The Predator (26 page)

The only woman he’d ever loved.

But also the woman who had lied to him and kept his son a secret for more than four years. Four whole years of his son’s life that he’d missed because she hadn’t bothered to tell him.

The pain of it was agonizing, re-igniting his anger. He hadn’t been there for his son’s birth, his first words, his first steps. So many milestones, so many memories. Stolen. And why? Because she didn’t think he had a right to know.

Guilt pricked his conscience. He wasn’t being fair. If he took the emotion out of it, the reasons she’d given him made sense, in a weird kind of way. They had fought constantly over her desire to have a baby. Over and over again, he’d argued against it. He’d made it clear a baby was the last thing he wanted. At the time, he hadn’t been able to see how one could possibly fit into their lives.

She’d said she was going to tell him the night of their birthday, the night he’d arrived home from Jakarta. But he’d gone and dropped a bombshell of his own and everything else had slid by the wayside.

He drew in a deep breath and blew it out on a sigh. The tightness in his chest eased a little. He knew why she’d done it.

Between the hurt and disbelief that had momentarily immobilized her to the crying and pleading when she’d begged for an explanation while he’d gone methodically around their apartment packing his things, the opportunity to tell him about the baby simply hadn’t arisen.

But that didn’t excuse the latter. The months and years afterwards when she could have let him know… He accepted, grudgingly, that the longer it went on the harder it would have been to say something, but that didn’t excuse her decision. Life was hard. It dealt out knocks—harsh knocks—every day. People dealt with them and moved on. They didn’t hide them in the deepest, darkest recess they could find and hope like hell nobody found out.

It had been wrong. Deceitful. And he’d never have believed Alex was capable of this. And what of Sam? For almost four years of his life, he hadn’t known his father and somehow she’d decided that was okay.

Her sobs of apology in the message on his phone had torn at his heart, but he was hurting, too. Her deceit had shaken him to the core. Every time he thought about it, fresh waves of hurt and anger threatened to overwhelm him.

Even though he now knew, he hadn’t told anyone about Sam. Not even Tom. He still didn’t know how he was going to talk about it. What words could he use to explain? There was no way Tom would understand. He’d blame Alex and Tom would be a whole lot less forgiving than Brandon.

Forgiving? Was he already thinking about
forgiving
her?

The phone buzzed in his pocket. He finished off the beer and sat the bottle down on the table. Fishing out his phone, he glanced at the Caller ID.

It was Tom. A reluctant smile lifted one corner of his mouth. His brother had ESP.

“Hey bro, you must be psychic. I was just thinking about you.”

“Brandon, it’s Cassie. She’s missing.”

The barely controlled panic in his brother’s voice set Brandon’s heart racing. “What do you mean, missing?”

“Missing, dammit. We can’t find her anywhere.”

Brandon drew in a deep breath and forced himself to remain calm. “When did you last see her?”

“This morning. I had an early meeting, but Lily had breakfast with her before Cassie left for netball. She played at ten. We expected her home by twelve. Half past, at the latest. It’s now after two.”

“Did you call her? Maybe she went to the mall?”

“Of course I fucking called her! She’s not answering her phone.”

“What about her friends? Have you spoken to any of them?”

“Lily managed to track down a couple of girls she played with this morning. The season’s only been going for a few weeks. We don’t know everyone on her team, yet.”

“What did they say?”

“Neither one of them knew where she was. She played the full game, but they didn’t see her leave. The best we got was that one of the girls said she was meeting a boy afterwards, but she only saw her talking with a man straight after the game. The girl didn’t know who he was.”

“Did she give you a description?”

“Yeah, for what it’s worth. I’ve been to those games. There could have been a hundred people there. Medium height, medium build. Nice jacket. Jeans. Red baseball cap. Oh, and she’s not sure, but he could have worn a beard.”

Brandon could hear Tom’s frustration and his barely controlled fear. He bit his lip.

“Christ, Brandon, it could be anyone. At the moment, it’s all we’ve got.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. We’ll try and retrace her steps. Have you called Declan?”

