Title: Business and Pleasure, Seven
Author: Leese
Email: lisacheerio_85@yahoo.com
Note: Part seven (There'll be more parts than I thought, but they're shorter than I planned anyway) :P It gets a bit whacko here, but I needed an idea. hehe
Mac was genuinely sorry as she reached into her bag for her mobile later that night. However, Pete still held one of her hands to his across the intimate table. He massaged her fingers for only a moment, letting her know he understood.
"Mackenzie..." Almost at the same time Peter's mobile rang. He smirked – this was impossible. Reluctantly he took his hand from Mac's and answered also.
"That was Oscar" "That was Danni" both said at the same time as they hung up.
"You first," Pete started. Mac nodded.
"Oscar," she wasn't smiling. "Angie's disappeared, Pete. All her things, including her car and its keys, are still at home. She hasn't shown up to meet Oscar and he says that where, um, they're at, that wouldn't happen without her telling someone."
"Danni just called to let us know the taxi pulled back into the house – your mobile was engaged." He smirked.
"Lamenia back home for the day?"
"Uh, not quite...The cleaner arriving." He shook his head. "Lamenia hasn't been home." They watched each other for moments.
"I think we should get the bill," Mac whispered.
She stood as Pete returned, taking her jacket and slipping it onto her arms and shoulders for her.
*
Angie breathed heavily, nervously, that night as she skirted the edge of the lake. She paused, and couldn't hear anyone following any more. Of course, that didn't mean there was no one there. She rested, leaning against a tree trunk, but gasped as her hand slipped into a hollow in the bark. Her fingers resisted the clutch they found, but she held onto the soon familiar object. She looked around. The lake...the tree... She took her hand out of the trunk, staring in the dark into her palm. She was just able to make it out – an old broken compass – and she knew whose. She couldn't believe it. All this time she'd thought she was in the middle of nowhere, that she was lost. But she wasn't. She wasn't!
*
Angie waited in the bushes for another half an hour at least. No torch, no footsteps. Finally her heart settled to a certain extent, the cool night air at last reaching her skin, her temperature falling. She looked around. Though it had been a long time since she'd been there, she remembered.
Twenty minutes later, she slowed from her loose jog to a walk. Inside, not more than a hundred metres away now, there were still lights on - unusual for country folk who were early risers, but good for her sake.
*
They turned, shocked, at the knock on the back door. The younger man opened the sliding glass for her. Her eyes skirted his face.
"Brad," she recognised aloud. "Can I use your phone?"
"Phones are out," he replied, letting her step inside. "Do I know you?" He didn't remember, cursing himself inwardly, for certainly this girl he would have remembered! She nodded, hugging herself protectively as the two elder people approached her cautiously.
"Michelle?"
*
Angie wiped tears from her eyes as Charlie returned from next door, almost half an hour later.
"Phones are out everywhere," he mumbled, sitting opposite her. Shirley had insisted on 'Michelle' having a shower and warming up, and though she had asked, Angie hadn't explained anything. 'I don't want to get you in trouble,' was all she replied.
"Um, it's okay," she said now in response to Charlie. "I think he left, I think I'm safe here." Shirley sighed, getting worked up just seeing Angie so scared and worried.
"From who?" she urged again.
*
Oscar, Pete and Danni gathered in the factory first thing the next morning. Mac was at HQ. They had just found Lamenia. He was dead, drowned, about two hours out of town. Mac arrived with this news as Oscar's mobile began to ring.
*
Mac and Oscar arrived at the Pierce farm almost exactly two hours later. Angie was sitting outside, a uniformed officer standing above her. He readied himself as Angie stood, biting her bottom lip. Mac and Oscar jumped out of the car and Oscar ran to her. Angie burst into tears as the metal dug into her wrists. Mac looked over at the uniform, revealing her ID.
"Uncuff her," she ordered. Upon seeing such a prominent sergeant on the case, he didn't hesitate. As the cuffs were removed, it took Angie a moment to tell her arms it was okay to move again. She hugged Oscar around the neck tightly.
"Angie," Mac started softly, reaching out and rubbing her back as Angie cried.
"I killed him, I killed him!"
*
Mac let Angie's statement rest on the coffee table. Oscar's parents had so nicely vacated the lounge room for police use.
"Oscar!" Mac called. He poked his head out of the kitchen, where his family was at the moment standing around, talking amongst themselves.
