by.

Assuming she’d want to be with him after her father had banned it.

That didn’t make sense either — why would Frank Collins be so against his involvement in Sia’s life? Unless …

“Did your father ban you from seeing past boyfriends?” The question burst from his consciousness into the silence of the car.

“What?” Sia sounded rightfully astonished.

“I was just trying to reason why he’s so anti us being together and thought maybe he’s done it before.”

There was a pause and he snuck her a quick glance. Sia’s lips were pursed. What had he done wrong?

“He’s not had the chance before,” she finally replied.

“Because you didn’t introduce any of them to him.” Made sense — no one showed off their drunk relatives.

“Because I haven’t had any boyfriends.”

Todd gripped the wheel hard so that his shock would have had him driving the car off the road. How was that possible? Sure, she’d been busy with her family, but she was too bloody gorgeous to have escaped the attention of the male population of Oberon.

And then another, searing, almost frightening thought came to him. “You’re a virgin?”

Sia snorted. “No.” Then she sighed. “I’ve had sex. Plenty of it. Some good. Some absolutely sensational. But dating someone, developing a relationship, hasn’t happened. I’ve not had time.”

He hadn’t liked the pressure of thinking he might be Sia’s first, the man she judged all future sexual encounters against. But damn if he hated the idea she’d been with other men just as much.

The smile he’d heard in her voice as she’d said ‘absolutely sensational’ suggested that now he’d be the one being judged.

“So yes, this is the first time Dad’s seen me with someone. I guess that’s why he’s reacting so strongly to it.”

Except on Friday night, Frank’s reaction to Todd had been just as strong but he and Sia hadn’t been involved then.

It seemed to Todd the problem was with him, not a generic boyfriend.

“Are you going to listen to him? Not see me?”

“You should tell your mother and Paul the truth.”

Todd frowned. “That isn’t an answer to my question.”

“I don’t have an answer to your question.”

His frown deepened. “You’re twenty-six years old, Sia. Your father can’t tell you who to be involved with.”

“Ordinarily, I’d absolutely agree. But I’m trying to repair my relationship with my father and I don’t want to antagonise him.”

The same reason he’d not asked her out when they were teenagers. “I guess not.”

“On the other hand, there is the fact that I’m quite desperate to kiss you again. And do other things with you.”

Todd considered pulling the car over to allow her the freedom to do those other things. “That’s also a compelling argument.”

“So you can see why for now I’d like to change the subject. You should tell your mother and Paul the truth.”

This time, he let her do it. “You’re sure?”

“I promised Col Hamilton I would.”

“What happened there?”

“The truth revealed itself. Col had read over the file and realised the only reason I got away with it ten years ago was that the investigating officers were lazy and didn’t test the evidence. They just took my confession and ran with it.”

“Is he going to reopen it?”

“No. Dad can’t be charged, so there’s no point. But he said, and I agree, that you and your family deserve to know the truth.”

“If he tested the evidence, he could quash your conviction.”

“And reveal our secret to the town. I don’t want that. My name is clear enough and I’m happy with things and it would devastate my father, so Col’s agreed it will go no further.”

Todd shook his head. He’d gone into the police force to bring justice to people like Sia after her sentence had been ridiculously light in his opinion. Now, it turned out that a diligent officer like him would have ensured that Sia was never charged in the first place.

A girl lies, some lazy cops believe her because it makes their job easier and lives are forever changed.

“I’ll tell Paul,” he said. “We’ll have to wait until Mum is stronger.”

“Of course.”

“Now, can we get back to those other things you want to do to me? I think that’s a discussion that should be furthered.”

Sia’s hand came to rest on his thigh and again, Todd clenched the steering wheel to control his physical reaction.

“I need time to think about it,” she said softly. “Do you mind?”

“No,” Todd said, even though a part of his body very close to her hand objected strenuously.

“It’s not easy to have to choose between the love of your father and the demands of your libido.” Her gentle squeeze of his thigh didn’t help.

“I understand.”

“I won’t take too long.”

Sweet Lord, I hope not, Todd thought as she removed her hand.

The rest of the drive was completed in silence, and after dropping Sia at her place Todd went home. He checked on his mother, who was sleeping peacefully.

Paul was out on the verandah, watching the slow drop of the sun from the sky.

“How’d it go?” he said as Todd sat at the table next to him.

“Frank was remanded in custody until the trial. Sia’s splashed a whole lotta money on a lawyer to see if she can’t turn that around.”