“No, I called Hornsby Station. They told me he’s on a couple of days off. I’ve already called the station at Manly. I got some young constable. He took the details, but since she’s been missing less than two hours, they’re only going through the motions as a courtesy. They’ve sent someone down to Manly Oval to ask around, see if anyone else noticed anything. The problem is, Cassie played at ten. Anyone involved with, or watching that game will be long gone by now.” He blew out his breath. “I’m heading over there, anyway. I have to do something. Sitting on my hands is driving me crazy.”

“Where’s Lily?”

She’s at home with Joe, waiting by the phone. Hoping like I am that Cassie’s going to walk through the front doorway any minute.”

Brandon scratched his forehead. Cassie had always seemed like a sensible girl, mature for her age. Not the typical unreliable, self-absorbed teenager. Still, he had to ask. He kept his voice neutral.

“Has she ever done this kind of thing before?”

“Fuck no! Never! She’s such a good girl. It’s why we trusted her to catch the bus over to Manly and back every Saturday. When she plays further away, one of us drives her.”

“Look, mate, we’re going to find her. It’s only been two hours. I know it feels like a lifetime to you, but in reality, it’s not that long. She can’t have gone too far. Someone will have seen her and then we’ll find her.”

Tom didn’t respond. Brandon wished he felt as confident as he sounded, but now wasn’t the time to voice any doubts. His brother would already be confronting those in his head. He didn’t need Brandon to add to them.

Brandon’s phone beeped, signaling an incoming call. He checked the screen and saw it was Alex. He debated about letting it go through to voicemail, but then decided to answer it. Talking to her about Cassie gave him an excuse not to talk to her about Sam.

“Listen, Tom, I have to go, but tell me, what can I do to help? Do you want me to meet you at the netball courts? I could help canvass whoever might still be there.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. The more help we have, the better. I’ll text you the address.”

“I’ll track down Declan. He might be able to help, too.”

“Thanks, mate. I really appreciate it.”

“No worries, bro. We’re going to find her.”

Ending the call, Brandon answered Alex’s beep.

“What is it?” he asked, his tone brusque.

“I-I just called to say hello and…and to see how you’re doing. I know you said you didn’t want to talk to me, but I thought you might like to know the doctors said they hope to be able to let Sam come home next week. He’s been doing so well, getting stronger every day. It’ll be another six weeks or so before the fractures heal, but he seems to have pulled through the worst of it; thank God. I was wondering if you wanted to… That is…maybe you could…come over? You know, we could… I don’t know…talk…maybe?”

The hope and fear and uncertainty that punctuated her voice almost did him in. Despite everything, he loved her. He’d always loved her. It killed him to hear her sound so despondent. But now wasn’t the time to get into it.

“Tom just called. Cassie’s missing.”

“What do you mean, missing?”

“Just what I said,” he snapped. “No one’s seen her since her netball game finished earlier this morning.”

“Have they—?”

“Before you go asking all those things, I’ll tell you, yes. They’ve called her phone. They’ve spoken to her team mates. No one knows where she is.

“The local police have gone to the courts to ask some questions. Tom’s on his way over there now. I’m going to call Declan and then head over there, too.”

“Oh, my God, Lily must be going out of her mind. I’ll have to call her. See if there’s anything I can do.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. I’ll… I’ll talk to you later.” Brandon exhaled on a heavy sigh and ended the call. Dialing Declan’s number, he quickly brought his brother up to speed and then stepped back inside and collected his car keys and wallet. Within minutes, he’d swung his Mustang out into the traffic, heading north.

* * *

James ran the washcloth over her silken limbs, taking special care to wipe away any trace of him from her skin. She’d tasted even better than he’d imagined. He’d been so enamoured of her youthful beauty, he’d lost track of time and only now did he realize he’d kept her far longer than he had any of the others.

He’d come so close to settling between her spread legs and fucking her like his body begged him to do, but in the end, caution had won out and he’d made do with only the use of his tongue.

She’d stirred a couple of times and once, her eyes had opened and she’d stared at him, only to close a few seconds later. That had unnerved him, but it had also excited him. How he wished he could let her watch him while he loved her.

