Promise of Hunters Ridge

by Sarah Barrie

  ‘What is this, Ben?’ she asked, unable to make sense of her own emotions.

  ‘It’s everything.’

  Sensations spiralled, overwhelmed her. Nerves, desire, expectation. She swayed towards him, took the smallest step to regain her balance. He lowered his head to hers. His hands were everywhere, touching, kneading, stroking, His mouth moved to her throat, to her earlobe, to her collarbone, back to her mouth; demanding, taking, seeking more. Mia shuddered with the onslaught, her body molten, pulsing to life under the urgency of his hands and mouth.

  His fingers made short work of her clothes. His head whipped up, eyes flaring as they raked over her and then his mouth was at her breast. Her head fell limply back, a quiet moan escaping her lips as his mouth and warm breath teased her burning skin. Her legs threatened to give way as his mouth continued to explore every inch of skin, discovering sensitive areas she hadn’t even known existed.

  An arm went behind her knees and he lifted her easily, carrying her up the stairs and laying her gently on her bed. She got to work on his clothes; impatience made her fumble even as her mouth devoured every inch of skin she uncovered. He straddled her, his mouth moving between her breasts, down her belly, his hands spanning her waist as she squirmed underneath him, small sounds of pleasure escaping her lips. She lifted her hips, and his mouth found her. She gave a startled cry and went rigid, then flew with the orgasm that ripped through her. Breath rasping through her throat, her lungs screaming for oxygen, her body vibrated with the shockwaves.

  He slid himself up to gently take her face in his hands, kissed her, long and deep, languidly. He stroked, teased, tormented, igniting new little flames and tremors, building her slowly up again. She’d thought he’d already extracted every last drop of pleasure from her body, but she’d been wrong. Under his unhurried touch, he created more.

  The first peak had been hot, fast, shockingly satisfying. But this new, slow climb was deeper, more intense. She tossed and turned under the building pressure, sought a release she couldn’t quite attain.

  She reached for him, wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his hips, and welcomed the hot, hard length of him. Her body trembled, then began to move as he did. The urgency built again. This time, as the peak rocketed through her, as she exploded from it, he went with her.

  Breathing heavily, heart pounding, body boneless, she stared, slightly dazed, at the ceiling. He was heavy, and she wondered at her body being so lax as to not care. He rolled away as though reading her thoughts, falling onto his back. Then he leant on one elbow and stared down into her flushed face. Lazily he traced a finger over her swollen lips, before replacing it with a featherlight kiss.

  ‘Knew it.’

  Her smile was slow and satisfied. ‘On this occasion I’m not going to argue.’

  CHAPTER

  23

  Mia arrived fifteen minutes later than she should have to her first shoot, dealt with a client she normally couldn’t stand, and at her second appointment had to redo an ad because a new executive had come up with a ‘brilliant idea’. She smiled her way through all of it. Her whole day floated by in a happy cloud, then, before she knew it, she was heading home to tidy up a bit and rework the ad for that executive. And to see Ben.

  Her phone rang and damn, her Bluetooth wasn’t working. She’d have to check it when she got home. Was it Ben? She smiled. Maybe she’d suggest they go out for dinner tonight. She wanted to get back to Hunters Ridge but a night out beforehand would be nice.

  She reached her garage and drove in. Mexican might be a good choice—Ben had said it was one of his favourites. When had he mentioned that? She had no idea. There were so many snippets over the years she’d tried not to pay attention to when he was around her. Thinking about some of those times, it was almost inconceivable they’d ended up here.

  She pulled up and collected her things, juggling them as she opened the door and stepped into the kitchen. Her phone rang again. ‘Hold on!’ she muttered, still tangled in equipment. Laptop safely on the bench, she began unloading her other things and dropped her bag to dig out her phone.

  She spotted her gun sitting on the end of the bench.

  ‘Thank god,’ she murmured with a very real sigh of relief. Had Dex found it? He must have got it back from someone. She checked it—it wasn’t loaded. ‘Dex?’ she called up the stairs. He might have left it where he knew she’d find it and gone out again. Or maybe he just hadn’t heard her. She went upstairs. She’d call Ben, let him know. ‘Dex!’

