His stomach revolted and his fingers trembled as they tightly gripped the bottle. What if all the time Lily-Blue had spent with Tom in and around his cottage he’d been taking advantage of her? And Adam had never suspected jack-shit about it? Older brothers were supposed to protect their little sisters but it looked like he’d been too dumb to even know she needed protection.
‘Fuck!’ Every bone in his body throbbed as an overwhelming urge to hurt someone came over him. He lifted the bottle and hurled it off the veranda. It landed on the top of his ute, shattering glass into the night but Adam barely flinched. If only Tom were still alive he could confront him, force him to tell the truth. But that was impossible. If there was a confession, Tom had taken it to the grave. If he’d taken Lily-Blue’s life, for whatever sick reason, he’d gotten away with it for almost eighteen years before he’d died himself. Had he hurt anyone else in that time?
Again, Adam’s thoughts were getting away with him. It wasn’t time to think about possible other victims. He needed to think about his family – about his mum and dad and how this revelation, if it held any truth, would affect them. Dad’s emails showed him to be having the time of his life on the cruise and Mum had finally started making moves to rejoin the human race. Dropping this bombshell could threaten all of that. No matter how crazy Stella’s story had sounded, he felt in his heart that she wouldn’t mess him about if she didn’t seriously believe it to be true. She’d spent the last few days all twisted up in knots wondering whether or not to tell him. Now he had some inkling of how she must have felt because the onus was on him to decide what to do with her information.
Whatever he decided, it was highly unlikely anything good would come of it. If they found a body, his family could finally grieve but they might be forced to admit Uncle Tom hadn’t been the person they imagined. The alternative was he got the police to investigate and, after reopening the case and dredging up all the awful memories of the past, they still found nothing.
What would be better for his mum?
This question taunted Adam for hours into the night. The next morning he awoke on the couch, still fully dressed, empty beer bottles lined up on the floor beside him and Mutton curled up at his feet. His head ached and he didn’t know whether it was down to thinking too much or drinking too much to try to stop thinking. The last thing he remembered was Mutton dropping his head into his lap out on the veranda. The puppy had sensed something wrong and his gesture of animal comfort had been Adam’s unravelling. The anger he’d been brewing all evening had been pushed aside by the overarching sadness he’d been bottling up for years.
He cried for his sister. He cried for his mum and dad. He cried for himself. For all the years they’d only half-lived, trapped in a limbo of uncertainty.
At some stage he must have ended up inside, Mutton taking advantage of his master’s vulnerability to spend a luxurious night on the couch instead of outside in his kennel. Adam sat up, reached out and ran his fingers through the puppy’s thick coat, taking comfort in the warmth and softness. He still felt crap but in the light of day, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sit around or even get stuck into work without doing something about what Stella said.
‘Stella.’ He breathed out her name, disgusted at himself as he recalled the way he’d spoken to her last night. He’d gone round there for a booty call but ended up shouting and storming out in anger. No matter what was going on his head, she didn’t deserve the way he’d treated her. And the first thing on his agenda was to go round and apologise.
Maybe this time, instead of flying off the handle, he could listen properly to what she had to say.
Stella’s heart stilled when she heard a ute pull up out the front of the cottage. She’d been sitting at the table trying but failing to catch up on editing but she rushed to the window at the sound, a whole combination of emotions rearing up within her at the sight of Adam and Mutton striding up the garden path. After last night, she hadn’t been expecting to see him so soon. Glancing down at her pyjamas, she cursed herself for not yet dragging herself into the shower and getting dressed. If he was going to hurl more angry words in her direction, she could at least be looking her best. Unfortunately there was no time to change and more important was protecting Heidi from any wrath he might be harbouring. Quickly checking Heidi was still playing happily on the floor of the lounge room, Stella rushed outside to intercept him, closing the front door gently behind her.
‘Good morning,’ he said, pausing on the first step.
