Chapter 41
Nel sat in her car at the lighthouse, watching the gentle offshore breeze blowing spray off the back of perfect waves that sparkled in the yellow light.
She should get out there—soon she would be back in Sydney where she’d be battling dozens of others for waves like this—but she was struggling to muster the energy.
It had been a long slow day with a steady procession of patients but no news from Jimmy about the DNA sample. He said it would take a couple of days, but impatience gnawed at her.
She startled at a knock on the window and looked up to see Sophie, her eyes red-rimmed. Nel lowered the window.
‘What’s wrong?’
Sophie shook her head and looked out at the horizon, then back at Nel with tears in her eyes.
‘You want to hop in?’ Nel asked, sensing she wanted to talk.
Sophie got into the passenger seat and shut the door, then she covered her face with her hands. After a moment she took a deep breath then turned to face Nel. There was a bump above her left eye.
Nel swallowed. ‘What happened?’
Sophie stared through the salty windscreen out to sea. ‘We had an electrician come to do some work at the house. Ryan was watching me talking to him at the front door on the Ring Camera. He’s got an app on his phone. I was just being friendly, but Ryan thought I was flirting.’
‘He hit you?’
‘He pushed me as I left the room. My forehead hit the doorframe.’
Nel felt a surge of hatred pulse through her veins but tried not to show it.
‘He’s paranoid I’ll leave him like my mum left my dad,’ Sophie said.
‘Does he hurt the kids?’
‘Not yet, but it feels like it’s only a matter of time. It’s getting worse. I used to be almost relieved when he’d explode because I knew it would be a few weeks, a month even, until the next time, but it’s happening so often now. Charlie’s starting to stand up to him, trying to protect me.’
‘Have you reported it to the police?’
Sophie let out a cynical laugh. ‘Do you watch the news? You know what happens when women report this stuff? They end up dead. Sometimes the kids do too.’
An image flashed in Nel’s mind. A bright-eyed mum and her three beautiful kids posing with Santa, killed by the man who was supposed to love them most, a week after she’d moved out of the family home.
There had been nationwide outrage, with much handwringing and head-shaking by politicians who quoted the horrific statistics about women killed by their intimate partners, insisting that something must be done—but eventually everyone moved on and nothing changed.
Sophie ran a hand through her hair. ‘It’s not just the physical violence. The worst bit is the control, the mind games.’ A shadow crossed her face. ‘When I met him, I had lots of friends, but one by one he turned me against them. I didn’t even realise he was doing it.’
‘What about your family?’
‘He turned me against them too. “They don’t give a shit about you,” he’d say. “They dumped you. You mean nothing to them.”’ She frowned, thinking. ‘I can see through it now, but it made sense to me at the time. I felt abandoned, I guess. My mum had moved to Adelaide with my sister.’
‘Is your dad still here?’
Sophie shook her head. ‘He moved to Cairns with an Indonesian woman he met on the internet. I was with Ryan by then. He was everything my dad wasn’t. Confident. Passionate. Protective.’
There was a long silence. The air between them felt charged.
‘I’m pregnant,’ Sophie whispered.
‘Shit.’ Nel sighed. ‘Have you thought about leaving?’
‘Every day.’
‘Do you think you will?’
Sophie looked at Nel and shook her head.
‘Why not?’
‘It would be a nightmare.’
‘But better than living like this, surely?’
Sophie shook her head again. ‘He’d want shared custody. He’d have plenty of money to keep going back to court. I’ve seen what he’s done to rival real estate agents. He can be ruthless. And what would happen if I wasn’t there to bear the brunt of his temper?’ She shuddered and closed her eyes.
‘What about just … disappearing? There are organisations that could help you.’
‘He would look for me until he found me. He’ll never let me go.’
Nel felt a surge of despair. ‘But you can’t go on living like this, and with a new baby …’
After a moment, Sophie turned to Nel. ‘You should be careful.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I don’t know … He really hates you after what happened with Maddie. I worry about what he might do.’ There was an intensity to her gaze, as though she was trying to communicate more than she was saying.
Nel’s heart quickened. ‘Has he ever talked about the night she went missing?’
Sophie looked back out the windscreen. ‘She was pregnant,’ she whispered. ‘He told me he met her at the lighthouse and told her to get an abortion, and then the next day she was missing.’
Nel exhaled a shaky breath.
Sophie checked the time on her phone. ‘I need to get home,’ she said, reaching for the door handle.
‘Sophie, if you ever need help to leave, or help with anything, you call me, okay? Or the police.’
‘Yeah sure, I will.’
Nel wanted to believe her. ‘Put my number in your phone.’
Sophie shook her head. ‘He goes through my phone.’ She opened the door and got out, then leaned in the open window. ‘Thanks for the chat.’
Nel sighed. ‘You know how you said you don’t have any friends?’
‘Yeah.’
‘That’s not true. You have me.’
Sophie gave her a half-hearted smile. ‘Thanks.’
As Nel watched the Subaru disappear from the car park, she had a strange feeling that she would never see Sophie again. She leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes. It felt hopeless.
She was replaying the conversation when there was a beep from her phone. Jimmy.
Meet me at the Grand. I have news.