The Wildwood Sisters (36 page)

With a rush of adrenaline, she yanked the scarf from the box and held it up in front of Hayley, her body trembling. ‘Where did you get this, Hayley? And the truth would be a great start.'

Hayley's face drained of colour and she took a step back. ‘Why, what in the hell's wrong with you, Renee? It's just a footy scarf. What's the big deal?'

Renee's cheeks flushed as the blood inside her hit boiling point, but she tried hard to keep herself calm on the outside. ‘Just please answer my question, honestly.'

Hayley avoided Renee's eyes as she took yet another step back, glancing towards the closed loft door and looking like she was about to make a run for it—or was Renee just imagining things?

‘Umm, just let me think for a minute.' Hayley threw her hands up in the air, smiling. ‘That's right, I got it from the op shop in town years ago. Is it yours? Is that why you are so upset? You can have it back, you know. It doesn't bother me.'

Remaining silent, Renee tried to read Hayley's now unruffled expression. She'd gone from looking like she'd seen a ghost, to completely composed again in less than a minute. Alarm bells were ringing. Something wasn't right. Hayley wasn't telling her the truth. Was
Hayley
the person behind Scarlet's disappearance? Was the real killer standing in front of her?
Holy fuck
, she had to get out of here.

A suffocating feeling came over her as she ran for the door, flung it open and scrambled down the small flight of steps. She hadn't had a panic attack in years, but it felt as though she was about to have one any second. Her throat was constricting and she was struggling to take a breath. Her fight-or-flight had definitely kicked into gear.

Hayley ran after her. ‘Renee, where are you going? Come back. What's wrong?'

Fear filling her and with her mind in a spin, Renee raced out the front door of the house and towards where she had parked her nan's car on the street. But suddenly she stopped in her tracks, remembering she had left her handbag inside with the car keys and her mobile phone in it. Damn it! Uncertain of what to do next, she turned to see Hayley coming through the front door. Her feet felt like they were frozen to the spot as she contemplated going back inside to retrieve her bag. It wasn't worth it.

Hayley ran towards her. ‘Renee, wait, what's going on? Have you lost your fucking mind?'

Making a snap decision, Renee took off down the street, her thudding heart matching her pounding strides as she kept stealing terrified glances behind her. Hayley had stopped running after her, and now stood in the middle of the street, her arms folded in front of her, the streetlight casting deep shadows across her face. Renee was glad to turn the corner, knowing she was now out of Hayley's sight.

Being cautious and staying in the shadows of the dimly lit streets, she clutched the scarf to her pounding chest as she kept her ears and eyes open for any movements or sounds, every one of her senses on high alert. She had stopped running now, her anxiety making it difficult to draw a decent breath, but she was still taking quick strides, not able to get to her destination quick enough.

She kept feeling as though she was being followed, but glances stolen behind her proved otherwise.
But am I looking hard enough?
A dog barked at her from behind one of the fences and her hand flew to her mouth as she stifled a scream. Her heart hammered a frenzied drumbeat in her chest as she fought to hold it together. Twice cars drove past her and she scrambled behind nearby trees until they were gone, not knowing if she'd been seen or not.

It was only nine o'clock but the suburban streets of Opals Ridge were basically deserted, not like in the city, which would be a hub of activity no matter what time of the day or night it was. She drew in a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Only a few more blocks and she would be at Shirley's house, where she would find her grandparents, and then they could all go down to the police station and report what she had found—more evidence that could lead them to the answer to her sister's disappearance. If only she had her mobile phone she could call them.

Her hands tightly holding the scarf, she felt a wave of hope laced in amongst her fear. This precious item was the clue she had been praying to find, but it broke her heart and shocked her beyond belief that she had discovered it in her
apparent
friend's house. Was there any way that Hayley could have been telling her the truth? Judging by her body language, she doubted it.

