Great, we had a doubter in our midst, just what my confidence needed.
"What choice do we have?" Pierce shot back, reaching past him to open the rear passenger door, then indicating Ben and I should get in.
I stepped forward and ducked inside, but not before I heard Andrews hiss, "This is gonna fucking backfire." The door to the car slammed shut behind Ben cutting off any reply Pierce might have had.
"Not exactly promising, is it?" I said under my breath before the detectives joined us in the car.
"He's got a point," Ben murmured, making my stomach sink and my nerves return. "But he's also a fuckin' jerk," he added, then reached over and snatched up my hand in his.
Moments later the two detectives got in the car. Pierce looked strained, a muscle was jumping in his jaw. And Andrews just looked angry. Whatever they had discussed out on the sidewalk had not been pleasant. I stared at the backs of their silent heads as we pulled out of the terminal carpark and then decided I'd had enough of kowtowing to other people.
I didn't want to be here, but I was doing the right thing. That did not give anyone the right to walk all over me. Andrews could go screw himself. If he had a problem with me then he'd just have to suck it up. Like I've had to suck up so much over the past half a decade.
"So, you going to give us an update, Detective Andrews?" I said, my voice hard and to the point. I felt Ben shift next to me, but I didn't twist to see the look on his face. Pierce did turn around in his seat though. His dark brown understanding eyes lifting to look me in the face. Before I could relax under that compassionate gaze, I pushed on. "Or are we just going to walk blindly into a room full of Roan McLaren's henchmen?"
"You'd probably know more than we would about how this operation works," Andrews shot back, flicking an angry glance at me in the rear view mirror, but returning his gaze front forward pretty much in the next instant.
"And how do you figure that, Detective?" I answered slowly. "Did I learn the ins and outs of criminal life from when I was a kid, trying to survive in that shithole? Or was it perhaps in the past five years as I ran from one place to the next to avoid being found by that bastard? No wait," I said, snapping my fingers. "I got it. It's when he cornered me in the hallway just before I escaped and told me exactly what he'd do to me when I was his. That's when I learnt all about how Roan McLaren runs his operation. When he had his hand wrapped around my throat holding my head still so I could get a good look at the photos he shoved in my face."
Silence met my statement. The kind of silence that sucks all the breathable air from a space. I'm not quite sure where that anger had come from. Was it really the detective's fault that I was back in Wellington facing my worst fears? Was it any surprise that he would still consider me part of that world to some degree? Pierce had only just learned the truth, this guy had spent the past year thinking I was in cahoots with Roan.
But I was angry and he was bearing the brunt of it. Because, if I was honest with myself, I was sick of feeling guilty. And Andrews made me feel more guilty by just looking at me the way he did. I am not Roan McLaren. I am not to blame for what he does. I carry guilt, but it is mine. Not any one else's to give me. And that guilt does not cover what Roan is and what he has done.
It's survivor's guilt. And right in that second, sitting in that unmarked police car with a judgemental cop driving us to a meeting that would make me revisit my worst nightmares, I was done accepting any other kind of guilt.
"Well?" I said, a little archly.
I felt and heard Ben chuckle at my side and watched as Pierce's lips tipped up on the edges. His gaze moved to Detective Andrews and he said, "Don't mistake the pretty face and delicate beads in the hair for someone you can push around, Andrews. Abi's got more courage than anyone I've ever met. She also has a good and just heart, nothing at all like we concluded she was."
Well, it was nice to know Pierce was a fan, but he was talking me up a little. My courage was a fickle thing.
Detective Andrews let out a slow breath of air and ran the fingers of one hand through his already ruffled hair.
"OK," he said, but that was all the agreement or apology we'd get. "Kasey works off the Compound in a café on Cuba Street. Her shift started an hour ago. It's the only time she's not monitored. We tried to approach her there, but pulled back when we thought it would spook her."
"Did she make you?" Ben asked.
"We're not sure, we don't think so though," he replied.
"So, it could be that she's monitored now," Ben pointed out.
