Fatal Fiction (Harbour Bay Book 5)

by Camille Taylor

  “Sure. I’ve been known to read instructions every now and again.” She prepared him a plate of steamed rice.

  “Where did you get all of this?” He knew for a fact just how pitiful his pantry contents were. He still hadn’t had a chance to fill them and had planned to order something in. It had become a custom of theirs, eating take-out while they talked.

  Riley waved his concerns off. “Don’t worry I didn’t leave the apartment. Michelle brought it over.”

  Nick blinked at her a couple of times as her words finally sunk in. Nick tried to remain calm. He leant against the kitchen bench and crossed his arms over his chest and took deep breaths. Riley watched him warily.

  “Coimhead fearg fhear na foighde,” she muttered as she stirred the sauce simmering on the stove top.

  Nick narrowed his eyes. “What was that?”

  “I said: Beware the anger of a patient man—one of my grandmother’s favourite sayings.” A sad, bittersweet smile curved her lips. “My grandfather tended to be a quiet man, hoarding his temper until it became too much and then he’d blow and you ducked for cover. I’m like my grandmother, if we’re pissed you’ll know about it right away.”

  Nick scoffed. “Your grandmother was a wise woman. Much wiser than her granddaughter.”

  Her eyes narrowed and she brandished the wooden spoon like a weapon. “Oh, really why is that?”

  “You told your assistant where you were. You may as well put an ad in the paper.”

  Riley scowled at him. “Michelle knows the score. She won’t tell anyone and if she does I know not to trust her in the future.”

  Nick let out a long breath. “Jesus, Riley.”

  One hand went to her hip. “So anyway.” She wisely changed the subject. “How did it go today?”

  Nick sat down at the counter, placing his laptop beside him. “The victim’s name was Mallory Duncan. She worked as a receptionist. She was only twenty-six.”

  Riley filled a plate and placed it before Nick. She handed him a fork. “Eat,” she ordered, before moving back to the stove to cover the leftovers.

  Nick took a bite and was glad he had. In another life, Riley could’ve been a chef. “The sketch artist finally finished up on the last sketch and we’re running the likeness through the RTA databases. Hopefully, we’ll get lucky with a match.”

  The RTA was the Road Transport Authority that held the records to every motor vehicle registration and issued driver licences for the state of New South Wales.

  He opened the laptop lid and hit some keys, bringing up a photo file before turning the laptop to face Riley. “This is Mallory Duncan.” He showed her both the sketch artist’s rendering and a photo they had collected from the crime scene. In the picture, big hazel eyes smiled at the camera, the woman obviously very happy. Riley blinked back tears and shook her head. Nick then hit the side arrow button, the artist sketch of the next potential victim appearing on screen. Riley leaned forward and studied the image.

  After a minute she leaned back and said, “I don’t recognise her.”

  Nick figured at much, so far, the only thing that had discovered was the fact that none of their victims knew each other and as far as they were concerned didn’t even live on the same continent as each other, not sharing a single thing in common. “We’re in the process of distributing the pictures in an effort to appeal to the public. We’re also checking into the victim’s life, cross-examining any possible connections between her and you. Just because you don’t recognise the woman, doesn’t mean you’ve never seen her before.”

  “And you can’t do that with the other potential victim unless you have a name.”

  Nick leaned against the metal backrest on the stool and ran his fingers through his hair. “You’d think having a face would make it easier.”

  Riley leaned across the counter and rested her hand over his. “You’re doing the best you can Nick. No one can ask for more.”

  Nick shovelled a fork full of food into his mouth, chewed and swallowed. He looked over at Riley, noting that she didn’t have a plate in front of her. “You’re not eating.”

  Riley shrugged. “I’m not hungry.”

  Nick pushed the plate across the shiny granite counter, closer to Riley. “You might not want any but your body needs it.” He handed her his fork.

  Riley stared at the fork for a moment before taking it from his fingers and scooped up a mouthful of the delectable Thai green chicken. Nick stared at her mouth as she chewed before turning his attention to her throat as she swallowed.

