Du Rose Blaze

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Harness“What did Caroline say?” Curiosity forced Hana to engage with her husband as he navigated the streets of Parnell.

“Will it help you to know?” He leaned forward to judge the gap between two cars before easing into it.

Hana exhaled. She lifted her voice into an irritating whine meant to mimic Caroline, though it sounded nothing like her. “You can’t keep my child away from me. How dare you send her to school. I’m phoning her tonight and I expect you to let her talk to me. Why did you marry that stupid woman, Logan, when you could have had me?” She wobbled her head on her neck and turned her lips down before acknowledging her runaway imagination. “Is that what she said?” She flapped her hand, a feckless movement drained of energy.

Logan squinted sideways at her through one eye. “She got mad about Edin going to school. Even madder about you not driving her to the prison for a while. She didn’t compare herself to you though, possibly because she’s wearing prison sweats and you’re not. But perhaps also because she’s learned she can’t come between us.”

Hana rolled her eyes, not believing a word of it. “Whatever,” she sighed.

“Is it possible that you’ve tied yourself in knots by taking on her daughter and then mitigating the inevitable damage?”

Hana gaped but couldn’t think of a suitable response. Caroline’s spiteful influence clouded her days and filled her nightmares. Until she looked at Edin, and then she saw only hurt and a latent, indecipherable terror. “Maybe,” she whispered.

“Look,” Logan said, his tone carrying a note of appeal. “These relatives are asking for access to the kid. Why don’t we let them take her?”

“Did Caroline say it was okay?” Hana narrowed her eyes at him.

“No.” He shook his head and tapped the steering wheel. The car in front stalled at the traffic lights, a learner driver at the helm. “I’ve checked my grandmother’s diaries and she says Antoinette left Caroline with family from Kerikeri after she gave birth to her. Somehow, Reuben ended up with her back at our place after Antoinette died, even though he wasn’t her father. He raised her, anyway. Why would a man take care of his wife’s illegitimate kid unless the family she left her with turned out to be a worse bet?”

“You read the diaries?” Hana’s body stiffened and she turned in her seat. “Can I have them back again? I didn’t finish.”

Logan narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. “Let me think about it,” he said with resignation. “I’ve read them all now and Will’s catalogued them. I don’t suppose there’s much harm you can do.”

Hana wrapped her arms around her chest, hugging herself and wishing she felt more delight in Logan’s concession. But Edin’s issues and Tama’s disappearance cast a pall over her victory.

Tama’s double storey townhouse nestled in a quiet suburban street. Logan parked the truck on the road and they sat and observed for a moment.

“His car is on the driveway.” Hana pointed to the smart, secondhand Toyota Rav4 with its nose parked a metre shy of the garage door. “Who do you think owns that other vehicle?”

“Dunno.” Logan activated his phone camera and pointed it at the scruffy saloon parked next to Tama’s truck. He snapped a photo of the registration plate, frowning as he texted the image to a number Hana didn’t recognise. She glanced sideways at her husband.

“We could just knock on the door.” She left her sentence hanging as Logan pushed his phone back into the pocket of his jeans.

“We could.” Logan settled with his hands in his lap. “But we won’t.”

Hana exhaled, leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes. She fought the desire to rush in where angels feared to tread, meeting the situation head-on and damn the consequences. “So, why are we here?” Petulance laced her tone and her lips tightened into a sullen bow. When she squinted at Logan through one eye, she found him shaking his head. “What?” she demanded. “It’s a legitimate question.” Her fingers smoothed the leather seat beneath her. “I could ask Bodie to check who owns that other car.”

“You could.” Logan’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “But he’d get fired for misconduct unless he had a good reason for doing a personal search. My way is better and no one loses their job.”

“A hacker?” Hana raised an eyebrow and sat up straighter. “Do I know them?”

Logan curved his knee and turned sideways in his seat. He licked his lips and stared at the ceiling of the truck before answering. “Would it help you to know their identity, or would it concern you? Would you find yourself less hospitable to someone who provided information if you knew they had a financial relationship with me?”

Hana folded her arms and stared at Tama’s front door. “That’s a good question,” she admitted. “Are they male or female?” She glanced sideways at Logan. “It makes a difference.”

He nodded. “Male and he’s on Liza’s payroll. We became friends at school and I introduced them.”

“Okay.” Hana nodded, the action drawn out as though in slow motion. Her mind ran wild, adding names to faces and trying to remember the crowd which arrived with the judge last time she used the hotel for a meeting. Their features blurred. Liza surrounded herself with men willing to serve her. She disliked Hana and they avoided each other. “Fine,” she conceded. “As long as it doesn’t come back to bite you. Or Bodie.” She added the last with a wince, recognising that any delving into police databases would automatically put him under suspicion.

