The darkness beneath, p.22
The Darkness Beneath, page 22
Tommy was a little jealous of Luke, but also envied and admired him.
Luke was so laidback, so cool, and he always had loads of kids flocking around him. He hadn’t lived on the island long, had moved here with his brother, and the day he started at the high school, he had everyone eating out of the palm of his hand. He and Jenna had started dating within weeks and Tommy, who had secretly had a crush on her since he was a freshman, had watched his hopes of ever getting to kiss her, go up in smoke.
Eventually he moved on, dating various girls in his year, gradually bailing on his old friends, his confidence soaring as his popularity grew.
He was a few weeks shy of his seventeenth birthday and feeling invincible the summer Sarah Treadwell arrived on the island.
Sarah was voluptuous and pretty, with hair the color of champagne. She was older – Tommy had heard someone say she was in her early twenties – and apparently married, though separated from her cheating husband, and she was looking for work.
Bella Golding took her on, giving her a temporary job at the guesthouse, and Tommy, along with most other red-blooded males on the island, fell in love.
He had grown up with Clarke Golding, though seldom hung around with him these days as Clarke was just too odd, but he was a ticket to Sarah, so Tommy started stopping by the guesthouse on a more frequent basis, quick to offer assistance if Sarah looked like she needed a hand. She was always nice to him and Bella seemed happy that he was back on the scene and looking out for her son. He tried to help out with odd jobs around the property where he could, wanting to be seen as pulling his weight and someone who could be relied on.
Everything about the summer of 2005 was perfect. Until Luke Trainor started sniffing around.
Sarah was a tactile person, and it was easy to read too much into the way she touched Tommy’s arm when she spoke to him, always giving him her full attention when he talked, and how she laughed whenever he told her a joke. Although she was six years older, he had managed to convince himself they had a connection, but then one day he had seen her in town buying groceries, and the bag she carried to Bella’s car split with cans and vegetables spilling onto the ground.
Tommy had gone to help, but Luke had appeared from nowhere, beating him to it, and then he was there fixing Sarah with his toothpaste smile as he played the knight in shining armor and she was touching Luke’s arm, giving him her undivided attention and laughing at his jokes.
Tommy had been furious. Furious with Luke for thinking he had the right to flirt with Sarah when he already had Jenna, with Sarah for flirting back, and with himself for being so gullible and believing she actually liked him in the first place.
He was also furious because he knew that he couldn’t compete with Luke, who was a year-and-a-half older and had just graduated high school, whose body had already matured into that of a man’s and who only, it seemed, had to look at girls with those intense blue eyes to have them falling at his feet.
Although he continued to hang around the guesthouse, Tommy cooled a little towards Sarah, his teenage mind twisting things to believe she had led him on.
Luke continued to date Jenna, acting as if nothing had happened, but Tommy saw him and Sarah together a number of times towards the end of the summer. They were never doing anything they shouldn’t, but he could tell from their body language and the way they looked at each other when they spoke that they were flirting, and he didn’t doubt for one second that there was more going on that he hadn’t seen.
He didn’t believe Jenna realized what was going on, felt sorry for her as he knew she adored Luke and didn’t deserve to be treated this way. He certainly knew if he was lucky enough to have a girlfriend like Jenna Campbell, he would worship the ground she walked on and never take her for granted. Jenna was already reeling, knowing that come September Luke would be heading off to college and she would only get to see him in the holidays. If she found out he was cheating on her, it would break her heart.
It crossed his mind that perhaps Sarah didn’t know about Luke and Jenna, that maybe Luke was pretending he was single, though it was a stretch. Everyone on the island knew about Luke and Jenna. Still he brought it up in conversation one Saturday afternoon after helping Sarah as she unloaded sacks of groceries from the car.
‘I guess you’re going to miss Luke Trainor when he heads off the college next month.’ He kept his tone casual, as he took the heavier of the paper sacks.
Sarah didn’t answer for a moment and he glanced at her, saw the wariness on her face. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘I thought you two were close.’
‘We’re not. I barely know him. I mean… Yes, I know him to say hello to, but that’s it.’
She seemed flustered, wouldn’t look at him.
Liar, Tommy thought.
‘My mistake then,’ he told her sarcastically, hating the fact she couldn’t even be honest with him and disliking her for it. He had thought Sarah Treadwell was better than that. ‘I’m sure his girlfriend, Jenna, will miss him though.’
Sarah gave a tight smile. ‘I’m sure she will.’
Tommy knew he should have let it drop. Luke would be out of everyone’s hair in another few weeks and with him gone from the picture things could easily change. Sarah would likely soon forget him, and the separation could even take its toll on Jenna, who still had another year of high school and shared many of the same classes as him. It was that last thought that was playing on his mind when he saw her leaving the grocery store a few days later, head down, busy texting.
‘Tommy, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,’ she apologized, as he sidestepped out of her path. She had her sunglasses on so he couldn’t see those lovely pale blue eyes that always made his belly flip, but she was beautiful all the same, her legs looking tanned and toned in the little black mini skirt she wore, her copper hair plaited.