  “Where do you keep your keys?”

  Riley blinked at the change of topic. “There’s one on my keychain, another in my apartment and one more in my desk at work—which is the one Michelle borrows.”

  He took the fork from her and took another bite. “Do you lock your office?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’ll check with the cleaning crew at the publishing house next.”

  Riley sighed. “I’d like to say you’re wrong but it wouldn’t be the first time B&G hired someone who turned out to be a criminal.”

  He knew she was thinking of her colleague who’d gone off the rails a few years ago. He and Dean had worked the case.

  “How are you doing anyway? I know you’re not used to sitting around.”

  “Actually, I’m quite enjoying taking a step back. Being able to focus on the parts of my job I really love and leaving the meetings to Michelle. Since being here I’ve discovered some fresh voices I’d like to acquire.”

  “That’s great, Riley. I’m glad for you.”

  “Thank you. But slowing down has also made me realise my work isn’t as fulfilling as it once was. I used to live and breathe for every second. Loved the thrill of it all. Now I’m giving more and more away and strangely I don’t care.”

  Pressing a glass to her lips, Riley took a sip of water.

  “That’s good, right? Megan says how you’re always working. Maybe you can get a better work-life balance.”

  She shifted her weight behind the kitchen counter.

  “If I’m honest, I’ve been giving some thought to cutting back my hours. Give Michelle the opportunity to shine. She’s really proved she can handle anything.”

  “Of course she can. She is your assistant.”

  She tilted her head. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “You should. It was one. You’ve taught her well.”

  “She reminds me a lot of myself. You know you’re the first one I’ve mentioned this to.” She took a deep breath. “It’s a little scary…the unknown of the future. I have no idea what I’d do with my free time.”

  “You’ll do just fine,” he said. Riley was smart, resourceful and it appeared failure was not in her vocabulary. She was also kind and loyal. Qualities he wished he didn’t see.

  She smiled at his words and his heart thundered in his chest. Christ, she was beautiful—something else he wished he hadn’t noticed but he was sure even if he was blind he would still see her beauty. She shined from within, her generous nature and soft heart making her even more attractive to him than just her creamy features.

  “I hope so. I don’t want to look back on my life and have regrets, you know. I don’t want to follow in my family’s footsteps and allow my work to completely consumed me.”

  He knew exactly what she meant, only it wouldn’t be his work he’d regret.

  “I have no doubt you’ll get whatever you want out of life, Riley.”

  She studied his face as if determining his sincerity. She let out a deep sigh, one sounding full of regret. “If only that were true.”

  Chapter 15

  Riley’s eyes snapped open. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her room was dark and it took a few moments to adjust. The clock on the bedside table told her it was almost midnight. What had awoken her? She strained to hear anything out of the ordinary. In the distance, beyond her room, she heard a scraping sound of metal against metal and she sat up, reaching under her pillow for
the butt of her trusty Glock. Opening the door to her room, she promptly ran into a shirtless Nick who, like her, was also packing heat. Nick squinted in the dark. There was no way he couldn’t make out the dark shadow in Riley’s hand.

  “Jesus, Riley.”

  She was really getting sick of those two words.

  His attention returned to the matter at hand and together they made their way toward the front door. He spared another glance at her weapon. “Yours is bigger than mine.”

  Riley rolled her eyes, typical male. “You should know it’s not the size that matters but how you use it.”

  They reached the front entrance, eyes trained on the front door as it swung open. A figure stood in the shadows and Riley’s heart leapt in her chest. She gripped her Glock harder, assessing the situation, determining if she would need to shoot the intruder or whether there was another way of disarming their midnight visitor. She had been trained by her brother how to shoot a gun and of course how to properly clean it afterwards, it had been his version of self-defence so she knew exactly how to handle herself. She concentrated on the dark figure, regulated her breathing and raised her gun. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nick do the same as a hand reached out to the light switch on the wall. A young woman in her late twenties stood just inside the room, her blonde hair curled around her round face.

