North Star (25 page)

‘
Ms
Thurston,' John said pointedly, scoring a flicker of a scowl from Andy, ‘doesn't get a say in it. This is a police matter now.'

Andy's eyes darted nervously from Kate to John. ‘Isn't this a conflict of interest or something? You're obviously sleeping with my ex-wife—I'm sure that won't look good to your superiors.'

Kate saw the anger flare inside John at the threat. ‘If you have half a brain,' John said, stepping forward, ‘you'll shut your mouth before you say something that could land you in a whole lot of trouble.'

Sensing he had touched a nerve, Andy smiled smugly. ‘You don't care about upholding the law, you're just here to warn me off Kate.' He gave a snide chuckle. ‘I can't say I blame you, she is a bit of a firecracker between the sheets, isn't—' Andy's last word was choked off, as John's hand shot out and clutched the man's neck.

‘John—don't!' Kate gasped, taking a tentative step towards them.

‘Don't say another word,' John warned Andy.

‘I think this constitutes police harassment.'

Logic seemed to battle with fury; slowly John's grip loosened and he took a step back.

‘You're the one in trouble now, copper. I'm going to have you thrown out of the force and charged with assault. Don't think I don't know my rights.'

‘John,' Kate said urgently. ‘Please, he'll leave after this, I know he will. There's no need to arrest him.'

‘Get in the car,' John said and gave Andy a shove. ‘We'll sort this out at the station.' His voice was cold and controlled.

‘This is a lot of trouble to go to for a woman you don't even really know. I mean, unless she's told you about the night her mother died,' Andy said.

‘Get in the car.'

‘She hasn't told you.' Andy nodded. ‘Ah well, guess you two don't have anything going on after all. Still, I bet you'd really like to know the truth, wouldn't you, officer?'

‘You know, Thurston, for a guy who's walking a thin line, you're sure talking a lot.' John held the door of the four-wheel drive open. He left Andy in the passenger seat and then walked back to the bunkhouse, ignoring Kate as she stared at him fearfully. Returning with a worn back-pack, he tossed it in beside his passenger.

‘Tell me, how would a cop go, living with a woman who had committed murder? Would that be an easy thing to do?' Andy hadn't given up.

‘Andy, don't.'

John's hand froze on the door handle for a moment before he slammed it shut. He stared straight ahead as he walked around the car, refusing to glance in Kate's direction, then slammed his own door shut and drove away.

Kate sat at the kitchen table, staring at her folded hands. She could almost feel the anxiety gnawing at her stomach lining.

Where the hell were John and Andy? And worse, what was Andy telling John? Kate braced herself for the confrontation ahead as the back screen door banged open and shut. She'd been dreading this all day.

‘Mum, where's Dad?'

‘Hi guys,' said Kate, striving for a calm demeanour.

‘Dad's not in the bunkhouse,' Liam tried again, his expression wary.

‘I don't know, honey. He wasn't here when I got back this morning.'

‘He promised to take us back to the waterhole this afternoon.' Liam's bottom lip wobbled and Kate felt a surge of anger at Andy's selfish behaviour. Why had he come back into their lives now?

‘Baby, I'm sorry.'

She reached for him but he tugged free and turned angry eyes towards her. ‘You made him leave again. Georgia said you would.'

Kate froze. They were angry, hurt and confused, and they had every right to be. Liam ran out the door and she watched him leave, her heart twisting painfully. At least out here he was in no real danger, she told herself; he had the room to run, the space to yell and cry out his frustration, and the security to know that he could come back when he was ready.

Georgia stood at the window, her back to her mother, shoulders stiff.

‘I'm sure your dad will call later and say goodbye.' Kate wasn't sure of it at all—who knew what he had planned?

‘No, he won't,' Georgia said softly.

Kate looked over at her daughter; she was growing up so fast. What had these last few years in their mixed-up life taught her about men? What had Kate, as a mother, taught her about loving them? She prayed she hadn't done serious damage to her children, but there were times like this when she thought the emotional upheaval they'd been forced to endure had to cause some kind of lasting damage.

