Authors: Toni Anderson
A seagull squawked overhead.
“Aw, shit!” Ewan rubbed at a patch of white guano dribbling down the front of his suit. “At least it’s supposed to be lucky,” he grumbled, searching for a tissue.
Nick let out a weary sigh. Not even the birds crapped on him.
Susie’s alarm was still being installed and she hadn’t heard a peep from Nick. Obviously potential killers only worked night shift. She kicked a pebble across the sand, huddled into her cable sweater, the hood drawn up over her head.
A redshank waded in the shallows, tugged backward as it yanked up a bivalve. Bivalves were distant relatives of her octopi, a fact that always amazed her. However, man was closely related to rats, which wasn’t a stretch at all.
An unbidden image of Nick Archer flashed into her mind. He hadn’t even said goodbye. She picked up an empty whelk shell and carried it along with her, rubbing the rough barnacles on the outside with her thumb. So. They’d had sex and now they were done.
Annoyed with herself for wanting more, she kicked a hole in the sand, spraying it in all directions, taking out her frustration on tiny grains that whipped back into her face on the wind.
“I think you killed it.”
Susie whirled, gasping for breath as Lily stood and grinned at her. Lily’s smile faded after a moment and she looked pale. For once she wasn’t wearing makeup and her clothes were unremarkable blue jeans, sneakers and a Gor-Tex jacket zipped up to her nose. Black roots had begun to creep through the blond at her scalp.
Susie fiddled with the shell. “How’s your mom today?”
Lily’s lips wobbled as if on the verge of tears. She blinked them away, looking toward the slate roof of the cottage just visible above the yellow dune.
“She’s good. Better, anyway,” she qualified with a fleeting smile. “I fed her pills and left her sleeping.” Lily walked a few paces closer to Susie and peered at the hole Susie had kicked in the sand.
“I need to work from home, until we get her medication sorted.” Her expression grew earnest. “I’m no slacker, I’ll come in to look after the animals and do experiments, but I have a laptop and can analyze data and read papers at home.”
Susie hesitated, wondering how to phrase what she needed to say. “Lily, if your mother has Alzheimer’s or another type of progressive dementia, there’s going to come a point she’ll need full-time care. It’s gonna be hard for you to cope on your own, let alone do a Ph.D.”
“It isn’t Alzheimer’s.” Lily stuffed her hands in her pockets and dipped her face out of the wind. “The doctor thinks it was brought on by the stress of the anniversary of Christina’s death last week.” She looked up and Susie caught the worry edging her eyes. “Once she’s back on her meds, which I’m going to administer from now on, she should be back to her old self.”
“What was she like? Your sister?” Susie held her breath, having asked such a bold question. They started walking toward the rocks at the far end of the beach.
“I was ten when she died.” A little crease marked the space between Lily’s brows. “She was my big sister, you know? Wonderful. Vivacious. This bouncing ball of energy and enthusiasm who whirled in and out of our lives whenever she felt like it. As far as I was concerned the sun shone out of her backside.”
Lily bent and picked up a piece of sea glass worn smooth by waves and sand. It was the color of Nick’s eyes.
“But she changed, just before she went to South Africa. She moved back home, her and Nick had a huge fight and she spent most of her time in a foul mood or bawling her eyes out.”
They’d been fighting?
Susie hadn’t known.
Lily’s mouth dragged down at the corners. “I think they were going to get divorced.”
Susie knew her eyes bugged. She’d assumed Chrissie had been perfect, so it felt strange to realize the dead woman had had her faults and their marriage hadn’t been ideal. Susie scooped up a razor-shell as an excuse not to respond. Because how could she say she was glad Christina hadn’t been as flawless as she’d assumed?
“Dad was still alive then. I remember him shouting at Chrissie—which he never did—telling her to get her act together. I lay in bed, listening.” Lily’s face tightened into lines of anger. “She was having an affair with Jake-the-snake.” She pulled a disgusted face that would have made Susie laugh if she hadn’t been so shocked.
“Can you imagine him naked? Ugh.” Lily leapt over a small stream that cut through the beach. She balanced nimbly on a piece of driftwood before hopping to the other side.
Susie got her feet wet. “Is that why Nick thinks Jake had something to do with her death?” It certainly explained the unsympathetic feelings toward her boss.
Lily shrugged. “I guess. I doubt Jake did it though, I mean the guy is a total lech. But a killer? Nah.” She shook her head. “I think Chrissie did something stupid and died in an accident, but no one wants to listen to my opinions.”
Susie didn’t know what to think. She’d slept with Nick and worked for Jake, but Chrissie would never be anything to her but other people’s perceptions.
“So, what’s the problem?” Lily asked with a slanted look. “I solved the last one. Maybe I can help you with this one too?”
