‘Why?’ Lexie aimed the question at the woman, hating the squeaky sound of her own voice. It was pathetic. ‘Why?’
She didn’t reply; only smiled fleetingly before her cold eyes slipped from her.
Lexie decided to redirect her attention to Burgh.
‘I was wondering what your plan might be? As you would be well aware, if you have sex with me you’ll be leaving evidence all over my body. How do you plan to avoid that?’
‘Don’t underestimate me for a second, little Lexie,’ he taunted. She watched his jowls wobble as he shook his head. ‘I have a great deal of experience in disposing of evidence. How do you think I got to where I am?’
‘And where is that, exactly; the number one corrupt cop in the New South Wales Police Force? Congratulations.’
He was visibly furious with her tone. The gun shook in his hand as he realigned it with her chest.
‘I am respected, admired, looked up to by powerful people. I earn more money than you could ever dream of and women love me,’ he spat out.
Was he for real?
‘That would be dirty money, drug money and these “powerful people” are all underworld scum.’
Lexie’s voice came out like a snarl, her lip curling up at one side in disgust.
‘Wow, how prestigious; being the king of the criminal world.’
Her words were acidic and condescending and possibly dangerous for her to utter, but she didn’t care. This man had killed her brother and was prepared to kill her.
She glanced towards Burgh’s accomplice, who had not moved from her post at the door and was quietly watching the exchange with apparent amusement. Lexie stared at her with open contempt. Why was it that so many people she let in betrayed her trust? Was it just her or did she exert some sort of negative force field that attracted disloyalty?
Taking offence at her words, Burgh moved swiftly, his hand raised threateningly in the air as he advanced towards her. Lexie flinched instinctively, bracing herself. The blow stung, its force whipping her head sideways. With a practised skill she turned off the pain, straightened up and stared him down.
She noticed his eyes were once again glued to the swell of her breasts and crossed her arms in front of herself in a feeble attempt at modesty.
He sniggered. His face now only inches from her own, his putrid breath turned her stomach and made her want to retch.
‘Don’t you worry your pretty little head about how I’m going to cover my tracks. I have my protégée here to assist me and by the time anyone even misses you, your ashes will be flying across La Perouse Beach with the afternoon breeze.’
He laughed at the look of horror Lexie failed to hide.
‘I’m no amateur, Lexie, even though there have been a few stuff-ups.’ He glanced towards his ‘protégée’ meaningfully. ‘I can assure you there will be no more.’
The woman seemed affronted at this implied insult and was suddenly angry.
Folding her arms across her chest, she spat out defensively, ‘You’re the one who shot the wrong bikie.’
‘That’s because you were too gutless to do it. You couldn’t even finish off the stupid druggie bitch for me,’ Burgh spat back, his face screwing up, resembling a bulldog.
Oh God, they were in this together from the beginning.
‘Well, at least she didn’t see me. If she ever talks again she’ll blame you. Max won’t be happy – ’
Burgh exploded. ‘Chill, baby!’ He held his hand in the air like a cop directing traffic. ‘Don’t you worry about Max. He answers to me, not you. I know you’ve got the hots for him but he’ll never answer to a woman. You’d best remember that.’
‘Baby’ clearly did not want to chill.
‘I’m sick of you treating me like shit. Treat me with some respect, for God’s sake, or I’ll − ’
‘You’ll fucking what?’ he hissed, interrupting her. ‘You are in this up to your eyeballs. You want the cash, you deal with the trash. Don’t forget your place, woman,’ Burgh warned, with a dangerous edge to his voice.
As they argued, everything started to become clear to Lexie. The puzzle pieces began falling into place. Burgh was in with the Assassins. There was no doubt they were talking about Max Croft. It made sense. Donaldson had crossed Burgh by refusing to bend to his demands. She thought back to the search warrant at the Devil’s Guardians clubhouse; the look of genuine surprise and then horror on Rex’s face, his insistence the drugs had been planted, that they had been set up.
