Lexie was holding her breath, uncertain what to expect. It took her eyes a heartbeat to focus. Blinking rapidly, an avalanche of emotions flooded her body simultaneously; astonishment, confusion and then intense relief. This nightmare was going to have a happy ending after all. The woman standing in the doorway smiled at her reassuringly.
Lexie’s eyes flew to the gun in her hand.
Shoot him, her mind screamed. Blow him away. Don’t trust him for a second.
‘You’re early,’ Burgh accused, his voice controlled yet displeased.
The hairs on the back of Lexie’s neck stood on end. Any hope she’d had of being rescued swiftly vanished as the sour taste of fear, dread and betrayal burned the back of her throat.
For a moment she’d had a plan; to play along with Burgh, pretend to be a willing participant to his lovemaking with the hope of luring him into a false sense of security and then, when his defences were down, strike unexpectedly, in the throes of passion. It had been her only chance. But now − shock, disappointment and horror threatened to overwhelm her.
The woman rested perfectly manicured fingers on her narrow hips and gave Burgh a radiant smile. Closing the door with a casual kick of her foot, she purred, ‘Don’t worry, Harry. I won’t interrupt your fun. I just thought I might watch, that’s all.’
Lexie couldn’t believe her ears. What the hell was going on? Disappointment, hurt and disbelief turned her chest to lead. How could someone she had thought was a friend do this to her? How had she not seen this one coming? So much for her amazing intuition! Her incredible sixth sense appeared to be as dependable as a light globe in a blackout. Frustration clawed at her insides.
Burgh smirked.
‘Do you mean it? Maybe you could join in?’
Lexie saw that Burgh was distracted, obsessed by the thought of sex with two women, and had lowered his gun. It was now pointed towards the floor – not that she had a hope in hell against the two of them and their guns. She could only hope the police radio operator would become concerned when she failed to call back on from this address and send a car to check on her welfare. Stay positive, she lectured herself, pressing her skin against the cool wall behind her. Beads of sweat dripped down the side of her face but it wasn’t due to the heat. Eventually someone would miss her. Use your undercover skills, utilise your ability to negotiate, engage them in conversation, keep them talking, stall – do anything.
‘Why?’ Lexie aimed the question at the woman, hating the squeaky sound of her own voice. It was pathetic. ‘Why?’
She didn’t reply; only smiled fleetingly before her cold eyes slipped from her.
Lexie decided to redirect her attention to Burgh.
‘I was wondering what your plan might be? As you would be well aware, if you have sex with me you’ll be leaving evidence all over my body. How do you plan to avoid that?’
‘Don’t underestimate me for a second, little Lexie,’ he taunted. She watched his jowls wobble as he shook his head. ‘I have a great deal of experience in disposing of evidence. How do you think I got to where I am?’
‘And where is that, exactly; the number one corrupt cop in the New South Wales Police Force? Congratulations.’
He was visibly furious with her tone. The gun shook in his hand as he realigned it with her chest.
‘I am respected, admired, looked up to by powerful people. I earn more money than you could ever dream of and women love me,’ he spat out.
Was he for real?
‘That would be dirty money, drug money and these “powerful people” are all underworld scum.’
Lexie’s voice came out like a snarl, her lip curling up at one side in disgust.
‘Wow, how prestigious; being the king of the criminal world.’
Her words were acidic and condescending and possibly dangerous for her to utter, but she didn’t care. This man had killed her brother and was prepared to kill her.
She glanced towards Burgh’s accomplice, who had not moved from her post at the door and was quietly watching the exchange with apparent amusement. Lexie stared at her with open contempt. Why was it that so many people she let in betrayed her trust? Was it just her or did she exert some sort of negative force field that attracted disloyalty?
Taking offence at her words, Burgh moved swiftly, his hand raised threateningly in the air as he advanced towards her. Lexie flinched instinctively, bracing herself. The blow stung, its force whipping her head sideways. With a practised skill she turned off the pain, straightened up and stared him down.
She noticed his eyes were once again glued to the swell of her breasts and crossed her arms in front of herself in a feeble attempt at modesty.
He sniggered. His face now only inches from her own, his putrid breath turned her stomach and made her want to retch.
‘Don’t you worry your pretty little head about how I’m going to cover my tracks. I have my protégée here to assist me and by the time anyone even misses you, your ashes will be flying across La Perouse Beach with the afternoon breeze.’
He laughed at the look of horror Lexie failed to hide.
‘I’m no amateur, Lexie, even though there have been a few stuff-ups.’ He glanced towards his ‘protégée’ meaningfully. ‘I can assure you there will be no more.’
The woman seemed affronted at this implied insult and was suddenly angry.
Folding her arms across her chest, she spat out defensively, ‘You’re the one who shot the wrong bikie.’
‘That’s because you were too gutless to do it. You couldn’t even finish off the stupid druggie bitch for me,’ Burgh spat back, his face screwing up, resembling a bulldog.
Oh God, they were in this together from the beginning.
‘Well, at least she didn’t see me. If she ever talks again she’ll blame you. Max won’t be happy – ’
Burgh exploded. ‘Chill, baby!’ He held his hand in the air like a cop directing traffic. ‘Don’t you worry about Max. He answers to me, not you. I know you’ve got the hots for him but he’ll never answer to a woman. You’d best remember that.’
‘Baby’ clearly did not want to chill.
