CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
She’d made it last an hour, but now Madeline’s hair was braided in a long, golden ponytail and she was dressed in a light pink tulle fairy-dress with matching silk pink ballet flats on her dainty feet. Elizabeth’s heart lurched at the beautiful, innocent sight. She really was a fairy. A little sprite who had melted the wall around her heart enough to let light back inside.
“Stay still and hold your breath.”
Madeline scrunched her eyes. Her cheeks bulged as she held her breath. As quickly as she could, Elizabeth sprayed silver glitter on her hair as a finishing touch. Silver sparkles stuck to the fine strand of her hair, as well as a heavy dose on the bathroom wall.
Elizabeth squeezed her shoulders. “Finished. You can breathe again now.”
Madeline let her breath go and peered up at her with those big blue eyes she’d never forget. “Can I look?”
“Of course.” Elizabeth followed Madeline into her bedroom, where she twirled in front of the mirror on a stand. “I look like a princess fairy!”
Elizabeth couldn’t hold in her smile. A smile that was closely followed by the hot press of tears. She brushed them aside. “You certainly do.”
“What’s wrong, Liz’beth?” Madeline had stopped twirling and stood clutching the filmy strips in her little hands. The child was far too perceptive.
“Nothing, sweetheart.” She took her hand and sat next to her on the bed. “You know you’re a very special little girl, don’t you?” Her throat clogged with heat, and she struggled to work it out.
“Uh huh.” Madeline turned confused eyes to her.
She wanted to say so much to this brave little girl. That she loved her so much. That she’d never forget her. That she was the best thing to have come into her life.
That she wished she never had to leave.
Elizabeth could only hope by leaving like this, it wouldn’t emotionally scar her. She knew how Madeline felt about her. Knew how different she was because of her. Completely understood Madeline, in some way, had waited for a similar lonely soul to connect with. That together, they were so much better off.
The heaviness of her own battered soul cried with untold pain, knowing she was going to leave. How could she ever say that to a child she’d come to love as her own? She couldn’t hope to come close. She could only hope one day Madeline might forgive her.
She wound her arm about Madeline’s waist and cradled her close to her body, drinking in the way she felt, her little girls’ sweet smell, the way she clung back. When she felt as though she could speak, Elizabeth tapped her hand.
“How about we go see what Mrs. D’llessio is doing? Maybe she’s making cookies and we can have one with a cup of tea.”
Madeline beamed up at her. “I can’t drink tea, silly.”
Elizabeth tapped her nose. “Then you have can have one with milk. How does that sound?”
Madeline nodded, jumped off the bed and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
She let Madeline lead her down into the deliciously smelling, bustling kitchen. She was ordering some people hired to help with the party tonight. Some chopped vegetables, pots bubbled on the stove, boxes of supplies piled on the table. It was beginning to look like a mot mess, which made what she was going to do worse.
“Maria?”
“Si, Cara?” Mrs. D’llessio turned from a pot and wiped her hands on her apron.
“Would you possibly do me a favour? I have to go to the supermarket to get some… ladies' supplies. I’ve just dressed Madeline, and it’s still so cold out there. Could Madeline possibly stay here while I duck out? I won’t be long. I promise.” She mentally crossed her fingers at the lie.
Mrs. D’llessio’s brow creased. “Is everything OK, Cara?”
She put a hand to her lower abdomen. “Just that time, I’m afraid, and I’m not prepared.”
The older woman’s face cleared. “Ah, si. I don’t have anything here to offer. Of course. Go. My little bambina can help with the preparations.”
“Thank you, Maria. I really appreciate it.” Elizabeth held back from hugging the older woman despite wanting to. She’d suspected something was up, and no one hugged a near stranger because they had to go buy sanitary items.
She headed straight to the front door, hoping like hell she didn’t look as guilty and desperate as she felt. There was no way she’d be able to leave with her backpack. That was too obvious, and she couldn’t risk James asking if he saw it. She only had the clothes on her back, but that would have to last.
The house was a hive of activity, locals having been brought in to prepare for the party. They worked as though they knew what they were doing, obviously having done something similar, which upon further introspection they had to have. No one could assemble a team at a moment’s notice.
Her back tingled as she stepped through the front door. She could almost feel James’ hand on her shoulder, his look questioning, wanting to know where she was going. She almost wished he did; then she’d have an excuse to go back inside, to his welcome arms, and continue the dream for a little longer. But the door clicked behind her with a finality she felt to her bones. She released the long, hard breath her frozen lungs had locked inside her.
She forced leaden legs down the front steps and onto the damp drive. Movement caught her attention. A figure hunched against the rain walking up the road caught her attention. She’d know that physique anywhere. Her heart punched through her chest as she dove for cover behind one of the thick, low lying bushes that lined the driveway. What the hell was David doing here?
