Sinister Intent

by Karen M. Davis

  ‘I suppose Roid got there first; about 5.30 pm. Rex came then too, but left and came back. I think everyone left at 9 pm. They were going to a party.’

  ‘And you didn’t want to go?’

  Rowdy shook his head. ‘I was tired.’

  ‘I spoke to one of your neighbours who informed me she came to your front door at about 8.30 pm to ask you to turn the music down. One of your friends answered and told her you were not there. Where were you?’

  ‘I was out the back hiding. I knew who it was and that it was about the noise. I didn’t want to have to deal with it so I told one of the boys to tell her I wasn’t home.’

  Rowdy’s words appeared well rehearsed.

  ‘You said you knew who it would be? Who was it?’

  His eyes darted between Josh and Lexie for a moment.

  ‘I don’t know. I just knew it would be someone from the units complaining.’

  Since his house was flanked by unit blocks on either side it wasn’t hard to guess where the complaining neighbour had come from.

  ‘So you didn’t know who it was,’ Josh stated and made a note. ‘Do you know which one of your mates spoke to the person?’

  Rowdy let out a loud sigh. ‘Oh I don’t know. I’d had a few drinks. I can’t remember.’

  Josh recalled the woman had described Rex as being the one she spoke to.

  ‘The neighbour said she saw you pull up on your bike with a girl on the back a little while after she came to see you. What have you got to say about that?’

  Rowdy narrowed his eyes; the first sign of hostility.

  ‘Well, the person is a liar. I was home the whole time. Just ask the boys.’

  ‘Why would someone say that if it wasn’t true?’

  ‘I don’t fucking know. Why do people say or do anything? Some people just don’t like us.’

  ‘Who was the girl you were with?’ Josh asked. ‘The girl who was with you at the hospital?’

  Before Rowdy could dig himself further into more lies Josh pushed the CCTV photos of him with his arm around Sandy across the table.

  ‘Who is this girl?’

  Rowdy stared at the photos and for a moment looked about to crumble. But he didn’t.

  ‘She’s a friend of Kate’s. Don’t even know her name.’

  ‘I find that very hard to believe.’

  Josh was going to try another tactic. If Lexie was right and Max Croft knew nothing about his daughter seeing Rowdy, maybe Josh could scare him into talking.

  ‘Luckily, we know who the girl is. She’s Max Croft’s daughter. Did you know that?’

  Rowdy shrugged and avoided his eyes.

  ‘Why don’t you start telling the truth, Mr O’Grady? Neighbours have told me she’s been seen coming and going from your place for the past few months. She jumped out your bedroom window yesterday morning when we were there to talk to Kate Bushell. She was with you at the hospital – your arm is around her shoulder.’

  Josh pointed to the photo then turned to look at Lexie. ‘Perhaps we need to speak to the girl’s father. See what he knows about her whereabouts?’

  Playing the game, Lexie nodded in agreement. Rowdy’s face drained of all colour as his eyes darted between them. He pointed to a waste paper bin in the corner next to Lexie. She looked puzzled for a moment then, glancing at his face grabbed the bin quickly, shoved it across the table, just in time for him to retch into it.

  When he was finished, Josh gave him a hard look.

  ‘Are you on something, Mr O’Grady? Have you taken something to make you sick? Have you been drinking? What’s the go?’

  ‘No, I’m just upset, I’m sick. I need to go home.’

  Well, that was the end of that, Josh thought, concluding the interview.

  ‘Mr O’Grady is not well, therefore he is not up to completing this interview,’ he stated for the recording.

  Angrily Josh switched off the machine and glared at the tiny man sitting forlornly in the chair opposite him, still hugging the bin to his chest like a security blanket. Seething with frustration, Josh couldn’t disguise his look of disgust or irritation. The futility of the effort to extract information from a bunch of people hell-bent on refusing to talk was starting to drive him crazy. He’d walked into this interview expecting nothing. And that was exactly what he got. So why, then, was he so disappointed?

  ‘I know you’re lying through your teeth, O’Grady, and that’s not a wise move when we’re investigating a murder. It makes me think you might have something to hide. It makes me think you’re protecting someone.’

