by Sarah Barrie
‘And you didn’t think this was information I should have been aware of?’
‘So you could protect yourself? Is that what you think of me?’
He sighed in frustration. ‘No, of course not. But there’s a whole set of circumstances here I didn’t know about. It goes to his state of mind, his plans, how his next moves are likely to play out.’
‘I would have told you but he said he has a good police contact. If I warned you, he’d know, and he’d pay me back by going straight after the baby. At first I didn’t believe he meant it. How could he think I’d kill anyone?’
‘To save your niece from Rob? To get him to leave you alone for good? It’s not inconceivable.’
‘I won’t let him get near Chloe. But I’m hardly about to kill you and hope he goes away.’
‘No. So … what are you going to do?’
She shook her head and shrugged. ‘Whatever I have to, I suppose.’
He closed the distance between them and tipped her head back with his fingers to study her face. ‘You’ve decided you’ll let him just stroll in and take you,’ he said. ‘You’re prepared to let him catch you and use you in a hunt to stop him coming after Chloe. You’d rather commit the next thing to suicide than trust me with this.’ It angered him, hurt him.
She pulled free and dragged a hand through her hair. ‘I don’t have any intention of running a hunt.’
‘Then what are you going to do? If you were going to kill me you would have done it by now. At the very least you wouldn’t have missed your opportunity tonight. So what’s your plan?’
‘What makes you think I have one?’
She kept walking away, refused to so much as look at him, so he grabbed her arms and held her still. ‘Because I know you. You’ve got this worked out. What are you planning on doing if he comes for you?’
Her gaze slid across the room and landed on her gun.
Ben’s gaze followed hers. ‘Mia, you’re not a murderer.’
‘Not yet. Let go.’
He dropped his hands and she walked across the room, downed the rest of her wine and picked up her gun.
‘It’s late, I’m tired. Lock up when you leave.’
‘We need to talk about this.’
‘Goodnight, Ben.’ She walked into her room and closed the door.
He almost went in after her. This was crazy. She was planning on facing Rob and shooting him? He felt ill just thinking about it. She wasn’t thinking straight; she’d been drinking too much. The situation was getting on top of her. And she hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him.
He pushed back the hurt, thought it through. She’d known for a year Rob was coming back for her, had had that damn number on her back as a reminder, hadn’t said anything because of the threat to Chloe, now she was getting phone calls and hearing women being brutally murdered. And every time she’d looked at him, all this time, she’d known all she had to do was pull the trigger to make it stop. No wonder she wasn’t thinking straight; no wonder she was drinking too much.
The dog had taken up position beside him and was leaning against his leg, staring at the door as Ben was. He absently rubbed Jasper’s ears. ‘We’ll get her through this, mate. Take care of her, okay? I’ve got to go put an end to this.’
Ben ended the following day frustrated with the lack of progress and bogged down in reports. He’d been dying to get out of the station, but as he opened the door to his room at the inn, he decided he didn’t want to be in there just yet either, so he closed the door again and walked over to the pub, bought himself a scotch and sat, pondering the amber liquid in his glass.
He’d been thinking about Mia throughout the day. At least she’d finally—hopefully—told him all of it. The urgency he’d already felt to catch Rob had intensified, had become a physical ache inside him. It had driven him all day and left him feeling hollow.
‘Drowning your sorrows?’ Indy asked.
‘You don’t seem to be taking this undercover thing very seriously.’
She flicked back her hair. ‘I’m just a lonely, looking-for-love redhead chatting up a hot guy at the bar.’
‘Rob would see through that in a second.’
‘You think hot was too generous?’
He grinned into his glass. ‘What’s up?’
‘Nothing. I saw you walking in as I was leaving Ebony’s surgery. What gives?’
‘Just a really long day.’
‘Uh huh. When you sit and think with a drink in your hand, but you don’t drink it, you’re pissed off and working something out.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Yep. You’ll spend forever in here thinking about whatever it is, then you’ll get up and leave and your drink will still be sitting there. And it’s such a waste, because you only buy the expensive stuff.’
‘I think Mia drank enough for both of us last night.’
‘Give her a break, that was a pretty horrendous phone call. She might have said she was fine, but she wasn’t. Hell, I wasn’t.’
‘It’s more than that. Probably because she’d had a few, she admitted to me that her one way out of all this is to kill me. She knows Rob’s coming for her. If she gets help from the police and makes trouble, he’ll take it out on Chloe. If she gets rid of me, he’ll leave them all alone once and for all.’
‘Oh. That’s … huge.’
‘So I asked her what her grand plan is and she basically tells me it’s just to let Rob turn up. She’s going to kill him.’
‘Explains the whole Rambo thing. So then what happened?’
‘I tried to talk her out of it and she grabbed the damn gun and told me to lock up—then she took off into her room and closed the door.’
‘And you didn’t go in after her?’
‘It occurred to me, but I decided it would be better to talk to her today.’
‘Well, I guess it’s reassuring to know that although she had you in an isolated cabin in the middle of the night, a murder weapon in her hands and a ticket to get Rob off her back once and for all, she didn’t take it.’
