Love Lies Dying (2 page)

He threw the bolt to lock the front door. Then he placed a hand in his pocket. He dragged out the front door keys and placed them on the key rack on the wall by the door.

He put them on his hook, right next to Helen’s car keys.

Helen’s car keys?

John stared at the key holder for what seemed like a long time. Both sets of keys now resided there.

“Johnny?”

He turned to see Zoe leaning against the wall at the other end of the hall.

“Is the coffee ready?”

John took one more look at the keys and then turned to face her.

“Ah, almost, yeah,” he said.

He turned and walked back up the hall.

Zoe was wearing black button-up jeans now. Each of the silver buttons glinted in the light and reminded John of the diamond positioned snugly in her belly button. She wore a black top too, tight and figure hugging. It had no arms, so her muscled forearms and biceps were still on display. Her neckline and left shoulder visible through the L-shape neck cut into the top.

Her hair was back in a ponytail again, with only a few strands escaping to the side of her face. She wore nothing on her feet and for the first time John noticed her toenails were painted bright red.

“Great! It will be our first coffee together,” she said. She smiled at him as she turned and headed back to the sofa.

As John walked into the kitchen, Zoe said over her shoulder, “You know I’ve heard all about you. It’s like I know you already.”

John glanced at his watch: 11:47.

But the keys!

He put the flowers to one side.

“Did Helen say she was driving?” he asked.

She looked up from the book now back in her lap and stared at him through the archway dividing the kitchen and lounge. Her face smiled but he was sure there was something different about it.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you said she’d gone to get some food.” John poured the coffee into two mugs.

“Yeah, so?”

“But her car keys are still in the hall.”

“Ahuh?” Zoe looked at the book again, and then met his gaze as he brought the coffee around to her. “Don’t worry too much,” she said. “Helen took my Jeep. It was parked out the front anyway.”

“It seems like a strange thing to do.”

“Nah, not really,” Zoe took the coffee. “It’s literally a brand new Jeep, only a few weeks old. It’s red and very, very cool. Helen was staggered when she saw it. I just threw her the keys and said, ‘Knock yourself out’! She couldn’t resist taking it for a spin. But she shouldn’t be long now. Maybe she’s driving around, having a free spin, getting the feel of the Jeep! You know, she’s probably lost track of time. You know how she can be sometimes.”

John nodded. He knew alright.

“She should’ve called me before I left work, I could have picked up something on the walk home from the train station.”

“She probably didn’t want to bother you. Sugar?”

“Huh?” John said.

“Do you have any sugar?”

“Oh, okay, sorry.” John walked back into the kitchen. “Milk?”

“No thanks.”

Something didn’t feel right. Something, something…

He grabbed the sugar bowl and brought it to the table by the sofa.

“Hope you didn’t mind me grabbing one of your books.” Zoe said, pointing at the hardback with one hand while she scooped sugar into her coffee with the other. “But when Helen went out there wasn’t much to do.”

“No problem. I’m surprised you didn’t go with her.”

Zoe shook her head and yawned. “Nope, I’m too tired. It was a long trip, you know. I’ve been driving since Wednesday. Non-stop. I wasn’t even sure I’d make it here for the weekend.”

“So,” John said as he settled into an armchair by the sofa, “you and Helen have been friends for a long time?”

“Yep, ages!” Zoe smiled.

“She’s never mentioned you…”

Zoe put the coffee down on the table and placed the book next to her. She pulled her legs up onto the sofa and crawled to the end where she rested her elbows on the side-arms and stared directly at John.

“Did I make you feel uncomfortable before, Johnny?”

“Er...look I –”

“I didn’t mean to. Helen said get comfortable and that’s how I am when I’m comfortable. I’m sorry if I made you on edge or nervous. I really didn’t mean to.”

John watched as a range of emotions swept across her face. Her smile broke into a worried frown and then into a look of sadness. She almost looked as if she was about to cry.

He had only known her for a few minutes, but he already felt as if they had been friends for a long, long time. His suspicions and worries were slipping from his mind. And he was letting them.

She sat back in the sofa, “I’m sorry,” she said.

“No, no, no,” John felt the need to let her know everything was fine. “Don’t be like that. It was just a shock, you know. I come home and I think I’m going to see Helen and then I find you…”

Zoe smiled again as if everything was solved. “Good, I’m glad.”

She sat back, reached for the coffee and took another sip.

“You make great coffee.”

“Thanks.”

“I like your coffee.”

“Thanks again.”

John looked at his watch: 11:53.

“Helen should be back by now,” he said as he frowned.

“Well, she only just left here before you got home.”

“Still, if she’s driven down to the closest store and got some food, she should’ve been back about ten minutes ago. They’re never too busy on a Friday night.”

“Well, you know Helen can get a little crazy sometimes,” Zoe leaned forward and patted his arm. Her smell wafted over him again; that fresh, fruity fragrance.

“I’ve never known Helen to go crazy,” John said. “She’s never like that. Quite the opposite, in fact.”

