“Bryonie?”
“Just answer my question.”
Taylor blinked. “There’s nothing wrong with my phone.”
“Good. You’re to give her a call back after we’re done here. You’re going to accept her invitation.”
Taylor’s mouth fell open exasperated. “I don’t mean to offend you or anything, being part of the police or whatever – but you’re not making much sense. Is Bryonie in some sort of trouble or –?”
Agent Malone folded her arms. “You could say Bryonie’s in trouble. You could say she’s in a lot of trouble.”
“What did she do?”
“By no fault of her own, she managed to put herself in the middle of an ongoing investigation. You see we’ve been tracking an online predator of recent. A man who goes by the name Finn. I could show you some pictures. Here … take a look…”
Agent Malone handed Taylor her phone.
On screen was a woman’s ravaged corpse covered in blood.
“Ugh!” Taylor screeched, tossing the phone back. “Is that fucking real?”
Agent Malone nodded. “That was only a couple of days ago. One of three deaths we’ve linked to Finn. He has a process. He meets the girls online via a dating website, then he invites them to public places to gain their trust with him so he can get them somewhere private. Which is where the killing takes place.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“Now this morning, we had more than fifty agents online, trying to make contact with Finn so we could get someone close to him. But he didn’t fall for the bait. Since we have a wire on his phone we learned that he’d gone after this Bryonie Montrose. Your friend. Now you might be asking, what this has to do with you. We were able to trace Finn and Bryonie to their public meeting. We had bugs planted in Bryonie’s friend’s car. So we heard all about how she wants you and Erin to meet up with her and go to Finn’s party this evening.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to go anyway,” Taylor said. “But thanks for the warning. I assume you’ve told Bryonie as well.”
“Oh no. Bryonie doesn’t know anything about this. It’s best she’s kept in the dark.”
“You’re letting her meet up with him again? Why?”
“As I said earlier, we need to get someone close to him. Since I was able to get to you faster than anyone else from my office, that elected person shall be me. So after you’ve spoken to Bryonie on the phone to accept her invitation tonight –”
“What?”
“– you’re going to walk back up to your little tea party and introduce me as your cousin from out of town.”
Taylor was speechless. “You’re crazy. No way.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Agent Malone stated. “You must comply.”
“According to who? You?”
“You see we know things about you Taylor. It’s what we do. We know personal details.”
“So?”
“So we know where you live. Who your family are. We know what’s in your bank account. We know who just paid off your university debt. That was a very kind thing for Leah’s Dad to do, wasn’t it?”
“I – I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Taylor stammered.
“That’s the thing with debts though. They come and go as they please. So maybe he paid it off. Or maybe you still owe forty-three thousand dollars. Maybe you have three thousand, four hundred and eighty-two dollars in the bank, or maybe that account is empty. These numbers – they’re all up in the air.”
Taylor closed her eyes.
She felt as though she’d been struck in the face with a metal pole.
“Alright,” she whispered.
“Alright, what?”
“Alright – I’ll do what you want. Just don’t fuck up my life.”
“I assure you,” Agent Malone said, “that’s the last thing we want to do.”
CHAPTER NINE
Just after five o’clock that evening, there was a dark blue limousine parked outside Leah Irving’s house. Her older sister Daphne was by the window peering out at it with some confusion. “Hey guys,” she said. “I think your ride is here.”
Bryonie and Leah hurried into the room, and walked up to the window from behind.
Finn was seen exiting the backseat, wearing formal attire.
“What the hell?” Leah murmured.
“Isn’t he cute?” Bryonie said. “Do you think he’s cute, Daphne?”
Daphne turned away and gave Bryonie a thumbs-up.
Bryonie smiled wickedly.
“Do we have everything?” she asked Leah. “Can we go?”
“Hold on,” Leah said.
She pulled out her phone and held it over them.
Bryonie put her arm round Leah and smiled for the camera.
Click.
“Are you going to share that?” Bryonie asked.
“Um, yeah,” Leah murmured. “I have the perfect caption for it too.”
“What?”
Leah’s fingers moved over the buttons rapidly. “‘If we go missing tonight, this is what we look like.’”
Bryonie punched her in the arm. “If we go missing, yeah right,” she scoffed.
“It’s not just the two of you and him, is it?” Daphne called from the other room.
“What?” Leah called back.
“There will be other people with you, won’t there?”
“Taylor and Erin are coming,” Bryonie hollered. “We’ve all got each other’s backs.”
A moment passed.
Bryonie sensed Finn’s shadow move behind her from out the window.
Daphne reentered the room. “Taylor and Erin are going? What happened to Lucille’s 21st?”
Bryonie and Leah stared at her blankly.
Bang, bang, bang!
“Ooh!” Bryonie squealed. “He’s here!”
CHAPTER TEN
Finn came bearing gifts. He handed off a large bouquet of blue orchids to Bryonie who gazed back sweetly. For Leah he had a stuffed toy. A shark, to be exact.
“What’s this for?” Leah said reluctantly accepting it.
