Blood Tears (40 page)

I eased out on to the
road.

But then an idea
swirled through my head – maybe I should follow him for a while
instead. It would make a stronger case against him if we could also
prove that he was involved in receiving and fencing stolen
property. It would strongly support his prosecution if I could
confirm that he’d been actively seeking to reclaim his collection,
especially if forensics weren’t able to lift any of his prints from
the bag or the stolen valuables.

Annabel must have
finally recognised the Kilroys’ property because Merrick pulled
over to the side of the road. I drove past as if I hadn’t noticed
them, keeping an eye on them in the rear view mirror until they
disappeared from my sight.

I wanted him to have a
false sense of security that I hadn’t recognised him or his car,
though I hoped when he’d spotted the patrol car it had given him a
real fright. I found his sheer cockiness galling. He probably
imagined he’d escaped any consequences for his kidnapping of
Annabel and her baby because she was a runaway who nobody cared
about. Otherwise, why would he be so blatant in driving around in
his old bomb in public?

I couldn’t wait to show
him just how wrong he’d been about that assumption.

I pulled over to the
side of the road, and waited patiently for five minutes before
doubling back on myself. Merrick’s car was vacant and locked. I
pulled up on the other side of the road from it and stepped
out.

I dismissed radioing it
in to the Sarge, though I knew he’d be really angry with me. I
didn’t want to have to drive back into town to pick him up, in case
Merrick drove away, and I didn’t want to wait for him, in case
something happened to Annabel in the meantime. I told myself I was
merely undertaking a quick reccy, and would contact him when I
discovered something concrete – like a positive identification of
Merrick and Annabel. It wasn’t as if he could come to assist me
right at the moment, unless he drove his Beemer. And that little
sporty thing really wasn’t the sort of car he’d wanted to leave by
the side of the road while he went for a little policing jaunt in
the scrub.

That’s what I told
myself anyway.

Checking that I’d
securely locked the patrol car – Chad Bycraft would wet himself
with excitement if he managed to get his hands on it – I crept down
the Kilroys’ driveway behind the pair.

The dogs started up a
racket again, but as nobody came out to investigate, I could only
presume that Valmae and Gerry weren’t currently at home, or were
out in the fields.

In the distance, I
could see two figures, and from where I stood, they were definitely
a male and a much smaller female. It could be Merrick and Annabel,
but I needed to see their faces to be one hundred per cent sure of
that before I called the Sarge for help.

I turned my radio right
down so that it didn’t alert the couple in front of me. I also
muted my phone for the same reason. I didn’t want an inconvenient
phone call from the Sarge checking on me.

Now I was closer to the
pair, I could hear a female voice through the deafening sound of
crickets in the surrounding bush. It certainly sounded like
Annabel, and she was crying. I dared to move closer, hoping they
didn’t turn around, though I was partially hidden by overhanging
trees from the Kilroys’ unkempt neighbouring block.

The woman said
something to the man in a teary voice, and he shook her arm
violently, speaking loud, angry words in return. He stopped and
looked behind him for some reason. I hastily jumped behind a
paperbark tree and froze.

The couple in front
conversed again, the woman cowed and the man furious. When I peeked
around the tree, they were climbing through the barbed wire fence.
They were definitely on their way to the old shed.

I crept after them,
staying a prudent enough distance behind that I couldn’t hear what
they said to each other, only the indistinct murmurs of their
voices. I managed to climb through the barbed wire fence after them
with only a resulting small scratch on my arm.

My trailing activities
began to become more difficult the further we moved into the
bushes. I swatted away a few pesky flies, using all my will power
not to slap at a stinging mosquito. As I drew closer, careful that
each step was cautious and as quiet as possible, I was able to hear
their conversation.

When they reached the
shed, the woman said in a shaking voice, “Yes, that’s it. That’s
where Jamie and I stayed before . . .”

“
Before he was killed,” Merrick finished heartlessly. “Get
used to the fact that your young lover boy is never coming back to
you.” Annabel cried harder. “And stop blubbering about him all the
time. It’s really getting on my nerves.”

He pushed her roughly
towards the door of the shed. She stumbled and fell on to one knee.
He dragged her up by her arm, and pushed her towards the door
again.

“
Get
up, girlie. Show me where the things you stole from me are. And
you’re going to pay for fucking me around so much when we get
home.”

“
I
wasn’t fucking you around, Merrick. Honestly,” she sobbed. “I
couldn’t remember the name of the town or where we
were.”

“
Lucky I found the card that female cop gave you. Otherwise,
I’d have wasted even more time trying to find which little shitpile
of a town you were playing hidey-hole from me in.”

“
But
you knew this was where Jamie . . .”

“
Died
, girlie. He died. Say it.”

“
He
d-died,” she stammered.

“
That
wasn’t so hard, was it? And yes, thank you very much for pointing
out the obvious. I do know this was the town where that shit died.
Didn’t mean it was where you were hiding my property though, did
it? Use your brain for once.” He smacked her hard across the back
of her head.

She cried again. “I’m
sorry, Merrick. I’m sorry. I tried to remember where we were. I
honestly did.”

“
There’s nothing
honest
about you, girlie. We both know
how you thanked me for picking you up off the street, and giving
you somewhere to live and food to eat, and a family to be with. You
stole my property and ran off with some young punk, who also owed
me a world of gratitude.” He shook her arm again, even more
roughly. “Never forget again. You’re
my
asset, girlie, no
one else’s. Now get in there and bring me back my
property.”

“
Yes,
Merrick.”

She stumbled into the
shed, closely followed by him. I stood watching, my fists clenched
with anger at the brutal way he was treating the young girl. Not
willing to stand by while he took his anger out on her at finding
his property missing, I stealthily approached the door of the
hut.

