Marked (14 page)

Thank God Jed was there to meet us. I didn’t have to ask him to give Kat a lift – he just took her bike from her and slung it in the back of the ute. Cheerful, but he knew something was wrong.

“What’s up?” he grinned as soon as we were all in the cab. “That nose looks a bit gruesome. Safe to assume the day’s been a pugilistic failure? Humiliation perhaps? You lost?”

“Nothing to do with boxing,” I said. “It’s Kat. She needs help.”

His grin disappeared and I could see his mind kicking into gear. I told him what had happened and watched his face grow tight and serious. Didn’t try to pretend I hadn’t already told him about Bullyboy – Kreigler – but Kat didn’t seem to notice. Too late for that anyway.

“Holy shit,” he breathed. “Does Blissy know about it? About Kreigler?”

Kat shook her head. She was sitting between us. “Can’t get through to her. She’ll be out on the road somewhere – out of coverage.”

Jed glanced at me. “Better try and call her from your place, on your landline. There’s no mobile coverage around here.” His fingers were doing their usual dance at the wheel. “What d’you want to do?” he asked at last.

“I don’t know
what
to do,” answered Kat. “Kreigler’d tell me to stay out of sight. Go somewhere safe, cause now they’ll be after me.” She was twisting her hair in her fingers, pulling it, and I could feel the tension in her body.

“What about the cops?”

“Didn’t do any good back home. Far as they could see, Mum was killed in an accident.” She let go of her hair and clenched her fist, ramming it into her mouth and biting on her knuckles. “It’ll be the same with Kreigler – an accident. If we go to the cops, we’ll just make it easier for them to find us.”

“So Kreigler was nothing to do with witness protection?”

“Not official protection. Not from the police. He’s private security. Same company that Dad works for.”

“And where is your dad?”

“Don’t know exactly. The company’s keeping him hidden, probably somewhere in Sydney.” Again she rammed her knuckles against her teeth. Jed took one hand from the wheel and laid his arm across her shoulders. She seemed to shudder, but she carried on. “This court case that’s coming up, Dad’s a PI and–”

“He’s a what?” Jed asked.

“A private investigator. He’s been digging into some massive property scams and now they’re going to court. But if he testifies, he’ll drop a whole bunch of bigwigs right in it. You know, important businessmen … even a couple of politicians. If they’re found guilty, they’ll lose everything and some of them’ll end up in jail. They’ll do anything to keep him quiet. These aren’t nice people we’re talking about.”

“Still doesn’t sound worth killing for.”

Kat glanced at him. “Tell that to my mum … and Kreigler. These people are real bastards and they’ve got a hell of a lot to lose – hundreds of millions.”

“Holy shit,” Jed murmured.

“Like I said, they’re desperate to keep Dad out of the witness box. If they can snatch me, they’ll use me as leverage.”

“Bloody hell.” Jed kept glancing in the mirror and that made me even more nervous.

I twisted in my seat to check the road behind us, but it was clear. No one seemed to be following us.

“We never should’ve come here,” Kat said. “Should’ve gone to a big city. Somewhere like Auckland … easier to hide.”

I wanted to tell her I was glad she’d come here – but I didn’t.

We turned off the main road and crossed the bridge towards my cottage. Jed slowed right down. “I’m going to take you to Cully’s place, and we’ll try to ring Blissy from there.” He squeezed Kat’s shoulder.

But Kat was still terrified. “What if they’re waiting for us there? They could have been watching the ferry. They’d have seen me getting in the ute.”

My heart was pounding like crazy as the ute nosed down the drive to our cottage. Kat was tense beside me, and Jed drove slowly, eyes searching. He was alert, ready to back out at the first sign of trouble. But the cottage seemed deserted, just as it should be. Even so, Jed made us wait in the ute. He checked inside the house before letting us get out.

“Everything’s okay,” he called, and we joined him at the kitchen door. He handed me back my keys and I heard him muttering to himself about paranoia. About seeing gremlins behind every bush. I knew how he felt.

Kat tried to phone Blissy, but without any success. That didn’t mean anything though – even if she was already home, there was no mobile coverage in the valley. “We wanted a landline when we moved into the cottage,” she said, “but Kreigler wouldn’t let us. Reckoned they’re too easy to trace. He gave us a two-way radio to contact him – one that scrambles all its messages. But that’s no use to us now.”