Renee was kicking herself now for not telling Nan and Pa about the diary, but then what good would it have done? She would have to tell them about it now, though, and she hoped they understood why she had wanted to keep it from them. Although there weren't any concrete clues in the diary—none she could see anyway—this very unexpected breakthrough would surely kickstart a full investigation. The police couldn't ignore a piece of evidence like this. The very thought brought with it the faith that they would finally be able to uncover what had happened to Scarlet and lay her to rest.

Turning the corner that led down to Tom and Shirley's house, she spotted the familiar driveway and Shirley's jeep parked on it. She let out the breath she'd been holding. Thank God. Her safety zone—twenty more metres and she was there. Just as she was focusing on what was ahead, she heard the crunch of tyres behind her. Looking back, she recognised the car, and immediately relaxed. She stopped walking, relief flooding her as she waited for it to pull up. Thank goodness for small miracles.

‘Hey there, Renee. What are you doing walking around in the dark—especially so far from home? Are you okay?'

‘Oh thank God it's you.' She held the scarf up in front of her as she peered through the window. ‘Look at this. I've found Scarlet's scarf, the one that I told you she would have been wearing when she went missing. You won't believe who had it.'

The first thing Renee felt as she tried to blink open her lead-heavy eyes was the intense throbbing in her head. A piercing pain was shooting behind her eyes and almost to the point of making her want to throw up. She was enveloped in darkness, unable to see even an inch in front of her. The world felt as though it was spinning around her, the wooziness adding to her nausea, and her thoughts tumbled around in her mind like objects being tossed about in a cyclone, the combination of everything making it impossible to think at all.

Trying to lick her dry lips, she instinctively went to place her hand on her head but something stopped her. Her wrists were bound. And then her state of unconsciousness gave way and her reality came crashing down upon her. He'd invited her into the car and then once he'd locked the doors he'd hit her so hard she must have blacked out. Where had he taken her? What was he going to do to her? Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought he was capable of this.

Renee pictured his face, his evil eyes leering at her seconds after he'd pressed the central locking and then grabbed her by the throat. Terror gripping her once more, she started to hyperventilate as she tried to forcefully yank her arms free from her restraints. Chains jangled and clinked as she fruitlessly struggled, the agony she was inflicting upon herself as she tried to free her wrists from whatever was wrapped around them bordering on unbearable.

Along with her innate instinct for survival, every one of her senses snapped to attention, sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. She was extremely relieved to still feel the press of her clothes against her skin. She couldn't see past whatever was over her head but she could hear water dripping and smell strong chemicals. She was sitting up and her back was pressed up against a wall that was icy cold. Utilising the little give she had from the chains around her wrists and ankles, she clambered onto her knees and used her hands to feel around the floor. It was cold and felt like tiles. Something scurried past her and she froze, her breath catching in her throat. A barrage of questions engulfed her, making fear consume her even more as she rolled herself into a ball on the floor and wept. Was he going to rape her? Kill her? Was this the place where Scarlet had taken her last breath? That thought chilled her to the very core.

A new sound made her stop crying and instead hold her breath. She heard a key sliding into a lock, and then a door squeaking open before being slammed closed again, followed by heavy footfalls coming down a flight of creaky steps. At least now she knew she was underneath something—not that it helped with the state she was in right now, but if she somehow broke free…

Shaking with fear, she silently counted each chilling step. There were nine—nine steps between her imminent death and possible life. As he got closer, her skin grew colder. She could hear his laboured breath now, his sheer presence weighing so heavily down upon her that she felt as though she was going to suffocate. Then she heard the most heart-wrenching sound—the whimper of a child. A flicking sound was followed by light blazing through the bag over her head. She strained to see through the fabric but all she could make out was a moving form.

‘I've brought you some company. Being the extremely considerate man I am I thought you might like some. From what I've heard, you two know each other quite well already.' The sardonic laughter at the end of his proclamation was spine-chilling.

Chains jangled as the child began to weep. ‘Please don't tie me up. I want to go home to my daddy.' The child's sobs grew louder. ‘Please don't hurt me.'

