Harbour

by Claire Boston

  Zamira did so. “They think about a week.”

  Nausea rose in Alyse’s stomach and she swallowed hard to keep it down.

  Khan gestured to Bosch and they went down the corridor to speak but Khan’s words carried. “Mark made bail. Lincoln released him just before I called.”

  Alyse froze. Mark would likely come straight here, see the police, see his shed was open. He’d know they were on to him.

  Did he have another stash of guns somewhere? Would he come after her?

  She began to shake, and Kim turned her towards him, drawing her into his arms. “It’s all right. I won’t let him near you.”

  Kim couldn’t stop him. No one could, but she drew comfort from his arms.

  “Alyse, can we have a word?” Bosch gestured for her to follow.

  She held onto Kim’s hand as she walked down the corridor and out to the dinghy.

  “We’ve had word Mark’s made bail,” Bosch said without preamble. “The team will watch the entrance of your property in case he comes back.”

  “It won’t help,” Alyse said. “The fire break runs along the back and he can access the property from there, or from Henk’s place.” She gestured towards her neighbour.

  Bosch frowned. “It might be best if we find you somewhere safe to spend a few nights.”

  “No.” Mark wouldn’t scare her away from her home. “I’ll stay here. The police will have a lot of work recording all of this, won’t they?”

  The detective nodded.

  “Then it’s the safest place I can be. I’ve changed the locks and Jeremy will board up the side door.”

  “I can’t spare any people to protect you.”

  “I’ll stay with her,” Kim said.

  Her heart expanded, but she didn’t want him in danger. “Don’t you have work?”

  “Dad gave me some time off. Eden is covering my shifts.”

  She didn’t want to be alone, and Zamira would be busy with the women they’d found. “All right. Thank you.”

  Khan accompanied them back to the house. Jeremy had found a tape measure and was measuring the side door. He glanced up as they walked in.

  “Bad?”

  “Yes. They found two Asian women inside.”

  Jeremy swore. “Zamira’s with them?”

  “Yeah.”

  He let out a slow breath. “Right. I have a bit of wood at home which should fit the door. I can board it until we can get the locks changed.”

  “Thank you.” It was something.

  “Mark made bail,” Kim told him. “Watch your back when you get it.”

  Jeremy scowled. “Will do. Back in a jiffy.”

  They walked back into the kitchen where the table was still set, and the dinner Kim had brought was going cold.

  “We should both eat something,” Kim said. “Take a seat and I’ll heat it.”

  She wasn’t hungry, but she needed food in her stomach before she could take more pain medication. Kim seemed right at home in her kitchen, pouring her a glass of water and heating the food.

  In no time at all, he placed a steaming bowl of pho in front of her and settled with his own plate of stir fry next to her.

  “How are you coping?” he asked.

  Where did she start? “I knew Mark was involved in something dodgy, thought he might have worked with Henk, but to discover those poor women in there…” She shook her head. “I’m furious. Not only that he kidnapped them, but also because he used my land, my parents’ land, for something so despicable.” She closed her eyes, let the soup soothe her.

  “You’ve put a stop to it now.”

  “He’ll be back,” she said. “He won’t accept it’s over.” Mark never admitted defeat.

  “The police will catch him soon.”

  Naïve thinking. Henk’s partner had remained hidden for a month before he’d been caught. She had traded uncertainty and fear at home for uncertainty and fear everywhere she went. She had little money and a business to run. Her dangerous ex was out there.

  And he still held all the control.

  ***

  Kim tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position. The wall clock mocked him with its rhythmic tick tock and the darkness brought him no sleep. It would be easy to blame the hard sofa, or the too-soft pillow, but in truth he was too concerned about Alyse to close his eyes. It wasn’t until he’d seen those two kidnapped women in Mark’s shed that he’d truly understood the breadth of Mark’s sadism. He was no small-town thug. The cache of guns revealed how dangerous he could be. Kim couldn’t protect Alyse against that kind of arsenal. Mark might have lost access to his shed, but he would have contacts who could provide him with the weapons he needed.

  The police had taped off the shed and posted a guard before leaving around midnight.

  Jeremy and Zamira had left far earlier with the two kidnapped women—Zamira unwilling to leave them until another interpreter arrived, and Jeremy unwilling to leave Zamira’s side. The whole mess would have brought back bad memories for the both of them.

  Kim sat, throwing off the quilt and running a hand through his hair. Where would Mark run?

  The police had checked the Vale winery, but Mark was smarter than that.

  And it appeared Mark had his fingers in multiple pies. The car parts could have come from Morgan and the stolen car racket the police had busted last week.

  Kim walked to the window, peering out at the darkness. It was still tonight, clouds hiding the moon, and the trees that ran along the road were dark shadows. The silence was loud and his ears strained to catch any snippet of noise. Mark could be out there now, watching, waiting.

  He rubbed his arms.

  Alyse seemed certain he would be back, and she knew Mark best.

  Somewhere in the house a door opened. He turned, picked up the rolling pin he’d taken from the kitchen drawer earlier. Treading lightly, he moved to the lounge room door and peered down the corridor as a person slipped into the kitchen. He followed. At the kitchen entrance he shifted slightly so he could peer inside.

