Dangerous Echoes

by Leisl Leighton

  ‘Hey, Mac. Call-out for you.’ Siobhan Graham, their dispatch, stuck her head around the door. ‘Disturbance at the Taylor property. The Boss wants you to take Constable Mayne with you.’

  Mac’s brow rose. ‘I’m on my way.’ He picked up his hat. ‘I’ll walk you out.’ As they got to the Patrols, Mac said, ‘Good luck with EJ.’

  ‘Yeah. I’m going to need it.’ He hopped into the Nissan Patrol and started it up. There was only one place Erika would go now her family house was sold—the Echo Springs Hotel. Pip and Daphne, Mac’s parents, had always had a soft spot for her. They were probably the only friends she had here—she’d specialised in alienating people in the years before she ran away. It was only a block and half behind the police station, but he got in his four-wheel drive and drove there. He might need a quick getaway. Not to mention, he had to go to the fire station afterwards and then had some people to talk to.

  Erika was sitting in a booth having a cup of tea with Pip and Daphne. Pip had his arm around Daphne’s shoulders and Daphne’s hand was stretched across the table, patting Erika’s hand as it clenched a serviette. Mac didn’t have to worry about telling his parents about Peter—Erika had obviously already done it. He wondered if they’d filled her in on Peter and his situation with Mabel. He hoped not. A person could only take so much bad news in one sitting.

  He gritted his teeth. He’d read the report on her, and an hour ago he’d talked to a homicide detective mate in Melbourne. Clearly, Erika was brilliant at what she did. A bunch of cases would have gone unsolved if not for her keen observations and the thoroughness of her autopsies. She saw things others didn’t. If anyone could find out what happened to Peter and Tyler, it was her. Mac was right about that.

  Except he wasn’t here to give her the go-ahead but to tell her she couldn’t do it. This day had started out shit and it was just getting worse. Sighing, he walked toward the intense trio.

  Daphne saw him first. ‘Hartley. How lovely to see you. Is there something wrong at the Cooee?’

  Erika turned in her seat, her hazel eyes arrowing in on him with uncanny clarity even in the dimmed lighting of the bar.

  ‘I expect he’s here to see Erika about Peter,’ Pip said. ‘Horrible thing that.’

  ‘Have you found out something more about poor Peter?’ Daphne dabbed at her eyes.

  He shook his head. ‘No. This has to do with something else.’

  ‘What trouble have you got yourself into this time, EJ?’ Pip said, trying for joviality. It fell flat.

  ‘Nothing that wasn’t a misunderstanding. As usual,’ Erika answered. ‘Is Mrs Patterson still wanting to press charges?’

  ‘No. It’s about the autopsy.’

  ‘Autopsy? What autopsy?’ Pip asked.

  ‘I asked to be allowed to do the post-mortem on Peter and Tyler.’ Erika laid her hands flat on the table and met Daphne’s horrified stare. ‘If we wait for someone to come up from Sydney, any evidence found that proves he wasn’t at fault will probably lead to cold trails and it could take even longer to track down the people truly responsible. Besides, I’m one of the best at what I do.’ Her voice caught a little and she took a quick breath, chin rising. ‘I do this for other people, so it’s only right I do the same for my brother.’

  The older woman looked at Hartley, stricken. He didn’t know what to say to her. He understood why Erika wanted to do it, even though it made no sense to anyone else.

  Pip patted his wife’s shoulder. ‘Erika knows what she’s about, Daphne.’

  ‘I’m not sure she does right now.’ Tears spilled down her face. ‘You have to tell her she can’t do it, Coops. It’s not right. It’s not right.’

  ‘I have to do the post-mortem on my brother. I can’t leave him to someone else. You can’t expect me to.’ Erika slid out of the booth and stared down at them, expression harsh. ‘Thank you for the tea. And the information about Peter and Mabel. I’m just going to talk to Detective Constable Cooper now. In private. In my room.’ She brushed past Hartley and disappeared through the door that led to the stairs to the accommodation.