"Cam!" he repeated. She blushed, mouthing 'sorry'. "Yep?"
"You got a tape recorder?" He nodded, watching Angie look down at her lap and exhale deeply. He moved off to his room to get it, returning a moment later. Mac switched it on.
"Ange, can I hear it from you?" She nodded silently, before beginning.
"I was getting ready to go to Oscar's, but when I got home he was waiting for me – Lamenia – and um, I fought but he got me into his car. I passed out for most of it, I don't remember..."
"Just tell me what you remember," Mac urged. "It's all right."
"Um...I thought we'd been driving for hours and hours when I woke up. I was still in the boot, I was having trouble breathing, but when the car stopped I, I tried to work out what to do. We were um, stopped on loose gravel or stones or dirt, I'm not sure...He stopped, and he came around the back. It was dark, I noticed it as he opened the boot. He had a knife but I kicked him as soon as I was able – he hadn't tied me up..." She paused and Mac nodded. "I um, I jumped out and ran away. He followed me. I didn't know where I was going, but, I think now it was the valley just down-"
"Don't worry about that for now Ange."
"Okay, um, he was following me. I couldn't run, not after everything. I was too tired. I was sick of almost dying and I guess I just wished he'd had a gun instead of a knife, because if he'd shot he would've hit me easily. I, um, I fell soon after, onto these rocks. There were a couple of loose trees but it was on a slope...I tried to stand and keep going but he's much bigger. He was really tired too though, I kept kicking him and he had lost a lot of control over the knife. Um...I think then I managed to pull away and run up the slope. He was too heavy to do it as quickly as I could and um, I lost him, but he went around and caught up to me again. I tried to call for help but I didn't think anyone would hear me. I thought I was in a national park or something...Um...He came up behind me, and I turned, punching him in the face. I think I hit his eye or nose or something like that. I kicked him again and..." She looked up at Oscar and Mac. "And he went down. I didn't look back, I just ran and I hid, in um, the scrub near the lake. I couldn't see if he was still lying there in the dark, but he didn't come and find me. I found the compass by accident – it was Oscar's when he was younger, broken now. But then, I, I guess I just came back up...here..." she started crying and Mac switched off the recorder as Oscar hugged her. Mac looked behind her for the uniforms. They were standing near the door, along with Oscar's family, who finally had a decent explanation. The officer in charge spoke.
"He hit his head when he fell, rolled down the embankment and his head ended up in the water. Passed out, no oxygen, drowned."
"You charged her with murder because she punched him?" She raised her eyebrows. He didn't flinch.
"We're taking her down to the lock up for the day until the prosecution decide what they want to do."
"This won't go to trial."
"Whether it does or it doesn't, you don't have authority on this case. I do. You're her friends, that's all. No offence."
"I could easily get authority on this case. This was an accidental death." The uniforms proceeded to move forward, gently breaking Oscar from Angie and helping her stand, taking her hands behind her back. "You think she's dangerous?" Mac challenged. "Leave her free." The officer in charge thought, before nodding to his colleagues, and taking Angie by the elbow instead, leading her out.
"No visitors until tomorrow."
Mac crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked down as Oscar stood also.
"She'll be right," he assured. "She won't talk." Mac nodded.
"Bastards. First Marty now this."
"You think there's something in it?"
"Oh I know the-"
"Ahem."
They stopped talking and turned to where Shirley, Charlie, Brad and Shane all stood expectantly.
"Is it Ellen?" Shirley asked. Mac nodded.
"You're welcome to stay here, if you like." Mac managed a smile.
"Thankyou."
"Sorry for this guys," Oscar apologised. His father shook his head.
"Why did you tell us her name was Michelle?" he asked. Oscar looked over at Mac - she nodded.
"Well, um, Mac and I here aren't the only ones who have to be careful with our names. Angie works with us..."
*
Pete looked over at Danni as Mac's phone call interrupted their conversation.
"Everything okay?" he asked, and listened carefully as Mac explained.
"I need you to do me a favour," she started.
"Anything-"
"We never had this conversation."
"What conversation?"
"To make it easier on her, deal with the Marty/Louise thing."
"Deal how?"
"I want that officer to go down for wrongful shooting, I want you to prove he believed Louise was Angie, and that he still fired."
"I can do that. What about up your end?"
"I'll make sure they treat her fine."
*
Bligh smiled as the reporting officer pressed 'stop' on the tape player, ending the recorded conversation.
"I want all of them," was all he said.
