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“Shit.” Lacey stopped dead in her tracks. “Look, Nico.” She was pointing up to a sign that hung above the door. He’d been so focussed on dissecting Erica’s words he hadn’t been taking in his surroundings.
Practice makes perfect.
Nico felt a shiver course through him as he read the words.
“Jesus,” he whistled through his teeth. “Good catch, Lace, I would’ve missed that.”
They both stared up at the sign. It was big enough to fill the wall above the doorway and had a set of stylized figures in various gymnastic poses along the bottom.
“Do you think that’s it?” Lacey asked, taking a photo on her phone of the sign. “I know we said that phrase could be used for anything, but this makes a certain kind of sense, don’t you think?”
“Totally agree,” Nico replied. “Send that photo to evidence, will you?” He watched as Lacey’s fingers flew over the buttons on her phone. “But we can’t make assumptions, or arrest anybody because of a sign on the wall,” he added when Lacey turned to stare suspiciously at the retreating woman’s back. He also turned to take another look at Erica, who was striding toward the change rooms as if on a mission. Nico felt sorry for poor Lily, who would most likely have to resume her skipping now they were leaving.
He held his tongue until they exited through the large double doors at the front and were walking back to the cruiser.
“What are your first impressions?” He wanted to know what Lacey had made of the whole interview. Stopping to unlock the car, he glanced at her over the roof and she grimaced at him.
“I didn’t like her.”
He held in a laugh. Trust Lacey to state the obvious.
“Me either,” he replied. “But we shouldn’t let the fact that she clearly thinks she’s better than the rest of us cloud our judgement,” he chided gently. Nico had also taken an immediate dislike to Erica, but he knew from experience just because a person was repellent, it didn’t make them a murderer. Opening the door, he slid into the driver’s seat.
Lacey did the same on the passenger side and she turned her head to regard him. “I know. But she reminds me of a tennis coach I had when I was young.” Lacey closed her hands into fists on her thighs. Nico wondered if she realized how much her body language was giving her feelings away. “My mother loved that woman, but she was the bane of my life. She would keep me on the court for hours in an attempt to correct my serve. I was never good enough.” Lacey’s eyes took on a glazed appearance, as she became lost in memories. “Much like my own mother. I was never good enough for her either. Which was probably why she loved that tennis coach so much. They were both cut from the same cloth.” Lacey’s tone took on a bitter edge.
Nico laid his hand on her knee. She hadn’t been in contact with either of her parents in the past six months, and he knew it cut her deep that she’d had to break off all communication. But it was the only way Lacey could stay mentally healthy right now. She and her mother had a thorny relationship that hadn’t been made any less so after Lacey had been kidnapped and he’d accompanied her back to Melbourne to confront her whole family. Lacey had told them about her PTSD and what’d caused it, and how her family’s complete lack of support had made her spiral into the depths of depression. But it was more than that. It was also the way her mother had absolutely no empathy for Lacey; that she actually blamed Lacey, saying she was making it all up and needed to toughen up and get over herself. Lacey’s mother, Elora, was the most self-centered person Nico had ever met. She liked to manipulate people—especially Lacey—by using emotional blackmail to get her own way. And the father, Barry, wasn’t much better. He enabled Elora’s behavior just to keep the peace.
“I feel sorry for the poor kids who have Erica as a coach every day. She probably browbeats them into submission, believing that punishment is its own form of reward. That method may have worked fifty years ago, but not anymore.”
Nico silently agreed, gently stroking her knee. Glad that they were out of the public eye for a second, so he could give into his urge to touch her.
“But it wasn’t just her attitude toward the kids that has me riled up,” Lacey conceded. “She was just hostile from the first second we walked in. Almost as if she had something to hide. Why is she so reluctant to give us the lists? Is she trying to hinder our investigation?” Lacey asked.
Nico was glad he’d brought Lacey along. It was good that she could see all this without being told. A good learning experience, and she handled it with levelheadedness, not letting the other woman get under her skin.