She clung to the damp ground, barely breathing as David walked past. He hadn’t seen her, thank God, but his determined steps took him right to the front door.
Elizabeth swiveled slowly, her knee now soaked through from the soil, so as not to bring any attention to herself. She knew how keen David’s eye was. David being here wasn’t good. Not good at all.
She heard his knock. Presently, Maria appeared. Pink tulle ruffled in the breeze at her legs. Hell, Madeline had come to the door with Mrs. D’llessio!
David bent down to ruffle Madeline’s hair, and the little girl shrank behind the housekeeper.
Good girl, get as far away from that man as possible.
Elizabeth stiffened, ready to dash from her hiding place if he started anything, but David straightened and after a few words retreated back down the driveway.
Mrs. D’llessio watched him leave, a wary expression on her face before she ushered Madeline inside and closed the door. Elizabeth didn’t blame her. David’s heavy footfalls had her shrinking to the ground. She stayed there long after the sound of heavy boots faded.
She rubbed a trembling hand over her sweaty brow. Things had just escalated. David was either getting desperate, more brazen than he normally was. There was no reason he’d come to the house, or even notice Madeline. Something was up with him. Whatever it was, it was no good. She edged from the protection of the bushes and jogged to the secluded bush track that wound into town.
It was now imperative she get to the police.
* * *
“We need your help, Elizabeth.”
“What?” That wasn’t the answer she’d expected.
As she’d anticipated, she’d been here for a couple of hours. At first they’d stared at her with disbelief, then as she’d explained her activities and how she was mixed up with David Logan, she’d been quickly taken into the interrogation room, questioned and then left to stew in her guilt as they’d worked out what to do with her. She’d probably be taken to a bigger holding station in Melbourne sometime tonight.
The lean cop sat down in the chair opposite hers. He had the look of a runner on him, suntanned, fit, clean shaven. On another day, she might have thought him handsome.
“Do you know for a fact it was David Logan?”
She nodded. “Absolutely certain. I met him at the café, then I saw him at James Rhyder’s house. His ugly face is etched indelibly into my memory.”
“At least we know he’s in town and who he’s targeting. He’s wanted on a long list of crimes, and we haven’t been able to track him down. He knows how to cover his tracks, that’s for sure. You know, if it makes you feel any better, you’re only the last in a long run of women he uses to take the fall. When he gets his hooks into his victim, he doesn’t let up.”
She groaned and dropped her head into her hands. “Don’t I know it. I’m so stupid.”
The cop, Steve Martin on his name tag, grimaced. “Don’t sell yourself short. He’s a well-practised, smart operator.”
David was a smart scum bag, but she’d also been stupid. The cop’s words repeated in her mind. Once he gets his hooks into his victim, he doesn’t let up. Now he’d set his sights on James. He’d seen Madeline.
David might be a smart operator, but he was also violent and didn’t have a conscience. He wouldn’t stop until he’d destroyed James the way he’d destroyed so many other lives. A black foreboding sludge gathered in her gut, oozing into her bloodstream.
Elizabeth drew a deep breath. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
Steve didn’t hesitate. “He’ll answer your call. Tell him you have James Rhyder’s bank details. Tell him you’ll meet with him to give them to him. We’ll be waiting for him when he turns up. Don’t worry, Elizabeth. Everything will work out.”
He slid her phone across the table. The one James had given to her to look after Madeline. She took it with a shaking hand, having to dial the number three times. David didn’t answer, so she left a message.
“Now what?”
“Now you go back.”
Elizabeth shook her head, reeling back into the chair. “I…no…I can’t…can’t go back.”
Steve’s sympathetic gaze hardened. “You’ll have to, Elizabeth. If David suspects anything amiss from your usual activities, he’ll know and run and hide. We want to stop him. It might be years until he surfaces again. Think of the damage he can do to other people in those years. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”
The air in the room became thin, her lungs struggling to breathe properly. She thought this would be the end, that coming here, she’d be locked away.
Almost safe.
Now she had to face James again. The thought made her heart sick and leap with joy at the same time. It had been hard enough to leave. Where was she going to get the strength to do it a second time?
“Elizabeth?”
She jolted in her seat, blinking at Steve’s hardened gaze. There was no choice. If she didn’t stop David now, there was no telling what he’d do to James, and David was capable of anything. Anything at all.
She thought he was saving James and Madeline by leaving. Now she had to go back, put them in potential danger to leave all over again. The thought made her sick to her heart.
She licked dry lips and nodded. “No. No, I don’t want that to happen.”
The black sludge grew darker and heavier until it felt as though her blood had become the blackest oil, her heart expanding and pounding with immense effort to force it around her body.