“I picked it up before I left the aquarium,” Finn replied. “I thought someone might like it.”
“Thanks,” she murmured.
Daphne appeared behind them. “I’ll hang onto it for you.”
Leah passed it along.
“Is this one of your friends?” Finn asked Bryonie.
“Uh, no,” Bryonie said. “We have to make a separate stop for them.”
“I’m Leah’s sister,” Daphne said. “And you are?”
“I’m Finn.”
“Where are you taking them tonight? Do you have an address?”
“Not exactly,” Finn said. “Do you need one?”
The question wasn’t so much directed to Daphne, as it was to Bryonie and Leah. Leah half looked at Bryonie, wondering if she would confirm. Instead, Bryonie said:
“That’s okay. We trust you.”
Next, they were on the porch with him and Daphne had her head half out the front door.
“I know what you look like,” she said sternly. “Don’t steal them away.”
“Okay, I won’t forget,” Finn said. “In the event that I do.”
Daphne took another step forward. “Pardon?”
But they were already walking away and waving goodbye.
Leah had been forced up front to lead the way, while Finn and Bryonie walked behind, his arm around her.
“Do you always travel round in a limousine?” Bryonie asked. “Or is this a special occasion?”
“It’s an occasion,” Finn replied. “How special it is, remains to be seen.”
“But you have high hopes?”
“I don’t think it hurts one to have a positive outlook.”
They reached the car.
Finn left Bryonie’s side and opened the back door. “Ladies first.”
Leah went in first, shortly followed by Bryonie.
Finn moved in next to her and closed
the door.
The car drove away.
“Bryonie, Leah, this is my good friend Perry,” Finn said introducing them. “Perry, say hello.”
A young blond haired man in a Hawaiian shirt and jeans looked down at them from the far end of the seating.
He waved politely. “Hello to all.”
“Hello,” Bryonie said.
“Hi,” said Leah.
“So where can we get your friends from?” Finn asked. “That’s an address we do need.”
Bryonie brought up Taylor’s address onto her phone and handed it to Finn.
Finn used the car phone to let the driver know where their next stop was.
The wheels continued to roll.
“So you guys all met today?” Perry asked.
“Well, she and I didn’t meet,” Bryonie said. “I mean, we’ve been friends for ages.”
“They’re best friends,” Finn said. “I met Bryonie online this morning, and then we got together for lunch.”
“So twelve hours ago, you’d never even heard of one another,” Perry computed.
“That’s correct.”
“Crazy world.”
“What about you guys?” Bryonie asked. “How do you know each other?”
“We work for the same company,” Finn said. “And we’re old friends.”
Perry said. “Like he said.”
“What are you in? Finance?” Leah asked.
Perry hesitated. “You could call it that. I suppose.”
“And this picking up girls online thing,” Leah prodded further, “does Finn get up to much of that?”
Bryonie glanced up at Finn nervously.
“No,” Perry said slowly. “Finn here, he just got out of a relationship. Right, Finn?”
All eyes on Finn.
“I guess you could call it that,” Finn said.
“I don’t get it,” Leah said. “Are we talking about a girlfriend? A wife?”
“More of an acquaintance,” Finn said.
“Some relationship it sounds like.”
“Will you lay off him?” Bryonie said defensively. “No one’s asking for your relationship history.”
“I don’t know,” Leah said. “Sometimes meeting new people makes me nervous. If I don’t know them that well, I begin to wonder what their intentions are.”
“I think that’s part of it,” Perry said.
“Part of what?”
“All relationships. Sometimes it’s good to not know what the other person is thinking. I think it adds a little suspense to it all. A bit of unpredictability.”
“Well, it’s easy for you to say,” Bryonie said.
“What’s that?”
“You’re a man. No one’s going to get off attacking you.”
She looked up at Finn who was eyeing her inquisitively.
“You get it though, Finn, don’t you?” she said. “There’s creeps out there who love nothing more than hurting us women.”
Finn nodded. “Tell me about it.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The lid of the toilet was closed. Taylor was sitting on the edge of it, staring straight ahead at the bathroom door. Gone was the teahouse. Gone was Lucille and Vanessa and Penelope. Gone was the short drive back home. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to be with the others, having fun. They weren’t supposed to know.
Kieran’s face was on her phone. What day was this? With a milky blue sky, and a searing gold sun. With green grass and tall trees. The faces of friends smiling back at her in the background. What day was this with him that she couldn’t remember?
Taylor put the phone to her ear.
She pressed call.
“Taylor?” Kieran said upon answering. “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” Taylor said.
“No, no, no,” Kieran said quickly. “I just ran into some of the girls. They’re here with me and Neil. They said you’re not coming tonight? That your cousin –”
“She’s not my cousin.”
“Well… Would you care to tell me what’s going on? I assume that’s why you called.”
“I don’t know,” Taylor muttered.
“Babe. What is it?”
“I’m in trouble.”
“With fucking what?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
He was almost half yelling now. Taylor let the phone sag away from her ear. She was tired. She was drained. She couldn’t see the path ahead.
