The Life Thief

by Cherie Mitchell

“Where is she now?”

  “Dead. Killed herself.” Alice’s voice held no emotion.

  “I’m so sorry. I know from personal experience the turmoil a person must be in before they even consider doing such a thing.”

  Alice ducked her head, allowing her hair to hide her face like a shield. She fiddled with the zipper on her handbag and remained silent.

  “How old were you when she died, Alice?”

  Alice kept her head down. “It wasn’t too bad. I suppose I knew it was coming.”

  “Regardless of whether you knew it was coming or not, it must have been a huge shock.” Alice made no move to agree or disagree with her statement and Becky pressed on. “I guess we all need to make the best of whatever life hands us.”

  Alice didn’t seem impressed by this last comment. She picked up her bag and began to walk toward the door.

  “I need to phone my Mom,” Becky said quickly, before she could leave.

  Alice stopped with her hand on the door handle and looked back. “Why?”

  “I phone her every day,” Becky lied. “She’ll start to worry if she doesn’t hear from me.”

  Alice hesitated before reluctantly passing her a cheap, black plastic phone that she pulled out of her handbag. “You can use my phone. Do you know her number by heart?”

  “Yes, of course. They still live in the family home and Mom has never stopped using the same old landline we had when I was a child.”

  She dialed the number with trembling fingers, hoping that her parents were home. She needed to talk to her father and to make him understand the danger she was in. Her mother picked up after only a couple of rings. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Mom. It’s me.” Becky could feel Alice’s eyes on her as she chatted for a few minutes to her mother about nothing at all. “That’s great, Mom. Can I say hello to Dad?” Alice put out her hand as if to take the phone from her but Becky mouthed Please? and clung on tightly, silently urging her father to hurry.

  “Hi, Becks-ta.”

  “Daddy! I need to tell you something.”

  Alice frowned and again reached for the phone but Becky gave her another pleading look and continued talking. “Michael had a look at those critters that were making such a mess in the attic here at the house. Turns out it wasn’t mice after all – it was something much bigger and more dangerous.”

  “Michael? But I thought the two of you had separated?”

  “Yes, that’s right. Not squirrels either. Whoever would’ve thought it? It seems as if the past is repeating itself.”

  His voice was tinged with uncertainty now. “Becky, I’m not following you.”

  “Yes, Daddy! How did you guess?” Becky forced out a laugh. “It’s exactly the same as that last incident. When was it? It must be at least ten years’ ago now. How time flies! At least I’m better prepared now but I guess I could still do with some help.”

  “Is there something wrong?”

  “That’s correct. And yes, I can’t wait to see you either.” He had to understand what she was trying to say.

  Her father cleared his throat and spoke each word slowly and carefully. “Is there someone there with you now? Are they preventing you from talking? Do you need us to come to the house?”

  “Yes, all of that would be perfect. I can’t wait! Bye, Daddy.” She hung up from the call and passed the phone back to Alice, praying that her ruse had worked. If her parents left now, they should be here within two hours. “My father thinks he’s Mr. Ready Renovator. He can’t stop talking about the upgrades that they’ve made to the family home. He’s looking forward to Christmas so he can show me around.”

  “Hmmm.” Alice’s voice dripped boredom as she dropped her phone back into her handbag. She glanced at the plate of untouched food. “I’m going over to the house to have a bath. You’re obviously not hungry now but I’ll bring you some dinner later.”

  “Thank you. I might have a nap while you’re gone. Oh, and check the cupboard under the basin. There’s a gorgeous vanilla sugar body scrub in there. I bought it from the same place as I bought the candles.”

  Alice grinned and for a fleeting moment Becky thought she was about to walk across and hug her. “I will. That sounds wonderful. You’re a sweetie, Becks.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Becky’s parents hadn’t arrived by the time Alice returned to the pool house just before 6 o’clock. Becky knew they should be here by now if they’d left as soon as she hung up from her call. It was almost dark. Had they decided not to come? Was her father merely humoring her by saying he would come? Had something happened on the way to delay them? She felt hamstrung without access to her phone and her sense of hopeless had continued to increase over the past few hours.

