Missing (The Cass Lehman Series Book 3)

by Melanie Casey

  I turned to look at him for the first time. ‘Really? You really don’t get it? Think about it, Ed! You came barging in here and told me you wanted to move back to Fairfield. Did you even consider for one moment that maybe it wasn’t just up to you? We’re sharing a life now, or so I thought. If there are big decisions to be made then I was under the impression that we’d make them together. You, on the other hand, seem to think that it’s OK to make declarations about what’s happening without even asking me how I feel about it. It sounded to me like you were moving whether I wanted to come or not. There was no “we”, it was all about you.’

  When I finally finished, Ed blinked a couple of times and ran his hand over his head, messing up his hair.

  ‘I was just venting. I didn’t mean that I’d move without you. I just assumed you’d be glad to move back to Fairfield,’ he said.

  ‘That’s the problem. You assumed.’

  He shook his head, confused. ‘You don’t want to move back to Fairfield?’

  ‘Yes, no … I don’t know. What I do want is for you to talk to me before you make decisions for both of us.’

  The veneer of control I’d been hiding behind completely shattered. To my disgust, I felt tears welling in my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was cry, but frustration and self-pity got the better of me.

  Ed groaned and pulled me into his arms.

  ‘I’m sorry, all right. I didn’t think about it. I’m out of practice with this relationship stuff.’

  ‘Relationship stuff, is that what you call it?’ I tried to push him away but he had me locked in an iron grip and refused to let go. I struggled. He responded by wrestling me down on the couch and kissing me hard on the lips. I was annoyed and turned on at the same time.

  ‘Not fair!’ I gasped as he ran a trail of kisses down my neck.

  ‘Who said anything about fair?’ he murmured as he undid the top button of my shirt. The pad thai suddenly didn’t seem so good. I shoved my plate roughly in the direction of the coffee table, not really caring if it made it or not, and wrapped my arms around Ed’s neck. ‘You drive me crazy.’

  ‘That’s crazy in a good way, right?’ he growled.

  ‘Our dinner will get cold.’ Not that I cared, but part of me didn’t want to give in without some kind of argument.

  ‘That’s what microwaves are for.’ His mouth descended on mine, while his fingers made short work of the rest of my buttons.

  ‘I think I’ve lost all feeling in my back,’ I groaned. It was amazing how the brain could block out pain when it had more important things to focus on.

  I buttoned up my shirt and tugged on my jeans, then rescued my congealing plate of food, which was teetering precariously on the edge of the coffee table. ‘I think I’ve also lost my appetite.’

  ‘Maybe your appetite’s been satisfied in other ways,’ Ed said, looking pleased with himself.

  I rolled my eyes. ‘Don’t think one shag is enough to get you off the hook. We still need to talk,’ I said.

  ‘We do. So who’d you go out with today? Should I be jealous?’

  I snorted. ‘Far from it. I tried to ring you to let you know but you were out of range. I had lunch with DCI Arnott.’

  Ed froze and lifted his head to look at me. ‘Crackers? Why would you be having lunch with him?’

  ‘He offered me a job.’

  ‘What?’ Ed sat up, staring.

  ‘He wants to hire me as a consultant.’

  ‘And you said no, right?’

  I pushed myself up off the couch. ‘No, I didn’t say no. Why would I say no?’

  ‘You’re joking.’ He stared at me.

  ‘No, I’m not. What? Is it that you don’t think I’m capable of doing it, or that you don’t want me on your team?’

  ‘No, it’s just too dangerous. Every time we’ve worked together, one or both of us have almost been killed. You still have nightmares about Brian Jenson. Plus, do you really want to be having visions all the time? Look at how exhausted you were tonight. Did today’s vision happen when you were with Crackers?’

  ‘He took me to a scene.’

  ‘So you’ve already started working for him. Weren’t you the one who just said we should talk about all major decisions?’

  I stared at him with my mouth open before turning and walking across the room.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘I need some air.’

  I strode down the hallway and out into the night.

  Dusk was settling over the streetscape. The autumn night was warmer than it had been for a while, but there was still a chill in the air. The sky was glowing orange as the sun sank below the horizon. I paused at the front gate, but not for long. I didn’t want Ed to catch up if he decided to follow me.

