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Lexi woke early while her house guests slept. She clambered from the other side of her bed to avoid standing on Garima. He slept on his back, his rosary still clutched in his fingers. Nahla lounged on his stomach. She’d poked her head through the rosary as though it belonged to her.
“Wannabe,” Lexi mouthed at her. “Suck up!”
Nahla laid her chin on Garima’s chest and squeezed her eyes closed. Lexi slipped from the room in her pyjamas and pulled the door almost closed behind her.
Even a new sprinkle of kibbles in a fresh bowl didn’t entice the cat into the kitchen. Lexi boiled the kettle and made her first coffee of the day. The summer sun rose between the neighbouring houses as five o’clock approached.
A glance at her phone camera revealed her bruises morphing into less vibrant blues. Patches of yellow hung around her cheek bone as the blood dispersed. She snapped a photograph and sent it to her file on the cloud server. Later, she would add all her injury photos to the DVD and pen drive. That reminded her she still needed to download her dash cam footage from outside the church. Thank goodness she’d left it running. Kelly would receive an email copy to add to the pen drive as insurance. Like before. All formats had vulnerabilities, and Lexi took no chances in hiding copies everywhere.
Her throat appeared much better. The dark lines along her larynx had faded to a dull green. The body healed its essential parts first. She snapped a photo and added it to the others.
Tarant walked in as she closed her camera. He pursed his lips but made no comment. He’d dressed in yesterday’s clothes and the shirt hung out of his jeans.
“There’s bread in the fridge,” Lexi said. She took a fortifying sip of her drug of choice and closed her eyes. Caffeine hit the spot in seconds and sent out an immediate rush of happy dopamine. “I keep the toaster in there.” She pointed to the right of two low cupboards beneath the kettle. “Help yourself.”
Her phone vibrated on the table and she lifted it. Vertical frown lines appeared between her brows. “Joanne has agreed to meet me.” Inclusion of an emoji, in her reply, accepted the request without words. She added a grateful thumbs up. “We’re meeting at Day’s Park at ten o’clock. It’s on River Road, about fifteen minutes away.”
“Want company?” Tarant tugged a slice of bread from the wrapper. He folded it into quarters and ate standing up.
“Maybe.” Lexi considered his request. “Can you find a dog to walk?”
“Yeah. A friend’s place backs onto that park. I’ll text him now and ask him to leave the rear gate open and the dog lead handy. I’ll borrow his schnauzer.”
“Confession!” Garima burst into the kitchen, already slipping his jacket over his shoulders. His dog collar hung from the front pocket like a dying swan.
“I did nothing!” Tarant shouted. “I have nothing to confess!” He backed towards the counter and braced himself for an attack. His frantic gaze shot between Lexi and her defender.
“What?” Garima halted with a hand in the bread bag. He extracted a slice and jammed it between his teeth. His other arm slid into the jacket and he snatched the bread free so he could speak. “See you later.” He pressed a kiss over Lexi’s left eye as he missed her forehead. At the sight of his crumb trail, he stared open-mouthed at the white dots covering the floorboards. “Sorry about the crumbs. More than I thought,” he murmured. His wrist turned to reveal Patrick Allen’s ancient watch. “I’ll clear it up before I leave.”
“Go!” Lexi ordered. “You’re banned from touching my vacuum cleaner!”
Garima nodded and tore his gaze from the mess. He muttered another apology and shoved the bread into his mouth whole to limit the damage. After chasing his shoes around the hallway, he left with a slam of the front door.
Lexi rose and retrieved a hand-held vacuum from the pantry. Garima’s crumbs disappeared within seconds. She returned it to the cupboard and frowned at Tarant. “Any progress on that motorbike registration number?” He blanched. Such a tiny, fragmented motion, but Lexi saw it. “What?” she demanded.
Tarant ran a hand over his stubble. “The People’s administrator emailed me during the night. No go, I’m afraid.” He sank into a chair. “They refunded the payment and refused the job.”
“Oh.” Lexi mirrored his action. Her chair legs squeaked against the floor. “Then we’re screwed. It takes weeks to get VTNZ to release that information. And we’ll need to pay them thirty bucks each time. That’s very limiting.”
Tarant snorted. “Oh, it’s not all searches. Just that one. They returned a name and address on another vehicle registration from yesterday. When Harvey dumped us, I forwarded it to them.”
Lexi cocked her head and studied a blackbird pecking at her kitchen windowsill. “So, if they tell you the identity of the motorbike owner, they’ll suffer consequences? But they’ll give you any others you request.”
Tarant nodded. “That’s a good thing, Lex. If they refuse to do all my searches, I am royally screwed. I might as well fold the business today.”
Lexi gave a sarcastic smile. “Yeah, damn that privacy legislation, hey?”
Tarant waggled his eyebrows. He rose from the table. His hand wavered as though considering another slice of bread. It hadn’t occurred to him he might have made a mess with his carelessness. He glanced at the floor and then the tempting bread. His arm dropped to his side. “I have other cases to work on. I’ll drive back to the office and catch up on some stuff. We should go separately to Day’s Park in case your new friend spooks. I’ll show up early and walk the dog for a while. Make sure you keep me in your line of sight.”
Lexi nodded. Under her breath, she added, “So, now you care.”
Tarant’s hands balled into fists. He strode towards her and leaned over her. His muscular chest pressed against Lexi’s spine. Both his large palms landed on the table on either side of her. His weight bowed her torso into an arch. “For the record,” he snarled. “I always cared. I’ve apologised for dismissing your accusations against Rojas. He’s an animal and I regret not seeing it.” He dropped a kiss onto her crown and stepped back.
Lexi closed her eyes and tensed against the automatic head shake rising through her neck. Tarant thought him an animal, now he would no longer feed his brother-in-law illegal information. She remembered her dash cam footage again and rose as Tarant reached the door. “I’ll see you out,” she said. “I need to fetch something from my car.”