  Pip and Daphne seemed rooted to the vinyl cushions of the booth, their eyes fixed on the door Erika had just exited through.

  ‘Well, I better go talk to Erika,’ he said, turning to go, feeling their gazes like arrows in his back.

  ‘You’re not going to let her do that autopsy, are you?’ Pip’s voice stopped him as he got to the door.

  Sighing, he turned back to face them—he should have made a faster getaway. ‘If it were up to me, I would, but the Boss said no.’

  Pip nodded slowly. ‘Sensible woman that.’

  Daphne’s expression brightened. ‘Oh, thank goodness. I couldn’t imagine anything more horrible.’

  ‘I don’t think Erika can imagine anything more horrible than having to wait for answers someone else has to give her.’

  Pip’s mouth twitched. ‘She always did like to be in control.’

  ‘I don’t think that has changed at all.’

  ‘No. Poor kid.’ Pip stood and walked over to him stiffly. ‘I gave her the key to room 102 earlier. Go and let her down kindly, Coops. It’s the least she deserves.’

  ‘Yes. Of course.’

  He ascended the stairs, dread a hard lump in his chest. It was his job to make sure she saw reason. But how on earth was he to do that now when he’d never been able to before?

  Chapter Six

  He didn’t knock. She should have known he wouldn’t. The door opened behind her and she turned and he was there.

  Just as when he’d walked into the interview room, her body did that funny thing, jolting as if she’d received a shock. It made her want to run. From him, from the way he made her feel. Peter was dead. She shouldn’t be thinking of anything else. She needed to ignore the urge to smile at Hartley Cooper as he walked into the room with that sexy, contained stride of his. The need to reach out and touch him, to have him touch her with those long piano-player fingers, to make him smile at her, not just with the sideways curl of his mouth, but that glow that entered his eyes denoting something more than true happiness… No.

  Rational. Controlled. That was who she was. It was what everyone always saw. It made her exceptional at her job. It was that and nothing else that would help her find out what had happened to her brother. She needed to focus on what was known, safe. Hartley was no longer either of those things.

  She folded her arms and didn’t return his smile. ‘Well?’

  Hartley rubbed his hand across his jaw and turned to close the door and she knew.

  ‘She said no, didn’t she?’

  His shoulders stiffened before he turned to face her, his gaze…troubled? Wary? Pained? She wasn’t sure. ‘It’s the politics and protocol of the thing,’ he began.

  She waved her hand, stopping his words short. ‘I understand.’

  ‘You do?’ His frown deepened and she could see he was trying to read her. She looked away, back out the window. He’d always read her a lot better than she’d been able to read him.

  ‘I should have known your superintendent wouldn’t allow it. I shouldn’t have asked.’

  ‘That seems very…rational of you.’

  ‘I’m a rational person.’ She could feel his gaze on her, but still didn’t turn back to look at him. She was afraid fury would show in her eyes or spill from her lips. He always brought out the emotional side in her. She’d never liked it. So, staring fixedly out of the window, not registering anything beyond the brightness of the sun outside, she said, ‘Your superintendent doesn’t believe I can compartmentalise and do my job efficiently without compromising the investigation. Which, given she knows nothing about me and currently has no forensic pathologist to do the post-mortem, is stupidly short-sighted of her.’

  He made a snorty-laugh kind of sound. ‘Not so rational then.’

  She knew he was smiling at her, wanted to turn to see it, but couldn’t let herself. Couldn’t let herself be touched by his smile, or the understan
ding in his eyes. If she saw, she’d start to cry and then he’d hold her, like he had every time Mabel had made her cry. And just like she had in the past, she’d hate it and him in that moment, only to feel embarrassed and regretful for feeling that way later. It wasn’t rational, and she needed to be rational.

  ‘Erika? I’m sorry.’

