Dead Dry Heart_A psychological thriller

by Toni Pike

  Kevin and Jane were waiting for me when I arrived home, waving an envelope in the air and begging me to tear it open. “We’ve been waiting since ten o’clock this morning,” said Kevin. “We could hardly eat a thing we were so excited.”

  The letter was my Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, a score from one to a hundred that was used for matriculation.

  “Oh, what is it?” asked Jane, shaking with excitement.

  “One hundred, a perfect score,” I replied, barely able to believe the result.

  “Oh, Tyler, congratulations,” said Jane, hugging me tight and bursting into tears. Her reaction made me feel as if I was falling into a giant hole that had opened up beneath my feet. I was blessed with a perfect score and the most wonderful life in the world, while Joshua was living a life of misery in a prison cell.

  The next day, a journalist drove from Broome to interview me and talk about my plans for university. I comforted myself with the thought that prisoners would be kept in isolation from the outside world, and that Joshua wouldn’t read about me in the newspaper.

  Christmas Day was wonderful, with blistering heat but Jane as usual had prepared roast turkey and a traditional Christmas pudding. They loved their presents and Jane immediately sprayed some perfume on the inside of her wrist. “It’s smells beautiful, Jane,” said Kevin. “You’ll attract a TV star.”

  “What about that wallet?” she replied. “It’s very smart. People will think you’re rich.”

  “I doubt that,” replied Kevin with a laugh.

  “We have a special present for you, Tyler, to help you at university,” said Jane. “We’ve been saving up for a few years since you started at Melaleuca College.”

  “What is it?” I asked, unable to guess what they could be talking about.

  Kevin gave a sly smile. “Money to pay for your university fees plus a bit extra to pay for textbooks. I heard they’re very expensive.”

  Their gift made me feel unbearably guilty and ashamed. I wrapped my arms around both of them, so thankful but also afraid. I felt remorse for my crime but wasn’t sorry that my parents were dead. I hated myself for betraying Joshua but didn’t want to be punished for my crime or tell the truth.

  I decided to study mathematics and law at the University of Sydney, a double degree with honours that I completed in five years. St Paul’s College, a residential hall at the university, offered me free accommodation and I worked as a waiter in a local restaurant to pay for my remaining expenses. In my spare time, I was involved in intercollege debating and athletics.

  Best of all, there was a branch of the Young Freedomites at the university, the wing of the Freedom Party for members under thirty. In my final year I become the National President of the Young Freedomites, and that was the ideal position to hold for future leadership opportunities. At the Federal committee meetings I met Derek Slade, the Deputy Opposition Leader, again, and he offered to become my mentor.

  I graduated at the age of twenty-two. Adding to my collection of prizes and awards, I was an inter-college debating champion, won a University Blue for athletics and a University Medal for mathematics.

  Jane and Kevin flew to Sydney to attend my graduation ceremony and that was their first visit to the eastern states. They smiled and waved when I collected them at the airport. I could smell Jane’s perfume as I hugged her, and noticed that she was not quite so plump. She had lost some weight, had a stylish new haircut and looked smart in a skirt and blouse.

  “It’s so good to see you, my darling,” she said. “I’ve been on a diet, but not too severe, just cutting back a bit on my eating.”

  Kevin was in long trousers and a crisp blue and white checked shirt. “We wanted to look smart when we came to Sydney to make you proud of us,” he said. “We thought everyone might dress up around here, not just in casual clothes like at home.”

  “I’m always proud of you,” I replied.

  I showed them around the campus and took them to dinner at the French restaurant where I worked part-time. They stayed at a hotel near the university and together we attended a ballet performance at the Opera House, walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, rode on a Manly Ferry and went for a swim at Bondi Beach. They had the time of their lives. The highlight of their trip was the graduation ceremony that included sandwiches and tea afterwards in the historic university quadrangle.

  “This is the best day of my life,” said Jane, balancing a cup in her hand.

  One of my professors, Eric Atworth, came over to chat and heaped praise on me. “Have you told them the news?” he asked me with a wink.

  “Not yet, I’m going to tell them tonight,” I replied.

  “We look forward to hearing the secret,” said Kevin, raising his eyebrows.

  I took them out to dinner at a well-known seafood restaurant near Circular Quay and all through the meal they talked about the wonderful time they’d had. When coffee was served, they looked at me expectantly.

  “Do you have something you want to tell us?” asked Jane, unable to keep her curiosity under control.

  “Don’t torture us any longer,” said Kevin.

  For a moment my secrets almost spilled out, but I swallowed them back down with a gulp. There was no point in destroying their lives as well as my own. I gave them a warm smile. “I was thinking about starting a PhD in mathematics next year.”

  “That’s wonderful, Tyler,” said Kevin, beaming with pride.

  “But a few days ago, an investment bank in Perth offered me a very well paid job. They want to utilise my maths skills and I’ve decided to accept their offer. I start in late January.”

  “Oh, Tyler, I’m so proud of you,” said Jane, leaning forward to kiss me.

  “Congratulations, no one deserves that more than you,” said Kevin. “I’m sure you’ll do very well.”

