Secrets and Lies

[HeavenForbid]

Type of story:One-shot, however it is long!

Rating:T

Main Characters:Betty, Albert, Rick (not Ric!), Amy

Genre:Drama

Warnings:Drug references, V/D

Is Story being proof read:No

Summary:Albert and Betty live in Summer Bay. Their daughter, Amy is coming home for Christmas holidays. They have a new neighbour named Rick which Betty does not like at all!

It was a typical winter's day in the town of Summer Bay. It was windy, wet and very cold out. The trees were swaying back and forward. Children were all very excited that Father Christmas would be coming in only two-week’s time. As a result, not many children were interested about going to school that day. Every morning all the parents would get their children off to school and go to work themselves. As the town was so small, everyone knew each other. Nevertheless, that day it all changed….

Over on the other side of town a young man had moved in in the middle of the night. Only about 25 or 26 years of age, he was a well-built man. Why would someone move in in the middle of the night? It certainly did not make sense to his neighbour, Albert Smart.

Albert had awoken at 4 am very frightened. He and his wife Betty lives in their house on their own since their only daughter had gone of to college in the city. However, Albert loved this time of year when his daughter Amy would come home from college for the Christmas holidays to spend it with them.

Albert woke up, looked out the window, and saw his new neighbour move in. He did not want to wake his wife so he got back into bed and went to sleep. He would invite his new neighbour over for tea the next day.

The next day, Albert looked over his back garden fence and saw his neighbour. “Hello.” he said. “Hi. I am Rick Harrison. ” he replied. They chatted for a while when Albert asked would he like to come over to his house and meet his wife. “Ok...why not” he laughed. Albert walked around to the front of his house and greeted Rick. “The dining-room is that way. I will be in a second. I am going to get some tea. Would you like some?” Albert asked. “Sure” Rick said smiling. Albert walked into the kitchen where Betty was preparing lunch. “Betty we have a vistior.” Albert said to her.

Betty and Albert went into the dining room and saw Rick looking at the pictures. “That is our daughter Amy.” Betty smiled very proudly. “Hello. I am Betty.” “Rick. Hello nice to meet you.” Rick said. They had a few cups of tea and were talking for a good while. “So why did you move here? The town is very small. You are a young man. Would have though you wouldn’t like small towns like Summer Bay Amy always says that she will never live here as it is way too small.” Rick looked at his watch and said “Oh look at the time! I have to go. Things to do, People to see.” he laughed. Rick walked out the door, turned to Betty and Albert, and said “We should do this again sometime” Betty and Albert both smiled and Betty replied “Of course, maybe when Amy is here.” “Yes...we should!” Rick said and walked out the door.

Over the next couple of days, Betty kept wondering why Rick never answered her question about why he moved here. She said to Albert “It was a little unusual. What do you think? I mean the man moved in in the middle of the night and doesn’t answer my question.” “Well were you not listening…he said he had things to do and people to see.” Betty looked at her husband in shocking disbelief. Did he actually believe that? “There is something about him that I don’t like. He is hiding something and I am going to find out what it is.” Betty said as she watched Rick get into his car and drive down the street.

Over the next couple of days, she noticed that he was leaving to go out, god knows where, at 2am. She was also overhearing his phone conversations from his back garden. She did not want to worry anymore - her daughter was coming home soon.

The night before Amy came home; her mother got her room ready. She had put her favourite sheets on her bed and made sure there was enough space for her things, as she would always bring many things home. Betty and Albert decided to go out. They went to the cinema and to a new restaurant that had opened in Yabbie Creek. They went to the cinema and as Betty saw that it was playing all her favourite movies from when she was a little girl. Overall, it was a lovely evening and it was about to get better…

They pulled up to the driveway at around midnight and to their surprise, Rick’s car was in his driveway. “None of his buddies must be allowed out to play!” laughed Betty. Albert locked the car, they both walked to the porch, and a pink suitcase was there. They looked at each other and they were both thinking the same thing - Amy was in the house! However, the lights were off. “Maybe she is in bed.” said Albert. They went into the house and went up to Amy’s room but there was no sign of her. Suddenly they heard a voice “Mum…Dad…you here?”