Boom, boom!
“Taylor?” Agent Malone’s voice hollered from the other side of the door. “They’re here. We have to go.”
“One second,” Taylor said.
She stood up and flushed the toilet, even though it didn’t need flushing.
She went to the basin and washed her hands.
Then the phone went back to her ear.
“Are you still there?” she asked.
“Yep,” Kieran replied.
“I’ll call you later. Tell you what’s going on. But I gotta go now.”
“Fine,” Kieran said. He hung up before she could.
Taylor stuffed the phone in her pocket and opened the door.
Agent Malone was standing there with her arms crossed.
Erin’s figure hovered at the end of the hall behind her. She was answering the door. Bryonie and Leah were waiting outside.
“Who was that?” Agent Malone asked. “Was it Kieran?”
“Fuck you,” Taylor replied. “You slimy fucking bitch.”
Agent’s Malone’s face remained expressionless and Taylor moved by her towards the end of the hall.
CHAPTER TWELVE
It was hard to believe. Hard, even with Finn to the right of her, and Leah to the left – neither of whose significance should be undervalued – it was hard to believe that Bryonie was nervous.
She could see it in Erin’s eyes as she opened the door. There was a flare about them. A sharpened anticipation. Was Bryonie for real, those eyes asked?
Was she?
Or was it all about to crumble?
“And there you are,” Erin said stepping out between them. She leaned in towards Leah. “So what have we got ourselves into here?”
“Erin,” Bryonie piped up. “I’d like you to meet my new friend. His name’s Finn. He works in finance…”
Finn looked Erin over. “Hello,” he said.
She avoided eye contact. “Hello.”
Taylor stepped through the doorway. Bryonie shuddered, seeing she was made up beautifully – almost to perfection. But her face was angry about something.
“Hi Taylor,” Bryonie said. “It’s great to see you.”
Taylor nodded. Then glanced back into the hallway behind her.
“I was just saying to Bryonie this morning,” Leah said. “It’s been so long since the four of us hung out together all at once. You know, how we used to.”
“Life is just so busy, isn’t it?” Erin said without a hint of sincerity.
A woman emerged from behind Taylor.
Curly black hair. Athletic build. Glasses.
Purple lipstick.
“Oh,” Taylor gushed. “This is my cousin, Melissa. She’s coming with.”
“Oh,” Bryonie replied. “Well – uh – nice to meet you. Good thing we’ve got a limo.”
“Otherwise she’d be in the trunk,” Taylor said.
Melissa put her hand to Taylor’s shoulder as she moved passed her. “It’s so nice to meet you, Bryonie.”
Bryonie staggered back as Melissa embraced her.
Once it was over, she then set her sights on Leah. “And you must be…?”
“Leah,” Bryonie said.
“Allergic to your perfume,” Leah said. “No touching please.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Melissa said. “I just get so excited meeting all of Taylor’s friends.”
Erin rolled her eyes.
“What about you?” Melissa asked, turning to Finn. “What do I call you?”
“Finn. Everyone calls
me Finn.”
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She turned to Taylor. “Are you going to lock up? Or just stand there sulking?”
Taylor’s eyes darkened before she turned back to the door.
Bryonie caught a small smile on Melissa’s lips.
Something was going on between them.
“So where the fuck is this party happening, and who’s going to be there?” Erin asked. “I hope we’re not missing Lucille’s 21st for nothing.”
“You were going to go to that, were you?” Leah asked.
“That was the plan. Before you guys called.”
“You cancelled plans with Lucille for us,” Bryonie beamed. “Jesus girls! And I thought you didn’t like me very much!”
“Yeah, I thought so too,” Erin said half joking. “But Taylor really wanted to come. She insisted.”
“Did you?” Bryonie said turning as Taylor stepped away from the front door.
“Yeah,” Taylor replied, forcing a smile. “Hanging out with you, Leah and Finn. There’s no place I’d rather be.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The inside of the limo had come to life upon their reentry. Purple and pink lights shone around the edges of the seating, as well as from the ceiling. Perry had opened a bottle of champagne and compiled a tray of full glasses for each of them to take. Bryonie was first in there on that account, followed by Leah, Finn, and Taylor. Erin and Melissa declined.
The sound of a familiar song pumped away in the background.
And they were moving again.
Once introductions had circled round the group again, on the behalf of Perry, and the behalf of anyone who didn’t hear the right name the first time, Erin launched into her previous inquiry.
“You never did answer me, Finn. Where the hell are we all going tonight?”
“Just a small gathering,” Finn said. “Only two or three of us aren’t present now, to be exact. More than likely, they’ll already be at our destination.”
“Which is what exactly?”
“Nothing sinister, I assure you. You’ll see when we get there.”
“Is this a long car ride?” Taylor asked.
“Oh no,” Finn said. “I imagine by the time we finish our drinks, we’ll almost be there.”
Cruisin' With Sharks (Paranormal Mysteries #1) Page 3