  Alice was wearing one of Becky’s favorite dresses, the short navy shift dress with a sweetheart neckline that she’d planned to wear to Jack and Ellen’s wedding. Although Becky hated to admit it, the dress looked as if it were made for the other woman. Alice set a crumpled brown paper Grubhub bag down on the counter and Becky caught a waft of yeast donuts. “They’re from Voodoo Donuts. I didn’t know what you wanted so I ordered a selection. I’ve already eaten the Portland Cream. ”

  “Did you bring me anything savory? I was hoping for a chicken salad.”

  A frown puckered Alice’s brow as she fumbled in her handbag for her packet of cigarettes. “Beggars can’t be choosers. I would’ve killed for a bag of donuts when I was homeless.”

  “Thank you,” Becky said meekly. She didn’t reach for the bag. She’d vomited twice over the long, interminable afternoon and she wasn’t willing to heap yeast and sugar on top of the gurgles and bubbles that still reigned supreme in her gut. She sat all the way back on the bed, leaning against the wall for support with her feet tucked under her, and laid her hand across her belly.

  Alice pulled out a cigarette and examined it closely. “Tony always made smoking seem effortless.”

  “He still smokes?” As a teenager, Becky had thought Tony was the endnote in coolness with his constantly juggled pack of cigarettes and his careless disregard for his health as he smoked, drank, and gobbled drugs with reckless abandon.

  “Yeah.” Alice squinted her eyes as she lit the cigarette. “He still smokes like the rad and dangerous man that he is.” She peered at Becky through the pall of blue smoke. “I’m joking. He’s a bit of dick, if I’m honest. I’m not quite sure what you ever saw in him. Michael is much hotter.”

  “I was a lot younger back then,” Becky said stiffly.

  Alice coughed and banged at her chest with her closed fist. She sat the burning cigarette on the counter next to the donut bag and Becky had to look away so she wouldn’t wince. The pool house countertop was a replica of the expensive and hard-to-find Italian marble counter in the main house. A cigarette burn would be difficult to shift from the surface but Alice obviously didn’t care. Alice brushed flecks of cigarette ash from the front of Becky’s navy dress. “I spent nearly all of last night trying on your clothes. You have an awesome wardrobe.”

  “They’re only clothes. You can have them all if you want. I don’t mind. Take whatever you want and let me go.” Her head felt too heavy for her neck. She wanted to lie down, close her eyes, and sink into oblivion. 3, 2, 1.

  “Why would I let you go? I’m only just getting started.”

  “Getting started on what?” Alice’s words were ominous. Becky watched the other girl as she walked over to the bathroom to wash her hands. She didn’t trust anything Alice said or did, well aware that she might change her mind at any moment. An acrid odor pinched at her nostrils, a smell that she knew she should be able to define, and she sniffed the air. “Alice, the paper bag is on fire!”

  Alice whirled around, staring dumbly at the flames of the burning donut bag for several seconds before grabbing one of Becky’s boutique cushions off the sofa and rushing across to beat at the small fire. She was panting by the time the flames died down. Small particles of soot flew around the room and she dropp
ed the scorched cushion to the floor. “I didn’t smell it. I’ve told you already that I have no sense of smell.”

  “It’s okay,” Becky soothed. She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye but she did not turn her head to look at the window. Her father was here, out there on the lawn, she knew it with a certainty she hadn’t felt for a long time. As if on cue, the Beechfields’ dog began to bark hysterically. “No harm done. Maybe smoking just isn’t your thing?”

  “Maybe not.”

  Alice had her back to the window and Becky hoped she wouldn’t turn around. She had to keep her talking. “We talked a little about your mother earlier. Do you want to tell me any more about her? What about brothers and sisters? Do you have any?”

  “I had a brother once. Harry. He was taken into care when he was six months old and I never saw him again.”

  “How old were you?”