  She scanned the second level, was about to hit the third when she paused, hand on the bannister. Something wasn’t right. But where did that feeling come from? There wasn’t anything in particular that stood out. Maybe she should call Ben now. She turned around to get the phone and caught sight of something on the floor at the edge of the lounge. A shoe. No. Dread crashed into her. A foot. She walked slowly across the room on trembling legs to get a better look.

  Davis Walker was lying face down on her rug. Her dark red, blood-soaked rug.

  ‘No.’

  She dropped beside him, looked for any sign of life. ‘Davis? Davis?’ She thought she detected a breath. What should she do? She rolled him over. It wasn’t easy. The front of his shirt was saturated. Pressure, she thought. She picked up his hand and pressed it against the wound. So close to his heart.

  He made a sound, a terrible sound, and those semi-closed eyes glazed over.

  ‘No!’ She choked back a sob. ‘Davis!’

  Should she try CPR? Would that work? She’d have to take her weight off the wound. She did. It wasn’t bleeding. She pressed her cheek against the sticky shirt and listened for a heartbeat. Nothing. She began compressions. She needed to call for help but she didn’t want to stop.

  Ben walked into the station right on twelve, found Indy. ‘Meeting, my office, let’s go. Where’s Russ?’

  ‘Hospital. Janine had a bad turn last night.’

  Ben felt a stab of sympathy and worry. ‘Okay, I’ll do this, then I’ll give him a call and check how he’s going.’

  ‘You’re here to tell us about your mysterious theory?’ Stuart walked in with a young constable and a smirk. As he approached Indy, he looked her up and down, and sent the other man a suggestive look.

  Indy growled. ‘That’s it, I’m going to—’

  ‘Hold up.’ Ben caught her as she lunged at Stuart. ‘I saw that. I’ll be doing something about it.’

  ‘I’ll do my own “something” about it.’

  ‘Killing is against the law,’ he reminded her mildly. ‘Let’s get through this meeting. I’ll deal with it.’

  They sat down. Ben watched Indy scowl at Stuart but was reasonably confident she’d resist temptation, so he began. ‘Unfortunately, Russ isn’t here, so I’ll fill—’

  Another officer appeared at the door. ‘Excuse me, detective? There’s been a disturbance reported at an address you flagged. Mia Morgan’s residence? Shots fired.’

  Mia. He jumped to his feet, called her number as he ran for the car, got her voicemail. Indy and Stuart piled into the car with him. Just a few minutes, he thought, they weren’t far away. ‘Try Mia again,’ he ordered Indy as he sped out of the carpark.

  ‘Voicemail,’ she said unnecessarily.

  Almost there.

  He didn’t knock, just went straight through the front door, foot first.

  Mia was leaning over a body sprawled out on the floor. She was covered in blood. A gun sat by the man’s head.

  ‘Mia! What the hell?’

  Indy and Stuart came up beside him. When he saw Davis, Stuart drew his gun.

  ‘Hands in the air! Step away from the weapon!’

  Ben had never seen less colour in Mia’s face. ‘I think he’s dead,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I didn’t know what to do. I tried pressure, CPR. There’s so much blood.’

  Indy was calling for an ambulance, checking for a pulse with her other hand. She shook her head. ‘He’s gone.’

  Mia sat back
on her heels, looked down at herself in shock. ‘I thought Dex had brought the gun back. It was just sitting on the kitchen bench and I came up to find him and—Dex. I don’t know where Dex is!’

  Indy looked at Mia and charged upstairs.

  ‘Perkins, lower your weapon,’ Ben ordered.

  ‘Not until she’s cuffed.’

  Sirens were heading towards them.

  Indy called out, ‘Ben! Another one.’

  ‘What?’ Mia cried. When she tried to get up to see for herself, Ben put a hand on her shoulder.

  ‘Stay here!’

  ‘No! I have to know.’

  ‘That’s it,’ Stuart said. ‘Mia Morgan, you are under arrest for murder.’

  Incredulous, Ben watched Stuart cuff her.

  ‘I am going to ask you certain questions, you are not obliged to answer unless you wish to do so, but whatever you do say will be taken down and may later be used in a court of law. Do you understand—’

  ‘Perkins, stand down!’

