Outback Flames: Australian Rural Romantic Suspense

by Brandyn, Suzanne

  Zoe walked into the kitchen, organised some savoury snacks on a platter, grabbed another beer from the fridge and poured herself a glass of wine. When Jordan finished his phone conversation, he walked over toward the breakfast bar.

  'It's all good. Mum doesn't mind. Luke was watching a DVD, and she has pyjamas for him.'

  'You're lucky you have your mother living close by.'

  'Don't I know it?'

  'Here, take these.' She held out the platter, and the stubby. Jordan took them from her hands, and headed for the dining room. She started to follow, but kept on walking. 'It's more comfy upstairs. I'll eventually order a lounge and whatever else I need.'

  'Sounds like a plan.'

  She grinned and he accompanied her up the stairs.

  'Have you any idea about how many cattle you'd like to run?'

  'I haven't got as far as that. I'm going to take some time out for a few weeks.'

  'A wise decision seeing you have so much to deal with.'

  'I want to investigate the fire. Find out what my aunt was doing in town, and settle it all. Then I can have a fresh start, a completely new start.'

  Walking into her bedroom felt comfortable, as though they'd done it many times. Jordan placed his beer and the snacks on the bedside table while she took a quick sip of the wine. As the glass left her lips, he moved closer, took the glass from her hands and set in down.

  'I want you to be forever happy Zoe. You've been through enough for one woman.'

  She murmured and glanced up into eyes that seemed to hold the answer to her pain. His hands went to her hips and he pulled her closer until their lips met with tenderness. The heat from his touch filtered through her skin, right to her bones. She eagerly accepted his kiss, wanting more. He broke the kiss, and mumbled, 'I love you and as I said, I won't be losing you again.'

  Her lips tugged at the sides. 'So many lost years...I can't believe I'm home where I belong. I can't believe...I'm here with you, sharing, and talking to you. It's been a tough road.'

  'Shush. Let's forget about it for a while. Concentrate on the here and now.'

  And she did by slinking her arms around his waist, and he eased her onto the bed where two souls united, clinging onto a love that had endured the years, a love that had surpassed any other. Zoe thought she'd explode, and she did. Under Jordan's' touch, under his heart, his strength and love as he took her to a place where she wanted to stay, where reality slid aside and she slipped into the realm where her body and mind were disconnected to the present.

  When she was breathless and lying on her back, Jordan propped himself on his elbow beside her, and ran a finger down her left cheek. 'To the heavens and back. Do you remember that line?'

  She grinned, and wriggled up further onto the pillow. 'Yep. I sure do. It all seems so surreal.' She turned toward him, snuggled against his strong chest. His hand slipped around her waist and she closed her eyes, hearing his solid heartbeat strong and full of vitality.

  She slept.

  ***

  Sergeant McPherson was sitting on the edge of a desk when Zoe walked into the police station the following day. He turned. His dark hair was thick, and dark circles formed under tired eyes.

  'Sergeant McPherson.'

  'Yes. I presume you're Zoe Montgomery.'

  'That's correct.'

  'So you are really back from the dead.'

  Zoe raised her eyebrows, grinned. 'Dead woman walking. You're not the first person to say that line.'

  'I heard you've been looking for me.' He stood, and took the few paces toward her. 'We combed this area fifteen years ago looking for you. Not a trace. Zilch. Nothing came up.'

  Zoe nodded. 'I know. Thank you. But it's good to finally meet you. You're a hard man to track down.'

  'I was up north. I'm sorry for any inconvenience. Oh...you can call me Andy or Andrew. Most people do.'

  Zoe nodded. 'Do you mind if I take up a bit of your time about the fire that night, the one at Montagreen?'

  'Come on. Come with me. I've got a few questions for you as well.'

  Zoe braced herself as he led her down the small corridor and she walked into an office at the far end. She took a seat beside the window with a view to the street.

  'What would you like to know Miss Montgomery?' He eased onto a seat opposite her.