“How did you get Rafael to start behaving himself?” Curiosity got the better of Susie.
“It’s a gift.” Lily laughed, but it faded and she turned serious. “Actually that’s not true. I don’t know what happened. Friday night Rafael came to see me. He’d had a change of heart and apologized for acting like a twat. Since then he’s been great, which is a pity because now he’s not acting like a dickhead, I fancy the pants off him.” She wriggled her brows. “But I sealed my fate by laying down the ground rules.”
“A woman of honor?” Susie laughed.
Lily threw back the hood on her jacket. “I am indeed.”
It felt good to be with Lily. Her openness was an outlet for Susie’s own repressed emotions. Maybe she needed to act more like Lily. Let it all out. Secrets and all.
Maybe not.
They walked in silence before Lily stopped and stared as if she had something important to say. Instinctively Susie knew she didn’t want to hear it.
“Nick loved Chrissie and she betrayed him.” Lily’s lips pinched hard together as if holding in an expletive. “But he blames himself for her death and I don’t know if he’ll ever get over it.” She reached out a surprisingly warm hand and squeezed Susie’s hand. “Don’t fall for him, okay? He’ll hurt you, even though he doesn’t mean to.”
Susie forced a laugh and pulled her hand away. “I barely know the man.” She blocked the image of his hair falling in his eyes, his face contorted in pleasure, the explosive heat of his skin. She looked up at puffy white cumulus drifting across the sky as if she had never seen clouds before. “Let me know if you need anything brought out from the Gatty.”
Rejection slid over Lily’s features and tugged at Susie’s conscience, but Lily was her student not her buddy. Susie already felt like a damn fool where Nick Archer was concerned, no need to advertise the fact. She walked away and didn’t see the hurt on Lily’s face replaced by fury.
Judy Sizemore sat opposite Ewan in the interview room, her back as straight as a ladder-back chair, her lips rammed together, almost disappearing into her face. Ewan asked the same list of structured questions he’d asked her rat-bastard husband.
Her expression never changed and Nick couldn’t tell from her answers whether she was innocent or guilty. The thing that bothered him about Judy as a suspect was, if she was really bothered by Jake’s adultery, Fife would be littered with bodies. But there had been at least one other death…
Had Judy Sizemore killed Tracy Good in a fit of jealousy? Had Judy killed Chrissie for the same reason? Could he have been wrong all these years? His broken toe throbbed inside his boot and the pain helped ground him.
“Did you know Jake was having an affair with his student?” Ewan asked, his voice soft and compassionate.
She snorted. “Says who? Him?” Her eyebrows jerked in a derogatory fashion toward Nick, but he just watched her, trying to gauge what was really going on in that mind.
“We have indisputable evidence.”
“I don’t doubt there’s someone more than willing to swear my husband had his tongue down some woman’s throat, but that doesn’t mean I have to believe it.” Her eyes stabbed at Nick.
Something painful squeezed in his chest and he interrupted Ewan, who was about to ask another question. “Play the recording.”
“Now?” Ewan squinted, brown eyes dubious, but Nick nodded and watched Judy’s eyes flick between them. She was so uptight he couldn’t read her body language. She was distancing herself from Jake and the victim by using impersonal pronouns—as if she’d never met Tracy, or Chrissie, as if she didn’t care they were dead.
Well
he
damn well cared. Maybe the tape would help make it all a little more personal. Nick had cued it to a specific place.
Ewan pressed Play on the recording and Judy’s expression shuttered, focusing inward, trying to block out the guttural grunts of sex.
“Jesus, Jesus! Ow! You have the most amazing tits.”
“Tell me what you want, Jake.”
Jake’s voice cracking. “I want you, Tracy. I want to have you every way I know and then I want to fuck you all over again.”
Judy’s eyes locked on his, her pupils dilating until only a thin slice of blue remained.
How deeply did this betrayal cut into Judy Sizemore’s heart?
“And what will you give me if I let you?” Tracy asked.
“Anything.”
“Turn it off.” Nick wanted Judy to wonder exactly what her husband had promised Tracy while they were screwing each other’s brains out.
Ewan clicked the mouse, tightened his lips before looking away from Nick’s impassive gaze. Ewan McKnight was the conscience of their partnership and he didn’t approve of hurting people.
Unfortunately he was in the wrong profession.
“So, Judy, now you know that Jake
was
having a sexual relationship with Tracy Good.” Nick held her gaze.
“It doesn’t mean he killed the little slut!” Spittle spat out like venom. Her eyes fixed on him with loathing.
As he stared back, the light in her eyes changed as if finally she got it. He not only wanted her husband behind bars, he had the power to put him there.
Ewan slid a photograph along the smooth surface of the table. “Tracy Good was murdered.”
Her eyes darted to the photograph and away again, showing no outward reaction.
