The Cliff-Top Killer (The Sydney Harbour Hospital Series Book 8)

by Chris Taylor

  And with that, he found her lips again and drank her in. Long and deep, their lips stayed fused until both of them were gasping for breath. He released her mouth and kissed his way down her T-shirt, lifting the fabric up as he went. Tugging the shirt over her head, he stared down at her nakedness.

  Every time he saw her, he was blown away by her beauty. Full, round breasts stood proudly, begging for his touch. Her nipples were a pale shade of dusty rose and were pebbled hard with wanting. He bent his head and took one of them into his mouth and suckled her like a baby.

  “Mm,” she moaned and closed her eyes, giving herself over to the sensations. He moved to the other breast and honored it with the same attention.

  Ignoring the burning need in his groin, he kissed his way over her stomach. He dipped his tongue into her belly button and her muscles contracted. Moving lower still, he took hold of the waistband of her shorts and eased them over her hips. It was only then that he realized she wasn’t wearing panties.

  “No panties?” he murmured, flicking her a look and smiling at her embarrassment. He loved that she was a grown woman who wasn’t new to the love game and yet she still had an innocent shyness about her that made him want her all the more.

  Exposing her womanhood to his gaze, he buried his face between her legs. Breathing in her unique, sweet scent, he loved her all over again. His tongue delved between her soft folds and tasted her dewiness. Sliding deeper, he found her center and slid his tongue in and out.

  Her hands came down to grasp his head and he reveled in the way she clung to him. Wordless murmurs of encouragement and need fell in disjointed breaths and gasps from her lips.

  “Do you like that?” he growled.

  “Yes,” she gasped. “It feels insane. Nobody’s ever done that to me before.”

  He smiled and licked her again. It wasn’t until she was begging for him to take her that he ceased loving her with his tongue and lips. Shucking off his clothes in record time, he settled between her thighs. His cock was rock hard and throbbed with need. He was going to explode if he didn’t have her, but despite the agony, he sheathed himself and then slid into her wetness slowly.

  One excruciating inch at a time, he savored the feeling of her heat around him. Knowing how much she cared for him made it even more exquisite. He moved slowly, thrusting all the way in and then withdrawing until only the tip of his cock was inside. Over and over, he teased her and held his own relief out of reach.

  It was madness, it was torment, he could hardly bear the suffering, but it wasn’t until she cried out in surrender and shuddered beneath him that he allowed himself full rein. Moving faster, he plunged in and out of her, running the race of his life. She clung to his shoulders, her head flung back against the pillows.

  Need built like an inferno inside him until he was moments away from the summit. He thrust into her harder and faster and finally shouted out his release. His chest pounded like he’d run a marathon, but never in his life had he felt better. Satisfaction, contentment, peace… She was his soul mate, his friend, his confidante. She was the woman he’d love until the end of time.

  * * *

  Shelby stirred beneath the weight of Samuel’s arm. She’d gone to sleep snuggled against him, but sometime during the night, he’d turned on his back and flung his arm across her chest. She pushed it gently away and climbed out of bed. With the aid of the moonlight, she made her away across the room.

  After using the bathroom, she padded out into the kitchen in search of a glass of water. The widescreen TV mounted on the wall of the living room flickered in the darkness. She grinned. They’d left the dinner table in such a hurry, they’d forgotten to switch it off. She looked around for the remote and found it amongst some papers on the coffee table.

  Turning back to the television, her attention was caught by the late night news. The news anchor announced the leading story and her heart skipped a beat.

  “Police are still searching for clues in relation to the murder of three men in three separate attacks along the cliffs north of Bondi. The area is a well-known meeting spot for homosexuals and the police believe the victims’ sexual orientation was the motivation for the killings. Several personal items belonging to the victims have been reported as missing. They include a gold and onyx ring, a Sydney Kings team jersey and a Melbourne Storm football cap. Police are appealing to anyone who might have information regarding these murders, or know the whereabouts of these items. Please call Detective Sergeant Jared Buchanan at the Bondi Police Station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 if you know anything that might assist in this investigation.”

