Reluctant Suspicion

by Finn, Scarlett

  ‘I dragged you from the bar, threw you down and kissed you.’

  A tickle of a smile played at the edges her mouth and he noticed the twitch of her lips, and then she dropped her focus from his. The delight he felt at witnessing this positive reaction, to an action he’d been sure she would rebuke, was overwhelming.

  ‘That was different,’ she said. ‘Being physically… dominated by someone you trust is a turn on. It’s not a cutting remark intended to disorientate someone.’

  ‘That turned you on?’ His lips curled up of their own accord. Never in his life had he been so smug.

  ‘I hardly think that’s the point,’ she said, bringing the file back to them.

  ‘No.’ Blake watched her bury her attention in the file. She wasn’t ready to remember the good times yet. ‘Course not.’

  Her intent focus on the file was mesmerising, and he doubted that she was reading, though she looked like she was. But he wouldn’t call her out, because he was content here. Propping his hand under his chin, with his elbow on the table, he observed this fascinating woman. Her hair cascaded around her shoulders offering a softness to her dark hair colour and intense expression. Her supple flesh tortured every cell in his body. It screamed at him to touch, to caress, to kiss.

  ‘Stop it,’ she mumbled, still pretending to read.

  ‘Stop what?’

  ‘Looking at me like that.’

  ‘How do you know how I’m looking at you?’ he asked.

  ‘I feel it,’ she said. ‘I always do… It’s like you’re reading my deepest secrets and desires. You make me feel naked. Stop it.’

  ‘I do?’ Smugness wasn’t even the word for what he felt now. Desire to run out onto the deck and scream to the town below filtered into him.

  ‘I don’t appreciate it. It’s intrusive.’

  ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I don’t mean to probe you.’

  Her eyes crept around to his. ‘Don’t flirt with me.’

  ‘Why not?’ he asked. ‘You said I do it with everyone.’

  She sat up straight. ‘To keep people at a distance. You don’t have to keep me at a distance.’

  ‘No?’

  ‘No. I’ll be out of your life as soon as we have solved this… So focus.’

  This time, she did start to read the file, but Blake let himself drift for a minute. When Molly found out who he really was, he’d assumed he would be out of her life for good. Yet here she was. Except at that time, they hadn’t comprehended just how connected Molly was to the case.

  Now they knew. But Molly was right, when they had Choker, Molly would be gone. For the first time in his professional history, he found himself considering the idea of Choker forever remaining a mystery. But unless the deaths stopped, and the case went cold, Blake would never allow that to happen. He’d never give up.

  ‘I could come into Ashton’s for a drink sometime.’

  ‘It’s a public bar,’ Molly said. ‘But it could take months for the insurance to pay out. So God only knows when we’ll open up again.’

  ‘Don’t assume the worst until we have an assessment of the damage,’ he said. ‘It might not be as bad as you think.’

  ‘We don’t really welcome your kind.’

  ‘My kind?’

  ‘Police,’ she said. ‘They tend to get the message pretty quickly.’

  ‘I didn’t mean for work, or with colleagues. I meant to see you.’

  ‘Oh,’ Molly said, then laughed. ‘That would be stupid, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘You’re a cop,’ she said, drawing her attention back to him. ‘I wouldn’t be able to… I couldn’t bring myself to…’

  ‘To what?’

  ‘Can we just do some work here please?’

  ‘Sure,’ he said, bringing himself closer to the file.

  Blake couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever be able to get through to her again. If he’d ever share space with the mischievous woman who had bewitched him.

  Molly’s hair brushed his cheek, flooding him with her scent. His gut clenched and his jeans tightened. This was going to be a long night.

  Chapter Seventeen

  ‘Why would anyone ever choose this as a career?’ Molly groaned, and pushed the balls of her hands into her eyes trying to block out the melee of her own thoughts.

  In the time she’d been lying on Blake’s living room couch they’d gone over various details from the lives of the men who had died, her friends. But they were no closer to an answer about who would want to hurt them.