‘Hi.’ Stella tried to keep a level head, which involved not drooling over how gorgeous he looked in khaki shorts, a black T-shirt and damp hair. ‘I wasn’t sure I’d see you so soon, or have you come to serve an eviction notice?’
His lips curled at the edges. ‘No. I’ve come to apologise.’
‘Really?’
He nodded. ‘I reacted badly to what you told me and I’m sorry.’
‘I’m not sure there’s any expected way to react in the situation I hit you with. Maybe I should be the one apologising. Likely I should have kept my big mouth shut.’
‘You don’t have a big mouth, Stella.’
‘I…’ The way he looked at her sent shivers down her spine. Could you get goosebumps inside your body?
‘Where’s Heidi?’ he asked.
‘In the lounge room, playing,’ she replied, wondering if he wanted to make sure the coast was clear before he kissed her senseless. Her bones went limp at the thought.
‘Alone?’ It took her a moment to realise he was still talking about Heidi and that maybe kissing her wasn’t what he had in mind.
Trying to swallow her disappointment, she said, ‘Last time I checked Whiskers was there.’
‘Can I speak to her?’
‘Um… I don’t know. I’m not sure she can handle a drilling. This whole Lily-Blue thing has upset her but I don’t think she truly understands much of it. She genuinely believes she’s got a little friend who needs our help and I’m worried how she might react if she finds out the truth about your sister.’
Adam gave her a look that made her heart ache. ‘Stella, no one knows the truth about Lils. Look, I promise you I’ll tread carefully with Heidi. I’ll stop talking the moment she starts getting distressed, but she’s my only hope. I have no idea what is going on here but…’
‘Okay,’ Stella interrupted, unable to bear any more of the pain and anguish in his deep voice. ‘But I’m there beside you the whole time.’
‘Of course.’
‘All right.’ Stella stepped aside to let him into the house. ‘Let’s do this.’
‘Thanks.’ He grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze, sending warmth down her arm and all over her body. The expression on his face said he’d calmed down overnight and she trusted that he wouldn’t say anything to hurt Heidi.
She smiled back and he let go of her hand again as they headed for the lounge room. They found Heidi sitting on the couch, flicking through the pages of a picture book but she glanced up when she heard them enter. Her whole face lit up at the sight of Adam and she flung herself off the couch, disturbing Whiskers as she rushed to throw her arms around him.
He caught her with a laugh. ‘And a good morning to you too, Miss Heidi.’
‘Come see my book.’ Heidi tugged at Adam’s hand.
Before he could reply, Stella stepped in. ‘Sweetheart,’ she said, ‘I’m sure Adam would love to see your book but there’s something we’d like to talk to you about first.’
Heidi frowned and looked up between them. ‘Okay.’
Stella led her to the couch and Adam followed. She sat Heidi in the middle and they flanked her on either side. ‘Heidi.’ Stella scooped up Heidi’s little hand as she spoke. ‘You know your friend Lily-Blue?’
Heidi nodded.
‘I’ve been thinking about her lots and I know you want to help her, so I spoke to Adam about her.’
Heidi’s head snapped to interrogate Adam. ‘You know Lily-Blue?’
‘
I think I might and I’d like you to tell me all about her. Can I ask you a few questions?’
‘Okay.’
‘Thanks.’
Stella stopped breathing as she waited for Adam to speak again. Maybe they should have talked more about what he should and shouldn’t say before she let him loose on Heidi. He started with the easy questions – things Stella already knew such as Lily-Blue’s age, what she liked to do and her family – and although he spoke slowly and tenderly, she worried about how Heidi would react when he delved deeper.
‘Does Lily-Blue have any favourite toys?’ he asked.
Heidi bit her lower lip as if in deep thought. ‘She doesn’t like my dolls much. She likes cars and trucks.’
Adam looked up and met Stella’s gaze with an almost imperceptible nod.
‘Does she have other friends aside from you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do they have names?’ he pressed.
She frowned. ‘Annie and Manda.’