  'It's Zoe. Call me Zoe. I've heard my aunt visited my mother three days before the fire. Do you know why?'

  His eyebrows rose. 'I'm not too sure. It could have been something to do with money.'

  Zoe's insides warmed.

  'Apparently they argued quite extensively that afternoon. Mr Johnson who owns the coffee shop was about to call us. He mentioned it to me the following day.'

  'Really?'

  'Not much commotion goes on in Munna, so when it does, folks aren't used to it. Before we go ahead with this, Constable Berry told me he'd questioned you, and that he didn't get much from you. Where have you been for the last fifteen years?'

  Zoe stilled. She couldn't bring herself to tell him anything of her past. Besides, there wasn't a reason to tell him every detail. 'I'd rather not say at this stage. I would like to, but I just can't.'

  The sergeant glared at her, studied her as though it was the first time he'd ever heard such a statement. 'If someone has hurt you, held you against your will or whatever has happened we can haul them in and charge them.'

  She hesitated, looked at the dirty, worn floorboards below her feet, then flicked her gaze upwards. 'No. I don't want to press charges against anyone.' Her nerves carved up her stomach, and she fidgeted in her seat.

  She couldn't even begin to speak about her aunt. It'd be impossible. Zoe thought she would have overcome the pain of those years, grown up a little. It didn't matter how much she tried, her aunt had destroyed a part of her she doubted she'd ever get back, and she left fear in its place.

  'You seem reluctant to provide us with any information. Is there something wrong? Is or has someone threatened you?'

  'No...not really. I am. It's well...I don't know how to explain things and I don't want any trouble.'

  'Trouble? You won't get any trouble from us. Do you mean you fear the person who is responsible?'

  Zoe nodded, crossed one leg over the other and adjusted her handbag.

  'They're already breached the law. Are the people you stayed with responsible for kidnapping you the night of the fire?'

  How could she expose her aunt, and not cause trouble? But she couldn't lie on purpose, especially to the law. 'I didn't know I was missing or the police were looking for me.'

  'Interesting.'

  'I don't want to press charges against anyone.'

  His forehead creased. 'Are you sure?'

  'As I said I don't want to cause any trouble. I've been through enough already. I lost my memory for fifteen years, sergeant. Naturally during those years I had flashbacks, nightmares, dreams, call them what you want. But I couldn't remember the fire, my parents, or my past.'

  'That's pretty tough. Did you get some help during that time?'

  'No. The people I were with were not wealthy people. They barely had enough to go round. Things changed a little when I turned eighteen. They weren't that bad, but still I wasn't to leave the area, not that I would have at that time, as I had nowhere to go. I worked next door for a few years as a jillaroo. The people I stayed with kept a close eye on me.'

  'They had no money, yet they took you in.'

  Zoe bit down on her lip, twisted in her seat. 'Yes.'

  'And they treated you harshly. It doesn't make any sense.' He leaned forward as though trying to access the situation, trying to read the expressions over her face.

  'It doesn't make any sense at all. What I'd like to know, have you any idea of who started the fire?'

  'You don't know?' He moved forward, propped his elbow on the desk peering over at her.'

  'I was lied to for fifteen years, so I don't know much lately, and who knows I could be lied to again and not recognise or get a hin
t of what's going on.'

  'You're not going to like this...'

  Zoe straightened in her chair and squinted at the sergeant. ''What is it? Like what...you know who started the fire?'

  'Jordan Townsend was at the scene of the fire. He was charged with lighting the fire and the death of your family. He did his time. He got out on parole, and he's been back in Munna since.'

  Zoe felt the weight of her world shift. It was as though the ground was about to open under the force of an eight magnitude on the Richter scale. Stunned and unable to fathom what the sergeant said, she licked her lips. 'Did you say Jordan was charged...with the murder...the fire?' She'd heard right the first time, but refused to believe Jordan was the culprit. She didn't want it to be him. It couldn't be him. Horrified, her nerves raced. Her body thrummed, ached as her nerves set alight, pinging throughout her system.