  The last time she’d peeked at him, Blake had been pacing with a pool cue in his grasp. Under other circumstances she may have enjoyed watching the faux flames in his glass fireplace, but right now her head was too mashed. It felt like they had been here for hours.

  ‘We’ll get it,’ he said. ‘You’ll know why I chose police work when we have her locked up.’

  Crunching up, she slumped over the back of the couch to see him. ‘Everyone came to the bar all the time back in my father’s day. That Nina Simone song was Dad’s favourite, he played it in the bar all the time. Anyone could have taken note of that. Short of questioning or seducing everyone who was at school at the same time as me and Cal, which is like a thousand people, I don’t know what to do.’

  ‘The question is, why you, why your family?’ he said. ‘If we can figure out why someone would fixate on you, then we bust it wide open.’

  Molly shrugged. ‘Maybe it’s not me… maybe it’s Belinda or anyone of the guys’ girlfriends from the time. Between them, they all ratcheted up quite a few conquests, and there was the usual high school drama. Someone always had a BS beef with someone about something, but it blew over. It always blew over.’

  ‘That’s why you didn’t come to the police when you heard about the murders?’

  ‘I had no reason to believe they had anything to do with me. Our side of the town is pretty close knit. Everyone knows everyone. You could ask most of the women you meet in the bar or in the street and most of them will say that they knew all of them, maybe not well, but everyone knows who everyone else is.’

  ‘What about the scarves?’ Blake asked, continuing his pacing. Now he had his wrists hooked over the cue, which rested at the back of his neck along the width of his shoulders. ‘You said there was only one person you spoke to about that.’

  ‘Well yeah, I personally only spoke to Belinda about it. She was my best friend,’ Molly said. ‘But Cal knew it, too, and so did my dad… I don’t know who they might have mentioned it to. Also, I wore a different scarf to school every day, so anyone who was paying attention would have noticed. They might not even know why it’s significant, that the scarves were my mother’s. Maybe it’s a hint toward school.’

  Blake stopped with the cue behind his head and tapped his foot a couple of times. ‘You’re right… Why would anyone choose to do this?’

  ‘There is still the possibility that this has nothing to do with me.’

  ‘Someone set your home on fire.’

  ‘What did they tell you about that?’ Molly asked, in reference to the call he had made while she had moved through to the living room earlier on.

  ‘They’re calling me back. The fire is out and they have managed to limit the damage to the lower floor, but they need to investigate further. The cause isn’t always immediately apparent.’

  ‘The fire might be unrelated,’ Molly said. Each floated in their own thoughts for a moment. ‘Maybe it was a retaliation for the robbery gone bad. You said that you arrested those guys, right?’

  His whole demeanour changed, and he seemed to take on a determination, to have a purpose. ‘Brilliant,’ he said, discarding the cue and disappearing into the kitchen.

  ‘What? Where are you going?’ Leaping off the couch, she dashed after him to find him dialling the kitchen phone.

  ‘Hey, it’s me,’ he said into the handset. ‘The lowlifes that Keane booked for holding up Ashton’s, where are they now?’

  ‘
What is this about?’ Molly hissed, but he waved her away.

  ‘Great… get him picked up, I need to question him about the fire at Ashton’s. Put the one we’ve got in an interview room… No, it’s unrelated… Thanks.’

  Sticking the phone back in its cradle, Blake moved toward the exit. ‘You’re leaving?’ Molly asked, keeping up with him.

  ‘You’re right, we have to explore other avenues,’ he said, pulling on his jacket. ‘One of the perps was picked up for drunk and disorderly, and I’m having the other guy brought in.’ He checked the contents of his pockets. ‘If there is an explanation that points anywhere other than a serial killer wanting you dead… That’s the one I want to prove.’

  Retrieving his keys signified that he was ready to leave, and he dropped a hand to the back of her neck to pull her forth for a forehead kiss. ‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’

  ‘Wait!’ she said, grabbing his arm with both hands. ‘You’re leaving me here? Alone?’

  ‘You’ll be safe here,’ he said. ‘If you get scared or need to talk, just call me.’

  ‘Will you take me to Mason?’

