She was in her room because she didn’t want to see him.
Just give me a chance, he’d wanted to shout. Wanted to tap on her window and talk to her. He knew he could change everything with a few words.
But he couldn’t risk it. Not yet.
So he waited here, watching the window. Nobody would hurt her on his watch.
He kept writing his plans in a small notebook.
Roadhouse, Outback Way, Northern Territory
Now this was more like it. This lot were very friendly. Over a few free beers, any man would talk to him. No, Janie hadn’t been here, but one of the regular truckers had seen her. He hadn’t given her a lift (So he can live, Monster murmured, but he was getting restless), but he’d seen her struggling with a rattletrap four-wheel drive, and a few truckers had stopped to help. Eventually she’d taken a ride with one of them. Still heading east.
Climbing into the truck he’d bought from Dave, Danny had sent a message to Granddad. I need maps of Indigenous communities heading east from here.
He didn’t tell Granddad where he was. Implying that the old mongrel knew his grandson’s every move increased his sense of power, and would insure he’d send the info.
Half an hour later, just as he’d thought, Granddad sent what he needed. Change your appearance again, and use the red burner. The police have been here. They’ll be tapping all communications since the truck incident. I’ll send you my new number.
I will, Granddad, he wrote back, a slow grin appearing on his face. Thank you. Meek and humble. Feeding Granddad’s God complex would insure Jeremiah would spill the beans on Janie’s current whereabouts as soon as he’d made sure Danny could get there safely.
No, he doesn’t know everything, does he? Monster said. We’re as good at games as he is.
Well, we learned from the best, Danny replied, before realising again he shouldn’t be talking to Monster. It only fed the beast.
He looked at the maps Granddad sent. Twenty kilometres east-northeast was another community—and, yes, she’d go there. Amid the positive changes to the town in the past few years was an advertisement for medical professionals. Good.
He put the truck in gear.
CHAPTER
8
The next morning, Elly found Danny Spencer’s acts being treated with deadly seriousness by the police for the first time.
Having dropped Zoe at preschool before eight, Adam took Elly to the station and ushered her straight into the senior sergeant’s office. Jonas Albright, big, round and dimpled, with twinkling blue eyes and grizzled hair, shook hands with her.
‘Elly, I looked up your case after Jepson’s call. I have most of the pertinent facts. I gather you don’t want to be called Jane any more?’
She shook her head. ‘I changed it legally twice.’ She flushed. ‘Another time wasn’t legal—I couldn’t afford it to be at the time, since the private detective was close. I bought an identity from a drug addict, but Danny still found me. This is the third time—I only changed it two weeks ago. Elliana Lavender is an Italian woman who lives in the Kimberley, married to an Australian miner. She has a granddaughter of the same name who’s close to my age, and has a pretty close resemblance. I paid for the real Elly to go overseas for a few months, in case he tries to buy someone off at the airport or change of name office.’
‘If you’ve done anything illegal, don’t tell me. So did you register your new name with the medical registration board?’
She shook her head. ‘Only with the Aboriginal and Islander Medical Commission. My uncle—really my grandmother’s second cousin, and not a Larkins—is a member of the board. The file’s sealed.’
‘That should be safe. I’ll give ’em a call, make sure it remains sealed.’ Albright’s mouth twitched. ‘Jeremiah Spencer has Chris Bent, the Northern Territory’s top barrister, the psychiatrist William Henry and two members of parliament in his pocket. Their latest press release says we need a lot more than circumstantial evidence on the prison bombing before setting up a manhunt for Danny. They’re saying he ran in a panic when the explosion happened—that it’s part of his mental problem, and he needs treatment, not to be locked away. They even have “proof” that Danny wasn’t in the Kimberley at the time of the trucker’s death.’ He showed Adam and Elly the newspaper item on his screen. The murder was headline news. A dated, time-stamped selfie of a man standing under the Welcome to Kalgoorlie sign, more than a thousand kilometres from the Kimberley, dominated the article.
‘It does look like him.’ Elly looked at the men, more disturbed than she wanted to admit. ‘What if he …?’
