Treacherous (15 page)

“
Nathan?”

I groaned. My throat was parched.
“Water.” My voice came out in a hoarse whisper.

“
What’s that, Buddy?
Oh, you want water? Hang on.” I could only see a blurry outline of
the person who was talking to me. They disappeared from my field of
view, but a second later were back holding something out to
me.

“
Oh, sorry.” He held
something to my lips and tipped it back. I realised it was a paper
cup. I sipped then spluttered. Water ran down my windpipe instead
of my oesophagus. “Sorry, Buddy.”

“
Mark?” I managed to
croak. My throat ached. Someone must have stuck something down
there.

“
Yeah. You’ve been in
the wars.”

“
What
happened?”

“
You were in a crash.
A semi-trailer rammed into your car, sending it rolling into the
ditch on the opposite side of the highway near the turn off to
Cave’s Beach. What were you doing up there?”

Too many questions. He was talking too
much. I groaned and managed only one word. “Charli.”

“
Ah. No, we haven’t
been able to go to her yet. We haven’t been authorized.”

“
What?” I fought my
restraints, trying to sit up. My body protested in pain.

“
Nathan, relax. The
boss said not to pursue it.”

“
But, I have to…
Charli. He’s got her!”

“
Calm down,
Nathan.”

“
No, Mark! That prick
has her in his house, alone.”

“
Okay, okay. Lay down,
man. You had a pretty hard knock on the head. You were out for
three days.”

“
Three days?!” I tried
to sit up again after Mark had pushed me down. I had to get to her.
I had to get her back. “Help me.”

“
No, Nathan. Lay back
down, dammit. You’ve been unconscious. You had swelling on the
brain. You need to lie back down.”

“
I don’t care. Charli
is out there, she’s probably frightened. Who knows what he’s doing
to her… Oh God.”

Mark hesitated for a moment and ran a
hand over his face sighing. He sounded exhausted. He had probably
been sitting in the seat beside me for the three days I had been
out. “I’m sorry man. I can’t defy authority. The boss said you’re
too close to the case. You have to let her go, Nathan.”

I shot him a glare so
cold, so laced with ice and anger, that he flinched and put his
hands up in front of him.

“
I will never let her
go,” I managed to get myself out of the bed and untangle some of
the wires that were restraining me. When I had yanked the IV drips
out of my arms, I leaned against the bed. I felt faint but not
overwhelmed by it. “Where are my clothes?”

This time Mark didn’t
hesitate. Obviously, he realised coming in between a man in love,
and his object of affection, was a grave mistake. Without speaking,
Mark handed me a white paper bag. Before leaving, Mark said
something that made me smile. “You always were the braver one of
the two of us. Always the rebel.”

Rebel. That was me.
In fact, in the training academy, that’s what the other recruits
had called me. From then on, I knew the name would
stick.

“
I’ll just be outside
while you change, but then I’m coming with you.”

Tears welled in my eyes as I looked at
my partner.

I smiled. “Thanks, Man.”

“
Anytime. I have your
back, always. Remember?”

“
I remember. But for a
second there, I thought you were going to betray me.”

“
Me, too.”

“
What
changed?”

“
I don’t know, Man. I
guess I realised I needed to help you get your happiness back.
You’ve been a lost soul these past few months.”

“
Thanks,
Mark.”

We shared a smile
before Mark ducked out and pulled the curtain closed. When I had
changed into the fresh change of clothes Mark must have rescued out
of car—the ones I always carried in case of emergencies—I hobbled
out and joined my partner.

“
You all right? You
look like your could use a burger.”

My stomach rumbled. “More than you’d
know,” I groaned and gave him a small smirk.

He patted my shoulder “Come on. We’ll
stop at Macca’s on the way.”

As Mark helped me
sneak out of the hospital, I realised then I had never been happier
for my partner. I had his back, too—always.

Charli

After Frankie and I
had soaked and snuggled in the tub for about half an hour, we both
stepped out and I hopped in the shower while he headed into the
bedroom. As I was scrubbing my skin, and the traces of him from me,
I heard the faint sounds of conversation drifting over the water. I
leaned against the tiled wall and listened.

“
No, I told you not
now. Wait a few more days.” There was quiet on Frankie’s end while
he listened to the person on the other end. I could hear them both
almost clearly because they were shouting.

“
What? Are you sure?
No, I knew he was following us.” Another pause. “Is he
alive?”

Alive? Who were they talking about? The
person on the other end sounded like a woman.

“
Where is he?” Frankie
sounded frantic, desperate. Then relief washed over him as I heard
the woman say what sounded like ‘hospital.’ “Good. At least he’ll
be tied down for a few days. Keep me updated on his condition. We
can’t have him coming back. Yes, I love you too.”

Love? Who the hell was he talking
to?

When I was sure Frankie had ended the
call, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. I
wrapped a towel around me and walked into the bedroom. Frankie was
sitting on the end of the bed, his head in his hand.

“
Who was that?” I
asked casually. His head snapped up.

“
Nothing. No one. Just
a friend.”

A friend you say ‘I love you’ to? I
almost asked, but bit my tongue.

“
Oh, okay.” I went to
my bag and grabbed some clothes before going into the bathroom to
change.

The next three days
passed in a routine that was almost military. We woke up, kissed,
and cuddled in bed before heading downstairs to eat breakfast. Each
day we went for a walk up the hill and to the bay. On Thursday, the
weather was warm, so I decided to go for a swim in the bay. I
pulled off my woollen jumper slowly, teasing Frankie who was lying
on a towel on the beach watching me. Then I felt his hands on my
waist. I moaned as his hands crept all over my skin. I leaned back
into his shoulder and kissed him. He kissed me back hungrily and
expertly. He then flipped me up into his arms and ran with me
screaming into the water. Once in the water we made the most of the
ghost town, making love in the water. With each moment Frankie and
I spent together, I could feel him slipping away. I could tell he
was keeping something from me, and I planned to find out what it
was.

