Deep dark secrets, p.22
Deep Dark Secrets, page 22
‘I was thinking we should go out tonight.’
‘Out?’
They were talking quietly, but she was close enough to pick up on their conversation.
‘Yeah, out. Your brother knows about us now, so we don’t have to keep sneaking around.’
‘You want to go on a date?’
‘Yeah, I do. Let me take you out to dinner.’
So they were involved with each other? Jenna didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Could this situation get any worse?
‘Jenna?’
Hearing Nell say her name, feeling the touch of a hand on her jacket, sickness crept up from her stomach. Slowly Jenna turned, wishing she could leave the store, but knowing Curtis would go nuts if she arrived home empty-handed.
‘Sorry,’ Nell was apologising. ‘I didn’t realise it was you standing in front of us.’
‘It’s fine.’
She noticed the chief’s eyes narrow on her neck, and fought to resist the urge to fiddle with the scarf as Nell insisted on making small talk, wishing the damn line would hurry up and move and the stupid woman would shut up, realising from Jenna’s monosyllabic replies that she didn’t want to have a conversation with her.
The chief let Nell do the talking. Jenna could sense he was annoyed, and hoped to hell he would stay quiet and not question her about the bruising. Thankfully he didn’t say anything. She just hoped he wouldn’t decide to pay a visit to Curtis.
Eventually the line moved and she quickly paid for the alcohol, not replying to Nell’s goodbye or bothering to look back, desperate to get out of the liquor store.
In her car she leant her head against the steering wheel, tears pricking at the back of her eyes. When one fell, she brushed it away furiously.
Why was this happening? After all of these years, why now? Damn Nell O’Connor.
Pull yourself together, Jenna. Maybe it will be okay?
Except she knew it wouldn’t. Everything was starting to unravel and she needed support.
Instead of driving home, she headed out on the lower coast road, turning into a quiet street of middle class suburban houses. Spotting the car in the driveway, she pulled up alongside the curb and drew in a shaky breath.
He wasn’t going to be happy with her visit. She knew she was about to break the vow they had made to never talk about the incident. But damn it, that was before Nell came home and everything went to hell. He had to be sharing the same concerns, and have the same fears.
She rang the bell, stomach knotting as she waited for him to answer. He lived alone and the house was too big for one person, but she figured he could afford it.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway, she heard the lock turn and then the door opened.
Tommy stood before her; he was wearing his police uniform and she guessed he was getting ready to head into work.
Concern knitted his brow, but she could also see the wariness in his eyes. ‘Jenna?’
‘We have to talk.’
‘This isn’t about Curtis, is it?’ he asked, sounding resigned, already knowing it wasn’t.
‘I know we said we would never mention it again, but I’m scared, Tommy. I’m really scared. Everything is falling apart.’
‘It’ll be okay.’ Even though he spoke the words, she could tell he didn’t believe them himself.
‘No it won’t. It’s all going wrong.’ Fresh tears filled her eyes. ‘What the hell are we going to do about Nell O’Connor?’
26
2005
Tommy Dolan’s sixteenth birthday was when he first started to shine.
The nightmares about Lizzie’s murder had pretty much stopped, he got his driving licence and his parents bought him his first car. He made it onto the high school football team, and finally girls were starting to notice him. He had gone from being a cute freckle-faced ten-year-old boy to a gangly, slightly awkward teen, but now his shoulders were starting to fill out, his features softening and becoming more handsome, and he had lost the brace he had been stuck with since his thirteenth birthday.
The one girl he lusted after though was unfortunately out of his reach. Jenna Campbell was a junior, same as him – and so, so pretty with her copper hair and her cornflower eyes. She smiled at Tommy, always said hello if they passed in the hallway, but he knew she was totally besotted with her boyfriend, Luke Trainor, who was a senior.
Tommy was a little jealous of Luke, but also envied and admired him.
Luke was so laid-back, 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 colour 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 armour 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 realised 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 to 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 apologised, 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 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 have 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 will 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 deserve 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 favour 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.
27
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 signalling, 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 recognised Dwight Halloran, one of the deputies in the Purity Police Department. There was nothing unusual about that. Halloran had been in plain clothes, 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 realising that he was definitely being followed.
When Halloran disappeared, obviously off shift, he kept his eyes peeled, eventually recognising Kyle Mathis had taken over. Mathis was smarter, blended into the crowd more easily. Had he been the only tail, 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 had something to hide, and Sam guessed he couldn’t blame him. He 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, his 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 recognised that and 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 realise 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, and 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, and 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 his sister and his best friend.