"We do know what we're doing, Mr Tamati," Andrews shot back. "We've got the place under surveillance, waiting for your arrival. There's been no indication of anyone watching the woman this morning."
Ben turned to Pierce. "I'll make my own reconnaissance. Your men are not to approach me or Abi. We don't see you, you don't see us. We will not enter if I determine the place is on their radar."
"Who the fuck is this guy?" Andrews bit out, glancing angrily at Pierce. "You can't seriously think a Private Investigator can do better than we can."
"Yes, I do," Pierce answered steadily.
"Are you mad, Ryan? You're just gonna let him have free rein to waltz in there and ruin twelve months of dedicated police work?"
"He's got this," Pierce replied.
"Is he armed?" Andrews asked suddenly. I flicked my gaze over Ben's body. His belt was clean of the usual paraphernalia. I was guessing you can't carry that sort of equipment through airports or on planes. Pierce probably did, being a police detective. But super shadow security experts could not.
"He will be," Pierce said, reaching into a bag at his feet and retrieving a gun and holster. He handed it back to Ben, who attached it to his lower right leg. He'd still appear unarmed.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Andrews bit out, thumping the steering wheel with his fist. "This is so going to fucking backfire."
"Shit!" I exclaimed. "You are the whingiest bloody cop I have ever met. We get it, all right? Your whole operation hinges on getting Kasey to cooperate, so that any innocents can get pulled out of the Compound before Roan has a chance to set off an alarm. Don't you think that a little positive pep talk or, I don't know, maybe constructive advice, would be better than constantly bitching and moaning about how fucking shitty this whole situation is? Do you think we want to be here? Do you think I want to face a girl who got hurt because Roan wanted to teach me a lesson? Do you think I need to go there ever again? Are you that fucking self-centred you can't see that this is the last place on earth I ever want to be?"
Pierce made a low whistling sound and Ben squeezed my fingers in support. Andrews just looked at me, from out of the rear vision mirror, in what I assumed was a little shock.
"So," I muttered. "We'll take a look at the place and enter when Ben says we can, and not before. Then we'll do what we can to help you out." Silence. "And Detective Andrews?" I waited for his eyes to meet mine in the mirror again. "I trust Ben Tamati more than I will ever trust you. You're what my father used to call twitchy. Twitchy gets people killed."
"Speaking from experience there, Abi?" Pierce asked casually. I wasn't sure if he was trying to change the direction of the conversation or just lighten the mood. Although the topic could hardly be called humorous.
"As I've told you, Detective Pierce," I said, looking out the window and pretending I was somewhere else, "I was often in the wrong place at the wrong time."
No one said anything else until we made it to the CBD. Kasey's café wasn't in the Cuba Street Mall itself, but just down the street towards Jervois Quay. We parked up a block and a half away and all climbed out of the now uncomfortably silent car. Ben had wrapped an arm around my shoulders after that last outburst, but he hadn't said a word. Just showed his support in the warmth of his embrace. Cosseted again.
A few last minute instructions and directions on how to find Kasey's shop were given, but I remained tight-lipped. I'd definitely said enough for one day. Detective Andrews kept giving
me strange little looks from under his eyelashes, as though he couldn't quite work me out. I could hardly blame him. I'd verbally attacked the guy in that car, but he had deserved it. That was no way to behave with a nervous civilian who was meant to be aiding in your little sting operation. How not to bolster the crew. Still, I was pretty sure he wasn't going to mouth off about how this would all backfire any time soon. That just meant we'd have to make this work, and right then, as Ben and I walked away from the two cops, I was not at all sure it would.
"Sorry about that," I muttered under my breath. Ben squeezed my fingers, which were still entwined with his, in reply.
"It was fuckin' hot," he rumbled next to me.
My face turned towards him. "Hot?" I asked.
"Red," Ben murmured. "You shot his arse down. I was about to jump on in there and defend your honour, but babe, you had it. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the show." He stopped walking, gently guided my back over to a blank wall between two stores and leaned in to whisper, "And it was a fuckin' hot show."