‘Your dad loves you both.'

Georgia turned from the window. ‘He's a liar,' she said, and suddenly seemed much older than her years.

The defeated tone of her daughter's voice made Kate frown in surprise. This was not the usual angry reaction she was used to. ‘He's—'

‘Don't bother, Mum, I know.'

‘You know what?' Kate asked cautiously.

‘I know that he gambles. I know that he steals and lies.'

Kate stared at her daughter. ‘How do you know?'

‘Because I used to help him,' Georgia answered softly, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

Kate felt as though she had been kicked in the stomach. ‘What do you mean?'

‘I'd take money from your tin in the cupboard and give it to him.'

Georgia
took the money? She'd always thought Andy had done it himself. ‘Why?'

Georgia bit her lip uncertainly. ‘Because I thought if I gave him money, he'd pay off his debts and be able to come back home.'

‘How did you know about his debts?' Kate asked, utterly flabbergasted by these revelations.

‘I'm not deaf or stupid . . . I've always had an idea what was going on. But I didn't really understand what it meant before—now I do.
Now
I know what he is.'

Kate stood up and walked across to her daughter, searching her teary eyes carefully. ‘What do you mean, now? What happened?'

‘He wanted me to help him steal from the Beaumonts.'

‘Jenny and Nathan? But he's never even met them, how would he know who they were?'

Georgia's lip trembled and Kate reached out and took her hands, that familiar old dread gnawing at her insides. ‘He came here because of me. I called him.' Georgia began to cry softly. ‘He gave me a number to use in an emergency and I called him.'

Kate watched her daughter wipe her tears and sniff, ‘It was when you grounded me for being with Mick on race day. I was just so mad at you.' I told him all about you inheriting the property and making us move here. I mentioned the Beaumonts too, and since he's been here he's been asking Liam and me all kinds of stuff.'

Kate's anger flared again, and Georgia hurried to add, ‘It's okay, I told him there was no way I was going to let him do anything to Jenny and Nathan.'

‘You should have told me—that's too much for you to try and handle on your own.'

‘I'm not a kid any more, Mum. You don't need to keep treating me like one.'

Kate reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Georgia's ear. ‘I see that.'

‘Dad was different this time. I always thought he was so cool and fun. Now he just seems . . . fake. He keeps making promises, but he never keeps them.'

‘I'm sorry, baby.'

‘Why did you let me say the things I said to you all those times? I was so mean . . .' Georgia's shoulders shook as she started sobbing and Kate pulled her close, holding her tight, her heart breaking at the devastation on her daughter's face.

‘You were hurting. I understood why you were so angry.'

Kate rested her cheek on top of her daughter's dark head and felt the tears dribble down her face. How many times had she longed for this moment, ached to hold her daughter and soothe her pain? They stood by the window a long time, watching the sun move lower in the sky, until Kate placed a gentle kiss on Georgia's forehead and suggested they go look for her brother.

Comforting two quiet children, both nursing heartaches, was a gloomy way to spend the night. But at least for now they were all together and safe, under the same roof once more.

Finally, the time had come when at least one of Andy's children could see through his facade, see him for the pathetic excuse of a man he was. She'd always thought it would make her feel victorious, but all she felt now was empty. Her kids were losing the innocence she'd so fiercely struggled to protect, and that was nothing but sad.

She hadn't been able to bring herself to tell them the truth about his whereabouts. She searched for a shooting star to wish on, and when she found one, she shut her eyes tightly and wished like never before that Andy had cut his losses and gone back to the city . . . She only hoped that the falling star she'd wished on hadn't been the taillights of a 747. 

Kate swore under her breath as she realised they weren't going to make the bus this morning. She took a short cut through the paddock and dropped the kids at the Beaumonts' instead, barely making the bus as it was about to pull away from the gate.

