The Deception (37 page)

“Come on. Let’s go outside. They’ll bring Will out shortly. Besides, someone needs to see to your injuries.”

* * *

Savannah was met by a contingent of red and blue flashing lights upon her exit from the warehouse. The sun had climbed higher and now shone as bright as diamonds. Feeling had finally returned to her fingers and she held up a hand to shield her eyes against its intensity.

Uniformed policemen swarmed everywhere. TRG officers, still in their combat gear, milled around, talking to each other in muted tones. A few moments later, the paramedics strode out wheeling a stretcher.

Recognizing Will’s dark head, she hurried over. His pain-hazed eyes squinted at the daylight and connected with hers. Relief flooded through her.

“Oh, Will, you’re awake! I’m so glad you’re all right!” Her legs almost collapsed beneath her. She reached for his hand where it lay limply on the white sheet and squeezed it tightly.

“How the hell did you get here? I thought you were coming over to my place?” he muttered, his voice weak and unsteady.

She closed her eyes briefly at the memory. It seemed like a lifetime ago. “I was. I really was. But Dylan…” She shook her head, unable to continue.

He nodded feebly, his head barely moving on the pillow. She had to lean low to hear him when he spoke again. “You look like hell, but it sure is good to see you.”

“Ditto,” she whispered and squeezed his hand again.

The wheels of a second stretcher crunched on the pavement. Savannah turned her head toward it. Her brother’s body had been covered with a sheet.

Her legs trembled. She tightened her grip on Will’s hand.

“Who?” he rasped, watching as the paramedics wheeled the stretcher toward another waiting vehicle. The words
Glebe Morgue
were painted in stark lettering across its back doors.

She forced her gaze back to his. “It’s Dylan. My-my brother.”

He frowned. “I remember you saying something about your brother.” He shook his head. “How…?”

“I don’t know all the details. He-he turned up at my condominium and held me at gunpoint. He brought me here so Vince could…kill me.”

Will closed his eyes. “Billy the Kid. He was Maranoa’s off-sider.”

Savannah nodded sadly in agreement. Will’s hand tightened on hers and she was filled with gratitude. She didn’t know how long it would take for her to come to terms with her brother’s horrific double life and his tragic death. She’d tried to look out for him for so long and still things had gone terribly wrong.

“Hey, beautiful. Don’t look so sad. Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

His voice was still weak, but the pressure against her hand reassured her. Tears pricked her eyes. She gave him a wobbly smile. “I can’t believe how close I came to losing you.”

“You’re not going to get rid of me that easily. I have at least another fifty or sixty years in me.” He grinned up at her, but it was strained at the edges. Pain shadowed his eyes.

“Will, you need to get to the hospital. Let them take a proper look at you. They can give you something for the pain.”

“Yeah, that’s probably not a bad idea. It feels like a buffalo sat on my chest.”

Pete strode up to the stretcher. “Better than a bullet,” he said with a dry smile. “Lucky for you, I was already on my way through the doorway when the first shot rang out. I arrived just as O’Connor stumbled out, looking petrified. You flew backwards and I realized you’d been hit. Savannah came from nowhere and attacked the shooter. She deflected his arm and he was unable to get off the other shot.”

Will turned his head to face her, his eyes wide. “You saved my life.”

She looked away, pleased but embarrassed.

“I’m sorry about your brother, Savannah,” Pete murmured. “If I’d had any choice…” His eyes clouded over with regret.

Her smile disintegrated. “You did what you had to do. Dylan made his own choices. I was there, remember? If it wasn’t for you, Will would be the one on his way to the morgue.”

He shrugged uncomfortably. “The paramedics said Dylan died instantly.”

“I guess that’s a good thing.” Savannah came around the side of the stretcher and hugged Pete tightly. “Please don’t beat yourself up about it. Even I accept Dylan was an adult. Only he was responsible for his actions and their consequences.”

Her gaze returned to Will’s pale face. “I can’t tell you enough how thankful I am that you saved Will’s life. I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you.”

Pete looked away, embarrassed. His voice was gruff with emotion. “Don’t be silly. Will would have done the same thing for me.”

