Craving Justice (Sons of Sydney Book 1)

by Fiona Archer

  Harper smiled. “Hey, every day is Thursday at Seven Dishes.”

  “You got that right,” the other woman laughed.

  “Be back soon.” Harper headed to the counter as another couple sat at the next table. She glanced at her watch. Eleven-thirty. Today’s lunchtime crowd was early.

  She handed the order to Kelly, and turned in time to see Seth, followed by Heath and Adam, enter the café.

  Something about the closed off expression on Seth’s face made her pause. “Hey, you.” She walked around the counter and lifted her face, expecting a kiss.

  Instead, Seth looked over at Nitro. “We’ll be upstairs for a while.”

  She stared at Seth, vaguely aware of Nitro answering in the affirmative. “Is everything okay?” She rested her hand on his arm, noticing the way his bicep stiffened under her touch. The nerves in her belly clenched. Whatever was wrong?

  Seth nodded, his mouth straightening in an uncommitted line, as if a smile was asking too much. “Let’s go.” He propelled her forward with a hand at the small of her back.

  Both Adam and Heath’s faces remained blank as she passed. No hello, no kiss on the forehead from Heath.

  Something was definitely wrong.

  By the time she reached her front door, she was biting her lip at the stifling silence.

  Once inside her apartment, she entered the living room and turned. The three brothers formed one line facing her. Adam placed his laptop on her dining table and clicked some keys.

  “Last night, Adam drove me to the location from where the last two posts were sent.” Seth’s clear gaze held her on the spot. He didn’t blink, didn’t move.

  She fidgeted under his scrutiny. “That’s good, right?” Shouldn’t they be excited, or at least happy at the development?

  “Turned out to be more than I expected.” Seth glanced at Adam, who nodded. “Watch the screen.”

  Adam tapped a key on his laptop and a video started. She stood, watching a car, her car, drive into a parking lot.

  “But—”

  “Hang on, there’s more to see,” Seth said.

  She stared at the screen, watching as a woman wearing dark glasses, jeans, and a hoodie walked from her car into a café. Over the next couple of minutes, she watched the stranger sit with her back to the camera, order a meal and type into a laptop. But Harper was still back at the part where someone was driving her car. “I don’t understand. Someone stole my car?” She made a scoffing sound in her throat. “And returned it to my parking space?” Her brain kicked in. “The cameras on my building. You can check who took my car.”

  Yes! They’d find the proof there.

  Adam shook his head. “This happened on Thursday evening. The cameras were installed at two in the morning on Friday.”

  Seth’s smile was faint, almost cold in its lack of warmth. “Let’s get back to the video. There are forty minutes of tape remaining of her that evening, but we’ll skip forward to last Wednesday afternoon.”

  Again, Adam clicked some keys and another video, this one taken during the day, showed the same woman walking into the café and again sitting with her back to the camera at a far table. This time, no hoodie. “Wow, she really looks a lot like me.” But there was something more, besides the hair and body shape. She leaned forward. “That looks like…” Her mouth dropped. “That woman’s wearing my love-knot necklace, and my damn top.” Harper stared back at Seth. “What the hell’s going on here?”

  “Got to say, Harper. You have the shocked innocence act down pat.” Adam’s tone sounded bored but his gaze was lethally cold.

  She stepped back. “What do you mean?” Adam ignored her. Turning to face Seth, she felt a kick to the guts. He didn’t move toward her, didn’t say a word. Just stood there, watching, evaluating like she was some specimen in an experiment, and he was drawing his conclusions.

  “Speed it up to the waitress part.” Heath’s hard voice, so different from the gentle tone he’d used with her the night of her break-in, left her stunned.

  Adam cued the scene and hit play. A waitress approached the table with a plate of food, she couldn’t tell what from the distance of the camera. Harper watched as the stranger and the waitress chatted, even sharing some laughter before the server departed.

  “Right there, that’s when you made your mistake.”

  “My what?” Enough of this bullying. She jammed her hands on her hips and glared at Seth. “What the hell is this all about?”