  ‘Ben!’ Indy called from the next level. ‘This one’s still alive. I need your help.’

  ‘Help her!’ Mia called out desperately as an army of police came rushing in.

  ‘You’re out of line, Perkins! I’ll deal with you in a minute!’ Ben yelled as he went in search of Indy.

  They did all they could, but Dex didn’t look good. It seemed to take forever for the paramedics to arrive, and on top of hoping and praying Dex made it, Ben was worried about Mia. By the time Dex was securely in an ambulance and on his way to the hospital, Stuart had already taken her to the station.

  ‘Where is he?’ Ben demanded when he got there. ‘I’m going to rip his incompetent head off.’

  ‘Calm down,’ Indy warned, catching up. ‘You can’t be seen to have a personal interest in this or you’ll be taken out of it.’

  ‘My personal interest at the moment is in the little fuckwit who doesn’t deserve his badge.’

  Indy grabbed his arm, hard, and steered him into his office. ‘Give yourself a minute.’

  ‘He had no reason to arrest her. She was trying to save the guy. She didn’t shoot those men.’

  ‘Fine, she didn’t do it,’ Indy said in a much more reasonable tone. ‘But if you don’t go in there looking completely objective, you will be pulled from the case.’

  ‘That’s not going to happen.’

  ‘It’s just what Stuart wants. Think, Ben. Why did he arrest her with all that carry-on? I could hear what was going on from upstairs.

  He wanted you to react, he wanted you to act unprofessionally. He’s trying to use your relationship with Mia to get you dropped from the case. He can’t be allowed to do that.’

  Stuart walked past, talking quietly with the inspector. When he spotted Ben and Indy, his solemn face lifted in a small smirk.

  Ben tensed and took a step but Indy stood in front of him. ‘Ben, we found her with the murder weapon and the victim. I’m betting that weapon is going to be the one that killed Chapel, too. On top of all the other allegations against her, you need to pull a big mother rabbit out of your hat if you’re going to save her from this one, not waste time arguing with a tryhard jerk who’s looking for a quick shot at glory.’

  ‘You’re right. I know you’re right. I just want to kill him.’

  ‘Don’t let them see it, Ben, don’t give them a reason.’

  He worked on calming down. ‘Okay … I’m good.’

  ‘Ben—’

  ‘I’ve got this. Thanks. Oh, do me a favour? Call Cam. Get him to get his father out here as soon as possible.’

  Mia sat at a table in a small sterile room. The shaking had stopped, but her stomach was in knots, had her swallowing back the bile constantly rising in her throat. After processing, Stuart Perkins had shoved her in the chair, told her to stay put. She hadn’t moved. Ben would come soon. He’d sort this out. Because he wouldn’t believe she’d killed Davis Walker, or shot Dex. He wouldn’t. Couldn’t. She just hoped he’d figure out who had. And she desperately needed to know if Dex was alive.

  Time ticked over painfully slowly. Then the door opened and Ben was there. Indy came in behind him. Ben looked flustered, pissed off, but he smiled reassuringly.

  ‘Hey, how are you holding up?’

  She wanted to hold on to him, just for a minute, but he stood on the other side of the table and didn’t move towards her. She hoped it was just protocol that kept him there, not suspicion.

  ‘I suppose I’m okay.’

  ‘I’m sorry it took me so long to get in here.’

  She looked at him squarely, lifted her chin. ‘I didn’t shoot them.’

  ‘I know that. I’m going to do something about this, but I need to leave you with Indy for a while.’

  Relief washed through her. ‘Okay.’

  ‘Mia …’ He did move towards her then. Indy cleared her throat, glanced at the mirrored window on the wall. A look passed between them and he stepped back. ‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’

  Indy put a reassuring hand on Mia’s shoulder and squeezed. ‘Would you like some water?’

  She shook her head. ‘Is Dex dead?’

  ‘No. At least, he wasn’t when he went in the ambulance. I’ll get you an update as soon as I can.’

  ‘Where’s Ben going?’

  ‘Wherever he needs to, to get this figured out. He had me call Cam, and Cam and Ally are on their way—bringing you some fresh clothes. Cam is also getting his father to come in. That okay?’

  ‘His father … You called me a lawyer?’

