Outback Flames: Australian Rural Romantic Suspense (10 page)

'Sisters do
visit each other.'

'If only I
could remember, then I'd have a better understanding.'

'I can't
recall a sister. But perhaps she visited when I wasn't round.'

 Zoe picked up
her coffee and took a sip, before crossing her arms and rubbing at her
forearms.

'You look
mighty washed out.'

She managed a
half grin. 'I thought when I came back my memory would return and things would
settle down. There are still so many unanswered questions.'

'I can help
you find those answers.'

He placed his
cup on the table and edged closer.

She wanted to
snuggle in his arms, get to know what the feeling would be like again, and
again. After last night, it rocked her into orbit, and now she was experiencing
withdrawals. She hadn't forgotten the way his touch sparked her insides with
desire, a longing that had curled up and sat in waiting for the next rush.

As she turned
toward him, his lips were there for the taking and she inched sideways into the
path of his magnetism. His hands slipped to her waist, and she eagerly accepted
his guidance as he edged closer, and deeper into the kiss. Her hands slipped
around his neck tugging at him with anticipation; with such longing, she thought
her insides would combust.

Drawing back
with a gasp, she smiled and he responded by sending her a pleasurable grin that
lit her insides.

'It's good to
have you close to me. I've been lost without you. It was like my best friend
had abandoned me.'

'Well I'm back
now. But I have to find out more. Find out what really went wrong that night.
It's driving me nuts.'

 He dropped
his hands, and moved back a little. 'One step at a time.'

'I want to
take three, six, ten and more. I need to know now.'

'Fire away.'

'Did my
parents like you?'

'Sort of. Your
father gave me a talking the afternoon before the fire. He wanted me to ease
off a little and said you were too young.'

'So what did
you do?'

'I came to see
you that night like most nights. I'd toss a few stones on your window to let
you know I was here. That night I arrived the house was in flames.'

'You saw the
fire?' Her heartbeat pounded in her chest.

'I saw the
other end of the house on fire and I took off home. Mum rang the fire brigade,
and I returned on my bike.'

Zoe pushed her
hair behind her ears. 'Where was I?' She spotted the torment, and waves of
despair that seemed to be tearing him apart.

'I saw you
briefly. You ran from the trellis to the other end of the house. But there was
a car. A black sedan was parked in the shadows.'

Zoe shivered,
squinted in question. 'Who was it?'

'I didn't see
anyone, only a shadow.'

'What? Waiting
for me?'

'I don't know.
I heard you scream and then they dragged you off to the car. I started to run
up to you, but the car sped off and you were gone. It didn't have number
plates, well, not that I could see. The fire brigade arrived minutes later.'

Zoe cupped her
mouth with her hand. 'So someone, which would have been my aunt or William, her
partner, or both of them, dragged me off into the night.'

'Well someone
did. I didn't know who it was.'

'And then I
was listed as missing.'

'Yeah. It took
the town a long time to get over that night. Search parties went out day and
night for months. Men, women and children joined in. No one knew what happened
to you. You were tagged as the little girl lost. Everyone from then on referred
to you as little girl lost.'

Zoe's bottom
lip quivered, her throat tightened. Little girl lost - she certainly had been
lost for years. She tried to recall the night but it remained a blur.

'I don't
recall it at all. It's all gone.'

He reached out
and took her hands, brought them to his lips, kissed them in turn and looked up
at her. 'Don't push it. It wasn't you who did anything wrong.'

'Thank god for
that.'

'Everything
has come as a shock. It will take time for things to settle down, time for us
to find a way over and through all the roadblocks we have ahead.'

'I'm so sorry
this has happened to you.'

'You're sorry.
Zoe. You shouldn't be saying sorry. It's me.'

'You were a
kid Jordan. What could you have done?'

'I could have
done more. I could have gone after you. I told the cops what I saw but it
wasn't much to go by as I didn't get the plates.'

'It's not your
fault. I don't think saying a black sedan took me away would be much to go on,
especially without plates. Besides, you said you didn't know who it was.'

He lifted his
cup from the table, took a few gulps. 'I had no idea.'

'Dan told me
my aunt visited my mother three days before the fire. They were spotted at the
coffee shop here in town. Don't you think that's a little odd?'

'Yeah. I do.
But what can we do about it?'

'I'll keep
asking questions.'

Jordan glanced
up. 'You were always a strong one Zoe. Always.' He grinned with admiration in
his eyes.

'So did your
friends get away okay this morning?'

'Yeah. It'll
be great when they move back for good after the baby is born.'

'Luke seems to
love them.'

'He does.
Their Luke's godparents. We're all pretty close.'