  “I’m so pleased that you’ll be in Perth, not too far away from us,” said Jane. “We can fly down to see you occasionally and you can visit us.”

  “Of course I will, all the time,” I said. “But that’s not the only news. I should be able to save plenty of money once I start working, and in a year’s time I want to take you both on a trip to Europe.”

  “Oh, Tyler, that’s my dream,” said Jane.

  “That’s very kind of you, son,” said Kevin, “but we don’t want you to spend your money on us.”

  “It’s no more than you deserve.”

  I took Jane and Kevin to the airport the next day, hugged them both and told them how much I loved them. They waved one final time as they boarded the flight to Broome.

  ***

  When they reached Broome, Jane and Kevin collected their car from the parking station and headed back to Quarry. Jane rang me from the airport before they left. “It will be good to get home after that long flight,” she said. Kevin added his thoughts about airline food.

  About forty kilometres from home they saw a giant cattle truck approaching from the opposite direction. As it came near, the driver fell asleep for just a moment. In the flash of a second, the vehicle veered across the road with a deafening screech and hit their vehicle head on. They had no time to think before it was all over.

  I received a phone call three hours later from Sergeant Barry Elliot. “I’m so sorry, Tyler,” he said to me softly, “but something terrible has happened. We’re all very sorry, I know how much you cared about them.”

  At first, I wondered if he meant my real parents, and he was about to say that they had found the bodies of Peter and Kylie Thompson. “What do you mean – what’s happened?” I ask as fear washed over me.

  Then he told me that Kevin and Jane were dead. I leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, shaking and sobbing. I cried for days, calling out their names and unable to believe that they were both lost at the same time, just like my real parents.

  Kevin and Jane had a small amount of money in the bank. When that was added to all the money in my own account, there was just enough to give them a very good funeral in Quarry
. Everyone in the region attended the service in the Anglican church, and they were buried in the little graveyard under a shady tree. After that, we gathered at the Royal Hotel and stayed there until late at night.

  The Carmichaels never visited Europe on the trip of a lifetime, had pride of place at my wedding or held my child in their arms. For weeks I could not stop crying and delayed the start of my new job until the end of February.

  Everyone in Quarry brought me casseroles and home-baked cakes in an effort to help me, but I had very little appetite. I walked to the church to visit their graves each day, trying to keep them neat and tidy. Once a week I drove forty kilometres to the scene of the accident and placed a bunch of fresh flowers beside the road.

  I wondered if their deaths were the punishment for my crime. Most people only have one set of parents to lose. I had lost two sets, the worst parents in the world and the very best ones, polar opposites. My plan for the future was to take care of Kevin and Jane as they grew older, not to visit their graves.

  I had never thought about their wills and was stunned to learn that the Carmichaels had left me everything they owned. That consisted of the Quarry Motel and their personal possessions. I wanted to repay their love and thought of staying there to run the motel, perhaps changing the name to the Quarry Carmichael Motel, and giving up on all my hopes and dreams. But Mrs Bertorelli, Barry Elliot and my friends Brian and Charlie all thought that I should put it up for sale and do what the Carmichaels truly wanted.

  “They were always talking about you,” said Barry. “Dreaming about the wonderful career you were going to have. They were so proud of you. There’s nothing for you here now, except for friends, of course. You can always come back to visit.”

  One day I drove about ninety kilometres into the desert, skirting along Eighty Mile Beach to find the spot where my parents died. There was nothing there to indicate the events of that night. Taking shelter under a rocky outcrop, I sat there for hours. It was easy to imagine them sitting there, drinking beer and laughing at me. I blinked against the bright sunlight and they disappeared. A murder scene is always shocking but this was beautiful and serene. Perhaps it had never happened and was just a dream after all. It was a very distant memory.

  I swam in the ocean and the pristine water was as warm as a bath. Thoughts about my parents swimming there swirled around in my head and I was tempted to stay in the water until I drowned or was taken by a shark. But I felt exhausted after a while and returned to the beach.

  Then I walked into the desert and tried to find the gravesite. I circled and walked back and forth, but the task proved impossible. There was no sign of it, their grave had truly merged with the red earth, and after all these years only Joshua might know the precise location.

  Finally, late at night, I decided never to go back there again and drove home to Quarry.

  The Quarry Motel would never be the same without the Carmichaels there. I thought constantly about them manning the reception desk, making the breakfasts, cleaning the rooms and living happily in their humble house. If I wasn’t going to take over the business then I needed to sell it, but was afraid that the new owners might transform the place and make it unrecognisable.

  I finally decided to proceed with the sale and move away before I went into a downward spiral. I thought about my future and decided to buy a small cottage in Broome and also rent a cheap apartment in Perth. I’d be earning a good salary with the investment bank, so there would be enough left over to fly back to Broome frequently, perhaps most weekends, stay in my own cottage and be involved with the local division of the Freedom Party. I could return to Quarry occasionally, catch up with friends and visit the two graves. More than anything else, I wanted them to be proud of me.

  It took less than three weeks to find a buyer. Despite Quarry’s isolation, there was always someone whose idea of a seachange is to buy a business in the middle of a small town in the desert.

