Treacherous (3 page)

“
She may have also
slipped that in.” His smile was so seductive and charming I
couldn’t look at it for fear of being entangled in his
trap.

“
Bloody hell. I hate
it when people try to set me up on blind dates,” I
exclaimed.

“
They’re just looking
out for your wellbeing.”

“
My wellbeing? Yeah,
sure.”

It was then I felt his hand on mine
again. Damn him. I was falling, falling…

“
I’m not saying we
have to fall in love or anything straight away, but I would like it
if you would go out with me.” Falling faster.

I raised an eyebrow.
“Are you asking me out, Mr Scott?”

He leaned closer so that when he spoke
I felt his breath against my face. “Yes.” His breath came out as a
whisper, wafting the scent of coffee and something minty towards
me.

He had me. Hook, line and sinker.

“
Well? What will it
be?”

This time I didn’t hesitate. “Sure. One
date.”

Chapter
Four

Nathan

“
Alright, boys, I’m
out of here,” I said as I pushed back my chair and stood up from
the desk. I stretched and grabbed my jacket.

“
Alright, man,”
Replied my co-worker. He continued typing away then paused, turning
towards me.

“
Hey, wait, Nath.
What’s the status of that fraud case you’re working on? Any
hits?”

I paused mid-step and turned back
around to face him. “Nah, man. He’s dropped off the grid. But it
won’t be long until he pops up again.”

“
Okay. I just hope he
isn’t preying on innocent young girls again. The guy’s
relentless.”

“
I don’t doubt it.
Night, Mark. I have a date to get ready for.”

“
A date? With whom?”
Seeing my obvious anxiousness, Mark didn’t pry. He knew I was eager
to get out of there so he waved me off. “Just tell me about it
tomorrow.”

“
Sure thing!” I called
as I walked out the door.

* * * *

Being the head of the
fraud division for the Australian Federal Police meant I was
involved with some interesting people, including, more often than
not, the extremely rich. The majority of the people I worked with
accumulated their wealth illegally, some through other means. For
example, dining with the District Attorney of the State. That’s
where I was headed tonight. I pulled up at the bottom of a steep
drive leading to one of the many mansions lining the cliff face of
the Eastern Beaches. This one was all white and had white columns,
which gave it a colonial feel. I know Mr Jayne had an obsession
with everything American.

As I made my way up
the driveway and towards the front door, I went over every bit of
information I had on the Jayne’s in my head. It was something I
always did, which made me very good at my job, but something that
annoyed me immensely. I checked my breath. Once again, thankful for
the breath mint I had popped earlier after the onion-riddled
hamburger I had consumed for lunch. Once I was positive my breath
was up to standards for these people, I pressed the doorbell. The
sound of dogs barking inside could be heard, and a few minutes
later the door opened.

“
Officer Wright, I’m
so glad you made it. Please, come in.” Susan Jayne was a petite
woman with shoulder length, sandy blonde hair with salon-style
highlights.

“
Mrs Jayne, please,
I’ve told you. Call me Nathan.”

“
Well, on that note,
you should call me Susan.” Susan pecked me on the cheek, welcoming
me inside.

In court, Susan and
Stephen Jayne were like Dobermans—appealing to the eye, but
ruthless attack dogs. I was curious to see how they acted in their
own home.

Susan led me through the foyer and into
a large living space. To the right was a state of the art, open
plan kitchen with stainless steel appliances, and to the left,
where she now led me, was an elegant formal dining room. The entire
colour scheme of the house was white. Didn’t these people believe
in colour?

“
Officer Wright, so
nice of you to join us!” beamed Stephen Jayne. Mr Jayne stood six
feet tall with obviously died black, thinning hair, and a tanned
complexion. Both Mr and Mrs Jayne were still wearing work attire,
which made me feel uncomfortable about my appearance. I worked as
an undercover cop so my appearance was casual, to say the least.
But I had made sure to bring my best leather jacket with
me.

“
It’s my pleasure to
be here, sir.” I looked around at the empty chairs and couldn’t
help but think of the reason they’d asked me here in the first
place.

“
Please, call me
Stephen. We’re working together, the least you can do is be a
little more casual, Nathan.” He paused on my name, looking me in
the eye as he handed me a glass of whisky.

“
My apologies, M…
Stephen.” I corrected, following his glare. As I sat down in the
seat next to Stephen, I couldn’t wait to ask the question that had
been bugging me since I arrived. “Will your daughter be joining us
this evening?”

At that moment, Susan walked in the
room holding a bottle of wine. She hesitated in the process of
twisting the lid. “I’m afraid she can’t make it this evening,” she
said apologetically.

“
Oh, that’s a shame.”
My heart sank. After being single all my life, I really had
secretly jumped at the chance when the Jayne’s asked if I’d like to
come over and have dinner, and to meet their daughter. I knew she
was beautiful and close to my age.

“
She said she had
homework, but I know better. She’s probably hanging out at one of
those college dorm parties,” Susan said, waving the hand around
that wasn’t holding the wine. She poured herself a glass and sat
down opposite me, fixing me a stare, which seemed to unnerve me a
bit.

“
But that’s not the
reason I asked you here.”

My stomach clenched.
So they did have a hidden agenda.

Stephen chuckled, making me flinch.

“
Don’t look so
nervous, Nathan. We’re not here to interrogate you.”

“
Oh, good.” I smiled
nervously and took a sip of my whiskey. I needed this
tonight.

“
We have a proposition
for you. And don’t worry; we cleared it with the AFP.”

I almost choked on my drink. “What do
you mean?”

“
We want you to work
with us. Exclusively.”

