Lexie stared at Casey Blair and Brad Sommers with astonishment.
‘Are you sure I should leave? I’ve still got more work to do . . .’
Having relayed her conversation with Dani to Brad and the Boss, they both insisted she knock off for the day.
Casey sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She looked as tired as Lexie felt.
‘Lex, you’ve done a good job. You were called in for that suicide at what, 5.30 this morning? It is now after 10.00 pm. Go home and look after your friend and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow will be another long day. I’m leaving soon myself, and I’m sending Brad home too. There is nothing more we can do for today. Cakes and Grumpy are going to work through the night. They’re out chasing up some of the guys on the list of the victim’s ex-lovers. I want you to save your energy. I know you’re keen, but this investigation could be protracted. I don’t want you to burn out too soon. So, I’m ordering you to grab the last of the pizza, before Brad gets it, and go home.’
‘Too late,’ Brad said, sheepishly.
Lexie stared at Brad’s generous belly and raised her eyebrows. Brad pretended he didn’t notice.
Seventeen minutes later, Lexie was circling the block outside her apartment, annoyed that the parking spot she liked to think was reserved for her car was taken. In reality Lexie knew the space was usually free because not many cars were tiny enough to fit into it. But today, a duplicate of her own Hyundai Getz had stolen her spot. Slamming her hand against the wheel in frustration, she shone her headlights at high beam on the invader. The number plate was KEL 086. She hoped KEL wasn’t a new resident who was going to poach her regular park. Then it registered . . .
That was Zack’s sister’s car. What was Kelly doing around here?
A car beeped her from behind and another wave of irritation rushed through her.
‘Give me a break,’ she yelled to no one.
She wasn’t normally this impatient or territorial. Putting her mood down to exhaustion, she took a deep breath, circled the block again and this time was lucky to find someone pulling out of a space just as her phone buzzed.
Parking easily, she grabbed her mobile.
‘Dani . . .’
‘The taxi is out the front, Lex. Are you home yet?’
‘I’ll be there in a second.’
Lexie grabbed her handbag and rushed around the front of her building to meet Dani. As soon as she was out of the taxi, Lexie could see how dishevelled her usually very together friend appeared. Wearing an old tracksuit that looked too big for her small body and tattered running shoes, her dark hair pulled into a messy palm tree on top of her head, Dani looked like she had just got out of bed.
‘Are you all right?” Lexie asked automatically, knowing Dani wasn’t and giving her a warm hug.
Dani didn’t answer. She wasn’t a touchy-feely type of girl but she patiently endured Lexie’s embrace. Her arms dangled listlessly by her side as though the effort of hugging Lexie back was too much for her right now.
‘I wasn’t up to driving,’ she said, weakly.
Feeling Dani tremble, Lexie decided to take control. She was good at control.
‘Come on upstairs. I’ll pour you a glass of wine and you can tell me what happened.’
Dani followed her into the building and up the flight of stairs like an obedient puppy. When Lexie unlocked her front door and pushed it open, Dani froze.
‘Can you check it’s . . . it’s okay in there?’
Lexie nodded, silently alarmed at how shaken up Dani was. The break-in had really scared the hell out of her.
‘Stay here. I’ll be back in a second. My apartment’s so small there aren’t many hiding places.’
Dani didn’t smile at Lexie’s attempt to make light of her concerns.
Carrying out her old and familiar ritual of performing a sweep of every room, including the wardrobe, cupboards, under the bed and behind the shower curtain, Lexie hated to admit that Dani’s fear and vulnerability was contagious. A prickle of unease ran down her spine and spread goose-bumps along her skin.
Or was it the cold doing that? Feeling the night chill in the air, Lexie left all the doors in her one-bedroom apartment open and flicked on the heating. Once reassured everything was as she had left it that morning, Lexie returned to the front door where Dani was still standing motionless on the landing.
‘It’s all fine, come on in, sit down.’
Dani moved sluggishly, as if she was in a trance. Lexie guided her to the lounge and hurriedly poured them both a glass of wine. Handing one to her friend, Lexie took a seat next to her. Dani gulped at the wine without looking at it, her eyes fixated on a spot on the carpet. Her despondency was concerning.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’
Dani looked up as if surprised Lexie had spoken.
‘I think I’m in shock, Lex. Sorry. I’m not usually like this. I’m just really shaken up.’
‘I can see that and it’s totally understandable. Someone’s broken into your place and rifled through your things.’
Lexie had never been burgled, but she had certainly attended enough break-and-enters to know how much the experience upset people.
‘They didn’t take anything, Lexie. It was a personal attack.’
‘What?’ Lexie asked, feeling the hairs on her arms suddenly stand on end.
‘ “Slut” was written on the bathroom mirror. “Die bitch” was scrawled across my mirrored robe, and the mirror in the hallway said, “Slaughter Sluts”.’
‘Holy shit,’ Lexie blurted out before she could stop herself. Dani’s reaction now made more sense. Taking a big gulp of wine, she welcomed the burn of the alcohol against the back of her throat.
