Page 40 of Sharing Forever in Hope Creek (Hope Creek #2)

He stared at her as though she’d taken leave of her senses. ‘You’re still in touch with your parents?’

‘I haven’t seen her in all these years or written to her but it’s true what you see on TV and in the movies about criminals maintaining networks to the outside world,’ she explained. ‘She knew all about my life.’

‘Seriously?’

‘I asked her if there was any information she could give me that would help prove your innocence, but she was already one step ahead of me and gave me a name—well, two names actually.’

He sat forward in his chair, scraping the legs of the chair on the hard floor as he did. ‘Yes?’

‘Marcus Covington.’

Jack swore. ‘Thompson swore Marcus had nothing to do with the Ponzi scheme.’

‘Hang on. You knew about that guy already? You asked Andrew about Marcus Covington?’

‘I thought I’d seen Marcus at the vineyard the day you and I were there together.

’ Jack ran his fingertips across his forehead as he spoke and looked like he was trying to piece his thoughts together.

‘Marcus has already done jail time for fraud, so when I knew Thompson was fronting a Ponzi scheme, I thought Marcus might be involved too. Thompson denied it but he definitely knew Marcus—I just don’t know how they were connected.

’ He moved his right hand in a gesture of helplessness.

‘He spoke of Marcus as though he was inconsequential.’

‘I don’t know whether this guy Marcus was involved in the Ponzi business. The information my mother gave me was that he was up to his ears in debt to Andrew. She said Andrew was calling in the loan and Marcus couldn’t pay. The word is that he killed Andrew to get out of debt.’

‘Bloody hell!’ Jack shook his head, his expression incredulous. ‘Marcus? He was crooked, yes, but a killer …?’

‘Julie—my mother—said the word is that Marcus framed you because he wanted revenge on you. She said you already knew this.’

Jack looked as though he was going to be violently ill but then he straightened and stared at her. ‘Callie, the murder happened only days ago. Do you seriously believe someone in prison could possibly know all this?’

‘I know it sounds impossible—absurd even—but Julie didn’t even wait for me to tell her why I was paying her a visit. She knew, Jack. She knew about you and me. She even knows we’re having a child together.’

He let out a low whistle. ‘That’s insane.’ Then immediately afterwards he said, ‘We need to tell the police. I need to tell Sian—my lawyer.’

‘Jack, what’s your connection to Marcus Covington? Why would he want to frame you for murder?’

Jack let out a sound of frustration. ‘Marcus and I were at university together. We were friends. When I was sick with glandular fever and couldn’t attend lectures for weeks, he made sure I had all the lecture notes and went through them with me.’

‘Sounds as though he was a good friend, then. How did you fall out?’

‘After university, I went into the family business—as you know.’ He shrugged.

‘Dad had his first heart attack when I was setting up my first big development deal—an eco-friendly tourist resort in Far North Queensland.’ He rubbed his fingertips over his forehead.

‘I knew Mum wasn’t coping well. For all that she and Dad had lived their own lives for so many years, when push came to shove and Dad had his near-death experience, she fell apart initially.

I think I told you already that Jacinta was also a mess.

I was torn. I was needed in Brisbane, but I should also have been on-site managing the project in the north.

’ He shifted restlessly in his seat and looked as though he wanted to get up and pace the room.

‘Marcus knew I was in a bind and he offered to manage the FNQ project for me.’

‘So what went wrong?’

‘Everything.’ He let out a mirthless laugh as he rolled his eyes.

‘Business is about profit, for sure, but my primary goal had been to preserve the environment as much as possible. The eco-friendly materials were more expensive and harder to source. Marcus knew my intention, but went behind my back and sourced cheaper, less eco-friendly materials.’ He ran a hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration.

‘I had no idea until one of my workers contacted me and blew the whistle on him. Then I found out he’d even paid an official council inspector a bribe to certify that the intended eco-friendly materials had been used.

The inspector certified that we’d ticked every single development requirement when we hadn’t. ’

‘Did he think he was doing you a favour coming in under budget?’

‘Hell, no! He was pocketing the difference!’

Lord! What a corrupt character. ‘What did you do?’

‘As soon as I was contacted I flew up north for the day and confronted him about it.’

‘Did he admit to it?’

‘Yes, and without any remorse.’ He shook his head. ‘He told me I was a fool and that if SPAcific Developments was going to continue to thrive, I needed to be ruthless like my father and to cut corners in the name of profit.’

‘How did you react to that?’

‘I fired him as project manager and told him not to ever bother contacting me again.’

Okay. She couldn’t see that Jack had done anything wrong. ‘He’s still carrying a grudge over that? Wasn’t he able to find more work?’

Jack’s lips twisted. ‘His life went downhill from there. I didn’t talk about what had happened because I didn’t want it to taint my development project.

I went straight to the council to set things right, but the council rightly insisted they were going to fire the building inspector.

Word leaked. Marcus was eventually investigated over the bribes and I was interviewed by police.

Of course, I had to report what I knew. I ended up having to testify against him and it was the evidence I provided that sent him to prison. ’

She reached out to touch his hand. ‘You had no choice. You did the right thing. I can’t believe he’s holding that against you when he was the one who brought it upon himself.’

‘That isn’t all.’

‘Oh.’ Callie bit her lip and girded herself for whatever was coming. ‘Tell me.’

