Lethal in Love

by Michelle Somers

  She had one more chance. It was a long shot, but a long shot was better than no shot at all. She hard-reset the phone and winced as the corresponding click seemed to bounce off every one of the room’s four walls.

  She stalled. ‘I had as little control over the course of my life as you had over yours. Things could just as easily have been reversed and neither of us is to blame for this situation. It’s not too late, Juz. It’s never too late. I can help you.’

  ‘Again with the psychobabble. I expected more from you, Jayda.’ Even as his body hunched over, one hand braced against the weight’s stand, he reached into his pocket and she strained to see what he pulled out. ‘Before you become my last victim, it’s important you realise the true extent of your loss.’

  His hand shook as he aimed what appeared to be a remote control at the largest of three LCD TVs. The screen jumped to life. It took a moment to recognise what he meant her to see—Seth, Chase, her team, other members of the force, all scouring Juz’s living room.

  Her heart leapt. They’d figured it out, were looking for her.

  Her eyes were drawn to one man—Seth. Pacing, angry, impatient. Like a cobra bracing to attack. She drank in every last agitated inch of him.

  Something changed.

  Everyone froze. Chase ran from the room, Seth close at his heels. The screen flickered and Jayda stared in horror as Garry bobbed midair, hanging from a noose suspended from the ceiling. Seth raked his hair in that agitated way of his, and her fingers itched to smooth the black strands back into order. While she was still living, breathing, she would strive for the moment when she could do just that. She closed her mind to the rest.

  ‘It’s a funny thing. Love. It makes people weak. Careless. Like your ridiculous excuse of a partner. His emotions make him blind. I wonder, have you asked him lately what’s up with his wrist?’

  She couldn’t drag her gaze from the screen, much as she knew watching Juz was more important.

  Why was he showing her this?

  ‘Shame you won’t get the opportunity.’

  She turned her eyes to him then. He wheezed, hand clutching his throat. Not long now until he wouldn’t be able to speak at all. She lived for that moment.

  ‘Then there’s lover-boy. Do you really believe he sees you as anything more than a stand-in for his parents? Too late now to find out.’ He dipped his head to the side. ‘He’s got a helluva story. His dream job. Lucky he hooked up with the girl who could get him both.’

  They were just words. A sick bastard’s way of manipulating her into doubting everything she had that he envied.

  Don’t let him get to you. It’s what he wants.

  ‘For the short time you have left, I want you to know everything that happens next is because of you.’

  The film continued, everyone searching for her, placing themselves in the firing line of whatever Juz had planned. And she couldn’t do a damn thing. She wanted to scream, but her throat was constricted and dry, and she couldn’t drag her eyes from the scene she had no power to stop.

  Blind desperation trilled through her voice. ‘You don’t have to do this, Juz. You have me. Do anything to me, just leave Seth and the others out of it.’

  ‘Sweet sentiments, but it’s too late. It’s already done. These are just the highlights I saved for you.’ Each rasp of his chuckle sliced away another portion of her heart. ‘Wait! Here’s my favourite part!’

  A forensics officer turned from Garry, something small clasped in her tweezers. Was it paper? With slow, meticulous care she unfolded the tight ball and read. Her words swept through the room like Jack Frost in a grassy meadow.

  They scrambled for the door, their panic tangible, a fist-punch to Jayda’s heart. Behind them, black smoke billowed out from the closet, swallowing the room, them, everything in sight. Debris scattered through the haze, then fire captured the cloud with a burst of bright, burning gold.

  A roaring inferno, the consequences of which she couldn’t tell.

  A whimper slipped unheeded from her lips, every bit of staunch stolen from her spine.

  ‘Brings new meaning to “going out with a bang”, don’t you think?’

  The words ricocheted through her brain. She wanted to ram that supercilious voice back down his throat until he choked on it.

  She crept forwards, still shielded by the equipment, as if by closing in she’d see more. Get some indication that they’d survived. All she got was grey smoke and flames.

  Her legs buckled, pain shafting through her chest. She gripped the metal beast beside her to prevent herself from crumpling to the floor. He couldn’t be dead. Wouldn’t she feel it? The wrench. The burn as her heart ripped in two and the best part of it disintegrated to nothing.