‘It’s okay, I should watch where I am going,’ he lied, having intentionally placed himself in her path.
She smiled at him and his world wobbled. Damn she was pretty.
‘Can I give you a hand with your groceries?’
‘Sure. I’m over here.’ Jenna handed him a couple of sacks, fished for her car keys with her free hand and clicked at her teal-coloured Beetle.
‘How’ve you been, Tommy?’ she asked, as they crossed the parking lot. ‘I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages. You haven’t been down the beach much this summer.’
‘I’ve been okay. I’ve been over at the guesthouse helping Bella a bit.’
‘That’s nice of you. I can’t believe we’re about to start senior year.’
‘The summer has gone quick.’
‘Too quick,’ she agreed, the smile dropping off her face. ‘I can’t believe Luke’ll be gone in a few weeks.’
Jenna pulled open the passenger door, deposited her sack on the seat, while Tommy shuffled uncomfortably on his feet, thinking he should keep his mouth shut, but knowing it wasn’t going to happen.
‘Maybe that’s for the best.’
She turned to face him, her expression hard to read behind the sunglasses. ‘Why would you say that?’
Tommy shuffled some more. He had planned this conversation out in his head a dozen times, but the next line, the one where he told Jenna plainly that Luke was cheating on her, didn’t come.
‘Tell me what you know, Tommy!’
‘I shouldn’t have said anything.’
‘But you did, and you obviously had a reason for saying it, so what is it?’
‘You know Sarah Treadwell, who works at…’ Tommy trailed off as Jenna’s bottom lip wobbled.
‘That bastard. I knew I was right to suspect.’
‘You know?’
‘I’ve had my suspicions. I didn’t want to believe them.’ A tear rolled down Jenna’s cheek from below the sunglasses. ‘Oh, Tommy.’
‘He doesn’t deserve you, Jenna. You’re too good for him.’ Tommy fumbled awkwardly in his pocket for a handkerchief, taken by surprise when Jenna flung herself against him. He tentatively put his arms around her as she sobbed against his chest, loving how she fitted against him and the sweet scent of her perfume assailing his nostrils. ‘I shouldn’t have told you.’
She looked up at him, her sunglasses now pushed back on her head, and her eyes still full of tears, shining a stunning azure blue. ‘No, don’t say that, Tommy. You were right to tell me. I deserved to know. You’re the only good friend I have.’
Her words warmed his heart and he squeezed his arms tightly around her, feeling fiercely protective. ‘I’d do anything for you, Jenna.’
His words brought a watery smile. ‘I know you would, Tommy. I know.’
*
She called in on that favor two nights later, waking him after midnight with a text.
Tommy fumbled for his phone, his heart skipping a beat when Jenna’s name flashed up. Rubbing his eyes, he opened the message.
When you said you would do anything for me, did you mean it?
Tommy hesitated briefly before replying.
Yes. Everything OK?
I saw them together tonight.
I’m sorry Jenna. I am. What can I do to help?
There was a long pause before Jenna’s next text flashed up.
‘Help me get the bitch. Will you do that for me, Tommy?
Tommy’s fingers hovered over the keys. He wasn’t quite sure what Jenna had in mind, but he knew she was hurting, that this was his one shot to impress her. He fired off the reply and pressed send.
I will.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Sam Kent hit his blinker, slowing as he approached the turn off to his house. A quick glance in the rear-view mirror showed him that the Buick three cars behind was also signaling, which, although was what he had expected, still had him scowling in irritation.
He had first noticed the tail two days ago, though suspected he may have been followed for longer. He recognized Dwight Halloran, one of the deputies in the Purity Police Department. There was nothing unusual about that. Halloran had been in plainclothes, to any unassuming bystander he was off duty, and it was a small island, so it was inevitable that Sam would run into him on occasion, except Halloran appeared a few times too often to make it seem like coincidence.
Initially Sam had told himself he was being paranoid, but paranoia had made him alert and he had started looking out for the deputy, quickly realizing that he was definitely being followed.
When Halloran disappeared, obviously off shift, he kept his eyes peeled eventually recognizing Kyle Mathis had taken over. Mathis was smarter, blended into the crowd more easily. Had he been the only tail, it was possible Sam may not have noticed him at all, and that unnerved him, had him thinking back over his movements from the past few days.
Chief Cutler didn’t trust him, had figured he something to hide, and Sam guessed he couldn’t blame him, was cussing himself for shooting off his big mouth the night the chief had shown up on his doorstep.
He hadn’t been able to help himself though, emotions still running high with Nell O’Connor’s return.
He should have kept control, played it cool about Nell without revealing how he truly felt about her. But then that had always been his problem. He couldn’t ever quite control the rage that burned inside of him. The psychologist his parents had sent him to see over on the mainland had recognized that, knew that the bitter feelings over the injustice of Lizzie’s death had scarred him deep. Sam tried his best to keep the pain hidden, but Nell’s return had tipped him over the edge. He had barely been able to sleep, continually playing out fantasies where it was Nell, not Lizzie, who had died that fateful night eighteen years ago.
