Phoenix (9 page)

‘It’s true, Brandon did lie,’ I insisted, following slowly. ‘He told them the fight started between you and Nathan.’

‘And?’

‘That’s wrong. I spoke to the girl at the cash desk. She says what happened was that the guy Nathan actually hit was Brandon, and it came much later.’

Phoenix still stood with his back to me, helplessly shaking his head.

I went back to my favourite theory emerging out of the witnesses’ accounts. ‘OK, so is there a strong reason Brandon would want to highlight Nathan’s role? Might he want the cops to pay particular attention because he believes Nathan’s the one?’

‘You’re saying he’s the kid who stabbed me?’ For a while Phoenix seemed lost in thought.

‘What’s going on in there?’ running my fingers
along his forehead and wishing, not for the first time, that I possessed the mind-reading powers of the Beautiful Dead.

‘I’m thinking that’s really going to make Brandon popular with Oscar – him putting Thorne’s kid brother in the frame.’

‘Only if Oscar finds out what Brandon tells the cops,’ I pointed out.

Finally Phoenix turned right around to face me. ‘Darina, there’s a lot of hidden dynamics here that we don’t get – gang stuff connected with drug deals. Ever since I came to Ellerton, everyone I met says Thorne has been mixed up in that.’ Looking deep into my eyes, he made a direct plea. ‘Take some time, step back a little, huh?’

Straight away I hated this idea. ‘What does Hunter say about it?’

‘What he always says – don’t take any risk that would draw attention to the Beautiful Dead.’

‘But we need the truth!’ I protested. ‘Am I the only one who sees how fast time is running out?’

Phoenix took a second to break through my frustration and sift through the whirlwind of suspicions and theories in my head. Then took my hand and did his best to convince me. ‘Step back,’ he insisted. ‘Go talk to Jardine, share your new thoughts with him.’

I saw the soft halo of light gather around him, knew that he was about to leave again. ‘What about you?’ I gasped. ‘What will you do?’

‘I’ll tell Hunter this is too big for you to deal with alone.’ Phoenix’s image grew faint, I heard his voice linger after he faded from sight. ‘Hunter has to keep you safe, I don’t care what it takes.’

Chapter 6

T
hat night and all through the weekend I did my best to put Phoenix’s doubts out of my mind.
Hunter can’t stop me
now, even if he tried
, I told myself, staring up at my bedroom ceiling.
Hunter can’t stop me now
. It became my mantra as each day the grey dawn light crept into my room.

Call me paranoid, or maybe it was lack of sleep, but come Monday, as I drove the streets trying to gather my courage and focus on my next move, I felt sure I was being followed by two guys on Harleys.

They came out of the Honda showroom on the edge of town and tailed me towards the mall, one wearing a red bandana, the other a blue, both wearing silver-rimmed shades and with leather vests over white T-shirts.

I checked out these two Harley stereotypes in my rear-view mirror then headed on past the mall. The riders were still a hundred metres behind me, two abreast, so I built a
scenario around the probability that it was already too late to step back as Phoenix had suggested.

Here’s my theory: obviously Oscar Thorne had put two of his guys onto me. They had probably been on my tail for a while, seen me talking to Kyra, paid her a visit after I left and learned that I was asking awkward questions about the Phoenix killing. They’d reported back to Thorne, who told them to tail me and stick with me.

Why would Thorne want to have you followed in the first
place
? I asked myself.

Because Nathan made a point of telling his big brother that
you were spying on him out at the old trailer park. Go figure.

My pulse raced. It took two seconds flat for me to decide that dealing with me was now top of Oscar Thorne’s to-do list and that I had to lose the guys on the Harleys. Turning off the street into a McDonald’s parking lot, I wove between cars, around the back of the building into a Blockbuster outlet and out onto a narrow side street, heading towards Ellerton High.

Good job!
A glance in my mirror told me that I’d succeeded in shaking the guys off. Still, my heart was thudding. I’d lost them, but for how long? Out of sheer habit, I signalled and turned into the school grounds, where I found Christian and Lucas standing by the entrance to the science and technology block.

‘Too bad, Darina – you missed a fascinating lecture on global warning,’ Lucas told me in that new, witty way he’d developed lately. ‘Jordan bought the whole package. She’s busy reducing her carbon footprint as we speak.’

I leaned out of the car, craving a little normal conversation. ‘How exactly?’

Christian pointed across the car park towards Jordan’s bright-yellow Beetle. ‘She ditched the car and walked into town with Hannah and Zoey.’

‘Where they have an instant relapse and start shopping for fashion items made in Asian sweatshops and jetted across continents for sale in air-conditioned malls.’ Lucas laughed and moved on swiftly. ‘Hey, Darina, I hear you ran into Michael Rohr a little while back?’

