Wicked Little Lies- Molly Read online

Page 16


  “Yes. I can’t believe the difference a week has made. I was worried I would never have any feelings towards my baby, and now here I am with two on the way and I’m completely in love with them.”

  “You’re going to be a great mother, Molly.”

  I beamed understanding how pregnancy really did give you a glow.

  “What are you doing now?” I asked Matt as he beeped the car doors unlocked.

  “I’m going to have a quick chat with Ed Helms in regards to the autopsy report on Paul Pritchard.”

  I raised my eyebrow quizzically.

  “I was supposed to interview Paul last week as he was going to do a whistle blowing story on the hospital in the 1960’s.”

  “Is he the one who was found dead in his home?”

  “That’s him.”

  “So, what did the autopsy report reveal?”

  “He died from a blow to the head. It looked like he fell and hit his head on the cement wall in his garden, but the police now believe he was murdered.”

  “That’s awful!”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “Are you going to follow it up?”

  “I’d like to, but I don’t have a lot to go on, which is why I thought I’d chat with Ed. The police’ll investigate the murder but I was more intrigued in what Pritchard had to tell me. I suppose now I will never know.”

  “Matt, do you think that story has anything to do with what’s happening to us?”

  “I don’t see how it could. He never told me anything, and besides, he died before all of this started to happen.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek. “I guess so.”

  “What you said back there about the blood groups has intrigued me,” Matt pushed on. “I thought I’d look into it some more. And I really want to know how that GPS tracker got in your bag.”

  He wasn’t the only one.

  “Do you think this is related to the green wagon following me?” I asked, sliding into the car and buckling my seatbelt. “It would explain how they know where I am all the time.”

  “It’s possible. But what do they want?”

  I shivered. “I’m really not that interesting.”

  Matt grinned. “Oh, you’re interesting, believe me.”

  I chose to take that as a compliment.

  “What do I do with it?” I dug my hand into the front pocket of my bag and pulled the little black device out. “Should I throw it away? Or would it give the bad guy the heads up that I found it? Could it be dangerous? Are they going to get angry and then track me down and kill me?”

  “I think you’ve been watching too many movies. But leave it with me. I’ll get the tech guys at work to do some digging for me.”

  “Can they find out who it belongs to?”

  “I doubt that, but it might hold some sort of information that will give us a clue.”

  My phone jingled from the depths of my bag, and I jostled to find it as Matt negotiated his way out of the carpark and onto the main road.

  “Hi Grandma,” I sang, once it was located.

  “Molly. Where are you?”

  “Ummm, I just had my doctors visit. Why?”

  “I thought maybe you could give me a lift to that café down by the river. I have a hot date and your mother won’t take me.”

  “Are you wearing your new outfit?”

  “Sure am. And I even had Danny put a pink rinse through my hair to match it.”

  I smiled to myself. “Alright. I’m with Matt, but I’ll drop him home so he can get his car. I can be there in about half an hour. Can you wait that long?”

  “Well, I am aging here, but I guess half an hour won’t kill me.”

  ****

  “Did mum help you into that outfit?” I asked, hiding my smile behind a cough.

  Grandma huffed and pulled the strap of her pink cyclists’ bib back onto her shoulder. She’d yet to put the jersey on and the elastic of her knickers stuck out over the top of the shorts.

  “She’s such a party pooper, your mother.”

  “So, she wouldn’t help?”

  “She told me I should start acting my age. What she doesn’t understand is up here I’m still twenty,” she said, tapping her skull. “The body may age but the mind stays the same. You wait till she’s in her eighties and see how she feels then.”

  Somehow, I couldn’t ever imagine mum being any different to how she was today.

  “So, who helped you? Please don’t say dad.”

  “Pft, as if I’d ask him. No, it was Doris next door who gave me a hand. It was a bit of struggle but worth the effort, don’t you think?” She fluffed her tight curls and smiled. “Ted is going to love me in this.”

  “Well, come on then. We’d better not keep him waiting.”

  She hurriedly covered her bra with the jersey and grabbed her walker. “I’ve been working on the lingo they use too. I know that my walker is very aero. That means it’s aerodynamic. I also have to make sure I don’t get bonked.”

  “Mum’ll be happy about that.” I grinned, leading the way to the car.

  “I got a bit excited when I first read that term, until I realized it just means you’re buggered. If I was in charge of the sport it would mean something completely different.”

  I had no doubts it would.

  “Then I thought I was in for the win when I read there’s a Granny Gear. And before you get ahead of yourself it has nothing to do with the bonking. It’s a slow gear you use when you’re bonked and can’t ride up a hill. Quite insulting if you ask me. Depending on who’s in front of me, I bet I could get up the hill faster than some of the young ones.”

  “Is Ted very serious about the sport?” I asked, helping her into the car.

  “I think so. I mean he’s all Cadel Evans this and Egan Bernal that. I had to look up who they were but it turns out they’re quite good at it. Do you know what I did learn, though?”

  Quite a lot apparently.

  “Those little Lycra pants they wear don’t leave a lot to the imagination.”

