North Star (19 page)

‘I don't know.' Jen shook her head miserably. ‘I look back now and think how different it was then. Nowadays it wouldn't happen, but back then . . . it was like people thought it was okay to turn a blind eye.'

Kate fought away dark memories and smiled gently at her old friend. ‘You did save me, Jen,' she said, holding tightly to the only person who had stuck with her through thick and thin.

As the afternoon progressed, people wandered past their table to exchange pleasantries. Kate had tensed at the initial few approaches until Jenny had placed a gentle hand on her arm and told her it was people's way of apologising for the Unterheinner outburst. Dropping by to chat gave them a chance to suss Kate out, and it appeared that, for the majority, the Beaumonts' support held more weight than Unterheinner's bitter accusations.

Later, as Jenny and Nathan went to place a bet on the last race of the day, Kate sat back in the hard plastic chair and let her tired gaze roam over the racegoers. Spotting Amy talking to a small group of girls, she noticed that Georgia wasn't with them.

She walked over to the group and saw Amy's eyes widen in alarm. Immediately her instincts kicked into gear.

‘Having fun?' she asked casually.

Amy couldn't quite hold Kate's gaze.

‘Have you seen Georgia, Amy?'

‘Ah, I think she went to the loo . . . or something,' Amy mumbled.

When Kate saw the glances bouncing between the girls, she knew something was definitely up.

Kate headed back past the food tents and grandstand and combed the beer tent, praying she wasn't going to find her daughter there of all places. She stood on the grassy slope of the spectators area, frowning as she tried to think where else she could look.

‘Can I be of some assistance, ma'am? You look lost,' came a deep drawl from behind her, making her turn with a start. The uniform looked imposing and official, and for a moment Kate stared at it in panic.

‘Kate? You okay?'

Kate blinked and took a small step back. ‘Oh. John. Sorry, you startled me for a minute. I was looking for Georgia.'

John's look of concern turned into a frown. ‘Should we be worried?'

‘It's Georgia we're talking about here,' she said dryly.

‘Good point. I'd better call in the reinforcements,' he teased. ‘Hey, if you're worried, I'll help you look for her,' he added, registering her anxiety.

‘It's okay, you're on duty.'

‘Actually I'm just nipping off to the station to grab a bite to eat and a quick rest before the evening chaos.'

They set off together, heading for the grandstand. At the rear, where the tall wire fence blocked the car park from the racetrack, Kate saw a couple locked in an embrace. She froze.

Georgia.

This was no innocent make-out session between teengers—this was a man taking advantage of an underage girl.

John placed his hand on her arm but she shook him off angrily. Panic, rage and fear drove her forward. This was not happening . . . not again, not to her daughter. The loud roar in Kate's ears sounded like a freight train, and it took her a moment to realise she was screaming at the man, pelting his back with her fists in uncontrollable rage.

Large hands grabbed her, dragging her away from the man before he could recover from his surprise and retaliate.

‘Kate!' John said in a firm voice, cutting through her fog. ‘Calm down.'

‘Mum! What are you doing?' Georgia screeched, sounding less like a terrified victim than an outraged teenager.

‘For Christ's sake, Kate,' John whispered harshly against her ear, ‘let me handle this.'

The man spat out an outraged stream of expletives, his fists clenched and his eyes narrowed in barely suppressed fury.

‘We're not doin' nothin' wrong.' He glared.

‘Now Mick, that's a matter of opinion, mate. See, what I'm looking at is a possible charge of statutory rape.'

‘What? Bullshit. I ain't raped nobody.' Mick raised his voice in outrage at the accusation.

Georgia said nothing, but her eyes flashed
I hate you
loud and clear at her mother.

‘I'm advising you to walk away, Mick, right now.'

‘I told you, we ain't doin' nothin' wrong.'

‘Did you know this girl is fourteen years old?' Kate demanded.

A flash of unease crossed the man's face.

‘Like I said, Mick, walk away now.'

Stepping away from Georgia, the man held John's gaze and flashed a smug smile. ‘Well now, I can walk away, copper, but I can't help it if she decides to follow me.'

Kate gasped in angry disbelief and John deliberately pushed her back behind him.

Georgia shifted uncomfortably under John's stern gaze.

‘I don't think we'll have to worry about that, Mick.'

Mick glared at Georgia, his eyes hard. ‘You comin' then?' When she refused to look at him, he swore and spat in the dust at his feet. ‘Your loss, you weren't any good anyway.' He sauntered away with a cocky swagger, mouthing off as he went.

Kate braced herself for Georgia's scowl of anger. She wasn't disappointed. If she'd been doused in petrol the teenager's furious look would have ignited her on the spot.

‘What the hell did you think you were doing?' Kate demanded.

‘Come on, Mum, surely you recognise making out when you see it—it can't be that long since you had any, can it?'

Kate stared at her daughter in horror. How could this rude child be hers?

‘Do you know who Mick Farrell is?' John asked, ignoring Georgia's caustic remark.

She flipped her head, brushing back a strand of hair defiantly.

‘Did you know he has a brother in jail for rape, and another one in jail for armed robbery?'