‘So?’ I snapped.

‘Whoa, sorry. I didn’t realize.’

‘What didn’t you realize, Lucas?’

‘That you’d bite my head off if I so much as mentioned the guy’s name.’

I closed my eyes and took a breath. ‘No, it’s me. I’m the one who’s sorry. So what about Michael?’

‘Everyone’s talking about it,’ Christian told me. ‘He and Brandon got into a fight.’

Was that all? I thought that for once the Ellerton gossip machine was slow to catch up. ‘Yeah, at the Rohrs’ place.
I already know that,’ I sighed.

‘
Another
fight,’ Christian explained, watching me carefully. ‘It happened early this morning, outside Zoey’s house.’

‘Wait!’ I cried, suddenly paying attention. ‘What was Brandon doing at the Bishops’ place?’

‘Not Brandon – Michael.’ It was Lucas who finally put the pieces together for me. ‘You know Russell Bishop is Michael’s buddy from way back? Michael called to ask Russell to play a game of golf. When he came out of the house Brandon was waiting for him. They exchanged insults and it developed from there.’

‘And Zoey saw it all?’

‘Right.’ Christian stepped back in. ‘She says it was her mom who called the cops.’

‘They called the cops?’ I echo-groaned. ‘As if the family isn’t in enough trouble already.’

‘The cops broke up the fight and hauled Brandon into the sheriff’s office.’ Too late Christian realized the reason I was taking the news so badly. ‘Sorry. The Rohrs – a sensitive issue.’

‘It’s cool. Thanks for telling me. Does anyone know what’s happened to Brandon now?’

Lucas and Christian shook their heads.

‘I guess the cops will charge him,’ Lucas suggested.

‘Maybe I’ll check it out.’ Getting ready to leave, I made a feeble effort to lighten the mood. ‘Tell Jordan tomorrow is the day I lighten my carbon footprint, OK?’ I pressed the gas pedal and swooped around in a wide circle to point towards the exit. ‘Today I have people I need to see!’

‘Sorry, Darina, Zoey isn’t home,’ Helena Bishop told me.

I’d driven straight to the Bishops’ home, knowing for a fact that Zoey was happily shopping in town. I’d parked outside the big gates and walked up the drive, stepped between the white pillars up into the wide marble-tiled porch and rung the doorbell. ‘Actually, Mrs Bishop, I only wanted a small piece of information about Michael Rohr, and I thought maybe you could help.’

‘You heard about the fight earlier?’ she said cautiously. ‘News gets around.’

‘The whole town knows – you know how it is. I was kind of worried about Michael.’ I was glad to be talking to Zoey’s mom and not her dad, who always treated me like public enemy number one. ‘I hope he didn’t get badly hurt.’

‘I understand. Michael is Phoenix’s dad, after all.’

‘Yes. I need to know his address so I can send a card, maybe some flowers.’

‘But he wasn’t seriously injured, you know. The sheriff acted before things got out of hand.’

‘Even so,’ I insisted. ‘A card, telling him I hope he’s OK.’

Helena Bishop thought about it then decided to humour me. ‘That’s nice of you, Darina. Wait here while I look up the address in Russell’s diary.’

While I waited I wondered how come life had lifted Russell Bishop clean over from Michael Rohr’s rough side of the tracks to this land of smooth lawns and white pillars. Then Mrs Bishop came back and handed me a slip of paper with a handwritten address.

‘Thanks,’ I told her. I read the address as I walked down the drive – Apartment 209, Centre Point.

The oldest tower block in town was where I was headed now.

Go talk to Jardine!
I heard Phoenix’s voice, sensed his presence in the car beside me though he didn’t actually materialize.

‘Not right now,’ I told him. ‘I want to find out why your dad argued with your brother again. It might be important.’

Step back!
he warned.
Remember what we discussed!

‘I don’t recall any discussion. The way I see it, you gave
me some advice and I’m choosing not to take it.’

For your own safety
, he reminded me.
This Oscar
Thorne connection scares the hell out of me, Darina. He
already put two guys on your tail
.

‘Yeah, and I easily shook them off, didn’t I? Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.’

Why aren’t you listening to me? I’m telling you this is too
complicated, too dangerous.

I sighed as I drove into the centre of town. ‘This is weird. Why are you telling me to stop when we only have four days left?’

I pulled up outside Centre Point and a wind blew across the parking lot, lifting an empty white plastic bag into the air and whirling it against my windscreen. It slid up and over my head, floated heavenwards into a pure blue sky.

‘Phoenix, are you still there?’

I’m always here
.

‘Have I got this right? Am I having a fight with my invisible Beautiful Dead boyfriend?’

Totally
.

