Treacherous (14 page)

Chapter
Twenty-Six

Charli

About two and half
hours later, we pulled off the freeway and headed towards Swansea.
I had never been this far before, and I was curious to see where
Frankie was taking me.

“
Are we almost there?”
I asked after stretching my arms and looking out the window. I had
dozed off for most of the trip.

“
Yes. We’re probably
about fifteen minutes away.”

“
Can you tell me where
we’re going now?”

“
Yes. We’re going to
my family’s holiday house in Catherine Hill Bay.”

“
I’ve heard of
Catherine Hill Bay. Isn’t it like a seaside town?”

“
Yeah. Hence the
reason I asked you to bring your swimmers and a jumper.”

“
I see.” I gave him a
sneaky smirk and reached out to stroke his arm. He returned the
smirk and slid his sunnies down his nose to give me a wink before
sliding them back over his eyes. This boy really knew how to make
me melt.

Sure enough, fifteen
minutes later we pulled down a quiet road underneath a forest
canopy, which opened out into a sleepy little seaside town. It was
the cutest little town I had ever seen with idyllic cottages, each
painted a different pastel colour, and some with wrap around
porches and shutters. The row of cottages sat on the opposite side
of the road as the sea. There was no beach, only a rocky cliff, and
jutting out from the hill on the right of the bay was a pier. The
pier looked old and rickety. It had been built out over the ocean
and almost past the hill. Frankie must have been watching me
because he answered the question I was about to ask him.

“
It’s an old shipping
port. Fishing and coal vessels used to stop here to drop off and
pick up goods. It’s not used anymore.” I hadn’t realised Frankie
had slowed the car down to let me look until we started moving
faster. The town was so quiet it was almost deserted. There were a
few cars in the parking lot near the lookout, but other than that,
I didn’t see another soul. We passed the lookout and followed a
winding road around a bend and up a hill. I looked back in the rear
view mirror as we left the sleepy village behind as if for the last
time.

Nathan

When I followed the
Jeep at the turn off to Cave’s Beach, my phone rang. I clicked on
and pushed the Bluetooth on.

“
Yes?”

“
Constable Wright,
where are you going?”

Shit.

“
I’m sorry, Sir. I
have to do this.”

“
We didn’t give you
the clearance to follow them. It is not in your jurisdiction. Turn
back now.”

“
But he’s taking her
to his family’s holiday house, alone. He knows I’m onto
him.”

I heard my boss curse
under his breath. “Well, how in God’s green earth did he find out?
You obviously haven’t done your job correctly, have you,
Nathan?”

I hesitated. “No,
sir. But you don’t understand, he’s got her alone. He’s dangerous,
and he knows who I am. He took her to spite me.”

My boss sighed then
spoke again, this time calmly. “I told them you were too close to
this case, but they didn’t listen.”

“
Who’s
‘they’?”

“
The District Attorney
and his wife. They knew you were the one who captured and killed
Jack Chandon, your suspect’s father.”

I couldn’t speak. What was going on? Is
that why they specifically asked for me to pose as a college
student to get closer to Levi and Charli?

“
Nathan? Are you still
there?”

I hadn’t realised I was drifting onto
the other side of the road until a car horn alerted me. I snapped
out of it and righted the car.

“
Nathan?”

“
Yes, yes. Sorry,
Sir.”

“
Did you hear what I
just said?”

“
No, sir. I was
thinking.”

“
Well, stop thinking
and keep driving. The Jayne family depends on you to bring their
daughter home.”

“
Yes, Sir.” I promptly
hung up and put my foot down. I didn’t have much time.

Charli

We rounded the final
bend and when I saw the place we were going to stay, I felt
giddy.

“
This
is your family’s
house?”

“
This is it. What do
you think?” Frankie pulled into the driveway and parked. The house
we were parked in front of was over a hundred years old with high
archways, hedges, and a round drive with a water feature as a
roundabout. I stepped out of the car and inhaled. The air was crisp
and smelled of salt. There was also a brisk wind, which made me
pull my cardigan tighter around my body. Frankie got out of the car
and opened the back of the car to retrieve our bags.

“
This is amazing. I
can’t believe we’re going to be staying here.” I smiled and threw
my arms around him, kissing his cheek.

“
Don’t worry. You
don’t have to believe this is real, because the next few days are
going to leave you in a head spin.”

Oh, boy. Frankie
pecked me against my mouth and carried our bags towards the front
door. I followed him close behind, eager to see the interior of
this magnificent house.

After unlocking and pushing the creaky
door open with his foot, Frankie dumped our bags over the threshold
and turned back to me. He was looking at me with the look of a
hunter seeking out his prey. I was his prey, I realised. I screamed
and giggled as he hoisted me into his arms and stepped over the
threshold.

As soon as we were
inside, his mouth hungrily sought out my lips, teasing them apart.
Then they moved to my neck and my collarbone. His hands found their
way underneath my cardigan and top, causing me to shiver. His hands
were cold, but I knew in no time at all they would warm from my
body temperature alone. I wrapped my arms around his neck and
pulled my body closer to his. I wanted him so badly.

His chest rumbled and I realised he was
laughing. “Don’t you want to have a tour first?”

“
Hey, you started it.
By the way you kissed me, I thought we were going to start in your
bedroom. Or the lounge, or the kitchen, or the floor right here.”
His chest rumbled again, and he kissed me once more before setting
me down.

“
It’s totally up to
you. Where do you want to start?”

I didn’t need to think about that one.
“Your bedroom.”

He lifted me again into his arms and
carried me up the stairs.

