Love Lies Dying (17 page)

“No, this time I mean about the lounge room.”

“Oh,” John had forgotten about the mess. “It’s okay. I understand now.”

“Ricky started taunting me, telling me what he was going to do to me once he got me back and how I’m going to pay for what I put him through. I just lost it. I threw the phone on the floor and backed away, I guess I must have knocked over the lamp and the table then. I don’t know how the book and the sofa cushions got messed, I really don’t, but I just panicked and I started to think about his thugs following me and him knowing where I am and…”

She broke into tears once more.

John stepped forward and took her in his arms.

“It’s okay,” he whispered and he rocked her. “It’s okay, it’s not that much mess. I understand now.”

“I don’t know how I came to be behind the sofa, either. Maybe I blacked out for a while or something. I don’t know. I just needed to hide and that’s where I ended up.”

“It’s okay,” he said again.

They stood silent in each other’s arms in the middle of the lounge room.

It was inevitable,
he thought to himself.
A showdown with Fox was always going to happen. It’s just happening sooner rather than later.

I can’t avoid it.

He needed Zoe at her best if he was going to beat Fox at his own game, but he didn’t know how much longer she could hold up under the pressure. The last thing he needed was for her to break apart once they were confronted with Fox and Helen.

“Do you know how to get there?” he asked her. “To the church at Hepburn Lakes?”

She nodded and looked up at him. At some stage during their talk she had fixed the braid that had been unravelling.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I even know where Ricky hid the front door key.”

“Okay,” he pulled away from her. “Give me a few minutes to get some clothes  together and we’ll leave straight away.”

She nodded.

“Are there beds at this church?”

“Huh?” she looked confused by the question.

“If we leave now we’ll get there before midnight. We can try to get some rest and be ready for the call in the morning.”

She nodded, “I don’t think I’m going to sleep much.”

“I know,” he agreed. “Neither do I. But we’ll have to try.”

“Okay, I’ll get my things together too,” she said as she turned and walked towards the bedroom.

“You won’t need anything,” he said. “You’ll be coming back here with Helen and me.”

She turned back to face him and leaned on the doorway to the bedroom.

“I have to take my stuff, Johnny,” she said as she tried to smile. “I know you mean it when you say we’re going to teach Ricky a lesson. But I have to weigh that against what I know about him and his men. There’s every chance that I
won’t
be coming back with you and Helen, and I have to face that reality. For me, now, all I can hope is that you and Helen get away free, because it’s my fault you were both dragged into this. I can only hope that I can talk Ricky into letting you two go.”

“Zoe, you can’t think like that. We
will
beat Fox at his own game.”

“I know you believe that, Johnny. I really want to believe you too. But I have to ready myself just in case what you’re planning doesn’t work. I
have
to.”

She turned around and walked slowly into the bedroom.

John watched her go and waited until the bedroom light was switched on.

“There’s got to be another way,” he shouted to her.

“I don’t think so, Johnny,” came her reply from the other room. “There’s no turning back now.”

The hardest thing for John to admit was that he knew she was right.

Fourteen

The radio stations began to fade on the dial when they were an hour into the drive to Hepburn Lakes.

Zoe continued to twist the tuning knob, trying desperately to find a station that would still register. As she did so, she juggled the wheel of the Jeep, making sure they didn’t run off the side of the road.

John let her continue, even though he could tell the station searching was becoming futile. It was as if she needed some background noise to keep her alert and thinking. Or that she feared the silence would engulf them if the radio was turned off. He thought about talking with her, but realised that if she wanted to talk, she could talk to him. He was more concerned that she kept her eyes on the road as she drove.

He could tell she needed time to think.

And so did he.

The night stretched in front of them, with only the Jeep’s headlights shining  along the long lonely road. They hadn’t seen a car for at least twenty minutes and John didn’t think they would see many more at this time of night. Occasionally, in low-lying areas, they would drive through blankets of fog and every time they did, Zoe would crank up the heater one more notch. Even with the removable top secured on the Jeep, the cold night air seemed to seep into the car to surround them.

John wished they had used his car, but Zoe had been adamant that they take the Jeep.

“We’ve got to take the Jeep,” she had said. “Ricky will be looking for it. If we arrive in anything different he might panic and do something stupid.”

“But which car surely doesn’t matter,” he replied.

“Ricky wants me back, Johnny,” she had said as she carried her suitcase out from the main bedroom and dumped it on the lounge room floor. “And that means
all
of me. Not just me personally, but also the car, my clothes and whatever else I took from him.”

