‘She caught a gang rape case last night.’
‘Big weekend,’ I said, for some reason known only to god. I followed Bridie to the kitchen, looking around the house for changes to torture myself with. The kettle was new. I liked the old kettle. There was still a picture of Georgia in her police uniform in the hallway bookcase, but the one of me had disappeared since my last visit.
‘We’ve got two murder cases,’ I said. ‘Three dead overall.’
‘Jeez.’
‘Yeah.’
There was a duffel bag on a chair at the fucking dining room table. I wanted to cry. My daughter and I continued to stare at our shoes, then started to speak at the same time. Had it always been this hard?
‘Should we—’
‘Listen—’
‘Oh … you go ahead.’
I sighed. ‘I actually got assigned one of the murders, Bridie. And it’s out of town. Well, it’ll be half there and half here, because the victim’s got an apartment in Maroubra. But I’ll be in charge of the half that’s out there, in the country. So—’
‘So you can’t have me for the week?’ Bridie asked. I searched her tone too hard for relief, trying to decide if my child hated me as much as I feared she did. For the first time, our eyes met. Electric pain shot right down my throat and into my chest, coming from those unreadable grey orbs.
‘No,’ I said. But I couldn’t stand the pain for more than a second or two. Other words came bubbling up. ‘Uh, I mean, no, that’s not what I’m saying … exactly … I’m just trying to see whether—’
‘Whether I’m okay to go out there with you?’
‘Uhhh …’
Bridie was thinking. I should have stopped her but didn’t, because I’m a coward. ‘Yeah. I don’t mind, I guess. Where is it?’
‘A place called Redbelly Crossing.’
‘Where?’
‘It’s about an hour’s drive. Past Maroota. Past Wisemans,’ I said, watching the train hurtle down the mountain, brakes off, the only way to stop it to throw my body on the tracks.
‘That’s not too far.’
‘It’s not,’ I conceded. ‘But I’ll be working, Bridie. I’ll be running around conducting interviews. Making calls. A case like this, it’ll be a thousand and a half phone calls, you watch. You won’t see much of me.’
She thought. I drew a deep breath. Again, we started speaking at the same time.
‘If you think—’
‘You’ve g—’
‘Sorry.’ I gestured to her, my face burning.
Bridie gave another shrug, slow this time, only one shoulder lifting. ‘I was just going to say … You’ve got to eat and sleep some time.’
‘I do.’
‘I could see you then.’
‘Mmm-hmm.’
‘Is it bushy out there?’
‘Yes.’