“Look at the photograph, Judy.” Nick wanted to grab her head and force her to look at the brutal image. Tracy merited at least that much. “Do you think she deserved
that
for shagging Jake? Especially when she wasn’t the one breaking marriage vows?”
Judy’s hands squeezed into tense fists as she glanced at the photo. “Women are always trying to tempt him.”
“All you need to tempt your husband is a slot for his dick.”
Blinking rapidly, she chewed her knuckle and looked away. Finally she was showing some real emotion. “Stupid man.” Tears flooded her eyes.
“Did he come home from shagging Tracy last Saturday night and climb into your bed?”
“No.” Judy sobbed, her voice catching. “No, he wasn’t with me.”
Nick felt a spurt of anticipation because maybe Sizemore had fooled him during the interview and maybe he had committed murder. The guy had motive and opportunity. And body language wasn’t infallible.
“But he didn’t kill her.” She raised her chin, met his eyes with a fierce glare. “He was at home, drunk as usual, asleep in the study. I killed her.”
Shock shot through his body and he and Ewan exchanged a look. This was too easy.
She waited a beat and then gave him exactly what he’d been waiting for, for twelve long years. “I killed your miserable bitch of a wife too.”
He stared into her triumphant face but felt nothing. No elation for finally catching Chrissie and Tracy’s murderer, no shame from being wrong about Jake, no pain from his damaged toe. Just a big wad of nothing that might turn into agony if he let it.
Nick limped out of the room as Ewan finished up.
The supe came through the office door and patted his shoulder in congratulations. He shook her off, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“Thank God that’s over. I’ll get in touch with the Procurator Fiscal and organize a press release.” She’d been watching the monitors upstairs and had gotten exactly what she wanted. Another case cleared. Citizens of St. Andrews safe. Life back to normal in their cozy little town.
And wasn’t that what he wanted?
Nick nodded but his tongue felt as if it was coated in lye. He couldn’t utter a single word. He checked his watch, saw it was already after six and he hadn’t phoned Susie. He ignored the other emotions that swirled around his head, concentrated on Susie. She’d been asleep when he’d left this morning and he’d wanted to wake her slowly and thoroughly. She’d looked so sweet and soft. But the way he’d come apart in her arms last night had scared the crap out of him and he’d run.
He picked up the phone in the booking room and dialed Susie’s number. He wasn’t used to considering other people, but he knew Susie deserved more than wham bam, thank you ma’am.
The phone just rang. He let go of the cord, dropped the receiver into its cradle. He’d call her later. Ewan needed to get home to his sick wife. No way he could wrap everything up, even though all Nick wanted to do was crawl into Susie’s bed and let the world carry on spinning.
Finally.
Finally he’d found Chrissie’s justice. Finally he’d earned his release from that weighty vow and he couldn’t understand why he didn’t feel like jumping the moon. He turned to go back into the interview room and tried to channel the man he used to be. Not the abused kid or cuckold husband, but the coldhearted undercover detective who’d sacrificed emotion long ago, in exchange for results.
A screech pierced the night and Susie shot off the couch, woken from a deep sleep. It was dark, only the light of the television flickering through the cottage.
“How do you turn this thing off?” Nick stood inside her front door as if he had a right to be there and glared at the control panel for the alarm.
The phone rang and Susie blinked, wondering if she was dreaming. But she wasn’t. She grabbed the receiver and marched over to the doorway, punched a six digit code into the box and pushed the reset button. The alarm stopped squawking and her ears stopped throbbing.
“Sorry,” she spoke into the phone. “I forgot about the alarm and opened the door without thinking.”
Idiot
, she mouthed to Nick who pulled a face at her. Lines fanned deep around his eyes. Damn, he looked tired.
“Yes, I’m sure. Thanks.” She hung up on the security firm and toed the front door wider for Nick to just turn around and leave. She glanced at her watch and tapped the dial. Ten o’clock. Too late for a date, just in time for a sleepover. “See ya.”
He closed the door, locked it. “I don’t think so.” His eyes burned into hers.
Susie backed away, adrenaline making her take deep breaths, her mouth dry, her voice cracking. “I thought we were through.”
“Through?” His eyes widened, dark energy rushing through their depths. He took a step toward her and she couldn’t swallow. Raising a palm to cup her cheek, his eyes softened. “Susie, we haven’t even started yet.”
A moment later his mouth was on hers, cold lips contrasting with the heat of his tongue. And at first the kiss was gentle, but then he increased the pressure, his fingers working the belt of her robe.