  ‘He’s a target,’ Blake said. ‘Aside from my own desire for you not to be with him, it’s not smart. Grouping you together is probably what caused this in the first place. You were all in the bar together.’

  ‘You agreed that it could be about the robbery.’

  ‘We’ll find out,’ he said. ‘But until we’re sure, you shouldn’t be with Mason or Joel.’

  ‘Have you found Harry yet?’

  Blake nodded. ‘He said he was coming in this week, but he keeps making excuses. He’ll be in town soon. Any more than a couple of days and we’ll send someone to arrest him.’

  ‘Arrest him for what?’

  Blake shrugged. ‘Obstruction of justice, failure to co-operate with a police investigation… I’ll think of something. We need to get him in and warn him about what’s going on, it’s for his own good.’

  When he tried to depart, Molly tightened her grip. ‘I don’t want to be alone.’

  ‘You can come with me,’ he said. ‘Sit in my office while I talk to them.’

  ‘I don’t think that would be a good idea. Someone might arrest me for something.’

  ‘I’d like to see them try.’

  Another piece of the Blake puzzle fell into place. ‘They’re scared of you,’ Molly said with a hint of a laugh.

  ‘What makes you say that?’ His abrupt change of posture told her that she was right, but that he didn’t necessarily like it.

  ‘Banks,’ she said. ‘When they came to the bar for my statement… it was you, wasn’t it? You that pulled them out?’

  ‘They were going to blow my cover.’

  ‘You must have been going crazy when I told you they were at the bar.’

  ‘The way my night with you was heading, I didn’t want anyone to disturb it… least of all guys who are supposed to be on my team.’

  ‘Would you have done it?’ she asked. The large space grew smaller during her wait for his response.

  ‘Slept with you?’ he asked, and she nodded. ‘I’m a guy… Molly, by that point I was so overcome by my caveman instincts I’m not sure even I knew who I was.’

  ‘That makes two of us.’

  Closing the door, he took her hands and fixed her in his sights. ‘The reaction that I had to you, Mol, I can’t fake that. I wanted you. I was wild for you. I would have done anything to be with you that night.’

  ‘I was naked,’ she said. ‘Like you said, you’re a guy.’

  ‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘But the moment I heard about the fire at your place was the most terrifying of my life. I knew I had to get to you. Wherever it was, whatever I needed to do. When I arrived and saw you in the road, my heart almost exploded in my chest. I was so grateful to see that you were alright. All I could think about was protecting you… nothing else mattered.’

  ‘In the interrogation room, when you stood up to Keane… he said that you had never… done what you did for me with any of the other women that you—‘

  ‘Other women?’ Blake said. ‘They were a means to an end, part of my job. You’re the first woman in a long time to… to hear me say anything like I’m saying to you now. Your safety is paramount to me, Mol, and if I have to move you to the other side of the planet to make sure that you never get hurt, that’s what I’ll do.’

  ‘What about the bar?’ Molly asked on a laugh.

  ‘I’ll move it with you,’ he said. ‘Brick by brick.’

  ‘Blake, I… I could never be with or sleep with a police officer.’

  ‘Great,’ he said, and kissed her forehead again. ‘I’m not an officer, I’m a detective.’

  Exuding the confidence that never seemed to falter, he swung open the door, winked and left.

  A curse word escaped Blake’s lips when he left his vehicle and trudged up his driveway. Despite the yawn trying to fight its way forth, he knew that there would be some explaining to do before he got any shut eye.

  Keane’s car was parked near the entrance, and knowing his partner was here renewed his sense of encouragement, because it reassured him that Molly was ok. On arriving at the station in the small hours, the first thing he had done was call Jason. Molly didn’t want to be alone, and Blake wasn’t certain of her safety, so he called on someone he trusted. Though he did take the time to make it damn clear to Keane that Molly was off-limits. Molly was hot, and Jason was horny.

  As much as Blake doubted that Molly would fall for his partner’s charms, Blake knew that she was vulnerable and Jason could play on that if he wanted to. Of course he wasn’t a complete idiot, so the warning should be sufficient to ensure her virtue. Blake would rip him limb from limb if he stepped out of line, and Jason knew it.