  Since purchasing her outfit a few days ago, Grandma had done quite a lot of research. By the time I pulled into the carpark of Café by the River I knew more than I would ever need to know about the sport of cycling. Don’t get me wrong, it seemed like a great sport, but not exactly one for me. Still, I might just tune into the next Tour De France for a bit of a looksie as those Lycra pants intrigued me.

  The sound of grinding coffee beans mingled with the chatter and laughter of the patrons at the coffee shop. The sun beat down on the umbrella’s shading the tables, and the air conditioning blew the scent of the coffee towards me.

  I inhaled deeply and wished I could stay there all day. Until I saw Ted racing towards Grandma, the cleats on his shoes tapping his approach.

  “Mabel! So glad you could make it.” His dentures glistened in the late morning light as he opened his arms to greet her.

  She glowed with happiness and made her way towards him, her back straighter than I’d seen it in years.

  “It’s my pleasure,” she cooed, as he took her arm and placed a light kiss on her cheek.

  “Come and take a seat with us. The regular group is here today but we always love new members.”

  As he led her towards his group seated just inside the shop, I made my way towards the counter ready to order a coffee. The café was buzzing for mid-morning on a Monday and I had to side step a group of teenagers slurping frappes, three business men embroiled in a very animated discussion about the pros and cons of investing in Australian coal, and a group of mothers jiggling the handle of their prams attempting to quieten their babies.

  As I watched them my stomach started to tie itself in knots. Lara had moved my due date now we knew I was having twins, so in twenty-nine weeks and five days this would be me and I was having a hard time reconciling the facts facing me.

  I hoped I could cope when the time came. I hoped I could feel half as confident as these women looked as they balanced their macchiatos in one h
and, and their babies in the other.

  Lara had given me two photos from the ultrasound, and I fiddled with them in the pocket of my denim overalls, knowing they had irreversibly changed my life. As my fingers slid over the shiny paper it soothed my worries and the knot in my belly started to unravel.

  Tom saw me and stepped out from behind the coffee machine, his smile outshining even Ted’s.

  “Well you just made my day,” he sang.

  Turning my attention away from the prams, I spun to face him as he leaned across the counter.

  “Don’t worry about them,” he said, his voice low so only I could hear it.

  “They make it look so effortless,” I admitted.

  “I’ve seen them when they’re juggling being cool with being a mother. Believe me, they struggle just like the rest of the world.”

  This was good to know.

  “I see Mabel has joined the cycle gang,” Tom commented, nodding towards her new group of friends.

  “She’s pretty excited about it.”

  “They’re a good group. I’d like to be just like them when I reach their age.”

  “Me too. Only probably not the cycling. I can’t say I’m a fan of the footwear.”

  Tom laughed. “Not even if Jimmy Choo designs them?”

  “Maybe then I would,” I added, reconsidering the sport.

  A small cough sounded behind me and I checked over my shoulder to see a woman in a business suit impatiently waiting her turn.

  “Sorry,” I called to her before rattling off my order to Tom. He didn’t seem fazed by her attitude as he took grandma’s order of a hot chocolate and then added a decaf cappuccino for me.

  “Take a seat and I’ll bring them over to you,” he finished.

  I stepped towards a table pushed against the wall and allowed my gaze to roam the room.

  Grandma seemed to have fitted in with the crowd already, and it seemed she was right when she said Ted would love her in her new outfit. His eyes were glued to her as she recounted a tale, making everyone laugh.

  One of the babies startled at their noise and immediately started to cry. The mother (who looked super cool in her active wear by the way) hurriedly picked the baby up and nursed it to her chest, gently rocking until it settled.

  I smiled at her look of pure adoration as she stared at her baby. Now this was an emotion I could already understand.

  Movement at the back of the café caught my attention and I turned to see a woman tuck her blonde grey ponytail under her cap, her bracelet tinkling. She then stood, collected her oversized bag and made her way between the tables.

  My heart missed a whole beat as I recognized her as the woman who broke into Matt’s when Danny and I hid in the cupboard.

  Not wanting to lose her, I hurriedly fell into step with her, searching the bottom of my bag for my car keys as we went. As I walked past the counter Tom lifted two cups in the air and handed them to me.

  “Oh. Thanks Tom,” I called, grabbing them, giving him a quick smile, and running towards grandma.

  “Call me when you want to be picked up,” I said, setting her cup on the table in front of her.

  She nodded her acknowledgement but continued to stare dreamy eyed at Ted.

  By the time I caught up to the woman she had gotten behind the wheel of a green station wagon and was already reversing out of the car park.

  She was the driver of this vehicle? Well, this was interesting. I was sure the driver would be the woman in the photos I’d received. Yet that woman had long auburn hair very unlike this one.

  Running to my SUV, I got in and reversed from the carpark. I hurried to catch up with her, intrigued now more than ever. I had no idea what I was going to do if I caught her, but I was interested to see where she went and this time, I wasn’t giving up.

  I stayed a few cars behind as we crossed town. I did lose her once when she made a green light, and I got stuck on the red. Luck was on my side though, as the next intersection she too got the red one.

  I impatiently tapped the steering wheel as the lights changed and we accelerated through the intersection. Ten minutes later she pulled into the carpark of Doctor Lara Jensen.