Outrage bloomed only to be washed away by a rush of excitement. It swarmed inside her with frenzied heat. She kissed him back, tasting coffee and mint. He pinned her to a wall, hands bunching her robe, as he drew his unshaven jaw over the fragile curve of her breasts. Electricity sizzled along her skin leaving flash burns. Scorching power zipped through her nerves and destroyed rational thought. He stripped her and she leaned against the wall, disorientated, nightclothes at her feet. His bright green eyes held hers as he leaned closer, the roughness of his clothes brushing her naked skin. “We are definitely not done.”
The television flickered like an electrical storm, coating the angles of Nick’s face, part angel, part demon.
Susie swallowed. The safe reliable part of her nature wanted to push away from him and throw him out so she could move on to a better life. But the defective part of her brain was inexorably drawn to the wildness, the heat, the passion inside him. It matched an echo deep inside her she’d tried to smother for as long as she could remember. For most of her life, safe sex had had nothing to do with condoms.
He kissed her, slowly, gently, and the sudden change in tempo threw her off balance again. Her heart hammered against her ribs and she could feel it, feeding the inferno inside her as if she was possessed. His lips found her breast as he sank to his knees, fully clothed, the leather of his jacket creaking like a worn-out saddle as he eased forward. The grip on her hips sent primitive heat through her. Her hips started to rock but he held her still, his tongue stroking her ribs, her stomach and lower, just skirting along the edge of her soft curls. Sensation swelled inside her, but she stifled the sounds that wanted to escape. Held them back as a sign of weakness. She’d screamed so loud last night she was still mortified.
His arm pressed across her stomach, her back finding the cool smoothness of the wall, his tongue tracing a mesmerizing line across her skin. She knew what he was going to do, knew what to expect and still the feel of his soft hair brushing her thighs came as a shock. He eased her legs wider and dizziness whirled through her mind. A soft sound escaped the back of her throat as she dug her fingers into his hair and she felt him smile.
She began to shake, sensation banishing thought, replacing it with longing. Nick controlled her arousal with absolute concentration. Pleasuring her like a sex slave, driving her up with such determined focus, she couldn’t contain the explosion.
His expression was one of warm male satisfaction and the glint in his eyes told her he wasn’t finished. She trembled as he unbuckled his belt. But humiliation was still fresh in her mind all these years later.
“Don’t lose me now, Susie.” His eyes narrowed as the cold made her shiver.
She knew what he was saying, she wanted to let go, but the thought of being taken against a wall reminded her too much of the time she’d made the biggest mistake of her life.
“Can we go into the bedroom?” Her voice was small. The wildness Nick had released was slowly being pushed back into its nice little box.
He hesitated, his mouth twitching as if disappointed, but he shrugged, caught her up in his arms, strode into the bedroom and dropped her onto the bed. His eyes darkened as they traveled over her body. He was still fully dressed and she was completely naked.
She reared up and started pushing his jacket off his shoulders but Nick stopped her with a softly uttered, “Please.”
He crawled up the length of her body, scraping his beard every inch of the way and shooting her back into the over-sensitized sex-starved nymphomaniac he’d unleashed. He pulled out a condom and covered himself.
Susie clamped her lips shut, disconcerted at being so out of control, annoyed at how his zipper scraped her skin and his buttons pressed into her flesh. Then she felt him hot and heavy against her soft flesh, and her inner slut welcomed him with spread legs and urgent hips. Greedy for more. Desperate for more. And then he filled her, big enough to be uncomfortable for those first few seconds, big enough to satisfy her as she tilted her hips and he drove deep.
Her fingers scored his neck, her teeth bit him, small punishment for reducing her to this quivering mass of lust. She rolled him until he was beneath her, fully clothed, and she rode him hard. She made
him
cry out as he pulsed into her. But then she came again, betrayed by her own nature and her own Achilles’ heel.
She pressed her face to his chest, unwilling to talk and terrified by what he might say. But he’d already fallen asleep, still inside her, still joined. Tears formed in her eyes because she just couldn’t stop herself making the same mistakes over and over.
Nick woke and didn’t know where he was. There was a snuffle and then he recognized the unmistakable sound of a woman’s tears.
Bloody hell
. He stuffed the pillow beneath his head, glared at the slit of light that crept inside the door. Chrissie had cried a lot before she’d left him and he’d never been able to say the right thing to make her stop. Maybe if he had, she wouldn’t have died carrying another man’s baby.
But this wasn’t Chrissie, it was Susie, so he stayed where he was.
The iron band that had been wrapped around his heart for the last twelve years was finally eroding. He didn’t feel good yet, but he didn’t feel awful either.
Suddenly it was silent. Not even the distant crash of the sea invaded the darkness. Throwing back the covers, he grimaced as he removed the condom he’d worn earlier. And he was still wearing his clothes and boots.
Hell
.
He dragged his hand through his hair and closed his eyes. He’d been an animal. No wonder she was crying. She deserved more than him trying to nail her against a wall. And stealing her keycard. Bloody hell.