Still it infuriated him that he was being followed. The chief had no proof that he had done anything wrong, but, although the temptation was there to storm into the police department, file a grievance about the way he was being treated, he was smart enough to realize that by figuring out he was being tailed, he could play the cops at their own game.
He parked up, went inside, and spent an hour cooking dinner, showering and changing his clothes, periodically glancing out of the window to ensure Dwight was still in place.
When he left the house it was under the cover of dusk, the TV was still playing in the living room, the table lamp on, and the blind drawn, enough to convince anyone snooping that he was home and having a lazy night in front of the television.
Leaving his car parked in the driveway he headed out of the back gate, making his way down the alley that joined the main road down to where he moored his boat. Less than five minutes later he was heading out of the harbour, feeling a small sense of satisfaction at being able to shake his tail so easily.
Cutler thought he had him figured so easily. He had no idea.
*
The walls and ceilings had been plastered, the rooms repainted. Over the past few days Nell, Michael and his team had been working hard on the guesthouse and their efforts were starting to show. With the bedrooms now all in good decorative order, Nell and Newt had been into town, shopping for bedding, furniture and accessories, and, while the superfluous stuff didn’t interest Michael, he had to admit the finished rooms looked the business.
The plastering now complete, he was keen to turn his attention to the pool, planned to start on pulling up the concrete floor of the conservatory first thing in the morning, which was why he was en route to the storage unit he rented to fetch his jackhammer.
As he drove, thoughts inevitably turned to his sister. The whole Alex situation still grated on him and although he had worked himself down from furious to irritated, he was still giving Alex a wide berth, couldn’t help but be a little sulky around Nell. The past few days they had mostly kept out of each other’s way as they worked, sniping at each other if their paths did cross, and on the occasions Alex had stopped by, Michael had been quick to duck out of the way, not ready yet to accept there was anything going on between them.
He tried to convince himself it was because he was looking out for his sister, but truth was it was as much because he was pissed off at being kept in the dark.
Annoyed with himself he cranked up the stereo, letting the sound of Springsteen fill the truck as he pulled into the site where his storage unit was. There were twelve units in total and Michael rented the one furthest back in the lot. As it was gone eight-thirty and already dark, he wasn’t surprised to find the site empty, knew the few businesses that also used the units daily would have long packed up and gone home. He drove to the back of the site, pulled up alongside the unit he rented and killed the engine. As he climbed from the truck, still humming Hungry Heart, his mind flitted back to his sister.
He assumed she was with Alex, as she had been pretty much every night since he had found out about the two of them. He knew this because he had detoured past the guesthouse most evenings, seen Alex’s Jeep outside. While that still vexed him, it also gave him comfort, knowing that at least he didn’t have to worry about Nell being up at the house all alone. He promised himself he wouldn’t drive past there tonight on his way home, but knew it was a promise he’d likely break. He might be pissed at her, but she was still his sister and it mattered to him that she was safe.
Finding the key on his keychain, he turned his attention to the door, immediately noticing it was slightly ajar.
He had locked it, right?
Unease washed over him like a wave. Of course, he had locked it. He was anal about stuff like this, especially knowing how expensive some of the building equipment was.
That left one alternative. Someone had broken in.
He pushed open the door, flipped the light, expecting to find the place empty, relief washing over him when he spotted everything as he had left it.
A rustling noise to the back of the unit had his hackles rising.
‘Who’s there?’
Michael’s question was met with silence.
Gingerly he stepped forward into the unit, selecting a hammer from the toolbox sat on the table. ‘I can hear you back there so you’d better come out.’
He waited, hammer clenched tightly in his hand, temper rising, annoyed someone had broken in and had been planning to do what… steal or vandalize his stuff? It was probably one of the Osborne twins. They were only thirteen, but had a history of causing trouble and Alex had hauled them in for questioning on countless occasions. This kind of shit had their name all over it. He pulled the door to the unit closed, wanting to cut off their escape.
‘I’m going to count to three. You can come out and we’ll discuss what you’re doing in here rationally or I can come back there after you. If I do I’m going to lose my temper.’ Michael paused for a second, giving a moment for them to consider his offer. He imagined the pair of them hiding at the back of the unit smirking at each other and his temper rose another notch. ‘Okay, one… two… three…’
Not prepared to wait any longer and ready to give the little shits a scare, he stormed to the back of the unit, hammer swinging, to where he expected to find the twins hiding behind one of the large stacks of bricks.
No one was there.
Michael huffed, made his way along the back row. God help those kids once he got his hands on them.
A noise behind had him turning, but he wasn’t quick enough to see his attacker or stop the blow as the metal bar smacked against his head. He staggered, falling to the floor, his chin hitting the concrete, screaming out as another blow landed across his shoulders then a third cracked into the center of his back. He attempted to push himself up, his vision swimming, head thumping and blood pouring down his face, focused on a dark shoe that looked too big to below to a thirteen-year-old. As he tried to look up, needing to know who had attacked him, the bar smashed down into his face and the world turned black.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Nell jolted awake at the ringing phone, took a second to register it was Alex’s, not hers. He was already alert, his weight shifting on the mattress as he reached across to answer it.
