Close to the Truth, page 11
Was he?
Jasmine put down her glass and moved so that she was kneeling over him. ‘I don’t think you are trapped. You can leave anytime you want. The cage door is open. I don’t think you have ever been hungry enough to want to leave.’
He was the fat house cat and she was the lean tiger.
She kissed him. Her lips warm against his. She tasted like red wine and pepperoni. His hands found her hips. It was going to hurt when she left. Hurt worse than the first time. He doubted she’d be back again.
‘I shouldn’t want you. I know you’re only temporary. The dream I can’t hold on to when I wake.’ Jasmine would always be the one who got away.
Unless he chased her.
Could one ever tame a tiger? He didn’t think so, and caging her would be cruel. All he could do was make the most of the time they had.
She smiled; her fingertips brushed his cheek. ‘I always knew you’d never be mine. But that never stopped me from dreaming.’
‘We should dream harder, or more often.’
‘That would mean sleeping through life. That wouldn’t work either.’
She was too damn practical. Did she treat all of her lovers so casually? He didn’t want to ask and get the stats. He didn’t need to know. But he doubted many got a second chance.
She toyed with the buttons on his shirt before flicking one open. ‘Did you want me to stay tonight?’
People had seen her arrive and he had no doubt they’d note what time she would leave. The damage was already done.
‘Stay. Let’s not waste what’s left.’ His hand slid under her shirt to brush the warm skin of her waist.
Glass shattered and Gil froze.
Jasmine did too. Her head tilted to the side. Another window broke and this time the alarm went off. That wasn’t across the street, that was downstairs. His shop.
She was already moving, grabbing her shoes and getting ready to run down into whatever trouble was waiting.
He picked up the phone and called the police—which he really hated doing. He glanced at Jasmine. First her SUV, now this. Maybe it wasn’t related or maybe someone wanted her out of town real bad.
Or someone was worried that the crew would get too close to the truth.
With the cops on their way, Gil grabbed a heavy flashlight. ‘You can wait here.’
Jasmine shook her head. ‘And leave you alone?’
Together they went downstairs. Jasmine had her phone held up, recording whatever was down there. The front of the shop had been sprayed with a big green RM.
‘Didn’t think the River Man was into graffiti,’ Jasmine said.
Both of the front windows had been smashed in. Gil opened up the door and shut off the alarm. His neighbours were already coming out to see what the fuss was about. They glanced at the damage and made noises about bad luck and then they saw Jasmine recording everything on her phone.
A few looked puzzled, but it didn’t last for long as they were informed about who she was, then a look of knowing crossed their face. Jasmine’s slow circle came to a stop. Gil glanced over at who she was looking at, but he didn’t see anyone.
Some of the people staring he didn’t know. They were probably out-of-towners. Some people rented out their spare rooms to make some extra money over this weekend. He didn’t think the damage was done by a stranger. It was only his shop, not the whole street.
Then his father and another cop were pushing through the onlookers.
His heart sank. His father did that quick assessing gaze that Gil was well used to, before his face hardened when he saw Jasmine. Gil made his way to her, reaching her side before his father.
‘Hang around with trash and that’s what you attract.’ His father put his hands on his hips and glared at Jasmine. ‘You still bring trouble wherever you go.’
***
Jasmine looked at the chief. Maybe he wasn’t aware she was still recording. She’d lowered her phone to her side when he’d appeared. ‘Easier to blame the victim than find the vandal?’
She knew she was poking her finger into the beehive, but she was done with dancing around. ‘If someone is trying to hurt me or run me out of town, shouldn’t you be trying to find out who? It wouldn’t look good on the TV if we had to mention being run out of town by biased locals who couldn’t stand that the girl they loved to hate had turned her life around and found success.’
‘Wouldn’t look too good if your past was leaked.’ The chief levelled his gaze at her.
‘What about yours? What kind of a man threatens a sixteen-year-old girl?’ Gil said it loud enough for the closest of the eavesdroppers to hear.
Jasmine gave his hand a squeeze. He didn’t need to defend her. He still had to live with these people. ‘I’ll be gone in a few days. Then you can go back to hating me and my family for having the nerve to be poor. Right now you’d better ask for witnesses. Maybe someone saw something, or perhaps there are some cameras?’
‘Don’t tell me how to do my job. With me, son.’ The chief went into the shop and Gil reluctantly followed.
Jasmine was sure that his father was about to try and tell Gil off. This vandalism would be written off as something random, even though everyone knew that it wasn’t. She stopped the recording and watched the footage. She hadn’t imagined it. Her cousin had been there for just a moment before leaving.
The other officer walked up to her. A young guy, she’d probably gone to school with him, but she couldn’t remember his name. His badge said Tanner. There had been a few Tanner boys at school, all related somehow.
He swallowed. ‘Can I ask you a few questions?’
‘Sure.’ She’d do her bit.
‘Where were you at the time of the incident?’
‘Upstairs with Gil, we were having dinner.’ Someone had known where she’d be. Maybe this wasn’t about her and it was about Gil. He was the one walking out of step and not behaving properly.