“I wondered the same thing,” Nico agreed. “Let’s dig into Erica’s past. I want to know more about her. I also want to know more about everyone who works at the club. And where all their money comes from. Something’s going on there. Maybe they just have a generous benefactor, and it’s all simple and above board,” he added. “But it definitely needs more investigation.”
“Hmm,” Lacey mused. “Maybe Erica is just picky about who she trains. Only takes on rich clients. The ones who can afford to pay higher fees. You saw those awards hanging behind the reception desk?” she asked. When he nodded, she went on. “That looked like a silver medal from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.” Lacey couldn’t quite keep the respect out of her voice. “If it’s real, then this woman can probably command higher prices. Parents would be prepared to pay through the nose. It’s not every day your child is trained by an Olympic medal winner.”
“That’s true,” Nico conceded.
“Maybe it’s some kind of elite training club where only the kids of the rich and famous are allowed to join.” Again, Lacey’s tone held a dark bitterness. Because she of all people would know what that was like. Her family were ridiculously rich, and as a child, Lacey had been sent to only the finest clubs or institutions for the betterment of her sporting and musical prowess. Lacey had hated every second of it.
There was a complicated tangle of emotions and beliefs all tied up with her family money that Nico had yet to fully explore because she didn’t like to talk about it. 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. Which was one of the reasons she was so eager to move in with him. Share his comfortable little cottage, when she could live in a mansion if she chose to. And he agreed with her. Money didn’t buy you happiness.
“Whatever’s going on there, I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of it. But for now, we should head back to the station. Pederson and Saito will be back from interviewing Zoya’s mother soon.” He hoped they had some more insights into the young girl’s background. First and foremost, he wanted to know if that charm had belonged to Zoya. “If you could start digging into that gymnastic club when we get back, that’d be great.”
Lacey nodded as Nico started the car and eased out onto the main road. “Shadbolt is fronting the media this afternoon to speak about the second body,” he told her, his mind already sorting through the raft of information they’d amalgamated. This would send the media into a frenzy. Two bodies in two days. But there wasn’t a lot they could share right now, mainly because they had little to go on, apart from the name of the first victim. “We don’t have a lot to tell them, which always annoys Shadbolt,” Nico went on. Shadbolt hated it when he didn’t have the answers, he thought it made him come across as looking incompetent. The media, who always wanted more, and would be the first to call the police out on their lack of progress.
They continued to discuss their thoughts on Erica and her gymnastics club as Nico skillfully guided the cruiser through the late morning traffic. “Shall we stop at the bakery and grab a sandwich on the way past?” he asked as his stomach rumbled. It was still too early for lunch, but he’d skipped breakfast this morning. The little Burnie Bakery was famous with the locals for their delicious baguette sandwiches. His favorite was beef and mustard and Lacey’s was salmon and brie.
“Yes, please.” Lacey might not have left the house as early as he did, but they’d missed morning tea, and she was always hungry.
He found a parking spot a few shops along from the bakery, and they both jumped out. As good fortune would have it, there was no one waiting in line at the bakery and Nico greeted Jayden, the young apprentice, with a smile, asking him where he planned to go for his next hiking adventure. Caving, abseiling, mountain-bike riding, endurance runs through the heart of Tasmania, they were all things Jayden, an adrenaline junkie, was keen to do. The young man loved the outdoors and freely admitted he only worked to get money to feed his addiction. Nico was vaguely jealous. He would’ve loved to have done the same thing when he was younger, but now, he was tied to the job and getting too old to do the daring things that Jayden attempted.
Seeing Jaden always brought back memories of Gabriel though. In some ways, Jayden had been the catalyst who’d started Gabe on his killing spree. Rania had seen Gabe and Jayden kissing behind the bakery one day, and it brought all of Gabe’s fears of being outed as a gay man to the surface. While Jayden was openly gay, he’d known that Gabriel was terrified of his secret getting out, but he’d been cleared by the police on any charges of collusion, because he knew nothing about Gabriel’s murderous intent.
Nico tried not to let his feelings show as he ordered for himself and Lacey, adding two strawberry tarts at the last second because they looked so damn good. Lacey touched his arm as if she wanted to say something, so he leaned toward her. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, there was a loud cough from behind.