Though something else must have happened between them for Burgh to go from loading Donaldson with drugs to wanting him dead. Lexie thought. He’d said something about the bikie threatening him. Maybe that was the catalyst for the whole chain of events?
The squabbling continued as Lexie’s brain raced. She’d hazard a guess that Burgh, no longer copping a quid on the side from Donaldson, then went to the Assassins and made an arrangement with them, no doubt in the form of a regular payment of cash for the exchange of information and protection. Burgh and Sleeman had been protecting them from the beginning of the investigation. All Assassin members had solid alibis – Burgh had made sure of that. To direct focus away from his intended target, he’d given a tip-off that there would be trouble at the Assassins clubhouse, which left him free to commit his crime elsewhere.
Maggot had asked to speak to Burgh when they’d interviewed him. Sleeman and Burgh had also been the ones to search Dorothy Magentagitt’s house, saying Maggot was not there. Maggot said he had been there the whole time but had been told to lie low even though he could account for his whereabouts at the time of Bluey’s shooting. Burgh was the common denominator – it all came back to him. He had purposely misled their team into believing Maggot was on the run, leading to an assumption of guilt. All this time they had been following lines of inquiry, he’d been shutting them down and leading them in the wrong direction, covering his own tracks.
In the attempt to exterminate Donaldson, he’d shot the wrong bikie, which caused other complications; the dying declaration. Either way, Burgh wanted to make Bluey’s murder appear to be a gang versus gang related killing that might never be solved. Lexie was sure that even with Josh’s intense aversion to this man, he could never have anticipated the level of malevolence he was capable of.
But still there were unanswered questions. What had Sandy done to deserve her fate? Why had Burgh denied knowing who she was? And were the threatening text messages she’d received from Amitt Vincent, or one of these monsters?
‘That’s enough.’ The cutting edge to Burgh’s voice cut short her thoughts.
When the protégée spoke again, her voice was sugary sweet, like a little girl trying to play cute.
‘Sorry sweetie, just a bit tense.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Tick tock, the time’s getting away. Why don’t you go into the bedroom and have your fun. I’ll stay here. Just yell out if she refuses to . . . co-operate.’
Burgh’s attitude seemed to change, to soften.
‘Are you sure you don’t mind, baby?’ He moved towards her, while still watching Lexie, and kissed her on the lips.
Lexie could not read the strange expression that crossed her face.
‘Of course I’m jealous but it’s not like she’s going to be a threat to me. She won’t be around long enough,’ she finished. She fixed a look of pure hatred on Lexie.
Burgh laughed, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
‘You’re a smart girl,’ he soothed. ‘Now Lexie, you come with me.’
Lexie’s desperate eyes darted anxiously around the familiar apartment that was now her prison. Dani. How had she become involved in all of this? Then she realised. Dani was listed as her next of kin. Her details, address and phone number were stored in a filing cabinet in the detectives’ office as her emergency contact. A quick phone call would have ascertained she was away with work. He must have just forced the door, though she couldn’t remember seeing any damage.
When he saw she hadn’t moved from he
r position against the wall, Burgh lunged forward and aimed the gun back at her face. He shoved her – because he could, a reminder of who had control. Grabbing her arm, he propelled her in front of him and pushed her roughly down the hallway – which was more like a narrow concrete tunnel – towards the bedroom.
Her sense of terror heightened. Her mind visualised the layout in clear detail, calculating any means of escape. Double bed in the middle of the room, built-in mirrored robe against one wall, barred windows. Shit.
Suddenly, a whipping sound pierced the air. It was not the usual crack of a bullet being discharged from its chamber but a muffled whistle. A silencer? Instantly, the pungent smell of gunpowder filled the air, burnt her lungs. She heard a scream, realised it was her own and turned, expecting to feel pain at any moment but instead she stared into the stunned, disbelieving eyes of Harry Burgh.
Half his head was now smeared, like red spray-paint, across the walls of the hallway. Pink flesh and pulpy brain matter littered the carpet, while a fountain of dark crimson blood poured from his head – raining down and splattering all over her feet. Revolted and confused, Lexie scrambled backwards as his legs buckled, his body slowly collapsing to the ground. His knees hit first then the rest of his body slammed heavily, like a sack of bricks, onto the floor. His eyes remained open, empty. His soul, Lexie decided, had left his body long before his death.
