Behind the Secrets (Behind the Lives #4) (8 page)

7

Beth

Beth went to turn into her parents’
driveway, but instead planted her foot on the brake as a car roared past her,
doing well over the speed limit. Shaking her head, she eased her foot off the
brake and moved forward, parking behind her mother’s station wagon. She got out
of the car and headed past the old wrecks on the lawn. When her father wasn’t
fixing other people’s cars, he was usually outside, restoring the ones he
bought from the wreckers. Unfortunately of late, he didn’t get much time to work
on them, since he was out almost every weekend searching for her oldest brother,
who had gone missing two months ago. All she could do was pray that Naf was
safe, and that he was just taking time out after his girlfriend betrayed him.

Willing herself to believe that, she
walked up the steps to the front door of her parents’ brick and tile house. She
opened the door, calling out, “Mum!”

“She got called into work,” Corey said.

Beth’s eyes moved to her
seventeen-year-old brother. Corey was sitting on the couch with his feet
resting on a stool; one of them broken and encased in a black moon boot.

“But her car’s out front,” Beth said.

“Someone picked her up a couple of hours
ago, cos they needed her to help patch up some dumb-arse prisoners, who thought
it would be fun to bash each other’s brains in. She’s s’posed to be back soon.”

“I wish she would quit that horrible
job,” Beth said, walking over to Corey. Her mum worked as a prison nurse a few
days a week, along with some on-call work.

Corey grimaced. “She wouldn’t hafta do
it if Dad kept away from the TAB. He lost four hundred bucks last week betting
on horses. I told him he shouldn’t gamble and he told me to keep my opinions to
myself or get out of his house.”

“There’s no use in talkin’ to him ’bout
it, you’ll just piss him off even more, plus it’s his money.”

“It’s Mum’s too, and Mum doesn’t like it
either. I heard them arguing over it. Mum actually yelled at him.”

Beth raised her eyebrows. “But she never
yells.”

“Well, she did. Do ya think they’ll get
a divorce?”

“Why would ja say that?”

“They’ve been arguing a lot lately.”

“No, they love each other, plus Mum
always forgives him. She’s a big softie.”

“True.”

“I also bet Dad will come grovelling
back with some flowers, like he normally does when he’s in the bad books. Next
thing, they’ll be kissing and cuddling and grossing you out. So, don’t worry.” Beth
sat down next to Corey, giving him a hug and a peck on the cheek.

Corey shoved her away and wiped his face.
“Yuck, why ja do that for?”

Beth laughed, her brother adorable. He
was wearing baggy jeans and a hoodie, which was swimming on his skinny body. He
also had on a beanie, which he never took off, due to his hair falling out from
chemotherapy. Luckily, Corey was now cleared of cancer, God finally blessing
their family with some good news.

Beth leaned back into the couch. “I
thought Mum said she wuz gonna fatten you up.”

Corey pressed the remote, turning off
the TV, which was playing some cop show. “Not gonna happen, I lost my appetite
for food.”

“You don’t still feel sick, do ya?”

He frowned. “Only over what happened to
Sledge.”

Beth took hold of his hand, giving it a gentle
squeeze. Corey’s best friend had been shot in the head by Ant Torres after
Sledge had tried to rescue Corey from the psycho.

“Stop cutting yourself up over that,”
Beth said. “Sledge is recovering well, plus it wuzn’t your fault.”

Corey squeezed her hand back, his
expression sad. “He still got hurt cos of me.”

“And I bet he would do it again, cos he
loves you.”

Looking surprised, Corey pulled his hand
free. “You know?”

She smiled. “Of course I do, you two are
like brothers.”

His mouth formed into an O shape.

She frowned. “Why are you lookin’ at me
like that?”

He dropped his gaze. “Nuthin’.”

“What’s wrong, Corey?”

“I said, nuthin’!” He grabbed his
crutches and pushed up, wobbling a little.

Beth got up and steadied him. “Why are you
mad at me?” she said, not understanding his reaction.

“Cos you’re just like Dad.”

“What’s that s’posed to mean?”

“He doesn’t like me, and you wouldn’t either
if you truly knew me.”

“Don’t be silly, he loves you and so do
I, and nuthin’ will change that.”

“That’s what you say now,” he said,
heading around the footstool.

Beth followed him into the passage,
stopping as he turned to face her.

“Stop following me,” he snapped.

“No, I wanna know why you’re so angry.”

“If I told you, you’d hate me like Dad
does.”

“I told ja, he doesn’t hate you.”

“Well, he sure as hell acts like it. He
can’t even look me in the face. I should’ve just ignored Mum and stayed in the
flat, but now I’ve lost it and have nowhere to go. And worse, I can only see
Sledge when Mum takes me, cos I can’t drive with this!” he yelled, indicating
to his injured foot. His eyes started misting up. “I wanna be with him, and no
one gives a shit!” He turned and entered his room.

Beth followed him in.

He spun around. “Get out!”

She held out her hands. “Hun, calm down,
you’re just havin’ a bad day.”

He indicated to his moon boot. “More like
a bad fuckin’ year. I wuz beat up, run over, drugged, kidnapped, sexually
assaulted, and now they’re saying there’s a chance that Ant Torres could get
out if I don’t testify, which I can’t do—”

“Why can’t you?”

He opened his mouth, then clamped it
shut, something passing over his face, telling Beth he didn’t want to tell her.

“Corey, why can’t you testify?”

“I...” He grimaced. “I just can’t, okay.
Ant scares the shit outta me, and all I want is for Sledge to hug me and tell
me it’ll be all right, but he can barely move his left arm. He can’t even walk
to me,” he squeezed his eyes shut, “and it’s all my fault.”