  She lifted her chin and willed Seth to be alive. Vivid orange and yellow licked at the screen, mocking her prayers.

  Then the image flickered and she found herself staring into her own wide-eyed gaze. A light below the security camera just ahead of her flashed red, proving her right, that Juz had somehow hacked into their feed and was recording her even now. To what end?

  Who knew what else the sick bastard had planned.

  The knife weighed heavy in her hand and she wanted nothing more than to sink it into his heart the way he’d cut and thrust his hatred into hers.

  She took two steps towards him, but something in his expression stopped her from taking a third. The one shred of sanity she had left held her back. He’d lived for this moment, to see her lose everything she valued. Her dignity. Her life.

  Much as it took all her willpower, she wouldn’t give Juz that last slice of victory he so obviously craved.

  ‘You bastard! You’ve taken everything.’

  ‘Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong, Jayda. You have one thing more that I want.’ Again she heard the sickening crack of his knuckles. ‘Your last breath.’

  Adrenalin steeped her veins, hurtling her blood through her body so fast it made her head spin.

  ‘So what are you waiting for? Come get me, you sick sonovabitch!’

  He made no attempt to move, his lips slithering into a thick, wide arc.

  Something was wrong.

  With jerky movements she scanned the area, eyes so wide they hurt. Nothing had changed. But it felt as if the room had shrunk, the walls caving slowly in around her.

  Two metres to the left, the door loomed. Something instinctual drove her to leave now, and without a thought, she moved towards it. She clicked the phone back on and sent a prayer up to whichever god cared to listen.

  Two bars.

  Iffy, but better than no bars. It was a chance.

  Eyes fixed on the barely moving Juz, she skirted a line of hulking white ghosts, pressing her back to the wall. His body may have been hunched, but the glassy brown of his eyes followed her with unwavering precision.

  She steeled against the drag of that gaze. The chill that could so easily freeze every remaining hope she still clung to if she let it.

  With shaky fingers, she dialled the number and held her breath. She needed Seth to answer, needed it more than she needed her next drag of oxygen.

  The obligatory five rings blasted her ear before the call clicked over to voicemail. She heard his voice, a robotic recording telling her to leave a message after the tone. As she watched Juz gasp for breath, she left a message for the man she loved, unsure whether he would ever get it.

  She clutched her stomach and her heart ached.

  For all his strong words, Juz leaned heavily against the metal stand. Only his firm grasp on her weapon stopped her from rushing him now. As she watched him clutch his throat, she rang Hackett.

  ‘Homicide.’ The clip of her boss’s greeting had never sounded so wonderful. Emotion welled in her throat so she had to clear it to speak.

  With her back hard against the wall and Juz clearly in her line of sight, the door remained less than a metre to her right.

  She heard a click, then the hungry squeal of oil-starved hinges. Cold air cha
rged across the side of her neck.

  ‘End the call, Jayda.’

  Like a freeze frame in one of those old-time reel-to-reel movies, she turned to face the barrel of another gun.

  65

  ‘Georgie!’

  For the first time since the nightmare had begun she allowed herself to relax.

  ‘Thank God you’re here. Juz is the Night Terror. He’s injured but still armed. Over there by the treadmills.’ She waved in his direction.

  I’m safe.

  She peered over her friend’s shoulder. ‘Where’s back-up? I saw the bomb. Is everyone okay?’

  ‘I said end the call, Jayda. Or would you rather I end it for you?’ The Smith & Wesson lifted until it levelled right between her eyes.

  Realisation dawned. Like a young leaf spiralling down from the heavens into the murk, her sudden hope vanished and the nightmare returned. With her every inroad towards escape, the universe dealt a blow to drag her right back in.

  Jayda bent slowly, dropping the phone at her feet. With any luck Hackett was still on the other end.

  She stared at her colleague, her friend, wearing the badge that dictated she uphold the right, and every bit of stability she’d reclaimed by knocking Juz to the ground and escaping vanished. The hollow in her heart widened.

  Georgie nodded. ‘Now the knife.’

