The Girl Who Never : A twisted crime

by HC Michaels

  All the changes in them meant that Amelia was a completely different child to the one she would have been if she were raised by the people they used to be, instead of the people they were now.

  When did all this change stop? Maybe it never would. It would flow on through the generations, bending and shaping lives into something new. Amelia’s future children would be different to the ones they might have been had Bianca never been born.

  He liked this idea. His beautiful little girl had changed the world forever simply by being in it.

  “What are you thinking about?” Elvira asked, itching at the drip feeding saline into her arm.

  “Our baby girl.” He blinked back the stinging in his eyes.

  “How’s she going with Dad?” Elvira gave him a sad smile.

  “Not that baby girl. I was thinking about Bianca.”

  Elvira nodded and she pulled her gaze from him, retreating into herself as her shadow of a smile faded away. This was what she always did when he spoke about their daughter, which was why he’d stopped.

  “I’d like to talk about her a little more sometimes.” He regretted saying this as soon as the words came out. He shouldn’t be putting demands on her when she’d only been conscious for a matter of hours.

  “Me, too.” Her voice was a whisper.

  He pressed his lips to her forehead, hoping what she said was true. “We’re going to figure this out. We’ll find a way through.”

  “Have you talked to Tessa?” she asked.

  “Don’t worry about Tessa.” He pulled away from her, frowning at the pained expression on her face.

  “I need to apologise to her.”

  “You don’t need to do anything, except get better.” He patted her hand. The only person who mattered was Elvira. And Amelia, of course.

  A man in a blue uniform walked into the room. He didn’t look like a nurse. Or a doctor.

  “G’day,” he said in a thick Australian drawl. “Just wonderin’ if you want the telly hooked up?”

  Paul looked at Elvira. She’d never been very interested in television.

  “Sure,” she said. “My daughter loves cartoons.” She turned to Paul. “Can you bring her in for a bit today?”

  “She’s back on the island with your dad, remember?” he said gently. “I’ll bring her in tomorrow.”

  Elvira nodded. “How long will I be here?”

  “The doctor will tell us that today,” said Paul, unsure if he should tell her about the psychological assessment she was going to need before release. “The nurse said he’d be stopping in later.”

  The technician fiddled with some buttons on the television while Paul completed a form with his credit card details.

  The television filled the room with welcome noise, drowning out the possibility of further conversation. There were so many things they needed to talk about, but that could wait. Elvira needed to get better first.

  “Thanks, mate,” said Paul, as the technician headed out the door.

  Paul picked up the remote control and scanned through some channels until he found the news. World War III could’ve erupted and he wouldn’t know, he’d been so wrapped up in what was happening with Elvira.

  A female news reporter appeared on the screen, her tight-fitting silk blouse and bleached hair not doing her any favours in being taken seriously. He hoped Amelia never saw the need to have to present herself in such a way.

  He remembered reading about a study once that proved the more attractive female newsreaders were, the less information viewers took in. It sounded credible to him. People were so shallow.

  Elvira gasped, her eyes widening at the screen, and he realised he was as shallow as the people who’d taken part in that research. He had no idea what this woman was talking about.

  “What?” His brow crinkled at the television.

  A photo of Tino filled the screen as the reporter continued to talk, this time with Paul’s full attention.

  “…was arrested early this morning for the brutal rape and murder of Lena Markovic. He’s currently being held in custody after DNA evidence linked him to the attack on this innocent young woman while on holiday in Sunshine Island.”

  “Do you thi—” Paul began.

  “Shh!” Elvira held up her hand to silence him.

  The news report continued with some grainy footage of Tino being arrested at the airport. He could see Tessa standing off to the side, her face aghast.

  “We’ll bring you more details as they come to hand. Back to you in the studio, Andrew.”

  Paul pressed the off button on the remote, plunging the room into silence.

  He sat on the edge of Elvira’s bed and waited for her to speak. Her breathing was rapid, and a small sheen of sweat had appeared on her brow.

  “Do you know what time dinner is?” she eventually asked.

  “Don’t you want to talk ab—”

  “No!” she snapped. “I don’t want to talk about it. I can’t talk about it. Please.”

  “Okay.” He nodded, wondering who the hell he was going to talk to about it.

  Tino was his brother-in-law and he’d just been arrested for the most heinous of crimes. Whether Elvira liked it or not, this affected her. It affected all of them.

  He’d give her a day’s grace, then they were going to have to talk about this.

  “I need to get back to Amelia,” he said. “Your dad’s going to be upset when he hears about this. He won’t be in any state to care for her.”

  “I don’t know why you took her there in the first place.” Elvira’s tone was harsh. It hadn’t taken long for bad habits to return.

  “Well, what else was I supposed to do with her?” He upped the ante with his tone, narrowing his eyes at her. “You didn’t leave me with a lot of other options.”

  “I’m sorry.” She turned her head to look out the window.

  “No, Elvira,” he said, softening. “I am.”

  He kissed her on the forehead.

  “I’ll be back with Amelia in the morning.” He stood up straight. “We’ll get the first ferry across.”

  She looked at him, her eyes brimming with sadness.