But he knew it was stupid to even think such thoughts. It was the reason why he’d remained undetected for so long. He never took uncalculated risks. He’d never been one to seek danger for the hell of it and allowing her to remain fully conscious while he carried out his work would be sheer idiocy.

He glanced at his watch and was a little taken aback to realize it was nearly two. He forced himself to remain calm and continued to clean away the evidence of Cassie Munro’s time in his bed.

It was a Saturday afternoon. Most teenagers would be shopping at the mall or going to the movies, especially a teenage girl. He only hoped she was no different, and that nobody had noticed her absence.

He’d take her to the mall closest to the netball courts. It was only just up the road from Manly Oval. Close enough that it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for anyone to imagine she’d gone there after her game. She’d probably gone there many times.

The ringing of a phone sounded again and he frowned and now recalled he’d heard it before, while he’d been busy pleasuring himself. He followed the sound to the gym bag she’d carried. It was lying on the floor near his bed where he’d left it.

Tugging open the zip, he pulled out the phone just as it stopped. Fifteen missed calls. His gut tightened.
Fuck.
Someone had noticed.

Scrolling through them, he smiled and then erupted into laughter. Ten of them were from her mother, the other five from her prick of a father.

So, her absence hadn’t gone undetected. Too bad. That disappointed him, but wasn’t cause for too much concern. A sudden brainwave sent his smile soaring upwards. He opened the phone to the message screen and composed a new text.

* * *

Lily Munro’s phone beeped and her heart leaped into her throat. Racing across the kitchen, she snatched it up off the counter. There was a new message. It was from Cassie.

Shock and relief caused her legs to fold underneath her. She grabbed for the kitchen counter and steadied herself. With shaking fingers, she opened the message.

Hi Mom so sorry 2 worry u. Went 2 mall after game. Been to movies. Just got out & checked phone. Really sorry. Home soon.

Lily collapsed against the counter and sucked in deep breaths of air while she tried to get her heart rate back under control.

Thank, God.

Cassie was okay. She was going to kill her when she got home, but at least she was okay. She had to call Tom.

The thoughts ricocheted through her head and she breathed sharply, trying to slow them down. Tom
.
The first thing she had to do was call Tom. With fingers unsteady from relief, she dialed his number.

* * *

James secured Cassie’s ponytail back in place and straightened her singlet and skirt. She stirred beneath his touch. He’d have to work quickly to get her inside his car and across to the mall before she came to. With a last quick look around his bedroom, he slung her gym bag over his shoulder and hefted her into his arms. Checking through the peephole to the corridor outside, he ensured the way was clear and then opened the door and headed downstairs.

* * *

Constable Michael Kennedy smothered a yawn and rubbed at a tight muscle in the small of his back. Another tedious hour had passed and still he’d seen no evidence of anything untoward happening in the apartment across the road. His dreams of cracking a pedophile ring wide open and the glory that would come with that were fading fast. Too bad. He smiled wryly. The thought had been nice while it had lasted.

“Hey, what’s happening over there?”

Jack Nelson’s question registered about a second after it was uttered. Michael took in the scene across the road and frowned in confusion.

Their suspect was manhandling what appeared to be a young girl into the front of his Ford. He only caught a glimpse of her before she was hidden from sight, but she appeared to be asleep, or at least, very drowsy.

“Do we know whether Gibbons lives alone?” he asked.

Nelson shrugged. “I don’t know. But that looked odd. Why would a kid be asleep at two o’clock in the afternoon? Maybe she’s sick? Maybe he’s taking her to the hospital?”

“Maybe. But wouldn’t you call an ambulance if she was that sick? It looked like he was carrying her.”

“Yeah.”

Michael pursed his lips in thought. “I think I’ll call the boss. Better to be safe than sorry.” Tugging out his phone, he dialed Declan’s number.

* * *

Declan returned his phone to his pocket after ending another call from Brandon. At least this time it had been good news. His niece had been found. He’d had a heavy feeling of dread in his gut ever since Brandon had told him Cassie was missing and he was relieved that all the sinister things he’d conjured up between phone calls had come to naught.