  The blade followed the path of the phone.

  ‘Hands up where I can see them.’

  She raised her hands, flinching at the pull of skin on her stomach.

  Georgie surged forwards, urging her back with a wave of her weapon. Two stamps of her heel ground the phone and any hope of rescue into the hard floor. Then she retrieved the knife and waved it towards the treadmills.

  ‘Get moving. Any tricks and your last thought will be a bullet as it slams through your brain.’

  With leaden legs, Jayda made the death march across the gym room floor. Georgie rushed to Juz’s side. His body slumped against the rack of weights, his breath barely a whistle. Gun still trained on Jayda, her free hand fluttered over his face, his chest. ‘I’m sorry I took so long.’ The warmth in her brown eyes hardened when they lifted to Jayda. ‘What have you done?’

  ‘Less than he deserved.’ She stared at the woman, with whom she’d shared her deepest fears, her darkest secrets, bending over a man she’d loved like a brother. Reality pitched and she felt herself sliding the incline. Was anything real anymore?

  ‘You and Juz? I don’t understand, Georgie.’

  ‘That doesn’t surprise me. After all, why should you change now?’

  She still didn’t get it. But with an M&P 40 calibre to her head, it wasn’t the time to let on. Her mind was a muddle of jigsaw pieces, so she started with the bits she could process first. ‘But Juz is gay.’

  ‘That changed when he met me.’

  ‘Seriously? Don’t tell me you swallowed that line.’

  ‘It wasn’t a line.’ Georgie stepped closer and she flinched as the shiny black barrel loomed in her vision.

  Juz pushed up with his free hand, the other still holding Jayda’s weapon. Georgie fumbled to help him. He gasped, tried to speak even, but the blow to his vocal chords seemed to be working its magic.

  If only it’d work a damn sight faster and finish the job.

  Georgie leaned towards Juz and he whispered in her ear. She glared at Jayda. ‘Untie the material from around your waist and toss it to me.’

  ‘Think about what you’re doing, Georgie.’

  The gun waved again. ‘Do it!’

  Jayda fumbled with the knots, her mind racing. ‘He doesn’t love you. He’s just using you.’

  ‘Shut up!’ The weapon in her hand trembled until Juz placed his palm on her wrist and she relaxed.

  ‘If you do this, your entire career is shot.’

  ‘It’s already shot, but at least this way I have a chance at happiness.’

  Jayda dropped the material to the floor.

  Juz raised his gun and Georgie grabbed the strips. ‘Hands behind your back and turn around.’

  ‘Your happiness will be short-lived if you think it involves a life with Juz. I broke his windpipe. Hear that wheeze? Once the swelling increases, the little oxygen slipping through right now will become zilch. If you really want happiness, call an ambulance.’

  Georgie’s trapped deer eyes flitted to the door then back. Again Juz touched his hand to hers. Some silent communication occurred between them and once more Georgie seemed to relax and focus, her fingers flexing over the gun’s trigger, the barrel directed unswervingly at Jayda’s heart.

  She flinched. Swallowed against the lump in her throat and tried again. ‘He’ll die without medical attention, Georgie. Is that what you want?’

  ‘Shut up and turn around.’

  She turned, unable to stop her body trembling. Death was suddenly all too real, all too close.

  ‘I’m going to tie your hands behind your back. Try anything and you’re dead.’

  She wasn’t stupid enough to believe she’d live if she complied. The odds weren’t even close to fair. Her body braced. Cold fingers contacted with her wrists.

  Jayda sidestepped. Her palm struck Juz’s gun from his hand, then she elbowed Georgie in the chest. As she turned to finish the job, sharp pain smacked against the back of her head and the world retreated into night.

  ‘You bitch!’ Georgie’s shriek was barely recognisable as her fist smattered into Jayda’s jaw and the black exploded into stars.

  Her hands were yanked behind her back and roughly tied together. Then she was hauled to her feet, stumbling. Georgie dragged her, pushing her into a chair, tying her bindings to whatever equipment was behind her.

  This is it, then.

  There’d be no escape, no more cutting ropes or hopes of a miraculous rescue. Nothing she said or did now would make a difference.

