Page 52 of Into the Rain

Lacey was completely stumped. Why was Gabe talking about Floyd? What did he have to do with anything? He was just the apprentice mechanic who’d been obsessed with Rania. Was Gabe going to kill him too? A sudden flush of guilt ran through her. She’d mentioned the apprentice to Gabe just yesterday as a suspect Nico was looking into. She hadn’t said his name, but was Gabe adroit enough to work out who it was from her description? Had she inadvertently given Gabe a scapegoat? Or was she giving herself too much credit? Had Gabe known about Floyd all along?

There were too many options to consider when it came to Floyd. Too many unknowns. Focus on herself. That was what she needed to do. She had to believe that Nico would work this out. That he would come and save her. Would stop Gabriel. And then she was suddenly wracked with doubt. Was she talking Nico up too much? Was Gabe actually going to get away with killing her? Blame it on this Floyd guy somehow? And then return to society as the highly regarded local doctor as if nothing had happened? Her blood turned cold, and she shivered, suddenly feeling very vulnerable and alone.

But Nico wasn’t here.

It was just her against the deranged doctor. Her throat constricted, and she held back a sob. She really, really wanted Nico to come and save her right now. But he was probably still at work, with no idea she was even missing. She’d have to work this one out herself. She’d once been a cop. She had skills she could call on. And one of those skills was her sharp mind. Even Nico had commented that she had a scientific mind, was capable of digging to the heart of the problem when others couldn’t see through the haze. Perhaps her perceptiveness came from her compassionate side. Because that’s what she’d been good at during her short time in the force. Finding out what people were thinking, their deepest desires, to help her work out their motives. What was Gabriel’s motivation? He was clearly terrified about being outed as a gay man. But why?

“Why does it matter so much that you’re a homosexual?” she asked.

“Don’t say that word,” Gabriel snarled. “That’s a dirty word, and I’m not a dirty person.” He seemed to take a few seconds to gather himself before he continued, “I like women. I’m going to marry a nice girl someday soon, and settle down and have a gang of kids. That’s what my mother wants. She’ll be so happy when I do.”

So, his mother didn’t know he was gay. Was that why he was so fucked up about his sexuality? Because he wasn’t able to please his mother? Even if he wasn’t gay, he was at least bisexual, and this clearly caused him terrible emotional pain. She needed to tread softly here. It seemed all his insecurities may stem from the way his mother brought him up.

“I get it,” she replied, and in some ways she did. “Our mothers are often hard to please.” And she should know better than most. “But sometimes we just have to come to terms with the fact that’ll we’ll never be perfect in their eyes.”

“No, I am perfect,” Gabriel argued. “My mother thinks I’m perfect. I love my mother. She and I… We’re very close. When my dad left us, I was only nine. But my mother needed a man desperately, and so I became her man. She showed me what love was really all about.”

Something in the way he saidbecame her manhad the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. When most guys said they had to step up and fill their father’s shoes they meant by being the person who carried out the garbage, who fixed things when they were broken, who got things done, kept the wolves at bay. But it felt like he meant something else. His mother had showed him what love was? The way he said it was spine-chilling in a way she didn’t want to think about.

“Okay, okay, I get it, you’re perfect,” she soothed. Gabe was majorly fucked up, and it had something to do with his childhood. But Lacey didn’t have time to delve into how he’d got this way. All she needed was to find some way out of her predicament. And digging into his younger years wasn’t helping. She needed to appeal to his human side. To the compassionate doctor inside him. The one who’d taken the Hippocratic oath to do no harm. To help people. What if she… Her thoughts trailed off as the memory of his words from earlier came back to her. When he’d said he’d got it rightthis time, had he meant he’d tried this before?

“Oh, my God. You were the one who attacked me the other night,” she gasped.

“Hmm,” he hummed in acknowledgement, almost as if he were pleased she’d worked it out. “But this time I made sure to sort out those fucking birds. I learned from my mistakes. All it took was a few scattered bits of fruit to keep them busy, and they never even cared about me being on the property after that. Humph, guard birds they certainly are not.” Lacey watched his profile as he pursed his lips in delight. It seemed he had learned from his mistakes. He was a cold, calculating killer, after all, with all the aces up his sleeve. And she was at his mercy. “Shame that bloody dog sneaked out the door before I could catch him. But he won’t be able to tell anyone what he saw.” Gabe gave another unhinged grin.

Poor Smudge. Was he wandering around Boat Harbour looking for her? Waiting for Nico to come home? She hoped Smudge was safe. Safer than she was at least. Her mind returned to her own predicament. Her mind was her best weapon against him. She tried to make sense of the puzzle of the last week and a half. It’d all started with Rania’s death.

Oh, God. Did he have something to do with Rania’s murder? Had she perhaps stumbled across Gabe and Jayden just like Lacey herself had? What had she done with the information if she had? Perhaps tried to blackmail him? No, surely not. Lacey mentally shook her head. Gabriel couldn’t have killed Rania. She’d been there with Gabe when he’d tried to revive the poor woman. They’d done CPR together. It made no sense that he would attempt to stab her to death, then return a few hours later and help try and save her. Lacey just couldn’t get her head around it all.

Lacey lay back and looked up at the sky racing past the windows above. A tear leaked from her eye and ran down the side of her face and into her hair. She was going to die soon if she didn’t do something. Her judo skills were of no use to her all trussed up like a Christmas turkey. What else could she do to help herself? An image of Nico’s face appeared before her. The scar on his cheek that made him that little bit imperfect. His gorgeous, deep-blue eyes. The way he looked at her and it felt like he could see down to her soul. She didn’t want to lose him. Didn’t want to lose this thing they had. Her heart ached when she thought about him.