“We all go a little crazy sometimes.” Zoe giggled once more, and spilled some coffee onto her jeans, “Oops,” she said as she wiped away the spill. “You’ll learn I giggle too much.”

“So, how long are you in town?” John asked, hoping to fill in the time and make it pass quicker – bringing Helen home sooner. An easy conversation could make them both feel more comfortable.

“I don’t know yet. I’ve got some matters to take care of. It shouldn’t be long though. It depends how difficult it all becomes. At least by arriving here tonight I can rest over the weekend and then get down to business on Monday. Don’t worry, though, I won’t stay too long.”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that.”

She smiled, “It’s okay, Johnny. I won’t outstay my welcome.”

He smiled back.

How could
you
ever outstay a welcome?
he wondered.

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a researcher!” Zoe replied eagerly. “You want things found out – I find ’em! For a price, of course. I do freelance stuff mostly.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“Yeah, it can be. But mostly it isn’t. And when it’s slow, it’s really slow. Usually I spend my time serving coffee in a shopping centre somewhere just to make ends meet.”

She giggled again. John couldn’t help it and he joined in too.

Then there was a pause.

“You haven’t asked me what I do?” John said.

Zoe waved a hand at him, “No need. Helen has told me everything! You’re the Engineering Manager for American Eagle Electronics, right here in Parkhurst.”

“Wow, you know your stuff. So, how do you know Helen?”

“We met years ago – best buddies in school.”

“Funny,” John scratched his head as he thought back. “I’m sure she’s never mentioned you.”

Zoe shrugged her shoulders, drained the last of the coffee from her cup and stared deep into his eyes. John found himself mesmerised by the deep brown pools.

“I’m probably a secret, Johnny,” she said. “We all have secrets, you know.”

John sunk backwards and broke her stare. He took a gulp of coffee and looked at her again, at her smile, and at her perfectly formed straight white teeth. Her smell wafted over him again. He noticed for the first time that she had a small scar running across her left eyebrow.

“It all depends who we tell about them,” she said as she sat back and picked up the book.

John looked at his watch: 12:04.

After midnight? This has gone on too long.

“Okay, I better go and find Helen,” John said as he stood and placed the coffee mug to one side. “She’s been gone way too long.”

“Don’t have a fit, she’ll be back soon.”

“No, I better –”

“Now
you’re
going a bit crazy.”

John turned and headed down the hallway, grabbing a coat off the hallstand as he went.

“Johnny, I wouldn’t,” Zoe called after him.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be long. I’ll take my car and be back in a few minutes.”

“She’s probably got caught up somewhere. Or taken that drive I told you about! The moment you leave she’ll arrive and we’ll have to search for you!”

John grabbed his keys from the key rack by the door and turned to face her, “I’ll be back soon.”

Zoe was standing at the other end of the hall, “Don’t go crazy on me, Johnny.”

“I’m not going crazy. I’m just going to find Helen and then we’ll both be back,” he said.

“Don’t do it!”

“Just relax and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“I don’t think so…”

John stopped and stared at her. Her face was a mix of emotions again, making it hard for him to read her. The silence between them was heavy.

“You can’t stop me,” he said.

Zoe’s hands went to the back of her jeans and then swung around quickly. The blur of movement solidified before his eyes.

He stared at the revolver pointed at him.

“Yes I can.”

Two

“You can’t leave me, Johnny,” Zoe whispered.

John stared back at the revolver, his mind whirling.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I told you, you’ve got to stay here with me.”

John ran a hand through his hair.

Is she serious?
he wondered.

“Look, I have to go and try to find Helen,” he began, nice and slowly. “She shouldn’t have been gone this long. The store’s only down the road and if she drove she should have been back by now. She could be in trouble and I have to go find her.”

Zoe leaned against the hallway door. The gun was still aimed at his chest. She stared at him but didn’t say a word.

“You understand, don’t you? I mean, Helen’s your friend too. You’d want to help her if she’s in trouble, right?”

She stared at him, but he could tell what she was thinking. Her forehead furrowed and her face changed from anger to uncertainty.

And then she began to cry.

John stood at the other end of the hallway, car keys in hand, watching as Zoe lowered the revolver and dropped it to the ground. The gun clattered onto the wooden floor by her bare feet. Her hands went to her face and she buried her tears in them. Her chest heaved as she pulled in gulps of air and strands of hair escaped from her ponytail as she shook her head from side to side.

The muffled sobs carried down the hallway to John. He continued to stare at her and occasionally down at the gun now lying on the floor.

“I’m sorry, Johnny,” she said between sobs. “So sorry.”

Her voice sounded so afraid, so childlike. Suddenly the woman before him had turned into a scared, sad child. How quickly she could change.

John placed the keys back on the key holder and draped his coat on the hallstand as he walked towards her.

“Hey, now,” he whispered as he neared her. “There’s no reason to get all upset.”

When he was in reaching distance, Zoe looked up through her hands at him. Her face was red and tear-streaked, her eyes were puffy and her nose was running. She tried to smile, but couldn’t. She broke into another long sob and buried her face in her hands once more.