  After sending his partner to his house to protect Molly, Blake got to work on the two assailants who had held up Ashton’s. Keeping himself busy had paid off until lunchtime, when he’d eventually had to face his superior. True enough, Williams had indeed torn him a new one when he found out where Molly was presently located. On cornering Blake, his lieutenant had started asking questions, and all the right ones at that. Where was Jason? Where was the central witness in their investigation? Where had Blake disappeared to after the fire? Blake couldn’t lie. Williams had insisted on getting her into protective custody, but Blake had assured him that Jason would keep her safe, at least for the day.

  Between the questioning and the paperwork and dealing with the arson investigators, he hadn’t managed to leave the station until late afternoon. So it was almost dinnertime when he reached Ashton’s. Work needed to be done to preserve Molly’s livelihood, but his thoughts returned to the defeat he’d faced on questioning the robbery perpetrators. Despite them being clearly dumbfounded when he asked about the Ashton’s fire, he kept at them for eight hours. He had pushed and pushed, because he wanted it to be them. If it was them then it meant Choker wasn’t going straight for Molly, so she might not be in as much danger as they thought. But when each of the alibis for the men was confirmed, Blake had to admit that Choker’s vengeance was the only theory he had left for the fire.

  He had missed breakfast, lunch, dinner and an entire night’s sleep. He’d left his house in the company of night, and now he was returning to it in the same troupe. A quick glance at his watch told him that it was almost ten PM. He hoped that the effort he’d made at the bar would go some way towards alleviating Molly’s aggravation, which she needed no excuse for aiming at him. Blake prepared himself for the reprimand he was going to get from her for being away so long, and for sending Jason over to protect her when she would claim not to need protection.

  Steeling himself, he opened his front door, but the anticipated shouting wasn’t what greeted him. Instead he was faced with his partner, standing just inside his kitchen on the other side of the hallway. Keane held a bottle of wine in one hand and a corkscrew in the other, and wore nothing except his underwear. Blake’s brows clamped down as the seeth
ing rage burned his gullet. Shrugging his jacket onto the floor, he slammed the door and prepared for a fight. Jason’s complexion had the decency to melt to grey while his stuttering form backed away.

  ‘No,’ Jason said, as Blake stalked toward him. ‘No… this isn’t what it looks like… don’t—‘

  With a simple shove, Jason stumbled and the wine crashed to the floor, sending glass and alcohol everywhere.

  ‘You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?’ Blake said, pulling his fist back and snatching Jason’s throat to pin him to the side of the fridge. But he didn’t get a chance to make further contact, because in his peripheral vision he got a view of the dining table in the kitchen.

  ‘Hey!’ Molly beamed.

  Blake froze and turned to examine the scene. She sat on this side of the table with two men opposite her. Both the males were topless, though they were seated, so he had no idea what was going on under the table. By all immediate appearances Molly was fully clothed.

  ‘It was her idea,’ Jason said. Blake loosened his grip to allow Jason his freedom, and both of the men at the table pointed at Molly.

  ‘What?’ she asked, absorbing the depth of the tension radiating from the quivering men. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘You two are off duty?’ Blake recognised his colleagues from the station.

  ‘They came here as back up, unofficially,’ Jason said, while the other two nodded.

  ‘What is going on in here?’ Blake asked, tracking to Molly’s side.

  ‘Poker,’ Molly said, and held up the cards. With a practice squeeze, the deck leapt in a flurry to her other hand which lay in wait for them. ‘They didn’t want to play for cash… but I did offer.’

  Blake scrutinised the landscape again. Molly sat shuffling the cards, relaxed, without a care in the world. It was the men who were shaking in their boots, anxious of Blake’s next move. Molly was some woman, she had them all primed and was ready for the kill. He made a mental note never to play poker with her. Unless they were alone. The skill he possessed for the game could easily be forgotten with the prospect of getting naked with her. Though he doubted that he’d need to go easy on her. From what he observed here, she had swept the table.