Sinister Intent

by Karen M. Davis

  ‘I love you, Rex. You can count on me not to fall apart. I can be really good in a crisis,’ she finished bravely.

  Who was she kidding?

  At least with Kate safely hidden away, it was one less thing he needed to worry about.

  CHAPTER 47

  What the hell was that? The noise woke Josh from a deep sleep. It sounded like an animal growling. He rolled over, suddenly remembering where he was. The room was lit only by the ghostly glow of the moon filtering in through the open blinds, but it was enough for him to clearly make out the beautiful woman asleep beside him. Wisps of blonde hair fanned her face. Her lips were parted seductively causing memories of last night’s lovemaking to come flooding back to him in vivid technicolour. And with such erotic images, a fresh wave of longing surged through his body setting off a tingle that shot straight to his groin.

  He was now fully awake, and unable to take his eyes off Lexie.

  Last night had been amazing, incredible – both of them had been insatiable, unable to get enough of each other. It was only when physical hunger had won out that they’d dragged themselves from her bed to devour the Thai takeaway Lexie had ordered, before returning to bed to make love yet again. They had finally fallen asleep around two, totally exhausted, but completely satisfied.

  Josh glanced at the glowing numbers on the clock next to Lexie: 4.30 am. There was that noise again. It was a moaning sound and he was surprised to find it was coming from Lexie’s open mouth. He watched her lovely features suddenly contort into a mask of terror. Her eyes fluttered, squeezed shut, her face twisted, her body turned rigid and she let out an almighty scream that could wake the dead.

  Holy shit!

  He jumped. With his heart racing, he leant over her and touched her shoulder gently.

  ‘Lexie, it’s okay.’

  He kept his voice calm and soothing in an attempt to hide his alarm.

  ‘You’re having a nightmare.’

  Suddenly, Lexie sat bolt upright and swung out at him, her arms flaying violently, thrashing at anything nearby. He grabbed her wrists to prevent her pummelling him. Her body shook. She was hot, radiating heat like an electric oven. His eyes were now fully adjusted to the light and he could see the fierce, yet terrified expression contorting her face.

  ‘Lexie, wake up. It’s okay.’

  Her eyes sprung open. They were wide and scared. She was panting, her shoulders heaving up and down as she continued to stare straight through him. Josh let go of her wrists and began rubbing his hands up and down her arms in a calming fashion. After a moment, when her breathing had slowed down, Lexie hugged her legs to her chest, drawing herself into a protective ball.

  ‘I’m sorry, Josh.’

  She sighed loudly, dropping her face to her knees.

  ‘I must have been having a nightmare.’ She glanced up, suddenly concerned. ‘Did I hurt you? Did I hit you?’

  ‘No, I’m fine.’

  It was all he could manage. He was trying not to stare at her. Josh didn’t want Lexie thinking he was shocked by the severity of her nightmare, the ferocity of her actions – which of course he was.

  ‘See, I’m not that together person you thought I was after all. This unfortunately is a regular occurrence. I have these nightmares most nights. Kind of spoils the romantic image of sleeping with me, doesn’t it?’

  Josh smiled.

  ‘Nothing could do that, Lexie. It just makes it a little more exciting, that’s all.’

  He tried to make light of things. ‘Though after last night I don’t see how that’s possible.’

  Lexie gave him a half-hearted smile then put her face despondently back on her knees.

  Josh stroked her hair, feeling an unfamiliar tug of tenderness.

  ‘Everyone has nightmares, Lexie. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.’

  ‘Not everyone has nightmares, Josh, and especially not like mine.’

  ‘Well, why don’t you tell me about them?’

  Lexie squeezed her knees even closer to her chest and groaned.

  He gave her plenty of time to answer but when she didn’t he blurted out the only thing he could think of to ease the tension and distract from her embarrassment.

  ‘I hate my father.’

  Lexie raised her head and stared at him as if he’d gone mad. ‘What?’