Stunned, her eyes flew from the body splayed at her feet to the space where Burgh had just been standing. The blood drained from her face. Her heart hammered violently in her chest as cold, fathomless eyes glared back at her.
Lexie stared at the woman who had just killed Harry Burgh – and the gun, which was now aimed directly at her chest.
CHAPTER 60
Don’t panic yet, Josh told himself as he dialled Dani Wallace’s mobile phone number for the third time. He could feel his body beginning to react to a danger he couldn’t quite put his finger on and he was desperately trying to rein it in, to stay in control.
He’d gone through the contact list in Lexie’s mobile phone and got Dani’s number but it just kept ringing out. He vaguely remembered her saying something about her friend working at Kings Cross, so he quickly called the police switchboard and asked to be put through. His heart hammered wildly as he waited for someone to answer.
Finally a breathless male voice picked up.
‘Kings Cross Detectives, Sergeant Brooks speaking. Can I help you?’
Josh felt like shouting that he could help by answering the fucking phone faster but he knew abuse would get him nowhere. It was just his mounting panic making him so intolerant and testy. Lexie was not the only person who had gut instincts and right now his told him that something was definitely not right. He took a deep breath and concentrated on keeping the alarm out of his voice.
‘Detective Harrison from Bondi Junction Ds here.’
The voice sighed, seemingly relieved he wasn’t someone else.
‘Sorry, mate. We were all in a meeting down the hallway. I thought someone was here to answer the phones but − ’
Josh interrupted him. ‘Don’t worry. It doesn’t matter. I just need to know if you have a female detective there by the name of Dani Wallace.’
‘We certainly do,’ he replied. ‘Alhough she’s away on a job at the moment.’
‘You obviously haven’t heard. Her mother has died. I’ve been trying to get her on her mobile but − ’
Detective Brooks interrupted, hammering him with questions.
‘When did this happen? That’s terrible. Are you a relative? How did you find out? I’ll need to get in touch with her supervisor. She’s actually on an undercover job and not allowed to use her personal phone.’
Josh was confused. Wasn’t she supposed to be at her apartment?
‘Hang on a minute. Can you tell me where she is right now?’
Now it was Detective Brooks’s turn to sound perplexed.
‘I’m acting boss here this week and I’ve only just spoken to her undercover supervisor to check how she’s going. She’s in Port Macquarie. If you give me the details of her mother’s . . . death, I’ll inform her now.’
This was all wrong. Lexie had gone to Dani’s place to comfort her, but Dani wasn’t there. A slab of cement felt like it had settled at the bottom of his stomach. Fuck. His thoughts came flooding together in a tide of comprehension. The medical examiner’s words: ‘The shooter is a perfect shot’. Lurch: ‘Slip Burgh a fifty dollar note, I’m sure he’ll fire a few shots onto your target. He’s a perfect shot.’ Lexie’s threatening text messages. The boss: ‘The murder weapon is police issue, stolen from an ex-cop from Balmain two and a half years ago. Weren’t you stationed there then?’
Yes I was. And so was Burgh.
‘Are you there? Detective?’
Josh was snapped back to the present by the voice on the other end of the line.
‘Look, I must have got it wrong. Please don’t contact Dani at this point. I need to find out what’s going on.’
He hung up abruptly. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest he was finding it hard to breathe.
Just then Casey yelled out from her office. ‘Josh, get in here.’
What now?
‘There’s been a bit of confusion at the hospital. The guard on Rex’s door thought he was with his daughter in ICU and the other uniforms thought he was back in his room. Bloody idiots! How do you lose a six foot six bikie, for God’s sake?’
‘What are you saying? Donaldson’s gone?’
Casey nodded miserably. ‘I don’t know why it’s taken them so long to tell me but apparently Rex Donaldson’s given us the slip. He’s done a runner from the hospital.’
Shit, shit, shit.