  “Vanessa.”

  Riley quickly moved her hand, along with Glock behind her back before ‘Vanessa’ could see it and tried for a look of nonchalance. She wished she was wearing pants so she could tuck the gun in the waistband, but she always wore Declan’s old police training shirt to bed, and considering her brother was the size of Nick, the shirt was almost a dress on her petite frame, reaching down to her knees. The navy cotton shirt reminded her of all the good times she’d had with her brother and gave her a sense of comfort and a feeling of safety and could barely sleep without it.

  Vanessa stood wide-eyed at Nick, who was still pointing his weapon at her and after noticing what he was doing, slowly lowered his arm. But his gaze never left her face. He glowered at her.

  Interesting.

  “I thought you returned all your keys?” His tone was calm but more than slightly peeved.

  Is this why he had such a key fascination?

  Vanessa nodded dumbly. “I did. This is the spare.”

  She looked over at Riley and frowned as she took in Riley’s state of undress with disapproval.

  Well, what did she expect at midnight?

  Riley glanced over at Nick who was dressed only in a pair of black boxer shorts with yellow smiley faces on them and just when she thought her heart rate was returning to normal began pounding again, and her body grew warm. God, no man should look that good in the middle of the night, especially when woken up abruptly. His hair, she noted was sticking up and she smiled despite her discomfort, her traitorous body practically begged for Nick to take her.

  Nick, realising she was staring at him, or rather, eating him up with her eyes turned his head to look at her, a polite enquiry on his face. She jerked her gaze from his and back to Vanessa, frowning at how beautiful the woman was. Her first glance had been one filled with adrenaline, now that that was finally wearing off she wished she’d never gotten out of bed. She glanced at the woman’s hand and the set of keys she held. Huh, obviously this was one of Nick’s women.

  Riley stepped forward, hoping her lustful stare at Nick had gone unnoticed by the blonde. “Hi, I’m Riley, Nick’s cousin.” She spoke quickly. She didn’t want Nick to get into trouble with his lady if she could help it, he was, after all, trying to keep her alive, it was the least she could do.

  “Cousin?” Suspicion coated Vanessa’s words.

  “Yep, I’m in town to visit the family and get some shopping in.” The lies tumbled easily out of her mouth before her brain had even finished thinking them up. “I was going to check into a hotel but Nicky here invited me to stay with him much to my pleasure. Hotels around here can be expensive. Well, I’ll be going back to bed now and leave you two alone. Night all.”

  Vanessa’s gaze burned Riley all the way back to the spare bedroom. Obviously, she didn’t lie worth a damn, that or Vanessa had a suspicious nature she didn’t care which. She closed the door firmly behind her and then sank down into the soft mattress.

  Riley strained to hear the words being spoken. But all she got was a low hum.

  She wasn’t jealous, not one bit. She knew Nick had had girlfriends in the past, hell she’d had a boyfriend, one she had lived with for over a year but seeing and knowing were two totally different things. She should’ve known better to fall for a guy who was so good looking. Only heartache lay ahead for those who got involved with Nicholas Doyle. The man was just too smoking hot for his own good or for hers. It was hardly his fault women flocked to him.

  Determined to rid Nick out of her mind, she turned to her mystery writer, wondering who the hell he was and why of all people he had chosen her to be his victim. Not that the other women had it coming, she knew they hadn’t but she led a pretty innocuous life.

  Or rather no life at all.

  It was probably just as Nick thought, someone who was pissed at her for not making his dreams come true. But that didn’t explain how he knew what her apartment looked like. Her keys were all accounted for but Nick had sent them to be tested for fingerprints and checked them for signs of being copied. He had already had the locksmith come by with her new set of keys and was in the process of arranging for a security alarm to be installed.

  Once again, her mind went back to the man who was just beyond her bedroom door and she groaned. Would she ever get Nick out of her system?