  He was. She could hear it in his voice. He moved toward her. Tears prickled harder behind her eyes. No. No. She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t going to lean on him. This was a setback, that was all. It wouldn’t stop her. However, she couldn’t involve Harts. Despite the fact they’d once been Miss Chief and Cooperman, she wasn’t certain he would help her—they’d both changed a lot—but even if he would, she couldn’t be responsible for getting him in trouble. And there would be trouble over this. She was planning to do an unsanctioned post-mortem of not only her brother, but Tyler, post-mortems she would then report to Hartley’s superintendent to force them to investigate her brother’s death. It didn’t matter that she’d already put in the call to her boss in Melbourne so what was currently unsanctioned wouldn’t be for long, because she couldn’t even wait for that go-ahead. Vital evidence could even now be eroding away due to the fire and chemicals that caused it. The fact she was going to be even more unpopular because she’d gone over Superintendent Stuart’s head to force more than a coronial investigation was just par for the course—she was used to being unpopular in this town—but that was even more reason not to drag Harts into her mess.

  She stared out the window until her vision starred and her eyes dried and then she blinked once, long and slow. ‘Thank you for trying.’ She released her rigidly curled fingers, unfolded her arms, and with a placid smile plastered to her lips, turned. ‘You didn’t have to, but I appreciate that you did.’

  He stared at her and then his head tipped on the side. ‘Erika.’ The word was a drawled question and warning all rolled into one.

  It shuddered up her back, but she stood rigid, not letting herself react. ‘I also appreciate you coming to tell me in person. You could have just called. I know that would have been easier. You must be busy.’

  ‘Erika.’ He took a step forward. ‘What are you up to?’

  ‘Nothing.’ She was pleased her voice sounded so innocent.

  ‘Now, that’s a lie if ever I heard one.’ Another step closer.

  ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ She wanted to back up, but was already standing against the window.

  He smiled, but it wasn’t the smile she’d longed to see only minutes earlier. It was knowing and intelligent and calculating. ‘You’re going to do it anyway.’ It wasn’t even a question.

  Her brows moved—she couldn’t help it—and his smile widened. Anger flared inside her, anger at the fact that even after all these years, he could read her so easily. ‘You don’t know me anymore, Detective.’

  Another step and he was standing only a hand’s span away. So close, she could feel the warmth of him along her front. ‘Oh, I think I know you well enough.’

  ‘I’ve changed.’

  ‘Maybe.’ He tipped his head again, gaze assessing. ‘But not that much.’ He tapped his finger lightly against her forehead. ‘Your brain is as lightning fast as it always was, which means one thing. You knew the Boss would say no and you knew what you’d do about it when that happened.’

  ‘And what is that?’ She crossed her arms again, fists clenched under her armpits, hating that he made her react so defensively.

  ‘That you were going to do it anyway, no matter what anyone said.’

  ‘You’re wrong.’

  ‘I don’t think I am.’

  She floundered, her brain curiously sluggish with him this close.

  ‘Can’t think of anything to say to refute me? That’s not like you, Erika.’

  His smugness was what did it. Before she could even think about responding verbally, she shoved him, hands against his wide chest, pushing as hard as she could. She caught him by surprise, because, given his size and hers, there was no way she’d budge him if she hadn’t. But he stumbled back a few steps, giving her the room to move, to escape his closeness and get to the door, swinging it open. ‘I want you to leave.’

  He simply crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Make me.’

  She gaped at him. ‘That’s…that’s… a child’s response.’

  He chuckled again. ‘You want rational? Then convince me I’m wrong. Convince me you are not going to turn around and do an illegal autopsy on your brother and Tyler and I will happily leave.’

  ‘I…I…’

  ‘I didn’t think so. Which means I’m staying right here, by your side.’

  ‘But…you can’t do that.’

  ‘I can and I will to save you from yourself.’

  ‘I don’t need to be saved from myself.’

  ‘I think it’s precisely what you need. It always was. If I’d been capable of understanding that sixteen years ago, things would have been a lot different.’

  ‘Sixteen years ago, you were my friend.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You wouldn’t have been my friend? Is that what you’re saying?’

  He lurched abruptly forward, expression intense. ‘Never. Your friendship was the best part of those years.’

  ‘But I got you into trouble. Often.’

  ‘If I hadn’t wanted to do those things with you, Erika, nothing you could have said would have made me. You know me better than that.’