They went back down to the hall and saw Amy standing there. “Mum…Dad!” she smiled. Amy had not seen her parents in ages. “I though you were not coming home until tomorrow afternoon.” said Betty. “Yeah…I know. That is what I thought but I have no classes tomorrow so I changed my flight! Are you happy?” “Happy!” said Albert. “That is an under statement!” “We would off come home if we knew.” said Betty. “Oh no worries…I had the kind hospitality of your neighbour…Rick” Amy smiled. At that moment, Rick walked in with Amy’s suitcase, which was still out in the porch. Betty gave him a dirty look. “The key I had didn’t work. Rick saw me sitting on the bench outside and said I could stay in his house until you arrived home.” said Amy. “Oh… Thank you Rick. Yes. We did get the locks changed last month, as there was a robbery two neighbour-hoods from here. After all, you never know who is a criminal and who is not. Isnt that right Rick?” Betty said coldly. Rick smiled and replied “Em…Yeah that is right…em I have to go now…goodnight oh and Amy it was lovely to meet you.” Amy smiled and shut the door. “Mum…why did you say that in that tone of voice?” she shouted and went up to bed.

The next morning Amy woke up and went down for breakfast. She asked her mum why she said that to him. Betty told Amy all about the strange phone calls and the way Rick was always going out very late at night. “That is why you said it! You think that going out at 2am when you are 25 is strange and you what…think he is a criminal! That is stupid Mum. You are grown women so I think you should really start to act it! It is not strange! That is was all 25 years olds do nowadays,” Said Amy angrily. Amy got up and went upsides. Betty knew that there was something up with her daughter but she did not know what it was. Amy would always be very respectful and would never ever talk to her mum the way she just did.

She came back downstairs, said goodbye, and said she was going to Yabbie Creek and would be back later. Albert and Betty sat in the house and watched television as it started to rain heavily. Amy arrived home just as Albert was cleaning up after dinner. “Hey dad” she smiled “Had a good day I see,” laughed Albert looking at the grin on her face but also the amount of shopping bags. “Yes…I did…However I also ran into Rick and we spend the day together.” she said looking at her mother as she came down the stairs. They both smiled but Amy knew her mum was not happy. Betty was not in the mood to fight.

A week later Christmas came. It went so fast like every other year. On Christmas morning, they all got up and opened their presents. At around midday Rick called over and gave Amy a gift. “Thank you” she said kissing him on the cheek. When she opened it, there was a heart shaped necklace with the colour of Amy’s birthstone in the middle, which happened to be Ruby. Amy gave her gift to Rick. It was a toolbox. He loved it. They smiled, laughed, and chatted all day. Amy even conviced her mum to allow him to come over for Christmas dinner. Betty said “Yes” but she wanted to spend it with just family. It was like Rick and Amy had known each other for years but it was only a week and a half!

Over the next couple of days, they grew closer and closer. They spent every moment together, from the moment they got up until they went to bed and even then, they would talk on the phone. They would always be at the beach or in the diner. Was it love? Sheila wondered. Surely not! They had only known each other 2 weeks. “It is just a holiday romance” she assured herself.

Outside Amy and Rick were talking and laughing when out of nowhere Rick said, “I think I have fallen for you!” Amy smiled and inside she got butterflies in her stomoch. She repiled “I feel the same way.” They both kissed each other for the first time.

When Amy went into the house, she told her mum that, she had never felt like this before about anyone in her life. Sheila smiled but inside there was still that something bugging her but on the other hand, her daughter really liked him and trusted him. What was she supposed to do?

The next day, Amy was telling her dad what happened when Betty came in and interrupted. “So when do you have to go back to college?” “Oh…yeah…about that…I am not going back” she said quietly. “What?” shouted Betty. “Em…I was going to tell you but I couldn’t.” Amy repiled. And just when was this decided before or after you fell ‘in love’ Betty siad coldly. Albert shouted at his wife and told her to calm down. “Well if you must know I didn’t decide! The Dean did! He caught myself and two of my friends smoking pot in our dorm rooms and kicked us out!” shouted Amy. “Excuse me! You smoking pot? I don’t think so!” said a very surprised Betty. “Yes, me mum! I smoke pot! Every once and a while. The college experience has changed me!” repiled Amy as she walked out the front door.

The next few days were very hard for Betty. She had to get over the fact that her daughter was a college drop out and that she did drugs. Betty was very sure that Rick and Amy were doing drugs when she would stay they night at his place.

Months had pasted and Amy and Rick were spending a lot of time together. She would stay in his house most nights and would not come home to have dinner. This torn Betty inside. The daughter she once new that disappered. Amy was always a bright, bubbly and in general a lovely person overall. She was now a completely different person.

The sun was shining high in the sky. The flowers had blossomed again and all the children were on their summer holidays from school. They were all playing on the road. This reminded Betty of when Amy was younger. She would always bring Amy down to the beach on her summer holidays and then for an ice-cream in the diner. But that all changed now. Betty loved this time of year. She would always do a clean out in the house and Betty thought that that morning would be great as Albert had gone golfing for the afternoon and Amy had gone away with Rick for the weekend with her friend Sarah.