  We’d been living together for a couple of months but I hadn’t spent a lot of time exploring our suburb. I drove to the local shops, I met up with Claire in the city. Ed and I sometimes went out for dinner, but most of my time had been spent working in the house. I visited Mum and Gran in Jewel Bay when I got too homesick or craved Gran’s cooking. I realised I hadn’t tried very hard to settle into living in Adelaide.

  I decided to turn left, purely because it was towards the sunset. I brushed away the tears leaking from my eyes. With no idea where I was going or what I was going to do when I got there, I stalked off down the street. By the time I’d reached the T-junction at the end, I’d simmered down and realised I wasn’t going to get very far without a phone, cash or keys. I stopped and looked up and down the adjoining street. There was a park a couple of hundred metres to the right. I decided I’d sit there for a while and watch the sunset, then once I had my head together I’d head back home and face the music.

  The park was on the opposite side of the road. I walked along the footpath and crossed when I got close. There was a fenced play area with a slippery dip, some swings and a climbing frame. The rest was open grass, for kicking balls or picnicking. A couple of boys were over by the swings. They were probably about twelve or thirteen; too old for the equipment but too young to be in a park by themselves at night. I wondered where their parents were. There was a wooden bench under a tree on the right side of the park. I headed for it.

  The boys spotted me. One of them whistled. They laughed.

  I gave them a wave and went to sit on the bench.

  Suddenly it was pitch black, the sunset vanished completely. The only light came from the street lamps that ran along the road, and a light near the play equipment. I realised I was standing on the bench. I was down one end with my toes hanging off the short edge. I looked down; I was wearing worn boots and ancient jeans with frayed cuffs.

  The cold sent shivers over my skin, making it pucker into goosebumps. Hunger gnawed at my stomach and it growled noisily. I reached out and grabbed for a rope hanging down from the tree above. With hands that were calloused and filthy I slipped the loop at the end over my neck. Looking up, I could see the faint glimmer of stars in between the tree branches. Relief and calm settled over me and a single thought filled my mind: ‘It’s finally over.’

  I closed my eyes and pushed off. The jolt sent pain searing through my neck. My eyes snapped open. I tried to breathe but couldn’t. Instinct made me struggle and fight as panic took over. My will to live was a fierce, all-consuming fire and I grabbed at the rope, tearing my nails. My feet lashed out, looking for purchase on the edge of the bench, but I was swinging too wildly. I touched it with a toe but the worn sole of my shoe slipped against the gloss of painted timber. My line of sight narrowed and shrank to a pinpoint as the pain was swallowed by numbness. Calm settled over me, blanketing me with warmth, and the world receded.

  ‘Lady? Hey? Can you hear me? Are you all right?’

  ‘Of course she’s not all right, shit for brains. Didn’t you see how she was thrashing around? I reckon she’s had a fit or something.’

  ‘We should call an ambulance.’

  ‘There’s a bloke walking along the road over there, h
e might be able to help.’

  ‘Hey! Mister!’

  I wanted to open my eyes and tell them I was fine, but the effort was just too much. I lay there, drifting in a half-aware state, trying to find the will to surface into consciousness.

  ‘Cass?’

  The voice was Ed’s. I opened my eyes a crack.

  ‘He was relieved,’ I mumbled, tears filling my eyes.

  ‘Come on. I’ll help you up. It’s all right boys. She’ll be fine now. Thanks for your help.’

  The boys’ voices faded as they walked away.

  ‘Told you she was epileptic.’

  ‘What are you, a doctor now?’

  ‘Whatever.’

  ‘Cass? Can you sit up?’ Ed was gazing worriedly at me.

  I nodded and he put an arm around me, helping me up. I realised I’d been lying on the ground. I looked at him. There was no hint of anything but concern on his face.

  ‘Let’s go home,’ he said.

  CHAPTER

  9

  ‘Morning, sunshine!’ Janice intercepted Ed as he made a beeline for his desk. ‘Your interstate visitors have arrived. They’re in meeting room two. I organised coffee and a bowl of water and told them you’d had an emergency at home but that you wouldn’t be too far away.’