They’d thrown him off the committee in the hope that he’d stop seeing her. They couldn’t even let him have a few days of fun.
‘And then what happened?’
‘And then we heard glass break, twice, the alarm went off and we came down to see what was going on. And here we are.’
‘That’s it?’
‘That’s it.’ She smiled.
‘Do you or Gil have any enemies?’
‘Are you joking?’ Did he not know who she was? ‘When I lived here, I was Jasmine Thorpe. Half the town hated me because of my surname.’
He glanced up from his notepad. A smile formed. ‘Did you date my brother?’
She wouldn’t have called it dating, and she couldn’t remember which Tanner boy it had been. ‘Possibly.’
The Tanners were somewhere closer to respectable than she had been, but not so high that messing with her would get them into trouble. Judging by his uniform, they were working their way up the Bitterwood social ladder.
The cop glanced at the spray paint. ‘Doesn’t seem like what someone would write if they were threatening you.’
She shrugged. ‘I am looking into the creature.’ She gave him another smile. ‘What do you think? Myth, hoax or cryptid?’
He shook his head. ‘I stick to the facts.’
‘And what do they tell you?’
He stared at her for a moment. ‘That people will blame anything out of the ordinary on the River Man. I doubt very much that he did this though. Too far from the river for a start.’
‘I agree. So do you all draw straws to see who gets stuck with the dead deer?’
‘No.’ He shook his head with a laugh. ‘Chief usually has a quick look before it gets destroyed.’
‘So no one looks into it?’
Tanner frowned. ‘No, it’s just a deer.’
‘But there’s been a few of them, all killed the same way, apparently. Don’t serial killers start with animals?’
‘Serial killer? This is Bitterwood. We don’t have serial killers. Worst thing we get is a few break-ins. Maybe a fight … what have you found out?’
‘It’s my job to ask questions and put together a show. But the dead deer have been bugging me. Animals don’t just take hearts and they kill more frequently.’ She paused, as though only just thinking of it. ‘Have there been any other animal mutilations?’
Tanner tilted his head. ‘Don Sander’s cow. It was killed and was in a real mess when found. People blamed the River Man, but it could have been anything.’
‘So you don’t think it’s real?’
‘Nah.’ He shook his head.
‘Then who killed that hunter twenty years ago?’ She knew he wouldn’t have been much older than her when it had happened but there had to be office gossip.
He paused before answering. ‘Er … we don’t know.’
‘No suspects?’
‘Not that I know of.’ He was getting wary now. ‘I think I should be the one asking the questions.’
Jasmine shrugged. ‘Okay. What do you need to know?’
‘Um … Does the TV show have any enemies?’
‘Ask the person who slashed our SUV tires. This seems to fit their style.’
Tanner’s mouth hung open for a moment before he shut it. ‘That would imply that someone doesn’t want you here.’
Jasmine smiled. ‘Exactly. And the person feeding the River Man myth has the most to lose.’
Tanner blinked a couple of times then stepped back. ‘I should go and find the chief.’
‘You do that. If you want me, you know where to find me.’
‘Here … or at the motel?’
But she’d already turned around and started walking toward the shop.
***
Gil watched his father cast a quick look over the broken glass and the two rocks sitting on the shop floor. He knew his father wouldn’t do anything. ‘So are you going to increase patrols to stop this behaviour during the festival?’
‘It was only your shop. Why would that be?’
‘They wanted hardware and we interrupted the theft?’
‘Gil, be sensible. The first person I see when I get here is her. Everyone knows you and her are—’
‘Jasmine. Jasmine and I are old friends who are catching up. And it shouldn’t matter what I do or with who. My store has been damaged and I’ll need to put in an insurance claim. I’ll need a police report number.’
‘I’ll give you that. But you need to understand that you have provoked some people.’ His father put his hands on his hips.
‘Some people need to stop worrying about what I do and pay more attention to the laws they are breaking. Are you even going to investigate?’
‘Can’t get fingerprints off a rock and I know you don’t have any cameras.’
That would be the next thing that he did. He’d put up cameras. He’d been meaning to, but it had never been important. Bitterwood was usually safe.
‘I heard you got thrown off the committee. That girl is ruining your life. Again.’ His father nodded as though expecting Gil to join in and agree.
‘Gossip does move fast. Their bias is showing … if the mayor can’t treat all the people in his town equally then maybe he should be the one being forced out.’
His father opened his mouth to argue, but stopped.
Jasmine walked into the shop. ‘Need some help cleaning and boarding up the windows?’
‘You’ve done enough, don’t you think?’ His father snapped.
Jasmine didn’t flinch or cower at his father’s tone. ‘You know, I’ve meaning to thank you for what you did ten years ago. Why, if you hadn’t have given me that fifty and told me to get lost, I might never have left this place. The world is so much bigger than Bitterwood. And the people are so much nicer. Not hung up on decades-old grudges. You did me a favour, Chief. If not for you I might have stayed, now look at me. I’m on TV and people listen to me. They care about me.’ Her tone was pure sugar, and she was even smiling.
His father’s face darkened as her words struck home.