Adam closed his eyes briefly and Stella knew without asking that these were real people, likely grown-ups now, who’d once gone to school with his sister. ‘Okay.’ His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed. ‘So, she lives under the tree?’
Heidi nodded once.
‘Did she ever tell you why she lives there?’ Adam asked.
Terrified of Heidi’s answer, Stella pursed her lips together and tried to keep calm, but Heidi shook her head. ‘Because her mum’s sad. Maybe her mum didn’t want her.’
‘No,’ Adam breathed the word. ‘Her mum loves her more than anything.’
‘You know her mum?’ Heidi’s eyes grew even wider.
Stella glared at him. Lily-Blue had told Heidi she had a brother a few years older than her and as Adam was a lot older, Heidi hadn’t ever suspected that he was that brother. She thought this for the best. Once Heidi knew the truth the conversations were going to have to go a whole lot deeper. Stella was uncomfortable enough as it was with all this but she didn’t want her girl learning about such sinister things when she was so innocent herself. Heidi was a bright kid considering, always doing better than Stella or her teachers expected, but she didn’t know how she’d go figuring all this out.
Hell, Stella was an adult and she had no idea what to think.
Adam registered the panicked expression on her face and backtracked. ‘I might do. Thanks for answering these questions for me. I want you to try not to worry too much about Lily-Blue and leave it to me and your mum to sort out. I promise we want her to be happy as well. Do you trust us?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thanks, kiddo.’ Adam smiled but it wasn’t the full-blown grin he’d given her on numerous occasions before and Stella saw the bags under his eyes, which suggested he’d not been able to sleep last night either. He stood and started for the door. Stella felt torn between staying with Heidi to make sure she was okay after all the questioning and rushing after him to ask some of her own.
Kissing Heidi on the forehead, she grabbed the remote off the coffee table and zapped it at the TV. As Adam had said when they arrived, the digital reception sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t, so Stella let out a quick sigh of relief when Playschool sprang to life on the screen. ‘I’ll be back in a moment with morning tea,’ she promised, before following Adam.
She found him on the back veranda staring at the blooming jacaranda tree. Bees buzzed all over the blossoms, which had fallen to the ground leaving a gorgeous carpet of purple. Although he towered well over the railing, he looked like a lost little boy.
‘Thank you for going easy on her,’ she said as she came up beside him.
He turned to her and sighed. ‘I didn’t know what to think when you told me your theory last night, but listening to Heidi… She’d have to be psychic to know some of those things about Lily-Blue, but she’s just a little girl and I know she can’t be making any of this up. I feel sick at the thought of my sister’s bones beneath that tree but the timing’s all too…’
His voice drifted off and he sniffed. It broke her heart to see this big, strong, gorgeous man so cut up and close to tears.
‘Hey.’ She touched his shoulder and when he turned to face her, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing his body close against hers. ‘It’s okay to be upset,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t begin to comprehend how you must be feeling.’
‘I think I’m in shock,’ he admitted.
‘That’s understandable.’
They stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms, the warm morning breeze blowing against them. Stella fought an intense urge to apologise for landing this on him. Although she wasn’t responsible for whatever happened to Lily-Blue, she felt more connected now than she’d ever wanted to be to something like this. Something so sad and scary. Her chest ached unbearably when she thought about how Adam must be feeling and she knew she’d do almost anything to make it go away.
Finally, he pulled back. He slid his hands down her arms and caught her hands in his own. His intent gaze met hers and she tensed, wondering what he might be about to say. But words didn’t come. Instead, he dipped his head and pressed his lips against hers.
‘Oh,’ she sighed into his mouth, her body melting against his. His warm lips felt divine against hers and the heat darted lower, right down to her most feminine part. She felt her nipples tighten and everything took a back seat to lust. The only thought in her head was that she wished he’d take her now, hard and fast on the veranda.
When he tore his lips from hers and let go of her hands, shoving his own into his pockets, she almost cried out in pain.