“And his money?”

Her eyes fell to the ground, “Yeah, well, he won’t be getting that. There’s none left.”

She turned and headed back into the bedroom.

“If we don’t show up with everything,” she called back over her shoulder. “He’ll get suspicious and think we’re trying to pull something on him.”

“That’s what we’ll be doing,” John said.

“I know that,” she replied as she walked back into the lounge room with her arms full of the parcels she had bought that day. “But we don’t want
him
to know that. Otherwise he could go crazy on us.”

She dropped the parcels onto the lounge room floor by her suitcase and placed her hands on her hips.

John smiled at her and realised she was standing there, waiting for him to say something.

“What?” he asked.

Zoe spread her arms in front of her and then spun around on the spot, “What do you think?”

John realised then that she had changed her clothes and redone her hair. He surprised himself that he hadn’t noticed it earlier, but he’d been thinking too hard about Fox and the plan that was forming in his mind.

“When did you do that?” he asked.

“Only a few minutes ago, it doesn’t take long you know,” she smiled at him.

Zoe’s hair was now tied in a bun at the back of her head. No strands of hair escaped, it was like a vortex sucking all her hair into one central point on her head. It gave her a slightly harsher look, not as feminine as the ponytail or the braids, but John liked it all the same.

Her cut-off jeans had been replaced by a new black pair that she had bought while they were shopping earlier in the day and she now wore a black t-shirt. It hugged her body and served as a reminder to John of what was under the material. Across the front of the t-shirt was a multi-coloured strip divided into four squares. The first square held a picture of a red dog, the second of a white cat, the third of a blue mouse and the fourth of a yellow piece of cheese. Underneath the design were the words
Natural Selection
.

John thought it looked cute on her.

Everything looks good on Zoe.

Her breasts bulged under the t-shirt and John’s eyes were drawn there even though he could see nothing more than mounds of fabric. Along the neck and arms of the t-shirt were dozens of little metal rivets, punched into the fabric to border the whole design. The rivets shone in the light.

“If you want to get there before midnight,” Zoe said, smiling. “You’re going to have to stop looking at me.”

John brought his eyes up from her breasts to rest on her smirking face.

“Ah, yeah, sorry,” he mumbled. “I got distracted.”

“That’s okay,” she giggled. “I like it when you’re distracted. But you did say we should get going soon so we can be there by midnight.”

“You’re right,” he said as he walked forward and picked up the suitcase. “I’ll go and put this in the car.”

“In the Jeep,” she warned him. “I want you to put it all in the Jeep. We’re going in the Jeep, comprehendo?”

John nodded. “If you say so.”

Knowing he had no other choice, he turned and carried the suitcase down the hall.

Within a few more minutes, all Zoe’s parcels were in the back of the Jeep along with a canvas bag filled with some of his clothes and a change of shoes. He didn’t know how long they would be at Hepburn Lakes, but he wanted to be prepared one way or the other.

He’d driven his car into the garage and made sure the garage door was locked.

Then they were ready to go.

John stood outside by the hood of the car, rubbing his shoulders from the cold night and mentally running through the facts that Zoe had told him.

Fox better enjoy what time he has left
, John thought to himself.
Because he’s fast running out of it. I have to try to fix this guy for all of us.

Zoe appeared at the front door and looked over to him.

“Everything’s in the Jeep?” she asked.

John stood to attention and did a quick military salute, “All personal items inventoried and stored, ma’am!”

Zoe giggled. “Okay, I’ll only be a minute.” She disappeared from the doorway and then just as quickly reappeared. “Hungry?”

John put his hands on his hips, “Yeah, I guess so. Why?”

“Well, unless you want to starve to death on our drive to Hepburn Lakes, I suggest I make a few sandwiches to eat on the way. I mean, we never got to have dinner, did we?”

John nodded, “Yeah, I forgot about that.”

“I’ll only be a minute,” she called.

“Okay. Turn off the lights when you come,” he called back. “I’ll just check the street to make sure no one’s watching us.”

John couldn’t shake the feeling that someone, somewhere, was watching their every move. Ricky was ahead of them every step of the way.

Well, that’s about to change,
he thought.

By the time he had checked out the street and found nothing suspicious, Zoe was standing next to him with a bag of sandwiches in one hand and a sweater in the other.

“Can you see anyone?” she asked.

John shook his head. “Nope, I must be getting paranoid.”

“Probably,” Zoe replied. “You don’t have much food in the house.”

“Sorry.”

“I just hope you don’t mind cheese sandwiches.”

