River of Lies, page 15
“We are going to hang back and let you go first, but once we see Richard, we are going to come to you,” Knox said as he carefully lifted her from the back of the bike.
April’s nerves were vibrating through her body as if she was still on the back of the bike as she nodded in agreement.
“Anything you hear or see from us, you leave right here, April. You understand that?” Brian addressed her abruptly.
“Yes, of course,” she said, nodding her head.
“Good girl,” Brian said, nodding above her head at Knox.
“Right, go on down, don’t look back at us, just go straight down there and act like we aren’t here. Alright?” Knox said, putting his hands on her arms and looking down into her face.
April smiled nervously and nodded as she turned for the door and headed inside the shopping center.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The smells of Asian food and spices mixed with fish and meat caused an urge to vomit. April reached the platform, looking for a man who stood out to be Richard. There was an elderly Asian man and his wife, speaking together in Vietnamese in their own world, and a young woman with her screaming toddler in a pram, but no man on his own.
April looked down at her watch and stared at the seconds ticking by. April was a few minutes early, which did nothing for her nerves. She wanted to look around for Knox but didn’t want to upset Brian; he scared her more than the thought of meeting with Richard.
“April?” a gruff voice spoke behind April, frightening her.
April spun around and stared at a rounded bearded face wearing a red flannelette shirt. His beady eyes stared down at April’s protruding belly and back at her face.
“Hello,” April said, careful to look at him and not around anywhere else.
“Come and sit down,” Richard said as he pointed towards the green metal bench seat just down from the Vietnamese couple who eyed them carefully as they passed.
April sat down on edge, poised to run if needed. Richard reached up, ran his hand through his wiry curly brown hair, and then smoothed his beard; he looked out to the other side of the platform.
April followed to where he stared, hoping it wasn’t Knox he had seen. A little pigeon hungrily pinched discarded crumbs under the seats and circled around.
“How do you know Tilly?” April said, breaking the silence.
“Dylan was Tilly’s boyfriend; why did you say he was yours?” Richard asked, still watching the pigeon.
“He is the baby’s father,” April stated bluntly as she ran her hand over her belly.
He smiled slyly at April and looked down at her belly before nodding, rubbing his hand over his beard, and grunting a little like an overstuffed pig.
“He was your boyfriend as well; it’s alright, I won’t tell Tilly. She’s a fucking psycho,” Richard said.
April let out a snort, and he laughed. “That she is,” April laughed. “However, Tilly already knows; she tried to kill me but didn’t succeed.”
April felt a little more at ease as he nodded. Richard moved his attention back to the pigeon that had found the motherlode of a half-eaten sandwich.
“So how do you know Tilly, Richard,” April said, as she tried to force her voice to be friendlier.
Richard shrugged; he looked back towards April, his eyes softened, and she could see he was much older than he first appeared.
“How does anyone know Tilly through the drugs,” he said.
“But Dylan, he didn’t meet her through the drugs. He met her when they were at school,” April explained.
Richard nodded and smiled. “He was one of the lucky ones, I guess, but I think he made the right choice in the end” April frowned at Richard as he spoke quietly. “I mean, look at Tilly; she can hardly function now without a needle in her arm, and you, well, you’re the polar opposite.”
“Yeah, well, it didn’t get him very far, did it, he’s in the ground, and I’m here talking to some man that I don’t know, trying to find out why,” April said as she fought back the tears.
Richard shrugged again as he ran his hand through his hair again, returning his attention to the bird.
“Why did Dylan have your number?” April asked, feeling frustrated that he wasn’t being straightforward with her.
“I don’t know,” Richard said as he returned his attention to April.
“Did you give it to him?” April asked again, allowing irritation to run through her voice.
Richard shook his head and shrugged. “Nope, it didn’t come from me. He rang me out of the blue trying to find Tilly,” Richard said.
“But why?” April said, feeling irritated that this was a waste of time.
Richard just seemed to be circling all her questions. She couldn’t determine whether he was getting some sort of sick pleasure out of it by not being straightforward with her.
“She was fucking me. Why else would a boyfriend want to know why his girlfriend spends all her time at a guy’s house?” Richard said with a smile.
“It doesn’t make sense, though; why would he care? He didn’t love Tilly anymore,” April said, not necessarily to Richard but more to herself.
April tried to evoke some answer from the thoughts that seemed to float aimlessly in her brain.
“I don’t know, April, I can’t help you; look, you’re a nice kid, and I would like to help you, but I can’t, and I’m sorry.” Richard turned on the bench to face her. “You don’t deserve any of the shit coming your way, but Tilly, your sister, she’s not who you think she is; the drugs, it fucks a person up, it makes them paranoid, she was, is, paranoid.” He shifted in his seat again. “I’m not saying you should cut her slack, but just understand what she’s done. It’s not because she is a psycho. It’s the drugs that make her that way.”
Richard stood up, thrusting his fat, heavily tattooed, ringed hand on April. She shook his hand gingerly and watched as he turned around.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Knox, Brian, and the two henchmen were standing, blocking his exit. April hadn’t even heard them arrive or noticed the Vietnamese couple disappear with the mother and fussing child.