  ***

  There was an old timber cottage for sale close to the centre of Broome, with two bedrooms, a front verandah edged with latticework and a corrugated iron roof. The house was half-hidden from the street by lush tropical plants in the small front garden, the only sort that would grow on the barren soil. It was perfect for me.

  I worked in Perth and flew to Broome almost every weekend. Derek Slade had advised me to become involved in community organisations, so I volunteered with the Community Partnerships Association to train people in managing their personal finances and, before long, I was on the management board. Most of my time was spent helping the local division of the Freedom Party. After eighteen months, the Annual General Meeting was coming up and I nominated for the role of branch president. There were three nominees but my speech was the only one that wasn’t long and boring.

  Counting the votes seemed to take forever and it was almost eleven o’clock at night before the convenor finally made the announcement. “Roberts, 15 votes, De Vries 65, Thompson 258.”

  My head was spinning like a top as I approached the stage to address the meeting and then looked around at the assembled crowd.

  “Thank you for the great honour you’ve given me, and I’d like to thank everyone who is here tonight. In the coming year, I want to pay particular attention to the financial management of the division, increasing our fundraising revenue so that we have more money to fund campaigning. I also want to have lively and interesting meetings that everyone can participate in, and increase the party membership over the next twelve months. Ladies and gentlemen, most important of all, there is only one year until the next federal election. In about five months time, we will be having a preselection process to choose the Freedom Party candidate. I know that the Workers Party member, Graham Sanchez, has been the sitting member for the seat of Mangrove for about ten years now. But our election results have been improving and I truly believe that we can win this seat at the next Federal election. We will win that seat if we stick together and work hard.”

  Everyone stood up to applaud, but just one person caught my attention. She was clapping and looking straight at me, a beautiful, slender woman with thick auburn hair and big blue eyes.

  When the meeting ended thirty minutes later, I packed up my notes prior to joining the more sociable members at the bar downstairs. “That was a great speech you gave,” said a gentle voice.

  I looked up and saw her, so lovely that it hardly seemed possible she would speak to me. “I’m Letitia Hope,” she said.

  I shook her hand and acted like a clumsy idiot. “Tyler Thompson, I’m very pleased to meet you.”

  “This was my first meeting here – I only moved to Broome a few weeks ago, but spent the first three years of my life here,” she said. “Then I spent the rest of my childhood in Perth and finished my law degree there last year.”

  “Are you working in Broome now?”

  “Yes – I’m a solicitor for Barrow and Smith.”

  “The best law firm in town.”

  “It certainly is and I’m loving it.” I did not want our conversation to ever end.

  “So how long have you been in the Freedom Party?”

  “I’ve been a member for several years. But now Broome is my home for the time being. I’ve rented an apartment here.”

  “We’re lucky to have you. You’re staying for a drink aren’t you?” She nodded in reply.

  Chapter 9

  We were at ease together from the beginning. We walked to the bar and chatted to everyone and Letitia joined in and charmed every person in the room. My eyes were fixed on her for the rest of the evening. Sometimes she raised her head and glanced at me, her eyes lingering long enough to confirm her feelings. Afterwards I offered to drive her home.

  She sat in my car and I saw the curve of her breast as she adjusted the seat belt. “Why did you join the Freedom Party?” I asked.

  “Because of its focus on individual enterprise and a well-regulated society. Tyler, are you planning to run for preselection?”

  She cert
ainly got straight to the point. “I’m thinking about it but I’m not sure yet,” I said.

  “You’re the only one who has a chance of wresting that seat from the Workers Party. I think you should play the angle of being young and fresh.”

  I tried to focus on driving. “Do you really think so?”

  “Yes, and I want to be your campaign manager – or at least help you.”

  We arrived at her apartment block and parked outside. It was a modern two-storey complex with a row of palm trees at the front. “Come in for coffee,” she said.

  There was no resisting that invitation. We walked to the second floor, she opened the door and switched on the light. A burst of bright colours greeted me, with textured cushions on the sofa, giant flower paintings on the walls and bright mugs and bowls on the kitchen bench. I felt at home straight away.

  “Perhaps you could give me some decorating tips,” I said. “I bought a small house last year.”

  “I’d love to,” she replied. We drank a cup of coffee and then there was no holding back. I kissed her gently, but soon we were making love in the bedroom and forever after that it felt like we belonged together.

  “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world,” I whispered as we lay together afterwards.

  “You have the most incredible body I’ve ever seen,” she replied.

  I look at her in shock. “Me – are you joking?”

  “Tyler Thompson, do you know how handsome you are?” Letitia turned the bedside light up slightly and ran her hand across my stomach and over my shoulder – but then she stopped suddenly. “What are these little scars, Tyler – how did you get them?”

  She continued to examine them and I knew exactly what they were. “I had a bad time with my parents when I was young. But then, when I was eleven, I was taken in by the Carmichaels in Quarry, and everything changed after that.”

  There were tears in her eyes. “My poor darling,” she said.

  “It’s okay, I don’t think about it any more.” That was the first lie I ever told her.