  ‘Can I go home? I feel like shit.’

  ‘I’ll let you go home but I want you to consider what you’ve told us here today. Or what you haven’t told us. This is not the end of it. I’ll be speaking to you again and if you keep spitting out bullshit, next time I bring you in I’ll be locking you up for hindering a police investigation or perverting the course of justice or whatever else I can think of. Do you understand me? You’re not helping yourself here. You wouldn’t want to become our number one suspect, now would you?’

  Bill O’Grady’s answer was to heave, once again, into the bin on his lap.

  CHAPTER 35

  Kate opened the door to two uniformed officers supporting a very grey and shaky-looking Rowdy. Hurriedly handing him over, they explained he was not feeling well and then took off immediately. They seemed mighty glad to be rid of him, she thought, and she couldn’t really blame them. He looked like a bum off the street and smelt even worse.

  ‘Are you all right, Rowdy? What’s wrong?’

  Concerned, Kate took his arm, noticing his skin was cold and clammy. When he almost fell onto her, she grabbed the wall for support. Wrapping her other arm around his skinny waist, she quickly helped him to the lounge, holding her breath against the disgusting odour of sweat and vomit.

  Rowdy fell onto the lounge.

  ‘Is she home yet? Is she home, Kate? Have you heard from Sandy?’

  His voice was splintered, threatening to shatter at any moment.

  Kate hesitated, dreading having to tell him his girlfriend hadn’t been seen since jumping out of his bedroom window yesterday. Rowdy’s vulnerability made her want to reach out to him, but the stench stopped her. She tried not to gag.

  ‘I’m sure Sandy is fine,’ she tried to reassure him. ‘She’s a survivor. She may have gone home to stay with her Dad, or she might be with a friend. You look terrible. I’m worried about you.’

  Rowdy slumped back against the cushions and rubbed his hands over his face.

  ‘I’m sick with worry. I haven’t slept, I haven’t eaten. I threw up at the police station. They think I’m some addict, I bet. Why would she do this to me? Why isn’t she answering her phone? Sandy knows how I worry about her. What if she went out to score and she’s lying overdosed somewhere?’

  Rex came into the room.

  ‘How did you go with the cops?’ Then, on seeing Rowdy’s condition, added, ‘What’s wrong?’

  He pulled a disgusted face, clearly getting a whiff of the ghastly odour.

  Rowdy shrugged like nothing really mattered.

  ‘They know I’m lying about being here. They know I’m hiding something and someone. I think I’ve become a suspect for Bluey’s murder.’

  He stared as if in a trance at the ground in front of him.

  ‘They know about Sandy, know who she is and everything. They said I’d better start telling the truth . . .’ His voice trailed off for a moment then his head snapped up. ‘They’re going to go to Max Croft.’

  Rex sunk into the lounge opposite.

  ‘Fuck, mate. This girl’s more trouble than she’s worth. We’ve done nothing wrong but she’s making us look fucking guilty. You need to ’fess up and tell the cops she’s your girlfriend. There’s no offence in that. We can deal with Croft when the time comes. He’s going to find out eventually.’

  ‘I want Sandy to come back. I don’t need this shit now,’ Rowdy whined.

  Ka
te watched in silence, thinking. Only days ago the worst thing they’d had to worry about was the upcoming court case for the search warrant raid and the pain in the arse hindrance of reporting at the station each day. Now they had a dead friend and Rex was in danger. Hell, they were all in danger. Sandy was missing. The cops were watching them and Rowdy was now a suspect. Fuck!

  She didn’t need this either. She was about to have a kid, for fuck sake. If only Rex would let her tell the cops who was behind all this. But no, it went against the stupid bikie code of fucking silence. He had to be the big man and do it all by himself. It was so frustrating.

  And now, seeing how distraught Rowdy was about Sandy, she was even more scared. That’s how she would be if something happened to Rex, she thought.

  Rex stood up, looked at her and then back at Rowdy.