‘All my makeup was smeared into the bathroom sink. There was a dead rat in the middle of my bed with its throat cut. Tampons were shoved down the toilet.’
Dani shook her head as if still unable to believe it.
‘I’ll have to get a plumber to come and fix that up.’
Dani emptied her wine glass. Lexie quickly refilled it.
‘My drawers were pulled out, my clothes were thrown everywhere, some clothing, mainly my underwear, was cut to pieces. Every wine glass I own was smashed into the sink. Plates were shattered all over the kitchen floor. The fridge was turned off so everything in the freezer has gone off. It was like some person had gone crazy, gone on a destructive rampage. If that isn’t personal, what is?’
Lexie stared at Dani in shock.
‘Can you think of anyone who might have done this? You’ve been in cops for nearly ten years. You’ve locked up a lot of people.’
Lexie was having a conversation with herself, it seemed. Dani’s gaze was now vacant, as she stared out through the glass of the balcony doors into the stormy night sky, her mind clearly in another place.
‘Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity?’ Lexie suggested, searching her mind for a logical explanation. ‘Dani, is there some crazed druggie, a psychiatric patient, anyone you’ve had dealings with lately, who has threatened you, or could be capable of this?’
Dani shook her head but kept staring into the darkness outside. The wind had kicked up so hard that the rain, that had just started again, was blowing sideways, beating fiercely against the glass. Lexie noticed Dani shiver and got up to fetch something warm to wrap around her.
‘We’ll find out who did this,’ Lexie told her, as she left the room to grab the spare quilt from the end of her bed.
Back in the living room, she spread it over Dani’s legs.
‘But until we do, you can stay here as long as you like. My sofa lounge is very comfy and it can be like an ongoing sleep-over.’
Her attempt to cheer up Dani failed dismally. Her friend continued to stare hopelessly out the window. She stayed like that for a while and then, as if suddenly remembering something, Dani covered her face with her hands.
‘I had a vase of flowers on the coffee table; some beautiful red roses. All but one of their buds were cut off and crushed into the carpet.’
‘All but one?’
‘Yes, it was weird. One single rose was left on the pillow of my bed.’
Lexie felt herself go cold inside. A single red rose? It had to be a coincidence.
Momentarily lost for words, she covered her distress by taking a big mouthful of wine. She hoped the liquid would lubricate her vocal cords. When Lexie finally spoke she asked the most ridiculous question.
‘Who gave you the flowers?’
Dani stared at her, incredulous.
‘Does it really matter?’
Lexie waited for an answer.
‘Okay, Rod Bream came over yesterday and gave me the flowers. He has been doing his best to make up with me. He wants us to get back together, but don’t worry, I’ll never get over him cheating on me. Once a cheater and all that . . . I just wish he wasn’t such a goddamn gorgeous arsehole.’
Lexie thought it best not to mention she’d run into Doctor Rod Bream at the hospital earlier, or the lingering embrace she had been subjected to. Her friend was right. The doctor was way too good-looking for his own good and could not be trusted where women were concerned.
‘So, he wants to get back together.’
Lexie thought of the dead nurse and her reputation. She didn’t think Rod had cheated on Dani with Melissa. Rod had said he didn’t know Melissa, but Lexie couldn’t help but ask. She chose her words carefully, knowing they would undoubtedly sting.
‘Did Rod ever tell you about . . . about the girl?’
Dani shook her head and stared at the ground.
‘I never asked any questions. I don’t think I wanted to know.’
She raised her eyes to meet Lexie’s.
‘How can someone be brilliant enough to be such a good doctor but stupid enough to save texts from other women? Then leave his phone lying around unsecured for his girlfriend to read them?’
‘What made you look at his phone?’ Lexie asked.
Dani pulled a face.
‘Have a look at him. I knew there would be no shortage of other girls chasing him. Besides, I’m a detective. I’m always suspicious.’
Lexie remembered getting the call from Dani telling her they had broken up. Her friend had been so distraught she had refused to discuss the details. All she’d told Lexie was that Rod had been cheating on her. Lexie had figured she would talk about it when she was ready. She guessed Dani was now ready.
‘I found a text that said, “Thanks for the great night on Friday”, a night he told me he was working. It went on, “I never knew sex could be that good.”’
Lexie gasped, imagining the hurt Dani must have felt at that moment.
Poor Dani.
Lexie and Josh might have broken up inadvertently because of another woman. But it was not due to cheating.
‘It still hurts, doesn’t it?’ Lexie asked.
Dani stared up at her with bright brown eyes.
‘It does. But I’m not going to be anyone’s doormat no matter how much it bloody bites.’
‘So what did you tell him when he came over with the flowers?’
‘I told him I couldn’t get past his cheating and he and I were over. You know what the cocky bastard said? “I’ll get you in the end.”’
‘Wow, that’s not just cocky. That’s arrogant and self-righteous.’
Dani laughed for the first time since she had arrived.
‘Yeah, that comment made it so much easier to snatch the flowers out of his hand and slam the door on his face.’