  Shelby stared at the items displayed on the screen. The Storm football cap was the same as the one she’d seen in her father’s office a fortnight ago. It had to be a coincidence. There was no way her father was involved in murder. The idea was preposterous. Perhaps it was one of his clients? After all, her dad had told her it had been given to him. Then she thought for a minute and shook her head. She was being utterly ridiculous to think there might be a connection. There were thousands of Storm caps just like that one. It didn’t mean the cap in her father’s office had anything to do with the cliff-top killings.

  Determined to forget about it, she used the remote to switch off the television and then padded to the kitchen. Pouring herself a glass of water out of the jug kept in the fridge, she headed back to Samuel.

  * * *

  Jared heard the sound of phones ringing and allowed himself a surge of hope. Since the news story on the missing items had aired the night before, they’d been ringing off the hook. A taskforce had been put together to help deal with all of the calls. Already, officers were speaking to potential tipsters and witnesses and recording their information. What was even better, he’d managed to locate his mystery witness.

  After numerous messages and cursing the woman high and low, Maureen Nelson had finally called him.

  “What happened to you?” he asked without preamble. “I waited at the station for hours. You never showed.”

  “I’m sorry. My phone battery died. It’s taken me this long to scrape together the money to buy a new one. I had no other way of contacting you.”

  Jared bit back a curse, trying hard to hold on to his patience. “You could have come into the station. There was no need to call beforehand.”

  “I live all the way out at Mount Druitt, mate. I wasn’t going to pay for the ride in and risk you not being here when I showed. What do you think I am, made of money? I don’t know what all the fuss is about, anyway. A couple of guys got killed. So what? It happens out here all the time.”

  Jared bit his lip and forced himself to count to three. “All right, I’m sorry, Maureen. I understand why you didn’t come in earlier, but I do need to talk to you. We have very few leads. You might be our only chance. And in case you didn’t know, the body count’s now at three. We need to catch a break before anyone else falls victim to this madman.”

  He cleared his throat and continued. “When we spoke on the phone a fortnight ago, you told me you thought you might have passed the killer on his way down. I’m still waiting for you to provide me with the details and my patience is wearing thin. I don’t need to tell you, Maureen, how important you are to our investigation. We need to get together as soon as possible. How can I make this easier for you?”

  “You can pay for my train fare. That would be a start.”

  “I can do one better than that. Give me your address and I’ll come out and see you. It will save you the trip in.”

  “No, that’s not a good idea,” she replied hurriedly. “I move around a bit and I don’t live on my own. It would be best if I come and see you.”

  Jared bit back a curse and held on to his patience with his fingernails. It wasn’t unusual for people who lived on the fringes not to want the police making home visits, but he didn’t give a shit about what petty illegal activity her roommates might be up to. It was probably dope and while he didn’t condone any kind of criminal behavior,
right now, his priority was finding a killer.

  “All right,” he conceded. “We’ll do it your way. But forget about the train. Call a cab and tell them we’ll cover the fare once you arrive at the station. That way you should get here before like…midnight.”

  The woman cackled on the other end of the phone. “Hee, hee. I like you, Detective. You’ve got a sense of humor. Most cops don’t. Tell me, are you cute?”

  Jared bit back a groan. This woman was doing his head in. Her evidence had better be worth it.

  “I’m whatever you want me to be, Maureen. Now, get your ass in a cab and get over here. Don’t forget to ask for Detective Buchanan.”

  “Oh, I won’t. You can bet your balls on it.” With a final chuckle, she ended the call.

  It was almost three hours since he’d spoken to her and he could barely contain his impatience. The phone at his elbow rang and he snatched it up.

  “Detective Buchanan, I have a woman by the name of Maureen Nelson down here. She says she has an appointment.”