Kate paled, feeling as though she might be sick.

‘So? That's not him, is it?' Georgia shot back.

‘Trust me, he's headed down the same path. You don't want someone like Mick Farrell in your life. He has no respect for women . . . and he'll dump you as soon as his girlfriend comes out of hospital with their baby.'

Georgia's sneer wobbled, then disappeared as his words sunk in. ‘You both think you're so smart.'

‘I'm not smart. I'm just a country cop doing his job,' he sighed. ‘And your mother is just worried about you and wants to make sure you're safe.'

‘You mean she wants to control me.'

‘Georgia—' Kate groaned. Suddenly all the fight had gone from her. She was so tired of arguing.

‘I'm sick of your lies. You promised me we were going to leave and now we're stuck here and you didn't even give us a say in it. You lied to me. I'm sick of you ruining my life!'

‘You know, I think if you gave this place a chance, you'd find out it's not so bad,' John pointed out.

She didn't bother answering, but jutted out her jaw defiantly. ‘Don't you have someone else's day to ruin?' she asked bitterly.

John shook his head. ‘Nope, I'm off duty.'

‘Georgia, get back to the tent now, we're getting your brother and leaving.' Kate sent her daughter a look that dared her to open her mouth and argue. Thankfully, she seemed to think it was better to do as she was told . . .  this time.

As Georgia strode furiously back to the race tent, Kate turned to John. ‘Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here.' Kate's head had begun to pound and all she wanted was to go to bed and forget this train wreck of a day.

‘What happened back there, Kate?' John's voice was low and deep and far too intense for comfort.

‘You saw what happened. That animal was all over my fourteen-year-old daughter!'

‘Not that part. I meant with you.'

‘What? I was supposed to calmly tap him on the shoulder and ask him to please stop attacking my daughter?'

‘Kate, he wasn't attacking her,' John said quietly. ‘Georgia was a willing—'

‘She's fourteen and a guy like that has no business being anywhere near her. End of story. I have to go.'

‘Kate, will you just wait up a minute? All I was saying was that she's right, she isn't a little kid any more, and you have to realise that you can't watch her twenty-four hours a day.'

‘No. But I can try. Thanks for your help.' Kate walked away, trying to ignore John's penetrating gaze drilling into her back.

That night Kate tossed and turned, trying to sleep, but long-buried memories kept resurfacing to disturb her. Eventually she gave up on sleep and lay in bed staring out through her bedroom window into the darkness.

Suddenly her mobile vibrated on the bedside table, making her jump. She always had her phone muted at night, a habit she'd developed after her ex-husband had taken to calling her in the early hours to tell her he wanted to come back. She checked the caller ID and hesitated—it was John.

‘Were you asleep?' His deep voice sounded tired and she felt a twinge of sympathy.

‘No,' she sighed. ‘How did your night go?'

‘A few scuffles, nothing too serious. Everyone seems to be at home tucked up in bed now.' She could hear the warmth in his voice, could picture the gentle way his eyes crinkled when he smiled, and the cold empty place inside her grew a little less cold and empty. ‘Are you okay?'

‘I thought I was okay,' she admitted, suddenly feeling as though she wanted to cry. ‘Now I'm not so sure.'

‘Tell me what happened today, Kate. I'm worried about you.'

‘I . . .' Kate started, then a picture of those gentle eyes turning hard and brittle made her freeze. ‘I don't know what happened. I thought he was hurting her and I—'

‘Lost it,' he supplied.

‘Yes,' Kate agreed.

‘I had a chat with Farrell. He won't be a problem, Kate, I can guarantee it.'

Kate heard the edge in his tone and knew it was probably best not to ask what the
talk
was about. ‘Thank you, John.'

‘I want to see you, Kate.'

The simple, honest statement made her breath catch.

‘Okay.'

‘Okay,' he repeated with what sounded like relief. ‘Tomorrow?'

‘Georgia's grounded, so she was going to stay home and help me clean out the rest of the house.'

‘I'll be working tomorrow night,' he said, his disappointment sounding heavy down the line.

‘There's no way I can let her go to the picnic after today's escapade. She'll be lucky if she's done being grounded by the time she's twenty-one, the way I'm feeling.'

John chuckled. ‘Then I guess we just have to wait until after the weekend.' He sounded about as thrilled with the idea as she was.

‘Get some sleep, your flock will need you tomorrow to watch over them,' she said softly.

‘Yeah, someone has to,' he sighed. ‘Goodnight, Kate.'

‘Goodnight,' she said, and this time when she shut her eyes there were no bad dreams and she slept like the dead.

‘Mum, how come I had to stay and clean today too?' Liam complained as he half-heartedly poked through a box of things Kate had been sorting out to send to Bert Harris.

‘I didn't say you had to clean, you can go and play outside if you want. I said Georgia had to help me clean today.'

‘Woohoo. I'm outta here,' Liam whooped, sending a gleeful grin at his sister as he ran past.

‘How come he doesn't have to clean?' Georgia demanded with all the outrage of a wrongly convicted prisoner.