  She clenched the door handle, not understanding why those words thrilled through her. ‘I don’t want to get you into trouble now.’

  ‘I know.’ He was there, in front of her, removing her hand from the door, closing it with a soft click. ‘I don’t want to get you into trouble either.’

  ‘I won’t. I’ve already made the call to my boss. I’ll have permission in the next twenty-four hours.’

  He swore under his breath. ‘But you’re not going to wait until then, are you?’

  ‘I have to do the post-mortem now, Harts. I have to.’ She blinked rapidly, hating the betraying tears that just wouldn’t stop invading her eyes.

  ‘I know.’ He touched her cheek, his fingers scraping over her jaw and into her hair, tipping her face so that she was forced to meet his gaze. ‘What kind of friend would I be if I let you get arrested for B and E again? You could lose your job.’

  ‘I don’t care. Peter deserves action now.’

  His thumb stroked across her cheek and his gaze warmed, heating her to her core, chasing lightning around her body. ‘I know.’ His smile was indulgent, as if he saw softness inside her.

  She sucked in a breath. ‘I’m not being sentimental. It’s the right thing to do.’

  ‘So rational.’ He smiled, circling his thumb, making something flutter and curl low in her stomach. He leaned forward, his breath against her ear. ‘And yet, I can see your big heart.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Yes.’

  And then his lips were on hers and that big heart he saw quite literally stopped.

  Chapter Seven

  This was so stupid.

  She had no idea how she’d agreed to this.

  Yes she did. She’d agreed because of a kiss. A kiss that had turned her mind to mush and made her promise to let him help her, even though she didn’t want to do anything of the sort.

  And now here they were. He was going to get into trouble with her when she handed in her findings and they knew she’d done the post-mortem before she’d had permission.

  She should tell him to go back. To leave her to it. It wasn’t rational to let him hold her to her promise, and yet she couldn’t open her mouth and say the words that should be said.

  He opened the door and waved her into the hospital foyer. No need for any kind of breaking and entering, no slipping past guards and nurses or stealing of hospital doctor’s coats or scrubs. He walked up to the desk, a charming, harmless, butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-his-mouth, mummy’s-little-angel-boy smile on his face
. She’d seen him use that smile on people multiple times when they were children. Now though, as he aimed it at the brunette nurse on duty, the smile was enticing, sexy, reminding her of his kiss. Little shivers shook her, then turned into something less pleasant when the nurse—Nancy, her nametag said—blushed and fluttered her lashes.

  ‘Hartley Cooper. I haven’t seen you in a while.’

  ‘Not since that party at Smithy’s.’

  ‘That was quite some night.’

  ‘It was…fun.’

  Nancy’s eyelashes fluttered again as she looked up through them at him, a coy smile on her lips that made Erika’s stomach clench.

  ‘Have you got something in your eye?’ The words spat out of her before she even knew she was going to say them.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You were fluttering your eyelashes at the detective. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt suggesting you had something in your eyes. I didn’t think you could possibly be flirting with him here given it’s a hospital and not a bar.’ Her lips tightened into a smile that felt as strange as the words coming out of her mouth.

  ‘What?’ Nancy’s blush turned deeper as she shot a look at Hartley. ‘I’m not fluttering my eyes.’

  ‘You’re not now I pointed it out.’ Oh god, someone needed to shut her up. She had no idea she could sound like that.

  ‘Okay, that’s enough,’ Hartley said, grabbing Erika’s arm. ‘Erika’s just lost her brother, so isn’t thinking very rationally right now. In fact, we’re just going down to the morgue so she can do an official ID. We might be a while.’

  ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’

  Erika didn’t have a chance to respond as Hartley turned and marched along the hallway, hauling Erika along with him. After they turned the corner and were out of sight of Nancy, she shook off his grip. ‘I don’t need you to make excuses for me.’

  ‘Maybe not, but you need something.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Like a clue. We’re here to do something we shouldn’t be doing. Would it hurt you to be nice and sail under the radar for once rather than acting all jealous?’