‘Don’t forget the Spencer funds—and Danny’s the only heir. Jeremiah Spencer could have hired a dozen lookalikes to be in other places for when Danny needs an alibi. And no other inmates skipped after the Mackleton blow.’ Adam turned to his superior officer. ‘We can call the press, if that’s the game, Sarge. Let’s give ’em the real story.’
‘No media.’ Albright’s tone was sharp enough to cut. ‘If we do, Spencer senior will connect Elly to Macks Lake. Her past with your family is on her record, and her childhood friendship with you wouldn’t be hard to discover. So we don’t tell anyone Elly’s real name. I’ve put a password on her files. It’s for your and my eyes only. You know there’ve been leaks here—nothing important so far, but we can’t risk Elly’s case becoming known to anyone else, not with Spencer’s contacts. Sydney has assigned two high-ranking detectives to the case, but they can’t be here until Monday.’
‘That’s five days away,’ Adam snapped, sounding incredulous.
Albright’s hands lifted, and fell. ‘All the more reason to keep this case under wraps until we have more help. The rest of the state police are on the hunt for Spencer, but they won’t be told your new name, and we’ll keep it that way until I receive other instructions from my commanding officers.’
‘Rick knows,’ Adam said quietly. ‘As Aboriginal liaison officer, he has the right, and the access to information networks we don’t have.’
Albright nodded. ‘You’re right. I’ll add his name, but that’s it.’ He patted Elly’s hand. ‘The fewer people who know who you are, and of your connection to Spencer, the better. Silence can keep you safer than a van of bodyguards.’
Her shoulders sagged. Belief at last—but it felt like sweet poison in her veins, that it had taken a murder to get it. And the thought of Rick taking part in the investigation left a bitter tang in her mouth. ‘Thank you, Senior Sergeant Albright.’
The sergeant smiled at her with a fatherly air. ‘Control is hard to relinquish, I know, but we won’t let you down this time.’
‘I—yes. Thank you again, Senior Sergeant Albright.’ She wondered if she could ever let go.
The sergeant, stranger to her until that morning, patted her shoulder. ‘It will take time. You’ve been alone with this for too long.’ Another gentle pat, tender rather than patronising. ‘And call me Jonas, please. Or Joe—or even Uncle Joe.’ He smiled. ‘You look rather like my niece, Lily.’
Her mouth opened and closed again, as she fought the urge to cry at his unexpected tenderness. She couldn’t remember him, but the long-forgotten hole her father had left in her life bounced back to her memory at the senior sergeant’s touch. Could she ever have believed she’d buried the need for a father? What little girl doesn’t want her daddy to cuddle her and fight her dragons for her? Why didn’t he want me?
‘Is there reason to believe Spencer’s in the state already, Sarge?’ Adam asked.
‘He was sighted on the Western Australia–Northern Territory border, at an indigenous community – then the next day at the roadhouse on the highway, asking about Indigenous communities. He should still be in upper South Australia or lower Northern Territory, chasing his tail, trying to find the right communities, or to get information from them. There’s quite a few communities there, and almost all closed to outsiders unless they have a permit.’
She pulled her permit out of her wallet and han
ded it to Jonas. ‘I know. I—I only went to the closed ones.’
Albright chuckled. ‘Of course you know. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. How many clinics did you visit during your journey here?’
‘Five.’ Why did she say it with apology in her voice, as if she was causing them trouble?
‘If you give me the names of the communities, we can send local Aboriginal liaison officers and ask the communities to give confusing signals about north or south, east or west.’
‘No need,’ she said quietly. ‘They’re already doing that for me.’
She felt Adam’s gaze on her. It was only when pain radiated around her face that she realised she’d sucked in her lips, holding them with her teeth. Her life’s vocation of offering help to those in need was also her greatest folly. ‘I’m easy to follow.’
‘You care, Elly.’ Adam touched her shoulder. ‘Unless Spencer’s miraculously changed his background, he’ll get the same response from the Aboriginal people our people did: nothing. They’re very loyal to you.’
That strong, stern face, the forest-green eyes lit to a rich masculine beauty when he smiled. Stupid to think of that now—but she’d been without him so long, it was as if she was a starving woman at a feast. She struggled to concentrate on his words. ‘Not to me. To our people. To the doctor who helped them for a few days.’ She chewed the inside of her mouth, again only releasing it when it hurt. ‘If Danny’s not in the state, who slashed my tyres?’