  She rolled her jaw and winced. Fresh blood coated her tongue.

  Her chest squeezed. She wouldn’t give up. Not now, not ever. Not while she still breathed and there was a chance. ‘The Juz you think you know is an illusion, Georgie. He traps people with his lies and turns them into his pawns. He kills. Brutally. He murdered Bec, for godsake! Once you’re no longer useful, he’ll do the same to you.’

  She felt a sharp tug at her wrists. Everything below the bindings was already numbing. A perfect match to the void in her heart.

  ‘We love each other.’

  ‘Everyone who loves him dies.’

  ‘That’s because he never loved them back.’

  Jayda shook her head. ‘Juz is a psychopath. You’ve done the training. He’s incapable of love.’

  ‘So incapable that he cooks for me? Knows what to say when I’m down? Braves the rain just to buy my favourite ice cream?’

  Orange choc chip. In her freezer. How could she not have guessed?

  ‘When Ben dragged my heart through the gravel, who picked me up and stopped me from finishing it all at the end of a rope? You? Slim chance you’d drag your nose out from your ass long enough to notice anyone else’s life but your own.’ Georgie blinked, her gaze softening briefly as it brushed over Juz. Then razorblades returned as she glared at Jayda. ‘Only one friend saw how close I was to losing it, and he made sure he was there for me every single day. Surprise, surprise, that friend wasn’t you.’

  ‘It’s all part of his act.’ Jayda bit her lip. The urge to scream bubbled up in her throat. What the hell could she say to break through this brainwashing? ‘He’s a cold-blooded killer, Georgie.’

  ‘You have no idea what he’s been through. He didn’t want to do it. Madden manipulated him. Taught him, only made him feel special when he followed orders. He had no choice then, but now that Madden’s gone, Juz is free.’

  Jayda gasped as an entire jar of pennies dropped. ‘My God! You were in the prison that morning. You killed him!’

  ‘Madden was the devil. He didn’t deserve to live.’

  ‘That wasn’t your decision to make.’
<
br />   Georgie moved to stand before her. ‘Who the hell are you to preach when you stole any chance Juz had of a normal life?’

  ‘That wasn’t my fault.’

  ‘Nothing ever is, and yet your very existence creates havoc for the people around you. You’ve tried to take everything away from me. Stole my best friend, even though you didn’t want him for yourself.’

  Her mind was still reeling from Georgie’s first accusation when the second one hit. ‘Who are you talking about?’

  ‘Think about it, Jayda.’

  Her mind raced. ‘Chase?’

  Georgie’s narrowed gaze said she’d guessed right.

  ‘I know you guys spend a lot of time together but I never tried to change that.’

  ‘And yet as soon as he fell for you it changed anyway.’

  ‘You should have told me, Georgie.’

  ‘So you could pity me? Pass me your scraps? It got to the point where all he talked about was “Jayda this” and “Jayda that”. I’m so sick of your goddamn name! Sick of the hordes of men who think you’re so goddamn wonderful they ignore the people who really matter in their life. Now I’ve met someone who puts me first, and once you’re gone, things will only get better.’

  The words sliced through Jayda’s heart, jab by painful jab. Any hope that some care, some love for her remained in Georgie was gone.

  Georgie turned to Juz. ‘She’s ready.’

  Jayda’s mouth turned to sand.

  She watched Georgie return to his side, watched him pull her to him for a kiss. Georgie glowed and her words echoed through Jayda’s mind.

  If only . . . her mind scrambled. If only what? What good to wallow in what ifs when she should be working towards escape instead? Her fingers fumbled over the thick knots. They weren’t moving and there was nothing sharp this time for cutting.

  She turned away from the happy couple rather than watch. Her last memory wouldn’t be a kiss shared between the two people who’d betrayed her.

  It was too late to question whether telepathy was real. She tried it anyway. Thought of Seth, thought of her parents, sent messages out that might just be her last. She prayed that Seth and Chase and the rest of her team had survived. That her parents could withstand the loss of another daughter. That they would at least have each other. She tried to focus on the good rather than the regrets. The memories rather than times she’d hoped for in a future that was never to be.