  The general duties officer manning the reception sounded so dubious, Jared could only guess what the woman looked like. Still, her appearance was of little consequence. He needed to hear what she had to say. He was counting on her making a difference to his investigation.

  “I’ll be right down,” he said.

  Taking the stairs two at a time, he opened the door that secured the main part of the station from the waiting room. A woman wearing a stained blouse and knee-length shorts that stretched over her protruding stomach and did nothing to disguise her skinny legs stared at the domestic abuse posters and other public notices that papered the wall. With unkempt, straggly brown hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed for decades and with a face that looked like life had dealt her a few harsh knocks, it was hard to judge her age. If he had to guess, he’d put her in her late twenties, but she could have been younger. She looked up as he entered.

  “Maureen Nelson?”

  “You must be Detective Buchanan. You’re even cuter than I imagined.”

  She hefted her bulk toward him and held out her hand. Dirt encrusted her arms. He caught a whiff of body odor that almost made him gag, but he shook her hand without flinching and then turned to the officer behind the counter.

  “Roger, there’s a cabbie outside waiting for payment. Can you see to it?”

  “Of course, Detective. Right away.”

  “Thanks.” He turned back to his witness. “Let’s go, Maureen. It’s time for you and me to have a little talk.”

  He settled her into one of the interview rooms and asked her if she wanted a cold drink.

  “What’s on offer?” she asked, eyeing him curiously.

  “The usual stuff. Coke, Fanta, Sprite. There’s a vending machine down the hall.”

  She nodded. “I’ll have a Coke, thanks.”

  He left the room and returned a short time later with the can. Handing it to her, he settled himself across from her in the only other chair. He put his elbows on the desk and stared at her.

  “I want you to tell me about the night of November twelfth. You said you were walking along the path up on the cliffs of North Bondi. What time was it?”

  Maureen took a mouthful of Coke and promptly burped. Without excusing herself, she answered. “I don’t have a watch, but it must have been about one in the morning.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I had a fight with my boyfriend. We were drinking in a hotel not far from Bondi Beach. He got nasty. Refused me a smoke, so I left before I did something stupid, like mouthing off at him. My momma always said I had a mouth. Anyway, it had just gone midnight when I walked out of the bar. I sat on a park bench for a bit, trying to clear my head. I finally decided to go for a walk. I love the beach. We don’t get much surf out at Mount Druitt.” She shot him a wry smile and he laughed.

  “You’re right about that,” he murmured. Mount Druitt was as far inland as he could imagine. He nodded for her to continue.

  “I figure it would have been about an hour since I left Paulie,” she said. “Paulie’s my boyfriend.”

  Jared shot her a dubious look. “Mount Druitt’s a long way from Bondi. What were you doing here?”

  She shrugged. “Paulie’s family are from over this way. He said he wanted to visit his old man. Wanted to ask him for money, most likely. Anyway, that’s why we were here.”

  Jared noted the information on the legal pad in front of him. “How much had you been drinking?”

  “I’d had a couple of Schooners, maybe three. I had a bit of a buzz on, but I was feeling all right. At least, I was until Paulie turned mean.”

  “So you started along the Federation Walk at Bondi Beach, headed north. Is that right?”

  “I don’t know what it’s called, but yeah, I headed along the sidewalk. The beach was on my right.”

  “It was pretty dark that night, Maureen. What did you use for light?”

  “There was a good moon that helped out, but I used the light on my phone.”

  “Lucky you had your battery charged,” he murmured.

  She chuckled. “Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?”

  Jared scribbled a couple more notes. “All right, Maureen, tell me what you saw when you were walking along the cliffs.”

  She picked up the can of Coke and tilted it to her lips. He watched her swallow. Once again, she let out a loud burp before setting the can back down.

  “I was walking along, minding my own business, thinking about Paulie and how nasty he’d been. We’d been together five or six months, long enough for him to stop being nice. And he has. Stopped being nice, I mean. It was all right in the early days, back when there was plenty of gear. He’d—”

  “Maureen, can we just get on with it?”