‘It’s unlikely Spencer found your trail this fast, and slashing tyres isn’t his MO.’ Adam frowned at his boss. ‘Could he have bought an accomplice, Sarge?’
‘Even if he bought ten accomplices, I doubt he’s connected her to Macks Lake yet. An accomplice doesn’t fit his MO, either. He doesn’t even tell his grandfather his problems. He’s so fixated on Elly, he’s terrified even his grandfather would take her away from him.’ He handed a sheaf of papers to Adam. ‘Stationhands believe Danny was the cause of hundreds of killings of animals at Gundawin, almost all female. At fifteen, he became obsessed with a nurse who attended him when he had pneumonia. Jeremiah Spencer paid her off and sent her packing. The woman won’t talk, but it’s believed Spencer raped her.’
Elly’s mouth twisted. ‘Of course Jeremiah Spencer paid her. He’ll do anything to keep Danny safe until he gets a sane heir for Gundawin.’
‘Why doesn’t he marry another woman and get his own son?’ Adam asked.
‘His medical file disappeared long ago, so I can’t corroborate this, but Danny told me Jeremiah had mumps after his son was born, and can’t have any more children. So Danny’s his only hope of getting another heir. Jeremiah offered me a million dollars to marry Danny and have a son.’
‘What?’
She shrugged, recounting the incident as matter-of-factly as she could. ‘He dislikes my Aboriginal background, and hates most women—Danny says a woman gave Jeremiah mumps—but I’m a reasonably intelligent, fertile female, and since Danny’s mental deterioration and previous suicide attempts, Jeremiah’s desperate for a sane heir. He said Danny wearies of his toys once he owns them. A year in Danny’s bed and he’ll forget I exist, unless I try to leave. He said he’d have Danny confined once I gave birth to a son. Gundawin’s a third-generation property of half-a-million hectares, rich in uranium, and my son would inherit it all. He said it would be well worth a little sacrifice. He thought I’d be happy about it—an Aboriginal child getting the land back. He couldn’t believe it when I turned him down. The eventual price he offered was three million.’
Both men stared at her. Their training helped their mouths stay closed, but two sets of lifted brows and blinking eyes said it all.
‘Why doesn’t Spencer go for IVF?’ Jonas asked after a while. ‘It makes no sense. Why not go for his own genetics, if his grandson’s are flawed?’
‘He’s eighty-two,’ Elly said quietly. ‘Even if he was fertile enough—and that’s unlikely since his mumps—his sperm is far more likely to create a child with physical or mental challenges than a younger man’s.’
‘So no more children. No wonder he keeps on helping Spencer escape,’ Adam said slowly. ‘But why not just lock him up, and use Danny’s sperm with IVF?’
‘He doesn’t believe in such modern methods. A tech could switch samples, and it wouldn’t be his great-grandchild.’
Both men looked thoughtful as they nodded.
‘But he plays mental games with Danny all the time. He seems to like keeping him unbalanced—I guess it’s a control issue. He’s the one who damaged Danny.’ She shrugged. ‘He promised me Danny would be locked up the minute the sex of my foetus was confirmed. Danny wouldn’t be able to stand the competition. He’d kill his own child.’
Adam shuddered. ‘You’ve thought it all out.’
‘I’ve had to.’ She shrugged, hiding her defensiveness.
‘What else have you worked out, Elly?’ Jonas asked, his brow furrowed with concern.
She sighed. ‘Danny has a passion for the medical fraternity, I suppose because they’re the only ones who come close to understanding the workings of his mind. He had a succession of nurses and psychiatrists in Darwin during his teen years. Jeremiah Spencer paid a mint to try to make Danny normal, but it was too late. Apparently one of his therapists mentioned that a woman’s love, a woman to replace the mother he lost, could end the violent streak inside him, and Danny believes it, if Jeremiah doesn’t.’
Adam said slowly, ‘So when you saved him—’
Her mouth quirked, but she’d never felt less like laughing. ‘He thought it was true love.’
‘Danny’s poured all his dreams of healing and his frustrated loneliness onto you,’ Jonas said.