What would Nico do in this situation? She tried to imagine, but all she could hear was his voice in her head.You’re a strong woman. Stronger than you know. You didn’t become a cop for no reason. You have skills. You have knowledge. Put them to use.

Could she find the strength to become the cop she wanted to be?

He was right. She shuffled her shoulders up until she was propped partially into a sitting position against the base of the couch. She knew the inside of Dotti like the back of her hand. There must be something in here that could help her escape.

Of course. There was a drawer full of kitchen utensils right above her head. All she had to do was get to it without Gabe noticing what she was doing. Lacey tilted her head up to look at the drawer. But with her hands tied behind her back and feet bound so tight together she was losing feeling in her legs, she might as well be thinking about scaling Mount Everest. How was she supposed to get up there, get the drawer open, and fish out a knife without the use of her hands? And while the van was still being driven so erratically around the bends that it was all she could do to brace herself to stop from being rolled around like a billiard ball? A small sob escaped her lips. Shit. Shit. Shit.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

NICO THREW HIS motorcycle around another bend. His motorcycle was so much faster than his car on these winding roads, and right now, Nico was pushing the bike to extremes, not caring about the speed limit, not caring about his own safety. Hoping to catch up to the Kombi van. He had to find Lacey. Before it was too late.

As soon as he’d hung up from the call to Tyrell, he’d driven home and swapped the Jeep for his motorcycle and riding leathers, keeping his gun strapped to his shoulder holster underneath. And waited. Waited for news. Lacey’s van would be easy to spot, and if she was on the road in the vicinity, his team would find her. He had complete faith in them. Couldn’t allow an ounce of doubt. They would find her. And he’d drive all the way to Antarctica to get to her if need be.

Smudge hadn’t been happy to be locked inside, but he couldn’t take the dog with him, and he needed to know at least one thing he cared for was safe tonight. One thing he cared for. That word stuck in his head. Hecaredfor Lacey. More than cared for her. Whenever she was around, he felt euphoric, as if he could conquer the universe. But it was a feeling he didn’t know what to do with. Because he wasn’t sure what the future held for them. And that was the heart-rending part. For the past few days he’d been ignoring the future and concentrating on the present. Enjoying just being with her, enjoying the amazing sex and the easy way they fit together, but also the way she challenged him mentally, made him see more in the everyday little things. But now, with the possibility that Lacey was in trouble and he might never see her again, he suddenly found that he couldn’t imagine a time without her warm smile in it. Which confused him. Because up until now, he’d been playing it cool. Letting her make all the big decisions. Staying a little aloof. Not pushing her away, as such, but definitely not making any commitments.

Lacey going missing had suddenly made it crystal clear in his head that she was more important to him than he let himself believe. He needed her. He wanted her. He wasn’t going to go as far as saying he was in love with her. Not even inside his own head. That word had so many complicated connotations tied up inside it. He’d watched his father tell his mother and both his sons that he loved them. Fiercely and forever. But Serge’s love had always come with strings attached. Often physically violent strings for him and Brice.

He’d never allowed himself to fall in love before. He wasn’t really sure what his version of loving someone looked like. And he was a little scared to find out.

There’d been one time when he thought he might’ve been in love. But that was back when he’d been young and naïve, only twenty-one, and in his first year as a probationary constable. Marietta had been ten years older than him and so beguiling. So bewitching. He still couldn’t believe how she’d sweet-talked him into marrying her. Just so she could gain citizenship. How could he not have seen how duplicitous she was? At least he’d come to his senses and divorced her less than five months after they’d spoken their marriage vows. No one outside his family knew of his quick, failed marriage. And that was the way it was going to stay.

He’d failed sorely at marriage once, and it only provided more proof that he wasn’t good at love. With Lacey, he might come close to love, perhaps. He certainly felt a devotion toward her. A tenderness he never knew he was capable of. But what would happen down the track, when he revealed he didn’t have the ability to truly love someone? She’d find out he was a fake, eventually.

As he waited to hear from his team, he leaned against his motorcycle parked in front of the shed, ready to go at a moment’s notice, and watched the sun get lower in the sky. It’d be dark in an hour. In winter, the sun set near to five pm here. How much longer did he have to wait? The roads were treacherous at the best of times, but after dark, they were downright dangerous if you didn’t know what you were doing. He was wearing his full leather riding outfit; it was cold, and he intended to ride fast. Or if he came off, God forbid, they’d give him much-needed protection from a crash.

Where the hell was Lacey? He resisted the urge to pull out his phone and call her for the fiftieth time. She hadn’t answered any of his calls so far, and it’d be no different this time. If she was able to, she would’ve called back by now. He gritted his teeth and drew in a deep breath. Letting anxiety overtake him wasn’t going to help. He was going to look like one hell of a fool if he found her and it turned out everything she’d said in her note was true. That she’d chosen to continue her travels without saying goodbye to him. That she was actively avoiding him. He’d also get hauled over the coals by Charles, that was for sure. His job may even be on the line. Misappropriating police resources was not something he’d ever done before. And he hoped like hell he wasn’t doing it now. But his gut feeling that Lacey was in danger was growing by the minute. And somehow Gabriel was involved. But how? And why?

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