Mad, Bad and Dead, page 10
No reply. The women had revved up the hand dryer machine and didn’t take any notice of me but the girl stared. She wasn’t Emma so I ignored her. ‘Emma.’ I rapped on the cubicle door ‘Emma.’
‘Judi?’
‘Are you OK?’
‘I guess so.’
‘Can you come out?’
‘I don’t want to. I’m too scared.’
‘Can you open the door a little bit, just so we can talk without shouting? Please?’
I waited and finally the latch clicked to Vacant and the door opened a few centimetres. Emma’s face was a white mask, and she stared at me mutely.
‘I’ve come to take you somewhere safe.’
‘Where?’
‘A friend is setting it up for us.’
‘What friend?’
‘My boyfriend.’ I felt my face burn but it was kind of true.
‘I don’t want to come out.’ Tears rolled down her cheeks.
‘I know, love. But you can’t live in here.’ I could see she was wearing my rabbit sweatshirt. If she’d been wearing it when she went to the house, it would give her away. ‘Have you got anything else to change into?’
‘No. I dropped my backpack when I ran away.’
‘OK.’ I doubted the work vest would be any good as a disguise. ‘Can you wait here for about five minutes?’
‘Why? Where are you going?’ Her voice rose into panic again.
‘Just to get you a hat and another top to wear. I’ll be really quick, I promise. It’ll be like a disguise, all right?’
She nodded.
‘Lock the door again. I’ll let you know when I’m back. I’ll call your name. Ignore any knocking.’
‘OK.’ She shut the door and latched it again.
I went out into the centre again and looked for Heath but he was nowhere in sight. How long does a bloody phone call take? Cotton On looked promising for cheaper clothing. I raced in and found a black hoodie almost straight away, debated about a cap and put it back. Strangely they also had fake reading glasses with blue frames so I bought them, too. Another check for Heath before going back into the toilets – nothing. Bugger!
Emma was ready to swap clothing, handing me my sweatshirt and pulling on the hoodie. After she’d tucked in her hair and I’d made sure the hood covered it all, I gave her the glasses. Deep in the recesses of my bag was a lipstick, one I rarely used that was covered in fluff. I brushed it off and gave it to her. She made a face. ‘Trust me, lipstick will make you look different, give you colour.’
She came out of the cubicle to put it on using the mirror. ‘Horrible colour. Doesn’t even suit you.’
‘That’s probably why I don’t wear it.’ I checked her again. ‘That’s good. Now, when we go out, I want you to put your arm through mine. Like we’re best mum-and-daughter friends. The final part of your disguise.’
I thought that would be the one she’d baulk at, but she obeyed without a word. My heart was thumping so hard by the time we came out of the hallway leading to the toilets that it was almost deafening me.
Still no Heath. I wanted to kill him. The surge of anger was good though – it got me moving through the shopping centre, pretending to point clothes out to Emma, faking a cheery smile, and walking quickly but not rushing in a panic. If Heath wasn’t outside waiting with the car, I’d never ever speak to him again.
Halfway down the aisle of shops, Emma’s fingers gripped my arm like pincers. ‘That guy. I know him! It’s him.’
Oh fuck. My legs wobbled. ‘Which – no, don’t tell me. Don’t look. Do as I say.’ I forced a bigger smile on to my face and stopped by a shop window, pointing at something even though I had no idea what it was. I couldn’t see it. All I could see was faint reflections of people moving past us.
‘Was he looking at you?’ I said in a low voice.
‘No, but he was looking around. Looking for me. I know he was.’ She was dragging at my arm now, like I was all that was holding her up.
‘Emma! Focus. Don’t look around. He’s looking for a girl on her own. We have to act normally, all right?’ She nodded, and I could feel her shaking against me now. ‘Take a deep breath, come on, breathe in. Let it out slowly. Do it again. Keep looking in the window.’ I could see now it was a menswear shop and we were both staring at a mannequin in a suit. Too bad. She was breathing, and felt a bit steadier against me.