Josh wasn’t sure what this all meant but he knew it couldn’t be good.
‘Where’s Burgh?’
Casey looked confused for a moment. ‘Sleeman just asked me the same thing. He was looking for him too. I don’t know.’
Josh felt terror shoot through his system. This was getting worse. He thought of Lincoln. Lexie had gone to see her friend but her friend was still in Port Macquarie, at least four hours away – instead Lexie had been deliberately lured to Dani’s flat. Burgh was nowhere to be found. Rex Donaldson had escaped their police guard and was missing in action.
‘I heard Lexie call off on the radio,’ he said to his boss urgently. ‘Call a signal one to that address right now.’
A signal one was only ever called in the most serious of situations – when a police officer was in life-threatening trouble. It would have every car crew on channel drop what they were doing and proceed, code red, to that location.
Casey Blair stared at him as though he’d gone mad.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Just do it,’ he yelled as he ran out of the office.
CHAPTER 61
Lexie was shocked and confused. Nothing made sense. Her eyes darted from the man lying motionless on the hallway floor to Sue Field’s glacial stare. Narrowed eyes, full of sinister intent, drilled through her. The look of contempt, so blatantly displayed, chilled Lexie to the bone.
It was almost impossible to comprehend, or recognise, the contorted face of her workmate. It was as if Lexie was seeing her for the first time, looking past the public façade, into her soul, which was putrid and decaying. Lexie recoiled. For whatever reason, Sue was rotting from the inside out, being eaten alive by bitterness and hate.
Lexie wondered why Sue had become involved with Burgh. Was she just hungry for money, the supposed ‘high life’? Once given a taste of power, had she become obsessed with the flavour? If so, why kill her partner in crime? It didn’t make any sense.
Lexie refused to look at the gun pointed at her chest. She fixed her gaze on Sue’s face, searching for answers.
Sue seemed to read her mind.
‘He was nothing to me. Just a means to an end, really,’ she said coldly, staring down at Burgh’s body and the pool of red that was puddling
around him.
‘I’ve done the world a favour by getting rid of him. He was a real bad bastard.’
She laughed for a moment before continuing, ‘Had a thing for you, Lexie.’
Lexie said nothing, she was stunned speechless.
‘Not that I care. He was absolutely hopeless in bed. Thought he was great but the poor bastard didn’t have a clue.’
‘Why kill him?’ Lexie mumbled, her gaze transfixed on Burgh’s bloodied corpse.
‘Because he was in the way,’ she sneered. ‘Burgh wouldn’t settle for anything other than top dog and that’s a position I want. He showed me the ropes, introduced me to the right people. I can’t believe he thought I was going to be his little lapdog, his lackey, forever. I’ve had enough of people treating me like shit. Besides, now he’s gone I’m free to be with Max.’
Max Croft?
‘Don’t look so surprised, Lexie. You’ve seen him. Max is gorgeous. Even better than Josh, if you ask me.’ Sue pulled a distorted face. ‘He’s got the hots for you too. They all have. But you know that, don’t you?’
Lexie knew now that Sue hated her with a violence unlike anything she’d ever known before.
‘Where’s Dani? What have you done with her?’
Sue glanced around the room.
‘From what I’m told she’s away doing some undercover job in Port Macquarie. It worked out perfectly. When I saw you chase Kate Bushell into the toilets at the hospital, I knew you wouldn’t stop until you got the information you wanted, so Burgh decided it was safest to act quickly. You were becoming a pain in the arse. And then, of course, there’s the fact you’re the only one who heard the dying declaration. We needed to get you away from the office and I remembered you telling me about Dani; that she took care of you, that she lived alone, that you felt sorry for her because she was an only child and her mother was really sick.’
Lexie couldn’t remember telling Sue anything of the sort.
‘As it happens, my friend is Dani’s undercover supervisor. I spoke to him yesterday and when he mentioned that a Dani from Kings Cross was on the job, I put two and two together. She’s also down as your next of kin so I knew it was the right girl. It worked out perfectly. Pity she’s going to come home to such a mess.’
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