April stayed seated, her eyes widening in wonderment about what would happen. Knox looked over Richard’s shoulder and nodded at her. April nodded back to let him know that she was okay.
“Well, Richard, how are you? I haven’t seen you for quite some time,” Brian said jovially.
April frowned because the way that Brian spoke and his body language didn’t seem to match, nor did the shaking in Richard’s legs.
“Brian, ah, hi, yes, I have meant to come to see you,” Richard stammered.
April couldn’t take her eyes off the act playing before her. It was like a bad train wreck that she didn’t want to see but couldn’t help but watch. Brian clasped hold of Richard’s shoulder and turned him around to face April as they began to walk towards her. April covered her belly as they passed her, and Richard glared at her.
“Did you do this?” Richard asked her.
April felt her face pale as she shook her head silently.
“Don’t worry about her; she is nothing,” Brian barked, snapping Richard’s face back toward where they were walking.
Brian continued to walk Richard past her toward the end of the platform, followed by his two henchmen. Knox reached out and touched April’s shoulder as he went to pass her. April looked up and saw the tender look on his face. She felt her heart flutter.
“Did you get your answers?” he asked quietly.
April shook her head and shrugged. “Not really; he was a bit useless. He didn’t want to tell me anything. It’s like everyone fears Tilly,” April said with another shrug.
Knox nodded and jogged to catch up to Brian, who stood with Richard at the end of the platform, looking back toward Knox and April.
April watched as Knox spoke to his father but couldn’t hear them. Brian nodded and looked towards Richard, pulling him tighter into the huddle they were forming. Richard looked up at April and started animatedly talking, waving his hands around like a cartoon character.
April felt like she was watching a bad television movie; Richard’s movements almost reminded her of Olive Oyl from Popeye. April had to hide her giggle behind her hand at the thought of Popeye cracking a can of spinach to save the fat bearded man at the end of the platform.
April started to frown as she heard the train in the distance. It suddenly dawned on her what Brian was directing Richard to do as he lay on his stomach across the tracks, and she caught sight of the train coming closer. Brian pointed towards the tracks, and Richard stepped off the platform. April heard Brian and Knox crying out to Richard to get off the tracks and start to wave at the train. However, Richard continued to lie across the tracks as if he was being held magnetically there.
At the last minute, April closed her eyes as the brakes screeching pulled the train into the station, and the sound of the horn drowned out Brian and Knox’s screaming. When she felt the train stop before her, she opened her eyes and noticed that Richard was missing, probably wedged under the train wheels.
With a pale face, the train driver leaped from the cabin and ran to the end of the platform. Knox and Brian spoke to him with acted panic on their faces. April watched it all in a dream-like state. She felt terror at the ferocity one man could show. She suddenly was so frightened of Knox that she wanted to run but didn’t know how to.
April was breathing heavily when she reached the bus station, and her lungs felt like they would combust at any moment. She felt repulsion spreading through her stomach and surging up her throat in the form of vomit. Sweat beaded across her forehead, and she continued to glance behind her to ensure nobody was following her.
It made sense why Brian didn’t want her to tell anyone what happened there, and she made the silent promise that she would never tell a soul. Relief floated through her as the big blue bus pulled up in front of her, and she sat with shaking hands and knocking knees, chewing absently at her nail as it pulled out.
April glanced out the window to see Knox come into the bus station. He looked up at her with a frown and ran his hand through his hair. April closed her eyes and rested her head against the window as it pulled away from the station and away from Wayde Knox.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
April watched the houses pass, and as they headed up the highway, she decided to go and speak with Tilly again. Pulling quickly on the cord and leaping from her seat as the bus came rocketing to a stop. As April walked down the road she grew up on, unsure that she was making the right decision, she saw the big red brick house she knew as hers.
April slowed as she walked past the front gate; it appeared still empty; it seemed to loom and hold a hidden evil that wanted to reach out and grab anybody that got too close. The unknown evil entity tried to pull them into their dark demise spiral. It was the house that held so many good and bad memories and the home that took her mother’s life.
April sped up to get past the house and took a deep breath as she reached the quarry fence line. As she got to the street Tilly and Shane lived on, her back and legs started hurting.
April knocked on the door, and Shane looked surprised to see her as he swung the door open. April was glad to see Shane’s car in the driveway. April knew that he would drive her back home.
“April, what are you doing here? Is everything alright?” Shane asked.
April smiled and nodded. She followed Shane into the house. April saw Tilly on the couch. Tilly didn’t look as spaced out as usual as she watched the television, a cigarette in her hand.
“Hi, Tilly,” April said from the front door.
Tilly looked up, and April saw she was the same space cadet as always.
“Hi,” Tilly answered as she turned back to the television.
April followed Shane into the kitchen and sat at the table while he put the kettle on. He looked back over his shoulder at her.
“What have you been up to today?” Shane asked.
“I went to the shopping center and looked at the shops,” April responded as she fiddled with the edge of the placemat on the table.
“And?” Shane asked suspiciously.
“And what?” April asked, trying to appear innocent.