TBC...
Author: Leese
Email: lisacheerio_85@yahoo.com
Note: Part seven (There'll be more parts than I thought, but they're shorter than I planned anyway) :P It gets a bit whacko here, but I needed an idea. hehe
Mac was genuinely sorry as she reached into her bag for her mobile later that night. However, Pete still held one of her hands to his across the intimate table. He massaged her fingers for only a moment, letting her know he understood.
"Mackenzie..." Almost at the same time Peter's mobile rang. He smirked – this was impossible. Reluctantly he took his hand from Mac's and answered also.
"That was Oscar" "That was Danni" both said at the same time as they hung up.
"You first," Pete started. Mac nodded.
"Oscar," she wasn't smiling. "Angie's disappeared, Pete. All her things, including her car and its keys, are still at home. She hasn't shown up to meet Oscar and he says that where, um, they're at, that wouldn't happen without her telling someone."
"Danni just called to let us know the taxi pulled back into the house – your mobile was engaged." He smirked.
"Lamenia back home for the day?"
"Uh, not quite...The cleaner arriving." He shook his head. "Lamenia hasn't been home." They watched each other for moments.
"I think we should get the bill," Mac whispered.
She stood as Pete returned, taking her jacket and slipping it onto her arms and shoulders for her.
*
Angie breathed heavily, nervously, that night as she skirted the edge of the lake. She paused, and couldn't hear anyone following any more. Of course, that didn't mean there was no one there. She rested, leaning against a tree trunk, but gasped as her hand slipped into a hollow in the bark. Her fingers resisted the clutch they found, but she held onto the soon familiar object. She looked around. The lake...the tree... She took her hand out of the trunk, staring in the dark into her palm. She was just able to make it out – an old broken compass – and she knew whose. She couldn't believe it. All this time she'd thought she was in the middle of nowhere, that she was lost. But she wasn't. She wasn't!
*
Angie waited in the bushes for another half an hour at least. No torch, no footsteps. Finally her heart settled to a certain extent, the cool night air at last reaching her skin, her temperature falling. She looked around. Though it had been a long time since she'd been there, she remembered.
Twenty minutes later, she slowed from her loose jog to a walk. Inside, not more than a hundred metres away now, there were still lights on - unusual for country folk who were early risers, but good for her sake.
*
They turned, shocked, at the knock on the back door. The younger man opened the sliding glass for her. Her eyes skirted his face.
"Brad," she recognised aloud. "Can I use your phone?"
"Phones are out," he replied, letting her step inside. "Do I know you?" He didn't remember, cursing himself inwardly, for certainly this girl he would have remembered! She nodded, hugging herself protectively as the two elder people approached her cautiously.
"Michelle?"
*
Angie wiped tears from her eyes as Charlie returned from next door, almost half an hour later.
"Phones are out everywhere," he mumbled, sitting opposite her. Shirley had insisted on 'Michelle' having a shower and warming up, and though she had asked, Angie hadn't explained anything. 'I don't want to get you in trouble,' was all she replied.
"Um, it's okay," she said now in response to Charlie. "I think he left, I think I'm safe here." Shirley sighed, getting worked up just seeing Angie so scared and worried.
"From who?" she urged again.
*
Oscar, Pete and Danni gathered in the factory first thing the next morning. Mac was at HQ. They had just found Lamenia. He was dead, drowned, about two hours out of town. Mac arrived with this news as Oscar's mobile began to ring.
*
Mac and Oscar arrived at the Pierce farm almost exactly two hours later. Angie was sitting outside, a uniformed officer standing above her. He readied himself as Angie stood, biting her bottom lip. Mac and Oscar jumped out of the car and Oscar ran to her. Angie burst into tears as the metal dug into her wrists. Mac looked over at the uniform, revealing her ID.
"Uncuff her," she ordered. Upon seeing such a prominent sergeant on the case, he didn't hesitate. As the cuffs were removed, it took Angie a moment to tell her arms it was okay to move again. She hugged Oscar around the neck tightly.
"Angie," Mac started softly, reaching out and rubbing her back as Angie cried.
"I killed him, I killed him!"
*
Mac let Angie's statement rest on the coffee table. Oscar's parents had so nicely vacated the lounge room for police use.
"Oscar!" Mac called. He poked his head out of the kitchen, where his family was at the moment standing around, talking amongst themselves.
"Cam!" he repeated. She blushed, mouthing 'sorry'. "Yep?"
