Under Cover Of Dark

by Juanita Kees

  ‘We have Albero in custody.’ Silence stretched once more. All he heard was the sound of her controlling her breathing. The hitch in her voice told him she fought to hold her tears.

  ‘Do you have enough to keep him there?’

  ‘It looks promising.’ He sighed, sat back in his chair and rubbed the ache between his eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Lily. I wish you’d trusted me enough to come to me first.’

  ‘I’m sure you understand why I couldn’t.’ A touch of steel echoed in her voice. ‘We’re in Kalgoorlie.’

  ‘I know. Harold’s been asking around.’

  ‘Luke wants to hand himself in.’

  Pain stabbed his gut at the hitch in her voice. He’d give anything to hold her in his arms right now, take her home and keep her close. ‘I’ll make sure he’s looked after, Lily…that you’re both taken care of. TJ and Scott are behind you too. We’ll fight every step of the way to keep you both safe. I can’t promise more than that.’

  ‘I don’t want him handing himself in to the local police. They won’t know the whole story like you do.’

  ‘They know enough. Albero’s little sideline business has quite a reputation out that way. Until now, they haven’t had enough to pin anything on him. Where are you staying?’

  ‘At the Desert Inn.’

  ‘Lily, Albero told us Serena Snow followed you onto the train. She did buy a ticket and the conductor remembers her boarding. You and Luke would be safer at the local police station.’

  All Mark could hear was the fear in Lily’s voice. ‘Oh God!’

  ‘It’s not safe for you there, honey.’ If anything happened to her, he wasn’t sure he could live with himself. ‘I’ll call them to pick you up.’

  ‘No! Luke wants you and only you. He won’t trust anyone else, and neither will I.’

  Her last words warmed his heart the most but frustration overrode it. ‘Lily, Serena Snow is following you with the intention to kill. She’s not dropping in for a cup of tea.’

  Ice froze Lily’s tone and he felt the chill all the way down the line. ‘I’m well aware of that, Detective Johnson, thank you.’

  ‘I’ll be there as soon as I can. Harold is organising a flight, but in the meantime, please, my angel, go to the locals. I want you safe.’

  ‘I can’t, Mark. Not without you here. I wouldn’t trust them enough not to lock Luke up and then neither of us would have protection. We’ll be careful, I promise. If there’s any danger, I’ll call triple zero.’

  ‘I’ll call them, explain it all to them. Just go, for God’s sake.’ He wanted to yell in frustration. Why the hell was Kalgoorlie so damn far away?

  ‘No. She’s in no hurry. If she was on the train with us, she had plenty of opportunity to kill us then. If I call the cops now and she’s watching, she’ll run. I want her put away, Mark, and if that means we stay where she can find us, I’ll do it. Just promise me you’ll get here as quickly as you can.’

  Torn between pride and frustration, Mark clenched his fists on his desk. ‘Lock the doors, keep all the windows closed and stay away from them. Don’t open up for anybody, for God’s sake.’ His tone softened. ‘She’s ruthless, love. The more I study her file, the worse her record gets.’

  ‘I know. Luke’s told me. We’ll be careful. Hurry, Mark, please.’

  Mark closed his eyes, rested his head on the back of his chair and pictured her face in his mind. ‘I’ll let the court know where you are, so they don’t issue a warrant…and Lily?’

  ‘Yes?’

  He paused, unsure whether to say what was on his mind or not. He took the plunge even though he knew it would be the last thing she’d think about right now. ‘We need to talk about us. I miss you.’

  Annoyance, anger, frustration fizzled as she said, ‘I miss you too.’

  Chapter 15

  ‘You sook!’ Harold teased, catching the end of the call.

  ‘What are you on about?’ Mark shuffled the evidence on the table in front of him.

  ‘You soppy bastard! You told her you missed her. Oh my God, you’ve got it bad.’ He laughed at the flush that crawled up Mark’s neck. ‘What a dickwad!’

  Mark looked at the stapler in his hands, tossed it in his palm, weighing up whether to throw it at his partner or not. Instead, he smiled and shrugged. ‘I’m a dickwad? What about the time we flew up north to settle that case in Darwin? I seem to remember one of us had to ring home every night to make sure his lady love was safely tucked in bed. It wasn’t me!’