On Friday evening when I came back from
a jog, I caught Frankie on the phone again. I tried not to make a
sound as I slipped into the house. I glued myself to the wall to
listen.

“
I already told you my
plan once I got the money. Yes, I have it and no, she doesn’t
suspect a thing. God, she is so dumb and naïve.”

I clenched my fists.
He was talking about me. He was planning something. I contemplated
calling or texting Nathan, but I knew I had hurt him when I ran
away from him. I felt for my phone in my pocket and brought up
Nathan’s text conversation. As I started typing, Frankie began
shouting.

“
No,
she doesn’t know. At least, I don’t think she does. But
he
knows. It was almost like the hand of fate took care of him
for me.” I could tell he was smirking. I wanted to look, but I
didn’t dare peel my back away from the wall. Who was he talking
about? Who did he need taken care of? Was he talking about my
father, or Nathan? Oh God, what was he up to. I needed to talk to
Nathan. I finally worked up the courage to move and headed towards
the door. As my hand turned the knob, an arm crushed my windpipe.
He pulled me back hard against his body and spoke hot words into my
ear.

“
Where do you think
you’re going?”

I almost screamed and kicked out, but
decided not to. I had to make him think I still knew nothing. That
I was the dumb bitch he thought I was.

“
Nowhere. Frankie,
please. You’re hurting me.”

I tried acting seductive. I had to keep
up the ruse to keep myself safe, but he wasn’t listening.

“
I know you heard the
conversation in your father’s office that day.” He told me. I
tensed. He knows. But I continued to play my part.

“
I didn’t, I swear.
What conversation?”

“
What do you
know?”

“
I know nothing.
Frankie, please let go.” After a few tense moments he let me go and
I let out the breath I didn’t realise I had been
holding.

“
Fine. But if you’re
lying to me…”

“
I’m not.” I walked
away from him and headed upstairs. What had changed? He was turning
into a completely different person. Or had he always been like
that, and I really was the naïve bitch he said I was?

Chapter
Twenty-Nine

Nathan

After I had finished my burger, I was
so anxious I didn’t know what to do with my hands.

“
Relax, buddy. We’ll
get her back.”

“
I know. But I’ve been
in the hospital for three days. If something’s happened to her… If
he’s done anything…” I choked, tears finding their way to my
eyes.

“
I know. Maybe you’d
better prepare yourself for the worst. Just like a routine job, you
know. We don’t know what kind of scene we’re
approaching.”

“
This isn’t just some
routine job, Mark. This is Charli. This is…”

“
I know, Man. This is
the woman whom you were hired to protect. The only thing that’s
making this so hard for you is that you realise you’re in love with
her.”

I gasped and stared at my partner. He
knew me so well. That was probably the reason we clicked so well at
the Academy and in training.

“
You’re
right.”

As we were coming
from Newcastle this time, it didn’t take too long to reach the
Cave’s Beach turn off. When we sat in the exact same place I had
been when the truck hit me, I couldn’t help but feel an eerie sense
in the air, and was even more anxious than before. A question came
to mind as I stared at some of the debris that remained behind on
the road from my accident.

“
Have you arrested the
truck driver?”

Mark nodded. “Yeah. He was over the
limit and had Cannabis in his system. The perp blew a
one-point-four- blood alcohol reading and was drugged up to the
eyeballs. I don’t know how he functioned.”

“
Shit.”

“
Yeah. You said it.
Anyway, he won’t be getting behind the wheel any time
soon.”

“
Good.”

When we reached the
turn off to Catherine Hill Bay, Mark told me to open the glove
compartment in front of me. When I did, I found my gun.

“
Um… I should be
retested before using this.”

“
Dude, I’ve seen you
shoot a target in the head blind. You’re fine.”

“
If the Fed’s find out
about this…”

“
Don’t worry, its all
sorted.”

I turned towards Mark and glared. “What
do you mean?”

“
The boss signed off
on it. He told me to tell you to ‘send him to his daddy.’ Whatever
that means.”

Of course. How could
I forget? Mark hadn’t been my partner back then. I was fresh out of
the Academy, and on my first field case. I shouldn’t have been
allowed to come along, being a probationary constable, and all. But
I did because the Senior Sargent said I had shown great potential.
What a way to throw me in the deep end. Before heading out, I had
been briefed about our perpetrator. The guy we were after was a
middle-aged man by the name of Jack Chandon; a divorcee who
dedicated his life to swindling helpless people of their life
savings. He sold fake shares into a fake online company. He
promised his clients hefty returns but never delivered. That night,
the AFP had him cornered. We had set him up to meet with a
potential client—one of our undercover cops. We entered the gates
of the storage place where our perp was due to meet our cop and
parked around the back in the dark, but near a visible exit in case
things turned sour. We got out of the car, making our way around to
the side entrance. Our cop had decided on this place because he
wanted to ‘see the goods.’ We knew there was nothing inside the
storage unit, but our perp didn’t know we knew that. Things had
gone well until Mr Chandon opened the storage room. Our cop
pretended to act hostile, which was our cue to act. We moved in
just as Jack Chandon pulled out his gun. Things happened fast, but
I was faster. I shot him in the chest before he even managed to
fully extend his arm. It wasn’t until later, I found out that Jack
Chandon had a teenaged son.

As we approached the
Chandon family’s holiday house (proceeds of crime, of course,) my
palms began to sweat. I realised everything had been leading to
this. I was in this situation now because I had a feeling Levi knew
what I had done five years ago, and that this was his way of paying
me back—taking the one whom I cared about for the one whom he had
lost. An eye for an eye.