Black Ice (30 page)

Stella started to walk again. And talk.

'Neall was a snivelling coward, but I couldn't let Harry do that to him. He was my brother.'

So am I
, Daniel thought, then discovered the idea revolted him.

'I told Harry I would accommodate him. I told him I would make it good for him. He was drunk enough to agree.'

She was close enough now that Daniel could see her face had become animated, lit by some inner fervour.

'I made it good for him all right. When he'd finished and tried to lurch back to his room, I pushed him down the stairs. Oh, did I mention we lived in a two-storey house? Not a brick one like yours, Daniel, but a fibro dump that iced up in winter and became a sweat-box in summer. The fall had knocked him out. He lay on his back,' a smug smile curved her lips, 'and threw up.'

She stopped walking. 'He was too drunk to wake up and roll over. I stood there and watched the bastard choke to death on his own puke.'

Daniel watched her. She had obviously savoured Harry's death. Not that he could blame her, but there was something repulsive in the way her body rippled sensuously with the memory.

 

Stella's voice, and the bright blue of her slacks suit, made it easy for Kirri to find her. Each step was agony, the pain jarring through her, but Kirri bit down on her tongue, forced herself to keep going. She picked up a stick sturdy enough to lean on for support as she negotiated the rough, uneven ground and the thick scrub.

She tried to be quiet, but the bushes rustled slightly as she passed. Sweat beaded on her forehead, dripped into her eyes. Moving her left arm caused too much pain, so she didn't wipe the drops away, just kept dragging one unsteady foot after the other, determined to stop Stella. She wasn't sure if Daniel had reached Catelyn in time, but he must still be alive, she reasoned, or Stella wouldn't still be here, and talking to him.

 

Daniel knew he couldn't wait behind the log until Stella finally saw him. She was only about five metres away now, and much as he hated the prospect, he would have to put Catelyn down. Only then could he try to out-manoeuvre Stella and disarm her.

He looked around, trying to find a route to Stella that offered maximum concealment. What he saw gave him joy. And hope. And fear.

Kirri was sneaking up behind Stella. Or trying to. She was leaning on a large stick, and the top of her dress was soaked in blood. Her face was ashen, and it was obvious to Daniel that only grim determination was keeping her on her feet. But her progress was slow, and he feared that any moment Stella would hear her. Hear her, and shoot her again.

He
had
to draw Stella's attention away.

Carefully, very carefully, he lay Catelyn on the ground. Watched for a second to be sure she stayed there, her eyes half closed, drowsy with exhaustion.

He crawled to the end of the log, then another metre to a large tree, and checked that Stella was now between him and Kirri. He stood up, stepped clear of the tree, and called out, 'Why didn't you just contact my father after your mo… after Gloria died, Stella?'

Stella pivoted, gun ready, surprised and suspicious at Daniel's revealing himself. A few trees separated them, but the undergrowth wasn't as thick here. He didn't appear to have the kid, but no matter, she'd find her.

'I was working my guts out to put myself through university. I didn't have the resources to track down someone who'd left the country eighteen years before.' She edged forward, careful not to take her eyes off Daniel. 'But I
was
able to track down Jim Weyburn, Ken Brand's partner. I finished uni, made sure I got a job with him, and found out all I could about the Brands. Then I flew to Seattle.'

Daniel knew the shock showed on his face. 'When?'

Stella smirked, but wouldn't answer that question. 'I phoned our father, asked if I could talk to him, but he had some big crisis on his hands and didn't have the time. I insisted, so he asked me to meet him on the construction site where he was working. It was a Sunday. We were alone.'

A mounting sense of dread grew in Daniel's stomach. Stella relaxed slightly, apparently enjoying his discomfort. But her hand holding the gun didn't waver. She moved steadily closer.

Kirri struggled on behind her, slowly closing the gap. Daniel concentrated on Stella, willing her to keep looking at him.

'He laughed at me, Daniel. Our father laughed at me. Said I would have to come up with something better than some old newspaper cutting and a half-baked confession. Then he said goodbye and went up to the third floor of the building.'

Her dark eyes bore into his, and Daniel knew what he had to ask. 'What did you do, Stella?'

'I followed him. It was easy,' she sighed, 'too easy. One push. That's all it took. Just like Harry.'

Bile rose in Daniel's throat. Stunned, he watched her laugh, then stretch her arm out to take aim.

Daniel roared an oath, charged towards Stella, dodged as she fired. The bullet branded fire through his side.

Rage fuelled his pounding feet.

Kirri raised the branch above her head. Swept it down.

Stella half turned. The branch hit her wrist. The bullet went wide as the Baretta fell to the ground. Stella dived after it, her left hand grabbing dirt, then wrapping around the butt as Daniel lunged for her.

At the last second he saw she had the gun. He twisted to the side, and rolled away.

Stella saw the furious desperation in Daniel's eyes.

She snarled her victory.

And pulled the trigger.

Daniel barely heard the soft, hollow click of the hammer slamming on the empty magazine. Stella's surprised look, then her flash of fury, told him what had happened.

She leaped up and sprinted back towards the bridge.

Daniel jumped to his feet, determined to catch her, when Kirri moaned. She had collapsed on the ground, her eyes closed. The blood soaking through her dress frightened the hell out of him. He grabbed the wet material, and ripped it apart to reveal the bullet wound. He pulled off his shirt to use as a bandage. It was wet with the dirty creek water, but he didn't figure he had a choice.

Kirri's pulse was weak, and her skin seemed to pale even further as he tied a knot in the makeshift bandage.

'Mummy!'

