Blood Tears (57 page)

That afternoon, Ronnie
and I sat on their back deck, him with a hair-of-the-dog beer, me
with a glass of wine. Fiona wisely made herself scarce.

“
It
was nice of Finn to lend you his car. It’s such a sporty little
thing. Must be fun to drive,” he said.

“
Um,
he didn’t exactly lend it to me. I kind of stole it.”

“
You
stole his car?” he asked.

“
Yep.”

“
Not
really what you expect from a cop.”

“
I
had to get away in a hurry.”

“
Okay,” he said, his eyes quizzical. “Has he rung you about
it?”

“
I
don’t know. I haven’t checked my phone since I left.”

“
Hmm.
Fiona has our home number on automatic voicemail, so he wouldn’t
get through here either.”

“
Oh,
well. That’s probably for the best.”

“
Tessie, darling, what’s going on?”

I wiped the
condensation off the side of my glass. “At midnight, we
kissed.”

“
So
what? It was New Year’s Eve. Everyone kisses everyone. I think I
kissed a few guys last night. I can’t even remember.”

I smiled at that. “But
he’s my boss, and it was a real kiss. Ronnie, for one moment, it
felt like I could melt into him and forget myself in him, and just
let him deal with all my problems. I panicked about that.”

“
Why?”

I stood and strode
around the deck. “Because I have to deal with my problems myself. I
can’t expect someone else to sort out my sorry life for me.”

“
He’s
a good man. You know he’d help deal with your problems.”

I sat and sipped my
wine. “He is a good man. And he does help me a lot. But he’s not
like me. He comes from a fancy family, and he has real prospects in
the force. Not like me.”

“
I
doubt he’s thinking about that. He’s single. You’re single. Why not
consider him?”

“
I
don’t really think of him like that. He’s my boss. And I just broke
up with Jakey. I’m not ready for anyone else. And I’m still getting
over Dad. And I have to sort my life out.”

“
That’s a lot of excuses. Who are you trying to
convince?”

I glared at him. “I
just don’t want to deal with anything like that at the moment.”

He threw me a sly
glance. “Was it a good kiss?”

I didn’t answer,
busying myself with drinking the last sip of wine in my glass. But
he read a lot into my silence.

“
Interesting,” he said with a playful smile. “You know, I hear
that rebound sex is the best kind.”

“
Ronnie!
” I protested, smacking his arm. “This whole
situation is going to be awkward enough. I don’t need that in my
mind. I have to work with him.” I poured myself another glass. “And
besides, Fiona would kill both of us if we did something like that
while we worked together.”

“
I’ve
lived with Fiona for a long time. Some of her threats are merely
bluffs, and others are deadly serious. It’s just a matter of being
able to tell which is which.”

“
I
haven’t learnt how to do that yet.” I pondered for a few minutes,
enjoying the cool breeze that had sprung up. “Fiona hates him. Do
you have any idea why? I can’t work it out.”

“
I
have a theory. Might not be right, because she won’t talk about it.
We weren’t able to have our own children, so you’re like a daughter
to us, Tessie. Normally, it’s a father who feels conflicted when
his little girl grows up and finds another man to love. But in this
case, it’s Fiona. Simply put, she sees Finn as a
threat.”

“
A
threat?”

“
Yep.
I think she’s afraid he’ll take you away from her.”

I sat back in my chair,
a bit shocked. “Wow. That’s just . . . so weird. I don’t know why
she would think that. I really don’t. She didn’t feel that way
about Jakey.”

“
She
never saw him as a threat. You were never going stay with him
forever. Even you knew that. But, like I said, it’s just a
theory.”

“
I
really don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

Sensing my discomfort,
and always being a considerate man, he changed the subject to
something light-hearted, and we spent a few more pleasant hours
chatting about inconsequential things.

After dinner, I went to
my room and finally found the courage to check my phone. There were
a lot of missed calls and messages. I rang the Sarge.

I didn’t say hello to
him. “I’m sorry I stole your car. It’s perfectly fine in case
you’re worrying about it.”

“
I
don’t care about the damn car,” he snapped in his stressed voice.
“I’ve been worrying about you. I’ve rung you so many times. Where
are you?”

“
I’m
at Fiona’s. I’m okay.”

“
Can
we talk about what happened last night?”

“
It’s
just . . . You must think I’m such an idiot. I’m sorry.”

“
I
want you to know I didn’t plan it. It was just the
moment.”

“
I
know. I was there too.”

“
So
you’re coming back?”

“
Fiona said I should take a week off. Get away from Little
Town for a while. Take a break after everything that’s happened.”
He didn’t say anything. “I thought I might go to the city and visit
my friend, Marianne, but I don’t know what to do about your car. I
can’t leave it here. You might need it.”

“
You
can drive it to the city if you like.”

I was silent, sure I’d
misheard him. “Pardon? Can you please put Finn Maguire on the phone
to confirm that?”

He laughed. “You can
drive it there, Tessie. I’ll let you.”

“
You
do know I have your precious Beemer, right? Not some old shitty
clapbox you’ve been storing out the back?”

He laughed again. “No.
You can drive the Beemer.”

“
Wow.” I had to put the phone to my chest for a moment so I
could drink in that permission. “Just, wow. You’re letting me drive
your Beemer? Really?”

“
Really.”

“
I
think we just took a whole new step up in our
relationship.”

A pause at his end. “So
do I, Tess. So do I.”

And afterwards, I
snuggled up in bed, supremely happy at the thought of driving his
car for a whole week, his warm chuckle the sound that lingered in
my mind as I fell asleep.

