Wilz gasped for air as his grip loosened. “So you tried to run away and got him killed instead.”
“No. You have it all wrong. I shot him. It was the only way – don’t you see?” The madness in his eyes answered all her questions. “I couldn’t let him come back and ruin everything I’d worked for. I waited until we were away from the others and the shooting started and I killed him.”
He leaned back and she sucked in another breath. “Let me up, Papa. Let me take you inside and get you warm and dry.” I have to end this now. There is no way I can allow this to happen anymore. He’s insane.
He looked at her with his vacant stare. “But I can’t. You know my secret. You’ll tell, just like she wanted to.” He let go of her blouse. Move girl. Run for your life. His fingers closed around her throat. No, no, you can’t give up like this. “I can’t let you go. You’re just like your mother. A little whore who has to die.”
The pressure mounted as his fingers dug into her skin, stars popped before her eyes. He had a look of wonder on his face as he squeezed her throat. Her lungs burned. He was too strong, too determined to kill her. He pushed her head down under the water and memories entwined in her mind, mixing with reality. Is there any point me fighting any longer? I can’t win, I know this now. A clap of thunder, a flash of lightning and her silent screams before everything went black.
* * *
Searing pain gripped her lungs, starved her of oxygen. She struggled to hold onto the little breath she had left but would it do her any good? If she couldn’t find the surface away from the mud and slime, she faced a certain death. She flailed her arms, spots of bright light bursting behind her closed eyelids. There wasn’t enough time, she was dying.
The urge to give in and allow the cold dark depths to take her took over the need to breathe. So much easier to let go and drift away, it would save so much heartache, give her the sweet release from the demons that hounded her. Faces started to cross over her mind. Her lover, the calm blue eyes that soothed her, Papa’s angry face as he gripped her around the throat, squeezing the life out of her, the image fading as he’d pushed her under the murky water of the lake.
Another face appeared in her mind. The blond man with the crooked smile who’d won her heart the first time they’d met. The same man who held her hand as she gave birth to the tiny screaming bundle that was their son. The son that she needed to fight for.
Don’t give in, Billie, you can do this. Fight! Fight!
I can’t do this anymore. I’m tired, so very, very tired.
She let her arms go lax and the mud sucked at her body as she drifted deeper. So peaceful. No point in fighting anymore, it was time to give up. After all she’d been through, it was time to let go.
So help me, Billie. You came to do a job. Do it, damn you. You’re the only one who knows what he did to me.
A sudden strike of pain whipped her face around. Her body jerked at the shock and started to rise from the mud, her arms flailed again and this time she put effort into it, desperate for another glimpse of that child she’d left behind. She pushed up, breaking the water’s surface. Fresh air mingled with the foul tasting water in her burning lungs. Thank God. It was so close.
* * *
Hamish wandered around the rose garden while Alex played with his dog. He’d give Billie an hour or so unless Lucy and Frederick arrived and then he’d go looking. It’d been hard to let her go in the hope that she managed to sort out what was bothering her, but he’d had no choice. She was convinced there was something here for her to finish and if that was what it took for her to finally start healing, then so be it. Hamish refused to make the same mistake twice.
The clouds hung overhead, ominous in their denseness. He thought of running to his car to stay warm and dry while he waited. A fat drop landed on his cheek and he brushed it aside. “Alex, I’m going to head to the house. This is going to dump on us soon, I can feel the ozone in the air.”
“Where’s Mom? I thought you were watching her.”
“I’m sure she’s fine. There was no point hovering over her, that would only make her nervous. She promised to call for help if she needed it.”
“Okay then. So long as you’re sure she’s alright. We’ll come too. Maggie, here girl.” He scarpered off toward the house and Hamish followed at a more sedate pace. Oh to be young again and have so much energy to burn.
By the time he got to the car, Alex and Maggie were nowhere in sight. Where the heck had they had gone? He couldn’t hear either of them. Pete’s ute now stood out the front, the front door was open a crack and he hoped they weren’t inside annoying the builder. The house was huge and there were so many places a puppy and a boy could hide.
A gust of wind whipped around his ears and he hunched his shoulders, staring up at the clouds, when something caught his eye. A shadow at