‘I think she may have been tempted. That look she gets on her face …’
Indy smiled. ‘Would that have been the “you’re a bug to be crushed under my foot”, the “I’m disassembling you at the atomic level with a butter knife in my head”, or the superior eyebrow, “I’m too gorgeous for this shit, go fuck yourself” look? Because I’ve seen her use them all on you to absolute perfection. And I’ve only been in the presence of you together on a handful of occasions.’
He almost laughed, then sobered. ‘I thought we were past all that. I thought she trusted me. But she won’t talk to me unless I just about hammer it out of her.’
‘Well, of course not. She hasn’t gone to all the trouble of building that impenetrable fortress around herself just to have you take it apart. She’s been through a hell of a lot. Had to rely on herself a lot. You can’t expect her to come crying at your feet. If she did, she wouldn’t be the woman you’re in love with.’
He swore and took another sip of his drink. ‘Where the hell do you get all that profiling bullshit from?’
‘You,’ she said happily, then pulled out her phone when it beeped. A moment later she was frowning at the screen. ‘You want something else to think about?’
‘What’s that?’
‘A rather stunning young man would like to meet up for a meal.’
His gaze sharpened. ‘From the dating website? You think it’s Rob?’
‘Yep. What are you up to on Friday?’
‘Catching a killer, by the sound of it.’
‘Okay. I’ll message back.’
He rubbed his forehead. All the most important women in his life seemed intent on getting themselves in trouble. But at least this was progress. He was suddenly a lot closer to catching Rob than he had been all day.
‘You shouldn’t be seen with me, remember? Disappear.’
‘Yes, boss.’ She planted a kiss on his cheek and hopped off the stool.
‘Indy?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Thanks. Stay safe.’
‘I will.’
He stared down at his drink again. And as Indy had predicted, left it sitting there and went in search of Mia.
CHAPTER
16
Mia lined up the first target. The setting sun was directly in her eyes, which was why she was practising now; Rob could come at any time, not just when it was convenient. And Ben could tell her she wasn’t a murderer all he liked, but if she had the chance to shoot Rob, she damn well would.
She’d told Ben everything. She’d had a couple of glasses of wine to dull the sound of the screaming still playing in her head, then he’d put pressure on and she’d caved. It had been too easy to tell him, to pour it all out. Until she had, she hadn’t realised how much she’d needed to. But if she was being honest with herself, hadn’t telling him been less about the alcohol and more about finally believing she could trust him with the truth?
She fired, aimed at the next target, fired. Then the next, then the next. She hit the final one and checked her time. Not bad, but she could do better.
She set herself up again. Waited for the clock. Tried again.
Faster. Better. She should move the targets further away. Go again.
A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She spun, spotted Ben leaning on a tree to her left. The only thing she probably shouldn’t have let him know was that she was going to let Rob come for her. No doubt he was here to talk her out of it. She put down her gun and removed her ear muffs.
‘That’s a good way to get yourself shot.’
‘You wouldn’t miss either. As that’s the case, I didn’t think it was wise to come and tap you on the shoulder. Feel like a break?’ He held up a plastic bag. ‘I brought you something.’
‘What?’
‘You’ll see.’
She collected her things and led him inside. ‘You know, I could do without all these distractions.’
‘I’m a distraction?’ He dropped a block of chocolate on the table. ‘Here’s another one.’
‘What’s that for?’
He gave her one of those gorgeous grins that made her heart melt. Bastard. ‘For not taking you to the chocolate factory. It’s a compromise.’
She pressed her fingers to her forehead. ‘Ben, I didn’t really want to go to the chocolate factory. There is no chocolate factory. But you knew that. So are you here to lecture me about Rob again?’
‘Pointless. And to tell you the truth—’ he picked up her handgun and turned it over, checking it out, ‘—I’m a little bit scared.’
She took it from him with a grin, put it away. ‘There, you’re safe. What’s up?’
‘I didn’t like leaving things the way they were last night.’
That surprised her. ‘That wasn’t entirely your fault.’
‘So are you going to let me help you?’
‘Now that you know, I don’t have a choice. Why are you asking?’
‘I’m trying a different tactic.’
‘It’s a better one.’ She dropped into a chair. ‘So what’s the plan, detective?’
‘Right now it’s to eat chocolate.’
‘You think I’m going to share it?’
‘That’s mean.’
‘So I’m selfish.’
‘Yeah, I wanted to talk about that too. That’s the bullshit he used on you, right?’
Mia blinked, stared. ‘What?’
‘Shane.’
Her stomach fell. He had to be kidding, bringing this up. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if I did, I’m pretty sure it would be none of your business.’
‘On the contrary. This is the discussion we should have had somewhere in the beginning that we never got around to. So I think we should tackle it now, get it done, because you’ve never gotten over it, and it’s getting in the way of me helping you.’
Irritation wove through her system. ‘Yes, I have. And no, it’s not.’
