Rex’s face hardened. ‘We don’t like each other. That’s a well-known fact.’
‘How did the disharmony between your gangs start?’
Rex sighed. ‘It was before my time with the gang. It was a long time ago. It started over some woman.’
‘What about more recently. It’s rumoured there’s no love lost between you and Max Croft. Is that because you’re opposing sergeants-at-arms of rival gangs or is it more personal than that?’
Rex pulled a face. ‘Don’t really know. Max apparently doesn’t like me but nothing has actually happened between us. I’ve never even spoke to the bloke.’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe he’s jealous of my good looks.’ He finished with a chuckle that came out like a grunt.
Lexie couldn’t imagine anyone being jealous of Donaldson’s looks, especially not Max Croft. She had seen photos of the other bikie, who was the epitome of the pretty bad boy – a lethal combination for some women.
‘What about the recent brawl between − ’
Rex interrupted. ‘They started that by grabbing my woman on the arse. That Maggot knew that’d start a fight – he did it on purpose. He’s a fucking psycho.’
‘Were any threats made during that altercation by any members of the Assassins, towards you, your gang members or anyone?’ Josh asked.
‘Not that I remember, but if I find out that any of them are behind this – I’ll kill them with my bare hands,’ Rex hissed.
‘That’s not the way to go about things. Let us handle it, okay, Rex?’
Rex said nothing, just stared ferociously at the wall.
‘Now, do you know anyone who would have wanted to hurt Bluey? Did he have any enemies?’
Rex let out a heavy sigh, his eyes darting around the room. There was a quick glance at Lexie’s breasts. Then he focused intently on Josh.
‘No. He was the last person I would have thought this could happen to. Everyone liked Bluey. It was probably meant for me − ’
Josh jumped on his words. ‘What do you mean by that, Rex?’
‘Nothing.’ He shook his head, looking like he wished he could retract his words.
‘Who do you think would want to hurt you? Can you tell me anyone who you think may be responsible for shooting Bluey, or wanting you dead?’
Ignoring the question, Rex turned his head to look at Lexie. His eyes travelled from her face to her chest and then back up again. Lexie stared back, her heart skittering in her chest, but she stubbornly refused to look away. Donaldson moved forward in his seat, leaning his forearms on the table between them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Josh edge forward in his seat. And although she found the mere size of the man and his close proximity intimidating, she got the impression he didn’t mean it to be.
‘He calls you Lexie but your name’s Alexandra. I saw it on my charge sheets. I had a daughter named Alexandra. She was blonde like you. She’d be about your age.’
The intense scrutiny he was subjecting her to was disconcerting.
Josh interjected, taking back control.
‘Rex, could you answer the question please? Have you any suspicions about who might be behind the shooting?’
Rex shook his head but kept his eyes on Lexie. ‘No.’
‘Do you know anyone who goes by the name Grub?’
That got his attention. Rex’s gaze darted straight back to Josh. She saw the spark of recognition register in his black eyes before his gaze dropped to his lap. What followed was a few beats of silence, but it was enough. Why would such a straightforward question require so much thought?
Donaldson shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Lexie watched him struggle to keep his expression neutral as he raised his head. A bubble of anticipation formed in her stomach. They were on to something.
‘I know a lot of grubs but I don’t know anyone who answers to that name. I know I wouldn’t.’
His words came out haltingly as though he was weighing the dangers of every revelation. Why?
The arsehole was lying through his teeth.
‘So you’re telling me you have no idea who might be responsible for your mate’s shooting?’
Rex glanced between Josh and Lexie. He smiled, one hand smoothed his moustache.
‘Don’t you think that if I knew who’d shot my mate, I’d tell you?’
The interview was as good as over. The bikie code of silence was still intact. He had literally told them nothing. But as Josh completed the interview process there was one thing Lexie was certain of – and that was that Rex Donaldson knew much more than he was letting on.