His hand came out and rested on the wall above my head, and his other hand wrapped around my waist, as he pressed his frame into mine; pinning me between him and the wall. His head bent so his eyes could hold mine. I felt his hot breath wash over my lips as he spoke.
"Never thought I'd find someone who could be my equal," he murmured, deep chocolate drawing me in. "Never thought I deserved to have somethin' so special in my life. You fill the shadows with your light, red. You make everythin' seem bright and clear. Your strength of character. Your depth of heart. Your will to survive."
He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply for a moment. When his lids lifted I thought I would drown in all that delicious melted brown.
"You make me want to be a better person," he said in a low, husky voice. Rough around the edges, but somehow making me dissolve inside. "I am... in awe of you."
His lips brushed softly against mine. Once, twice. Then he pulled back.
"Don't ever change, red," he whispered. "Stay you. 'Cause," he said so low, so raspy, as he reached up and tugged on the beads in my hair, "I'm fallin' in love with the woman behind the disguise."
I blinked several times, but failed to suck in any air.
"I'm fallin' in love with you."
Chapter 21
I Took A Deep Breath In And Then Stepped Out Of The Shadows
Everything that had happened in the car with Detective Andrews vanished. All the fear and guilt and building panic that had invaded my body, once that plane began its decent into Wellington airport, simply disappeared. I stared up into Ben's beautiful dark chocolate brown eyes and felt like I'd finally come home. Which was ironic, considering we were in Wellington, the place of my upbringing. But this feeling of familiar, of just right, was not due to a location, but a man.
Ben Tamati was my home and I'd found him.
My breath stuttered out of my chest, my lips felt dried by the wash of air across them. I licked them, trying to moisten the skin and watched Ben's eyes dart down to the movement. Then heard a low growl come up from the back of his throat.
"Timing sucks," he murmured. I just nodded.
I had to agree with him. If only we were somewhere else right now, doing something else. But we weren't. We had a job to do.
"Rain check?" Ben asked, making me smile.
"Rain check," I confirmed.
"Come on, sunshine," he muttered, grasping my hand and leading me away from our spot against the wall. "We got some shadows to find."
"What?"
"Gonna take a look at your girl's place of work," Ben explained, not slowing down, but heading with purpose towards Cuba Street Mall and the multitude of shoppers there. "Don't wanna be seen," he added.
"Oh, OK," I said, understanding dawning.
"Lesson number one," Ben said in an almost upbeat voice.
Despite what we were doing, the reason why we were here, Ben sounded pretty chipper. I was thinking that had something to do with his confession just now. I couldn't help but be sucked into his good mood too.
"Not that you need it," he added. "But in order to watch, you gotta find the shadows."
"Hide in plain sight," I offered.
"Exactly." He flashed me a smile. Again I couldn't help but be sucked into it too. I smiled back. I think I might have been beaming. "But we don't even want them to know we're there. You're good at not standin' out; being seen, but not seen, yeah?"
"Yeah," I agreed.
"Well, we don't even want them to see us. So, shadows."
"Okaay," I said slowly.
"Now Detectives Pierce and Fucktard are watchin' us," he said, leading me across the pedestrian mall to where a large group of people were milling around a record store, listening to a DJ over speakers. It sounded like some sort of competition or promotion. Twenty to thirty people were crowded around the entrance to the store, yelling and screaming. "Not to mention, we don't want any guard on Kasey to twig to our presence. So, we've gotta lose 'em all."
I glanced towards all the people and smiled.
"In the crowd," I suggested.
"Absolutely. Now, grasshopper, how're we gonna lose ourselves in there?" He nodded towards the crowd. "And then get out again without being spotted?"
I flicked my gaze over the heads of the people, trying to see where the mass ended and the pedestrian mall began again. All I could see was the DJ on top of a stepladder, the over sized speakers on tall poles, and the waving arms and hands of the people getting riled up by whatever was on offer. Even the double doors to the store were covered with so many bodies I couldn't see what was inside. But the crowd stopped just past the record shop. Once we reached the other side, we'd be seen.