He smiled, “At the moment, I’d eat anything.”

She handed him a sweater.

“What’s this?” he asked as they walked back to the Jeep.

“It’s a sweater,” she replied. “You know, you wear them? Keeps the cold out.”

“I know that.”

“You’ll need it.”

“I don’t think so,” he replied as he threw it into the back of the Jeep to rest across Zoe’s suitcase.

“It’ll get cold up there.”

“I don’t think I need it just yet,” he replied. “But you should have one.”

“Nah,” she shook her head. “I’m made of stronger stuff.”

“Really?” he smiled.

“Really,” she smiled back.

“Are we ready?”

Zoe nodded her head and sighed deeply.

“Yeah,” she said. “We better get going.”

John walked up the front path to check the front door was locked and, satisfied it was, turned and headed back to the Jeep. Zoe was already in the driver’s seat and fiddling with the wires to get the engine to kick over.

“We could take
my
car,” John tried once more as he climbed into the passenger’s seat. “I even have keys that start the engine.”

She looked over at him and pulled a face, “Very funny, mister comedian.”

And then the engine roared into life.

“See?” Zoe smiled. “You’ve got to learn to have faith in me, to trust me. One day your life may be in my hands.”

“I doubt it,” John replied.

“You never know.”

“Still,” he crossed his arms and smirked. “They’d be nice hands to put my life in!”

They had both laughed then as Zoe backed the Jeep out into the street.

Now, John turned his head from the road in front of them and watched as Zoe once again fiddled with the radio.

“I think you’re fighting a losing battle,” he said.

Zoe nodded and stabbed at the
Off
button. The radio went dead.

John looked at his watch; it was almost 10 o’clock. They would be at the church before midnight.

He stared down at the half-eaten sandwiches.

“You want another one?” he asked.

“No thanks,” Zoe replied. “I think I’ve lost my appetite.”

John nodded. He knew how she felt. The closer they drove to Hepburn Lakes, the more unsure and nervous he became.

He had no idea what kind of situation they were driving into.

It must have been even worse for Zoe.

He listened to the sound of the Jeep’s engine and the low whistle of the night air as it collided against the soft-top.

There was silence between them for a few minutes longer.

John reached into the back of the Jeep, dropped what remained of the sandwiches onto the back seat and grabbed his sweater. He pulled it into his lap and began to climb into it.

“I told you,” Zoe said.

John looked at her. She had a smirk on her face.

“Yeah, yeah,” he replied. “I know.”

“Should have put it on before we left.”

“Well, I didn’t know I was going to freeze in here.”

“It’s not cold, it’s bracing,” she replied.

“Ahuh.”

“And I’ve got the heater on,” she pointed to it.

“I know, but it’s fighting a losing battle too.”

“You look good in that sweater,” she said as she took her eyes off the road long enough to look him over.

“Why, thank you,” he replied, with mock surprise.

“But I guess you look good in anything.”

He smiled and focussed back on the road ahead.

“Or nothing,” she whispered.

“Zoe, don’t –“

“But I know that already, don’t I?” she continued, her eyes glued to the road in front of them. “When I saw you in the shower this morning, I thought to myself, ‘God, there’s a man I’d like to fuck.’”

“Zoe, please –“

“And fuck hard.”

John didn’t reply.

“I’d really like to fuck you,” Zoe continued.

“We’ve been through this already,” John sighed.

What can I say?
he wondered.
I’d really like to fuck you too?

“Yeah, I know,” she continued, nodding her head. “You love Helen and you won’t cheat on her la-la-lalala.”

A bend in the road appeared in the headlights and Zoe turned the steering wheel to compensate. The Jeep skidded slightly as it turned to the left. John thought she took the turn too fast, but he wasn’t about to mention it.

“Is Helen a good fuck?” Zoe asked.

“What?” John turned to face her. “How can you ask that?”

“I just want to know, Johnny. I’m just filling in the time. I don’t like it when it’s too quiet, and I just want you to help me get through this.”

“By asking questions like that? Can’t you think of anything else to ask?”

“No, I can’t. I’m interested in you and I want to know you’re happy.”

“I’ve told you I’m happy,” he sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve told you that countless times in the past twenty-four hours. Shouldn’t we be talking about Fox and what we’re going to do?”

Zoe fell silent for a minute, as if thinking through what he had said.

“I don’t want to think about Ricky,” she mumbled finally. “Because when I do, all I can think about are the ways he’s going to hurt me.”

“He
won’t
hurt you.”