***

Zoe spent a
few days setting up house and upon finishing, she walked to the end of the
lounge room to a closed door. She realised she needed to find out if her
parents had her birth certificate, or a legal piece of paper that would prove
she was Zoe Montgomery. Jordan had mentioned he'd done the office up, and all
the paperwork that remained in the house, along with what he could salvage, was
locked in a cabinet.

She stared at
the bunch of keys in her hand and wondered if any of them was the right fit.
She reached out and turned the gold doorknob, and allowed the door to swing
open.

Jordan had
everything orderly as he'd said. She crossed the small room, opened a window
and turned, her gaze fleeting over the room. A desk, an office chair made of
some type of leather, and a steel cabinet were the only items in the room.

She walked up
to the cabinet, and started with the smaller keys first and upon the fifth key,
the lock turned. Dropping the keys on the desk, she held her breath.

As she flicked
through the files, tears dropped to her cheeks. Photographs, old diaries,
notebooks, and much more were waiting for her return. A pleasant connection
inside rose and a closeness she hadn't felt edged to her heart. Her parents’
life was in this box.

Eager to find
out more she grabbed a handful of note pads, folders and a few books and placed
them on the table, before sitting down and opening a page of one of the
notebooks. And there it was in front of her. She picked up the piece of paper;
her birth certificate. She drew it closer, staring at her name for some time.

Most of the
material in the folders was about the running of the property, and she couldn't
find out any more about her aunt. There were a few birthday cards, which she
read, and sentiment overcame her. A deep thump in the side of her forehead
forced her to her feet. She grabbed her birth certificate, and gazed about the
room. Letting out a sigh, she walked from the room with intentions of returning
another day, a day when she felt stronger.

Zoe woke in beads of perspiration.
She bolted upright in bed. Moonlight tripped through the lace curtains fanning
over the walls. She stilled. Her muscles tensed and she flicked her gaze about
the room as her mind remained in the dream.

Her
mother's voice. 'Zoe fire. Wake up. Zoe wake up.' Tears fell to her cheeks,
saturating her silk nightie. 'Zoe are you awake? Get out. Fire. Zoe...'

She ran to
the door. 'Mum. Open the door.' Zoe reached for the doorknob, but jerked her
hand back when the heat from the metal warned what may lie on the opposite
side. 'Where are you, Mum?'

'In our
room. We can't get through our door. Get out through your window and down the
trellis. Go now before it's too late. Now Zoe. Go.'

Panic
latched over her heart as Zoe ran to the window and heaved it upwards before
scrambling onto the rooftop. She shimmied her way over to the trellis, having
done this many times before when she'd sneak out to meet Jordan. Now,
everything seemed difficult. Where was her coordination? She couldn't
concentrate.

A sudden
boom shook the house, sounding like the crash of timber. Smoke filled the
atmosphere.

When she
glanced downwards into the front yard, a dark image ran across the front lawn.
'Jordan.' It came out as a whisper. She could scarcely breathe, let alone call
out. She scrambled down the trellis, slipped a few times until her feet hit the
ground.

By the time
she ran to where she'd spotted Jordan, he'd vanished.

She raced
across the width of the house and bolted to a stop. Orange flames leapt from
her parents’ bedroom window, and attacked the surrounding timber.

'Mum, Dad.
Please get out. Are you out? Where are you?' Zoe ran around to the back of the
house, and returned, repeated. 'Mum. Dad. Where are you? Are you there? Mum.
Dad.' She let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Zoe didn't
hear her mother's voice again.

The
destruction of timber under the attack of red, hot flames was the only sound
filling the atmosphere. Tears ran down her heat-scorched cheeks, as she glared
with disbelief while shock slowly set in.

A hand latched
over her arm, and she pulled back, trying to release the hold as she was
dragged, kicking and screaming, into a nearby car.

Her mother had
saved her life that night. She'd called out in warning. Zoe sobbed for some
time allowing the memories to filter back into her mind, allowing every piece
to slot where they once belonged. Her body trembled in the after effects of the
dream and she swung her legs from the bed, and made her way into the kitchen to
put on the kettle.

Her legs
turned to jelly and she sat on the nearest chair trying to settle her raging
nerves. Images continued to flash through her mind, images of her parents, of
Jordan, of going to school. With a heavy chest, she remained seated for some
time, while her body vibrated under the attack of heart-wrenching sorrow.

Although her
father liked Jordan, he wanted him to stay away for a while, saying she was too
young to see boys, that she was a child. Jordan had begged him, asked for his
permission. Her father flatly refused.

Was Jordan
responsible for her father's death, for her mother's death? Chills skittered
over her skin.