“
Uh… I don’t mean
offence, Mr and Mrs Jayne, but as the head of the fraud division,
I’m swamped.”

“
Oh, don’t worry. This
is related,” Susan added casually with a flip of her hand as if it
were nothing.

“
Related?” I glanced
at Stephen to see if he would elaborate. He did.

“
We want you to work
for us… watching our daughter.”

Were they kidding? “Oh, sir, that’s not
really what I do…”

“
It is now,” added
Susan. I glanced over at her, suddenly afraid. Her tone was firm,
like her gaze, meaning finality. They were not kidding.

"Beginning tomorrow,
you will be working undercover acting as a college student at the
University of Sydney.”

“
But…”

“
No but’s, Nathan.
It’s done.”

As I left the Jayne
house that night, Stephen’s words echoed inside my brain. I was
playing the part of a pawn on a chessboard. I was the pawn, and Mr
and Mrs Jayne were the king and queen.

“
Make sure you get
close to Charlotte. Make her notice you.”

I didn’t know if this was their
intention all along, and I didn’t know what their motive was, but I
had to play along.

Chapter
Five

Charli

As soon as I left the
coffee shop, I dialled Mia. I couldn’t wait to tell her about
Frankie. Her phone went straight to voicemail.

“
Maybe she’s hung-over
or passed out,” I mumbled to myself as I headed back towards my
dorm. Mia had a tendency to party too hard and miss her morning
classes. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I tried contacting
her again, but as I began texting, someone pushed hard past my
shoulder, throwing me off balance and making me drop my phone. I
landed on the cold ground next to my phone. As I tried to get back
up and tell off the person who had shoved me, a hand appeared in
front of my face.

“
I’m so sorry. Are you
okay?”

I glared at the
stranger. It was a guy who looked to be a bit older than I was with
dark blonde hair and blue eyes. He was waiting for me to take his
hand. How could I be mad? I took his hand as he pulled me
up.

“
Thanks. You should
watch where you’re going next time.” I cringed and mentally kicked
myself after the words came out of my mouth. They had sounded far
more bitter than I had intended.

“
I really am sorry.
Are you hurt?”

“
No. I’m
fine.”

“
Oh, that’s good. Were
you going somewhere? Let me buy you a coffee to make up for being
such a jerk.”

“
Thanks, but I’ve
already had my coffee today.” I gave him a small smile and turned
to leave.

“
Wait, I didn’t catch
your name,” he called out.

“
I didn’t give it to
you,” I returned before I pushed open the glass doors to my
building.

Twice in one day. I
couldn’t believe it. Before this, I couldn’t even get one date. I
was, as some would call,
un-datable
, according
to all the kids at my high school. It’s probably because they were
scared of my dad with him being the District Attorney, and all.
Turns out that not everyone cared about money these days. They
cared about labels.

Running back to my
dorm,
I unlocked the door,
and quickly grabbed my book bag as I hurried back out again. I had
precisely five minutes until my first class, and my professor hated
tardiness.

Nathan

So, that was Charlotte Jayne.

She was even more
beautiful in person than in the photographs I had seen at her
parent’s place. As I stared at the doors she had disappeared
through, I smiled and though thought how funny life was. In many
ways, our fates were entwined together. As I turned, my shoe struck
something on the ground, causing the object to slide across the
stone pavers. I looked down and almost laughed.

Yes. It was definitely fate.

And fate loved the fearless.

I picked up her phone and slipped it
into my pocket.

Charli

My Social Studies
professor was already at the front of the lecture hall when I
walked in, but he hadn’t started talking yet, thank God. I quickly
found a seat in the lower half of the auditorium and unpacked my
laptop. As soon as I open my notes, I felt someone sit down next to
me. I didn’t think anything of it until they began speaking. His
breath is hot against my neck, and he smelt familiar.

“
Somehow I knew you
would be here,” he said in a low almost-whisper. His voice was sexy
as hell, and it made me shiver. I turned to look at him, and my
heart faltered.

“
Are you stalking me?”
I whispered.

“
Always so quick to
accuse. I love the study of society,” he said with a smirk. I
rolled my eyes.

“
Why are you really
here?”

“
To see you.” His
voice was a complete whisper this time. He fixed his hazel gaze on
me. My stomach flipped, and I began to sweat nervously. Damn him. I
swallowed and looked back at my computer.

“
I have to take notes.
This is one of my majors.”

“
What’s your other
major?” he asked. But I didn’t get to answer because we were
interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

“
Oh, you must be Mr
Wright. Good of you to finally join us,” Professor Stanley boomed
sarcastically. Everyone turned to look at the newcomer, and my
heart did a little flip when I saw who it was.

“
Sorry, Sir. There was
a mix up with my dorm key.”

“
Take a seat anywhere
and start making notes. As I was just saying, one of the key
factors to studying any aspect of society is observation. To
observe is to study. And that’s what your first assignment
is.”

That’s what I was
doing right now. I was observing the handsome stranger who had
helped me to my feet. And he was observing me in return. But he
wasn’t the only one observing me. In that moment, I felt like a
goldfish in a bowl as Frankie was also observing me. Observing me
observing the stranger. When I turned back to look at him, I saw
something flash across his face. Was it jealously?

Ch
apter
Six

Charli

After class ended, I
intended to talk to Frankie, but when I turned to pack my laptop
into my bag, he had disappeared. The guy was so mysterious I wasn’t
sure whether to trust him or not. A part of me wanted to get to
know Frankie, but another part of me was screaming that I should be
careful. I wanted to listen to the less rational side of my brain,
because this was all part of my plan. Plan Rebellion couldn’t work
if I was rational. I exited out the top door and came up against a
wall of muscle.