“When is she going to see him for what he really is?”

“That, bro, is the question of the day.”

They sat in silence for a while, Todd searching for the right words. He finally decided to just come clean.

“I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Things developing between you and the lovely Sia?” Todd frowned and Paul laughed. “Come on, it was clear that at least half the tension between you two was sexual. Once you realised you didn’t have to hate her any more, that was bound to take over.”

“Funny you should say I don’t have to hate her any more. Turns out I never should have.” Now it was Paul’s turn to frown. “She didn’t do it. The robbery. She confessed to keep her dad out of jail. Frank was the one who broke in, caused Dad all that stress and eventually the heart attack.”

“Holy fuck. You’re kidding me. What Frank said on Friday night was true?”

“One hundred percent. Sia confessed to me that night, and told the truth to the local cops on Saturday. Col Hamilton made her swear that you and Mum would know, so here I am, telling you.”

Paul collapsed in his chair. “I don’t believe it. I mean, she was convicted.”

“She pled guilty, so it never went to trial. And the cops at the time decided it was easier to believe her confession then actually test the evidence.”

“Holy fuck,” Paul said again. Then he smiled. “Damn, I never could get my head around Sia being a crim.”

“Whereas I believed too readily.”

“Yes, you did. And I hope she’s making you pay for it.”

Todd considered the uneasy time he was going to have waiting for Sia to decide whether they could be together or not and thought that karma was certainly making him pay. “I thought we’d probably wait to tell Mum.”

“Absolutely. She’s not ready to hear it yet. Sia still trying to convince the town that her father didn’t know what he was talking about on Friday?”

“She’s still trying to protect him.”

“Damn, that girl is loyal. Tell you what, the man that wins her heart is going to be one lucky bastard.”

Todd agreed.

Wednesday morning, her father’s lawyer called Sia with wonderful news.

“We’ve got bail,” the lawyer said. “Very stringent conditions, but you can come pick your father up later today.”

It required taking time off work — and she felt badly, considering she’d be taking Friday off work as well to go to Sydney. But luckily her prior good record gave her some leeway.

When she got to the remand centre, she was astonished by the man that came into the lobby. Frank was showered, shaved and his hair had been trimmed. The tremors and sweats she’d seen in the courtroom had passed and he looked tired but for the first time in years, clear-eyed.

“Sia.” He smiled and it was a real smile. Like he was glad to see her. “My good girl. Thank you.”

“Ms Collins.” The young man with Frank was very officious. “Here are the conditions of his bail. The bracelet must be kept on at all times. The first thing you must do is go directly to Oberon police station so he can be processed to report there morning, afternoon and evening. Mr Collins.” The man frowned at Frank. “You understand that you are not to leave the town of Oberon until your trial.”

“Yeah, yeah, I understand.”

Sia waited until they were in the car and driving before she posed the question. “What bracelet?”

“Alcohol monitoring. I can’t have a single bloody drink.” Some of the old bitterness crept into his voice.

“I’m sorry this has happened to you,” Sia said. “We’ll find a way to make it work, don’t worry.”

“I know you will. You always do.”

Sia waited for the bite, but it didn’t come. It seemed that the time in jail, sobering up, had changed Frank Collins. Just as Todd had suggested it would.

Did that mean that after all this time, she would finally get her dad back?

They sat in silence for a while before her father said with studied casualness, “So what’s the story with the Lansing bloke?”

Too studied, Sia thought. Would this be where he turned on her? “I don’t know. I really like him, but I don’t want to upset you.”

“Good. Never see him again and you won’t.”

Despite the harshness of the words, his tone was mellow and so Sia thought it worth trying to find out more. “Why are you so against him?”

His body stiffened and she felt the stab of a glare. “That’s none of your business.”

Sia sighed. She remembered a time when she would have asked a question like that and her father would have sat her down and answered her with soft patience.

He’d been such a wonderful father and husband. Early in her life, it had been about his adoration of both her and her mother. When Patricia had died giving birth to Sienna, there had been some hard times but by Sienna’s first birthday, Frank had become a perfect single parent.

He was there for every school recital, every sporting match. He helped with homework. He played with Sienna, read with Sia and showered his two little girls with love.

When his friends, a rough bunch of blokes, came over Frank would ensure their behaviour matched what he believed his princesses deserved. Several men were admonished for their language and one thrown out for daring to disparage women.