They both laughed at that. Dani appeared to be relaxing a little.
‘What about you, Lex? How are you coping? And before you say, “I’m fine”, remember who you’re talking to.’
Lexie re-filled their glasses. The wine was going down very nicely. Sometimes she thought it a curse as much as a comfort that Dani knew her so well. That was exactly what she had been about to say until unexpected tears burnt the back of her eyes and her mask of indifference slipped as a wave of longing, so strong in its intensity, washed through her.
She didn’t want to talk about Josh, or think about him, but who was she kidding? She never stopped thinking about him. It was as if she had been sliced down the middle, ruptured on the inside. One half, the practical part of her, was coping. Mechanically she was going about everyday life without really living it and struggling to mask the pathetically broken-hearted portion of her that wanted to lie down and wallow in self-pity for the next fifty years.
One treacherous tear slid down Lexie’s cheek and landed on the collar of her work shirt. She knew Dani wouldn’t have missed it.
‘I feel bad talking about me after what you have been through today.’
‘Trust me, it’s a necessary distraction.’
‘Okay,’ Lexie said, taking a big sip of wine. ‘It’s hard. I miss him but like you said . . . I’m not going to be a doormat or allow myself to be treated badly either.’
Dani appeared to choose her words carefully.
‘I wouldn’t say Josh meant to treat you badly. I think he was struggling with guilt and grief, Lex.’
Lexie felt a twinge of anger that her friend was taking Josh’s side.
‘He froze me out, Dani. You know that.’
Lexie knew there was a hint of irritation in her voice. Exhaustion was weighing down heavily on her shoulders and the empty feeling in her chest was growing, probably fuelled by alcohol.
Josh’s sister’s suicide and funeral had released an avalanche of memories about her brother’s death that she had worked hard to forget. And the re-emergence of those feelings had left her feeling numb one second, then angry the next. However, she had kept her own emotions well hidden, which had been exhausting, but she had told herself it was not about her, it was about Josh. And although she had done everything to comfort and support him through this sad, horrible time, he had pushed her away, told her he was confused, needed time, had used the old, ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ justification for splitting up. Then he had run off to Bali to ‘get over’ everything.
Lexie wished she could get over him as easily as he seemed to have got over her, but in all honesty she didn’t think she would ever be the same again.
‘I know Josh has some issues to sort but I don’t think it’s the end for you two. He loves you, Lex. It’s as plain as the glass in your hand.’
‘Well, then you know more than I do because he’s never told me that.’
Dani’s eyebrows shot up in amazement.
‘Really? He never? . . . I just assumed.’
‘Another one of his issues . . . intimacy. Anyway, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to hit the sack. I’m stuffed and I’ve got another long day tomorrow and I certainly don’t need a hangover. I’ve had enough wine.’
Lexie got up off the lounge and pulled out the sofa bed.
‘I’ll just get you a doona, okay?’
Returning from her linen cupboard seconds later, Lexie spread the doona over the mattress that was already made up. Dani sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at the front door.
‘Are you going to change the locks? I’ll pay for it, since it’s my fault your spare keys are missing.’
Lexie hadn’t even given it another thought.
‘Don’t worry. It’s not your fault. Besides, if someone has taken the keys and they haven’t just been lost in the mess, no one would make the connection.’
‘I don’t want to scare you, Lex, but if someone I’ve locked up has found out where I live, they can find you too. I think you should change the locks just to be on the safe side.’
Lexie felt the first wave of real concern as she thought of the upcoming trial against Amitt Vincent, the Revolutionary bikie who had stabbed her in the neck while she was attempting to assist an injured bikie she’d assumed was his friend. As it turned out, they weren’t friends. They were from rival bikie gangs and, prior to the arrival of the police, had been involved in a street fight resulting in Vincent stabbing his opponent in the chest. Now he was looking down the barrel of two life sentences.
The trial hadn’t crossed her mind lately, probably because her mind was in a constant state of internal dispute; thinking about Josh, then chastising herself for allowing him into her thoughts. It was a circle of futile self-abuse that only served to make her feel despondent and left no room for any remotely positive thoughts or feelings.
In the past Lexie had often felt she was being watched and worried about Vincent’s henchmen getting to her. He might be in prison but many a serious crime had been plotted and planned from a gaol cell. And there was nothing more dangerous than a desperate criminal who had nothing to lose.
Lexie stared at the door. Was the hardwood sturdy enough to stop someone who really wanted to get in? Was that flimsy little chain going to stop anything in reality? She shivered.
‘I’ll change the locks in the morning,’ Lexie said.
She then checked the door was locked and fastened the chain.
‘Are you okay to sleep out here or would you rather bunk in with me? I have a queen-size bed.’
Dani cracked a smile.
‘We are such big brave detectives aren’t we? I think I’ll stay with you. Just to make sure you’re okay.’
They both laughed.
‘I’ve got a baseball bat under my bed so we should be right. By the way, if you snore, I’m kicking you out.’