  “I dunno. Twelve or thirteen.” She shook her head irritably and scowled at Becky. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

  “Have you ever tried to find him? I could help you, Alice. My father used to work for law enforcement. He has contacts that you wouldn’t believe.”

  A flicker of fear passed across Alice’s face. “Your father is a cop? I didn’t know that.” She began to pace and Becky could see her hands shaking from where she sat on the bed.

  “He’s not in the police force anymore. He’s retired now.” She didn’t take her eyes off Alice’s face, praying she wouldn’t look out the window.

  “This changes everything.”

  “What does it change?” Hurry up, Daddy.

  Alice pulled her knife out of her bag and leaned back against the door as she tapped the flat blade against her palm. “I might need to change my plans.”

  Becky forced herself to keep her voice confiding and calm. “You’ll get yourself in deeper trouble if you hurt me, but you already know that. Alice, should we go into the house to talk? It’s more comfortable in there. I could make Michael’s pasta recipe for dinner and pour us a glass of wine. We could have a girly evening in front of the TV.” She looked down at her nails, stalling for time. “I need to do my nails. We could paint our nails with the same color nail varnish, just like best friends do. Would you like that?”

  Alice began to pace again. The knife shook in her hand and she tugged nervously at her long hair. “I don’t think I can let you go, Becky. I don’t think it’s a good idea after what you’ve just told me. You’ll tell your father and he’ll go straight to the cops.”

  “I won’t do that. This can be our little secret.” Where was her father? Had he walked around the yard and left again without coming near the pool house? Becky moved slowly to switch on the light on the bedside cabinet, pretending to fumble and purposely switching it on and off in rapid succession. She needed to signal to him that she was here.

  Alice whirled around angrily. “Why did you turn the light on?”

  “I turned it on so I can see your face. It’s getting darker and I don’t like talking to anyone if I can’t see them properly. Can’t we go into the house to talk? I’d love to do your nails for you. I could give you a pedicure, too.”

  “No.” Alice almost shouted the word. “I’m going back inside to think. Alone. You’ve ruined everything.”

  “He won’t be looking for me, if that’s what you’re worried about. I spoke to him earlier, remember? They live in Tillamook, miles away from here.” Hurry up, Daddy.

  Alice stared down at the knife in her hand. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Let me come back to the house with you.”

  “Shut up!” Alice lunged forward and agitatedly waved the knife blade around just inches from her nose. Becky shrunk back against the wall as the blade swished through the air in front of her. “I can’t think when you keep harping on at me like that, Becky. You’re not coming inside so just forget it.” She grabbed her handbag, knocking the charred donut bag off the counter in the process. She stared down at the burned paper for several seconds. “Fire,” she said quietly, as if talking to herself. “An accidental fire could solve everything.”

  Becky felt a stab of pure fear slice through her chest. “Don’t go and do anything foolish. You’ll live to regret it, I promise you that. Learn from my mistakes. All actions have consequences, Alice.”

  Alice shook her head as if trying to dislodge a buzzing insect from the air around her. “Shut up. You’re confusing me.” She unlocked the door and glared at Becky over her shoulder. “You don’t have any say in what happens next, Becky.”

  Alice shrieked as the door suddenly opened inward, violently pushed from the outside. Becky jumped up, screaming at her father as he rushed inside. “Daddy, she has a knife!”

  Everything happened so quickly after that Becky could scarcely keep up. Her father gripped Alice’s wrist, squeezing hard until she cried out and dropped the knife. He twisted her arm up behind her back and frog marched her out of the pool house as the two officers who’d attended the break in all those weeks ago ran across the lawn. Becky staggered over to the door, holding herself up by the doorframe so her weak legs wouldn’t give way. Her father delivered the still shrieking Alice into the capable hands of the officers before running back to the pool house. “Becky, are you okay?”