‘He was released on bail and was set to face court over the bribery charges when things went from bad to worse.’

‘What happened?’

‘He went out drinking, sexually assaulted a woman, and ended up serving time in prison for both the assault and the bribe charges.’ He turned one hand palm up.

‘I heard he blames me for everything bad that’s happened since I fired him and when we were in the courtroom he vowed to bring my whole company to its knees. ’

‘None of what happened to him is your fault. If he hadn’t abused your trust and gone behind your back, he could’ve had a successful career with you, couldn’t he?’

‘Don’t worry, I wish things hadn’t turned out the way they did but I’m not carrying any guilt.

I gave him a chance and he blew it.’ His right hand rubbed at the nape of his neck.

‘I doubt he would’ve stayed long with SPAcific.

Marcus was never happy playing a support role—he always wanted to be the one to stand out and he hogged any limelight he could find. ’

‘Do you think he was envious of you because you had the opportunity to work for your father straight out of university?’

‘Oh yeah. It was only in hindsight that I realised he was insecure within himself and nursed a giant chip on his shoulder because he’d come from a family who were struggling financially. He resented my parents’ wealth.’ He sent her a wry smile. ‘He’s the opposite of you.’

She closed her eyes for a second. ‘Jack, I’m not anti-wealth.

Margaret and Jim are very wealthy because they come from generations of hard-working graziers.

’ How did she put this without sounding like an inverted snob?

‘I’m always initially suspicious of wealth because of the people my parents worked for and knowing how those people got rich from organised crime that devastated the lives of others.

Because of all that I need to know people have worked for their money and amassed their wealth scrupulously. ’

He winked at her. ‘If I can convince you my wealth is not ill-gotten gains, are you prepared to let me support you?’

She ignored his attempt to lighten the situation. The gravity here had to be faced. ‘Let’s concentrate on getting you out of here, first.’

‘We need to get my investigator and the police on to finding Marcus,’ he agreed. ‘My bet is that he will have gone to ground.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m not certain they’ll believe us. It sounds outlandish.’

‘You know the saying—fact is stranger than fiction.’

‘Yeah. Let’s hope so.’

‘Anyway, I have a lead from … my mother … on how to prove all this. Julie says that Marcus Covington’s girlfriend, Fiona Harris, will sing like a bird if the police apply any pressure.’

‘Callie, you’re an angel. I absolutely lo—’ He bit the word off.

She could see his shock reflected in his eyes, in the slight parting of his lips and the furrow that formed between his brows.

She could read his every thought—knew what he’d been about to say and watched the way he was acknowledging the truth of it.

He loved her.

Over the last few days, she’d turned everything over in her mind and she’d realised she loved him.

Now, before her eyes, he’d had his moment of truth and her spirits lifted so high she imagined she could hear a choir of celestial angels. Her mouth dried as she waited for him to say it. She felt her lips starting to form a smile.

He looked away from her and said quickly, ‘Thank you for all you’ve done.’

His words jarred through her, bringing her back to earth with a heavy, painful crash.

‘I … I really appreciate it.’

Callie barely managed to keep her mouth from sagging open as she did a double take.

Deep breath in.

Long breath out.

Okay. So, he wasn’t going to admit his feelings for her.

What did that mean?

Did he need time to process how he felt, or had the words almost slipped out in a moment of relief and he’d held them back because he realised he might love and appreciate what she’d done but he wasn’t in love with her?

Confusion followed hot on the heels of her disappointment.

The moment she thought he’d realised he loved her played over and over in her mind’s eye like an endless loop.

With every replay she was more certain she hadn’t misinterpreted his feelings for her.

Maybe he’d been going to say the words with the meaning that he loved her as a friend?

That left her feeling strangely hollow but she could hardly force an admission from him.

‘I’m glad I could help, Jack.’

She saw his Adam’s apple move up and down in the tanned column of his neck as he swallowed. Then, before he spoke, he cleared his throat. ‘I think I should contact my lawyer again now.’

‘Probably a good idea.’ Oh hell! This discomfort between them was dreadful.

‘Thank Jim and Margaret from me for the support they’re giving you. Are you driving back to Hope Creek this afternoon?’

Every formal word created more distance between them.

‘No.’ She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

‘Margaret and Jim own the property in Toorak where I live. We’ll all stay there tonight.

Liz, Connor and Kade will most likely be coming over to join us because they’re in Melbourne too.

Mitch thought it was better for Kade to be out of Hope Creek for the time being while everything is going on. ’

‘If, by some miracle, I get out of here tonight, I’ll call you and let you know.’

‘I’m praying for a miracle.’ Callie pushed her chair back from the table. ‘I’ll let you go and make your call.’

She wanted to rant at him—to tell him not to hide his feelings for her. She wanted to tell him that she loved him too or she’d never have gone to visit her mother.

When she’d arrived, they’d been separated by the table. Now, it felt as though they stood on opposite sides of a deep ravine, unable to reach out and touch each other. Unable to make a connection.

Callie started to turn away from him when she heard him call out. ‘Callie!’

She turned back slowly and saw emotion splintering through him as he stood up.

‘We’ll get through this,’ he promised. ‘Hang in there.’

Swallowing down on her own emotion, she sent him a sad smile. She wanted to say, ‘I love you too, Jack.’ All she managed was, ‘We will.’