Reluctant Suspicion

by Finn, Scarlett

  ‘Nope,’ Blake said, and kissed her head again. ‘Shona’s father pursued your mother… but they never had sex. There was no affair. They had to leave town because of a harassment suit that your dad brought against the family. It turns out that madness is hereditary.’

  ‘You’re serious? Oh my God, I—‘

  ‘I know, babe,’ he said, running his fingertips up and down her arms. ‘The whole family has a strange story. We don’t think that this set of murders is Shona’s first either… When her brother died of a drug overdose, no one knew that he had ever used them. We would guess that the brother was trying to keep his sister under control and she didn’t like it.’

  ‘What about the accident?’ Molly asked. ‘Cal’s car accident.’

  ‘If you read Shona’s brother’s statement, he says his sister grabbed the wheel from him. It’s possible she saw you guys coming and just took the opportunity… You were right, babe. It wasn’t an accident at all.’

  ‘This is all so… incredible.’

  ‘Her name isn’t even Shona,’ Blake said. ‘Ironically enough, and perhaps in connection to your family… her real name is Nina.’

  Molly exhaled a laugh. ‘You’re kidding?’

  ‘It was either a mighty huge co-incidence or the song she played while committing the murders was a tease on her name, as well as on your father’s favourite song.’ Blake moved his arms further around her and she flinched, so he loosened his grip. ‘Are you sore?’

  ‘Just my ribs.’

  ‘Well you cracked two,’ he said.

  ‘I did?’

  ‘The doctors will be in soon to go through your injuries… There was nothing permanent, though.’

  ‘What about Mason?’ she asked, and slipped her hands up and over his.

  ‘He’s ok,’ Blake said. ‘He should be out of the hospital tomorrow.’

  ‘I can’t believe he is ok, that is just amazing news.’

  ‘Not for Nina, but for the rest of the world it is. He was lucky. Vanessa panicked when she couldn’t get hold of Joel. She rushed around to Mason’s for help and found him there. She called the ambulance just in time.’

  ‘Shame the others couldn’t have been so lucky.’

  ‘She’s off the street now, babe. We have her in custody. She won’t hurt anyone again.’

  ‘Is she talking?’

  ‘Ranting and rambling,’ Blake said. ‘She’ll calm down in a day or two. We’re getting more from Harry and Melissa.’

  ‘Poor Melissa,’ Molly said. ‘I can’t forgive what she’s done, but… in so many ways she was a victim too.’

  ‘People like Nina prey on the weak. It’s how cult leaders have their followers commit suicide. It’s brainwashing… nothing more.’

  They lay holding each other in silence for a moment until Blake kissed her hair again. ‘My dad is really my dad?’

  ‘He sure is,’ Blake said.

  Molly’s face burst into a grin. ‘I never wanted to believe he wasn’t, but a part of me did always wonder.’

  ‘It’s only natural when you hear stories like that.’

  ‘But what about the drinking? Nina said that my dad was drinking back then.’

  ‘Your dad only drank after you lost your mom. He was a man in love, torn from the object of his affection,’ he said, still kissing her hair. ‘I would have done the same thing if I’d lost you.’

  Molly twisted against him to gaze into his eyes. ‘No change of heart?’

  ‘Only to the positive,’ he said, and pressed his lips against his forehead. ‘I couldn’t have lost you, Mol. I’d have died right there with you if you’d been hurt.’

  ‘All I could think of was you,’ Molly said. ‘And all those things you wouldn’t let me say.’

  ‘I was right though,’ he said. ‘We have time now.’

  ‘I love you,’ they said in unison.

  Losing herself in his stare, she wrapped herself in his smile. It didn’t matter who said it first, or what the future held. She wasn’t alone anymore, and never had she been more confident of that than in this moment.

  ‘I think you need to give Vanessa a raise,’ Blake said. ‘She’s been running your bar singlehandedly for the last two days.’