Zoe opened her
mouth, trying to suck in oxygen, trying to release the pressure over her chest.
She wandered into the lounge room, pulled up a beanbag, the only furniture in
the room, and dropped onto it.

After sipping
on her coffee, she glanced about in a state of numbed shock. She sniffled, and
tried to stop the overflow of tears from her eyes. Shock bombarded her senses,
causing an ache to spear across her forehead. She gave it a rub.

Her memory had
returned like a motion picture, vivid, full of colour, laughter, sunshine,
picnics, family and friends. It was as though the pathway of nerves in her mind
was re-joining. Her body continued to vibrate and she sniffled, and wiped her
nose with the back of her hand while trying to calm her nervous system.

***

Everything
Jordan had told her about her family was true; everything about them being more
than friends was spot on. The embers that sat dormant in her heart for years
were alight. She had secretly been infatuated with him for years. She had so
much admiration for him in those early years she had a feeling one day they
would be married with a bunch of kids. She smiled in thought. To this day, she
loved him. He was her Jordan. She couldn't wait to see him again, to tell him
of her news.

Pulling up in
front of the police station, she stepped from her ute, and headed indoors to
find the sergeant. After her initial inquiry, she found out he wasn't due back
for another three days. Her original zest had dampened, and she wandered down
the street and took a seat at the coffee shop before ordering a coffee. She
found her sunglasses, and dropped them over her eyes. They were red from crying
the previous night and with little sleep, she didn't want people suspecting
something was wrong. She picked up a nearby paper and flicked through the
pages, but found nothing of interest.

A stack of
papers sitting on a small table in front of her caught her attention. She
stood, and walked over to pick up the tattered pages. Some were dated back at
least fifteen years.

'A lot of good
reading there,' a voice called.

She turned and
smiled. 'Mr Johnson. I didn't know you still owned this place.' Zoe's heart
tapped faster. She'd known this man when her mother used to stop and chat to
him on the street. His hair was greyer, but his eyes were familiar. She
couldn't believe it. It was as though a new world was opening, and she was no
longer floundering around in the dark, struggling to become the person she was
meant to be.

He approached
her. 'Zoe Montgomery. I thought it was you. I'm glad you're safe and sound now.
It's a terrible shame about your family though.'

Zoe nodded.
'Yes. It was...horrible.'

'There's a bit
about the night of the fire in one of them. You'd have to go through them to
find out which one. '

'Thank you.'

Zoe picked up
the stack of papers and carried them over to where she sat. She eased down on
the chair and set them on the table. Why hadn't she thought to check
newspapers, or the library for that matter? She didn't own a computer, and had
only the basic knowledge of how to use one. The Pattersons had helped with her
course and she didn't have the need to go online. She revelled in the fact that
something as simple as a paper could give her so much knowledge and she hadn't
thought to check them earlier. She gave her head a shake in disbelief.

She began to
scan the headlines of each paper. Chills speared over her arms, fingered out to
her body in a rush of cold and then hot. A brother? She had had a brother. Why
didn't the solicitor mention a brother? Her bottom lip quivered. Drawing
closer, she glared at the headlines.

'The death of
Mrs Rebecca Montgomery, Mr James Montgomery and Benjamin Montgomery has come as
a shock to the small community of Munna.'

Zoe blinked
back threatening tears and continued reading. Her stomach muscles tightened.
Why hadn't her memory released that important piece of information? Benjamin.
Ben. Flashes of a boy filled her mind, and she thought she was going to be sick
right there over the pavers. She stilled, and held onto the edge of the chair.
It was as though she was about to fall off a steep cliff.

Zoe closed her
eyes. Her brother's bedroom was next to her parents’. He was five years old.
Why hadn't she seen his bedroom? Why hadn't he been in the photographs Jordan
showed her, and why hadn't anyone mentioned him? Her stomach took a dive.

That meant she
ran without thinking of her brother. She ran from the house that night leaving
her entire family behind and she should have stayed put. She should have opened
her door and helped them. Instead, she ran in the opposite direction, saving
herself. Horrified by what she'd done, she couldn't move and stared into the
street while nothing surrounding her registered, nothing at all.

Time marked
out until she was able to continue looking over the papers. She placed the one
with the headlines about her parents aside, and flicked her gaze over the
following headlines. Jordan was right.
Little girl lost
was splashed
over the following few papers. Her insides did a slow, sickening roll, and her
heartbeat thumped double time against her chest. Zoe hadn't realised the fuss,
the confusion she'd caused this community. Hadn't realised the effort everyone put
in to try to find her. She was indebted to the people of this town.

'Hey Zoe. I
thought it was you.'