Renee's heart froze.
Oh dear Lord, please no, it can't be.

‘Shut up with your whining, you annoying little shit! Or I'll give you something worthwhile to whine about.' The man spat vehemently. ‘And it's your daddy's fault you're here, so have a hard think about that before you go saying you want to go home to him. If I were you, I'd hate his guts!' He sniggered. ‘Come to think of it, I do hate his guts, have ever since he stole her from me… He always gets everything he wants.'

Not caring about her own wellbeing anymore, Renee blindly turned towards where the voices were coming from as she tried to reach out. ‘Annie, is that you, sweetheart? It's me, Renee.'

‘Renee?' Annie's voice was trembling, and sounded so tiny. ‘I'm so scared.'

A forceful smack across the face slammed Renee's entire body into the wall behind her, sending Annie into a screaming fit beside her.

‘I'll tell you when you can speak, you bitch,' his voice boomed. ‘And if I were you, Annie, I'd stop your bloody screaming. This is your last warning. Shut the fuck up or I'll gladly make you.'

Annie's screams became stifled whimpers before she broke into a bout of chesty coughing. Footsteps moved away from Renee and she heard a tap being turned on.

Using the small reprieve without him, Renee snuck her hand along the floor as far as the chains around her wrists would allow her to, trying to feel for Annie's. A tiny hand finally found hers and they entwined their fingers tightly. Annie's hand was so cold. She was desperate to take her into her arms, but frozen with fear she remained huddled against the wall, her inability to see what was going on rendering her motionless. She didn't want to do anything to piss the bastard off even more.

The heavy footsteps were heading back towards them. ‘Here, Annie, drink this,' the voice demanded. ‘I hate coughing, it drives me up the fucking wall.'

Annie must have disobeyed.

‘Now!' His voice was thunderous. ‘Don't make me hurt you.'

Renee could hear Annie taking glugs of water in between her coughing. ‘Please, she has nothing to do with this. Let her go. Please, I'm begging you.'

His hands went around Renee's throat, the pressure increasing as he crouched down and pressed himself up against her. ‘Oh, trust me, she has everything to do with this. What better way to hurt him than to take away the one person he loves most in this world.' Dropping his hands from around her throat, he grabbed both her breasts through her top and squeezed them forcefully, making Renee cry out in pain as he laughed. ‘Your tits feel just like your sister's did all those years ago. It was a bloody shame I had to kill her, but when she told me she was pregnant, what was I meant to do?'

Renee's jaw dropped. Her beautiful sister was pregnant? ‘You sadistic bastard. It's horrific enough you killed my sister, but you killed her unborn child too…
Your
unborn child?'

‘I had no choice. It would have ruined me if she'd kept it. I wasn't going to let her keep a child that she could hold over me for the rest of my life.' He sniggered. ‘And how ironic is it that the whole time, she thought I was in love with her, when it was actually
you
I was infatuated with, Renee. But you never showed any interest in me, whereas Scarlet did. So handy for me with you being twins, I could just imagine it was you when I was touching her.'

Renee's stomach heaved as Scarlet's beautiful face swam to her mind's eye—her poor darling sister, and her unborn child—her niece or nephew—had died at the hands of this evil man. What she must have gone through was unbearable to even think about. ‘Fuck you, you sick son of a bitch. I hope you rot in hell,' she snarled through gritted teeth. ‘You'll be going to hell because karma's going to make you pay for what you've done. And if karma doesn't, I fucking will.'

He laughed menacingly once again. ‘Oh, you will, will you? Well, we'll see about that, won't we.' He tutted. ‘I was going to let the fact you'd found the diary go, seeing as there was nothing concrete in there pointing to me. But it's such a shame you found the scarf really. Otherwise I might have left you to get on with your pathetic life with your equally pathetic boyfriend.'

How in the hell does he know I have a boyfriend?

There was a pause as he mumbled something to himself and then chuckled.