  Becky fell into her father’s arms, sobbing as if her heart would break. “I’m so sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean to scare you all over again.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Someone had left a huge bouquet of flowers on the cabinet next to her hospital bed. Becky saw them when she returned from her shower, accompanied by the nurse who had insisted on waiting outside the bathroom while she showered. Becky pulled a face as she climbed back into bed. “Can you give those flowers to someone else? I’ve never been too fond of plucked, packaged flowers. It makes me sad to think of their lives cut short.”

  “We can do that.” The nurse had been referring to herself as ‘we’ since her shift began. “Plenty of people in here will be glad of some flowers to brighten up their day.” She pulled at the tape that held the note onto the polka-dotted paper. “Don’t you want to know who they’re from?”

  “I can already guess,” Becky said dully. “They’ll be from Michael Burton, my ex.” That effusive bunch of flowers was exactly the sort of thing he’d do – a showy gesture designed to make others think he was a good guy rather than it being something for her. He knew she didn’t like flowers.

  “No, the card doesn’t say they’re from Michael.” The nurse thrust the note under her nose. “They’re from Sasha. Who’s Sasha?”

  Becky smiled faintly. “She’s my best friend. She should’ve known better than to send me flowers. She keeps forgetting that I don’t like them.”

  The nurse raised her eyebrows but she kept her opinions to herself. She picked up the flowers and left the room, leaving Becky to stare at the puce-colored wall at the end of the bed and marvel, yet again, at how disastrous her life was. Why didn’t other people get themselves into situations like this? Did she walk around with a sign on her forehead inviting chaos in?

  She leaned back against the pillows and smoothed the sheet across her lap. Her father had brought her directly to the hospital last night after the officers took Alice away. She’d been admitted to the ward for observation but she hoped to leave later today, probably to go and stay with her parents while she recuperated. There was nothing physically wrong with her, save for mild dehydration, but at the moment the thought of spending a few days in the quiet comfort of her parents’ house was all she needed. The last few days had been a nightmare made real but it was over now. Alice was in custody and she was safe. She had to hold onto that thought.

  Her father had filled in the missing pieces for her, telling her that he’d called the police when he was nearly at her house after failing to reach her on her mobile. He said that both his cop brain and his fatherly instincts told him that something wasn’t right. He’d seen the light switch on and off in the pool house but he’d stood
cautiously aside until back-up arrived, aware that bursting into the pool house might put her in more danger. What would she ever do without him?

  “Hey, you.” Sasha popped her head around the door to her room. “I came by a few minutes ago but you were in the shower.”

  “That shower was exactly what I needed. I feel like a new woman.”

  Sasha walked across to stand by the edge of the bed. She frowned at the empty cabinet. “Where are your flowers? I left them here a few minutes ago.”

  “I asked the nurse to give them to someone who will enjoy them. Sash, I appreciate the thought but you know I don’t like cut flowers.”

  Sasha grimaced and banged her forehead with the flat of her hand. “Idiot. I don’t know why I keep forgetting.”

  “That’s okay. There’s been a lot going on.”

  Sasha’s face grew serious. “Are you all right? I couldn’t believe it when your mother phoned me to tell me what had happened. All that time we had a psycho working alongside us in the office and we had no idea.”

  “Scary, huh? And yes, I’m all right. Still shaky, but all right.” She lifted her hand from the sheet to show Sasha. “I haven’t been able to stop trembling since Daddy rescued me.”

  “That’s the second time your father has saved your life.”

  “I know. I owe him everything.”

  Sasha picked up Becky’s hand and ran her finger across the cat tattoo on her wrist. “You’re shaking. What will you do next, Becks? I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come back to work as things stand. You’ve been through so much upheaval. You need to remove yourself from all types of stress so we don’t see a repeat of what happened after Tony’s arrest.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that. I thought about it when I was locked in the pool house, too. I had plenty of time to think. I’m proud of what we’ve built the business into but it’s taking up most of my time. I never wanted that. I need to get back some of the balance in my life. I think I knew that when I returned from the retreat but the idea somehow got lost in all the mess that I’ve had to deal with over the past few weeks. I just don’t want to leave you in the lurch.”