  ‘Why don’t you go and lie down for a while,’ he suggested. It was a command, not a suggestion. ‘I’ll go looking for Sandy. We can talk later. You’re a mess and no use to anyone right now.’ He gave Kate a meaningful look. ‘Give him one of your sleeping tablets to make sure he gets some rest. I’ll go and round up the boys. See if we can find her, okay?’

  Kate got the feeling Rex was just saying he’d go looking for Sandy for Rowdy’s sake, but Rowdy nodded, looking grateful and defeated all at once. Kate helped him off the lounge and guided him towards his bedroom. He was unsteady on his feet and just before they got there he stopped, held onto the hallway wall for support and turned back towards Rex, who was regarding their progress with concern.

  ‘Do you know anyone called “Grub”?’ Rowdy asked, looking confused. ‘I don’t know why but the cops thought I might have known him. I heard some of the guys talking about it at the park before. Do you know what that was about?’

  Kate froze as she watched Rex’s body go rigid.

  ‘No mate, I don’t,’ Rex lied. ‘The cops were probably just trying to trick you.’

  Rowdy nodded absently and then turned back in the direction of his room. He fell onto the bed, his hand patting the pillow next to him, the one Sandy slept on. Kate’s heart ached for him. Leaning over, she pulled at his boots. Her stomach got in the way but she managed to get them off. She considered spraying him with deodorant but decided he probably wouldn’t appreciate it. She handed him a bottle of water and a sedative. Rowdy protested but she forced him to take it.

  ‘Rex’s orders.’

  Like an obedient puppy hearing his master’s name, Rowdy did as he was told. When it came to Rex he would do anything to please him. Kate watched him gulp the water and then fall back onto the bed. She thought he looked like he was about to cry, so before she became a reluctant witness to his torment, she threw the sheet over him and quickly left the room.

  Walking through the house, fear weighed heavily on her shoulders as she noticed the front door was standing wide open. Then she heard the growl of the Harley’s engine. With her heart in her throat Kate rushed outside, out onto the street.

  She was just in time to watch the back of Rex’s bike zoom around the corner and disappear out of sight.

  CHAPTER 36

  Lexie sat in yet another briefing feeling tired and restless. Her body was exhausted but her brain, unfortunately, wouldn’t stop. In fact, there was so much happening inside her head she was finding it impossible to allocate each individual thought, problem and question the attention required to get even remotely close to reaching a solution. Each time she pondered one issue another matter would pop up and send her confused brain into a tailspin. It was almost as if her concerns were duelling each other, all vying for first place at the forefront of her mind. It was enough to give anyone a headache.

  Earlier, Lexie had furtively found the call charge records and scanned the list of numbers being monitored with regard to the investigation. Then she’d compared them to the number displayed with her disturbing text message. Of course there was no match. And although the outcome was not unexpected, it was still disappointing. It gave her no lead or clue as to who might have sent it.

  What the hell did ‘Loose lips sink ships’ mean anyway? How did that adage relate to her? What did someone think she knew? Her thoughts kept circling back to Amitt Vincent. The problem was she couldn’t very well request call charge records for the number without supplying a reason. And if she gave the reason she would be off the case, possibly out of this office. Maybe she was over-analysing. It could be just a stupid prank by someone with a pre-paid phone. Perhaps the message had been sent to her number by mistake?

  Aware her brain was conspiring to produce excuses to spare her more worry, she returned her attention to the briefing, where her mind was meant to be focused. Because of their workload, Josh hadn’t had the time to examine and evaluate all the information and intelligence gathered so far, so their boss was delivering this briefing and getting each team of detectives to take turns in giving their updates.

  Josh sat in the front row with his back to her, assisting Casey Blair by handing her documentation from time to time. Lexie did her best to keep her gaze away from him.

  Casey began. ‘Since we haven’t found the murder weapon, ballistics can’t tell us much more other than that the bullets recovered are from a Glock 23, which we already knew. The cigarette butt evidence is inconclusive; however, Kate Bushell smokes that brand so we can assume it probably belongs to her – so much for not smoking during pregnancy. The mould of the shoe-print came out pretty well – even though it’s circumstantial evidence, it may come in handy later when we get a solid suspect.’