“Sshh,” John whispered as he stood in front of her. “You’re tired. You need some rest.”

Zoe shook her head.

He reached out with one hand and rubbed her left arm, trying to give her some comfort. Her arm was nicely tanned, with hundreds of little blonde hairs shining in the light, and he could feel her tense muscles. The top she was wearing, with the L shaped neck, allowed him to view her neck and left shoulder, and his eyes wandered across her skin as her smell surrounded him once more.

He continued to rub her arm. He didn’t know what else to do.

She looked up at him and tried to say something, her mouth attempting to form words, but she couldn’t do it. All that came out was a pitiful half-cry and she threw herself at him with her arms open.

Before John had time to react, she was hugging him hard, pulling him closer to her and wrapping her arms tightly around his body. Her face was pushed into his chest and he could feel the tears soak into his shirt as she continued to cry, harder now.

He rubbed her back and held her tight.

They stood in the hallway, holding each other, until she stopped crying.

When John was sure that her crying had subsided for good, he walked her towards the sofa. She continued to hold onto him, but she let herself be guided from the hallway and across the lounge room.

“Here,” he said as they reached the sofa. “Sit down and you’ll feel better.”

Zoe shook her head, he could feel its movement across his chest, but as he pulled her away, she let go of him and flopped into the sofa.

“Can I get you anything? Another coffee or something?” he asked.

“A glass of water, maybe?” Zoe whispered. Her bottom lip was curled over and pouting and her large eyes looked up at him. She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hands.

“No problem,” he said.

John turned away and headed to the kitchen. On his way there, his eyes focussed on the gun still lying in the hallway.

Why would she have that?
he wondered.
And why threaten me with it?

He filled a glass with water and brought it back to her.

Zoe was sitting cross-legged on the sofa once more, and she was placing the escaped strands of her hair back in her ponytail. She had regained some composure in the short time he had been gone and her face was no longer so red or tear-marked.

She smiled as she took the glass of water from him. “Thanks.”

“No trouble. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

She took two huge gulps of water and then placed the glass on the table by the sofa.

“You must think I’m an idiot,” she said. Her eyes fell to her hands. She was fumbling with the cuffs of her jeans.

He sat down in the chair next to the sofa.

“Why do you say that?”

She looked at him and tried to smile, but she looked sad. Different emotions broke across her face like waves on a beach. Too many for John to read at once.

He smiled at her and reached out and rubbed her knee.

“I don’t think you’re an idiot,” he said. “I would never think that.”

Zoe touched his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you,” she whispered. Her face almost broke into tears again, but she restrained herself and took a deep breath. She ran her fingers through her hair once more to check it was all still in the ponytail and then she closed her eyes.

John watched as she sat there, in a yoga-like position, breathing deeply.

After a short while, she opened her eyes and smiled at him.

“I’m better now,” she said.

“Good,” he replied.

“And I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I pulled a gun on you!” she whispered. “What must you think of me?”

John’s eyes darted back to the hallway. Just inside the door he could see the gun still resting on the floor.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said.

“Yeah,” Zoe let out a giggle. “I can see who’s worried about it. You can’t keep your eyes off it!”

“Well, it just came as a bit of a shock, you know.” John said. “You shouldn’t go around pointing that thing at people. It’ll get you into all sorts of trouble.”

And that was it. Her face changed in a second, like a storm-cloud had blown over it, and she was crying again. The large, fitful sobs were accompanied by fast flowing tears that streamed from her eyes.

John didn’t know what to do or say. He watched as she fell apart in front of him. She rocked back and forth on the sofa, her hands to her face once more, the crying so deep and rhythmic that he thought she was having trouble breathing. Her sobs sounded so pitiful.

He had no choice.

He stood up and moved to the sofa and sat down beside her. He took her in his arms and hugged her tightly, rocking her slowly.

She cried loudly in his ear and the whole of her small body shook with every intake of breath.

He rocked her and hugged her until she cried herself out.

They sat on the sofa in silence for quite a while. He couldn’t tell if she was still awake, but he wasn’t game to pull away or leave her. He wanted her to regain some control. She continued to hold him tight, but at least the crying had stopped and her breathing had returned to normal.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered after a long, long time.

He turned to look at her and found she was already looking up at him.

“Don’t be,” he said.

“No, I’ve acted like a fool. None of this is your fault. It’s not even your problem, but I’ve come here and made it your problem.”

“I don’t understand.”

Zoe pulled away from him and sat back on the sofa, turning herself to sit sideways so she was facing him, and John did the same.

She reached out and took hold of his hands and squeezed them gently.

“I shouldn’t have come here. But I had nowhere else to go.” She tried to smile, but her face wouldn’t let her. “And now I’ve involved you and Helen.”

John shook his head, “Hang on, I’m not following you. Start from the beginning and tell me everything. Then I’ll know what you’re talking about.”

Zoe stared at him for a moment, then took another deep breath and nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Everything.”