Nathan

Ever since getting
off the phone with my boss, I was distracted. All I could think of
was getting to Charli and rescuing her. All I wanted was for her to
be safe and in my arms. But I also had to deal with Levi, and I had
to make sure he didn’t try anything rash, like pull out a gun. I
did know that he had one registered. I tried not to worry about
what Charli might be feeling at this very moment, but my defences
were down. The worry made its way under my barrier, and had
infected my common sense, and clouded my judgement. I was so badly
infected with jealousy, worry, anger, and anxiousness I didn’t see
the semi trailer until it was too late, until it was on top of me
spinning my vehicle out of control. When the front of the truck
rammed into the passenger side of my old Holden Commodore, I knew
it wouldn’t stand a chance. Half of my car crushed like a can under
foot on impact, and then I was rolling. I tumbled over and over,
round and round, like a load of wash inside a dryer, until my car
came to its final resting place on the side of the highway, nestled
in a ditch. I remembered the crash vividly and heard my screams for
Charli, but I didn’t remember what happened after that…

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

Charli

The flight of stairs
Frankie had just climbed was not the only flight of stairs. There
were two more in this house. The master bedroom was obviously
situated on one of the top two floors. The interior of the house
was even more exquisite than anyone could have imagined, judging by
the outside. The first floor included two bedrooms, a bathroom, and
small kitchenette. The next floor held a living room with a home
theatre, a bar, and two more bedrooms, each with their own en
suite. The third floor, which is where Frankie was heading I
realised, had the master bedroom, a sitting area, and a massive
private bathroom which looked out over the bay. When Frankie set me
again, I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling bay windows and
stared.

“
Stunning, isn’t
it?”

“
I…” I couldn’t speak.
Not with him standing right behind me. I felt his breath caress the
back of neck. I had tied my hair up in a messy bun in the car, and
now, Frankie reached up and yanked my hair loose. My hair cascaded
down over my shoulders, making me gasp.

“
I see not only the
view makes you speechless.” He grabbed my shoulders and kissed from
one shoulder to the other. I shuddered and leaned back into him
sighing. I could get used to this.

“
How about a bath?” he
murmured into my ear, kissing me there.

“
Mm. A hot bath sounds
great.”

I felt the air turn
cold around me and I realised he had moved away to turn on the
taps. I proceed to undress but he stops me.

“
Let me do
that.”

First,
he pulls my indigo cardigan from my
arms, dropping it to the floor. Then he reaches for the spaghetti
straps of my camisole top. He slides his fingers underneath and
pushes the straps down over my shoulders, letting my top drop down
to my waist, the straps the only thing holding the top up. Next,
his mouth devours the soft mounds of my breasts and I lean back,
giving in to him completely.

“
Frankie…” I am
already turned on, at this point. I want him now. He seems to sense
my urgency and need, and stops kissing my breasts, moving down to
unbutton my jeans. I gasp when his lips touch the sensitive bit of
skin there. My fingernails bite down into his shoulders. I rip his
shirt over his head and at the same time, he yanks my jeans down
over my pelvis, taking my knickers with them. I am exposed to him,
and I moan when his nose nuzzles me in my most sensitive
area.

“
Frankie… please.” I
am shaking now. I need him.

“
What? Don’t you want
this?”

“
Yes. Yes, I do. I
want you, badly. But please, let’s move to the bath, I can’t hold
on much longer.”

He sighs and stands
up to remove my bra. “Very well.” I am now completely naked. As I
make my way to the lion-footed vintage bathtub and slip into the
soothing warm water, Frankie strips himself of his clothes and
slips in the other side. We are now sitting at opposite ends of the
bath staring at each other, wondering who is game enough to make
the first move.

We both do.

We meet each other
half way, our lips meeting first, and then Frankie pulls me into
his lap.

I love the feeling of
kissing someone in water. I think there is nothing sexier. It is
such an intimate and amazing way to kiss someone. Skin slides over
skin, lips over lips. There is no friction, only the warmth and the
feeling of the other person against you. You become their oxygen
and they yours.

Making love in water is different.

It is not sexy at all.

It is messy. But
Frankie and I seemed to pull it off perfectly. Frankie and I move
in accord with one another, and soon my mind betrays me and drifts
off. It drifts to thoughts of someone I shouldn’t be thinking of,
but was—
Nathan
.

I wondered where he
was at that moment. I wondered if he had seen me run into Frankie’s
arms. I wondered if he knew just how much I ached for him, just how
badlyI felt for hurting him. My heart cried for him.

I’m
sorry
, Nathan.

Damn treacherous
heart.

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

Nathan

White.

Nothing but white.

Was I in heaven?

I tried blinking;
opening my eyes but something was gluing my eyelids down. As I
tried to wrap my head around what must have happened, everything
came back, slowly, and in flashes.

Charli running,
Charli crying, Charli running into Levi’s arms... the spray of
gravel from the Jeep’s tires as they got away, as he stole her away
from me. Then there was the long drive north, the long boring road,
the turn off to Cave’s Beach, and the truck’s horn blaring. The
tumbling and the rolling, the stopping and the screaming. The
screaming was the last thing I remembered before everything went
black.

I heard beeping now. Beeping? Why would
there be beeping? The truck. Oh God, is the truck reversing over
me? Does the driver even feel remorse?

It was then I smelt
it. I could smell bleach and… something else. It all smelt so…
sterile. Was I in a hospital? There was also the stench of
something burnt in the air… burnt flesh, I realised. I had smelt
burnt flesh before on an arson case. It was something you never got
out of your nostrils. Why in the hell would I smell burnt flesh?
Then I remembered the crash. Oh My God. I was in a car crash. I
crashed my car! A truck rammed into me. My car was rolling… I
opened my eyes as someone said my name.