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Lacey went over what she knew about the three girls in her head. Tia went to that private Anglican school in the outskirts suburb of Wivanhoe, Sukey attended the Burnie’s regional public school, and Zoya was at the alternative indie school in a trendy rehabilitated old warehouse in the middle of the main street. It was one of the reasons it’d been so hard to track down the connections between the two murdered girls at first. And the reason no red flags had immediately gone up when they’d heard from Tia’s brother that she’d been bullied. Their connection had been through the gymnastics club all along.
“We need to know why three out of the four girls in this photo are now dead,” Nico finished.
Pederson nodded his acknowledgement, but Saito sat up straighter. “What about the mother of the girl who hanged herself?” Saito asked in her smooth, no-nonsense tone.
“Leave her to me,” Nico said with a serious frown. Saito merely raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow.
Nico ignored her skeptical look and turned his head. “Tyrell,” Nico caught the man’s eyes. “I have Erica Nellenbach and her lawyer coming in this morning for another interview. Can you handle that one?”
“Yes, sir.” Tyrell sat straighter in his chair, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth, as he seemed to relish the thought of questioning the gymnastics coach.
“We need to know the exact details of what was in those texts between her and Zoya,” Nico said. “You should make it very clear to her and her lawyer that if she doesn’t comply, I will put out an arrest warrant in her name for obstruction of justice.”
“Yes, boss.” Tyrell’s white-toothed smile got even bigger.
“And I want to know everything she does about those four girls. How long they were at the gymnastics club, how long they knew each other, that kind of thing.”
Tyrell nodded and gathered up his things.
“Everyone else, track down as much info as you can on Teresa Thompson. See if we can figure out what her connection is with the other three girls in that photo. How does a possible friendship and the fact they were teammates when they were fourteen, relate to one of them committing suicide four years ago and then two of them being murdered now?”
There was a flurry of activity as everyone got to their allocated tasks. It looked like she’d be deskbound for at least the next few hours, unless a priority call came in, which probably wasn’t a bad thing given how tired she was feeling. She watched Nico gather his things and could hardly believe it’d been barely less than twelve hours ago they’d been cocooned in their bed reigniting their love for each other. Now reality hit like a baseball bat to the side of the head and yesterday felt like a dream.
Nico picked up his pile of papers and began to follow Sally-Ann out of the room, but took a detour through the desks, aiming straight for Lacey. “You okay?” He touched a hand to her cheek, and that brief contact was enough to remind her how much he cared as she fleetingly leaned into his palm. It reminded her how much she loved him in return. It also reminded her of their erotic afternoon in bed yesterday and her mind flooded with images of Nico, of the way he brushed the silky locks of her blonde hair away from her face while he stared deep into her eyes, as his other hand trailed down her stomach to the juncture of her thighs. Or the look on his face as he hovered above her, ready to plunge in deep. She felt the blood rise up her neck at the debauched memories. Nodding, she quickly kissed his cheek, then waved him away, hoping nobody saw those few seconds of intimacy that’d passed between them. Part of her was delighted that he’d taken the time to make sure she was fine before he left. And part of her was feeling a tad uncomfortable that everyone had seen their exchange. Delight won out in the end. He was taking the time to show her how special she was, to reinforce their bond, and he didn’t care who saw it.
“I’ll see you soon,” he promised as he headed toward the doorway, where Sally-Ann stood waiting, and again she nodded her reply, willing the heat to leave her cheeks. When her gaze swept the room, most people had the decency to look preoccupied with whatever they were doing, but Tyrell cast her a mischievous grin, and she groaned silently. Oh yeah, they’d all noticed all right.
Her official shift started at eight this morning, so Lacey took herself off to the locker room to shower and change. At least she’d had the luxury of a few hours’ sleep, unlike most others on the team, it seemed. She almost wished Nico had woken her up, but then part of her was glad she’d caught that nap, it might be the only thing that got her through the next eight hours.