CHAPTER 23
Lexie’s head was down filling out paperwork when she got the feeling she was being watched. Glancing up, she found Josh hovering at the end of her desk.
‘So what did you make of our interview with Donaldson?’ he asked.
Lexie put her pen down. ‘He definitely knows something. His reaction when you asked him about “the Grub” gave it away. I also think he slipped up and regretted saying that the bullet was probably meant for him.’
‘I agree.’ Josh slipped into the seat opposite her. ‘My worry is that if he knows who this Grub is, he might go seeking his own revenge. We may have inadvertently confirmed his suspicion that he was the intended target.’
‘He’s also protecting someone,’ Lexie added. ‘Is it possible to put a tail on him?’
Josh rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. ‘We don’t have the resources but I’ll speak to the boss. The surveillance unit owe us a favour. They might be able to spare a few men to help.’
Hoping to relieve the dull ache that had settled in her neck since the interview, Lexie pulled the elastic band from her ponytail and shook out her hair. It felt good, relieved the pressure, though her eyes still stung from too little sleep. Maybe she just needed something to eat, she thought, reaching for the protein bar in her top drawer. It was nowhere near as substantial as she’d like to fill the empty hole in her gut, but it would have to do for now.
After a thoughtful silence, Josh continued, ‘Hey, that was weird when he brought up his daughter, don’t you think?’
‘It was weird; it came out of nowhere. I thought he was just trying to divert from the topic but it sounded like there’s a story there.’
Josh shuffled papers around Brad’s desk opposite her. Since the shooting he’d taken up residence there, reasoning that because they were now partners, it would be easier to work together, confer about the case, if he was nearby. Lexie sometimes found it disconcerting to look up and see him in such close proximity.
‘So what do you suggest we do next?’
Lexie raised her eyebrows and shot him a quizzical glance. Josh was running this investigation. She was the new detective. Why would he think she had the faintest idea what to do next?
‘Come on. Brad told me you had uncanny intuition.’
Did he now?
Strangely enough, in the two weeks she’d worked with Brad, Lexie’s instincts had been on fire. There had been a number of instances where she’d predicted something would happen and, strangely enough, it had happened. It had totally freaked Brad out, but Lexie had put it down to common sense and coincidence.
Was this a test? Lexie wondered if Josh was really curious about her supposed ‘intuition’ or more interested in assessing her investigative skills, her initiative. She pushed back in her chair and tried to think like a detective, making a mental list in her head.
‘Gangs already have some of the Assassins’ phones off. Telephone intercepts for Rex Donaldson’s mobile, Bill O’Grady’s and Kate Bushell’s are already in the works. I think that since we’ve established Donaldson knows more than he’s saying, we get a listening device put in O’Grady’s place. Since Donaldson and that lovely girlfriend of his are staying there, they might start talking; especially now we’ve started the ball rolling with questions about the Grub.’
Josh took a sip from his water bottle.
‘The listening device is a good idea but unfortunately bikies are more tha
n aware of our tactics. They often meet in open places to ensure they can’t be recorded. However, sometimes they get complacent and slip up. That’s how they usually come undone but it’s when they think we’re no longer watching them. They’d be pretty damn guarded at the moment.’
He pushed the chair away from the desk and rested one ankle on his knee.
‘The other problem is to install a listening device we need an empty house. We need to establish a pattern of movement regarding the residents, which unfortunately takes time. But it’s definitely an option.’
‘We need to find out the identity of the window jumper and the girl at the hospital – who are more than likely one and the same.’
Her words seemed to trigger a thought and he glanced anxiously at his watch.
‘Where is Sue Field with the CCTV footage from the hospital?’
Lexie’s gaze automatically travelled to Sue’s desk, which of course was empty. She never seemed to be around when they needed her.
Lexie continued. ‘If Donaldson suspects Maggot, we need to find him before Donaldson does or we might have another murder on our hands.’