  “Are you going to be okay?” he asked.

  “Can you bring me some clothes?” She was avoiding his question and he decided to let her.

  “Sure. I’ll bring your whole suitcase.” That was one advantage of going to hospital while on holidays. She was already packed.

  “Thanks.” She blinked up at him with dark eyes. “Take care of Amelia.”

  “Of course.” He turned to leave.

  “Paul,” she called after him. “You’re a good husband, you know. The best.”

  He gave her a weak smile. He didn’t feel much like a husband at the moment. He felt more like a firefighter, putting out one blaze only to find another spring up and nip at his heels with its flames.

  They needed to get back to Melbourne. Queensland was burning them all alive.

  Elvira breathed in the fresh ocean air from the top deck of the ferry, happy to be free of the hospital with its psychologists and their never-ending lists of questions.

  The stuff they were asking her about was none of their business. She was a stranger to them. Did they really care what she did with her life? Wasn’t it her decision as to how many days she chose to breathe in and out, not theirs? Of course, she’d told them everything they needed to hear in order to let her go. She wasn’t stupid enough to tell them the truth.

  They also met with Paul, who must’ve done a good job to convince them he’d keep watch over her. No doubt he’d be hiding every pill in the apartment. Maybe she should jump overboard right now and take everyone by surprise. There was more than one way to kill yourself. If she really wanted to do it there was no way Paul would be able to stop her. Surely, the psychologists knew that.

  Whatever the case, she wasn’t complaining. She was free with the wind blowing in her hair and the warm Queensland sun breaking through the clouds. There was a very large part
of her that was glad her overdose attempt had failed.

  She’d been given a second chance to turn things around and be the mother—and the woman—she wanted to be.

  Amelia hadn’t come to the hospital with Paul. Apparently, she’d refused and Paul had no choice but to drop her off to stay with her grandfather again.

  It worried Elvira. Her father wouldn’t be in any state to care for a child with his son in prison on the mainland. Surely Paul could’ve made her come with him? He was her father. It wasn’t good to let such a young child call the shots like that. She was already stubborn enough.

  Amelia would have to forgive her for Tessa eventually. She was so young that just like she’d said to Paul, before long she probably wouldn’t even remember who Tessa was.

  She blinked back tears and dug her thumbs into her bare thighs.

  Enough!

  She was lying to herself again. She couldn’t keep doing this if she had any hope of putting her life back together.

  Amelia would remember Tessa. For whatever reason, they had a special bond. It was cruel of her to tear them apart in the way she had.

  Tessa must be devastated now that she knew the truth about Tino. She’d tried to warn her. There was nothing more she could’ve said or done to keep them apart. But Tessa had been stubborn. And now she must also be heartbroken.

  Tino would be going to jail for a long time. It had been a shock to find out he was responsible for that awful crime. It made her feel responsible for that poor girl, Lena. If she’d shouted louder and made everyone listen to her after Bianca died, then Tino would already have been in jail and Lena would be alive.

  But how was she to know?

  “You okay?” Paul placed a gentle hand on her back.

  “How much does Amelia hate me?” she asked.

  He frowned. “She loves you.”

  Elvira nodded. “And she hates me.”

  “She’s just upset about Tessa. She’s too young to understand.” He removed his hand and she shuffled closer to him, wanting to feel his warmth.

  “I’m going to talk to Tessa,” she said, surprising herself as much as him. “I need to make this right.”

  “Just leave her be.” He looked to his shoes and rubbed his temples with his fingertips. “She doesn’t want us bothering her. She needs space.”

  “I’m not going to ask her back. I just want to smooth things out. See if she’d consider being in Amelia’s life somehow.”

  He didn’t reply.

  “Why aren’t you saying anything?” She grabbed hold of his arm, trying to get his attention.

  “Elvira, you need to fix yourself before you start trying to fix anyone else,” he pleaded. “Leave Tessa alone for now.”

  “But this is part of fixing me. What hotel did you take her to?” Now she was the one to put a hand on his back. “And don’t try to pretend you didn’t drop her off. I know you did.”

  “Leave her alone. You’ll only make things worse.” He was still refusing to meet her eye. “Please.”

  “Okay.” She withdrew her hand and held up her palms. As soon as she could shake Paul, she’d make some calls and track Tessa down. There weren’t too many hotels on this island. She couldn’t be that hard to find.

  If Tessa forgave her then Amelia would have to as well. She couldn’t fix what happened with Tino, but she could fix this. And then like Paul said, she’d have a think about how she could fix herself.

  The trouble was that with some cracks, the more you tried to repair them, the more they split wide open.

  Logan watched Roberto playing with his granddaughter on the iPad. It was sweet the way he fussed over her, tapping on the screen like he knew what he was doing.

  “No, Nonno!” Amelia squealed. “You have to jump over the lily pad.”

  “Too hard for me.” Roberto pretended to cry. “You keep playing, bella. I’m going to make my friend here a coffee.”

  “Can I have a coffee, please?” Amelia looked up from her screen.

  “You believe this girl?” Roberto asked Logan, his face shining with pride. “This girl unbelievable!”