Zoe glanced
up, not wanting company of any kind. She swallowed, sniffled. 'Jade. Lovely to
see you.' She tried to plaster a smile over her face, but it ended up more like
a lopsided grin.

Jade stopped
beside the table. 'Hey. Are you okay?'

Jade looked at
the paper, which was opened at the headlines she had previously read. Jade
pulled out a chair and sank onto it.

'My memory is
back. I had a nightmare last night, followed by memory jolts. When I woke up
everything flooded back. It happened so fast it gave me a whopping headache.
I've still got it.' She sniffled several times.

 'Well that's
good isn't it?'

'It's perfect,
well almost.'

'I'm sorry.
I'm sorry we didn't say anything about little Ben. We were going to tell you
gradually, not shock you all at once.' She reached out place her hand over the
top of Zoe's palm. 'I can listen.'

Zoe rubbed her
forehead with her fingertips.

'Do you need
to see a doctor, see someone?'

'No. No.' She
whooshed out on an exhale. 'A doctor would only prescribe medication that'd
make me drowsy. I like to be in control of my thoughts, not wavering all about
the place under the influence of prescribed medication. Um...I understand you
not saying anything about my brother, but it was and is important. I thought
you'd tell me, Jade. I thought Jordan would have said something.' Zoe jerked to
her feet. 'I have to go. I'm sorry. We'll talk later, I promise.'

She gathered
the newspapers into her arms and walked over toward the door of the cafe. After
she opened the door and walked in, she spotted Mr Johnson behind the counter.

'Mr Johnson.
Do you mind if I keep the newspapers for a few days?'

'No lovie. Go
ahead. No one around here reads them anyway. Take all the time you need.'

'Thank you.'

Zoe turned and
dashed down the street toward her ute. Jumping onto the seat she snatched up
her mobile and pressed connect to Daniel Stanford's number. She waited out the
ring tone.

'Can I speak
to Mr Stanford please? It's urgent. It's Zoe Montgomery.'

'Hello, Zoe.
What's the problem?'

'I had a
brother. You didn't mention that I had a little brother. If that's the case,
wouldn't he inherit half of the estate?'

'Yes, he was
listed as receiving half. But...well.'

'Yes. I just
found out. He...he died in the fire that night. My aunt...' Zoe swallowed her
words down.

'I'm sorry for
your loss.'

'I have to
go.' She sniffled. 'Please ring me the moment you find the will?'

'It's here
ready for you to sign.'

'I'll be right
over.' She clicked end, and gathered her emotions.

***

After she
signed the necessary forms with the solicitor, everything was legal. She made
an appointment to return with a will of her own. Now she had to do something
she should have done when she first arrived in Munna. She knew where the cemetery
was and she turned her ute in the direction.

The ute bumped
over the dirt road and Zoe pulled up in front of two sandstone blocks
supporting a metal sign above the driveway stating 'Munna Cemetery'. She
climbed from stuffy enclosure, and made her way into the wide open space with
headstones jutting out at her from all directions.

The afternoon
heat peeled in over the land and she placed her palm face down on the top of
her head, wishing she had worn a hat. She knew where to go, knew where they'd
be. The Anglican section. It didn't take too long to find her mother's and
father's grave site, along with a tiny headstone beside them. She drew in a
shuddering breath, dropped her knees onto the hard soil next to her father's
grave site and read the inscription.

'James
Montgomery. Loving father of Benjamin and Zoe Montgomery, husband of Rebecca
Mayberry.'
Next to her father was her mother, with a marbled headstone just
as grand and decorative as her father’s. Zoe held back desperate sobs as she
read her mother's inscription.
Loving wife of James Montgomery, and loving
mother of Zoe and Benjamin Montgomery. May they rest in peace together
forever.'

She leaned
closer, ran her trembling fingers over the fancy gold lettering of her mother's
name, stopped, waited out seconds, and read her little brother's inscription.

Zoe stared at
the inscriptions for long painful moments, and dropped her head as grief poured
up from the depths of her soul. She glanced up. Sobs hiccupped in her throat,
and she struggled to draw in oxygen. Sniffling repeatedly, she found she
couldn't breathe. She fought to open her airways, gagging repeatedly until
oxygen filled her lungs and she willed calm to her body.

'I'm so sorry
I left you. I'm so sorry. Mum, why did you tell me to run? It's been a
nightmare since losing you, a terrible nightmare. I wish you were back, all of
you, here with me. Why can't you come back Mum, why can't all of you come
back?'

The crucifying
heartbreak that was cracking her heart wide open forced her to remain on the
hard soil until some semblance of mind and control returned.