Josh nodded. ‘Our team is doing everything they can to find him. His bike registration plates have been circulated just in case he decides to sneak home and take it for a ride and his mobile phone and bank account are being monitored. All members of the Assassins have been advised by Croft to notify us if he contacts any of them. So far his reluctance to be found and interviewed is leading to an assumption of guilt, but then again . . . he is a nutter, so who knows?’
‘At the Cross, whenever I wanted to get info, I’d hang outside the methadone clinic and speak to the locals,’ Lexie said.
Josh tilted his head to the side, the way cute puppies do, Lexie thought, and then scolded herself for the idea.
‘That’s easy; we have a clinic down the road. Why don’t you update our tasking on eaglei while we wait for Sue to show up, then we’ll try and track down Rowdy.’
With the click of the mouse Lexie got to work, only to be interrupted a second later by Batman, who came and propped himself on the edge of her desk.
‘What a bitch,’ he said, shaking his head.
Lexie guessed that since he’d just finished interviewing Kate Bushell he was referring to her.
‘An absolute skanky lowlife piece of – ’
‘Didn’t your boyish charm work on her, Batman?’ Josh interrupted.
He pulled a face. ‘She told me nothing more than we already know. Just complained throughout the whole process that she had to pee, her back ached, she had a headache. How Donaldson puts up with her is a mystery to me.’
‘What happened when you asked her about the Grub? Did she show any response?’
Batman shook his head. ‘No. Not really. She kind of looked blank, and then a bit confused, and then blank again. Her response, if I remember correctly, was, “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” ’
‘She’s definitely a classy lady,’ Josh laughed before glancing towards the door.
Lexie followed his gaze to see Sue Field advancing towards them.
‘She didn’t know anything about another girl at the hospital with them either,’ Batman went on. ‘I suppose we have to hope the security cameras pick something up and give us a clue.’
Batman, seeing Sue, gave Josh a wink and excused himself. ‘Gotta go; work to do.’
What was that about? Lexie wondered.
‘Are you two still sitting around?’ Sue’s attempt at humour fell on very tired ears.
Josh didn’t even pretend to be amused. ‘Have you got the photographs, Sue?’
‘Of course I have,’ she shot back, coming up to stand beside him. ‘They’re a bit blurry but they were the best I could get.’
She handed an envelope to Josh, her eyes staying on his face as he spread a number of enlarged photographs across the desk in front of him. In fact, her eyes were rarely off Josh when he was in the room, Lexie realised.
‘You can see there’s another girl with them but I don’t recognise her. Is there anything else, Josh?’ she asked hopefully.
Josh didn’t raise his head as he dismissed Sue.
‘No thanks. You can go back to the canvass.’
Sue lingered for a moment, as if waiting for something more from him.
‘Oh, okay.’ She threw Lexie a forced smile. ‘I’ll be off then.’ Then she was gone.
Lexie got up, rounded the desk and examined one of the photos. Rex Donaldson’s large frame was blurry but unmistakable standing just inside the glass doorway of the emergency room entrance. Next to him was a profile shot of Kate Bushell and her protruding belly. Bill O’Grady’s scrawny form could be seen nearby, his arm draped around the shoulders of a skinny girl, slightly taller than him.
Lexie homed her vision in on the unidentified female. Feeling a twinge of something like excitement and anticipation rolled into one, she grabbed another photograph, studied it and then did the same with the other two.
She glanced up to see Josh regarding her with curiosity. ‘Recognise her?’
Lexie’s face broke into a wide grin. ‘I think I do, actually.’
Josh straightened in his chair. ‘Really? Who do you think she is?’
Shuffling the photographs like a deck of cards, Lexie continued to scrutinise them as she answered.
‘The photos aren’t the best, they’re fuzzy and over-exposed but I’m pretty sure that’s Sandy Croft.’
‘Related to Max Croft, by any chance?’
Lexie nodded her head slowly. ‘His daughter.’
Josh let out a low whistle.
‘Well, that’s interesting. What would Max Croft’s daughter be doing hanging around with the enemy? How do you know her?’
