Page 78 of Quake
She stood, following my gaze, but at that moment, the little group broke apart, and they came into the room. I glanced at Caleb, but he only nodded to reassure me. It must be the police.
The woman smiled, her blonde hair reminding me of Melanie’s. They were completely different even though she looked just as athletic. She pointed to the badge hanging from the waistband of her jeans.
“Hi, Juliette, I’m Detective Charlotte Croft with the Victoria Police,” she said. “This is—”
“Detective Rand,” I finished off for her, recognizing the middle-aged man who’d followed her in. He’d been around a lot when Melanie first died. He was the lead detective on her case.
“I’m sorry we had to meet again under these circumstances,” he said. “But we do have some good news for you, Miss O’Connor.”
It felt strange hearing him call me that even though it had been my surname for most of my life. I identified more as Juliette Spicer now, but Caleb was right. It was just a name. It didn’t make me who I was.
“Thomas Rossi, the man who attacked you on Wednesday night?, his DNA matched samples that were taken from your sister’s bedroom,” Rand continued. “He was the man who killed Melanie, just like he said.” ????
“Oh, God,” Mum exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand.
“He’d been watching you for a few months,” Detective Rand went on.
A chill ran through my veins, and I glanced at Caleb. “He was watching me?”
Rand smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “The level he’d gone to was unprecedented. I know it doesn’t make it any easier to hear, but you couldn’t have known. He was smart. Been doing it for a while.”
“We’ve been able to close two other cases with the evidence we’ve gathered,” Detective Croft said. “And foil another before he got to her.”
I felt sick. He’d been so close this entire time. I began to tremble, and I didn’t still until Caleb took my hand. At least they saved the other girl, whoever she was.
“We have the evidence to confirm his guilt now,” Detective Croft went on. “The case will be closed.”
“Does that mean there will be no action against me?” Caleb asked. “For the fight?”
“It was self-defense, son,” Rand replied. “We’ll need to take official statements once you’re both up to it, but in my professional experience, there’s nothing for you to worry about.”
The two men shook on it, and there were tearful thank yous all round. Once the detectives had left, Mum sat on my bedside, her hand resting on my knee.
“It’s going to be okay now. I want you to come home, sweetie,” she said. “Please. Your father and I don’t like being so far away from you.”
“I don’t know…” I began. The thought hadn’t had a chance to cross my mind. Everything had happened so fast I was having trouble catching up.
I glanced at Dad, who just shrugged in his typical steely man way. He would never actually say it, but I knew Mum spoke truthfully for him.
Did I want to go back to Queensland where so many bad things had happened? Sure, it would be tough, but there were over twenty years of good memories, too. Mel and I had grown up on the beaches of the Sunshine Coast, swimming, surfing—or I should say I’d sat under an umbrella reading while Mel surfed—chasing boys, studying at Uni, following our dreams…
But I could stay in Melbourne. I’d started to build a life here with my work and now with Caleb. It wasn’t so bad.
I looked to Caleb, hoping he would show me the way just like he had the first day I’d stepped into Beat.
“I would go anywhere with you,” he said, lifting my hand to his lips and kissing my knuckles. “The decision is yours.”
His blue eyes gazed into mine, and all I could see was love. My heart swelled, the fear I’d carried around for the last six years, vanishing.
It was gone, and I was free.
I could do anything I wanted now.
Anything at all.
30
Juliette