  ‘Huh! It was my honeymoon that damn case interrupted.’

  ‘You’d already bought the cow, drank the milk,’ Mark threw back, pressing a staple into a wad of paper.

  ‘Ha! I’m going to tell Olive you called Jeannie a cow! She’ll disinherit you…after she’s whacked you with her cane.’

  ‘Olive loves me.’

  ‘Bloody oath, she does. I’ve no idea why!’ he grumbled, good-naturedly. ‘Where are we going with this case, Loverboy?’

  ‘To Hell and back.’ Mark grimaced. ‘We’re going to Kalgoorlie. I need a plane.’

  Harold shifted uneasily. ‘That makes me nervous. The last time you said that I ended up with a wounded man on board, flying him into the middle of bloody nowhere. He came back engaged, got married and now his wife is pregnant.’

  Mark rubbed his chin, feeling the stubble that reminded him he hadn’t had time to shave. He hadn’t slept either since Lily and Luke’s disappearance, and he doubted he would until they were safe. The sooner they got to Kalgoorlie, the sooner he could bring them home to start again. Uncertainty swirled in his stomach. Once Albero and Snow were off the streets, would she still need him? Could her new life include a worn-out detective?

  ‘Well, it won’t happen again, will it? You’re already taken and too bloody old to have a baby.’

  ‘Yeah, but you’re not. Let’s hope you still know how to make babies.’ Harold grinned. ‘Now, stop moping around and let’s get the job done, so you can get some practice in. What’s the plan?’

  Mark ignored Harold’s hint that he and Lily might stand a chance together. It had to be about bringing them home safely first. ‘We have Albero’s confession and Tiny’s evidence. Re-opening the cold case means we can use Price’s statements and evidence too. There’s video evidence in both cases that shows the three of them together at the Golden Diva. That provides the link in the two cases. Add to that Scott Devin’s evidence and the security tapes from the conference centre. Plenty of visuals.’ He shuffled the papers around some more. ‘A bust catching her red-handed with a shipment would be good, but I don’t think we have time for that. With Albero in custody, she’ll be getting antsy. She’s on her own now. We’ve taken down her key players.’

  ‘She doesn’t know that yet, though. So we still have the advantage. She might have new playmates lined up already,’ suggested Harold.

  ‘God, I hope not. Do we have enough for a search warrant? Where is she staying?’

  Harold consulted the file of suspects. ‘A rental in South Perth. I can get a team over there for a search in a couple of hours. It’s bloody three in the morning already.’

  ‘Get us on the first flight to Kalgoorlie. I’ll deal with the red tape and let the Kalgoorlie coppers know to be on the lookout for Snow.’ Adrenalin chased away the tiredness. He drained his mug of cold coffee, shuddering as the tar-like liquid slid down his throat into his belly to rest on top of the fear and desperation to reach Lily in time.

  Two hours stretched endlessly before him until finally he and Harold were seated in a turbo prop Beechcraft King Air winging their way across the desert. Mark prayed that the one hour trip wouldn’t make them too late.

  * * *

  Lily felt better knowing Mark was on his way, although it didn’t stop her pacing the worn carpet in their room. Three hours later, she’d checked the locks and windows what felt like a hundred times as her mind worked. Serena Snow had followed them. She was on the same train, so close she could have killed them and no
one would have seen a thing. Where was she now? She knew where they were, so why hadn’t she come after them yet?

  For a brief moment, Lily allowed herself to regret running. She should have trusted Mark enough. If she had, they would be safe now. Instead she’d put herself and Luke right within Serena Snow’s reach. If only…

  No, no more regrets. Lily forced down the panic that constricted her throat. Let her come. Lily Bennetti was no longer a pushover, nor a trophy wife. She was damned if she’d let Serena Snow take away her second chance at freedom. Gino and Nic used fear as their weapon, and Lily had learned to manage that. Serena would come after them with her own choice of weapons and she’d manage that too.

  Dawn. She had to let Dawn know they couldn’t do the kitchen shift. There was no point putting themselves in Serena’s path. Mark was right. It was safer to stay in their room and wait. She picked up the phone and dialled reception. After letting it ring for a while with no reply, Lily hung up. Perhaps Dawn was busy and couldn’t answer. Unease trickled down her spine.