Beth placed a hand on his arm. “Again, it’s
not
your fault. And I spoke to the inspector ’bout Ant. He’s confident
that the creep will be put away for a long time if you take the stand.”

Corey opened his eyes. “I told ja, I
can’t, why won’t you listen to me?”

“Cos the inspector—”

“I don’t care what he says! Ant will
hurt us if I testify. You shouldn’t even be talkin’ to the police.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I hafta
talk with them, and Ant can’t hurt us, he’s under house arrest.”

“That won’t stop him? He’ll pay someone
to do it for him.”

Beth frowned. “Why would you say that?”

“He...” Corey went quiet.

“Corey, tell me why you said that.”

Her brother screwed up his face. “He
just will, I know it.”

“How?”

“Stop questioning me! And Mum said I
didn’t hafta testify. She said that others can take the stand instead of me.”

“Mum’s tryna protect you, but she can’t,
cos you hafta testify. The inspector said your testimony is the only one that
isn’t compromised.”

“I still can’t do it, and even if I
could, Ant will be in the courtroom. You know what I’m like. I’ll pro’bly end
up blubbering like a baby instead of answering the questions.”

“You won’t, and you know why?”

Corey shook his head.

She directed him to his bed, sitting
down with him. “You’ll be doin’ it to get justice for him shooting Sledge.”

Corey lowered his head, looking sad.

Beth placed her hand under his chin and
lifted it up. “You’ll do great. That creep will get locked away, while Sledge
will get better. The doctor said he’s healing faster than expected, and the
fact that he can even move his injured arm is a good sign.”

Corey wiped his eyes and nodded.

She moved her hand to his back, rubbing it
in a circle. “As I said, he’ll be all right, and the trial will go all right
too. Plus, I’ll be there, Mum will be there, and the Ratas are coming as well.
We’ll all support you.”

“Dad won’t support me.”

“Of course he will.”

Corey mumbled something under his breath
and wiped his eyes again. “No matter what we do, Ant will get off. He has too
much money.”

“Money won’t get him off this,
especially not after what he did to you.” She placed an arm around Corey’s
shoulders and pulled him in close, leaning her cheek against his head, her
brother so small. He’d gotten his fine looks from their mother, but his height and
paler colouring from his dad …
her dad
. Although he wasn’t her
biological father, he’d brought her up as his own after her birth father had died
from meningitis when she was a baby.

“Plus, the trial isn’t for a while,” she
added. “So, you’ll be well and truly prepared by then. Also...” A door closed,
cutting her sentence off.

“Corey? Beth?” their mother called out.

Beth’s eyes moved to the bedroom doorway
as their mother walked through it. She looked like an older version of Beth:
her long black hair, hazel eyes, tanned complexion, slim figure, and youthful
appearance making her look more like a sister than a mother.

Their mother’s eyes locked onto Corey. “Oh,
baby, you’ve been crying.” She went to her knees and pulled Corey into her
arms. “What’s upset you, sweetheart?”

Corey leaned into her.

Their mother’s gaze moved to Beth. “What
happened?”

“He misses Sledge and is scared ’bout
the trial.”

Their mother pulled back and took
Corey’s face in her hands. “Darling, if you want to see Sledge you just need to
ask; and I’m working with the lawyer to make sure they don’t put you on the
stand.”

Beth cut in, “He has to, the inspector
said—”

Her mother cut her off, “Ignore that
man. The lawyer said that the Nike boy offered to testify in Corey’s place. He
saw what that horrible man did.”

“Nike’s testimony won’t be as good as
Corey’s,” Beth said.

“Nike isn’t the only one who’ll take the
stand. There are a lot of other witnesses. There’s that Kara lady, the undercover
policeman they mentioned, as well as Dante. With all of them, Corey won’t need
to take the stand.”

Beth shook her head. “Not Dante, he’s
only just got outta the psyche hospital, plus his criminal record and mental
health compromises him as a witness.”

“He was committed?” their mother said,
looking shocked.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve told you, but
Jade wanted to keep it a secret. Dante had a breakdown. I brought him home
before coming here.”

“Oh, the poor boy. Will he be okay?”

“I think so.” Beth placed a hand on her
stomach, the morning-sickness refusing to stop. “I needa go to the toilet. I’ll
be right back.” She got up and quickly left the room, shutting herself in the
toilet. She knelt down and leaned over the toilet bowl, hoping she didn’t throw
up, since her mother would ask questions again ... although she knew sooner or
later she would have to tell her she was pregnant. She had an appointment for a
scan this afternoon, the spotting of blood on her underwear scaring her. At
first, when she’d found out she was pregnant, she didn’t want the child, but after
the initial shock had worn off, she’d come to consider it a blessing, especially
since it was Dante’s. She placed a hand on her stomach, knowing she could’ve lost
him if she wasn’t pregnant, the baby saving their relationship.

She rose to her feet, the threat of
throwing up now gone. She just needed to eat something small and she would feel
better. She flushed the toilet, pretending that she’d gone for a pee, then
opened the door, jolting at the sight of her mother standing in front of her.

“You’re pregnant, aren’t you?” her
mother said. “That’s why you’ve been feeling sick.”

Beth opened her mouth then closed it,
nodding the only reply she could give.

Her mother covered her mouth, her expression
horrified. “How far are you?” she asked, through her hand.

“’Bout six weeks. I have an appointment
this afternoon.”

“I’m coming.”

Beth nodded, knowing that would have
been her mother’s reply.

“Which doctor?”

“Doctor Martin.”

“Who’s that?”

“A doctor at Middleton.”

Her mother frowned. “What’s wrong with
our family doctors?”

“I wuz embarrassed to go to them since
I’m not … married.”

“Is the child’s Dante’s or Ash’s?”

“Dante’s, of course!” Beth yelled,
horrified that her mother would even ask.