  ***

  Nick glared at Vanessa as she sent him a sweet smile. Once he had been fooled by her and her many talents—lying in particular but never again. He knew the real Vanessa and nothing she or anyone could say will ever let him see her differently.

  “Is she really your cousin, Nick? I don’t like her calling you Nicky.”

  Nick put his hands on his hips, having long before tucked his standard police issued Glock into the waistband of his boxers, the weight tugging on them slightly, pulling them lower than he’d like. “It’s none of your business, Vanessa. Now, what are you doing here?”

  He had thought he’d seen the last of her. Yet it appeared Vanessa couldn’t seem to be able to let go, to move on. She wanted him and he feared just maybe she wouldn’t stop until she got him. He glanced quickly at the door leading to the spare room where Riley was sleeping. If anything happened to her because of him he would never forgive himself.

  “I came to ask you to give me another chance. Please, Nick, I can be who you want me to be.”

  Nick shook his head. No, she couldn’t. There was only one Riley O’Neill and that was who he wanted but could never have. Even though he had met Vanessa long before he even knew Riley existed he felt as if he had been waiting for her, as if she was the only woman for him and no one else could even compare to her.

  “I’m not going to tell you again, Vanessa. Leave me alone. Don’t come near me. Don’t follow me. Don’t call me. Just forget that you ever met me. I’ve been pretty damn patient, allowing you time to come to your senses but if you don’t stop harassing me I will bring you up on charges.”

  Vanessa pouted. “You’d never do that, Nick, you love me.”

  Nick shook his head. “No, Vanessa I don’t. I never did and I never told you I did.”

  “Not in those words no but in your actions.”

  “Look, Vanessa, you need to get some help. Someone who’ll listen and help you move on. I never treated you any different to any other woman I meet.”

  Which was true. He had never said he loved her, couldn’t because it would’ve been a lie and even if he hadn’t discovered the truth he would’ve broken up with her anyway. There were no sparks except the ones she thought she felt. She was an attractive woman; she could have any guy in the world. Why did it have to be him she set her sights on?r />
  He held out his hand. “The keys, Vanessa.”

  She frowned and then reluctantly handed over his spare set of keys. “It’s her, isn’t it?” She jerked her head towards Riley’s room. “You don’t want me now because you’ve got her, another warm, willing woman in your bed.”

  Nick let out a deep bone-weary sigh. He was sick of arguing with Vanessa.

  “I’m not discussing this with you, Vanessa, please leave.”

  She left out a disgruntled huff and stormed out of his apartment, stopping just outside. “I love you, Nick, I always have and I always will. No one will ever love you like I do.” With her last word being said she closed the door on his face.

  Nick shivered. He wasn’t completely sure but as her words rang through his head, he figured they were intended as a threat.

  Chapter 16

  Hours later, Riley was still awake, all too aware that Nick hadn’t gone back to bed. A few moments ago, she’d heard the clink of a glass against the coaster beside his favourite chair and knew he was drinking. Even from here she could smell the harsh liquor. What was it about his ex that made him seek solace in a drink? The pale moonlight streaked through the window blinds, casting white lines across the bed, and a small glow of yellow light shined beneath the crack of the door. She would never be able to get to sleep now. Not with Nick sitting out there alone, brooding. Every time she closed her eyes she saw him, his perfectly toned body, hard lines and taut stomach. She moaned with the need to drag her nails down his chest and through the light dusting of midnight black hair.

  She yanked the winter blanket away and sat up. God damn Nicholas Doyle. From the moment he had entered her life he’d turned it upside down and inside out. She couldn’t explain her feelings and desires towards him, she guessed she just reacted like every other hot-blooded female when it came to him. But for a brief moment, just a few minutes she had felt something between them, something she was sure went both-ways but then was gone, evaporated into thin air the moment they had walked into the hall where Dean’s and Megan’s engagement party was in full swing and Megan had greeted them. At that moment something changed and Nick had been friendly enough but not like he had been for the first ten minutes when they had met outside, both of them late and hurrying to join the others. Looking back, she wished she’d never bothered.