“Too right,” Will readily agreed. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t be eternally grateful.” He reached for Pete’s hand. “Thanks, mate. I owe you one.”

Pete colored, but returned the handshake. “Just get yourself better so you can get back on the job. We’re short staffed as it is.”

Will smiled and closed his eyes. A few moments later, he opened them again, his expression fierce. “We scored one for the good guys today.” He looked past both of them toward the clear, blue sky above him. “And one for you, too, baby brother.”

The waiting paramedic cleared his throat. “Come on, let’s get you to Prince Alfred Hospital. You need to get those ribs checked out to make sure none of them are broken. Taking a bullet like that can still cause damage, even though it’s not lethal.” He wheeled the stretcher over to the waiting ambulance.

Savannah watched until the doors closed behind Will. She turned back to Pete. “What happened to Max and Maranoa?”

“They’ve been taken back to the station. We’ll interview them and then lay charges. They’re going to be spending quite some time looking at four square walls.”

She shuddered, still trying to come to terms with the knowledge her boss and her brother were tied up in such despicable activities. A sudden thought occurred to her.

“Pete, what about the girls? What’s going to happen to them?”

“It’s okay. “I’ve spoken to the guys in immigration. They’ve had their eye on Maranoa for a while. They knew we were investigating him for drug importation. They decided to let us have first go at him.” He shrugged. “Everyone felt for those girls, but the drug operation had far more implications for the wider community.”

She bit off a protest, knowing he was right. At least now they’d be safe.“What’s going to happen to them?”

He shrugged again. “I guess it depends on immigration. They’ll probably be sent back to Thailand.” He turned back to her. “You need to get yourself to the hospital, too. That nose looks broken and the gash under your eye could probably do with some stitches.”

Savannah touched a tentative finger to her injuries. “Yes, doctor.”

“If we go now, we should be there by the time Will’s seen by the medical staff.”

Savannah sighed gratefully. Now that the drama was over, the pain in her face had become more pronounced. Her nose and lip felt twice their normal size. Her cheek throbbed. “Thanks, Pete.” She frowned down at her ankle ravaged by the blister. “That would be great.”

Thankfully, Pete’s unmarked vehicle was close by. She climbed in and sighed with relief. Her head dropped backward on the head rest. She drew in deep breaths of air and did her best to come to terms with all that had happened.

She was inordinately grateful Will had survived the ordeal relatively unscathed and the whole sordid brothel business had been resolved, but she couldn’t help the heavy pit of sadness that had lodged deep in her belly when she thought of Dylan.

Her head knew what she’d told Pete was right, but it wasn’t that easy for her heart to accept and believe it. The guilt of failure still weighed heavily. Perhaps it always would.

She thought of her parents and knew they would have been devastated over the loss of their son, but proud of the part she’d played in seeing justice done. No matter what happened, she was going to have one hell of a story.

She thought of Will and the all-encompassing love she felt for him. Despite the pain in her face, a gentle smile curved her lips and calmed her racing pulse. She clung to the feeling, recognizing it as hope. She pictured their future together and let the healing joy of that scene trickle into her heart.

CHAPTER 30

Three weeks later

Will strode into the living room where Savannah was unpacking the last of her things.

“That was Andy on the phone. He’s passed the course! He’s now a fully certified police negotiator.” The grin on Will’s face couldn’t get any wider. Savannah returned it. Will had already told her about Andy’s past and why becoming a negotiator was so important to him. She couldn’t wait to meet a man she’d already heard so much about and couldn’t help but admire.

“That’s fantastic, Will. He must be thrilled.”

“Yep, about as thrilled as I am to be out of that hospital and to have you here with me for good. And not only that, Pete’s extended my leave for another week. We have all the time in the world to get to know each other better.” He pulled her into his arms and bent his head and nuzzled the side of her neck.

Savannah pulled away, looking up at him dryly. “Don’t think you’re getting away with it that easily. I’m happy for Andy, but we need to talk about this—us—before you make me forget we still haven’t dealt with it. I didn’t want to say anything while you were recovering, but now…”

He sighed and set her away from him. “You’re right. We need to talk.”

“Okay. Are we going to be mature about this?”

“Yeah, I think we can be adult about it, don’t you?” His gaze remained steady on hers.