  ‘There, I said it. Let’s air all our skeletons at once. I have a fucked-up family. I’ve never been able to match up to my father’s ideal of the perfect son. My sister’s a mental case and my Mum’s a doormat. There’s nothing normal about me so no matter what you say, it won’t shock me.’

  Josh hoped, in his half-arsed, muddled-up way, he was putting Lexie at ease. Though judging by the expression on her face, he had only managed to confuse her.

  ‘I appreciate you trying to make me feel better but . . .’

  She paused and appeared to think for a moment. ‘Do you really hate your father?’

  He didn’t hesitate. ‘Yes.’

  Lexie raised her eyebrows and gave him a dubious look.

  ‘Okay,’ he sighed. ‘I love him because he’s my father but I don’t like the person he is. Does that sound better?’

  Lexie studied him as if deliberating how much to tell him, how much he could be trusted. Then she gave him a slight smile and he could tell she had come to some decision. Making herself comfortable by pulling the sheet around her naked body and nestling pillows behind her back, she edged back against the headboard.

  ‘I’m sure you’ve heard rumours – ’

  ‘I don’t listen to office gossip, Lexie,’ Josh interrupted.

  She gave him another doubtful look.

  ‘I’m sure you’ve heard something, but it doesn’t matter. Before I started in your office, I was stabbed.’

  Josh’s stomach flipped and the hairs on the back of his neck stood tall. He’d heard about Lexie being assaulted. When a cop got hurt word spread fast. But he’d been unaware of the severity of the incident. She really had been through the wringer. And on top of all that, he’d told her he suspected one of their colleagues of being responsible for her brother’s murder. Josh’s head started to buzz and he felt slightly sick, though he didn’t let it show. This was not about him.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘My partner and I responded to an assault in a laneway at the back of St Vincent’s Hospital at the Cross. When we arrived one man was on the ground bleeding. He’d been stabbed in the chest, and his friend – or the man I thought was his friend, Amitt Vincent – was frantically jumping up and down beside him, screaming for us to do something. They were both bikies from the Revolutionaries. They had been on a bender and were extremely drunk and high as kites. I was tending to the injured guy when his mate grabbed me from behind, got me in a head-lock and put a knife to my throat.’

  The scar on her neck . . .

  ‘Why? You were trying to help!’

  ‘I know, but this guy, this Amitt Vincent, is a maniac at the best of times. I’ve had dealings with him before when he was sober and that was bad enough. Add into the mix alcohol and drugs and he becomes totally unpredictable; calm one minute, crazy the next . . .’

  ‘What did your partner do?’ Josh asked, amazed at how much she’d been through.

  ‘He came at Vincent – but he knocked my partner out with one king-hit to the face. He missed the whole thing. He was out to it on the ground.

  Josh felt an irrational anger towards her partner – whoever he was – for being stupid enough to get knocked out, leaving Lexie all alone.

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘I struggled, he punched me in the side of the head, almost knocked me out. I remember the knife cutting the side of my throat and there was lots of blood. I pretended I was unconscious, he let his guard down for a moment, and I gave him a reverse head butt, threw my head backwards. The back of my skull smashed his nose to pieces. He let go of me and I shot him,’ she finished simply.

  Josh was stunned. He was grateful that the dim li
ght in the room obscured the shock he knew would be evident on his face.

  ‘And that was it?’

  She shook her head, ‘No, he came back at me again, so I shot him again. And the bastard still lived. I’m not the best shot in the world,’ she said, forcing a laugh. ‘But at least the last time he didn’t get back up. I woke up in hospital.’

  ‘Oh my God, Lexie.’

  Josh couldn’t begin to explain or even understand his feelings. All he knew was that he wanted to hold her, protect her, make everything all right.

  ‘I’m so sorry you had to go through all that. You are one gutsy girl . . . and then to come back to work.’

  ‘To be completely honest, some days I struggle. When we did that search warrant and I saw Donaldson, for a moment I thought it was Amitt Vincent. They are very similar in size and looks. I nearly died.’

  ‘And then he put you in hospital as well.’

  Her nervousness now made more than perfect sense. Donaldson had brought it all back for her.