Lexie explained their association as she punched Sandy’s name into the computer.
‘Her mother is dead and she was estranged from her father for a long time, that’s why she was working the streets of Kings Cross. When I saw her in the station the other day, she told me she was staying with her father sometimes and staying with a friend at other times. Maybe Rowdy . . . I mean O’Grady is that friend?’
‘All these surnames and nicknames are confusing. Why don’t we just refer to him as Rowdy from now on?’
‘Sounds good to me,’ Lexie replied, checking Sandy’s details on the screen. ‘No, she hasn’t been arrested for a while.’
‘Then why was she in the station?’
Lexie ran tunnels in her hair with her fingers.
‘She was here to see . . . Harry Burgh,’ she said, just remembering. ‘She was talking to Burgh, helping him with some inquiries, he said. He’s probably got her contact details. He’s out interviewing some of the Assassin members, isn’t he? Maybe I should give him a call and – ’
Josh interrupted. ‘I’ll deal with Burgh.’
His tone was abrupt and laced with contempt. The look on his face was stormy. Seeming to realise this, he gave her a quick smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. His voice was notably softer when he spoke again.
‘Let’s head over to O’Grady’s . . . I mean Rowdy’s place. I’ll call Burgh on the way.’
She was itching to ask about the obvious animosity that existed between them but the fear of reprimand, or being told to mind her own business, stopped her.
Not for the first time Lexie wished Brad Sommers was here. She could ask him anything. He was steady, predictable. Unlike her new partner who she still found hard to read.
One of the hardest parts of starting in a new section was figuring out the office dynamics; establishing the cliques, the allies and the adversaries. Also, you needed to distinguish the dead wood from the workers, and then find where you fitted amongst it all.
‘I must say I’m impressed by your initiative, Detective.’ Josh’s unexpected compliment took Lexie by surprise.
Feeling light from the inside out she instinctively gave him a warm smile.
‘Thanks.’
&n
bsp; She needed all the encouragement she could get.
He smiled back and their eyes locked for a moment, before she broke the contact.
Josh spoke once more. ‘Now, let’s see if we can find this Sandy Croft and discover if she’s our jumper?’
CHAPTER 24
Rex and Kate left the police station straight after their interviews. He’d had to get out of the place before he lost it completely and the fact that Kate had dissolved into tears, again, as soon as they got into her rust bucket of a car was, for once, actually a good thing. While she was absorbed in her own misery, he didn’t have to explain why he was too enraged to speak, or to offer her any comfort.
He negotiated the roads that led back to Rowdy’s place in silence, trying to concentrate on anything other than the brutal, vengeful thoughts infecting his mind. But it was no use. A million torturous schemes spun in his head and he was powerless to stop them.
So this is what you get when you lose your cool and try to strangle a monster? A wave of guilt washed over him, its intensity making him sick to his stomach. He had been the one who’d crossed the Grub, and Bluey had paid the price. It was meant to be him chilling in the morgue right now.
His hands clenched the steering wheel. This was simply a matter of pride, a demonstration of dominance. Though Rex knew nothing the arsehole ever did was simple. He had a multiplicity of motives for every action and he knew just how to cover himself. He was cocky, one hundred per cent confident he could do anything and get away with it. He thought himself above the law and he had no fear. How could he? He had no soul. And Rex knew with absolute certainty that he wouldn’t stop until he’d made his point.
Rex was going to have to kill him.
Be smart about this. Think it through.
The cops would be watching him. They would be monitoring every member of his club, waiting for any sign of retaliation or guilty knowledge. Waiting for someone to slip up, incriminate themselves over phone lines, anything that might give them a lead. Add to that bloody Sandy jumping out of the bedroom window, and then his own reaction when asked about the Grub. He knew the carefully constructed veneer of apparent ignorance he’d wanted to demonstrate throughout the interview had slipped for a second. He also knew that both detectives were not stupid and had noticed the crack.
Sinister Intent Page 17