She shuddered. ‘I told him at the start that I didn’t love him.’ But I never told him why. Even if it wouldn’t have put Adam in danger, she’d barely admitted the truth to herself in years. She knew she wasn’t normal, clinging to a dream that was long gone.
As if hearing her thoughts, Adam took her hand in his, holding it in a strong, warm clasp. ‘We’ll get him this time.’
She closed her eyes. Could she trust anyone enough to relinquish control over her private torment? But the simple truth was that she had no authority over Danny Spencer. The death of the trucker in Western Australia proved that—and for the first time in so long, she didn’t feel alone. ‘Thank you, Adam.’
‘Anything for you.’ His thumb brushed her skin, chasing rational thought from her brain.
Jonas cleared his throat, startling them to attention. ‘Is there anything you can tell me about the attack on your car? Do you know anyone in Macks Lake who could dislike you so soon?’
Without proof the Mirakis had damaged her car, she couldn’t bring herself to dob them in and drive them out of town again. Fear that they’d be imprisoned without proof, or that Danny would find the Mirakis if she informed on them—and the worry of who might have sent them here, and what they’d do if they found out she was staying with Adam—wove together with her guilt into a tapestry of silence.
‘Could it have been some kids, jealous of my car?’
‘Vandalism often happens to prestige cars,’ Adam said.
‘It could also be Mrs Collins who did the deed,’ Jonas said. ‘She seemed rather put out by Elly’s arrival yesterday—though she’s usually the victim, not the villain.’
‘Oh, gag me,’ Adam groaned. ‘I wish someone would make her a victim, permanently.’
Jonas laughed, and turned to her. ‘Since she moved here, Jen Collins has complained about an unbelievable amount of violence, always needing our only detective to investigate. But when Jepson’s off shift, the crime rate in Macks Lake seems to drop dramatically. She’s visited the station so many times, Mendham handed her an application form to join the service.’
Needing a distraction now—needing to laugh amid all this heaviness—she grinned at Adam. ‘So I’m not the only victim of obsession here?’
‘The genetic Jepson irresistibility mu
st have rubbed off on you during the years you lived with us,’ Adam said, straight-faced.
‘Was she the colourful blonde in here yesterday? Big teeth? Looks sort of like a painted bunny?’
With a wicked grin at her apt description, Adam nodded.
Her brows lifted; her head tilted. ‘Then you’re being stalked again, Claudius. The lady in question is walking through the door.’
He rose to his feet. ‘Right, that’s it. I’m getting rid of her. All she’s seen until now is the polite—’ he ignored the choking sounds from his boss ‘—Detective Sergeant Jepson. Adam’s not quite so tactful.’ He shut the door on their gusts of laughter.
Jonas got to his feet. ‘This I’ve got to see. The needle-point thrusts of Jen Collins—’
‘Versus the battleaxe blows of my tactless Claudius,’ she gasped, trying to catch her breath. ‘Five bucks says our fancy blonde out there doesn’t get a friendly handshake.’
‘Done.’ Jonas pulled the door open.
In reception, the converted living room/hallway of the original house, the other cops had now arrived—minus Rick, she was relieved to see. Baz, Simon and the female cop, Adele, all had odd, tired grins on their faces as they tried not to watch Adam too obviously. He was leaning aggressively over the counter.
‘Slashed tyres?’ Mrs Collins drawled, batting her lashes at Adam, not at all intimidated by his hostility. ‘Why would I know about that, Adam? Why would I know anything about your friend—or is she more than that?’
‘It’s Detective Sergeant Jepson to you, Mrs Collins,’ Adam snapped. ‘My private life is none of your business. I won’t speak to you again unless you have a legitimate complaint with proof of a crime. I’m not a counselling service for lonely women. Either you know something about the slashing of Miss Lavender’s tyres last night or you don’t.’
Mrs Collins gave no sign of understanding Adam’s brutal words. Long fingers, tipped with violet-pink polish, walked toward his forearm, but he jerked back, hand curling into a fist. Her brows lifted. ‘Maybe I know something. Maybe I happened to be driving down your street about eight last night, and noticed someone hanging around her car.’
Beneath the Skin Page 10
