Treacherous (18 page)

“
My apologies, Ma’am.
But, we do need to lay charges somewhere.”

“
Officer… Riley, I
understand you are only trying to do your job, and I know you guys
love to lay charges left, right, and centre, but this case is
closed. Correct?”

Go Mum!

“
Yes, Ma’am. I
apologise.”

“
Thank you. Next
question.” I heard the clink of china as my mother picked up her
teacup to drink and set it back down again.

“
Okay, on to your
husband’s murder.”

“
Yes, who killed
him?”

“
We had a statement
from Constable Nathan Wright telling us that Courtney Vella killed
your husband.”

“
Courtney
Vella?”

“
Yes. She had been
using the alias of Mia DeStella on campus so she could be-friend
your daughter, Charlotte.”

“
Mia. Oh my God. I let
that girl into my house! I knew something was wrong with her from
the moment she inserted herself into my daughter’s life. She was a
bad seed.”

“
Yes. Now, her
relationship with our main suspect, Levi Jack Chandon went back
many years. They met when they were fourteen. Miss Vella’s family
were friends with Levi’s family.”

I couldn’t believe my
ears. Levi and Mia… I mean, Courtney, had known each other since
they were fourteen? I was glad that they were both dead, because I
was more than mad. I felt cheated, in the worst way
possible.

“
Now, we found chat
and text transcripts between Levi and Courtney detailing how they
planned to target your family. Because Stephen was representing
Levi at the time, three years ago, he had access to Levi’s entire
medical and personal history. We believe Stephen held onto
information that would incriminate Levi and cause a re-trial. This
we believe is the reason he had your husband killed.”

I wanted to look then. My mother was
stunned speechless, and so was I.

“
And the money?” she
asked after a few moments.

“
Your husband paid
Levi off as a bribe to stay away from your daughter. But it didn’t
work. We also believe Nathan was in danger, also.”

“
Nathan?”

My heart fluttered at the mention of
his name. I craved to see him again, but I was also afraid.

“
Nathan was not only
seen as a romantic threat to Levi where your daughter was
concerned, but he was also the one who shot and killed Levi’s
father.”

“
So, it was
revenge?”

“
Yes. But he’s safe
now, everyone’s safe now. Levi and Courtney are both
dead.”

I heard sniffling. My mother must have
been crying. “I’m so glad it’s all over.”

So was I.

My mother showed the
police officers to the door, and soon after went back into the
sitting room, but not for another cup of tea. I heard the clink of
glass and the slam of a cabinet door. I knew she was drowning her
sorrows. I decided to drown my sorrows the only way I knew how. I
crawled back into my room and shut the door with my
foot.

Nathan

After knocking twice, the front door
opened and Susan appeared looking worse for wear. The past few
months have been hard for Susan Jayne.

“
Thank you for coming,
Nathan,” she said, letting me in.

“
It’s no trouble. How
is she?”

“
She still won’t talk
to me. I was hoping you could…”

I placed a reassuring hand on Susan’s
shoulder. “I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll try. Thank you
for calling me.”

“
It’s no problem at
all. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“
Still healing,” I
shrugged.

It had been nine days
since the confrontation at the Catherine Hill Bay house, and
everyone was still in a frenzy. The Australian Federal Police were
still working on the case tying up loose ends, but the case was
more or less closed. The bright side to all this is there would be
no trial or court case.

I could tell Mrs
Jayne was on the verge of breaking down again. I felt for her. She
had lost her husband and had almost lost her daughter all in the
space of a few days. Susan shook her head as if to say don’t worry
about it as she pointed towards the stairs.

“
She’s in her
room.”

“
Thanks.”

When I approached
Charli’s door, I paused outside and listened for movement on the
other side, but there was only silence. I rapped softly three
times. When there was no answer, I opened the door and stuck my
head in.

Charli was sitting on her bed, back
against the headboard and knees pulled up to her chest. Her arms
were wrapped around her calves and her head was rested sideways on
her knees. She was staring out the window.

“
Charli? May I come
in?”

When she didn’t reply, I let myself in
and shut the door behind me.

“
How are you?” I
asked, stopping beside the bed. It was then she looked at me. Her
cheeks had inky black mascara tracks on them and tears still
remained in her eyes.

“
How
do
you
think I feel, Nathan?”

“
I think you’re
feeling betrayed, hurt, and angry about what happened. And that’s
perfectly fine. But you need to talk about these things. It helps,
trust me.”

“
Are you a shrink now?
How could you possibly know what I’ve been through?”

“
You’re not the only
one who has been betrayed by those you love.”

She glanced up at me.
Her eyes travelled down my body then back up to my face. I was
dying to know what was on her mind.

“
What do you
mean?”

I sighed and sat on
the bed beside her. “When I was a boy, my Dad cheated on my Mum and
then walked out. When I was in high school, my so-called best
friend slept with my girlfriend.”

“
Ouch.”

“
Yeah. But that’s not
all. Working in the fraud division, I’ve seen a lot of horrible
things. All the things people can do to other people—you name it,
I’ve seen it. And believe me, Charli, your case wasn’t the worst
I’ve seen.”

“
Seriously?”

“
Seriously.” I
breathed a sigh of relief when she finally smiled.

“
Thanks, Nathan. For
everything.”

“
You don’t have to
thank me.”

“
Yes, I do.” She
turned towards me, placing her hands on top of mine on the bed. “If
you hadn’t come bursting in that room, guns ablaze, I don’t think…
I can’t think…” she stopped, choking on her tears. Finally, she was
no longer in denial.

“
Ssh.” I reached out
and pulled her closer, enveloping her in my arms. She didn’t resist
and only threw her arms around me, pulling me closer. “It’s okay.
I’ll never let anyone hurt you ever again.”