  Alyse stood at the sink pouring a glass of water. He lowered the rolling pin and stepped inside. “Couldn’t sleep?”

  She shrieked and spun around.

  “It’s Kim,” he blurted, holding up his hands.

  “You scared the crap out of me,” she said. “What are you carrying?”

  His face flushed and he was glad of the dark. “A rolling pin.”

  Her laugh was breathless. “It won’t be much help against a gun.”

  “It’s better than nothing.” He placed it on the table and moved to stand next to Alyse, glancing out the kitchen window at the backyard.

  “It’s awful to think he’s out there somewhere,” Alyse said, her voice low.

  “Yeah.” He hesitated. “I can stay with you until he’s caught,” he said. “Eden and Sarah are on holiday for another couple of weeks so they can work at the restaurant and I can help you here with the bees, with anything you need.”

  “I can’t ask you to, Kim.”

  “You’re not asking, I’m offering. I’d like to help.”

  “And what if he isn’t caught in the next couple of weeks?” Alyse asked. “You can’t put your life on hold for me.”

  Frustration and guilt swirled together. “I won’t desert you again, Aly.”

  She turned to him and he could feel her frown. “Again?”

  “After your parents died, I came around to visit and to apologise for those things I said. I believed Mark when he told me you didn’t want me around.” Shame filled him.

  She touched his hand. “We were both young,” she said. “I believed him when he said none of my friends cared.”

  He shook his head. “I should have known better. I should have helped you. Then none of this would have happened.”

  “So you’re here now as penance?”

  “No!” He held her hand. “I’ve missed you, Aly. Missed those days at the markets, missed your smile and your sense of humour. I tho
ught about calling you so many times, but I was too ashamed of what I’d done and then it felt like it was too late.”

  “You have nothing to be ashamed of.” She led him away from the window and out of the kitchen. She hesitated in the hallway. “Let’s talk in my room. It’s warmer and I don’t like the lounge room.”

  Kim followed her into the single bedroom. “This is your room?”

  “Yes. I moved out of the main bedroom when I caught Mark in bed with Yvette.”

  Anger simmered in Kim’s stomach. How could Mark treat her so callously? How could he look at another woman when he had Aly? He said nothing as Alyse slid under the covers and flicked on the bedside lamp.

  “Sit down.”

  He hesitated. It was either sit on the edge of the bed or the floor. The bed looked inviting with Aly in it, but she’d freak. Though the cold seeped into his skin, he sat on the floor.

  She looked at him for a long moment, before saying, “This won’t work. We always sat side by side when we talked.” Her eyes showed her uncertainty, but she patted the bed next to her.

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded and handed him the throw rug at the base of her bed. “Wrap yourself in that. It’s cold.”

  Kim moved onto the hard mattress slowly, not wanting to scare her, being mindful to give her space on the small bed.

  Alyse flicked the lamp off and dark settled on the room. “It will be easier to talk in the dark.”

  He understood. Night was the time for confessions and secrets. “Why did you stay with him?”

  She stiffened and then sighed. “It’s hard to explain, hard for others to understand when they haven’t been in the same situation.”

  He waited, letting her get her thoughts in order.

  “At first it was good. He was kind, attentive and it was seductive—the older man interested in me, a red-headed farm girl who was obsessed with bees.” She sounded amazed.

  “I loved your obsession with bees.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. You used to light up when you talked about Bessie and the gang. They felt real to me. I couldn’t wait to hear the next instalment each week.” Everything she’d done had been fascinating to him.

  She chuckled. “I always figured you were a captive audience and were being polite.”

  He sucked in a breath. “Never. Seeing you at the markets was my favourite time of the week.”

  “If only I’d known,” she said. “I had a massive crush on you.”

  He closed his eyes. If only he’d been a more confident teenager. He’d never suspected she’d been interested in him. “The feeling was mutual,” he confessed. And had never faded.

  She sighed. “Hindsight’s a bitch.”

  It was. “So when did Mark change?”

  “I started seeing it after Mum and Dad died. He took control, told me not to worry, he’d deal with everything, and I was so full of grief I let him.”

  The sadness in her voice made Kim reach out, slide his hand into hers. She flinched and then relaxed, her fingers curling around his. His heart expanded. “I wish I’d been there for you.”

  “I don’t think I would have noticed if you had been,” she said. “Grief clouded my every day for months afterwards. By the time it lifted a little, Mark had control of the business and I was relieved to have one less thing to worry about.”

  “You were young. It was a lot for anyone to cope with.”

  She nodded. “The first time he hit me was when we went out on his boat after the accident. I didn’t want to go out very far and when he ignored me, I became hysterical.”

  Kim clenched the hand not holding hers.

  “I figured I deserved to be hit, to shock me out of that state. The next time he was violent was when I refused to move into the master bedroom with him. He shook me and cried, told me I didn’t love him if I wouldn’t let him create a home and I was so desperate not to be alone, I begged him to stay.”