“It won’t.” Logan moved aside an auburn curl which snaked across her neck. He laid it behind her shoulder with care and let his fingers coast over her cheek. “Are we good?” he asked.

Hana nodded. For the first time in months, she felt their familiar connection. It pulsed through her veins like an electrical current. She lifted her hand and clasped his, pushing his fingers against her cheek and closing her eyes. Relishing the moment gave her energy coupled with a sense of inexplicable hope. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered. “I’ve let everything slide. This black cloud sits above my head just waiting to descend and cover my eyes. It’s impossible to see through it to the other side. I’m holding it back with my hands and it’s so heavy.”

Logan pulled her shoulder against his chest and kissed her temple. The seatbelt dug into her collarbone as it tried to keep them apart. The phone in his pocket vibrated, sending a low rumble through his body. Hana tensed, expecting him to drop his hand and answer the call but he didn’t. His thumb stroked the crest of her lips and he gave a sigh which held regret. The leather seat crunched like footsteps in the snow as he kissed her, soft and slow to savor every second. His phone vibrated again and he tutted and dug in his pocket. “Sorry,” he whispered.

“Du Rose.” He answered without preamble. As though to acknowledge Hana’s faith in him, he activated the speaker button after listening to the caller for a second. “Go ahead. I’m looking at the vehicle now.”

“That plate is registered to an address in Ponsonby. Jordan Rafferty owns the vehicle.” Tapping sounded in the background. “Ah, the owner changed the address of their driving licence to 153 Dominion Road, Parnell last week. It looks as though they’re on the move.”

“That’s where I am now.” Logan frowned. “I’m looking at the vehicle parked on the driveway of that Parnell address.”

“Well, the car is registered to the previous address but the licence has updated to the Parnell property. People don’t always remember to change both, so it could be an oversight.”

Logan’s fingers twitched as he thought. “Does Jordan Rafferty have any outstanding warrants or convictions I should know about before knocking on the door?” He dipped his body to peer at the house.

The male voice issued from the phone on Logan’s thigh and echoed around the truck’s interior. “Two parking infringements for downtown Auckland. Both settled in full. A speeding fine later attributed to a Danielle Rafferty. Also paid on time. There’s nothing else in the system.”

“Thanks.”

“All good, mate. See ya around.” The call ended to leave silence.

Hana studied her husband as he sat next to her. His eyes glazed while he sifted scenarios and probabilities. “I didn’t recognise his voice,” she said. “I guess I don’t know him.”

Logan smiled but didn’t answer. If he sensed her fishing for information despite what she’d agreed, he didn’t take the bait. “I think Jordan Rafferty is Tama’s flat mate.”

Hana nodded. “He rented two of the bedrooms to help pay the loan. Last time I visited with the children, he shared with two firemen. I don’t remember him calling either of them Jordan.” She closed her eyes and pictured the inside of Tama’s kitchen. His excitement at entertaining them in his first home clouded as angst sullied it. Hana sighed. “I drove up with Wiri and Phoe. Leslie and Alfie kept Edin and you took Mac to the sale yards. Edin got upset and threw a tray of seedlings off the roof and Leslie called me back early. I remember meeting Stephen and Joe, but not Jordan. Perhaps he referred to Jordan as Joe.”

Logan nodded and his fringe bounced with the movement of his eyelashes. “You know this can’t go on, don’t you?” His voice held authority and kindness.

Hana nodded and tears rose, turning her irises to glittering emeralds and sending a flush into her neck. “But I can’t just throw her away because she’s too hard. Not if that’s what happened to her mother.”

“I hear ya,” Logan conceded. “But we need to do something. She’s terrorising our family, Hana. At some point, you need to put them first.” His words tore at the fabric of her reason, severing her already divided loyalties and blackening her vision. Then, he reached his hand across to still her writhing fingers. “We’ll sort it out, babe,” he promised, sharing responsibility for the first time since Edin’s arrival in their home. “We’ll find a solution.”

Hana nodded, unable to choke out her gratitude. Fear lurked at the fringes of her relief, bearing the knowledge that Logan’s solution might not prove acceptable to her. She fixed her gaze on Tama’s house across the street, watching the sunlight speckle against the wooden siding and blossom the gentle cream into vibrant hues. “What shall we do now?” she asked. Pinpricks of anxiety roused her heart on his behalf.

Tama’s name meant ‘son’ and Tama the boy had dragged himself to adulthood with Reuben’s assistance. He’d been as much of a cuckoo in Reuben Du Rose’s nest as Caroline, of no direct relationship to the man who fed and clothed them. Tama. No one’s son.

But Hana’s mothering had nurtured a gentler soul than the one who’d burst into her life. And he needed her. She released her seatbelt and stared at Logan with expectation.

“Okay,” he said. “Plan A. Knock on the door.”