  Ed’s stomach dropped into his boots as he regarded the detective. He’d completely forgotten about the cadaver dog and its handler. Dave was taking his mother to the doctor so Ed had promised he’d come in early to meet Maria and Bruno. He was supposed to be in at eight. It was nearly nine.

  ‘Janice, you’re a treasure. Thanks for covering my butt. I owe you a drink.’

  ‘You owe me a whole pub’s worth! If you want to go straight in, I’ll duck out and grab you a coffee. You look like you need one.’

  ‘Thanks.’ He had to fight an impulse to smack a big kiss on her cheek. The spectre of sexual harassment claims had long since put paid to any physical displays of gratitude around the office.

  He dragged himself towards the meeting room. As he passed the window, his reflection in the glass told him just how rough he was looking; ruffled hair, crooked tie, wrinkled shirt and dark circles under his eyes. It wasn’t pretty.

  He was still feeling the aftermath of the night before. He’d half-walked, half-carried Cass home from the park and tucked her into bed. She’d fallen asleep almost immediately, leaving him wide awake next to her, staring into the darkness.

  His brain had refused to shut down. A whirl of thoughts had whipped around into the small hours of the morning: Grace, Phil, the job at Fairfield, the case, Cass, her lunch with Crackers. He wished he’d told Cass about Sorenson’s job offer and Grace’s cancer, but he hadn’t had a chance.

  He ground his fingers into his eyes, trying to banish the feeling that someone had chucked a handful of sand in them, and opened the door to the meeting room.

  Bruno stood to full alert and grumbled low in his throat as Ed walked in.

  ‘Bruno, drop.’ Maria barked the order and the dog immediately hit the floor, giving her a look of total subservience.

  ‘Good morning, Maria. Thanks for coming over. Morning, Bruno.’ He thought about patting the dog but changed his mind when he saw the look the Shepherd was giving him.

  ‘Glad you could make it,’ Maria said, firing a glance at the clock on the wall. She hadn’t changed at all. Short and stocky with dark hair cropped close to her skull, she was dressed in navy cargo pants and a plain khaki sweatshirt. Her only jewellery was an impressive array of piercings that ran the full length of each ear.

  ‘Sorry I’m late. I had a few issues at home this morning,’ Ed said.

  ‘You look like something the cat dragged in.’

  Ed gave her a crooked smile. He’d forgotten how blunt she could be. ‘That’s a pretty accurate description. Dave’ll be joining us in about half an hour, then we’ll head down to the crime scene. It’s about forty-five clicks from the city.’ He spent the next twenty minutes outlining the case. Janice interrupted them when she brought in his coffee. They were back at Ed’s desk reviewing satellite pictures of the dump on Google Earth when Dave strolled over.

  ‘Morning.’ He smiled at Maria, but the greeting lacked its usual wattage. Dave had failed miserably to charm her the last time they’d worked together. His knowledge of dogs was rudimentary at best and that was the only topic of conversation Maria liked to engage in.

  She nodded in Dave’s general direction. ‘We’re ready to go. Bruno’ll need to pee before we drive off.’

  ‘Right, er, there’s a park just across the road,’ Dave said.

  ‘That’ll do. I’ll be back in five. Bruno, come.’ She barrelled off towards the lift with the dog trotting at her side.

  ‘Do you reckon she likes the men in her life to be just as subservient?’

  ‘I don’t think there are men in her life, Dave, at least not in the way you’re thinking.’

  Dave snorted. He slid behind his desk and began checking his messages. Ed stood up. He needed to follow Bruno’s example before the long drive. He was halfway across the floor when Crackers stuck his head out of the fishbowl and called him over.

  ‘Dyson, my office.’

  Ed groaned and changed course. A few rounds with Crackers was just what he needed to make his morning complete.

  ‘Sit.’ Crackers gestured to the chair opposite his desk and squeezed his bulk into his own groaning leather chair.

  ‘Did Miss Lehman tell you?’ Crackers asked.

  A range of sarcastic answers flitted through Ed’s mind but he decided it wasn’t worth the grief. ‘She did.’