  “You shouldn’t have tipped so well, Harper. That’s what first caught Becky’s memory. That and the fact you told her Aussie’s call cookies biscuits.”

  She shook her head in confusion. “Cookies and biscuits? You’re not making any sense.”

  “Then let me help you.” Seth stepped closer, but there was no warmth in his gaze or voice. His body loomed large, but not in the manly, protective way she always thought him to be. “You got into a discussion with Becky and, at one point, told her Aussies called cookies biscuits. She found that humorous. Another point of remembrance. So now a waitress that could have forgotten you an hour after serving remembered your visit a week after you’d left.”

  “Up until then, we could have tried to find an explanation for the car, maybe even the clothes, but combine all that and the mention of the cookies, and you buried yourself.” Adam paused the video at the exact moment the bitch wearing her clothes lifted the mug and drank the café’s coffee. The final insult.

  “I don’t understand, Harper.” Seth’s voice held a raw note of pain as he looked to the ground before returning his gaze to hers. “What did you have to gain by attacking my family? And why go back to the café the second time?”

  “I didn’t go the first freaking time, Seth.” She flung her arms out at her sides. “I admit the woman looks like me, and yes, that’s definitely my necklace, but that’s not conclusive proof.”

  Heath came up to stand beside Seth, his flinty hard stare matched by the coldness in his voice. “Your car. Your necklace. Your clothes. The cookies and biscuit story, which Seth says only you two shared.” He stared down at her. “Or am I wrong on the last point?”

  He wasn’t. “I didn’t tell anyone,” she whispered in defeat.

  “Then explain how some stranger knew what you and Seth said?”

  She couldn’t. At least… Her head snapped up. “I wrote about it in my journal. Maybe someone read it.” She raced past the men to her bedroom. “I always keep it in one of my nightstands.” Dragging open the drawer, she couldn’t see the aqua notebook with the silver swirls on the cover. The other stand? But, she always kept it in the one next to the doorway. A search of that nightstand proved fruitless.

  She rounded the bed, nearly bumping into Heath who stood just outside the doorway. “Can’t find it?” he asked.

  “No, it must be in the living room.” But she’d last had it in the bedroom, she was sure…

  Harper lifted magazines, books and cushions in her search. Her gaze skated over end tables, bookcases, and the coffee table. The journal was nowhere to be seen. “It’s not here.”

  Seth’s expression blanked with the finality of a safe’s door slamming shut. “A shame.”

  “Listen to me. I have a journal. Call Jinx and ask her. She’s seen it. Teased me about the damn thing. Aqua with silver swirls on the cover.”

  Seth raised his brows derisively. “Your friend? The one who’d go into battle for you no questions asked?” He sighed. “Harper, I want to believe you,” he broke off and glanced back to Adam’s laptop with the hideous frozen frame of the woman laughing before turning back to her. “I’m going to give you a chance. So think before you answer. Did anyone force you to make those posts? Blackmail you? Threaten you?” He grasped her shoulders, and she longed to fall against him. “If they did, we can keep you safe.”

  “No.” She clenched her fists. “I didn’t make them, Seth. And nobody forced me.”

  Jesus, what was it going to take for him to believe her?

 
He dropped his arms to his sides.

  Then she saw his face. The way the faint glimmer of light faded in the eyes she’d loved to stare at. Now the hard blue resembled the gaze of a stranger. And the truth hit her with enough force to make her step back.

  He didn’t believe in her innocence.

  “I didn’t do this, Seth.” She reached out, and gripped his hand, holding tighter when he moved to pull away. No. No. Her throat closed over. She struggled against a ready flood of tears. But the guys were so disbelieving of her. She couldn’t stand to see them mock her pain.

  Seth jerked his hand free. “We’re done.” His flat, lethal voice rendered her speechless. “You need to tell whoever you’re working with they won’t win.” He stepped closer, yet the coldness of his manner lent more distance between them than an ocean. “And if that’s your father, tell him he has much bigger enemies than me to look out for.”

  Seth moved back a few feet and nodded to Heath, who reached behind his back.

