| |
Night terrors plagued Lexi. Rojas slammed her against the toilet cubicle in her sleep. Her cry of pain woke her in the darkness. Garima’s head popped up beside her, his face lit by a ghoulish glow. Lexi screamed, and he hushed her. Nahla shot off the bed and into the hallway, her claws skittering against the polished wood.
“You’re fine,” Garima soothed. “I’m here.”
“Where’s here?” Lexi wailed. “Why are you a Smurf?”
“Sorry. My phone.” Garima spun the screen to face her. He clambered up from the floor wearing only his boxer shorts, his socks, and his rosary. The mattress dipped beneath him as he sat beside her. “You kept having nightmares. I slept on the floor beside you.”
Lexi’s heart clenched at his selfless devotion. It’s what made Father Garima Allen special. She exhaled and rubbed her eyes with her knuckles. “Who are you texting?” she asked.
“A parishioner needs the last rites.” His eyes became sad. “I must go.”
Lexi dropped her chin in a reluctant nod. “What time is it?”
“Four thirty.” Garima smothered a yawn. “I’ll pull on some clothes and leave, if you don’t mind. Mr Bollinger lives in Fairfield.” His fingers danced across the phone screen. “His wife tried to call me, but I muted the ring. I’m texting with his son.” He looked up at her and smiled. “I’ll drive straight back once I’ve performed the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Father Donald visited on Sunday to administer viaticum.”
“Food for the journey,” Lexi murmured, referring to the last holy communion given to a dying person. Garima’s faith contained a quiet comfort and she let it soothe her. She sighed. “Maybe that’s what I need.”
“The Sacrament of Reconciliation, or Holy Communion?” Garima’s voice wavered as he hopped on one leg. He fed the other into his trousers at the same time as activating the hall light. Lexi blinked against the brightness.
“A massive confession to end all confessions.” She rolled onto her right side to ease her aches. She yawned and her jaw threatened to fall off. “Take my truck. You’ll wake up most of Hamilton driving Jock’s rust bucket through town. And you can’t leave it on the street with doors which don’t lock.”
Garima fastened his last shirt button and lifted his chin to affix his dog collar. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ve fed the cat twice, but she keeps crying. Is there something else she needs before I go to Mr Bollinger?”
Lexi groaned and shoved her head under her pillow. “Euthanasia,” she grumbled.
Garima tutted at her. “The Holy Father wouldn’t approve.”
She tugged her head free. “I meant the cat. Not your parishioner.”
“Okay.” Garima snatched up his meagre belongings and left. The front door banged shut behind him. Lexi heard her truck fire up on the driveway. Then nothing.
She slept until after ten o’clock. Her phone’s insistent buzz woke her. It vibrated off her nightstand, dragging the charging cable with it. The clunk of it hitting the floor forced Lexi to rouse. Her head ached as she tilted sideways and reached for the device. Every muscle in her body complained. She disconnected the cable and barked into the phone. “What?”
“Hey, Lexi.” Danny Fisher sounded less cheerful than usual.
Lexi squinted at the phone screen, not recognising the number. Discovering she’d blocked him, he’d called from another device. “I don’t have the energy to argue with you,” she grumbled. But she activated the speaker and dropped the phone onto the bed, anyway. “What do you want?”
“I’m in a bit of trouble.” He didn’t bother with a preamble. “I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate.”
“You know I don’t care, right?” Lexi yawned. Nahla popped onto the bed and rubbed her jaw against the phone. Her loud purrs obscured Danny’s long explanation.
“Please?” His voice rose, sounding ragged. “I need somewhere to stay for a few days.”
“Can’t help you.” Lexi didn’t bother to feign sympathy. “You made your bed and now you have to lie in it.”
“What does that mean?” Alertness entered his tone at her foolish comment.
Lexi sighed. “It’s an expression.” A police car roared past the end of her street, its familiar two-tone siren screeching into the gentle traffic buzz. An echo of its cry added background noise to Danny’s whining voice. “Where are you?” she demanded. She pushed herself upright, wincing at the pain in her spine.
“Outside your house.” Danny’s audible gulp truncated his words. “Your truck isn’t here. There’s a wreck on your driveway. Will its owner let me in or do you keep a spare key somewhere?”
Lexi’s jaw tensed. She blew out a breath. “How do you know my address? I never gave it to you.”
“I just do,” he grumbled. But he didn’t elaborate.
“Do you keep calling me and hanging up?” Lexi demanded. “Did you ask a guy on a motorbike to follow me around town?”
“No.” But he didn’t sound sure.
Lexi ground her teeth, a mistake with her painful jaw. “Danny, you need to listen to me,” she started. “This is our last conversation. I’m not interested in your problems. I know you’re a cheat and a conman. You’ve probably upset the wrong person. Go away and stay away. Don’t call me again.” She ended the connection and blocked his new number.
Limping to the window, she peeked from behind the curtain. Danny’s expensive car purred on the street, fumes curling from its exhaust. When the grey vapour stopped, Lexi froze. Danny emerged from the driver’s door and rested his wrists on the vehicle’s low roof. He surveyed her house with a keen gaze, as though searching for weak points. Anxiety flickered in his eyes. His hair appeared unruly and his clothes rumpled. Lexi pursed her lips. She wondered if Mr Battersea provided Danny with a compelling reason to run from his costly rental. Unless Mrs Battersea funded part of his expensive lifestyle. Lexi had investigated men like Danny before. They flitted from woman to woman, leaving a trail of debt and broken hearts. She closed her eyes and groaned. He’d seemed plausible during their casual dates. But they’d never visited each other’s homes or shared bodily fluid. Gratitude surged through Lexi’s veins like a rush of energy.
Danny locked up his car and strode towards the gate. He bowed his head to inspect the call button. He pressed the buzzer and Lexi froze. She peeked from behind the curtain as he barely waited for an answer. He skirted the front of the property like a prospective burglar. His fingers skimmed the lethal spikes on the fencing and he winced. Scenarios whipped through Lexi’s mind. She could call the police. What were the odds on Rojas showing up when the city’s force contained over eight hundred officers?
Lexi swallowed. If Danny broke into her house, she’d beat him to death with her spare night stick and claim self-defence. Her fingers closed into a fist and she ran to her bedside table in search of her weapon. Not finding it left a vacuum in her mind. “What?” she gasped, wrenching out the cupboard to search the floor behind it.
Nahla meowed from the hallway and it jogged a memory. She hadn’t replaced it after Garima’s unexpected arrival. Lexi ran to the bedroom doorway and halted. Glass panels on either side of the front door would expose her presence. The night stick rested on the hall table where she’d left it. Lexi contemplated crawling across the floor to reach it. If Danny breached the perimeter, He’d see her through the glass.
She dived to the floor. Every muscle in her battered body protested. She slithered across the floorboards towards the table. Her spine complained as she reached up to close her fingers around the night stick’s rubber handle.
The return journey left her breathless. A car backfired on the main road and Lexi scrambled to her feet, desperate to resume her view through the window. The gentle purr of a motorbike echoed at the front of the house. Nahla shot between Lexi’s feet as she rose. She grabbed the curtain to right herself, hearing a seam pop near the header tape. Lexi cursed and peered into the street.
Danny’s red vehicle slid away from the curb. He accelerated with haste and his heavy tyres squealed against the warm road. Lexi gripped the night stick as the motorbike rider jammed his visor down over his face. He pulled out behind Danny and followed close on his rear bumper. Lexi lost sight of them at the end of the road.