  Crackers tucked his hands behind his head. ‘Before yesterday I thought all psychics were full of shit.’

  Ed sat back in his chair and tried to make his shoulders relax. The topic of Cass made him want to rip Crackers’ head off. Crackers was exploiting her and he didn’t like it, but he needed to let Cass make her own decisions, as much as it killed him.

  Crackers studied Ed, his eyes partly buried by a heavy brow and fleshy cheeks, giving him a porcine appearance. Ed forced himself to wait, refusing to fill the silence.

  Crackers eventually leant back in his chair. ‘I just got a call from DCI Sorenson.’

  Ed worked to keep his face neutral while his gut clenched. Had Natalia agreed to release him to MCIB just when he wasn’t sure if that was what he wanted?

  ‘She got a call from the Chief Warden at James Nash House. Your boy in there’s done a runner. Injured a couple of guards and stole a car. It’s going to hit the media in the next hour. You might want to let Miss Lehman know.’

  Ed’s tongue refused to work. Fuck. Jenson loose on the streets again was worse than bad news. Cass wasn’t going to take it well. How on earth was he going to tell her? Hell, the thought made him feel sick to his stomach.

  ‘I doubt he’ll get very far. They rarely do.’

  Ed was tempted to argue. There’d been some pretty famous cases of escaped felons who’d managed to stay under the radar in Australia. The infamous postcard bandit Brenden Abbott for one. Hopefully Brian Jenson wasn’t in that league.

  ‘Tell me about the case,’ Crackers said. ‘Any progress?’

  Ed shook his head. ‘Not really. We have a list of possible missing persons to follow up, but that’s about it. The licence plate check didn’t turn up anything.’

  ‘Maybe the pooch will find something. We got a lucky break last time. You’d better hope the same thing happens, because it sounds like you’ve got fuck all otherwise.’

  ‘We’re heading down to the site with the dog now.’

  ‘Dave can take them. I’ve got other plans for you.’

  ‘Something’s come up?’

  ‘No. I want you to take Miss Lehman to the pathology suite.’

  ‘The pathology suite?’ Ed stared at the man opposite him, his brain refusing to process the implied meaning.

  ‘She told me she gets visions when she touches a corpse,’ Crackers said.

&n
bsp; ‘No.’

  ‘She doesn’t?’

  ‘No, I won’t ask her to do it. It’s not even an intact body, it’s partial remains … they’re mostly decomposed. How can I ask her to touch that?’

  ‘You’re not asking her, I am. You’re just following orders, and the way I see it, you don’t have a fucking choice if you want to stay on this team.’

  They glared at each other. More than anything, Ed wanted to tell him to go fuck himself. Sorenson’s job offer was floating in his mind like a big juicy carrot.

  ‘I’ll call her and see if she’s prepared to do it,’ Ed said through gritted teeth.

  ‘You don’t need to. I spoke to her this morning. She agreed to help.’

  Ed dropped his gaze and studied the pens and paper scattered on Crackers’ desk, not trusting himself to speak. He counted to ten and waited for his heartbeat to stop hammering in his ears.

  ‘Well? What the hell are you waiting for? Go tell Dave to get going without you, then swing by and pick her up. I’ve already cleared it with the pathologist. He’s expecting you.’

  Ed stood and walked out of the room without saying another word. He was seeing everything through a red haze and he could feel a vein pulsing in his left temple. He walked back towards Dave and Maria.

  ‘Jesus! What happened to you? I thought you were just going for a leak? You look like someone stole your candy,’ said Dave.

  ‘Crackers.’

  ‘Ah …’

  ‘What?’ Maria looked from Ed to Dave.

  Dave grinned at Maria. ‘That’s what we call DCI Arnott.’ He turned back to Ed. ‘What did he want?’

  ‘He wants me to take Cass to the pathology suite. To see the remains.’

  Dave’s mouth dropped open. ‘No way! That’s disgusting!’

  ‘Would one of you tell me what the hell is going on?’

  The two men exchanged a look. Neither of them said anything. Ed finally shrugged and gave Maria the nutshell version.