  For one horrible moment, Harper thought he was grabbing his handcuffs and was about to arrest her. She nearly collapsed with relief when he drew out a sheaf of paper. “Here’s the list of the offenses committed against my family and the prison terms they would likely bring.” She reached out in a stupor, and he pressed the paper into her numb grasp. “It’s only because of Seth’s intervention I haven’t already charged you. One more incident, Harper, and you’ll need a damn good lawyer.”

  At that, Seth walked out, followed by his brothers. Adam lingered in the apartment’s entry, his unspoken threat in the ruthlessness of his gaze before he turned his back on her and disappeared.

  In a stupor, Harper closed the door. She made it to the sofa before the first sob wracked her body. Grabbing the cushion, she clutched it to her chest as the flood of tears broke free.

  She’d trusted Seth. Given herself to him and let herself be judged by all and sundry when he’d been under attack. And now, when it was her turn to need his support, he’d walked away. A mixture of grief and anger punched a sob from her chest. How could this have happened? Hadn’t she been honest? When he’d needed to explain himself to her after that first post, she’d eventually seen reason, given him a chance to clarify what had happened. But not Seth. He was all judgment. There wasn’t an ounce of the trust he demanded from her given in return.

  She closed her eyes. A dull headache thudded in her temples. Checking the clock showed she had been sitting here and letting herself fall to pieces for close to thirty minutes.

  A streak of dark fur landed on the winged-back chair. Mal sat and studied her. Not sure whether to move forward and cuddle his human as usual or keep his distance. Who could blame him?

  But the tears had stopped and were replaced by righteous anger. She’d sat here and cried, now she needed to find out what the fuck was happening. And she’d start with her father.

  But first, she needed to let Seth know she wasn’t beaten. Reaching into the pocket of her apron, she grabbed her phone. Scrolling her contacts list, she tapped Seth’s number. Her call went straight to voice mail. Of course.

  “Seth, you don’t want to hear from me right now? No problem, but I’ve got something to say, so man up and listen.” She stood with her hand on her hip and glared at a speck of dirt on her front window. “I don’t know who’s out to frame me, but I wasn’t the woman in that video. Believe me or don’t believe me, your choice. I’m going to find out who was in that video. I’m going to clear my name, and you can kiss my arse when you find out just how wrong you were.” Her voice wobbled on the last few words. Dammit. She hung up before she gave into the threat of more tears.

  And now? After a deep, bracing breath, she patted Mal on the head. “We’ll be okay, buddy. I promise.”

  Her phone rang. She ignored the soaring hope that filled her and glanced at the screen. Dillon. Accepting the call, she braced for a fight. “Look, Dillon, if you’re calling to give me hell, don’t bother.”

  Dillon’s sigh filtered through the phone. “My brother’s an ass. Heath and Adam, too. I’m out front in my car. Come down and let’s go somewhere and talk this out. Someone’s framed you, Harper.”

  “You believe me?” She couldn’t hide the hope in her voice.

  “Honey,” Dillon’s voice softened. “There’s no doubt in my mind. Now get down here and let’s get to work.”

  “Okay, I’m coming.” She shoved her phone in her apron and banged her front door closed as she headed for the stairs.

  Maybe with a little bit of faith, some smart thinking, and a hell of a lot of stubbornness, she could find some answers.

  And now she wouldn’t be doing that on her own.

  Things were already looking up.

  ****

  Seth entered his office with Heath and Adam in his wake to find Zach standing next to his desk. They’d called the single father last night and agreed he’d come down the next morning after organizing another sleepover at a friend’s house for Milly. Seth wasn’t going to lie; it felt good having his brothers around him.

  He glanced behind him. “Where’s Dillon?”

  “Megan said he had to run out for a second,” Zach said.

  Seth sat behind his desk and watched as Adam took a phone call. A frown creased his brother’s forehead before he walked out of the office.

  Heath claimed a chair and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You okay, little bro?”

  Seth huffed a laugh. “Been better, mate.”

  Zach remained standing and folded his arms over his chest. “You’ve just come from Harper’s?”