Chapter
40

Before I set off the
next morning, Fiona came into my room and sat on my bed as I packed
the few things I’d brought with me. Townsfolk had been kind enough
to donate clothes and shoes to me, for which I was very grateful,
but it was rather an eclectic mix of colours, patterns, ages, and
sizes. There was no getting around the fact that I’d have to buy an
entire new wardrobe of clothes. Marianne would enjoy helping me
with that.

“
I’m
not even going to ask why you’re driving Maguire’s car.”

“
I
stole it.”

“
You
probably shouldn’t tell me things like that,” she said
mildly.

“
He’s
given me permission now, so it’s okay. It’s all legit. I’m driving
it to the city.”

“
He
likes doing favours for you, doesn’t he?”

I looked up, straight
into her eyes. “Yes, he does. He’s nice like that.”

“
Hmm,” was her only comment. “Tess, a while ago your dad
entrusted me with some documents that he only wanted you to have
after he’d gone.”

I stopped packing.
“What documents?”

“
Fuller family documents. I only gave them a quick scan, but
they mostly seem to be ordinary family papers like old letters,
cards, birth certificates, insurance papers, things like that. I
think there’s even an old hand-written recipe book in there from
Nana Fuller’s mother that you might find interesting. I suppose
Trev gave them to me to look after because he was worried something
might happen that could destroy them.”

“
Something did happen,” I said sadly.

“
But
there was one particular set of documents that Trev insisted I give
you when he’d gone.” She handed me a large aged
envelope.

“
What’s in it?” I said.

“
Just
read it.”

“
Why
did Dad specify these particular documents?”

“
He
didn’t really want you to read them, but he equally thought you had
a right to know. So he decided to wait until he was gone for you to
read them. I suppose he didn’t want to talk with you about the
information in them.” She stood. “I’ll leave you for now. But come
and chat to me when you’re finished.”

I delayed my departure
to spend the next thirty minutes turning my life upside down. I
read documents that I wished Dad had burnt before I’d had a chance
to set eyes on them.

When I’d finished, I
tracked down Fiona. Ronnie, seeing my face, left us in peace, but
not before bringing us each a cup of coffee.

“
You
know about these?” I asked, throwing the envelope on her coffee
table.

“
Yes.
It was part of the investigation into your mother’s
murder.”

“
It
wasn’t the normal type of Fuller/Bycraft murder like all the
others.”

“
No,
it wasn’t.”

“
I
knew Bobby Bycraft murdered my mother and almost killed me too, but
I had no inkling that they were having an affair at the
time.”

“
It
had been going on for a couple of years.”

“
But
I was two when she was killed.” A sudden thought sliced through me
with burning heat. “I’m not a Bycraft, am I?”

She patted my knee.
“Fuck, no. Do you look like one? No, you belong to your father.
There’s no doubt about it.”

I breathed out in
relief. “Thank God for that.”

“
But
the baby your mother was carrying when she was murdered was a
Bycraft.”

“
Oh
my God.” I was shell-shocked. “Poor Dad. Did he know?”

“
I
don’t know if he knew before her murder, though he obviously found
out afterwards. Their marriage had been rocky for a while, so he
might have had his doubts. He was our top suspect at first, but he
had a watertight alibi. He was out in the fields all day with five
witnesses. He couldn’t possibly have done it, but he suffered
through a few unpleasant interviews with the dees at the time.” She
tapped the small pile of letters. “It was finding these hidden in a
drawer that led us to Bobby.”

I stared at the
explicit love letters from Bobby to my mother that I’d read with
loathing. “She really hated Dad by the end, didn’t she?”

“
She
was young, beautiful, and bored. Remember she was from the city and
not used to country life. Your mother and Trev weren’t a good
match, but he tried to make it work.”

“
She
didn’t, not if she started screwing around with Bobby. He was
married with children. Children who’ve tried to seriously assault
me on a couple of occasions.” I took a sip of coffee. “I always
wondered why Dad never visited her grave.”

“
He
was very bitter about it for a long time, but he had you to help
him through.”

Tears filled my eyes
again. “I’m glad he found Adele. She genuinely loved him. But now I
understand why he didn’t marry her.”

“
She
was a good woman, but he’d been badly burned by Leonie.”

“
Why
did Bobby kill her?”

“
She
wanted to end it. She was going to have an abortion.”

“
She
was reconciling with Dad?”

“
No,
Tessie,” she said, rare pity on her face. “She took up with a young
farmer she met at a dance. Bobby Bycraft couldn’t handle the
rejection.”

“
It
was such a vicious murder.”

“
He
was an angry kind of man. And you know the Bycrafts. They’re
obsessive to a fault, especially about Fuller women.”

“
I
dream all the time about trying to save my mother and I’m always
too late.”

“
Don’t ever doubt that she loved you, Tessie. She saved your
life remember. You were the entire reason she stayed with
Trev.”

I pushed the envelope
over to her. “Can you get rid of these for me, please? I never want
to see them again.”

On the drive to the
city, I thought about the fact that I could have ended up with a
Bycraft as a half-sibling. I couldn’t stomach that. It sickened me.
My mother sickened me. Dad was too good for her.

Angry, I contemplated
my continuing crusade against the Bycrafts. So far, I’d brought
Jake, Denny, and Tommy over to my side. I’d helped bang up Red,
Karl, Al and Grae. I’d given crucial evidence in locking up Tommy
and Craig for life. I’d arrested Garth, even though he’d since
served his time. Mark and Rosie could potentially serve time for
assaulting police officers. Lola couldn’t live forever.

I was dividing and
conquering them, bit by bit. I smiled at that.

But now I had a new
goal – to hunt down my father’s killer. The Sarge had said this
year would be a good one for me, and he was right. But perhaps not
for the reasons he thought.

I would definitely be
returning to Little Town.

*****