‘Why don’t you get a broom from out the back, Jas?’ Gil cut in. He didn’t want his father to lose his temper and he didn’t want Jasmine being caught in the storm. They only had a few more days and he didn’t want to waste them talking about what an asshole his father could be.
‘Sure thing. You finished taking photos? Gathering evidence? Or were you just going to brush over this the way you do the mutilated deer?’
‘You’re interfering in a police investigation. I can have you locked up,’ his father snarled.
‘What investigation? If you lock me up, how long do you think it will take the station to get their lawyers involved?’ She took a step forward. ‘You can’t bully me anymore. And if you take it out on my family I will hear about. I can get them good lawyers too.’ She glanced at him. ‘Anything else you need from the cupboard?’
‘Not right now.’ He’d never seen Jasmine act so defiant. No one ever stood up to his father. Moving out of home had been his big act of defiance. Since then he’d barely spoken to his father. They’d talked more over the last couple of days than they had in years. He tossed her the key and she caught it one-handed.
Jasmine gave him a nod and disappeared down aisle two. She’d find the storeroom. There wasn’t that much down there.
‘Did you hear the way she talked to me?’
Gil stared at his father. ‘She’s right. If you’re done, I’m going to secure my shop. I’ll be calling my insurance company in the morning so send me that police report number by email.’
‘This won’t end well, Gil. You got away with it last time because you were young.’
‘Really?’ Gil crossed his arms. ‘What exactly do you want from me? To follow some coded set of behaviour? To only associate with certain pre-approved people? Do you realise how ridiculous that sounds?’
‘You are an Easton. We were one of the founders.’
‘And you know who else was one of the founders? The Royles. I went and spoke to Mrs Harrison at the library. She showed me all kinds of interesting things about the start of the town. So how come we ended up on the right side of the law and they ended up on the wrong side?’ Gil saw Jasmine lingering in the shadows; was she waiting for his father to leave, or listening? He would’ve told her what he’d found if they hadn’t been interrupted.
The other cop walked in. ‘I’ve spoken to a few of the onlookers. No one saw anything.’
‘Put that in your report. It was probably out-of-towners looking to steal hardware or camping supplies. They must have been interrupted.’ His father parroted what Gil had suggested.
‘And the RM tag?’ The young cop looked a little concerned. Maybe he still wanted to do his job properly. Good for him. Give it another few years and that would probably wear off. Or he’d be told to toe the line and not make trouble if he wanted that promotion.
‘Kids … who knows when that happened. I’m sure Gil can get it cleaned off. Right, son?’
‘Yeah.’
The young cop looked at both of them and decided that it wasn’t worth stepping any deeper into what was obviously a family dispute in progress.
‘Okay, I’ll leave you to it.’ Tanner took a step back. ‘I’ll wait outside for you, Chief.’
‘I’m leaving. Nothing more to do here.’
Gil didn’t say anything. He wanted his father out of his shop and out of his life.
Chapter 10
Jasmine hadn’t stayed the night even though she’d wanted to. By the time the windows had been boarded up and the glass swept up, neither of them had felt like doing much. Gil had told her about his trip to the library—some people were still willing to damage their reputation and talk to him. She was really hoping that this public shunning was only temporary and once she left everyone would welcome him back with open arms.
The roads were quiet as she headed through town in the new rental vehicle. Today they would film some of the festival and get the mayor to say his piece. But first there was a meeting with the Chief of Police and the mayor to discuss the hoax. Cal was going to paint it as a really interesting discovery. A long-running hoax that had been so believable only modern investigative techniques had uncovered the truth.
They were trying to dress a pig in a prom dress and crown her queen.
She was expecting to have to fold the whole episode up and write off the week’s work. No one who lived in Bitterwood was going to want to hear that their creature was a hoax even though they had the footage to prove it.
They didn’t know who it was in the River Man suit.
However her uncle did. She’d told the guys she was going to see her family this morning, but what she really wanted was to get her uncle’s tale and see what he knew. If they could find out who it was in the suit, they could really stick it to Chief Easton. It would also reveal how inept he was.
She passed her mother’s house and went further down the road to her uncle’s place. The ever-changing field of car bodies was still there in various states of repair or dismemberment. He was always able to get parts and knew how to fix everything.
She parked the car. Dogs started barking and two raced toward the car. Jasmine let them bark and carry on before slowly nudging open the door. These dogs wouldn’t know her, and they didn’t look too friendly either.
Between the two properties there was now a fence—to keep the dogs in or to stop kids from wandering across? Playing hide and seek in the cars probably hadn’t been the safest game, but it had been fun. Even back then she’d known that she was never going to get the pretty dolls that other kids had.
Her cousin came out of the house in track pants and called off the dogs. They raced back to the porch lured by whatever meat Theo had in his hand. He dropped it into the bowls and the two dogs snapped and snarled at each other, arguing about who got what juicy bit. Blood clung to their muzzles.
These weren’t pets like her uncle had kept. These were guard dogs.
She glanced at Theo. He was grinning. He’d been grinning last night. A chill cut through her and settled in her bones. Maybe she shouldn’t have come here alone. However, if she’d brought a crew or one of the guys, her uncle would’ve never talked.