‘OK, now we’ll turn and keep walking. We’re almost there.’ I nudged her around and half-pulled her with me. My own breath felt stuck in my throat and I coughed, then waved my arm around and let out a weird little laugh. It didn’t matter, as long as I looked happy. Despite feeling like I had a huge arrow painted on my back with the words Here she is!
The exit doors were five metres away now, four, three… A crowd of teenage boys bowled in and nearly walked right into us. ‘Sorry, sorry,’ they shouted, laughing. I smiled and kept moving, making them split and flow around us. They were camouflage. The doors slid open and I desperately scanned the road. Heath’s car was there, but where was he? Fuck, why had he…
Suddenly he was there in front of us, opening the rear door of the Commodore. ‘Hello, ladies. Hop in.’
Emma tried to stop, pulling away from me but I snapped, ‘Emma. It’s my boyfriend. Come on, get in, hurry.’
Heath’s eyebrows rose fractionally at the ‘boyfriend’ but he didn’t say a word. Just as well for him. I pushed Emma across the seat and got in next to her. Heath slammed the door behind me and jumped behind the wheel. In a few seconds, we were accelerating away, and my bones turned to jelly as it hit me all at once.
‘What happened?’ Heath asked.
‘Emma saw the guy – said he was looking for her inside the centre.’
‘Right.’ Heath called someone on his mobile – probably Swan – and reported what I’d said, then asked me, ‘Can she describe him? Did you see him?’
That was when I realised Emma was crying, silent sobs shaking her whole body. I don’t do hugs much but I gathered her up and let her cry it out on my shirt front, snot and all. Heath passed a large white hanky over from the front seat, which helped a lot.
‘I didn’t see him at all,’ I said.
Heath nodded and muttered into his phone. I heard ‘identify… possibly work… artist… safe house…’ before he hung up.
‘Where are we going?’ I asked.
‘Not sure yet. I’m waiting on Swan and his team. They’re at the shopping centre, but they don’t know who they’re looking for.’
‘You want Emma to do an identification thing, like a drawing?’ She stirred in my arms and wiped her face.
‘The FACE tool. It’s our only option if we want to catch him. Nobody in Candlebark saw a thing.’
Over Emma’s head I stared out through the front windscreen, past Heath who glanced at me occasionally in the rearview mirror. Emma sat up and turned away from me, clutching Heath’s hanky. I wondered who’d taught her to cry like that, without making any noise.
Heath’s mobile rang again and we both jumped. ‘Heath. Yeah. Yeah. Now? Then what?’
After he’d disconnected, I said, ‘You need to tell Emma what’s going on.’
‘I know what’s going on,’ she said bitterly. ‘Your boyfriend is a cop. I told you they can’t be trusted.’
‘Why not?’ I asked. ‘You must have a reason.’
‘Mum said it was the cops’ fault we had to leave home and hide like we did. She said she should never have asked for their help.’
I looked at Heath and asked, ‘Are you talking about the police in Sydney?’
‘Yeah, but they’re all the same, she said. Being paid off by the bastards running everything, letting people go.’
I had my own beef about certain police detectives, but that was irrelevant. ‘Emma, if that guy had seen you, I wouldn’t have been able to protect you. Heath and the other police can.’
‘Sure they will,’ she snapped and moved further away from me, huddling up against the passenger door.
We were going fast on the Ring Road, whizzing past cars on both sides, but I was still worried she’d jump out if we slowed down somewhere. As if reading my mind, Heath turned his head and mouthed, ‘Child lock’ at me, and I relaxed a bit. As we flew over the Westgate Bridge, the suicide fence a blur of grey-black, I gazed at the soaring city skyscrapers and the apartment blocks in Docklands. It’d be like human battery chooks in one of those. My hands twitched and I wanted to be in my garden with Mia, planting broad beans or thinning out the parsley.
At the police building in Spencer Street, we drove underneath to the car park, stopped by security for a few minutes to prove we were legit, and around to the area near the lifts. As Heath put the car in Park, I leant forward and said softly, ‘I have to get back to the pub for tonight’s shift.’
‘I know. Let’s just get Emma safe upstairs first.’