I rocked her back and forth against me
as the tears fell.

I knew in that moment, how true my oath
was to her, to protect her with my life.

She pulled back after a moment and
stared at me.

“
What is it? What’s
wrong?”

“
You’re a
cop.”

“
Yes. I was meaning to
tell you… I’m sorry.”

“
It’s okay.” Her eyes
trailed over my body once more, making me feel vulnerable. “You’re
in uniform,” she added, smirking.

I glanced down at my fully uniformed
and medal- adorned chest. “I was at a funeral.”

“
Oh? Whose
funeral?”

“
My partner’s. Mark.”
She took my hand in mine.

“
I’m sorry. I heard
the Medical Examiners and police talking to my mum about what
happened at the house and to my dad. Mark was killed trying to help
you, wasn’t he?”

“
Yeah.” I swallowed
back my own tears, but some escaped my eyes. “He was an honourable
man. We gave him a State funeral, hence the fancy dress. It was
what he deserved.”

“
Mia, too? She was
killed too, wasn’t she?” The way she was looking at me now… oh, my
heart broke for her. From that moment on, I vowed to never keep a
secret from her ever again.

“
Yes. I’m sorry,
Charli. She’d been working with Levi. I had to kill
her.”

Charli nodded. She didn’t talk for a
long time. She only wrapped me in her arms again.

After ten minutes of being close to
her, she whispered.

“
It’s my father’s
funeral tomorrow.”

I lifted my head to look at her. “I
know. I’ll be there.”

“
I don’t want to
go.”

“
You have to go. I
know it will be hard, but you have to be strong like I know you
are. I’ll be there, so will your Mum, right beside you.”

“
Don’t leave my side.”
She collapsed against me and I whispered back.

“
Never.”

Chapter
Thirty-Five

Charli

I ran my fingers
through my hair once more making sure it was straight. I looked at
my reflection in the mirror and couldn’t help but feel the sense of
déjà vu wash over me. The last time that I had done this, my life
had changed forever.

* * * *

“
You look hot,
Charli,” said a voice behind me. I turned around and immediately
cringed. It was the town player, the school man-whore. And now he
was standing in front of me with that hungry smirk he always
wears.

“
And you too, Michael.
You haven’t changed one bit. Still the same virginator, I
hear?”

“
Still playing hard to
get, I hear?”

“
Look, what do you
want, Michael?” I crossed my arms in front of my body and waited
for the scum to disappear. He didn’t.

He leaned in closer and lowered his
voice, speaking into my ear. His breath was hot on my skin.

“
Why don’t you just
give it up, Charlotte? Or I’ll tell the press who daddy’s little
girl really is.”

My eyes widened and I pushed him away.
“You wouldn’t dare.”

“
Oh, I would dare.
Sleep with me and your secret will be safe.”

I hesitated. “You promise?”

“
I swear on my
life.”

I followed him out into the parking
lot, but he didn’t keep his word.

* * * *

The scars still remained from that
night, both physically and emotionally.

Michael had told
everyone he knew about my ‘habit’, my coping mechanism, and the
media ate it up. So my parents did the one thing they knew how to
do—they made me go away. Out of sight, out of mind was there motto.
They admitted me to the rehab clinic for three months.

I adjusted my wrist cuffs to cover the
fresh red scars on both wrists. Keep sakes from my nightmare.

Someone knocked.

“
I’m coming.” Before I
could finish my sentence, my mother poked her head in, her eyes
immediately falling to the black fabric around my
wrists.

“
Please don’t tell me…
Oh God, please, Charlotte.” Holding her hand to her heart, my
mother ran to me and grabbed one of my wrists, yanking back one of
the cuffs.

“
Heaven forbid!
Charlotte…”

“
I’m sorry, Mum. You
know it’s my only way of coping. It’s the only way I can take away
the pain.”

“
No, its not,
Charlotte! God…” She couldn’t finish her sentence. She collapsed on
the bed and put her head in her hands. “I almost lost you! Twice! I
just lost your father! I can’t… I can’t do this! Not
today!”

“
I’m sorry, Mum. I’ve
stopped. That was my last time, I swear.”

“
I don’t believe you.
In fact, after today, after we bury your father I’m taking you back
to the clinic.”

“
No, Mum! Please not
that place!”

“
You’ve left me no
choice, Charlotte. I’ll be in the car.” As she leaves, she slams
the door in her wake.

I want to scream, I
want to smash the mirror that held my broken face. Like I did that
night before I used the glass to cut myself. But today was not the
day. Today I had to bury my lying, treacherous father, and then my
treacherous mother was going to take me back to the place where my
nightmares began. No, slash that, my nightmares began the day I
lost my childhood. I didn’t look at my reflection again after that.
I slammed my bedroom door and walked to the car.

Chapter
Thirty-Six

Nathan

There were already a
lot of people at the cemetery
—a lot of people who either liked Stephen or hated him. I
just hoped none of them hated Stephen enough that Charli was in
further danger.

A black town car
pulled up, and I watched as Susan exited. I waited for Charli to
get out, and when she did, I noticed she was wearing a simple yet
elegant black shift dress, and adorning both wrists were what
looked to be tattered pieces of black cloth. I wasn’t sure if it
was a fashion statement or not, but it triggered a memory. The
morning after we had made love, the night of her twenty-first
birthday, I noticed something poking out from underneath her silver
bangles—jagged pink scars. It suddenly dawned on me that there was
much more to Charli Jayne than I first realised. As she righted her
dress after climbing out of the car, her head popped up and even
though she was wearing dark sunglasses, I knew she was looking my
way. I put my hands in my suit jacket and nodded. I glanced back at
Stephen’s coffin sitting just right of the hole where he was to be
buried. Before I knew it, Charli was standing next to
me.