Heller's Regret (6 page)

“Unbelievable. Freaking weirdos. Wait until I
tell the guys at the pub about this. They’ll think I’m yanking
their chains.”

Approaching headlights illuminated the sorry
scene. The vehicle pulled up behind the ute and the Director and
Assistant One stepped out.

“I am
so
sorry, sir. These women
escaped earlier tonight from our facility,” explained the Director
in a calm, authoritative voice. “We’ve been trying to track them
down them since.”

“I
knew
they’d escaped from somewhere.
Why else would they all be wearing the same tracksuit?”

“You were very right to evict them from your
vehicle,” said Assistant One in a reasonable voice.

“They’re lying,” I desperately implored
again. “
Please
take us to a phone. I’m begging you.”

“What kind of facility?” asked the
ute-driver.

The Director answered. “Let’s just say that
most of these women can be rather irrational at times.”

“I thought so,” the man said in quiet
satisfaction. “This one here,” he pointed at me, “has crazy eyes if
I ever saw them.”

“I’m very sorry for your inconvenience and
any distress,” grovelled the Director. “I hope you have a pleasant
evening.”

“Weirdest thing I ever experienced,” he
muttered to himself as he climbed back into the driver’s seat and
sped off.

We watched our only chance of help disappear
into the darkness in a cloud of exhaust smoke.

“You women are even stupider than I imagined
and I imagined you were pretty stupid,” said the Director, smiling
in the way a sadist does with a fresh victim. “Get in the back of
the truck.”

“Don’t do it,” I told the women. “Run into
the bushes now.”

We scattered into the safety of the
surrounding dense vegetation, our visibility poor, branches
scratching our skin and snaring our clothes. We crouched down,
waiting. The two boot camp staff searched fruitlessly for a while,
not willing to become entangled in the bushes, their torches not
providing enough light to penetrate far enough. They eventually
chucked it in.

“You think you’ve won, but you haven’t,”
shouted the Director at us in frustration. “Our lawyers will soon
be visiting each and every one of you and you can guarantee that we
are going to sue your arses off.”

None of us moved or said anything.

“Have a pleasant long trek back to the city,
morons. And enjoy the rest of your life as lazy fat arses.” They
climbed back into their truck and once again, left us in the
dark.

“Gee, he’s got a silver tongue on him, hasn’t
he?” I smiled, exhausted but momentarily triumphant.

“Do you think they’ve really given up on us
this time?” asked Gloria.

“I guess so. They think they’re going to sue
us all.”

Jessie started crying. “My step-father’s
going to be so angry with me.”

I put my arm around her and squeezed her
shoulders. “They’re not going to succeed. I plan on exposing them
and there’s nothing they can do about it.” Just to be on the safe
side though, I decided I’d better talk to Heller’s lawyer, Corby.
He seemed pretty sharp.

We returned to the road to continue our
trudge, my triumph fading fast at the prospect of the feat still
ahead of us. I honestly didn’t know how any of us remained upright
and moving by that stage, but I switched my mind to automatic, and
thought of nothing while I walked, staring ahead without really
noticing anything. There was little further talking, except an
occasional weary request for water, but when that ran out, none of
us spoke at all.

By the time we reached the outskirts of the
city, dawn was breaking, the sun peeking above the edge of the
horizon. I was so tired, I began to hallucinate, jumping out the
way in fright as I imagined terrifying creatures barrelling towards
me.

We found a working phone in one of the most
outlying suburbs.

“Do you want to all come back to my place and
someone can ferry you home?” I slurred with sleepiness.

Just as drained as me, Gloria mustered up the
energy to shake her head. “I just want to go home. I’m going to
wake up my husband and demand he pick me up. It’s the least the
bastard can do for sending me to that place.”

The others agreed with her that they only
wanted to go home. So they called a number of taxis or assorted
relatives, sitting on the curb to wait for them, their eyes
closed.

I rang Farrell’s mobile reverse-charge. He
answered after the third ring, accepting the charge of the
call.

“Hugh, it’s Tilly.”

“Chalmers,” he said in surprise. “Why are you
ringing me? Where are you?”