Shane sighed as he approached the table and sat on the chair opposite her. “April, I might have been a shitty father, but I learned a few things about you, and I know when something is going on, you’re a shocking liar,” Shane laughed.
April smiled up at him and nodded. “I found a phone number in Dylan’s stuff a few weeks back. I rang it, and it was a guy, but he said he didn’t know Dylan.”
Shane stood back up and started to make his coffee; he waved his hand for her to continue. “Well, I didn’t believe him; after all, Dylan had his number, so I rang Wayde Knox. He did some looking into it for me,” April explained.
Shane turned with his back against the counter with his coffee in hand. He gave a slight frown at the mention of Knox’s name. “Yeah, so who was he?” Shane asked over his coffee.
“His name is Richard,” April said quietly to try and prevent Tilly from hearing.
“He knows her,” Shane asked, nodding towards the lounge room. April nodded in response. “How does she know him?”
“He was a big-time drug dealer, and apparently, Tilly was sleeping with him. Well, that’s what he said anyway,” April explained.
“He told you this on the phone?” Shane asked suspiciously again as he frowned at April.
She knew she couldn’t lie to him. “No, I went and saw him,” April said quietly.
Shane sat back in his chair and sighed, placing his coffee on the table and running his hands over his face trying to compose himself. “Tell me you at least had someone with you?”
April nodded her head, and she saw Shane visibly relax. “Wayde Knox?”
April nodded her head. “And his dad and two other guys,” April said.
“April, what happened?” Shane asked in a deep growl.
April shook her head and widened her eyes as tears welled up. She was afraid of the repercussions, but she didn’t want to lie to her father. She didn’t want to betray Knox and his father.
“April, tell me,” Shane said sternly as he took her hand and forced her to look him in the eye.
“I don’t know, but they had issues with Richard. They took him to the end of the platform. I couldn’t hear what they were saying. They made him get on the tracks when the train was coming, but I shut my eyes and didn’t see what happened,” April said as tears bubbled up.
“Oh, for fucks sake,” Shane said through grit teeth. April put her head down as tears fell from her cheeks, hitting the table. “Come on, sweetheart, it will be alright. Just don’t tell anyone else about what you saw. Knox and his dad are not people you should be dealing with. They are rotten, and I can’t see you mixed up with them.”
April’s sobs wracked her body as she cried into her father’s chest.
“What’s going on?” Tilly asked from the doorway.
“Nothing Tilly; April’s just had a bad day and needed to talk,” Shane said.
Tilly said nothing as April heard her shuffle away from the doorway. Once April’s tears dried up, Shane dumped his cold coffee and held her hand beside April.
“So did this Rich... Man tell you anything?” Shane asked.
April shook her head. “No, he said that Dylan was looking for Tilly because she was having sex with this guy. Dylan was apparently trying to find out who Richard was. Richard said that drugs make her do the psycho things, so not to hold her responsible for the things she’s done but the drugs.”
Shane sighed and looked at April, reading her face. “I dunno, April; I don’t know what to think; I can’t help but think we might be reading more into this than there really is; I mean, maybe Michael just killed Dylan because the guy is a dickhead.”
April nodded and wiped at her eyes, feeling exhaustion set in. “It would be nice to just have a reason. It makes it better somehow with a reason.”
“I know,” he said, dropping his face to stare at the table.
They fell into a broken silence when Tilly entered the room. “April, when did you get here?”
April looked over at Shane, who looked at April with a slight eyebrow raise. “Not long ago,” April said as she half-turned to look at Tilly.
“Oh nice,” Tilly said as she went to the bench and made a coffee.
April watched as Tilly shoveled five sugars into the mug. “Shelly said she saw you yesterday.”
April felt her entire body stiffen with anxiety; the words of Richard flowed through her ears that Tilly was a psycho. April cleared her throat as Shane’s eyes narrowed and bored into Tilly’s back.
“Oh, um yeah, she did; she wasn’t making much sense,” April said.
Tilly let out a big belly laugh, almost maniacal in nature. “She never fucking does,” Tilly turned with a horrifying grin, her teeth black and broken.
“Do you reckon Michael was put up to killing Dylan?” Tilly asked with a smile suddenly dropping from her face.
April felt like she was walking in a minefield, scared to step if it blew up. “I don’t know, Tilly, I really don’t,” April answered. But it was a lie. The more April learned and listened, the more she was convinced that Michael was ordered to kill Dylan.
Richards’s words were floating in the air as if they were alive and could be physically read. April observed Tilly, every sense in her body on fire, ready to leap away instantly. April could see Shane’s body was also tense, ready for action from the corner of her eye. Neither was sure where Tilly was planning on taking the conversation.
“Well, I reckon he was,” Tilly said as she approached the table and leaned toward April.
April leaned back as she felt increasingly uncomfortable.
“Tilly,” Shane’s voice sounded in a warning.
“I know who it did, too,” Tilly said, smiling.
Tilly’s breath hit April’s face in a stinking foul breeze. She pushed herself back off the table and snatched her mug of coffee; it slopped onto the bench as she marched back into the lounge room. April looked over at Shane in shock. Shane half stood, half sat on his chair. He eased back into the chair and let out a sharp breath.