‘Sorry.’ He let out a breath. ‘I don’t know what came over me.’
‘It’s okay.’ They were the only words she could manage with her heart racing in her chest. But damn, she hoped it would come over him again at a more appropriate time.
‘I guess I’d better be going,’ he said eventually.
She nodded. ‘What are you going to do now?’
‘I’m going to go talk to Drew.’
As Adam parked out the front of the Bunyip Bay cop shop, he thanked God that O’Leary (or Sergeant Sloth as he’d been better known) had retired a month ago and Drew was currently Acting Sergeant. He didn’t know what Drew would say but he put more faith in him taking what he had to say seriously than O’Leary would have. He took a deep breath as he pushed open the door of the station and tried not to show his disappointment when he found Constable Mike something-or-other sitting behind the front desk.
‘Hi Adam,’ Mike said brightly. ‘What can we do for you today? Someone stolen crops or cattle or something from that property of yours?’
‘I run sheep, not cattle,’ Adam replied dryly, trying not to be too irritated by the city boy who’d been posted to Bunyip Bay for his first job. It wasn’t Mike’s fault he wasn’t in the mood for small talk. ‘I’d like to talk to Drew. Is he around?’
‘Noble!’ Mike all but hollered over his shoulder. ‘Someone to see you.’
Within seconds an office door opened behind them and Drew appeared. He nodded a greeting to Adam. ‘Hello. What’s up?’
Adam looked from Drew to Mike. ‘Do you think we can talk in private?’
Drew raised his eyebrows but nodded. ‘Sure, come on through.’
As Drew opened the hatch and let him through to the other side of the reception area, Adam suddenly had a vision of Drew laughing in his face.
‘Take a seat.’ Drew shut his office door behind them and walked around his desk, gesturing to the seat on the other side.
Adam realised his hands were shaking as he lowered himself into the chair.
Drew leaned back in his seat and peered at Adam. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Not really,’ he admitted honestly.
‘Anything I can help with?’
Adam shrugged. ‘I don’t really know.’
Drew frowned. ‘Please tell me you haven’t done anything illegal.’
‘No. Nothing like that.’
He tapped his fingers on the plastic arm rails of the chair.
‘Good. What it is then?’
Drew was looking at him intently, and Adam realised that whatever he said, this was going to sound crazy. He sighed. ‘I guess you’ve heard about my little sister.’
Drew nodded. ‘I think Mrs O’Neil or Mrs O’Brady, or was it Dolce, made sure I knew your family history within five minutes of driving into town.’
‘That’s what I thought.’
‘So, cop that I am, I made it my business to check out the files. She disappeared a couple of decades ago, right? She was seven years old and you were the last person to see her, if I recall.’
‘That’s right.’ Adam swallowed. Even after all these years he felt guilty about this fact.
‘As I understand she’s still listed as missing?’
‘Yep. They tried to hand over her case to the Coroner but there wasn’t enough information for them to declare her deceased.’
‘Happens in quite a few cases,’ Drew explained. ‘In the case of missing kids, a surprising number are found decades later, alive and well, living as somebody else. Many haven’t even suspected they weren’t who their so-called parents said they were, so we’re reluctant to write people off without any real evidence that foul play occurred.’
‘I think that’s what Mum’s been hoping all these years. That somewhere Lily-Blue is living a happy and fulfilled life but one day she’ll find out the truth and come waltzing back onto the farm.’ He struggled to speak past the lump that formed in his throat at the thought of his mum. ‘But I don’t think that’s the case.’
‘No? Is that why you’re here? Do you have new information?’ Drew sat up straight, his chin high and his shoulders back.
‘It’s going to sound insane.’
‘Trust me, I’ve heard some whacky things in my time on the job. Hit me with it.’
Adam really didn’t know where to start. ‘Okay then, I have reason to believe that my sister’s remains may be buried out the back of the cottage I’m now renting out to guests.’
Outback Ghost Page 23