  “All right, all right! Hold your horses! I’m getting there!”

  Jared only just managed to suppress an eye roll.

  “I was heading up the hill, minding my own business, when I thought I heard a noise. It sounded like someone crying out. I thought I heard the sound of a dull kind of thumping and then there was another grunt or two. I wasn’t sure if I’d heard right. The surf was loud in my ears, but when I saw the story on the news about the bloke who’d been murdered the same night I was there, I thought maybe I had heard something.”

  Jared’s heart rate picked up its pace, but he kept his voice low and casual. “Tell me what else you heard.”

  She scrunched up her face. “Well, that’s about it. But not long after, I passed a bloke along the path, heading in the opposite direction.”

  Jared sat forward. “How do you know it was a man?”

  Maureen shrugged. “I don’t. It was too dark to see his face. It was just an impression I got. He was big and tall, much taller than me. Even taller than Paulie.”

  “How tall is Paulie?”

  “About as tall as you, Detective.”

  Jared nodded and noted the unidentified person as more than six feet tall. “Did you notice anything else?”

  “Not really. His face was in shadow, but he definitely had short hair. It was dark hair, I think, but it was hard to tell. I only saw him for a moment.”

  “So this person was coming down the hill toward you, away from North Bondi, is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And how close to the vicinity of the crime scene was it? I take it you saw the area cordoned off with the police tape, on the news?”

  “Yeah, I saw it. That’s when I got to wondering whether the man I saw had anything to do with it. It was around the same time and not far from where the police said the bloke was killed.”

  Jared nodded and made some more notes. He could hardly contain his excitement. Though his eyewitness left a lot to be desired, right now her evidence was the best he had.

  “Did you notice anything else about this person?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You already asked me that.”

  He ignored the attitude and replied in a voice that remained
calm and steady, “Sometimes you remember things later that you hadn’t thought about before.”

  She chuckled and nodded. “You know what, Detective, you’re right. There is one more thing I remember. He smelled nice.”

  “Who?”

  “The bloke I passed on the cliff. He smelled nice, like he wore some kind of expensive cologne. It was a little sweet for a bloke, if you ask me, but whatever floats your boat. No doubt he paid a fortune for it.”

  Jared noted the comment on his writing pad. “Can you take a guess how old this person was?”

  “It was dark, Detective, and I only saw him for a moment. He was walking toward me on the path and then we passed. I didn’t know at the time he was a murderer or I would have paid a little more attention: memorized his features; asked him his name and cell phone number. You know, that kind of thing.”

  Once again, Jared counted silently to three. The woman was beyond trying, but she was the best and only witness he had. He’d humor her if it was the last thing he did.

  “Try your best, Maureen. A guess. Did he walk like a young man, or an older one? How did he dress? Nice clothes, or not so nice? Did he have facial hair?”

  “Whoa, Detective! One question at a time! I already told you his face was in shadow. I don’t think he wore a beard, but I couldn’t be certain. He walked like a man, big strides, you know, but now that I think about it, I don’t think he was young like me and Paulie. He didn’t bounce with energy. He moved more like he was in a hurry, but not really. Does that make sense?”

  Jared suppressed a sigh. Maureen’s information was better than nothing, but he couldn’t help but wish she had other details to offer. Still, what she’d given him was more than he’d had an hour ago and for that he was grateful.

  “Do you remember anything about his clothing?” Jared asked again.

  Maureen shook her head. “No, just that it was dark colored and I think he wore trousers. I don’t remember seeing any bare legs.”

  “Did he speak to you?”

  “No. I saw him coming toward me along the path. He had something in his hand. I was a little bit wary, given the time of night, but I didn’t think too much of it. I’ve been out walking at night before. Sometimes, you come across unrestrained dogs. You never know if they’re friend or foe.” She shrugged. “I’ve carried a stick with me at times.”