  Luke paced the small room as she dialled again. ‘If she’s here, Mum, we’re in real trouble. She’ll wait for us. She knows how to play the game.’

  ‘I know. That’s why I think it’s best for us not to leave the room, like Mark said,’ answered Lily as she hung up. ‘There’s still no reply. Something’s wrong, Luke. No one with a motel business lets their phone ring for that long.’

  ‘Snow is brutal, Mum. She’ll hurt anyone who gets in her way.’

  ‘That’s what worries me.’ Lily tried ringing again. ‘Still no response. What if she’s hurt Dawn?’ Ice-cold terror ripped into the pit of her stomach at the thought. How many more people would be hurt before this nightmare was over? She looked at her watch, trying to calculate how far away Mark might be. ‘Luke! Come away from the window.’

  ‘She’s here. I know it. We have to help Dawn. Bring her in here with us.’ Luke dropped the corner of the blind into place.

  Lily’s heart pounded with fear, blood roaring in her ears. ‘Then we’ll be in danger too.’

  ‘I’ll go. I’m the one she’s looking for.’ He looked at Lily, his shoulders slumped as he dragged his hoodie over his head. ‘I can’t let her hurt anybody else because of me.’

  ‘No! I won’t let you go.’

  ‘I have to do this, Mum, for all of us.’

  Anger, pride, guilt, regret — emotions swirled to mix with the terror in her heart. ‘She’ll kill you, Luke, and she won’t stop there. It doesn’t end with us. There’ll be more victims, more children…the next shipment of drugs. What about Marty? Will she go after him next? It won’t end until she’s in prison or dead.’ Lily stood up from the bed and walked across to where her son stood, fists shoved into the pockets of his jeans.

  ‘It has to end, Mum. We brought her here. We put Dawn in danger. I have to do something to stop her madness.’ He turned to the door and unlocked it. ‘Now I’m done running away.’ He opened it and ran towards the reception area of the Desert Inn. Terror ripped through Lily as he took off. With a silent prayer, she ran after him.

  * * *

  Mark wished Harold had hired a faster plane. Even at its maximum cruise speed of 272 knots, the Beechcraft’s twin turbo propeller engines didn’t move as fast as he would like. He could almost hear the clock ticking, bringing back memories of another time, another place, another hostage situation. At least he’d got his sister and niece out of that one alive. He prayed he’d have the same success with Lily and Luke.

  ‘How much longer?’ Not that he needed to ask. He’d calculated their landing within seconds of arrival time, a hundred times over, even taking into account the jet stream. But if he didn’t talk to someone, he’d go crazy wondering what was happening in Kalgoorlie while he was helplessly suspended 25,000 feet above the never-ending, ever-changing landscape.

  ‘We’re about twenty minutes from landing,’ said Jack, the pilot. ‘We’re waiting for the runway to clear.’

  ‘Tell them to get a move on. This is an emergency,’ Mark snapped, his patience stretched to the limit.

  ‘Ground control is aware of that, Detective. They’re doing the best they can. We’ve coincided with the fly-in fly-out workers. Their plane has just landed. They’re getting them off as quickly as possible.’ Jack turned to the controls.

  ‘Unless you want to find yourself parachuting there, sit down and shut up. This thing might not have an eject button but I can throw you out the door with or without a parachute,’ said Harold, pulling on the tail of Mark’s shirt and forcing him into a seat.

  ‘Fuck you.’

  ‘No, fuck you, you grumpy bastard. Put your seatbelt on.’ Harold grinned.

  Mark grinned although the last thing he felt like doing was smiling. The idea of losing Lily didn’t even bear thinking about. What lay between them was more than a simple attraction. She’d become a part of his life so easily.

  He knew when he drove up to the refuge she’d be there in the cabin he’d helped build. Every time his phone rang, he hoped…prayed…it was Lily’s sweet voice on the other end. Every friggin’ time he passed a nursery and smelled lavender, he thought of her in the garden at the refuge.

  He stared out the cabin window at the earth sprawled beneath them. Dawn was breaking over Kalgoorlie casting an orange glow over the golden sands. The rambling headframes of old mine shafts passed under the belly of the plane, their sheave wheels silent against the horizon. As the plane passed over the Super Pit to make a turn, Mark watched the activity below him. Yellow trucks with wheels taller than the average person and well bodies the size of small swimming pools, wound their way up and down the narrow decline in the endless procession, some empty, some full of rocks and sand.