With two strong mugs of coffee and a pastry from the break room under her belt, she went back to the operations room to tackle the job of gathering as much intel on Teresa as she could. Ten minutes later,Hickey and Gorman were called out to investigate a break-in over at a car wreckers on the outskirts of town, and that left her and Lawson riding the computers together.
Lacey established that Teresa worked fora wilderness expedition company offering outdoor activities for the adventurous. The website listed Teresa as a guide for all wilderness walks, including the Overland Track.What an interesting job, Lacey decided, as she dialed the company number listed on the website, hoping someone would be there to answer the phone at such an early hour. Often the best way to gain credible information was to talk directly to an employer or colleague. She got a recorded message telling her the office didn’t open until nine am, but if she liked to leave a message, someone would get back to her ASAP. Lacey asked them to call her back and hung up before going back to the wilderness activities website to see if she could glean any more information.
Less than an hour after Nico had left, he and Sally-Ann blew back into the operations room, a heavy frown marring his handsome features. “No one was home, and there was no car in the garage,” he reported when their two pairs of curious eyes rested on him. “None of the neighbors knew where she was either. Actually, they were decidedly unhelpful,” he added. “What have you two found out?”
Lacey showed him the information on Teresa’s workplace and told him she was hoping for a call back in an hour or so. Lawson had no luck uncovering any police records or misdemeanors, not even a speeding fine. But she got him a make and model of the car Teresa drove as well as the license plate number, and he asked her to put out a trace on the car.
Now what? Lacey glanced over at Nico, but he was standing staring at the whiteboard, tapping his chin with his index finger, Sally-Ann right next to him. Both looked a little stumped and more than a little tired from their all-nighter.
“If you don’t need me anymore, boss, I’m going to head home for a few hours and catch up on some sleep,” Sally-Ann said, smothering a yawn with her hand.
“Sure thing. You did great Sally-Ann, you deserve a rest,” Nico said, draping an arm around her shoulder and giving her a quick hug. Lacey liked that he had an easy camaraderie with most of his staff. Other women might be jealous, but Lacey knew Nico and Sally-Ann had a strong friendship and she was fine with that.
“We could send someone over to the wilderness shopfront. They might not be open yet, or answering the phone, but someone may be there,” Lacey suggested. If Teresa had gone to work early, it may answer the question as to why she wasn’t at home. Problem was, the main shopfront was in Devonport, over half an hour away. By the time they got there someone may well have called Lacey back.
Nico shook his head and seemed to be considering something. “Why don’t you and I pop over and pay Mrs. Sandra Brown another visit while we’re waiting for more info on Teresa?” Nico said, looking straight into Lacey’s eyes. “You did a good job of picking up on the little things they seemed to have missed the first time around after Tia died. I’d like you to come with me this time as well.”
Lacey felt a tingle of pride at his assessment, which she knew had nothing to do with the fact they were a couple and everything to do with her growing aptitude as a junior constable.
But instead of agreeing straight away, she gave him a searching look. Nico was exhausted; she could see it in the pallor of his skin and the way the lines around his mouth stretched tight. She wanted to tell him to go and get a few hours’ sleep. He was running on fumes. Nico could lock the door to his office and stretch out on the floor behind his desk. She knew he’d done it before. But then Lacey glanced over at Lawson, who was watching their exchange with curious eyes. It wasn’t Lacey’s place to tell Nico how to conduct himself at work, and so she had to remove her personal feelings from the equation and trust him to know what he was doing when it came to his professional life.
“Good idea,” she said, standing and readjusting her duty belt.
“See if you can track down Teresa’s family,” Nico said to Lawson as he turned to follow Lacey out the door. “If they live locally, we need to talk to them as well.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lacey felt a twinge of guilt that poor Lawson got stuck behind the desk to do all the research alone, but Lawson gave a resigned shrug and went back to her computer. In the end, they all had a job to do, and Lacey knew they might grumble about it at times, but the fact-finding and analysis was just as important as the fieldwork, often more so.