"I have no idea," I admitted, after a few seconds had passed.
Ben chuckled and leaned over to whisper in my ears, "Watch. I'll make a PI out of you yet."
My smile widened as he tugged me into the centre of that bustling, lively, excitable crowd. I've done a lot of things over the past few years. Some not so challenging, some a bit of a blast. But I have never truly done anything that I really wanted to do with all my heart.
What am I good at? Hiding in plain sight. Being seen, but not seen, just as Ben said. I've worked retail, I've done labouring jobs. I've even been a receptionist/office worker. And none of those jobs would be what I would have picked for myself. Maybe I would have wanted something different if my life hadn't gone the way it had. Maybe at eighteen years old I would have moved away from my Dad and gone to University. Made something of myself. But I didn't and here I am at twenty-eight years old with a resume that doesn't exactly scream: my dream jobs.
But I have successfully hidden from Roan McLaren for half a decade now. I am good at what I have had to do to survive. You'd think I'd want nothing more to do with hiding, and in many ways I don't. But that doesn't mean I haven't developed keen skills that could become useful.
I glanced across at Ben. His face was set in determined, focused lines. His eyes darted from person to person in the crowd and then beyond. He was taking everything in. The current situation and two steps ahead, such as when we left the shelter of this crowd and disappeared. You couldn't help being impressed by him. By his skills. By his level of concentration. By the fact that I knew he'd have us out of here and hiding in shadows before the DJ could shout, "We've got a winner, folks!"
I could do this. I could use what I have learned and do something good with it. Change my history. Change my story, but not change me. Just like Ben asked.
Within moments we'd pushed through the crowd into the music store itself. The lights were low, so it was darker inside than out. I'm not sure if Ben planned that, or just took advantage of it. But we couldn't be seen from out on the Mall, as we wended our way to the back of the shop. We spent half a minute pretending to browse CDs by the counter, then when the assistant wasn't watching slipped through the hanging beads at the rear door into the depths of the staff area.
Two minutes later we'd emer
ged onto a small lane which turned out to be called Eva Street. Ben kept us to the buildings, his eyes darting from side to side. Every now and then he'd pull us into the darkened area of a building's rear doorway, completely out of sight.
"Are we being followed?" I asked, in one of these stoops.
"Nah. Just takin' in the lay of the land."
Ben moved swiftly and silently. Before he left one spot, he already had another hiding place worked out. He timed each shift to perfection. Sometimes taking longer to make his move than at other times, all dependent on what sort of foot traffic was around us at the time. We also stuck to the back roads, ending up approaching the café where Kasey worked, from the back.
The rear door was open, covered by a security screen, but we could see the kitchen staff through the mesh grille.
"Do we go in here?" I asked.
"No. We'll enter as customers, but only after we're sure no one is watching your girl." I nodded, flicking my gaze around the alley we were in. "What do you see, Abi?" Ben asked, voice low so we couldn't be heard.
I felt like I was being tested, which only made my palms sweat and my mouth go dry. I took a deep breath in to still my rapidly beating heart, then closed my eyes for a moment to let my mind go blank. This was no different from when I thought I'd been made in the past, and needed to get out of there without being followed. I'd done this many times before. It was second nature.
You didn't just run blindly away from the threat, you took a moment to assess the scene, to determine your best route for escape. My eyes opened and the alleyway became crystal clear. Bins off to the side where a cat was sifting through the garbage. Someone could hide behind there. A car parked down the other end, blocking our vision of the corner of the alley. I crouched down and looked beneath the vehicle. No shadows lurking, no feet shuffling or body hiding there. I lifted my gaze to above the shop and scanned the parapet. No indication of anyone looking over the rim of the roof, but I took my time to make sure. It would be hard to tell if our roof, directly above us, was compromised. The rest of the alleyway, including the rear door stoops of other shops, was clear.
Sweet Seduction Shadow Page 21