“I’d like to think so.” She moved to sit on the leather couch in the living room. Curling her feet underneath her, she looked up at him. “Are you going to sit down?”

He grinned slowly and moved toward her. He took a seat in the opposite corner of the modular couch.

She rolled her eyes. “You could come a little closer, you know.”

“I’m still a little mad at you, remember? And I’m still waiting for
your
apology.”

“Okay, then. I’m sorry for deceiving you about where I was going that night. From the moment you told me you were going to the Black Opal, I’d made up my mind to come along, despite your objections. It was wrong and I shouldn’t have done it.”

His gaze challenged at her. “Why can I hear a “but” coming?”

A wry grin tugged at her lips. “Probably because there
is
one coming.”

He sighed. “Okay, let’s hear it.” He leaned back and stretched his legs out in front of him.

“The reason I didn’t say anything at the time was because you wouldn’t have let me go. You’d already flatly refused to discuss it when I’d tried to tell you I was going. I didn’t want to go behind your back, but you didn’t leave me any choice.”

His eyes narrowed. The glint of earlier humor evaporated. “Oh, so it’s
my
fault, is it?” He stood and paced the floor in front of her.

“You could have gotten yourself killed that night, Savannah. Do you realize that? You had no
idea
who you were dealing with. Vince Maranoa had been in and out of jail since he was a teenager. He was a career criminal with a record as long as your arm. Do you even know what that
means?
” He and threw his hands up in the air.

Despite her best intentions, Savannah’s anger ignited. Pushing herself off the couch, she came to stand next to him, throwing her head back so she could look him in the eyes.

“Of course I do. What do you think I am? I knew he’d had a troubled past—”

“Ha! Troubled past! Talk about understatement. The man did twelve years for murder when he was twenty-five. He’s risen to become the Mr Big of Sydney’s underworld and is a suspect in at least four other homicides. And there you were, dressed as a prostitute, flirting with him—all for some goddamned front page
story!
”

Savannah did her best to control her temper. “Okay, so, you’re a little upset about that. I guess I understand your perspective. I’ll admit it was a bit reckless of me to return and take the risk Maranoa might realize I wasn’t one of his girls. I didn’t actually think too much about what I was doing at the time and I certainly didn’t plan on coming to Maranoa’s notice again.” She folded her arms across her chest and stared back at him. “But it wasn’t just for some ‘goddamned front page story.’”

She held his gaze a moment longer and then looked away from the anger in his eyes. Her own temper dissolved. She lowered herself onto the couch again and drew in a deep breath.

“I went back to find out what Dylan was up to, what he was involved in. I-I’d seen him at the brothel the time before and I needed to find out why he was there.”

Will’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. “You mean to tell me you saw your brother there that Tuesday night and you didn’t
tell
me?”

She looked away. “I-I wasn’t absolutely certain it was him. I didn’t want to say anything until I knew. And…” She raised her eyes and gazed at him defiantly. “And I wanted to get him away from the place before the police—”

“You were going to
warn
him?” Will shouted, his eyes now wide with incredulity.

“
No!
Yes. I don’t know.” Savannah shook her head in confusion. “I didn’t know what, if any, part he played in the whole thing. I thought he might have been there buying drugs…or something. Please, Will,” she said, begging him to understand. “He was my brother. He’s all I
had.
”

Her voice cracked with emotion. Tears burned her eyes. The stress of the past few weeks caught up with her again. Leaning forward, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

Will sighed heavily. He walked the few steps to the couch and sat beside her. He drew her in close against his side and pressed his lips to her hair.

“
Shh
, sweetheart. It’s okay. Please don’t cry. I hate it when you cry.”

Savannah drew in a deep breath and made an effort to stem the flow of her tears. Will handed her his handkerchief and she accepted it with a grateful smile. They sat in silence for a few moments. When he spoke again, his voice shook with emotion.

“When I saw you with Maranoa, I couldn’t breathe. Until that moment when you were with Dylan in the warehouse, I don’t think I’d ever been so terrified in all of my life. I wanted to run over there and drag you away from him. When he put his hands all over you, I had to force myself not to leap over the tables and throw my fist in his face.” He shook his head, his expression fierce.