  ‘When can I get out of here?’ Molly asked.

  ‘They’ll probably let you out today if you promise to take it easy.’

  ‘Good,’ Molly said. ‘Nessa can handle a couple more nights.’

  ‘She can?’

  ‘Sure,’ Molly said, and drew her focus up to his again. ‘I believe you mentioned something about a beach.’

  ‘I did,’ he said, and kissed her forehead. ‘That can be arranged.’

  ‘Good,’ she said. ‘Because you owe me a game of poker.’ His dark eyes consumed hers and she tipped her head further back, so he took the opportunity to kiss the end of her nose. ‘Are you going to do that properly any time soon? Or are you going to make me beg?’

  A deep snigger emanated from his throat. ‘Sugar,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen you floor a man twice your size… you’ll never beg for anything again in your life.’

  Thank you for sharing this adventure!

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  Take A Risk

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  Chapter One

  ‘Without evidence that this person intends to do you harm, Doctor Cutler, there’s just nothing we can do.’

  Officer Ronson had been pleasant enough. Lyssa sat on one side of the bare desk with her best friend, Suzette Blossom, clutching her hand. Ronson and his young partner, Miguel Chavez, were probably sick of the sight of her. She’d been in this station half a dozen times over the course of the last four months and every time it was at the prompting of Suzette. Lyssa didn’t see any point in reporting each incident, certainly not anymore.

  ‘This is ridiculous,’ Suzette said. ‘She’s being terrorised.’

  ‘With all due respect Miss. Blossom, flowers being placed on someone’s back stairs doesn’t rank highly as being indicative of imminent harm.’

  The officer was doing his job, and he had a point, but it was more than that. ‘What about the phone calls?’ Lyssa asked.

  ‘You said it had been a couple of weeks since he called,’ Ronson said.

  ‘Yes, but—‘

  ‘Maybe your secret admirer isn’t as amorous as you fear.’

  ‘He prowls around outside her house,’ Suzette exclaimed, flattening her hands on the table.

  Lyssa soothed her friend with a hand to her shoulder. ‘It is disconcerting to know that someone is in my yard.’

  ‘In the times you’ve called the police out to your home no one has been found on your property,’ Ronson said, consulting the file in front of him. ‘The same as the suspicious cars you and your friend have reported.’

  ‘You think I’m crazy,’ Lyssa muttered.

  ‘She’s a god damn psychiatrist! If she was crazy she’d be the first one to recognise the symptoms,’ Suzette said. ‘You people are supposed to protect the innocent.’

  ‘Keep filling out your diary,’ Ronson said, pushing Lyssa’s black notebook back to her. ‘And if you’re threatened or attacked then please call nine-one-one.’

  ‘What use is that after she’s been attacked?’ Suzette asked.

  Her best friend was fiercely protective and saw how close to the end of her wick she had become, but flipping out wouldn’t get them anywhere. Lyssa took her purse from the floor and slid the strap up her arm as she stood up. The policemen stood up too and Lyssa
had to take Suzette’s hand to bring her to her feet.

  ‘Thank you for your time,’ Lyssa said, picking up the notebook and tucking it into her purse with one hand. ‘We’d appreciate you leaving a note in the file that we reported this.’

  ‘Sure thing,’ Ronson said, smiling for the first time, no doubt because these women taking up his time were leaving.

  Chavez opened the door for them and she took a silently seething Suzette through the precinct and out onto the sidewalk where the sun was beating down. Their car was parked around the block and to get her friend out of the sun and away from curious eyes, Lyssa cut down the alley at the side of the police building.

  ‘We should report those guys,’ Suzette grumbled.

  ‘Wait until we’re in the car before you lose it, Suzie,’ Lyssa said. ‘We’ll go somewhere nice for lunch.’ To calm her down a little, not that Lyssa would say that out loud, Suzie had a short fuse at the best of times.

  ‘Doctor Cutler?’