‘Sleep in, city slicker?' Nathan called as he headed over. ‘You going in to say g'day to Jen?'

Kate hesitated, then shook her head. ‘Can't today, I have a lot to do. Tell her I'll stop by later in the week,' she said as she put the ute into gear.

Nathan placed his large tanned hand on the open window frame, forcing Kate to meet his gaze. ‘We heard you had a visitor.' Kate's breath caught in her chest. ‘Jen and I are here for you, Kate. All you need to do is ask.'

The effort of keeping a tight rein on her emotions made her voice sound huskier than usual. ‘Thanks, Nathan, but there are some things that reach beyond the scope of friendship.'

‘We consider you and the kids family. I didn't think we had to point that out to you after everything we've been through.' He sounded hurt and Kate regretted her hasty remark.

She blinked rapidly. ‘I know. I'm sorry. But everything's fine now, all back to normal.' She dredged up a smile and waited for him to remove his arm from the door.

Stepping away reluctantly, he stood with hands on hips and in the side mirror she saw him watching as she drove away. Her eyes began to blur with tears. She had made the right decision to stay here—she knew it in her heart. Andy was
not
going to drive her away from this place and the people she loved. She'd kill him before she ever let him threaten her like that again.

The sky stretched before Kate, endless and blue. She wiped the sweat from her brow and picked up the shovel and empty pots. Standing back, she eyed the outcome of her morning's labour with a critical eye, finally admitting she was pleased with the results.

The restoration of the bunkhouse was complete. The last of the painting was finished and the new tiles in the small kitchenette here and the bathroom of the B&B were finally in place. There seemed no end to her handyman abilities of late. Now, with the garden planted across the front of the bunkhouse, the first stage of the B&B's accommodation was ready.

It was two days since Andy had left and life had fallen back into its usual routine. Liam had bounced back reasonably well, thanks to the support of the Beaumonts and the comfort of familiar routine.

The National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia—or, more impressively, NASAA—had been out to North Star to do the first inspection, and Nathan and Jenny were awarded pre-certification. Everything was on track, but the cloud of anxiety that hung over Kate's head sapped all her excitement.

Behind her, the crunch of gravel beneath tyres alerted her to a visitor. Shading her eyes against the glare of the midday sun, she turned around and felt as though someone had given her heart a squeeze. The big four-wheel drive pulled up and Kate returned the tools to the shed before wandering over to greet John.

He was leaning with his back against his vehicle, arms folded across his wide chest, looking formidable and more than a little sexy in his dark blue uniform and cap.

I am not going to ask what Andy told him
, she vowed, fighting to remain calm as she came to a stop before him. ‘I've missed you the last few days.'

‘You know where I am,' he told her quietly, his eyes holding hers with a simmering heat and an underlying emotion she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Oh God, he knows.
The thought terrified her, but a small voice of reason piped up and reminded her that he would have been back here the same day to arrest her if that were the case. She forced herself to take a breath.

‘It's been a little . . . hectic around here lately.'

‘With ex-husbands and missing children—yeah, I can see how you had your hands full,' he said with a tinge of sarcasm. ‘By the way, I had a bit of a chat to your ex and I think we reached an agreement of sorts. He won't be coming back here for a while. He decided he didn't really like it here as much as he thought he would.'

She should have felt relieved that Andy was gone, but something in John's expression warned her she shouldn't let her guard down just yet. ‘Is there something you need, John?' she asked, trying to find out what was on his mind.

‘The truth, Kate. That's what I need,' he said in a low, controlled voice.

‘About what?'

‘Len Jackson.'

A ghost she thought long dead.

‘Tell me about him, Kate.'

Feeling, the colour drain from her face, she shook her head in denial and began backing away.

He pushed away from the front of the vehicle and reached her side before she'd taken more than a few steps, grabbing hold of one arm. ‘Tell me who he was, Kate,' he said, his tone rough with anguish.