  Perplexed, I parked on the opposite side of the carpark and killed the motor. I needed an excuse to follow her into the doctor’s office. Luckily my urine sample had rolled out from under my car seat, giving me what I needed.

  Grateful today’s choice of footwear was flat, I silently jogged across the cement path and entered the building behind her. However, once inside she was gone.

  Spinning my head from side to side, I searched every face in the waiting room.

  “Hello Molly,” called Adele, stepping out of a side room. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Ummm, yes. I have my ummm, my urine sample I forgot this morning. Well, not actually forgot. I knew I had put it in my bag, but it must have rolled under my seat. Anyway, here it is,” I pronounced, my attention drawn to the sign marked ladies. Had the woman gone in there?

  “That wasn’t necessary for you to bring it back. We do like to check it every visit but missing this one won’t hurt.” Adele accepted my offering regardless. “Is everything okay? You look a little lost.”

  “Well, the thing is, I thought I saw a woman come in here, but now I don’t know where she’s gone.”

  “We have a lot of women here. Can you be more specific?”

  “She was wearing jeans, white T-shirt and a black cap. But she might have taken the cap off, I’m not sure.”

  Adele looked around her. “Sorry Molly, I’ve been in with Lara for the last few minutes. I haven’t noticed anyone like that here. Is it important you find her?”

  Hmmm, I hadn’t thought it through, had I?

  “She was sitting at Café by the River when I saw she dropped...” Bugger, what did I have she could have dropped. “$50. Yes, she dropped a $50 note and I thought ‘wow that’s a lot of money. I should follow her and give it back’.”

  Adele recoiled. “But that café is on the other side of town!”

  “Ahuh.”

  “Well, that’s very honorable of you.”

  “So, you haven’t seen her?”

  “Sorry, but if I do, I’ll give her your phone number, shall I? That way you can work out a way to return the money to her.”

  Bugger.

  I trudged back to my car wondering how the heck I could have missed her but buoyed by the idea that I’d wait for her to return to her car. However, the green wagon was no longer in the carpark.

  Shit.

  I crossed amateur sleuth off my imaginary resume and made a note to get back to editing the photos from Mercedes I’d been paid to do. At least that was something I was good at.

  ****

  “I really like that one,” stated Lizzie.

  “You don’t sound like you really care all that much,” I threw at her, smoothing the skirt of the dress I was trying on. We were in the women’s wear section of Westport’s one and only department store. Lizzie was squashed in the corner of the cubicle as I twirled in front of the floor to ceiling mirror, the privacy curtain drawn behind me.

  “What gave it away?”

  “Your monotone.”

  “Yeah well, I’ve never really loved shopping.”

  “Then why did you agree to come?”

  “You said it was baby shopping, and I got excited. If you’d told me we were clothes shopping I would have stayed at home.”

  “Maternity clothes are baby shopping,” I stated, adamant.

  She shook her head, her wild curls bouncing around the shoulders of her pale blue shift dress. She’d covered her neck wound with a silk scarf I’d found in the back of my wardrobe, and she insisted everything was healing nicely. We have an appointment with the plastic surgeon booked for next week to see what they could do about the scarring. Until then my collection of scarves was going to be getting some use.

  “I thought you meant cute little bitty baby clothes.” She cross
ed her arms over her chest and pouted.

  “We can do that next. First of all, I need clothes. My jeans are already getting uncomfortable.”

  “Don’t you have any dresses you can wear?”

  “Sure, but what better excuse to buy new clothes can I ask for?” I grinned, deciding she was right about the current dress I was trying on, and I needed to buy it.

  “I heard about the outfit grandma wore to her date the other day. Did it really look as bad as it sounded?”

  My grin matched hers. “Yeah, but somehow she rocked it.”

  “It must be a confidence thing. I couldn’t wear it now and I’m more than fifty years younger than she is.”

  I slipped out of the dress and back into my shorts, allowing my shirt to hang loose over their band. “Ted asked her out on another date, but I talked her into wearing a dress for the next one. She looked relieved.”

  Lizzie let out a bark of laughter, following me to the cash register, where I loaded my five new outfits on the counter, and waited for a shop assistant to finish serving another customer.

  Searching for my wallet, I noticed my phone flashing from the depths of my bag and hurriedly retrieved it. It was caller unknown.

  “Hello,” I sang, hoping it wasn’t a telemarketer. I’d already had one of those today who got quite upset when I refused to give to their cause. I tried to explain I already had a monthly donation in place with the RSPCA, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Guide Dogs Australia. If I donated any more, I would have to rent out my apartment and move back home with my parents. That was not an option.

  “Tell your boyfriend to back off this case or there will be consequences.” A muffled voice danced down my spine.

  “Pardon?”

  “Tell Matt to stop investigating the case he’s working on.” The synthesized voice was eerie, the tone chilling.

  “What, what case?”

  “Tell him to leave the hospital records alone!”

  I gulped. Matt told me he’d been checking hospital records after the whole blood group thing. “How do you know he’s doing that?” I bravely asked. It wasn’t brave. It just sounded that way. The facts were I had to cross my legs in order not to wet myself.