‘He was a bastard. You tried to break it off, and that didn’t end well for him. In order to prove you were fine, you dated everyone in sight. All that dating was designed to show everyone how well you’d gotten over it. Once you had everyone fooled, you kept up the persona, dropped the dates. You’re not over it.’
‘What is this, my daily counselling session?’ Standing again, she took a bowl from the cupboard. She broke the chocolate into it. ‘Here. I’m sharing. Shut up and eat.’
‘You didn’t drive him to drink, Mia. Or force him into that car when he’d had too many.’
‘Just drop it, Ben. You don’t know anything about it.’
‘I know a lot about it.’ His hand shot out and covered hers as she pushed the bowl towards him. ‘Most importantly, I know he was a weak-minded, weak-willed control freak who abused his position as a police officer in order to make your life miserable. He killed himself by being a tool. End of story.’
She stared at him—didn’t have a clue what to say.
‘I’m sorry,’ Ben said, releasing her hand. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’
‘You didn’t, exactly. I haven’t talked about him in so long, you just surprised me by bringing it all up.’ She collected two glasses and an open bottle of wine.
‘You seem to be drinking a lot.’
‘Well, you visit a lot.’
‘Mia …’
‘Oh god, can we save that one for the next session?’ she asked. ‘There’s apparently so much to get through.’
‘Okay, fine. Tell me about Shane.’
She shrugged. ‘He was jealous. He was always jealous. I couldn’t even talk to another man without him becoming furious. He would constantly accuse me of flirting. If I was out for more than a couple of hours at a time, I was cheating. He was even jealous of Adam—can you believe it? The possessive thing would drive me nuts. We’d argue. He’d feel sorry for himself and tell me that it was my fault.’
‘So why didn’t you do something about it?’
She half-filled the glasses with red, pushed one at him, and took a piece of chocolate. ‘I did. I broke it off. He didn’t take it well. He stalked me. Everywhere I went, there he was, usually in a police car. He’d pull me over whenever he felt like it. Worse, he got a couple of his mates believing what he’d accused me of. “Poor Shane, how could she do that to him?” He and his boys’ club completely took over my life. Speeding fines, breathalysers, random car checks, waking up to sirens and cops in the middle of the night with “Sorry, wrong address” and smirks on their faces. You name it, I copped it.
‘I complained. Got nowhere. Do you know how difficult it is to get a restraining order on a police officer? Not Shane, Shane’s so sweet, so lovely, he’d never do that. People don’t know. They don’t understand how two-faced people can be unless they live it.’
‘And then he followed you to Bear’s bar.’
‘Do you want to tell the story?’
He took a sip of merlot, shook his head. ‘I’d rather you tell me.’
‘Then stop interrupting. I was supposed to be going to a friend’s birthday. He turned up at my place, didn’t want me to go. He wanted me to stay so we could talk, which was code for try to convince me why we should get back together. I refused. In the past I’d always tried to calm things down, but I’d had enough, so I just left.
‘Of course, he followed me, turned up at Bear’s place with some mates and caused a scene. When he tried to force me to leave with him after throwing back way too many drinks, Bear stepped in. Then he went for Bear and a few of the patrons stepped in. It turned into an all-out brawl. More cops came—these ones were on duty. When they broke it up, I let him have it. I really let loose on him. I humiliated him in front of his friends and colleagues. He stormed out and drove home. He didn’t make it.’
‘Yeah. I can see why that would scar. But I stand by my earlier summation—he killed himself. After going through that, I get why you hated me even before
Ally had that particularly bad attack. And still, that had nothing to do with you being good or bad at relationships, or being selfish or self-absorbed or whatever the hell else you came up with. It wouldn’t have mattered if you’d turned into a complete doormat. He wouldn’t have been happy. People like that never are. You’re smart enough to know that.’
‘Of course I know that. Who he was wasn’t my fault. It doesn’t mean I want to go through anything like that again, though.’
‘So staying single is your answer?’
She slipped the piece of chocolate between her lips. ‘I like it. For now. Why are you single?’
‘I like it. For now.’
They grinned at each other.
‘Isn’t there any more coming?’
‘More what?’
‘Usually when you start with the questions, I’m ready for the long haul. I decided I wasn’t getting my practice completed, hence the wine and the breaking into the chocolate. So what else?’
‘You think you’ve got me figured out.’
‘I tend to learn from experience. And at the moment, I’m getting a lot of experience.’
The look he sent her was searching. ‘Am I still that hard to have around?’
She considered myriad answers, then surprised herself by simply saying, ‘No.’
Their gazes held. A nervous knot began looping in her system.
Ben’s eyes dropped to her mouth, returned to her eyes. ‘You think you’ll ever give anyone a chance again?’
The knot tightened. Would she? And by ‘anyone’, did he mean him? She swallowed nervously and tore her eyes away. ‘I can’t think about that right now.’
‘You’re right. We need to get this sorted.’ He got to his feet. ‘I’ll leave you to the chocolate.’
Mia dropped the last of the feed into the feed bin as Ally drove up the driveway.
‘Hi. I didn’t realise you had a lesson this morning.’
‘I don’t. Ebs is coming early with painkillers for Violet.’