  'I know it's come as a shock. Jordan did his time, and was out on parole for five years.'

  'Parole...five years?'

  She tried to swallow but it caught in her throat and she coughed several times.

  The sergeant poured her a glass of water, and passed it across the desk. 'Here. Have a drink.'

  She took the glass and while she drank its contents, a few splashes made it over the rim of the glass onto her hand. 'Thank you.'

  'You're pretty pale. Are you feeling okay?'

  'I will be. So it...was Jordan...'

  'He was convicted, sent to juvenile detention until he was eighteen. He did time in prison, and was released on early parole. Other surrounding factors were brought in front of the court but nothing could be proved.'

  'What surrounding factors?'

  'We had to take everything into account, like most crime scenes. There were several factors surrounding the night of the fire. A Molotov cocktail bomb was thrown through the window, and/or an electrical fault. That's just a few. There was evidence the window was smashed before the fire started. No one believed it at first. It could have been a rock, although nothing was found. It was a long drawn out process. Jordan was out on bail and in the care of his parents until the court appearance.'

  Unease, as thick as rope wound through her, made its way over her skin and tightened. How could Jordan not tell her he went to prison for burning her house and killing...killing her family? Impossible. Tears threatened but she willed them to stay put. Her body trembled. She shook her head, unable to believe such a statement.

  'I can't believe that Jordan was responsible, I really can't. Surely there's a mistake.'

  'Like most of the town folk. It was a hell of a punch to the community.'

  'Is it all right if I call back some other time? This has hit me like an out of control bushfire.'

  'I gathered that. It was a surprise when Constable Berry told me that Jordan was doing the renovations at Montagreen.'

  Zoe pushed to her feet. She reached across the table and they exchanged a brief handshake. 'I'll give you a call.'

  She turned and willed her feet to move through the door and down the hallway as tears dropped to her cheeks. She made a quick exit and dashed through the front door. Once outside, she headed toward her ute, and when she sat behind the steering wheel she couldn't hold in the turmoil of heartache and disappointment.

  Jordan. Jordan was responsible for her parents’ death, and her brother's death. Impossible. Jordan did admit to being at the house that night, and he admitted to having an argument with her father the afternoon before the fire, and she'd spotted him running across the front lawn. Nausea latched onto her insides, and she opened the car door and vomited onto the street several times, looking up every so often to check to see if anyone was about.

  She grabbed some tissues from the glove box and wiped her mouth, turned the rear vision mirror making sure she hadn't missed anything, and gasped. She was white all right, the shade of icing on a wedding cake. She grabbed her sunglasses from her handbag, and dropped them over her eyes.

  She turned the ignition, her ute rumbled into a start, and she veered in the direction of Montagreen. Her world had slipped out from under her feet for a second time.

  Her heartbeat was all over the place as it pounded out a foreign rhythm against her chest. The deep ache inside increased to such an extent she thought a heart attack would follow.

  How could Jordan act as though nothing had happened and promise her the world? She'd gone and done it again. There was no one else to blame. She shouldn't have trusted him so quickly. Shouldn't have slept with the man. Her body numbed and she couldn't remember the drive back to Montagreen which terrified her.

  ***

  It took the duration of the drive to replace her tears with anger as it brewed like a looming storm. Jordan was lucky he wasn't within sight. There was no telling what she'd say or do to him. She never wanted to see him again. Never.

  The sergeant must have thought she was a real nut case. Wouldn't the town know she and Jordan had been seeing each other? They were together a few times in the street, and that would have sent tongues wagging.

  Zoe no longer cared. She knew how the fire started, and who was responsible. Her predication for a future with Jordan Townsend was severed before it had even begun.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Zoe's mobile rang and she snatched it up from the bed to hit answer.

  'Hello.'

  'Zoe. It's Jordan. What time would you like me to pick you up?'

  'Um...Pick me up.'

  'For the barbeque at Mum’s.'