  “Here,” said Logan, holding out his hand. “You can have this chocolate instead.”

  Amelia’s eyes lit up to see the chocolate heart in his palm. She snatched it away from him without missing a beat, shovelled it in her mouth and went back to her iPad.

  “Thank you,” she said without looking at him.

  Logan followed Roberto into the kitchen and put the coffee machine on. “I’ll make it.”

  “You a good boy.” Roberto sat on a stool and groaned at the effort.

  “How are you coping?” Logan asked carefully. He’d heard about Tino’s arrest. It would’ve been hard not to. The whole island knew about it.

  “No good,” said Roberto. “Tino is innocent! My son would not do that.”

  Logan nodded as he got out two mugs. Sometimes it was safer to say nothing. The police would come to their own conclusions about Tino. Roberto’s opinion of his son was not going to play into that.

  “I need you to show me how to use googles,” said Roberto, leaning across the counter. “I know you need to go out on the boat today, but would you show me? Just quick, quick. I never used googles before.”

  Logan frowned. “You want to go swimming?”

  “Googles,” said Roberto. “You know, for informations on the internets.”

  “Oh!” Logan smiled as he held the first mug under the spout of the coffee machine. “I thought you said goggles. What do you want to look up? I can do it for you. We’re not taking the yacht out for another hour or so.”

  “No.” Roberto took the mug offered to him and held it up to his nose so he could smell the coffee. “I’m being detective. I just need you to teach me the googles. I can do the rest.”

  Logan filled the second mug, deciding it probably wasn’t such a bad thing for Roberto to keep himself busy. Even if it was extremely unlikely he was going to find anything on the internet that the police hadn’t been able to find out themselves.

  “What do you want to find out about?” Logan asked, taking a sip of the hot liquid and wincing.

  “I have theory.” Roberto lowered his voice, like the little girl in the next room was going to be the slightest bit interested in his theory. “Something that will prove Tino is innocence.”

  Logan tried his best to nod like he believed him. Roberto could barely speak English, let alone crack open a murder case.

  “You’re a good dad,” he said. “It’s a pity Tino doesn’t appreciate it.”

  Roberto narrowed his eyes at Logan. “Tino love me. He just had very difficult childhood. He was very sick boy.”

  “He was lucky to have made it,” said Logan. Carina and Roberto had told him all about Tino’s illness. “Lucky also to have such good parents to support him.”

  “Parents always support their children,” said Roberto. “Bad times and good.”

  A silence hung in the air at these words, both Logan and Roberto fully aware of the lack of support Elvira believed she’d received after her daughter’s death.

  “Listen to me.” Roberto waggled a finger. “I am stupid old man, but I going to fix my family.”

  “Speaking of fixing things…” Logan reached for his wallet. “I want to pay you back for that loan. Well, part of it anyway. I got paid this week.”

  He took out some notes and put them down on the counter.

  “You are insulting the memory of my wife.” Roberto glared at him. “I told you. Put your money away.”

  Logan left it on the counter.

  “Now, Logan!” Roberto shouted. “Take it!”

  Logan jumped in his seat, his hand darting out to do as he was told. He’d expected Roberto to knock back his offer, although the force of which he did so had been a surprise.

  “Now, about the googles,” said Roberto, more softly as he drained his coffee. “Are you going to show it to me?”

  “That depends,” said Logan. “Have you g
ot any chocolate? I just gave Amelia my last piece.”

  “I have cookies if you hungry.” Roberto pointed to the pantry.

  “Not for me,” said Logan. “For Amelia. Because your googles is on that iPad and I don’t think she’s going to part with it too easily.”

  “She will,” said Roberto, smiling in his granddaughter’s direction. “She’s a good girl. I ask her nicely in Italian and she help me.”

  “Of course.” Logan reached out and touched Roberto on the arm. “Just don’t get your hopes up too much, okay?”

  Roberto nodded, but it was too late. Hope was already shining from his eyes.

  Tessa’s wrists hurt but the pain no longer bothered her. It was nothing compared to the pain in her head.

  It was like every headache she’d had in her life returned at once and was pounding at her temples, her forehead, the crown of her skull. This headache had a life and pulse of its own. It reminded her of that movie where the alien bursts out of the woman’s stomach, only this time the deathly life form was preparing to birth itself directly from her eye sockets.

  She was amazed that she was still alive. Her skull must be broken, and her eyes were closed to slits underneath her blindfold. Thankfully her mouth hadn’t been re-taped as her swollen nose was unable to draw air.

  She peered out from underneath the blindfold, which had slipped halfway up her line of sight, and looked for her captor. There was no sign of him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. She dared not scream. If he beat her again, she wouldn’t survive. Her body was at its limits. She couldn’t take any more.

  Sleep tried to claim her once more and she fought it, not certain she’d be able to wake from it.

  Her body had been weakened to the state it was in now, but somehow her mind had strengthened. She needed to survive this long enough to make sure that creep never got the chance to do this to anyone else ever again.

  It was a mystery as to why he’d done this to her. Was there something she’d said or done to offend him? What had given him reason to hate her this much?

  He was one twisted soul, that much was certain.