her for years. But Brian wanted Karli over here, and seeing Nicole was ill it was Brian who was making decisions on Karli’s behalf. If I didn’t come then she’d have to fly out on her own. And then Brian added further incentive. The train ride.’
‘Why the train?’
‘The story he gave was that this was too good a chance to miss,’ she told him. ‘Brian’s very plausible. He said he was desperately missing Karli and if we came by plane to Sydney and then had over three days travelling by train to Perth, not only would it be an exciting holiday for both of us, but it’d give him a chance to be with his daughter for a while.’ She hesitated, trying to remember why she’d agreed.
‘It sounded reasonable,’ she told him, thinking it through. ‘I knew Nicole would move heaven and earth to keep Karli and Brian apart. If someone didn’t do what Nicole wanted she could be…spiteful. So if this was a chance for Karli to be in Australia, then it made sense that Brian would be grateful for the opportunity to spend some time with her. Anyway, as I said, I didn’t want to come—but when I told Karli what was about to happen she disintegrated. In the end I couldn’t let her travel by herself. So I agreed. That was the start of my dopiness. It was all a huge, huge mistake, and it was based on an outright lie.’
There was a moment’s pause. Riley’s eyes rested on her face and she sensed that he could almost see the pain. ‘Tell me,’ he said gently. ‘Why was it a mistake?’
She felt sick. Telling him like this…it brought it all back and she felt the emotions of the last couple of days rise to the point where they almost overwhelmed her. But she forced herself to continue.
‘Brian was insistent that we come straight away,’ she told him. ‘He said he only had a few days off work, and Nicole would maybe leave Perth or change her mind and we’d miss the opportunity. So we came. He met us at Sydney airport and whisked us straight to the train. And he was nice. He was really nice. Right up until the moment we got on the train he was nice—and then he let it all drop.’
‘So what happened?’
‘He started drinking,’ she said. ‘And when he’d had a few drinks he was cruel. Not cruel to me. To me he was just plain slimy. He couldn’t keep his hands off me. But he spent the entire train journey putting Karli down. I couldn’t believe it. A grown man belittling a five-year-old, over and over again.’ She looked up at him, willing him to understand. ‘You’ve met Karli. Anyone can see that she’s fragile. She’s the loveliest little girl, but she couldn’t do anything right. It was almost as if Brian wanted to seduce me—as if he could, the slime ball—and he thought Karli was in the way.’
‘But you were stuck with him,’ Riley said, and she nodded.
‘Yep. We were stuck on the train and couldn’t get away. I thought of getting off the train when we went through Adelaide but…’ She hesitated. How to say she had no money to fly them to Perth? Their flight home was paid from Perth. Their train fare was paid for. She’d decided they’d just have to stick with it.
But she wasn’t going to tell Riley that.
‘But I didn’t,’ she told him, flatly, no longer caring what he thought. ‘So we travelled for another half a day and then the conductor handed Brian a message that had just been radioed through as urgent.’
He knew what she was going to say before she said it. ‘Saying Nicole was dead?’
‘Saying Nicole was dead,’ she said flatly. ‘The depression thing was a lie. And I hadn’t checked.’
‘So, what was it?’
‘She’d taken a drug overdose,’ she said, her voice flat and lifeless. ‘We didn’t know. But Brian knew. She went into a coma five days ago and she’d been on life support ever since.’
He frowned. ‘But—’
‘Nicole has no family,’ Jenna told him. ‘Apart from me and Karli and we…we’ve never counted. But apparently there was some glitch in the divorce proceedings with Brian, which Brian’s kept quiet about and hoped like crazy that Nicole didn’t realize. So he’s still officially her husband. Maybe he guessed with her lifestyle there was a good chance she’d soon end up dead. Anyway, he’s planned this from the time he knew her condition was hopeless. He stopped the hospital leaking her condition to the press. He got us both out here and as soon as he had us safely on the train he gave permission for her life support to be turned off.’
There was a long silence. Then… ‘I still don’t understand.’
He didn’t understand? She barely did herself. She lifted her water glass, twisted it round and round as if by doing so maybe she could see things from a different angle. Suddenly Riley’s hand came across the table to rest on hers, forcing the glass down. She released the glass, but his hand stayed where it was. Warm and strong and compelling.
‘Tell me.’
She had to tell him. She had to say it out loud.
‘It was because of Nicole’s will,’ she whispered.
‘What about Nicole’s will?’
‘I’m only going on what Brian yelled at me,’ she told him. ‘But as far as I understand… When Nicole married Brian she made a will leaving him everything, but then she started hating Brian as much as she hated my father.’ She hesitated, trying to make clear something that had no logic—that only unreasoned malice could explain. ‘All through my childhood—and Karli’s—Nicole worked very hard to get us both away from our respective fathers, so much so that we’ve been permanently based in England. I know she’s thought of that as a success. Charles is in America. Brian’s in Australia. Karli and I are in England and if there’s ever been a suggestion that we go anywhere else then Nicole’s almost been apoplectic with rage.’
He nodded, trying to take it in. ‘And so?’
‘So the codicil said that as long as Karli and I were still in England when she died and we had no contact with our fathers, then we’d inherit everything she owns. Which, I gather, is a fortune. But it seems that the rough way the change was drafted means that as Karli and I weren’t in England at the exact time of her death, then the original will stays valid, and Brian gets everything.’
His eyes darkened. She could see anger flaring.
‘So he conned you into leaving England.’
‘For myself I don’t care,’ she whispered. ‘But the way it happened was awful. Brian came into the lounge car on the train and everyone was there. An old lady was telling Karli a story about the Koori people who lived out here. Karli was happy. Just for a minute she was happy. Then Brian appeared. He walked straight up to Karli and he put his face into hers and he shouted “Your mother’s dead and you’ll get nothing. I’ve won. You stupid little brat, you won’t get a thing”.’
‘No.’ It was a whispered exclamation of horror that she could only agree with.
‘So I got off the train,’ she said dully. ‘There was nothing else I could do. Karli went limp with shock and I picked her up and took her back to our compartment and started throwing our stuff into our suitcases—fast, because the train was already stopped. Just as it started moving we got off. End of story. Brian’s gone on to Perth to claim Nicole’s fortune, and Karli and I… Karli and I are going home.’
Home.