  Seth nodded. “She denied any knowledge.”

  “You expected different?” Zach asked.

  “Yes.” At his answer, Heath’s brows rose, while Zach gave no sign of surprise. “She’d always been so open. Her face gives her away. I expected the same today, even when caught out.”

  Heath shook his head. “She was playing a part before, mate.”

  Was she? All those times she’d laughed when acting goofy. Or the time she’d taken a strip of bacon off his plate when he wasn’t looking, and he stared at her when he’d realized what had happened. The woman’s face had turned bright red, and she’d pressed her lips together as if she was holding back a confession. That wasn’t acting. Yet today…not a damn hint of blush in her cheeks. Instead they were pale, and her eyes wide with shock.

  He clenched his fist. Why was he doing this, questioning himself when they had the proof?

  If she’d said something, taking the chance he’d given her and admitted she was being forced. But she’d denied it point blank.

  Zach lowered himself into the chair beside Heath. “I’ve been thinking on the drive down the mountain.” He glanced first at Heath before focusing on Seth. “What if she wasn’t lying?”

  Seth sat back. “Why would you think that?” Zach hadn’t spent that much time with Harper, didn’t know her nearly as well as Seth, let alone Heath.

  “Gut feeling.” He held up a hand at Heath’s sigh. “I know. She’s on the video; it’s her car, the cookie shit. I get all that.” Zach stared hard at Seth. “But if you strip all that back, suspend disbelief, and look at the person, can you believe that she’s innocent?”

  In a heartbeat.

  Heath rolled his eyes. “Jesus, man, if I did that in my job, nobody would ever be convicted of a crime. Anyone could steal, murder and their defense would be that they’re a really great bloke and no way in hell could they be guilty.”

  “You’re pissed.” Zach’s voice was low, forceful. “Someone hurt Seth, embarrassed you and Dillon, not to mention caused a heap of shit for Adam whose arse is still hanging in the breeze and open to potential threats from God knows who in his past.” He shrugged at Heath. “I get you wanting to fix this, do the job you’re trained to do. But something about this shit isn’t right.”

  “Why,” Seth leaned his arms on the desk. “Pinpoint what it is that has you guessing.” Because he needed to hear what that thing was
. Maybe then he could allow himself to act on the hope he’d buried last night.

  “Harper wrote my kid a note.” Zach said no more, simply stared back at Seth.

  A note? “I saw her write the note. At the barbecue. Milly was sleeping when we left.” It was a nice gesture, but how did that prove her innocence?

  “She didn’t have to do that, Seth. But Harper took the time to make sure my kid knew she mattered enough to say a goodbye.” Zach shrugged. “Some kids, those like Milly who are around adults so much, have a fine-tuned radar. They can detect fake friendship, especially from adults who are willing to use a kid to get their goal. Milly’s had women try the friendly crap with fake smiles and bullshit as a way to impress me, but she doesn’t want to know them.” A faint smile tugged at Zach’s mouth. “But that damn letter hangs pride of place on our fridge.”

  Seth’s breath locked in his chest.

  Milly instinctively knew what Seth had felt the first night he’d been with Harper. That the woman had a genuineness of spirit, a freshness that was open yet left her vulnerable.

  “You’re placing a lot of faith in a note, Zach,” Heath said.

  “My gut feeling’s never let me down before. The same instinct told me all those years ago to follow the guard leading you to the basement at that fucking reform school.”

  The man had a point.

  Heath sat back, his expression thoughtful as he stared at a spot on the carpet.

  Seth closed his eyes. He’d been a fool. An absolute fucking fool. He rose and walked over to and grip Zach’s shoulder. “Thank you, brother. You’ve just voiced what I’ve been feeling about Harper, but was too stupid to act on.” A sense of urgency raced through Seth. He’d given in too easily. “I can’t let her go.” Seth flicked his gaze between his brothers as Heath turned in his chair to face Seth and Zach. “So now all we have to do is prove her innocence.”

  Stating his plan aloud made him even more determined to achieve his goal.