"You got a tape recorder?" He nodded, watching Angie look down at her lap and exhale deeply. He moved off to his room to get it, returning a moment later. Mac switched it on.
"Ange, can I hear it from you?" She nodded silently, before beginning.
"I was getting ready to go to Oscar's, but when I got home he was waiting for me – Lamenia – and um, I fought but he got me into his car. I passed out for most of it, I don't remember..."
"Just tell me what you remember," Mac urged. "It's all right."
"Um...I thought we'd been driving for hours and hours when I woke up. I was still in the boot, I was having trouble breathing, but when the car stopped I, I tried to work out what to do. We were um, stopped on loose gravel or stones or dirt, I'm not sure...He stopped, and he came around the back. It was dark, I noticed it as he opened the boot. He had a knife but I kicked him as soon as I was able – he hadn't tied me up..." She paused and Mac nodded. "I um, I jumped out and ran away. He followed me. I didn't know where I was going, but, I think now it was the valley just down-"
"Don't worry about that for now Ange."
"Okay, um, he was following me. I couldn't run, not after everything. I was too tired. I was sick of almost dying and I guess I just wished he'd had a gun instead of a knife, because if he'd shot he would've hit me easily. I, um, I fell soon after, onto these rocks. There were a couple of loose trees but it was on a slope...I tried to stand and keep going but he's much bigger. He was really tired too though, I kept kicking him and he had lost a lot of control over the knife. Um...I think then I managed to pull away and run up the slope. He was too heavy to do it as quickly as I could and um, I lost him, but he went around and caught up to me again. I tried to call for help but I didn't think anyone would hear me. I thought I was in a national park or something...Um...He came up behind me, and I turned, punching him in the face. I think I hit his eye or nose or something like that. I kicked him again and..." She looked up at Oscar and Mac. "And he went down. I didn't look back, I just ran and I hid, in um, the scrub near the lake. I couldn't see if he was still lying there in the dark, but he didn't come and find me. I found the compass by accident – it was Oscar's when he was younger, broken now. But then, I, I guess I just came back up...here..." she started crying and Mac switched off the recorder as Oscar hugged her. Mac looked behind her for the uniforms. They were standing near the door, along with Oscar's family, who finally had a decent explanation. The officer in charge spoke.
"He hit his head when he fell, rolled down the embankment and his head ended up in the water. Passed out, no oxygen, drowned."
"You charged her with murder because she punched him?" She raised her eyebrows. He didn't flinch.
"We're taking her down to the lock up for the day until the prosecution decide what they want to do."
"This won't go to trial."
"Whether it does or it doesn't, you don't have authority on this case. I do. You're her friends, that's all. No offence."
"I could easily get authority on this case. This was an accidental death." The uniforms proceeded to move forward, gently breaking Oscar from Angie and helping her stand, taking her hands behind her back. "You think she's dangerous?" Mac challenged. "Leave her free." The officer in charge thought, before nodding to his colleagues, and taking Angie by the elbow instead, leading her out.
"No visitors until tomorrow."
Mac crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked down as Oscar stood also.
"She'll be right," he assured. "She won't talk." Mac nodded.
"Bastards. First Marty now this."
"You think there's something in it?"
"Oh I know the-"
"Ahem."
They stopped talking and turned to where Shirley, Charlie, Brad and Shane all stood expectantly.
"Is it Ellen?" Shirley asked. Mac nodded.
"You're welcome to stay here, if you like." Mac managed a smile.
"Thankyou."
"Sorry for this guys," Oscar apologised. His father shook his head.
"Why did you tell us her name was Michelle?" he asked. Oscar looked over at Mac - she nodded.
"Well, um, Mac and I here aren't the only ones who have to be careful with our names. Angie works with us..."
*
Pete looked over at Danni as Mac's phone call interrupted their conversation.
"Everything okay?" he asked, and listened carefully as Mac explained.
"I need you to do me a favour," she started.
"Anything-"
"We never had this conversation."
"What conversation?"
"To make it easier on her, deal with the Marty/Louise thing."
"Deal how?"
"I want that officer to go down for wrongful shooting, I want you to prove he believed Louise was Angie, and that he still fired."
"I can do that. What about up your end?"
"I'll make sure they treat her fine."
*
Bligh smiled as the reporting officer pressed 'stop' on the tape player, ending the recorded conversation.
"I want all of them," was all he said.
TBC...