  ‘You and bikies aren’t a good mix?’

  ‘Don’t hold it against me. It will not get the better of me, I promise.’

  ‘I don’t doubt that for a second,’ he replied, pulling her into his arms. ‘I’m glad you told me.’

  He kissed her on the top of her head and they stayed that way until the tune of ‘Brown-eyed Girl’, Josh’s ring tone, interrupted them.

  ‘I’d better get that, could be work.’

  Unconcerned about his nudity – Lexie had already seen, touched and kissed almost every part of him – he padded bare-foot into the lounge room, following the sound of Van Morrison’s voice. It stopped for a moment only to start up again. Sun was just starting to filter into the room through the glass of the balcony doors and he could easily make out the shape of his mobile phone on the coffee table. It was silent. The ringing seemed to be coming from Lexie’s bag by the door.

  Did they seriously have the same ring tone?

  Curiously he opened the bag, consciously ignoring the slight guilt he felt at rummaging through Lexie’s personal belongings. Peering inside and seeing the assortment of female paraphernalia littering the bag’s interior, he reached a hand in and felt around for the phone. His fingers came up against something hard. Surprised, he pulled out a gun that was still in its holster. Why the hell was Lexie bringing her gun home, he wondered anxiously.

  The phone had stopped again. Finally locating it, he checked the caller identification and noted Casey had called three times. It quivered in his hand and started ringing again, startling him for a second. Should he answer it? It must be important for her to be so persistent, he reasoned.

  ‘Hello,’ Josh said quietly, racking his brain for an excuse as to why he was answering Lexie’s phone.

  ‘Josh? What are you doing with Lexie’s phone?’

  ‘I’ve got her phone . . . she left it at work yesterday so I’m minding it for her,’ he lied. ‘What’s up?’ he asked, changing the subject.

  ‘I’ve been trying to reach the two of you for the last ten minutes,’ she told him, clearly irritated. ‘Is your phone switched off or something?’

  Josh moved to where it sat on the coffee table. A second look told him it was indeed flat.

  ‘Oh shit, it’s flat. Sorry.’

  Casey sighed loudly. ‘You’re on a murder investigation, Josh. Your phone should be switched on at all times and Lexie should have her own phone, for God’s sake. Now how am I going to get in touch with her?’

  ‘Leave that up to me,’ he shot back quickly. ‘And you’re right, I’m sorry. Obviously something has happened, has there been a development or . . .’

  ‘Rex Donaldson was in a motorbike accident last night. He’s at Prince of Wales Hospital. One witness, a doctor who treated him at the scene, ran out of his house moments after the crash. He saw a car speed off down the street. I think someone is desperate to see Donaldson dead.’

  ‘Oh, okay,’ was all Josh could think to say.

  ‘Petrol, rags and an unregistered gun were found in a backpack on the road nearby. The surveillance branch was actually trying to follow Donaldson yesterday but they couldn’t pick him up anywhere. I’ve put a guard on his room. There should be a uniformed officer there by now, just in case someone has the balls to try to get at him in the hospital. I want you and Lexie to speak to him ASAP. He probably won’t talk but I’m hoping that he may have been spooked by this guy’s perseverance. You never know your luck.’

  Lexie, hearing the conversation, was now standing beside him wrapped in a robe, staring at him. Josh suddenly remembered he was naked and smiled at her. She smiled back, letting her eyes slowly travel seductively up and down the length of his body. Josh started to tingle and he had to force himself to concentrate on the conversation with their boss.

  ‘I’ll swing by Lexie’s and pick her up,’ winking at Lexie as he replied.

  ‘I’m making my way into the office now. If I don’t see you there, call me when you’ve spoken to Donaldson.’

  Casey hung up.

  Josh pulled Lexie into his arms and enlightened her as to the content of the phone conversation.

  ‘This is not the way I wanted to start the morning.’

  In the sunlight, with her hair piled on top of her head, he could clearly see the scar. He kissed it gently. Lexie stiffened. Josh hugged her close until she relaxed and, for a moment, neither one of them spoke.

