Staring so hard was putting serious strain on my eyeballs. ‘You what? The politician? That Tobey Durbridge?’
Callie shrugs. ‘The one and only.’
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. ‘Who did he kill?’
She frowns. ‘It’s alleged that he killed Daniel Jeavons.’
‘The mobster?’ My mouth falls open. Wow! The shocks just keep on coming.
Callie’s expression is grim. ‘The one and only.’
‘Wait. What? Tobey Durbridge killed Daniel Jeavons and you’re going to defend him? Dan Jeavons’ lowlife friends aren’t going to be happy about that and they won’t be afraid to show it. Are you nuts?’
‘Troy, you have heard of innocent until proven guilty, haven’t you?’ Callie frowns. ‘Tobey didn’t kill Dan.’
‘What makes you so sure?’
‘Because Tobey told me so,’ she says, as if I’d asked a stupid question.
‘And if I told you I was the king of the whole of Zafrika, would you believe that too?’ Was my sister serious?
‘Tobey and I grew up together. We were close, OK? He wouldn’t lie to me,’ she insists.
‘He might if—’
‘He wouldn’t.’
‘But he would if—’
‘Troy, I’m telling you, Tobey wouldn’t lie to me. He just wouldn’t do that.’
My sister is adamant that Tobey is innocent. He would never lie to her, so how could he possibly be a killer? Usually, my sister keeps all emotion out of her court cases.
‘It’s the only way to do my job effectively,’ she’s told me more than once.
But anyone with half an eye could see that Callie’s emotions are involved. Her past friendship is affecting her current judgement. Her lack of logic when it comes to this guy is troubling.
‘If you two are so close, how come you haven’t mentioned him recently?’ I can’t help asking. ‘How many times have you seen him to talk to in the last few years?’
‘That’s not the point. Tobey and I were never friends for a reason or a season, but for life. If you must know, we were more than friends, until something happened which exploded our friendship.’
More than friends? It’s hitting home just how little I know about my own sister. It wasn’t for want of asking either.
‘What happened?’ I ask.
At first I think Callie isn’t going to answer. Either that or she’s going to tell me to mind my own. Instead, she sighs. ‘Beware of jealousy, Troy. It makes you do stupid things. Unforgivable things.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like something that burns through you like acid every time you remember it, so you try not to think about it.’ Callie lowers her gaze. ‘Except, as time goes by, you find yourself thinking about it more, not less. When I was your age, Troy, I made a huge mistake. Colossal. Now it’s time to atone.’
‘What mistake did you make?’
‘Something I have no intention of sharing with you, so don’t even ask,’ Callie replies.
Worth a try!
‘Is that why you’re defending Tobey? As an apology?’
Callie doesn’t speak. She doesn’t have to. Neither of us have to say it, but her need to atone might just end up rebounding on me and Mum. If what they say about Dan Jeavons and his friends is true, then Callie’s need might end up with someone getting hurt. Or even killed.
fifteen. Libby
* * *
I lie on my bed, curled into a ball, facing the wall. The cotton pillowcase beneath my cheek smells of the lavender perfume Mum bought me over two years ago for my fifteenth birthday. I’m not a fan of lavender, never have been – but it’s one of the few presents Mum has ever given me. My birthday tends to be something Mum remembers after the event. I gave up reminding her round about my ninth or tenth. I read somewhere that moths don’t like lavender and the smell helps you to sleep so I always squirt a little on my pillow whenever I change the pillowcase. The thing is, now I have trouble sleeping without it.
‘Liberty? Liberty darling, let me in.’
‘Mum, it’s late and I’m tired. Go to bed. We can talk in the morning.’ I clench my fists to stop my hands shaking. I don’t need this. Not tonight.
Mum, please go away.
Mum rattles the door handle. ‘Liberty, open the door, please. This is important. I have something to say to you.’
That was stupid. I shouldn’t have answered. I should’ve just pretended to be already asleep. Now she won’t stop.
‘No, Mum. Go back to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow.’
‘Liberty Jackman, you open this door. NOW!’
I sit up in bed, pulling down the oversized T-shirt that serves as my nightie. I know from past experience that, if I don’t open the door, Mum will get louder and more belligerent until the neighbours either come knocking or phone the police, who inevitably knock louder. I stand up, my heart thumping.
‘Mum, please. I just want to go to sleep. I’m very tired.’
‘This won’t take long, Libby. Open the door. Don’t make me repeat myself,’ says Mum.
Libby, don’t be a damned fool. Don’t open that door.
The voice of reason lives rent free in my head, but, like an unwanted squatter, I resent and resist it and once again choose to ignore it.
Libby, don’t—
My fingers creep towards the lock beneath the door handle.
‘Liberty love, please.’ Mum’s voice is soft, caressing, barely above a whisper.
I turn the lock slowly. The door opens.
I don’t see it coming. There’s just a sudden impact to the middle of my face, a flash of hot and red, a crash of head-splitting agony. My legs give way beneath me and I crumple into darkness.
sixteen. Troy
* * *
I can’t believe what my sister is telling me. Tobey Durbridge has been charged with killing the most notorious gangster in the country. I may not have been a great follower of current events, but shouldn’t that fact have hit every online news bulletin on the Internet? A story like that would surely have flashed up on my laptop, yet there’d been nothing about Tobey’s arrest.
‘Why isn’t this all over the news?’ I ask.
Callie lifts her chin defiantly. ‘I took out a super-injunction. Until it’s lifted, the press aren’t allowed to mention anything about Tobey being arrested or the charges he’s facing. They can’t even refer to the fact that they can’t mention it.’
‘What happens if they do?’
‘Go directly to jail. No mitigating circumstances, no appeals, no second chances.’
‘So what can they report on?’
‘Dan Jeavons is dead. That’s about it. They have to stick to the victim and the crime, not the potential suspects.’
Wow! Eyebrows raised, I contemplate my sister with a new appreciation. She could do that? Suppress the biggest story in years? I guess she could and she did. So all the hype about her is right. I’ll have to start paying more attention.
‘But what about Tobey? Shouldn’t he at least resign from the government or something?’ I ask.