  The minutes that ticked by felt like days and Mark wanted to scream his frustration. Every moment in the sky was time wasted, giving Serena Snow the opportunity she needed. He’d never felt this helpless, this vulnerable. His fingers clenched the edge of his seat, knuckles white and only let go when he heard the pilot announce they were coming in to land.

  * * *

  Out of breath, Lily chased after Luke as he pushed through the doors of the Desert Inn reception. The desk was empty and the insistent ring of the phone echoed in the silence. Luke’s sneakered feet were silent on the wooden floorboards as he checked the small office. Lily stood behind him and peered in. There was no sign of Dawn, but the office was in turmoil. Papers littered the floor, swept off the desk. The chair lay on its side and a splash of blood stained the wall behind it. Lily moved inside, expecting to find Dawn lying dead behind the desk. She let out a shaky breath. Dawn was gone.

  Luke pointed towards the kitchen door on the right. ‘I’m going to check the kitchen. Stay here, Mum. Lock the door and wait for Mark,’ he whispered.

  ‘No!’ Lily grabbed his arm. ‘We’re better off sticking together. I can’t let you go in there alone. If I lose you, Luke…’

  Luke hesitated. Lily was torn between pride and fear. She prayed they’d get out of this alive so her son could have his second chance. ‘Then stay close, but when we find her, Mum, promise you’ll be careful. Let me talk to her. If Gino taught me one good thing, it’s how to outwit and outplay. You have to trust me.’

  Lily stared at her son, wise beyond his sixteen years, far too street-savvy for her liking and cried for the boy he should be. ‘I trust you.’

  A touch of a smile lifted his lips. He took a deep breath and placed a shaky hand on the swing door of the kitchen. As he pushed it open, Lily caught a glimpse of Dawn seated at the table, her hair a mess and blood congealing at her temple. Behind her, with a gun in her hand, the barrel digging into the base of Dawn’s neck, stood Serena Snow.

  Cold horror coursed through Lily, clogging her throat and chilling her hands. Serena Snow’s name suited her perfectly. With porcelain skin and ice-blonde hair, even her eyes were a frosty blue, the chill of which Lily felt on her face.

  ‘You took your time, Liliana. Another minute
and you’d have another death on your conscience.’

  ‘Let her go, Serena. She has nothing to do with this.’ Luke stepped into the kitchen.

  ‘Ah, Luke, the snivelling little twit, the boy who was too much of a coward to own up to being a traitor and save his own friend from dying of a drug overdose. Grow some balls on the run, did you? And you, Liliana? What are you going to do? Turn around and run away so I can shoot you in the back? Gino always said you had no backbone. But then, apparently you lacked skills in…other areas too.’

  Serena could not have chosen a better weapon against her than insecurity. The pain of her shortcomings lanced through her as Lily forced down the lump in her throat. Yes, Gino had often voiced his displeasure for her lack of initiative in the bedroom. That he’d discussed it with Serena Snow went beyond embarrassment and angered her instead. Words, they’re just words. But they were words that brought the memories rushing back, shadows that reached out to open old wounds.

  The nights he’d come home reeking of sex and perfume — she recognised it now as she caught the smell across the room — not bothering to rid himself of it before climbing into their own bed and expecting her to welcome him with open arms. Bitterness stung her throat as she remembered. No more. Gino was dead and she was damned if she’d allow this woman to continue his bullying. Her temper simmered as Serena continued with her taunts.

  ‘I was quite happy to take care of his needs. He called you his wooden spoon, the trophy wife who wasn’t such a win after all.’ Serena dug the barrel of the gun into the fleshiness of Dawn’s neck and released the safety, the click loud in the tense silence.

  Dawn whimpered under the pressure of Serena’s hand on her shoulder and the gun at her head. Lily’s heart skipped a beat as Serena’s finger hovered over the trigger.

  ‘It’s me you want,’ said Luke. ‘Let Dawn and Mum go, and take me.’

  His voice was calm but Lily saw his hands twitching at his side. She wanted to reach out to him but was too scared to in case it triggered Serena. Fear, bone-deep crawled through her blood, her heart pounded in her chest. Their time had run out. She had to do something or this horrible, twisted woman would live and they would die.