‘So listen. You can’t make me step back now. Not even Hunter can do that. I’m in this until the end.’

There was a long silence before he sighed and said,
I
know, but I’m scared for you. I love you
.

‘I love you too. Phoenix, you have to let me do this for you.’

Silence again. A blast of cold air, as if Hunter had swept down from Foxton Ridge and pulled Phoenix right out of there.

Stepping out of the car into the wind, I pulled my jacket across my chest and walked quickly towards the building.

Re-reading the address, Apartment 209, I chose the second storey, pressed the button and waited for the elevator door to slide open. Its metal walls were scratched, scrawled, scribbled and sprayed, its floor speckled with flattened grey blobs of gum. I ascended alone with a nasty smell and a fast-beating heart, stepped out onto a balcony and followed door numbers 201, 203 along the corridor until I came to 209.

I rang the doorbell, rehearsing my introductory sentences as I waited for Michael to answer it. ‘It’s me again,’ I would say. ‘I need to know what happened to Brandon after the fight you two had. I have to talk to him. It’s important.’

Michael opened the door into a narrow hallway with a small kitchen on the left and a living room straight ahead. ‘Darina, come in,’ he said before I could speak. He had a cut over his right eye and a livid bruise across
his cheekbone. The eyelid was swollen, the eye almost closed. ‘Before you ask, I told the cops I don’t plan to take any action.’

‘Good,’ I nodded.

‘This was a family dispute. They promise to release Brandon just as soon as they finalize the paperwork.’

I nodded again and followed him into the living room. I call it ‘living’ room, but it was more an empty space for Michael to dump his property, which consisted of a zipper bag stuffed with clothes and basic toiletries. Otherwise, there was one brown velour chair, a coffee table with car keys and an opened can of beer on it, and in one corner a lamp without a shade. ‘What did you two fight about?’ I asked.

‘Let’s just say, unfinished business.’

‘And you’re certain the cops will let him go? Because I need to talk to him.’

‘About Zak?’

‘Kind of. Actually, yes. I want to warn him that Zak’s hanging out with the wrong guys.’ Which was true, but not the whole truth.

Wearily Michael ran a hand over his face. ‘You’re too late,’ he mumbled. ‘Brandon already has all the facts. I picked up rumours from Russell that Zak was keeping bad company. When I relayed the news to Brandon, he
turned it all on me, said I was to blame for being a lousy father, and why the hell didn’t I disappear from their lives?’

‘So then the fight?’ I guessed. ‘Did Nathan Thorne’s name come up?’

‘Top of the list,’ Michael confirmed. ‘At that point Brandon totally lost control.’

‘And what about Zak’s mom? Does she know that her youngest son is hanging out with Thorne?’

Massaging his temples and hiding his eyes from view, he shrugged. ‘I can’t be sure. But there’s something else – another reason for Brandon to lose control.’

‘Which is?’

‘Sharon chose last night to yell at Zak big time – about his exclusion from school, his lack of respect, all the usual stuff. According to Brandon, Zak couldn’t take it. He yelled back, threw stuff around the room then ran out of the house.’

‘Ran where?’ I asked.

‘Nobody knows. He just ran. And he hasn’t shown up since.’

Good, Darina. I’m glad you’re focusing on this.

It was Phoenix again, hovering over my left shoulder as I drove. This time though, I had Michael in the car with
me, so I couldn’t enter into a full dialogue.

Find Zak
, he went on.
Persuade him to go home, talk
things through with Mom.

‘I have a hunch,’ I’d told Michael back in his crappy apartment. ‘I think I know where Zak might be.’ And I’d described the empty trailer in the park out on the road to Forest Lake.

Michael had sprung into action, ignoring the escalator and running downstairs two at a time, telling me to drive him straight there.

‘I hope I’m right,’ I said now, to both Michael and Phoenix.

Trust your instinct
, Phoenix murmured.

‘Is there anything else I need to know?’ Michael asked, leaning forward in his seat, one arm braced against the control panel.

‘It’s possible Zak’s not alone. He might be there with Miller and Stafford, maybe even Nathan Thorne,’ I warned. ‘They all know about this place. I get the idea it’s where they regularly hang out.’

‘I’ll deal with that,’ Michael promised. He was a father on a mission to redeem himself for ten years of absence.

He’s like you, Phoenix
, I thought.
He acts on impulse. He’s
a passionate guy
.

He’s nothing like me
, Phoenix protested.

‘Drive faster,’ Michael pleaded as we passed the KFC and read the sign that said
Forest Lake, 8 miles.

Yeah, he is
, I thought.

And I remembered the times I’d been driving with Phoenix in my old car, me observing the speed limit and him saying, ‘Drive, Darina. Let’s see how fast this heap of rust can go!’