“I don’t know where I am.” Not meaning to, I
started crying. His warm voice was the most wonderful thing I’d
heard in ages.

“Don’t cry. Try to describe where you
are.”

Through snorts of tears, I gave him the best
details of my surroundings I could manage. “I’m in one of the outer
southern suburbs of the city. We just came from a road leading to
the Lake Tranquillity Boot Camp.” I told him the name of the street
I was ringing from and described a few of the more noticeable
buildings near me.

“Let me check my online maps.” I heard him
tapping on his computer. “Okay, I think I know where you are. Stay
put and I’ll be there soon.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, hanging up.

The taxis and relatives eventually arrived
and the women piled into them, raising more than a few eyebrows at
their filthy appearances.

“I don’t want to leave you alone here,” said
Gloria when her husband arrived, looking pretty unhappy at being up
so early. She hesitated at the door, torn between making sure I was
safe and the allure of home.

“I’ll be all right,” I assured. “My friend’s
on his way. And it’s light now.”

She reluctantly climbed into the car and
waved as it drove her away.

My wait for Farrell seemed eternal, but I
kept my eyes fixed on the road for his silver 4WD patiently. A
vehicle from the other direction pulled up at the curb near me,
forcing me to scrabble to my feet in fear of them being run
over.

“Hop in,” Farrell said, poking his head out
of the window.

I collapsed on his passenger seat, falling
asleep immediately against the door. He leaned over to fasten my
seatbelt, dropping a quick kiss on my cheek.

“Hey,” I mumbled. “I felt that.”

“I couldn’t help myself with you looking so
fresh and beautiful.”

“You really need glasses, Hugh.”

Chuckling, he drove to the Warehouse.

Chapter 5

When we pulled up at the front, he gently
shook me awake. I slowly roused, dazed, thinking I was back at the
boot camp.

“You’re home, Chalmers.” He dared to reach
out to stroke my cheek. “What happened? You look terrible.”

I touched my hair, a tangle of sticks, grit
and leaves. My tracksuit was dirty and stained with sweat. The ripe
smell of my body odour offended even me.

“I’ll tell you later. I’m too tired to
talk.”

“When you’re ready.”

I smiled weakly. “Thank you for picking me
up, Hugh. I couldn’t have walked another step.”

“You know I’m always here for you.”

“Thank you,” I said again, slipping out of
his vehicle.

I was dying for some water, maybe some food,
but most of all, sleep. But first, I had a score to settle.

I let myself in the front door, but instead
of going straight to my flat, I detoured to the security section. I
threw open the door, surprising the handful of men readying
themselves for another day’s work.

Ignoring them, and their curious glances, I
marched directly into Clive’s office. He looked up, half-standing
when he saw me.

“Guess what? I’m home again,” I snarled.

“You’re not supposed to be back yet,” he
said, coming out from behind his desk.

Burning with fury, I slapped him hard across
the cheek. “Don’t you ever do that to me again.”

Not even bothering to gauge his reaction, I
made the most dignified exit I could manage, considering my legs
were about to collapse under me, and my track pants were falling
down. I staggered up the stairs, quietly letting myself into my
flat. I loved Daniel to death, but I didn’t even want to see him at
the moment.

I threw back two glasses of tap water, my
stomach complaining afterwards. Feeling nauseous with tiredness and
hunger, I went to my bedroom, kicked off my runners, sending grit
and dirt flying around the floor. I wouldn’t say I climbed into
bed, but more toppled into it and immediately sank into a deep
sleep.

I didn’t wake until it was dark. When I
unglued my eyes, Heller sat on my bed, looking down at me with
concern. He held his palm against my dirty cheek.

“Matilda . . .” he said, lost for words. “You
don’t look well. You’re too thin.”

I struggled to a sitting position. “Tell me
you didn’t order Clive to send me to that place.” He hesitated for
a moment. “
Tell me!
” I screamed at him.

“My sweet, I’m worried about upsetting you.
You’re so angry.”