  Nausea swirled in his stomach. He wanted to stop her talking, didn’t want to hear all the horrific emotional and physical abuse she’d gone through and yet he wanted to know it all so he could help her heal.

  “It became a pattern. He isolated me from my friends, from you, he controlled the finances, the business accounts. He gave me an allowance and after he was badly stung, he allowed me free range with the hives. It was only when I stood up to him, or did something he saw as defiant that he hit me. But those attacks grew more frequent.” Her hand shook in his and he rubbed his thumb over her soft skin. “About eighteen months ago I finally recognised the pattern, and realised he didn’t love me. I tried to kick him out, and that’s when he told me he’d been using my accounts to money-launder.” Her voice hitched. “He showed me a fake contract I’d signed and I didn’t want to go to jail, didn’t want to lose my property, the last connection I had to my parents.”

  The manipulative bastard.

  “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.” If he had to buy the property himself, he would.

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. I have to be free of Mark.”

  A loud creak made them both sit upright. “Was that a door or a window?” Kim whispered.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  Slowly he climbed off the bed and peered out the window. No movement. His heart thumped as he moved to the doorway. The rolling pin was still on the kitchen table where he’d left it. He glanced down the empty hallway, ears straining for any other noise.

  “I’m going to text the police,” Alyse whispered.

  The guard at the shed could help them.

  Kim didn’t know his way around the house, especially in the dark. To his right were the main family areas, but to his left was unknown. He stayed still, waiting for another sound. Alyse came up behind him, pressed her mouth close to his ear. “Should we search the house?”

  He didn’t want her anywhere near the danger. “Let’s wait for the police.” He eased back into the bedroom and closed the door, locking it.

  Time crawled as they waited for the police to contact them. Kim strained to hear any noise and finally he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. He tensed.

  Someone pounded on the door and Alyse shrieked.

  “It’s Senior Constable Travis,” a voice called.

  Kim didn’t know either of the police guards from Albany station. “Do you recognise the voice?” he murmured.

  “No, but it’s not Mark.”

  The door had no peep hole. “How did you get in?” Kim called.

  “The back door was unlocked.”

  It shouldn’t have been. “Why did you come to the house?”

  “Because Ms Wilson contacted us.”

  He glanced at her and she nodded. Kim opened the door, ready to push it shut again. He recognised the man and the tension in his shoulders released. “You didn’t find anyone?”

  The senior constable shook his head. “The master bedroom window has been pried open. Looks like the intruder entered that way and walked out the back door.”

  “It was locked when I checked it before going to bed,” Alyse told him. She hugged herself, and Kim put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him.

  “I’ve called it in,” Travis continued. “We’ll get a team out to check for fingerprints. I’ll stay with you until they arrive.”

  “Thank you,” Alyse said and moved to the kitchen where she put the kettle on. Kim was way too wired to sleep, but Alyse was pale and looked as if she’d fall over at any moment. He moved closer to her. “Why don’t you go lie down?” he said. “I can stay awake until the police get here.”

  She shook her head before he finished speaking. “I can’t sleep knowing someone was in my house.”

  He understood. “At least let me make you a tea. You can go back to your room, relax and I’ll handle the police.”

  “No, Kim.” She was firm. “I appreciate your concern, but I can cope.” She placed tea bags into the mugs, offering one to the constable who’
d followed them in. “I’m never letting someone else handle things for me again. That’s how I got into this mess.”

  It gutted him to be put into the same category as Mark. “How can I help you then?”

  “You being here is a help.” Her smile was sad. “But I have to deal with this myself.”

  He sat at the table while she made them all cups of tea, clenching his hands together to stop reaching out to help her. He had to give her the space and autonomy she wanted.

  Had to be patient.

  Chapter 15

  By the time the police had taken fingerprints, Alyse was shattered. Her whole body ached, and the table top lured her. It looked like a comfortable place for a nap. She desperately wanted to accept Kim’s offer to take care of everything so she could sleep, but she couldn’t. Not anymore.

  “You should buy some security cameras,” the officer said as he walked out.

  “I will.” She shut the back door and then double-checked she’d locked it. No, it wasn’t enough. She fetched a chair from the kitchen and placed it under the doorknob like she’d seen people do in the movies. She had no idea if it worked, but even if it didn’t stop someone entering, it would make a noise to warn them. Then she checked all the windows and doors again, even though the police had already done so. Her steps slowed as she made it back to the kitchen where Kim waited.

  Ever patient.

  “Are you ready for bed?” he asked.

  She nodded, though she didn’t want to be alone. Had it been Mark sneaking in? She couldn’t imagine it was because he would have gone crazy the second he realised Kim was there.

  But who else—someone Mark worked with? And what were they after?

  Would Kim become a target? “Maybe you should go home.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t want to leave you alone, but if you’d prefer me to go, I will.”

  No, she preferred him here. She shook her head. “Do you want to sleep in my room?” Nerves twisted inside her. “We could drag the other mattress in there, put it on the floor…”

  “I will if you’re comfortable with that.”

  He was so accommodating, and while part of her was relieved, a small part remembered how accommodating Mark had been in the beginning. Kim wasn’t Mark. “Please. I’d feel better with you there.”