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“I think we’re too late,” Nico said, moving over to the railing and glancing down to where the dockworkers were casting off the lines.
“Looks like you might be coming to Melbourne with me,” she giggled.
And that was okay with him. There was no other place he’d rather be than with her.
“I have a private cabin,” she added, with a hint of a wicked grin, snuggling under his arm to stay warm as they watched the boat move purposely out to sea.
“Hmm.” He turned her, so she was nestled against him, his body blocking most of the wind. “I think we should go and check that cabin out right now.”
Pink scars were still visible on parts of her face, her jacket rolled up to reveal the cast still on her arm, a reminder of the trauma she’d endured. That they’d both endured.
“I love you, Lacey Carmichael. And I don’t care who hears me.”
“I love you, too. And I don’t care who hears me either.”
He kissed her then, with his back to the railing, the wind beating at his shoulders, and he was the happiest man alive.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ONE MONTH LATER
Nico ended the call and put his cell phone on the kitchen table, then sat back in the chair, sipping his mug of coffee. It was Saturday, and he and Lacey had the whole afternoon to themselves, a certain kind of luxury in itself. Speak of the devil; he heard her footsteps coming down the hallway as she returned from the bathroom, followed by the ticktack of Smudge’s claws on the wooden floor. That dog had become her shadow. And Nico didn’t begrudge him one bit.
“It feels so good,” Lacey practically sang the words as she appeared through the doorway, waving her arm in the air. “That thing was so itchy. You don’t understand the pure bliss of being able to scratch an itch until you can’t do it anymore.”
He laughed and let his gaze follow her slender form across the room. They’d just returned from a trip into the new GP’s office, where Gabe’s replacement, Dr. Yvonne Marshall, had finally given Lacey the okay to have her cast removed. Yvonne was middle-aged, with two teenage girls and she’d been looking to take up a country practice just like this one. Nico thought she’d fit in well with the Burnie community, especially when she was prepared to open her surgery on Saturday mornings. In part it was to help reduce the backlog of patients Gabriel had left behind. But it was also because Yvonne valued a holistic approach to medicine and had spent many minutes talking to Lacey about how she was coping with her mental scars, as well as her physical ones. Which meant she needed longer appointments and more time to fit everyone into her schedule. One thing Nico hoped was true about Dr. Marshall, was that she was a normal, wholesome mother, who had a great career as the new doctor in town and had absolutely no murderous intents. One psycho killer doctor in their town was more than enough.
Lacey had been ecstatic about having the cast removed, telling him all the way home in the Jeep how good it felt. She’d even said she felt so good she might be able to face a phone call to her parents tonight. This would be the first time she’d talked to them since she visited them a month ago. Nico had gone with her to Melbourne; he hadn’t had any choice after he got stuck on the ferry. But the trip over, cocooned in Lacey’s private cabin, had given them the time they needed to regroup; time for him to prove over and over again how much he loved her.
Lacey had decided to confront her family on her own, so Nico had stayed the night in a hotel, worrying about her the whole time as he paced back and forth, not even noticing the pretty lights of Melbourne CBD out his window. Lacey told him that she’d sat them all down, Barry, Elora, Matt, her brother, and Sammy, their younger sister, and told them all some hard truths about her PTSD and how badly it’d affected her. None of the family really understood what PTSD looked like, and so they were shocked to hear how dramatically her mental state had been impacted. Both her siblings had vowed to come and visit, to reconnect and rebuild their rocky relationships. The mother, on the other hand, had a different reaction. A steely aloofness, as if she were immune to Lacey’s pain.
Then, Lacey had put in place some much-needed boundaries between herself and her mother. For once, it seemed that Elora didn’t have much to say, apart from coldly stating that Lacey was no longer welcome at their family home. Nico was so proud of Lacey. That took a shitload of courage to let your family in on your fears, see the demons that lurked below the surface. But also to state what she needed and wanted from them, so she could get on with her life. Nico wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it, especially not with a mother like Elora, whose only thought was about herself and her own comfort.