  The voice from behind them made both women turn, still hand in hand. Miguel Chavez came out of a side doorway from the police station into the alleyway, alone. He took the time to look up and down the alley before he approached them.

  ‘Come to belittle us some more, have you?’ Suzette sniped.

  ‘Ronson is old school,’ Chavez said. ‘He thinks stalking is a new fad.’

  ‘And you don’t?’ Lyssa asked.

  ‘I know… something about it.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Like that you’re not going to get very far here until you’re hospitalised or dead, short of coming up with concrete evidence that this lunatic is on your tail.’

  It was nice to be believed if nothing else. ‘So you’re here to tell me to stop wasting my time and yours?’ Lyssa asked. ‘Forgive me, but if I don’t report the prowler’s actions then he’s getting away with it. What else am I supposed to do?’

  ‘Visit someone who can help,’ Chavez said and handed her a business card. Black cardboard with curly red writing on it listed the address of a nightclub called “Risqué”. If the outline of the woman draped along the side of the card was anything to go by, it was a strip joint.

  ‘A stripper?’ Suzette asked. ‘You want us to go to a stripper?’

  ‘No,’ Chavez said, moving in closer and lowering his voice. ‘Go there tomorrow night, eleven PM, ask at the bar for Trapper.’

  ‘Trapper?’ Lyssa said.

  ‘Trust me; he’ll be able to help. Though if anyone asks where you got this information don’t use my name.’

  ‘Why not?’ Suzette asked. ‘Is he a superhero? A mercenary? Or a sniper, who will take this guy out with one shot? Pow!’

  Lyssa tried not to laugh at her friend, and gave her hand a squeeze to settle her. ‘I don’t want to be the cause of anyone getting hurt.’

  ‘Trapper’s not security,’ Chavez said. ‘But he will solve your problem.’

  ‘How will he do that?’

  ‘Ask him.’

  Chavez walked backward toward the door and then disappeared inside, leaving Lyssa and Suzette staring down at the business card.

  ‘What do you think?’ Lyssa asked.

  ‘Is it too early for a drink?’ Suzette asked.

  Taking her friend’s lead, they went back to the car and drove to their favourite restaurant only a block from the hospital Suzette worked at with her fiancé. Once they’d ordered and received their drinks Lyssa took the card from her pocket and placed it on the table.

  ‘Is he setting us up?’ Lyssa asked.

  ‘For what?’

  ‘I don’t know. But I don’t like the clandestine theatrics.’

  ‘He’s a cop,’ Suzette said. ‘He’s probably got all sorts of contacts. If this Trapper guy can help then he’s worth checking out.’

  ‘Are we there yet? I mean, are we really that desperate?’

  ‘You’re a prisoner in your own home. I want Lyssa back, my Lyssa, the real Lyssa, the Lyssa who wouldn’t think twice about wandering the streets at three AM. The Lyssa who would face off with bikers and boxers, who convinced an abusive husband to turn himself into the cops and be honest about his despicable deeds. Where is the Lyssa whose greatest aspiration was to write self-help books for us poor women clueless about the male mind?’

  Lyssa smiled. ‘I haven’t given up on that.’

  ‘No? You walked away from your marriage because your husband wouldn’t support that dream.’

  ‘Archie didn’t like to see me taking what he perceived as risks,’ Lyssa said. ‘He didn’t have confidence that I knew what I was doing.’

  ‘Observing men in their natural habitat used to inspire you and when was the last time you went on one of your crazy crusades?’

  ‘Studying male sexual behaviour can be done at any time. I suppose I haven’t been motivated recently.’

  ‘Because you think a stalker is watching your every move,’ Suzette said, leaning back to let the server place their salads in front of them and disappear again. She leaned forward and took Lyssa’s hand. ‘I don’t blame you. It must be terrifying to know some nut is obsessed with you. But you’ve put your life on hold for him.’