“No,” I said, trying to imagine a blackened handset lying somewhere in the burnt-out Toyota.

Finally, Jed decided to drive down to Kat’s place and check it out.

“Jeez,” I muttered. “What if they’re–”

“Sometimes you can’t just stay behind the barriers and watch,” he said, cutting me off. “I’ve got to make sure Blissy is all right. If everything’s okay, I’ll come back and get you.”

But Kat wasn’t having a bar of it. “No way. I’m coming with you.”

Jed opened his mouth to argue and then realised he was wasting his time. He shrugged. “All right, but I’d be much happier if you stayed here.”

“Jed, happiness ain’t an issue just now.” She was already heading towards the ute.

I didn’t know what to do. I was scared of going to Kat’s place, but I didn’t want to stay here by myself either. Nor did I want her thinking I was chicken.

“Can you stay here?” she asked, making up my mind for me. “Keep trying to call Blissy? If you reach her, tell her Kreigler’s dead. She needs to know they’ve found us.”

“And if anything weird happens,” Jed added, “call the cops.”

I watched them drive off and went to wait in the kitchen. Suddenly, the cottage seemed very scary, every creak the movement of a hidden watcher. Wished Dad was home. I tried Blissy’s mobile number, but no luck. Out of coverage. Tried again a few minutes later. Still nothing.

How long would Jed be? What was happening at Kat’s place? My imagination was running riot, filling in the gaps.

I tried the phone again and this time heard a ring tone. But it switched straight to a message centre.
What now
? I had to warn Blissy. “This is Cully,” I said, my voice flat and brittle in my ear. “Kat’s friend. She wants me to tell you Kreigler’s dead.”

I pressed end and stood there, staring at the phone.
You bloody fool! You’ve just marked yourself – pinned a bloody great bullseye to your chest. Told anyone who decides to retrieve Blissy’s messages that her business is your business
.

Cursing, I went back to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. Stood at the window, sipping it and looking down the drive.

Where the hell is Jed? Why is he taking so long?

I imagined them both in the ute approaching Blissy’s cottage. I could see Kat biting her knuckles, Jed tense behind the wheel, eyes alert for danger. But then another idea elbowed its way into my mind. What if the whispers were right? What if Jed
was
a shifty bastard? What if he’d just driven down there and dropped Kat off at her gate? What if he’d done a runner? He hadn’t
wanted
to take her with him. What if …?

I turned on myself angrily.
Snap out of it, Cully. You know Jed better than that. All he’s ever done is look out for you. He’s a mate. A real mate
. I kicked the whispers into touch and glared out the window.

But where is he? Why haven’t they come back?

I couldn’t stand it any longer. I put the half-finished glass back in the sink and left the cottage. Made my way down the drive towards the road, keeping to one side, flitting from cover to cover. Hostile eyes peered out at me, dozens of them, hidden watchers behind every bush.
Sort yourself out, Cully
.

But it wasn’t just my imagination. The car proved that. It was a black four-wheel drive, a Pajero – the same one we’d seen near Kat’s place a few days ago. The one that had spooked her into a terror spin. It hadn’t been there when we’d come past earlier, but now it was parked near the bridge, hard up against a stand of flax bushes. From the entrance to our drive it was in full view. Dropping out of sight, I stared helplessly at it through the bushes. Couldn’t just cower there like soft jelly though. I had to warn Kat. Had to warn them both.

How? Kat didn’t have a landline and we were well out of mobile coverage. If I went down to her cottage, even if I cut across the paddocks, I’d be passing in sight of whoever was in that Pajero.

But I had to get down there somehow. Had to warn them. And I wanted to
be
with them. Wanted to be with Kat. Keeping low, I stole back towards our cottage, slinking from one bush to another. The four-wheel drive track up the back was the only way I could reach Kat’s place without being seen. So I knew what I had to do.

It wasn’t easy. Too many memories. Kreigler’s dark Toyota hidden there, my face pressed to the damp earth. Cringing, hiding from his eyes as they passed over me, searching. I don’t believe in ghosts, and I knew Kreigler was dead. Even so, I didn’t want to go up there alone. Not now.

But I had no choice. I started along the track, moving nervously, like a mouse tiptoeing past a sleeping cat. Kept stopping and glancing behind me. I’d never get there at this rate. Jed and Kat needed to know about the Pajero. And I needed to toughen up. The faster I went, the quicker I’d be off this track. I broke into a run, forcing myself to ignore the thudding of my footsteps against the cold silence.