Nico had been shocked to find out Lacey’s family was rich. Multi-millionaires, in fact. And Lacey had her own trust account on which she could retire comfortably tomorrow. But he was also proud to learn that she wanted to survive on her own. Not rely on her family money. There was a complicated tangle of emotions and beliefs all tied up with her family money that Nico had yet to explore. It seemed Lacey was almost ashamed of her wealth, wanted to leave her affluence behind, and live a simple, grateful life. Because money had never made her happy before. And he agreed with her.
They’d returned to Devonport on the next overnight ferry and both agreed that Lacey should move in with Nico. There was no reason not to; she’d been living with him anyway. And he hadn’t regretted a single moment of having her there. Not now, not ever.
“I’ll be able to do all sorts of things now that I couldn’t do before, without the cast.” She gave him a seductive sideways glance. “All sorts of things,” she repeated with a sly grin.
“Great. Shall we go and explore those things right now?” Nico half stood, ready to take her up on her offer.
She laughed and came over to kiss him. He grabbed her by the waist, enjoying the fact that he could touch her whenever he wanted.
“Yes, we can,” she said when he finally let her up for air. “But can I have a cup of coffee first? I’m parched.”
“Sure.” He sat down, feigning nonchalance, but had to readjust the uncomfortable bulge in his pants. The mere idea of having sex with Lacey set him aflame with desire every single time.
“I just got a call from the Strahan office while you were in the bathroom,” he said as a means to distract himself from the way her ass looked so inviting in those jeans as she leaned across the countertop to grab a mug. “They finally found Floyd Hamilton’s car.” The little, white sedan belonging to Floyd had been found dumped and burnt out by a hiker on a trail leading out of Strahan early this morning.
“Where?” Lacey lifted her thoughtful, amber gaze from the coffee machine.
“Near Hogarth Falls.” It was a well-frequented area close to the small town of Strahan, but the car had been driven a long way down a fire trail and hidden behind a large stand of King Billy Pines.
“Well, at least that answers that question.” Lacey shrugged and turned to fill her coffee mug. It was one of the many pieces of the puzzle Nico was still trying to piece together about Gabriel’s final days before they captured him. It was Floyd’s car that he’d seen up in the lookout parking lot. The same car Gabriel had used to flee the scene, even as Nico watched Lacey’s Kombi van fly over the cliff top. It seemed that after Gabe had found out about Floyd’s stalking of Rania—possibly from Lacey’s slip of the tongue after Sunday lunch—he decided to use the young man as a decoy. He’d somehow convinced the young mechanic to drive up and meet him at the lookout—Nico was still figuring out exactly what enticement Gabe had used; Gabe still refused to cooperate with police—and then drugged him and left him tied up in the trunk overnight. Planning to return with Lacey and the Kombi the next day.
Nico still couldn’t believe he’d sat and had lunch with a murderer. Gabe must’ve waved them goodbye that Sunday afternoon after feeding them his roast lamb, then come up with this scheme as soon as they left. Contacted Floyd somehow—they could find no phone records between the two, so perhaps Gabe had spoken to him in person—and then jumped in his car and driven to the lookout to meet him. Then driven straight back and spent the rest of the night plotting the best way to abduct Lacey.
Gabe hadn’t realized Lacey had survived the fall. And so when they’d first brought him in, he’d acted all sad and sorrowful that Lacey was dead. He’d concocted some bullshit story that he’d tried to stop the van from going over the edge. But Floyd had gone crazy and decided to take himself out in a blaze of glory, taking Lacey with him as a final fuck-you to Nico and the rest of the cops. Gabe had been in the passenger seat, trying to talk Floyd out of it, but decided to jump out when it became clear the young man wasn’t listening. Gabe said he’d jumped in Floyd’s car and driven away because he was terrified that he’d be implicated in the whole thing. And his fears had come true. Look at how the police were all pointing the finger at him. It was an ingenious story. But it’d never stand up in court. Gabe must know that. Nico wished Gabriel would finally admit defeat and confess. Confess not only to Floyd’s murder and Lacey’s attempted murder, but to killing Rania as well. Then her family might finally get some closure.