  ‘I do find myself… concerned. But he’s hardly a stalker, maybe he is just an admirer and doesn’t mean any harm.’

  ‘After your divorce from Archie you bought that beautiful townhouse in the city and set up your practice. You promised me that taking on patients was a stopgap to help you pay the bills while you wrote your books. Writing was always your passion, the only reason you went to medical school was to appease your father.’

  ‘That’s not entirely true,’ Lyssa said, used to hearing her friend’s rhetoric.

  Her parents had scrimped and saved all of their lives and expected their only child to use her intelligence wisely. Watching her graduate had been their greatest achievement. Though their happiest day was probably watching her marry the rich plastic surgeon… shame that hadn’t lasted. Telling them that her marriage was over had been the hardest day of her own life.

  Her intention had always been to study the mind, psychology fascinated her, and she’d chosen to specialise in sexual dysfunction. Since then she’d never looked back. Her main focus was male patients, but she worked with females and couples too. In her practice she had a variety of patients ranging from those with simple marital issues, to victims of sexual abuse and assault.

  ‘I want you to write your books,’ Suzette said. ‘Get inspired, throw yourself into an assignment, study your subjects up close, undercover, just like you used to.’

  Lyssa wanted it to be that simple, but with this admirer on her tail she found herself more aware of her own movements, and her own vulnerability. ‘I’m still writing and rewriting previous findings.’

  ‘But not studying anyone new, or putting yourself in any new and exciting environments,’ Suzette said. ‘You’re not going to do that until we get rid of this guy. I know you, Lyssa. You have to move on from this and find yourself again.’

  The only way that Lyssa could move forward was to free herself from the scrutiny of her the person obsessed with her. But going to a stranger and asking for help didn’t sit well with her. Lyssa liked to know that she was making a difference in steering her destiny. Playing the hapless or helpless victim wasn’t in her nature, and it was frustrating that this stalker had reduced her to that.

  ‘Ok,’ she said to Suzette. ‘I’ll think about it.’

  A small town girl in the big, bad city...

  The XY Factor

  The two of them may have grown up in the same town but their ways couldn’t have been more different – he was the rebel and she the invisible princess. No one knew of the chance encounter between Darcy and Sloan on his last night in town almost a decade and a half ago.

  But when Inverquay needs money Darcy steps up to take part in her worst nightmare – a TV talent show. Things don’t go to plan and she ends up under the glare of the media spotlight. In the big bad city she’s alone, a
nd to a small town girl that’s inconceivable; but no one knows why she’s there so Darcy has no one to rely on.

  Sloan swore he’d never go back to Inverquay and after thirteen years he’d rid himself of the town that had forsaken him. Until he stumbles upon the girl he met only hours before he roared away from Inverquay on his bike, and she trusts him... now why in the hell would she do something as stupid as that?

  Available now on Amazon

  Your trouble is you believe everything you read...

  Rivals ON AIR

  Hunter and Annie hadn’t met, not until they were thrown together by their bosses to justify that kiss. One kiss, one picture, and their worlds collide.

  Their audiences clamour for more. The press are speculating, and truthfully... they can’t stand each other. But now they’re in each other's lives, because how can they walk away from that picture with their credibility?

  Each spend show after show goading and teasing the other, so their bosses come up with the solution – fall in love... though not really, of course.

  Nevertheless, the competition is heating up and the numbers are too close to call. Hunter’s boss Theo won’t have it. They need edge. They have to win this, because both stations are running the same format. Whoever wins the award takes it all... the loser will have to cancel.

  Annie’s getting under Hunter’s skin. Theo questions his professionalism, and demands that he proves his mettle. Ethical, schmethical – get into the girl’s underwear, make her believe it’s real, and she’ll be begging them to win the award.

  The fragile trust between the pair burgeons, yet their careers drive their lives, and this was always just a gimmick... wasn’t it?

  Then Annie makes the move and invites Hunter into her bed... what’s a man to do?