  ‘Just procedure. And speaking of …’ She put a piece of paper in front of Mia. ‘This is a written caution informing you of your rights. It says you have the right to not answer any questions, and your silence can’t be used as evidence of any guilt. Also says you have the right to obtain legal advice—Cameron Blakely senior, already sorted—and to contact a friend or relative.’

  The door opened again and Stuart came in. ‘Comfortable?’ he asked with a snide smile. ‘I have a few questions.’

  ‘They can wait,’ Indy said.

  He smiled again, coldly. ‘I have the right to speak to her.’

  ‘And she has the right not to speak to you. Her lawyer’s on his way.’

  ‘Already?’ He didn’t look impressed but he focused on Mia. ‘I’ve got you on this one. No lawyer in the world’s getting you off.’ He spared Indy a glance. ‘And no cops either.’

  ‘Shut it, Perkins,’ Indy warned. The door opened again, and this time Russ came in.

  ‘Hi,’ Indy said. ‘I thought you needed to be with Janine?’

  ‘She’s not great, but I had to be here. Hi, Mia.’

  Indy squeezed Mia’s shoulder again, brought her finger to her lips and left the room.

  Russ sat opposite Mia while Stuart took the chair on the other side of the table. ‘Sorry about all this,’ Russ said. ‘You must have had a terrible shock. Let’s try to clear this up as quickly as we can, shall we?’

  Indy had warned her not to talk, so she set her jaw, lifted her chin, and refused to say a word until Cameron Blakely turned up.

  When he arrived, he came through the door like a steam train. ‘Mia. I came as fast as I could. Cam briefly outlined the situation.’ The look he sent the detectives was lethal. ‘Have you spoken to them?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Good girl. Right. Let’s get on with this rubbish, shall we?’

  Russ nodded. ‘I need to let you know we’re recording this interview.’ He got set up. ‘Why don’t you tell us what happened this afternoon?’

  She recounted her movements to them as clearly as she could. Then she answered some questions, but when she thought it was over, Stuart held them up.

  ‘I have a few more questions.’

  ‘What could possibly be left to ask?’ Cameron demanded.

  ‘Your details of the night of the hunt are very sketchy,’ Stuart said to Mia. ‘But we know Littleton did you a deal. Why don’t you tell us a bit more about that?�
��

  ‘I already told Ben.’

  ‘Humour me.’

  ‘That has no relevance here,’ Cameron said.

  ‘It has all the relevance in the world. Mia?’

  Mia checked with Cameron, who nodded. ‘Just stick to the facts, Mia.’

  She thought about that. ‘When Ebs was taken out for the start of the hunt, I was dragged out to watch, then Rob took me back into the cabin and tied me up. I’d hurt Rob so he couldn’t hunt. He sat in the cabin and amused himself by hassling me. There was a lot of waiting around and then a voice over the two-way said the police were on their way. He got upset and told me he’d leave me behind but he wanted me to get Ben out of his way. If I didn’t he’d come after me, and if that didn’t work, he’d come after Ally’s baby.’

  ‘So it’s fair to say Rob Littleton, who knew you—at least to some degree—before all this came to a head, was clearly of the opinion you were capable of killing as a means to an end. Correct?’

  ‘Do you honestly believe I’m qualified to understand the thought patterns of a fucked-in-the-head psychopath?’

  ‘Sadist.’

  ‘Whatever.’

  ‘Psychopaths don’t feel emotions for their victims. We thought he was supplying women simply for the thrill of the chase and the money. But what he did to Bella—what he’s done to his victims since leaving the hunts—suggests he enjoys torturing his victims. Enjoys their suffering. That more closely aligns with a sadist.’

  Mia sat back in her chair and tipped her head to the side with an accusatory stare. ‘I enjoyed putting the hole in his face. I suppose you’re going to label me a sadist too?’

  ‘Stick to the facts, Mia,’ Cameron reminded her.

  ‘No,’ Stuart said, ‘that’s just a bit of good old-fashioned revenge. Still, a serial killer—a sadist—with a deeply ingrained hatred of women, had a woman who had just badly damaged his face tied up and helpless in front of him, and you expect me to believe he just sat down and watched you for a good forty-five minutes before he came up with his plan?’