Breaking Her Rules

Chapter 8

'Right, we have to go down there,' Mum is saying.

'How much have you had to drink?' Dan asks. Mum sends him a scathing look, but it's evident she's not fit to drive down to the police station. Dan agrees to drive. He pulls his hair back into a ponytail, changes his shirt, and puts on shoes. I do the same, while Mum touches up her makeup, as if when bailing your husband out of a police station on a Tuesday night, when you've been drinking, you must have flawless foundation.

'Do you think tears will be effective, or should I just power in there and start making demands?' Mum is saying as we're getting into the car. I don't answer her, and Dan turns up the radio.

'I guess it depends who is on duty,' Mum answers her own question. 'Some men are very responsive to a dominant woman.'

Sitting in the back of the car, I begin to wonder what exactly is in Dad's book that made the police reopen George Addison's missing person case. Had Dad revealed some important fact that made the police suspect George was murdered? But why would Dad reveal those things now, and not when George went missing in the first place? Did he keep secrets from the police sixteen years ago?

The police station is a small brick building on a main road with only a few car spaces, all except one taken up by white and blue police cars. There's an unmarked black van parked around the back of the building, and I can see the speed radar gun inside. Just being here makes me feel anxious. I've done absolutely nothing wrong, but I get irrational thoughts in my mind. Thoughts like, if I walk in there someone will arrest me for that time I set fire to a bin in grade ten.

We walk through the front door, where an old, fat policewoman is sitting at a desk. It's almost six o'clock, and I can tell she's ready to go home. Her uniform is faded and stretching at the buttons.

'Is Thomas Maisonwood here?' Mum asks straight away. The woman blinks at Mum, surprised. Mum does cast a powerful shadow, with her business attire, nude pump heels and perfect blonde hair. I see she's gone for the powerful woman stance.

'Yeah, I think Rob's interviewing him,' the woman says. 'Are you his lawyer?'

'He's my husband,' Mum says.

The woman's mouth falls open, just slightly. A tall, beautiful blonde businesswoman like Mum is the last person anyone expects would marry Dad, a messy-haired, tattooed ex-drummer still working in the entertainment industry.

'He's not arrested,' the woman says. 'Rob's just asking him some questions.'

Mum raises one eyebrow.

The woman sighs and pushes back her chair, groaning as she stands. 'Right, I'll go get Rob. I think he has to go home soon anyway. His son's here.'

She nods across the police station, and I follow her gaze. A teenage boy is lying across two chairs in the corner of the room, reading a book. My stomach jolts as I recognise him. Duncan Forrester is sitting in the police station where my father is being interviewed.

The woman disappears into the back of the police station. Dan takes a seat, and I hastily sit down beside him, trying to obscure myself from Duncan's vision, in case he looks up from his novel.

'That's Duncan Forrester,' I hiss. 'The Prisley guy. He's Lucas's best friend.'

Daniel raises his eyebrows. 'Did that lady say he's the police officer's son? If Duncan's dad is anything like he is, he's probably a massive dickhead.'

'And he's the one accusing Dad of murdering George? Figures,' I say.

The policewoman returns after a few minutes, with both Duncan's father and mine in tow. My father is looking a bit aggravated. His sleeves are rolled up past his elbows, revealing the tattoos, and I can see the patches of sweat under his arms. Robert Forrester looks much younger than he should be to be the father of Duncan. His buzz cut and thick neck made him look more like a military man than a detective. The blue shirt with the patches on the shoulders fits very snugly, showing off his thick arms. He leads Dad out, and says to him, 'we'll give you a call later, Mr Maisonwood. We've still got a lot of things to discuss.'

Duncan looks up at the mention of my dad's name. I see him look from his book, to my father, and then to me, and when his gaze settles on me he gives a knowing smirk, and snaps his book shut, swinging his legs over so he's sitting straight up. I cringe.

Dad makes some final rude remark to the cop, and then walks straight past us, out of the station. Mum follows him quickly.

'Emily Maisonwood,' Duncan says to me. 'Didn't know your dad was on the wrong side of the law. I should have guessed from his tats.'

'Duncan,' Robert Forrester snaps. 'Have you finished that book yet?'

'No, I only started it yesterday,' Duncan says to his father.

'Then evidently you need to dedicate more time to reading. You're not going to do very well as a lawyer if it takes you this long to get through those case studies.'

Duncan scowls at his father and picks up the book again, which I can see now is not a novel but a textbook. I smile, amused at Duncan's embarrassment, and Daniel and I walk out of the police station.

'Bloody fuckaround,' Dad is saying as we get into the car. 'They have no evidence, and they think something I've written in a book is a fucking motive to kill George? They're grasping at straws, and for what? George has been dead for years. They're not going to fucking find a killer now. He killed himself, for fuck's sake!'

'What was it that they thought was a motive, Dad?' I ask. 'Why do they think you killed George?'

Dad leans back into the seat of the car and lets out an exasperated sigh. 'It's band stuff, Em. Don't worry about it. I'll sort all this out. Robert Forrester has it in for me, but he doesn't have a scrap of proof to convict me of anything, and it's going to stay that way. The man's a monster. He barked at that policewoman, called her a fat oaf, and the way he treats his son! Bloody fucking hell. I might file a complaint.'

We drive home, the rest of the car silent while Dad continues to fume. We get drive-through dinner on the way, the mince in the pan long forgotten. When we get home, Mum and Dad go into the study and shut the door, so Dan and I sit out on the deck. I pick at the chunks of melted cheese sticking to the paper wrapper of my burger, and wonder out loud again why the police investigation is suddenly reopening.

'I guess we can't worry about it, can we?' Dan says. 'Dad will figure it out. Obviously he didn't do it. It's awful that Robert Forrester thinks he has, but it's a matter of evidence and conviction. With the advance from his book Dad can hire a big lawyer, who will come in and shit all over Forrester's shitty little investigation.'

I laugh. 'Sure, but aren't you curious? Dad's always so secretive about what happened in the eighties. You heard him, didn't you? "Band stuff", as if I'm a little kid. You'd think once the police get involved he should tell his daughter what really went on. It's not as if he can stop me from reading his book, anyway.'

Later that night, when Dan and Mum have gone to bed, I find my father out on the deck, smoking a cigarette. I watch him from the kitchen, wondering if he is feeling stressed about this situation, and wondering whether I should go and sit with him. But before I can make up my mind he stamps the cigarette into the garden, takes off his shirt, and plunges into the pool. I leave him alone, and go to bed.