Catelyn's scream jerked him to his feet. She should have been safe behind the fallen log where he'd left her, well away from where Stella was now running through the scrub.

Despair rocked him as he saw his daughter struggling in Stella's arms.

 

Getting away was Stella's only option now. She'd lost everything she'd worked for since she was eighteen, but she wasn't giving up. The money she'd leached from Jim Weyburn, first as a lover, then as a blackmailer, had been carefully salted away in bank accounts in different names. Even considering what she'd used to finance Neall's activities, she was still a reasonably rich woman. With contacts who could guarantee a new identity to match the new face she would have to acquire.

Catelyn had wandered in front of her, and she'd grabbed the kid on impulse. She'd slow her down, but she'd make an excellent hostage. And a lesson to Daniel and that artist bitch when she broke the brat's neck.

Her car was hidden on the other side of the creek. All she had to do now was make it to the bridge, cross over, and she had a chance to escape. Catelyn sobbed piteously against her shoulder, but Stella ignored her distress and moved faster.

She heard Daniel crashing through the scrub after her. She ran past the damaged Nissan and onto the bridge. The Falcon was lying on its roof in the middle of the bridge, facing back the way it had come. Glass crunched under her shoes as she ran up to it, Daniel's pounding feet drawing closer.

As she past the driver's side the sound of a siren caught her attention. Spinning around, she saw Daniel only two metres behind her.

'Stay back!' she screamed, grabbing Catelyn up by her clothing. 'I'll throw her in the water.'

Catelyn's face screwed up and she wailed her misery.

Another siren joined the first.

Daniel stood, chest heaving with exertion, his left hand staunching the blood from the bullet wound in his side, and calculated the distance between them.

He barely noticed the movement at first. The shaking, blood-covered hand reaching out through the Falcon's shattered window.

Daniel rolled onto the balls of his feet, every muscle tensed.

The hand clutched Stella's ankle.

She yelled. Tried to pull away.

Daniel sprang. His right fist crashed into Stella's jaw as he grabbed Catelyn with his left. Stella's head snapped back.

Her body crumpled to the concrete.

'Do you realise, Daniel Brand, that each time we meet I end up in hospital?'

Daniel chuckled as he pushed Kirri's wheelchair along the path. He bent down to whisper in her ear, 'The only hospital you'll be in from now on, sweetheart, will be the maternity one.'

Kirri smiled. That was fine by her. She looked over to where her mother and step-father were walking with Catelyn. Very fine.

It was a perfect summer's day. The breeze blowing across Trinity Bay was cool, and even the humidity was low for a change. The obliging ward sister had allowed Kirri's family to take her for a walk in the parkland opposite the hospital, but only on condition she used a wheelchair. The doctor had said she would be allowed home soon, but the sister wasn't taking any chances.

Daniel pulled Kirri's wheelchair onto the grass, and sat on a park bench beside it. 'What do you say to getting married at O'Connor Valley as soon as Cate's out of hospital and you feel up to it?' he asked. 'Your Dad and Lorraine can fly up, and my grandparents can fly over from the States.'

'Catelyn can be flower-girl,' Kirri added, with an impish grin. The thought of her little larrikin sedately handing out flowers almost made her laugh aloud. Then another thought sobered her. 'What did your Grandmother say about Stella and Neall?'

Sadness chased the smile from Daniel's face.

'She said that not all seed is good seed. And sometimes we have to accept that we can't change what has happened.'

Kirri took his hand. 'That's very wise advice, Daniel. You're not responsible for Neall's death, Stella is. And you're not responsible for what happened to her. Nobody knew Gloria had stolen your mother's babies, so there was nothing you could have done to prevent what happened.'

'She's my sister, Kirri.'

Kirri could have wept for the anguish in Daniel's eyes. 'She was once, darling, but she'd been destroyed long ago. Harry did a good job of that. Maybe in prison she'll get the help she needs.'

'I've already arranged for one of your country's top psychiatrists to see her.' He sighed. 'If she'll let him. I don't know whether he can undo any of the damage Harry caused, but I'd like to hope that one day …'

Daniel tried to rein in the grief that threatened his self-control. The soft pressure of Kirri's hand in his brought comfort. 'I'll never know if Neall would still have tried to kill me if he'd known I was his brother. I'd like to think he wouldn't. And I have to give Stella the chance to change. I owe that to my mother. And my father.'

They sat for long minutes, saying nothing, taking strength from each other.

Eventually, Daniel stood up, reached into his jeans back pocket, and pulled out an envelope. He hunkered down in front of the wheelchair and handed it to Kirri. 'I asked my housekeeper to find these in my bedroom and express courier them to me,' he said.

She opened the envelope and took out half a dozen photos. Tears trickled down her cheeks. She brushed them away with the back of her hand, and spread the photos out on her lap, touching them gently one by one. Each photo showed a smiling couple, obviously in love, and delirious with the joy they found in one another.

'We set my camera on automatic. We wanted to capture those weeks together in New Orleans so we could always remember them. I know you can never remember them, sweetheart, so I was hoping we could fly to New Orleans for our honeymoon, and make new memories.'

Kirri tried to smile over the lump in her throat. She looked into the face of this man she loved, then leaned forward to kiss him.

And tasted rainbows.

CLAN DESTINE PRESS

 

 

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First published in eBook form by Clan Destine Press in 2010

PO Box 121, Bittern

Victoria 3918 Australia

Copyright © Sandy Curtis 2002

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (The Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of any book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or the body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-In-Publication data:

Curtis, Sandy

BLACK ICE

ISBN 978-0-9871604-7-8

Cover Design © R&D Studios, Queensland