He opened the back door and I slid out, then turned to Emma. ‘Come on. I could do with a strong coffee. How about you? I’m sure they can find you a sandwich at least.’
The lift doors opened and Swan and Chandler stepped out. Great. The last people I wanted to see. Swan looked predictably grim, but Chandler came over first, her face friendly, and shook my hand. ‘Detective Constable Lauren Chandler. And this is Emma?’
Emma was still climbing out of the car, head down. She barely muttered, ‘Yeah.’
Lauren smiled at Emma even though the girl wasn’t looking at her. ‘Great. We’re really glad you got here safely.’
Emma gave her a disbelieving look, but when Chandler asked her when the last time she’d eaten was, Emma muttered, ‘Dunno.’
‘Let’s go and find you some food. Would you like coffee or hot chocolate?’
‘Hot chocolate,’ Emma mumbled.
‘Great. I’ll even share some of my stash of marshmallows.’
The detective was trying too hard, but at least she was trying. She led the way to the lift, Emma shuffling behind, followed by me. Heath had gone to park his car and I didn’t look at Swan – I didn’t want to give him an opportunity to launch into questions or criticism of my decisions. I’d done my best. If they didn’t like it, they could shove it where the sun didn’t shine.
In the end, we all crowded into the same lift, and my heart sank. Swan wasn’t letting us out of his sight. I was loath to leave Emma in their clutches, even if Chandler seemed friendly. Upstairs, she led us to a bland room with some decent-looking beige couches and chairs, which I assumed was the kind of place where they dealt with families or witnesses. She offered me coffee and went off to get our hot drinks, and I was glad to see Swan leaving us alone for now. He paused outside the door, making a phone call, and then disappeared down the hallway.
Emma perched on the edge of a couch and l sat next to her. ‘You won’t leave me here, will you?’ she said, her voice trembling.
‘I do have to work tonight,’ I said.
‘No! You have to stay!’ Her eyes were wild and she looked around for an escape route.
‘Emma, it’s fine. They’ll keep you safe.’
‘You don’t know anything,’ she said. ‘Just because you’re sleeping with one of them.’
‘That’s nothing to do with it. They’ve helped me before. You can trust Heath.’ My words weren’t making any difference.
She jumped up and started pacing around the room, shoulders hunched, biting her fingernails. I wanted to tell her that the police had saved Mia, saved me from gangland thugs, solved Macca’s murder – but in all honesty, I couldn’t.
All the same, I wasn’t playing detective this time. This time I really was going to leave it all to the police.
‘I can’t stay here,’ Emma said.
‘I know it’s not very homely, but… where else have you got to go?’ I almost offered to let her stay with me, but if someone really was after her, it would put Mia in danger, and I wasn’t having that.
Chandler came back with two steaming cups with another woman following close behind, carrying plastic-cased sandwiches and a chocolate muffin. I thought longingly of my abandoned lunch, not to mention my abandoned glass of very nice Sauv Blanc. Emma just stared at the food and made no move to open it. Chandler and the woman sat opposite us, making themselves comfy on the other couch like we were in a book club or something. I guessed the woman was some kind of family liaison officer.
‘Emma, do eat something,’ Lauren urged. ‘You look like you haven’t eaten for days.’ She kept glancing at the chocolate muffin as if she wouldn’t have minded eating it herself.
‘How would you know, Detective Chandler?’ Emma said. She shoved herself back on the couch and pulled her legs up, hugging her knees.
‘Call me Lauren,’ Chandler said. ‘It’s easier.’ And a bit more friendly. They both watched her, looking concerned. I wasn’t sure how genuine it was. Lauren leaned forward. ‘How would you feel about helping us create a picture of this guy?’
Emma shrugged. ‘What’s the point? You won’t find him.’
‘I think we will,’ Lauren said. ‘According to what we know so far, he’s responsible for three murders, including your mother. Don’t you want us to catch him and put him away?’
‘How are you going to do that?’ she said. ‘He isn’t even from down here.’
Lauren stiffened. ‘You mean you know who he is? His name?’