The track was no easier than last time I’d been up it. I’d already done three rounds in the ring that day, and by the time I flopped down on the bank above Kat’s place I was sucking hard and struggling to breathe at all – let alone quietly.

Jed’s ute was parked beside the cottage, but there was no sign of movement. They must be inside. But why? Were they waiting for Blissy? Or had they seen the black Pajero and decided to stay put? Something was wrong.

Then I saw it. A motorbike. Quite a big one, black and almost hidden in the shadows beside the woodshed. It didn’t belong there, and my heart was thumping hard against the ground as I lay there staring down at it. Who did it belong to? I didn’t want to find out, but doing nothing wasn’t an option. Was the bike’s owner down there keeping watch? Waiting for someone to come creeping around the cottage? I paused, shivering as my sweat began to chill in the shade. Then I slithered down the slope, stealing from cover to cover.

I reached the yard and passed behind the woodshed. The bike looked like a BMW, but it didn’t have any badges to say so. The keys were in the ignition and a black helmet rested on the mirror. Another few metres and I reached the cottage, pressing myself against the outside wall. A dog barked briefly, distant, on the far side of the valley, but inside the cottage nothing stirred. Silence. Not even the low hiss of traffic on the main road. My pulse was racing as if I’d just finished the cross-country, blood pounding between my ears. But still I felt cold.

I tried to peep inside, but the curtains were drawn. Eased my way further along, towards the next window, pushing through Blissy’s garden as quietly as I could, cursing every leaf that rustled beneath me.

At first I couldn’t see anything through the kitchen window. Just the back of the microwave sitting on the bench. Then I moved to the side and saw Kat. She was slumped on the kitchen floor, her legs bunched beneath her, the weight of her head and shoulders resting against the oven. Her wrists were bound with black tape and an angry red welt sketched its fury across her cheek. She was staring straight ahead, eyes unfocused. No one at home.

It was a momentary glimpse, only a fraction of a second. I don’t remember ducking out of sight, but then I was on my knees below the window, with Kat’s impression frozen on my mind. My arms were wrapped across my chest and breathing was impossible. Tightness in my rib cage, a jabbing sharpness.

Don’t know how long I stayed like that. I was trapped in a world that had stopped. A kind of brain seizure, what I’d just witnessed blocking out everything else. A stilled image in gigapixel sharpness. Kat, in trouble. Real trouble.

Gradually, my world started moving again, and I found myself crawling to the back door. Still on my knees. Still struggling to breathe, but moving – driven. And no idea of what I was going to do.

Who had slapped Kat around and then bound her? Where were they now? And where was Jed? Questions, but no answers. And no plan. Just blind movement towards the door.

Kat. I have to get her out of here. Gotta find Jed
.

Fear didn’t come into it. Seeing Kat helpless on the floor had been a nightmare. And in some ways it hadn’t stopped. Nothing was real. Couldn’t be. I was floundering through a dream. Imagined myself tearing the bindings from Kat’s wrists, hoisting her over my shoulder, carrying her to safety. And Jed, dependable Jed. He’d be there somewhere, waiting to help. Wouldn’t he?

The door was open and I stopped, mindlessly. “Jed?” I rose unsteadily to my feet. I could see him, but he wasn’t going to answer. He was lying on his side, his shirt front dark and sodden. It was blood. And beneath his shoulder more of its dark heaviness had pooled on the floor. Like glistening grout, I saw it thickening in the grooves between the tiles. I stood bolt upright, staring. Another nightmare. Jed’s eyes stared back, open in shock, but sightless. The top of his head was a mess of torn flesh and matted hair. A nightmare, a bad dream. The smell was real though. Fear and the sickening stench of blood.

The arm was real too. It reached suddenly from behind the door and grabbed me by the shoulder. Then it dragged me into the kitchen. I was spun like a toy doll and thrust against the fridge. Held there at arm’s length by a man in black leathers with even blacker eyes. My mind was still playing tricks because I was back in the ring, crowded against the ropes. My arms were aching from Burger’s pounding fists. And again I’d done everything wrong. I’d been too slow, standing flat-footed, not using my eyes. I’d been looking one way – at Jed – and that leather fist had come out of nowhere.