“
Get out of my flat!
” He stood,
looking down at me with a million emotions crossing his face.
“
Get out now!
”

He left. I made my stiff way to the bathroom
to splash my face, an action that did nothing to clean me, merely
smearing the dirt into mud streaks. I went to the kitchen to drink
another two glasses of water, my stomach rebelling again, before
returning to bed and back to sleep.

I didn’t surface again until the very early
hours of the morning. I lay in bed for a while stretching out my
cramped muscles and luxuriating in the feel of laying on something
soft. Much refreshed from sleeping, I took a shower, needing to
wash my hair three times before all the detritus flushed away.

Dressed in wonderfully clean pyjamas, I
buried the tracksuit at the bottom of my kitchen bin, never wanting
to set eyes on it again. Feeling guilty about yelling at Heller and
not giving him a chance to explain, I made my way up to his place
and let myself in.

He’d been asleep in bed, but the noise of me
entering his flat, no matter how quiet I’d been, had woken him. He
was alert and waiting for me when I came to his bedroom.

I stayed at the doorway and we stared at each
other for a while, neither of us moving. He held out his arms and I
gratefully fell into them, letting myself be enveloped in his
warmth. We didn’t speak for a long time, holding each other.

“I didn’t instruct Clive to do that,” he
nuzzled into my hair. “In fact, after I left your flat, I went to
see him.” He was quiet for a moment. “We had words.”

On the one hand, I felt bad about that,
because the two men were very tight and rare harsh words from
Heller would have upset Clive. On the other hand, I couldn’t care
less. He’d overstepped the mark and he deserved it. I was so angry
with him at the moment I would have liked the opportunity to have
‘words’ with him myself.

Heller felt my waist, frowning in the
darkness. “Have you eaten yet?”

“Not for a long time.”

“I’ll make you something.”

I dozed again, comforted by the domestic
sounds of him in the kitchen, not something I heard very often,
though he was more than capable of feeding himself.

He came into the bedroom to fetch me to eat.
I sat up groggily, sleep-tousled, letting him lead me to his dining
room where a simple plate of scrambled eggs, toast, and a glass of
orange juice waited for me.

Sure I would be sick trying to eat, to my
surprise I rediscovered my hunger and devoured the food, not
sparing a breath to talk.

“I’m still hungry,” I said when I’d
finished.

“You can have more food later. I don’t think
it’s a good idea to eat too much quickly.”

While he cleared up, I sprawled on his
lounge. I flicked on his TV and watched one of the twenty-four hour
news stations, though mostly apathetic about what had been
happening during my absence.

He sat next to me and turned my head towards
him, frowning again. “Your face is so gaunt.” He leaned down to
touch his lips on mine. I snuggled up to him as we watched the
news. “What happened there?”

I sighed. “It was barbaric. They exercised us
hard all day, and some of the ladies there were my mother’s age.
And they severely rationed our food. By the end, my rations had
been cut in half as a punishment.”

“For doing what?”

“For not allowing myself to be broken by
them.”

“I’m very proud of you.” He kissed the top of
my head.

That meant a lot to me. “They belittled us
and bullied us. Soon, we were all too tired and hungry to even
argue with them. The Assistant took a particular dislike to me. She
made my life hell.”

“Really?” he said mildly. “I might pay them a
visit.” And though that sounded innocuous enough, I wouldn’t want
to be in their shoes if he did.

“I planned an escape.”

He laughed. “Of course you did. I wouldn’t
expect anything less of you.”

“I thought I’d worked out all the details. We
were going to scale the fence and walk until we found the nearest
phone. Then I was going to ring here and ask someone to come and
pick us all up.”

“How many of you were there?”

“There were eight of us. I don’t know how you
manage so many men. Dealing with eight women exhausted me and
stretched my patience to its limit.”

“I’m a natural manager,” he smiled. “But even
I wouldn’t want to organise eight women.”

I yawned, my stomach growling. “I don’t blame
you.”

“Why didn’t you just drive home?”

“They confiscated our car keys, which reminds
me that you need to send a bunch of men there to retrieve
everyone’s car. I’ll give you a list of their names.”

“I will. You said you were going to ring
someone here, but you didn’t.”