Emma laughed a bit hysterically. ‘Stop looking at me like I’m going to save all your arses and do your fucking job for you!’
Lauren frowned. ‘I don’t know what you mean, Emma.’
Emma hugged her knees harder and refused to answer, but I could hear her muttering under her breath. ‘You know nothing, you know nothing.’
Stalemate.
10
Lauren opened her mouth again to question Emma but I jumped in. ‘Emma, if you were able, what would you do? Where would you go?’
Tears spilled down her cheeks. ‘I’d turn back time. I’d make my mum move to Bali or America or Siberia. Anywhere but staying here.’
I could see by their faces that the two cops thought she was being ridiculous, but there was more to it than a teen tantrum. They needed to get their shit together and stop treating Emma like a criminal for not cooperating.
‘Why did you have to move?’ I asked gently. ‘What happened?’
‘It was his fault. Mikey. Mum should never…’
‘Do you mean your stepdad?’
‘Mikey? Shit, no!’ She glared at me. ‘That loser was never my stepdad. He was just a moron, a leech. He had Mum twisted up and doing whatever he wanted.’
I didn’t want to let on I already knew a lot of this. ‘But he’s in gaol now. In Sydney?’
‘Yeah. Serves him right.’
I glanced at Lauren but she sat impassively, waiting to see what I would ask next.
‘Is your dad still alive?’
She shrugged. ‘Dunno. He dumped Mum when I was little. I don’t even know where he is.’
‘So Mikey caused you both a lot of trouble. Is that why you had to leave Sydney?’
It seemed like a pretty straightforward question, but she froze and then jerked her whole body away from me. ‘I’m not talking to any of you anymore.’
And she meant it. All three of us tried for about ten minutes but she never said another word. I saw Heath hovering outside and went out to talk to him.
‘Is she going to help?’
‘Nup.’ I checked my watch again. Shit, it was nearly four. ‘I have to go. Can you take me back to my car?’
‘You’re leaving Emma here?’
‘Happy to take her with me,’ I snapped. ‘Except, if this guy really is after her, we might all end up dead.’ Oops, that was a bit over the top, but the whole day had stressed me to the limit.
His face tightened and he took a breath. ‘Chandler’s not getting anywhere, and I think maybe Swan will make her worse.’
‘You think?’
‘Judi, you’re not helping either.’
OK, that was it. I’d had enough of all of them. ‘Fine. No problem. I’ll go back to my pub then.’ I spun around and went back to Emma, bending down to whisper to her. ‘I have to go back to Candlebark. I’ve got to work at the pub. Do you want me to come back here tomorrow morning and help you? Yes or no?’
She stared up at me with big red-rimmed eyes. ‘Yes, please.’
I moved up to a murmur. ‘All right. If you can help these guys, great, but I’m not going tell you what to do. You have to think it through and make your own decisions about what’s right for you. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, unless you call me and say don’t come, all right?’
She nodded and then launched herself off the couch to hug me, her thin fingers digging into my shoulders. I hugged her back, wishing I could take away some of her pain, but first of all she had to let me in more. Tomorrow.
The atmosphere in the car going back to my place was a bit frosty, but there was nothing I could do about it. He was being a cop, and I was being me. I wasn’t going to make it worse by saying anything. When we arrived, I said, ‘Thanks for the lift. I’m sorry our lovely lunch got hijacked.’
‘Are you coming back down tomorrow?’
I nodded. ‘I don’t pick Mia up until the afternoon, but if Emma still wants me with her, I’m happy to do that. Unless Swan doesn’t want me to. He might think I’ll be a bad influence on her, but I’m trying to help.’
‘Hopefully she’ll agree to assist with identifying her mother’s killer.’
‘Yes, hopefully.’ But I was convinced she wouldn’t, and I spent most of my trip back to Candlebark wondering why not. Not that I came up with any answers, just a lot of possibilities. My main theory was that she knew the guy somehow, as in knew him, not just knew who he was. An old boyfriend of her mum’s perhaps, or someone in their family, or more likely a good mate of Mikey’s.
