Page 130 of Ace My Heart

“What about Ben?” I muttered, more to myself than to Julie. But then I noticed the look on her face when I said his name.

“Julie, what about Ben?” I pressed.

“Ben?” she asked, but I could hear the fear in her tone. She knew more about this than I did, that was for sure.

“Yes. Don’t pretend you don’t know who I’m talking about – Joel’s Uncle Ben …Shaun’sUncle Ben. Steve’s brother. Seriously Julie, you’d better just tell me everything, or I’m going to jump to conclusions here.”

Julie’s shoulders slumped. “You’re going to take this totally the wrong way, Mel, but I’ll tell you. I don’t know how, but Ben found out about the trust. He got suspicious about what it was for and why it was left solely to Joel to administer, when Joel already got a portion of the estate.

“So, Ben started asking questions. Joel managed to fob him off, and we thought it was all over when Ben went back overseas. But then I noticed this man following me, everywhere I went – to Shaun’s daycare, to work, to the supermarket … everywhere.”

The breath caught in my throat. “Ben found out. And he came back,” I muttered.

With a sickening lurch in my stomach, I remembered the conversation I’d overheard between Joel and Ben the day I’d been hiding at the bottom of the stairs. Ben asking,“Where is she?” and“Did you think you could keep it a secret from me?”He hadn’t been talking about me at all. He’d been talking about Julie and Shaun.

“When Ben found out he went berserk. Well, that’s what Joel told me anyway. He was mad that Steve hadn’t left him much in the will at all. He didn’t think it was fair that a bastard child got more than he did.” Julie’s voice was hoarse. “He threatened Joel. He said that he’d tell Sandra everything if Joel didn’t give him a portion of the trust.”

I put my head down between my knees. “So, he was blackmailing Joel, and suddenly …” I looked at Julie. “He had a motive … both times. How have the police not …? How have they not foundout that Ben paid a guy to follow you? And the trust? How have they not found out about that?”

Julie shrugged half-heartedly. “The trust is innocent enough, from what I understand. On the surface it’s Joel’s. What he chooses to do with the money in it is up to him. I have no idea about the private investigator. Maybe Ben covered his tracks really well. I don’t know. But Mel, Joel didn’t do it. Iknowhe didn’t do it!”

I dug my nails into my palms. I wanted so badly to believe her, but a part of me fought against being so naive.

“How can you be so sure? You only have his word about what he did that night when he left your house.”

Julie looked at me earnestly. “But he was with his mum the night Ben …”

I shook my head. “He came round to my place that night for a while. How do we know he didn’t make a detour via Ben’s place on the way home? He might have been able to convince Sandra to lie for him too – to say he’d been home the whole time.”

Julie slumped back into her chair. “Mel, you don’t actually believe he could have done it, do you?”

I felt my body trembling all over. “I don’t know what to believe. I don’t know what to do.”

Julie tensed. “You’re not going to tell the police, are you?” she whispered.

“I don’t know … I have to go.” I took one last glance at Shaun. Joel’s brother. That was weird. I slid off the massage table and walked to the door.

“Hey Julie, I’m sorry.”

I walked out before she could ask me what I was sorry for. Lucky, because I didn’t even know myself.

I pedalled as fast as my legs would take me, but nothing would slow the flurry of thoughts, suspicions, fears, that swarmed between my ears.

Should I go to the police, tell them what I suspected, and let them do their job?

I instantly discarded that option – rightly or wrongly I felt a stab of loyalty to Joel. I couldn’t do that to him.

So, whatweremy options? Just pretend I didn’t know anything about it, go on as normal, and eventually the police might uncover the truth? Or confront DJH, ask him outright whether he killed his dad and his uncle?

I could never pretend, I wasn’t a good enough actress; Joel would know something was up. The second option terrified me: I was afraid of what I might learn, but also I’d have to actually have a direct conversation with DJH, which we hadn’t managed in weeks.

I still couldn’t muffle the ache inside my chest when I thought about him, but I had to do something. I had to decide.

I knew what I had to do. It was always the only option. Before I could chicken out of something else in my life, I turned my bike towards Rose Bay.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Confrontation

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