She had her lunch at 12pm and then started her clean out of the house. About a half an hour into her spring clean, the phone rang. “Hello. This is Betty speaking.” she said with a smile on her face. Suddenly her month opened. Tears started to fill her eyes. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Yes” said the man on the phone. Betty dropped the phone and started to cry.

A few hours later, Albert had come home. Betty was in a corner in the sitting room crying. “Betty! Where are you? The house is coming along -” He stopped. He had went into the sitting room and saw Betty. “What has happened?, Betty” he asked her while he dropped his golf equipment on the floor beside the sofa. There was no reply. Betty could not speak. Albert went into the kitchen and got her a glass of water. “It‘s Amy” she said quietly. “She is dead. Rick reported her missing to the police in the town, they were staying in last night, which is only about an hours drive form here. Rick couldn’t get in contact with us you let us know.” Albert froze. His only child dead. He will never see her again. Her loving personality gone. The phone rang again “I will get it.” said Albert.

Betty called over to Rick house to see if he was home yet. She wanted to thank him for trying to get in contact with her and apologise for the way she treated him. In the end, he was a good person. She reached his home and knocked on the door. No answer. She looked in the window and got the surprise of her life. There was no furniture in the house - no tables or chairs. Nothing. What was going on? Betty thought.

She went back in her house to tell Albert. When she went in the house, Albert had just put the phone down. “I have news. Sit down.” Betty sat on the sofa as Albert continued talking. “They said that we can bring the body back here for the funeral in two days.” Albert took a deep breathe. “In the post mortem, it showed she was strangled and raped. The police are coming over in a while to explain what happened.” he said. Betty went into the kitchen. Albert could hear her crying. For the rest of the day they looked at old photos of her from when she was young up until last Christmas.

The police officer arrived after dinner. He started by saying he was deeply sorry for what happened and that he was the police officer who was dealing with the case. “Amy and her boyfriend Rick and her friend Sarah had gone away for the weekend as you know. However their car broke down so they had to stay overnight in a nearby town. They went to a club. We have spoken to Sarah and she was very helpful. Sarah had witnessed a fight between Rick and Amy. She saw them go outside. Sarah also told us that they had been fighting a lot lately.”. Albert and Betty looked at each other. They did not notice that they were arguing a lot. Anything they saw them they looked happy. “Well, Sarah told us also that Rick was very controlling of Amy. But Amy was in love with him and he loved her. It was just the type of person she was.” Albert made a cup of tea for the three of them and got Betty tissues. The police officer continued the story. “An eye-witness said that she saw they together and was near them when they were fighting. She said that it was not very clear what they were saying because of the music in the club but she heard Amy say that she was not ready and Rick saying that he loved her. The eye- witness followed them out of the club and hide so they could not see her. She saw Rick grab Amy by the arm and he dragged her down the street. What happened after that we do not know yet. We have tired to get in contact with Rick, however we had discovered that he had fled the country. Our guess is that he has something to do with the murder.”

Betty sat they in silence. It was only a few hours ago that she was going over to thank him for reporting Amy missing. She was going to say how sorry she was for the way she treated him and that he was a good man. And now, she is hearing that he more that likely killed her daughter. After a few minutes, Betty said “I knew it! I knew he was trouble from day one!” “According to our records…Rick was in jail for rape 4 year ago. He got out last year.” said the police officer. Albert and Betty thanked the police officer and he left.

News of Amy’s death shocked the town. Everyone knew her and liked her. They were all deeply sorry over the news. But Albert and Betty wanted justice. But where was Rick?

The funeral was on the 5th of July - which would have been Amy 22nd birthday. During the funeral, everyone was very sad and they were all crying. The whole town showed up. Albert and Betty thanked everyone for there support over the last few days. Betty decided to play Amy’s favourite song - “Cant Fight The Moon Light by LeAnn Rimes” when they were carrying the coffin out of the church.

At the wake, Sarah gave Betty a letter. Sarah said she found it in Amy’s bag. Betty opened it and it read: “Dear Mum. I am very sorry about the pain I have cause. But please let my live my life the way I would like to. I am nearly 22 now. So that is why I am going to live with Rick. I love him and trust him with my life.” It had become clear that Amy had changed her mind about living together and that is what the fight was about. Amy did not want to live with him as she was not ready. It all made sense now.

Over the next few days, the police searched for Rick but they could not find him. It pained to see Rick get away with murder. But they had to get on with their lives. They bought a bench with a plaque on it. On it. It said “In Loving Memory of Amy Smart.” The bench was in the local park and Albert and Betty would always go up to it as it reminded them so much of the daughter.

3000 mile away, a young well-built man had moved into a new neighbourhood. “Hello…I am Rachel.” said a young red haired woman “The name is Rick.” Rick smiled.

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