  Casey referred to notes on the table next to her, running through the list of Assassins who had already been interviewed and those yet to be.

  ‘Everyone spoken to so far has a substantiated alibi for the night of the shooting. Isn’t that amazing?’ She paused and a quiet collective snort went around the room. ‘Lurch and Batman are following up a few lines of inquiry that have come out of the canvass.’

  ‘There have been no new hits on the nickname “Grub”, and everyone asked, of course, has no knowledge of anyone who goes by that name.’ She threw her hands out in the air. ‘So that’s helpful.’

  Another cynical chuckle went around the room.

  ‘ Magentagitt – Maggot – is still at large. He’s not accessed his bank account or used his phone. As a matter of fact, none of the bikies are using their phones. All’s quiet over the airwaves. Not surprising, as they would be fully aware we are monitoring their phones. The state technical investigation branch is also looking at attempting to install listening devices at Bill O’Grady’s place. Problem is we need an empty house to do that. Sandy Croft, the girl we think jumped out of O’Grady’s window, is still at large. As far as we know she hasn’t done anything wrong but I want you all to look at these pictures.’

  Casey indicated the hazy CCTV photos stuck on the whiteboard next to her.

  ‘If you see her, grab her and bring her in.’

  Casey glanced at Josh. ‘I think that’s about it for now. Do you want to add anything, Josh?’

  Josh stood and faced the room with his hands clasped in front of him. Lexie felt those rotten butterflies once more as his eyes seemed to search her out. Sue sitting next to her must have noticed and nudged her arm.

  ‘Has he made a move on you yet?’ Sue whispered close to her ear.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Just a friendly warning from someone who knows only too well what he’s like; be careful.’

  The butterflies disappeared. Lexie felt her stomach tighten. She gave Sue a sideways glance. Sue winked knowingly then turned her attention back to Josh.

  Sue and Josh? The thought sickened her.

  Josh was speaking. ‘Detectives Burgh and Sleeman, you’ve been dealing with most of the Assassins. Could you touch base with Max Croft and find out what he knows about his daughter’s whereabouts? Refrain from telling him our interest in her has anything to do with this investigation. That might make him nervous, possibly make him protect her. Make something up.
Tell him we need to speak to her regarding something unrelated.’

  Sleeman snorted. ‘He’s not stupid. He’ll know what we’re on about.’

  Lexie noticed Josh’s jaw clench, his only sign of agitation.

  ‘Just do your best. As for everyone else, carry on with your tasks and don’t forget to write them off on eaglei. We just need to keep plugging away, so keep up the good work.’

  Once the briefing was over Lexie overcame the urge to ask Sue the question burning inside her; what had happened between her and Josh? And though a strange heaviness had taken up residence in her gut, she forced herself to push it from her mind. Maybe Sue was doing her a favour by warning her off. Josh was acting as though their kiss last night hadn’t even happened. Perhaps it was a normal occurrence for him to get close and personal with his partners? If so, how stupid of her to consider just for a second that the kiss, which had taken her breath away, was anything other than ordinary to him.

  Just because you felt it doesn’t mean he did.

  She could not allow herself to feel. She needed to maintain her distance, stay focused on the task at hand. If she wanted to be a respected member of this team it was not productive to become emotionally or physically attached to her partner, she told herself.

  —

  Josh stood at the sink pouring boiling water into his mug.

  Batman stood beside him making his own cup of coffee.

  ‘You lucky bastard,’ he said. Then, as if remembering to show a little respect to his senior officer, added, ‘I mean, you lucky Detective Sergeant.’

  Josh liked Batman. He was a good guy. A bit cheeky at times but that was all part of his charm.

  ‘What are you on about?’ He took a sip of his coffee and singed his lips. ‘Shit.’

  Batman cackled. ‘I wish my partner looked like yours. Lurch just doesn’t do it for me, I’m afraid. You did well with Sommers breaking his arm.’

  He nudged Josh with his elbow, causing his coffee to spill onto the bench top.

  ‘Oops, sorry.’

  Josh groaned and grabbed for a tea towel.