Leah glanced at her. Tess seemed smaller, more vulnerable, less bratty and petulant. Leah hugged her briefly. You can have the room with a view.
As if touched by the antic spirits of kids arriving at a beach house, they trooped into the cottage, hungry for experiences. There were two bedrooms, a well-appointed kitchen and bathroom, a sitting-room with a luxurious sofa and matching armchairs, coffee table, TV and DVD.
Leah showered and changed into jeans and a T-shirt. Shed been carrying the clothes in a shopping-bag since Prospect and shook them out first, thinking: So much for buying a new backpack. For all she knew, it was still lying on the ground outside the supermarket in Leighton Wells.
At 6.30 the farmer knocked on their door with a covered tray. One beef Wellington, one chicken curry, take your pick. Its the wifes cooking, mind you, restaurant quality. They’ll thaw in the microwave.
Tess gave him a delighted smile. Thank you.
The wife and Ill be off now. You’ll be okay? Got everything? Theres bread, croissants, butter and milk in the fridge, tea, coffee, jam, Vegemite, cereals etcetera in the pantry.
We found them, Tess said, still smiling.
The farmer winked. Well, see you in the morning then.
See you.
Ten minutes later he was back, shyly offering them a bottle. To make up for the frozen dinners.
Leah was touched. Thank you.
Heres my mobile number if anything goes wrong. Bushfire, bushrangers…
Earthquake, aliens
You’ve got the idea.
When he was gone and the farmyard was quiet they microwaved the frozen meals, heaped the food onto plates and settled onto the verandah. The sun was low, the shallow valley below them striped and stippled by light and shade. There was no wind, only birds settling in the trees and the rubbery snort of the horses behind a tractor shed. Cars crawled across the valley floor, headlights probing the half-light here and there. They heard the distant snarl of a motorbike, and the rumble of an airliner thousands of metres above their heads.
Tess toasted Leah with her glass. To us.
To us, Leah responded, adding, Tell me about the drugs.
chapter 12
Tess went very still. What drugs?
Leah indicated the little daypack at Tess’s feet. The drugs that didn’t burn up in Mitchs car. The drugs in your bag. The bag you wont be parted with. The bag you even took to the shower with you a little while ago.
Tess reached for the pack, swung it onto her lap, clutched it tightly. You mean you wanted to search my bag? What a bitch.
Don’t give me that indignation routine, it wont wash. So, what have you got in there? Coke? Weed? Ecstasy? Speed? A bit of everything?
Tess clasped the bag tighter. Why don’t you leave me alone.
All this time I thought it was me those guys were after, but its you, isn’t it?
Tess shook her head, a look stubborn and mulish on her face. Don’t know what you mean.
Or rather, they were after Mitch, who’d ripped them off, but now hes dead, so they’re after you.
This time Tess tried to work an expression of outrage and grief onto her face. I loved Mitch. He was the best thing that ever happened to me, and here you are, attacking him when hes dead and cant defend himself. What a bitch.
Leah ignored her. How did it work? Mitch dealt to the kids at your school, but he was also a courier, am I right? He made deliveries out here, the western areas of the state? Had a regular run—what, once a month, twice a month? Regular customers, regular drop-off points?
You’re dreaming, Tess said. Why don’t you get a life and stop talking dirt about Mitch.
Leah leaned forward, her face hawkish in the light of the candle. So what did our hero do, Tess? Decided to rip off the big boys? Thought he’d make his regular run, only not go back with the money but take off into the sunset with you at his side? How romantic
Tess snapped. Shut up. Just you shut up. It wasn’t like that.
How was it, then? Enlighten me.
But Tess was mute.
Leah waited. Eventually she said, as the darkness crept over the farm buildings and the bulky shapes altered, blurring into the greater darkness, But thats only half the story, isn’t that right, Tess? When Mitch was killed you thought youd take over the distribution, keep all that cash for yourself.
Leah thought back to the murder of Mitch, and how quickly Tess had recovered. Clearly shed sampled some of her own merchandise, to save from falling in a heap. Leah almost felt pity for the girl.
But she kept pushing. So much for the grief-stricken girlfriend. It was greed, pure and simple.
Tess let go of the leather pack for the first time and put her head in her hands. She said something, her voice muffled by her hands, distorted by sobbing.
Leah said sharply, Speak up, I cant hear you.
Tess raised a suffering face and wailed, You don’t know what its like.
Leah was determined to be unimpressed. So, tell me.
You don’t know what its like for me.
Yes I do. Poor little rich girl. No one loves you. No one cares. So you go off the rails. A cry for help. Poor baby.
Leah was being deliberately harsh. Tess’s self-destructive behaviour probably was a cry for help. But Tess was also a spoilt child, so she was apt to be evasive, to shift blame, to avoid facing up to who she was and what shed done. Leah watched Tess collapse, thoroughly wracked with sobbing now. She waited. She waited for five minutes before the girl grew calmer.
Start at the beginning. Mitch supplied the girls at your school, you got involved with him, maybe you were his go-between. Then he—or both of you—concocted this plan to rip off the people he worked for. How am I doing so far? It went wrong and they came after you. Hes dead, so now they’re out to get you.
Thats not the beginning, Tess protested. It starts long before
Leah ignored her. You’ve been supplying the local dealers ever since I hooked up with you, haven’t you? Either you’re familiar with the network or there was a list of contact phone numbers with the drugs. That guy at the flats in Prospect, the guy in the shopping-centre this afternoon. They were Mitch’s customers, right?
Tess shrugged miserably. So what? What do you care?
How much money have you made?
In a small voice, Tess said, Fourteen thousand.
Is there any of the gear left?
A bit, Tess said. Then she seemed to muster a semblance of dignity and determination as insects flicked about the candle, attracted by the flame. Why don’t you listen? You’re just like all the others.
Leah blinked. Sorry?
You told me to start at the beginning, but wouldn’t let me even start. You just want to know about me and Mitch and a few pills. None of thats relevant.
It is if you’ve got gunmen after you. What do they want the drugs? The money? Revenge?
Tess’s fists clenched and she pounded them on her knees. Why aren’t you listening? No one ever listens to me.
Okay, try me.
There was a considering pause, then Tess began. I loved my father, she said slowly. Thats the real beginning. He would have protected me. He was the most fantastic dad, then he died.
She swallowed a couple of times. He’d already been married before. His first wife was killed in an accident. Theyd had a son, Ian, my half-brother, who was about four when my father married my mother. I was born soon after. I was never really close to Ian, and he’d always say to Mum, You’re not my real mother. Sometimes I feel like that, too. She and I fight all the time.
What about?
When Dad died she married again. Two years ago. Dad hadn’t even been dead a year.
Leah went cold. Has your stepfather been