Annabel crouched next
to the discarded blankets, frantically lifting them and moving
them. “I don’t understand,” she said, her voice trembling.

“
Where the hell is my property?” he demanded.

“
I
don’t know. I left it here when I went to get help for my baby. I
haven’t been back, Merrick. I promise. You know I’ve been in
hospital.”

I heard a sickening
dull thud and the low helpless crying of someone who accepted her
fate in life was to be regularly abused.

“
I’ll
ask you one more time, girlie. Where’s my property?”

She was sobbing in full
now. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.”

Another thud had me
creeping in the doorway, my gun out and up.

“
Police,” I said, startling the two.

Annabel lay sprawled
across the blankets crying, two red marks across her face. Merrick
stood over her, staring at me in surprise.

“
You
stand right over there, buddy,” I said to him, indicating with my
gun for him to step away from Annabel into one of the shed’s
corners.

But instead of obeying,
he grabbed Annabel by her hair, yanked her to her feet and held her
in front of him, his arm around her neck. He pulled out a small
pocketknife, flicking it open and holding it to the frightened
girl’s throat.

“
You
tipped her off about me, didn’t you, girlie?” he asked, pressing
the tip of the knife into her neck. Blood began to trickle down on
to her light blue t-shirt, staining it purple.

“
I
didn’t, Merrick,” she pleaded. “Please, I didn’t. I swear. I’ve
been with you the whole time. You know that.”

“
This
girl had some of my property and I want to retrieve it,” he said to
me. “Perhaps you know where it is?”

“
I
know where it is, all right,” I told him, covering him closely with
my gun. “It’s in the hands of a couple of detectives and the
forensics team at the Wattling Bay police station.”

“
Fuck!
That’s
my
property. You have no right to
confiscate it.”

“
If
you want to, I suggest you go ask them personally to return your
property. But I should tell you that they also have a couple of
photos I found in your previous residence. Remember pushing me down
the stairs as you escaped from me? Hmm, I won’t call them
interesting photos. I found them quite disgusting and disturbing
actually, but the detectives found them
extremely
interesting. They’d be very keen to talk to you, I’m sure. In fact,
I know they’re very keen to talk to you.”

I edged a little closer
to him.

“
Stay
back,” he warned. He pressed the knife against Annabel’s throat
again and the trickle turned into more of a stream.

“
You
made the mistake of thinking nobody cared about Annabel, but you
were wrong about that. Lots of us care about her. Not so much about
you though. So put the knife down and let the girl go, unless you
want a bullet in your head.”

“
I
don’t think so,” he said. “She’s rather my advantage at the moment,
you’d have to agree.”

“
Stay
still. Don’t move,” I warned. “I feel it’s only fair to advise you
that I’m a very accurate shot. Third best at the police academy
ever. You won’t even know what hit you.”

He made a movement with
his hand. “I’m getting something out of my pocket.”

“
Stay
still! If you hurt Annabel any more, or if you make one more move
towards your pocket, I will be very tempted to shoot you. Let me
remind you that I won’t miss.”

“
Let
the girlie get it out of my pocket then.”

“
What
is it?” I asked.

“
My
phone.”

“
Why
do you need it?”

“
Because this girlie stole precious property from me, I’m
holding precious property belonging to her as security against her
full cooperation. And it’s property of hers that I won’t hesitate
to destroy if I don’t get what I want.”

“
No,”
wept Annabel in despair. “Please don’t.”

“
What
is that you have?” I asked, though I dreaded hearing the
answer.

“
A
mewling, spewing little creature that I told this girlie to get rid
of.” He laughed and it wasn’t a pleasant sound to hear.

“
My
Jamie,” Annabel said, and I’d never heard a more heartbroken voice
in my life.

He dug the knife into
Annabel’s throat and she flinched, making a horrible gurgling
noise. “Think of it as a double hostage deal. I’m sure you’d agree
I’m holding all the cards at the moment, Officer.”

“
That
baby is yours, you know,” I said. “How could you even think of
putting her in danger? You’re her
father
.”

“
Am
I? I thought I was for a while. But now, all I know is that this
little slut,” and he pressed the knife into a fresh spot on
Annabel’s pale smooth neck until a bead of blood appeared, “has
been putting it about behind my back. All I asked from her was a
bit of respect, and to be treated like the father I’ve been to her
for years.”

“
You’re a sick bastard. You’ve no more been a father to her
than any old filthy pedo.”

He laughed again. “I
don’t really care what your opinion of me is, Officer. All I care
about is recovering my property, and getting the hell out of this
shitty little town.”

“
That’s not going to happen,” I warned. “What you’re going to
do is put down your knife, let Annabel go, and give yourself
up.”

“
No,
what I’m going to do is get the girlie to take my phone out of my
pocket, ring my friend, and if you don’t let us go safely now, I’ll
tell him to drop that baby on its head out of the second story
window.”

“
No!
” cried Annabel. “My Jamie.”

“
That’s
your
baby you’re talking about,” I spat out in
disgust. Who could even think of doing such an abominable thing?
“What kind of man are you, anyway?”

“
A
free man, Officer. Get the phone out, girlie.”

“
No,
please don’t make me,” begged Annabel.

I could only imagine
what was going on in her mind right then – afraid for her baby’s
life, afraid for her own.

“
Put
the knife down and step away from the girl,” I directed, wondering
if this was just a gigantic bluff. But could I risk it being one if
a baby’s life was under threat?

“
Get
it out, girlie,” he ordered, and a crying Annabel took the phone
out of his pocket. “Give it to me.”

“
Don’t move,” I warned again, beginning to wonder if I should
just rush him. Or maybe shoot him. I began to curse my
impetuousness.
Why hadn’t I told the Sarge where I was before
following this couple?