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Once the skip was in position, he opened the door to the street. Two minutes later, Alex watched as the skip was emptied into the truck. He nodded at the driver. This load would not make it to landfill.
He pushed the now empty skip back inside and closed the roller door.
‘Give me that rag.’ He eyed the bloody material Jizzy still held against the knife wound. He obliged.
‘You need to disappear tonight. Anyone sees you; I will find you and kill you.’ Alex opened the side door and checked the street. ‘Go.’
Jizzy didn’t need a second invitation.
Jesse was leaning against the bar, an empty whisky glass beside him.
‘Let’s go.’ Alex didn’t break stride.
Back in the pickup, Alex pulled the bloodied rag from his front pocket, along with his knife and cleaned the blade.
‘Little fucker knew how to bleed. Remind me to burn this.’
‘Did he say anything?’
‘He didn’t get the chance.’
Jesse chuckled as he pulled onto the road. Alex stared out the window, all of his energy focused on breathing while his mind churned.
ChapterNineteen
‘You didn’t kill him.’
Alex sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. ‘No.’
They’d come back to the cottage to have this conversation. The sun had sunk behind the vineyards. They sat across from each other at the small dining table. A chill had settled on the room, despite having switched the heating on when they returned from town.
‘Why did you tell me on the ferry that you did?’
He shook his head. ‘Because that was the story I’d told, the story everyone had to believe. I don’t know… ’
She waited. For the first time, he looked unsure. She could see the little boy he once was, searching for answers.
‘I’ve had to rely on no one but me, all my life. Always trying to think two steps ahead. Not get caught in anyone’s lies, including my own.’ He looked at her. ‘There’s never been anyone I could be honest with. I don’t know… ’
Sarah’s heart lurched. He didn’t need to finish that sentence. She knew the answer. He didn’t know how to just be honest. Everything he’d ever done had dire consequences if he stepped the wrong way. Including trying to be honest with her. Yet he’d taken the greatest risk of his life in trying to walk a different path. For her.
‘I wish you’d told me, back in Sydney. I could have helped you?’
His smile was sad. ‘I know you would have tried. I needed time. It took me a year to put everything in place and obviously I did a fucking pathetic job of that.’
‘I don’t think you did.’ Her thoughts scattered and rearranged themselves. ‘If The Devils had known you were planning on leaving, wouldn’t they have gotten to you before you left the country?’
His eyes narrowed in concentration. He gave her a slow nod. ‘They would have killed me.’
‘And yet,’ she said softly, ‘here we are.’
‘Here we are,’ he repeated. He reached across the table for her hand.
She met him halfway, their fingers intertwined.
‘Sarah, I am sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you. When Jizzy told me that everyone knew about you, I panicked. I took a huge risk in letting him walk away that night. He could have set me up.’
The very idea terrified her, settling like a rock in her belly. She couldn’t even imagine the consequences for Alex if it had been a set up.