‘I’m sick of you treating me like shit. Treat me with some respect, for God’s sake, or I’ll − ’
‘You’ll fucking what?’ he hissed, interrupting her. ‘You are in this up to your eyeballs. You want the cash, you deal with the trash. Don’t forget your place, woman,’ Burgh warned, with a dangerous edge to his voice.
As they argued, everything started to become clear to Lexie. The puzzle pieces began falling into place. Burgh was in with the Assassins. There was no doubt they were talking about Max Croft. It made sense. Donaldson had crossed Burgh by refusing to bend to his demands. She thought back to the search warrant at the Devil’s Guardians clubhouse; the look of genuine surprise and then horror on Rex’s face, his insistence the drugs had been planted, that they had been set up.
Though something else must have happened between them for Burgh to go from loading Donaldson with drugs to wanting him dead. Lexie thought. He’d said something about the bikie threatening him. Maybe that was the catalyst for the whole chain of events?
The squabbling continued as Lexie’s brain raced. She’d hazard a guess that Burgh, no longer copping a quid on the side from Donaldson, then went to the Assassins and made an arrangement with them, no doubt in the form of a regular payment of cash for the exchange of information and protection. Burgh and Sleeman had been protecting them from the beginning of the investigation. All Assassin members had solid alibis – Burgh had made sure of that. To direct focus away from his intended target, he’d given a tip-off that there would be trouble at the Assassins clubhouse, which left him free to commit his crime elsewhere.
Maggot had asked to speak to Burgh when they’d interviewed him. Sleeman and Burgh had also been the ones to search Dorothy Magentagitt’s house, saying Maggot was not there. Maggot said he had been there the whole time but had been told to lie low even though he could account for his whereabouts at the time of Bluey’s shooting. Burgh was the common denominator – it all came back to him. He had purposely misled their team into believing Maggot was on the run, leading to an assumption of guilt. All this time they had been following lines of inquiry, he’d been shutting them down and leading them in the wrong direction, covering his own tracks.
In the attempt to exterminate Donaldson, he’d shot the wrong bikie, which caused other complications; the dying declaration. Either way, Burgh wanted to make Bluey’s murder appear to be a gang versus gang related killing that might never be solved. Lexie was sure that even with Josh’s intense aversion to this man, he could never have anticipated the level of malevolence he was capable of.
But still there were unanswered questions. What had Sandy done to deserve her fate? Why had Burgh denied knowing who she was? And were the threatening text messages she’d received from Amitt Vincent, or one of these monsters?
‘That’s enough.’ The cutting edge to Burgh’s voice cut short her thoughts.
When the protégée spoke again, her voice was sugary sweet, like a little girl trying to play cute.
‘Sorry sweetie, just a bit tense.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Tick tock, the time’s getting away. Why don’t you go into the bedroom and have your fun. I’ll stay here. Just yell out if she refuses to . . . co-operate.’
Burgh’s attitude seemed to change, to soften.
‘Are you sure you don’t mind, baby?’ He moved towards her, while still watching Lexie, and kissed her on the lips.
Lexie could not read the strange expression that crossed her face.
‘Of course I’m jealous but it’s not like she’s going to be a threat to me. She won’t be around long enough,’ she finished. She fixed a look of pure hatred on Lexie.
Burgh laughed, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
‘You’re a smart girl,’ he soothed. ‘Now Lexie, you come with me.’
Lexie’s desperate eyes darted anxiously around the familiar apartment that was now her prison. Dani. How had she become involved in all of this? Then she realised. Dani was listed as her next of kin. Her details, address and phone number were stored in a filing cabinet in the detectives’ office as her emergency contact. A quick phone call would have ascertained she was away with work. He must have just forced the door, though she couldn’t remember seeing any damage.
When he saw she hadn’t moved from her position against the wall, Burgh lunged forward and aimed the gun back at her face. He shoved her – because he could, a reminder of who had control. Grabbing her arm, he propelled her in front of him and pushed her roughly down the hallway – which was more like a narrow concrete tunnel – towards the bedroom.
Her sense of terror heightened. Her mind visualised the layout in clear detail, calculating any means of escape. Double bed in the middle of the room, built-in mirrored robe against one wall, barred windows. Shit.
Suddenly, a whipping sound pierced the air. It was not the usual crack of a bullet being discharged from its chamber but a muffled whistle. A silencer? Instantly, the pungent smell of gunpowder filled the air, burnt her lungs. She heard a scream, realised it was her own and turned, expecting to feel pain at any moment but instead she stared into the stunned, disbelieving eyes of Harry Burgh.
Half his head was now smeared, like red spray-paint, across the walls of the hallway. Pink flesh and pulpy brain matter littered the carpet, while a fountain of dark crimson blood poured from his head – raining down and splattering all over her feet. Revolted and confused, Lexie scrambled backwards as his legs buckled, his body slowly collapsing to the ground. His knees hit first then the rest of his body slammed heavily, like a sack of bricks, onto the floor. His eyes remained open, empty. His soul, Lexie decided, had left his body long before his death.
Stunned, her eyes flew from the body splayed at her feet to the space where Burgh had just been standing. The blood drained from her face. Her heart hammered violently in her chest as cold, fathomless eyes glared back at her.
Lexie stared at the woman who had just killed Harry Burgh – and the gun, which was now aimed directly at her chest.