  'I'm not going Jordan. I don't want to see you again. It's over. Not that anything really started. I'm sorry.' She clicked end. Her fingers trembled, and she dropped the phone onto the bed. Her entire body tensed. She wanted to say more, but what was the point? She glanced around her bedroom. Jordan had knocked the wall down between two bedrooms, and added an ensuite adjoining her room. Everywhere she looked Jordan's work glared back at her and she hated it.

  She didn't eat dinner, couldn't. The thought of food forced her stomach to squirm with nausea. Her mind and body were failing her. Wandering about the house didn't ease the pain, nor did a warm shower.

  The word 'trust' wobbled in the dictionary of her mind, and she wondered if she would ever learn to 'trust' anyone ever again. She doubted it, not after everything that had hurtled her world into an abyss and kept her there for fifteen years. Jordan was no exception. For a moment there, she thought... She clenched her teeth, ground down on them and hissed into the air.

  A loud rap on the front door caused her to jump. The knocking grew louder and she crept downstairs to peer through the front window. Her breath died in her throat. Jordan's vehicle nosed into the front fence.

  The knocking continued.

  'Zoe. I know you're home. Can you open the door? We need to talk.'

  Over her dead body. There wasn't anything he could say or do to make her open that door. She didn't want to speak to him let alone face him. Trapped in between wanting a man, and hating a man for the careless torching of her parents’ home and brutal death of her family her insides burnt, heated with an unknown fire. She hated him for hurting her family... hated... yet something inside kicked up her heart swelling it with love...impossible. How could she care for a man that ripped her life out from under her feet, destroyed her childhood, her upbringing and her family?

  And here he was back for another go - to obliterate her.

  'Zoe.' The rapping continued. 'Please open the door.'

  She remained quiet, tried to still her quivering body.

  'I'll knock it down. Get an electric screwdriver and take the damn door from its hinges.'

  Would he do such a thing?

  'I mean it,' he yelled. 'I won't hesitate.'

  Silent moments followed.

  'Zoe. Come on; open up?'

  She wasn't about to chance having no front door for the entire night and reluctantly opened the door a crack.

  Bad mistake. One big bad mistake. Moonlight tripped over his hair reflecting its silky inkiness and shadowed
his face before he stepped into the light.

  'I need to speak with you. I'm sorry. I gather you've found out. I was going to tell you, Zoe.'

  'When? Next year. Two years later or the year after that.' She jammed one hand on her hip, as nausea rotated in her stomach.

  'Can I come in?'

  She glanced at his booted foot against the front door. 'You're half way in already. Why not?'

  He walked in and she stepped aside, crossing her arms against her chest as he slammed the door. She shivered and glanced up. Lines furrowed across his forehead, and his eyes were pools of heartache.

  She forced her lips into a lopsided smirk.

  'How about we sit?'

  She lifted her hand and signalled towards the dining room, then followed him feeling the crush of heartache, and the impact of his presence. She eased onto a chair and stiffened when he sat in the chair beside her.

  'I wouldn't have broken down your door.'

  'I hope not.'

  He smirked. 'Sorry.'

  'Apology accepted.'

  'Zoe, I didn't try to burn the house down. I swear on my son's life. I swear on my parents’ grave. Anyone's. You have to believe me.'

  'Why didn't the police believe you then? Why did they charge you? You...you were charged with the fire...my parents.' She gasped, struggling to draw in enough oxygen against a restriction in her throat.

  'Zoe, please listen? There was another sergeant here at the time. He stayed for six months and left. No one got on with him, and he had it in for anyone that got in his way. I think he wanted as many convictions as he could get. I had a box of matches in my pocket that night. Do you remember when matches would come in handy? Lighting candles, fires in winter on our pretend camps?'

  She nodded.

  'That's why I always carried matches. I wouldn't dream of hurting you, Zoe Never. Or hurting your parents. It's insane. Mum and Dad believe it wasn't me. My entire family is and was behind me on this. Half the town, three quarters of the town believe it wasn't me. I went to prison for something I didn't do, while whoever was and is responsible got off scott free.'