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Lacey’s hand dropped away from Nico’s arm as the son continued to talk, a frown forming on her face as she processed what he was saying.
“Other things my mum’s said since Tia died all started to make a horrible sense,” Taj continued. “She has been acting strange for the past few weeks. She became really cold and distant. Not letting me come around and visit, not returning my calls.” Nico almost snorted his contempt. How could the woman possibly become any colder? You could already freeze ice on her ass as far as he was concerned.
“My mother has always liked her privacy, especially after Tia’s death, but this was different,” Taj said when he saw Nico’s look of contempt. “I felt something was wrong. So I came around one night to check on her. It was about two weeks ago, and it was late, I’d been out at a mate’s place for a few drinks. I drove past and saw her lights were still on, so I came in. She looked kinda flustered when she saw me at the door. And instead of looking like she was getting ready for bed, she was dressed in sort of outdoor gear. I jokingly asked her if she’d been out hiking in the dark. After a moment, she told me that she’d been to visit Tia’s tree. That shut me up, as she knew it would, because she still went sometimes to put flowers by the base of the tree.”
“You didn’t think it was strange she was out doing this so late at night?” Nico queried.
“Yeah, a little,” Taj replied. “But what was I supposed to say? This was two weeks ago. Those girls’ murders weren’t in the news until a few days ago. I never even suspected until then…” Taj stopped talking and his breath hitched. The tough-guy persona seemed to be slipping until it was replaced by a scared and alone little boy whose mother had just turned into a monster.
Nico’s mind was racing. If this had been two weeks ago, Taj could have unwittingly walked in on the same night as Sandra had committed the first murder. “You still haven’t answered my question,” Nico prompted. “Do you think your mother will go after the last girl?”
Taj’s face was a picture of misery. “Yes,” he whispered. “Once she starts something, she always finishes it. That mantra was drummed into both me and Tia when we were kids. It’s probably the reason she wouldn’t let Tia quit gymnastics, even if she was being bullied. Mum never liked to admit defeat.”
“Shit.” Nico stood tall and gritted his teeth.
“I know Mum used to say that it was her fault Tia killed herself,” Taj went on, seemingly lost in his own tortured world of memories. “I always told her not to be stupid. Tia was clearly depressed, and she’d done everything a mother could do to try to pull her out of her funk. But thinking about it now, I bet she blamed herself because she was the one who forced Tia to keep going to gymnastics, even though those girls were so mean to her. So in a way, itwaskind of her fault.”
Nico looked down at Taj, and a sliver of sorrow for the kid skittered through his guts. Now he would have to live with not only the wretchedness of his sister’s untimely death, but the shame of knowing his mother was a murderer.
“It would’ve been Tia’s twenty-first birthday today,” Taj said in a faraway voice.
“What?” Nico froze.
Taj looked up at him, his eyes clearing a little. “After Tia’s death, Mum always celebrated her birthday by spending the day sitting by her tree. I knew this one would be extra hard for her. Turning twenty-one is a big milestone, isn’t it?” Taj’s mouth twisted in a grimace.
“Yes, it is,” Nico replied thoughtfully as more of the puzzle pieces slotted into place. Of course. This could be the final clue to Sandra’s motivation for murder. If her daughter never got to see her twenty-first birthday, then she was going to make damn sure the other girls didn’t either.
“If this is true, we need to get up there and warn Teresa.” Lacey said, breaking into his thoughts. She’d stood quietly beside Nico as the boy recounted his story, but now, her face was animated, urgency in her lovely hazel eyes.
He agreed with her. They needed to get up on that mountain ASAP. It could already be too late. Sandra may have followed the girl onto the Overland Track and already completed her dastardly deed. Although, if Teresa was leading a group of walkers, then Sandra may have a hard time getting the girl alone.
“We need to get back on to Gina at the wilderness company,” he barked. “We need as much information as we can get on exactly when Teresa’s party left yesterday, their planned route and where they intend to camp tonight.” He was already strategizing, organizing logistics in his head, working out how he could get up on that walking trail sooner rather than later. A helicopter could get them where they wanted to go, drop them into the wilderness. But they needed to be careful not to tip off Sandra, so they couldn’t get too close. If she knew they were coming, it might force her to kill Teresa before she was ready. And then—
“I want to go with you,” Lacey interrupted his thoughts. Instead of pulling out her phone to call Gina like he thought she would, Lacey had squared her shoulders and was staring at him. Looking every inch of the competent police officer that she was in her smart, blue uniform, one thumb tucked into her duty belt which hung low on her hips, a look of defiance in her eyes. Except for the dark smudges under her eyes that reminded him both of them had had little to no sleep in the past twenty-four hours.
“What?” Nico hadn’t got as far as deciding who he’d take with him up onto the mountain. “I don’t—”
“I need to go with you, Nico. We make a good team together, we know what each other is thinking. That might be important up there in the wilderness.” Lacey wasn’t pleading, she was demanding and logical, and he couldn’t help but admire her boldness at confronting him like this. Lacey could be a headstrong, determined woman. He knew that on a deeply personal level, and it was one of the many things he found attractive in her. But sometimes her stubbornness was also a thorn in his side. Like now, when she decided to flaunt her willfulness at work.
This operation was going to be a grueling, arduous task. Physically demanding; they’d most likely have to run part of the track to catch up to Sandra. Lacey was definitely fit enough to keep up with him, that part wasn’t the problem. But she was still a junior officer, only just finished probation. Was she mentally ready for such an operation? And they were both suffering from lack of sleep, which’d make things harder. It’d also look like he was giving her undue preference if he took her with him. What would the rest of the team say? Their roles didn’t usually correlate. He was a homicide detective, and she was a cop on the beat—who had a great partner in Linc. But what she said had a certain kind of logic. They often knew what the other was thinking, sometimes surprising themselves when they both voiced the same idea at the same time. Up until now, Lacey had only been paired up with him less than half a dozen times. But the times they had worked together had been seamless; maybe because they trusted each other with their life. She was a good cop, with good instincts.
And yet… “I can’t promise you that,” he replied evenly.
“I need to do this for Linc. If Sandra is the killer, then she’s the one who hit Linc over the head. Nearly killed him,” she added, deadpan.
“Given that reasoning, then won’t his uncle, Tyrell, want to come too?” he asked a little sardonically
“I’m assuming there will be more than one unit going out,” she replied. “Tyrell definitely deserves to be on that other team.” Lacey had clearly thought this through in more detail than he had in such a short time.
He nodded, because that was almost certainly true. A backup team should be dropped at each end of the trail, to make sure Sandra didn’t escape overland that way.
“Please, Nico.” Lacey moved in closer, her amber eyes suddenly entreating.
Shit. He sucked in a breath. He knew he couldn’t say no to her when she looked at him like that. And the worst part was, he did want her with him on this op. At least if she was with him, he wouldn’t be worrying about her at home on her own with that mystery intruder still out there on the loose.
Almost as if she could sense his change of heart, she gave a small, hopeful smile.
“I’m not promising anything,” he said again, holding up a hand in warning. But he knew it was too late. He’d already made the decision in his own mind. Now he just had to get it past Shadbolt.