  Reluctantly he broke the embrace.

  ‘I can’t turn up to work in the same clothes. I’ll duck home, and meet you at the station. I promise we’ll make up for the interruption next time.’

  Finding his discarded clothes on the floor near the lounge, he got dressed in record time. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Lexie gave him a look. Josh laughed.

  ‘If I kiss you properly, Lexie, I know what will happen. We’ll never get out of here.’

  He moved towards the door. ‘I’ll see you at the station in half an hour.’

  She blew him a kiss as she shut the door behind him.

  CHAPTER 48

  Lexie turned the unmarked police car onto Avoca Street, towards the Prince of Wales Hospital, just as streaks of daylight began to spread across a clear sky. At this early hour, traffic was light and cars were scarce, as peak hour was yet to begin its reign of terror on the roads of Sydney. Shops and cafés had not yet opened for business and the streets that would later become teeming with workers, students and shoppers were empty.

  Lexie noticed none of this. Her mind was preoccupied, wondering how she could be feeling so many conflicting emotions all at once.

  Last night with Josh had been great; almost too great. Which meant it couldn’t last. Expect the worst and avoid disappointment.

  She was shocked and appalled that her traitorous thoughts had veered off course on their own accord. When had she started thinking this way? Was this what the job had done to her? She had to stop it right now, Lexie told herself sternly. Negativity is poison.

  Her mind jumped to thoughts of Burgh. How did she go about confronting him? She would have to find a way to get him alone, using herself as bait if necessary, to lure him away from the office. Hopefully then, with no one else around, Burgh would bare his soul to her and unburden himself of guilt by admitting his complicity in the death of her brother. She would capture his confession on tape, ensuring justice be served.

  Yeah, right! Keep dreaming. If only it were that easy.

  Her jaw set and her teeth clenched with determination. No, she had to be realistic, and remain objective, Lexie reminded herself. Josh’s animosity towards Burgh might be clouding his reasoning. Her personal aversion to the man could also be a factor in condemning him before he’d had the chance to defend himself. Josh might think he was dirty, and he well might be, but did that make him a killer? A plan pushed its way to the front of her jumbled mind. When this investigation was over she would speak to Burgh, pleasantly explain she would like to know what had happened the night her brother w
as killed, purely for her own sense of closure. His attitude and reaction would give her an indication of his culpability. And she would take it from there.

  Pleased to have decided upon a strategy to deal with that issue, she filed it away into a back compartment of her brain to act upon later.

  ‘Are you okay, Lexie?’ Josh asked. ‘You’re very quiet.’

  She thought she heard a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

  She pulled up at a set of lights. ‘I’m just thinking, that’s all.’

  ‘If you’re having second thoughts about last night . . .?’

  The question and Josh’s tone of resignation surprised her. It was as though he had accepted what he clearly thought was inevitable.

  Lexie’s stomach clenched and her chest grew tight. She gave him a sideways glance. His focus was directed straight ahead. She felt instant disappointment that he would give up that easily. Was he really trying to back out of what happened last night so soon?

  A lump formed in her throat and she didn’t know what to say. It didn’t make sense. Josh had come to her, confided in her. Their lovemaking had been tender, affectionate. It had been more than just sex. Hadn’t it? Now she was questioning everything. It had seemed like he really cared. Could it have all been an act to get her into bed?

  Like a lightning bolt to the head Lexie suddenly realised how much she wanted to be with Josh. But if he didn’t want the same thing . . . she could pretend it didn’t matter. Save face, appear indifferent. She was good at faking. Just as she was kicking herself for being stupid enough to be fooled by yet another handsome playboy, it suddenly hit her.

  They were more alike than she realised. She was just as guilty as he was. Hadn’t she just been thinking the same thing – nothing that good in life could ever last?

  Josh had given her the hint last night. He hadn’t had a serious girlfriend for ten years. He had a complex about his father, of never being good enough. That was why he preferred to remain remote, unattached. Last night he’d let his guard down. Probably with the assistance of alcohol he’d lowered his protective wall and now he was trying to restore it.