Killing Me Softly (4 page)

‘We can talk tomorrow.’

‘No. You’ve piqued my curiosity.’

‘All right, you pushy cow,’ Billy grumbled, a smile twitching his lips. ‘Give me half an hour with Cat then I’ll be right with you.’

‘Sounds good.’ She looked piercingly at him for a moment but his raised brow gave nothing away. Sighing, she turned a tired smile on Bev. ‘Thanks for the afternoon tea, Bev. It was wonderful.’

‘My pleasure, love. Just don’t work too hard now. You’re supposed to have some time off.’

Lexi’s smile warmed. ‘I know, but I prefer to stay busy. It keeps me out of trouble.’

She headed off to the study with Billy’s snort of laughter loud in her ears. He knew why she liked to keep busy and it had nothing to do with keeping out of trouble. Her dad had always said she had ants in her pants – she could never stay still for long. And that was true to this day.

The study was a warm and cosy room lined with bookshelves and full of old, comfortable furniture. A big antique country-style desk that had once belonged to her dad sat in front of the window with her laptop, a phone and some stationery. Family photos were arranged on the filing cabinet in the corner; photos of Christmases and birthdays and holidays with their mum and dad the year before everything went to hell.

We look so happy.

Shrugging off the feeling of sadness that threatened to weigh her down, Lexi sat at the desk in the large, comfortable, dark green leather chair. She picked up the envelope and tore it open.

Mail came pouring out. Bev hadn’t been wrong; there was a pile of it. First she worked through the bills, figuring out what had to be paid and stacking them on the corner of her blotter in order of what had to be dealt with first. The business mail was next and she entered dates in her laptop, emailing Emma, her manager, asking her to deal with certain issues. Then she picked up the personal mail.

There was a postcard from one of the assistants she used in the city studio. He was travelling with Temptation’s Fool on their latest tour, mixing for their gigs. He sounded like he was having a great time. There was a letter from Deliverance thanking her for her work and telling her they were going to take her out to celebrate some time soon. She smiled. She liked those guys a lot. There was an invitation to a wedding – she would have to decline – and a pamphlet from a day spa telling her of some exciting new treatment. She tossed it in the bin. Then she noticed the letter that had fallen on the floor beside her desk.

The moment her fingers turned it over, her heart began to pound.

Oh God! Not again. Not here.

There was nothing sinister on the outside of the envelope – plain white, the address of her manager printed neatly, the stamp positioned just so – but she knew what she’d find inside. With trembling fingers, she tore it open and unfolded the single piece of paper.

Words of hate and anger far beyond any reasoning sprang from the page.

Bile rushed up her throat, making her choke on the bitter taste as she forced herself to read what was written, to try and figure out why. Why did someone hate her so much?

But whoever sent these letters never left any clue as to why. She’d received them on and off for a couple of years and, after the first few, had taken them straight to the police. She knew she should have told her manager to vet them, but for some reason, she just couldn’t tell anyone but the police about this. The fact someone hated her like that was too awful to contemplate. She really couldn’t stand for anyone else to know.

She hadn’t received one for over six months – had thought the writer had given up.

Here was proof that he hadn’t.

Unfortunately, while the police kept them on file, there was no evidence of who was sending them – the postmarks were always different and there were no fingerprints. No physical threat had ever been made. There was nothing they could do. She’d always told herself they were just letters sent by some jealous person in the industry. It was another reason why she kept out of the public eye. Why she was glad she’d decided long ago to use a pseudonym to escape media scrutiny. Why she still continued to never give anyone but those she trusted her personal address.

This letter was no different from the others. Written with red ink dark as blood, the letters were jagged and spiky, the language foul. She wanted to tear it into pieces and throw it into the bin with the rest of the rubbish, but knew she couldn’t.

Detective Fox would want to add it to his file.

Putting it into her scanner, she copied it and emailed him the file, then placed the original into a manila folder with the date on it and shoved the whole thing in the bottom desk drawer to send to Detective Fox later.

Taking a deep breath, she sat back in her chair. She really didn’t need the stress of this right now.

Frowning, she dropped her head into her hands.
God!
She wished she had some project to centre her thoughts and energy on. Something to take her mind off this and the guilt she felt every time she looked at Cat’s blank expression and scarred face. Why on earth had she thought it such a great idea to clear the books for six months?

Well, she couldn’t stop the stalker from sending his disgusting letters, but having Cat here was her choice. Something she wanted. She just had to find some better way of dealing with her sister’s presence and the emotions roiling through her.

She huffed out a laugh. Like that was going to be easy! A familiar stress headache began to pound behind her eyes. She rubbed her temple where the pain seemed to be concentrated.

‘What’s wrong?’

Lexi jumped and looked up to see Billy standing in the doorway.

‘Headache?’

She shook her head. ‘No, I’m okay. I think I just need a good night’s sleep.’

‘Why don’t you go have a rest before dinner? I’ll come and get you when it’s ready.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘You don’t get out of it that easily. What’s up?’

‘Can’t blame a man for trying,’ he mumbled.

She looked at him expectantly. Instead of sitting, Billy headed over to the drinks cabinet, pouring himself a single malt scotch. ‘Do you want a drink?’

‘That bad?’ she said in mock horror, then looked at her watch. ‘I’ll have a gin and tonic.’

After handing her the drink, he slumped down into the chair opposite hers, taking a sip of his scotch. ‘This is quite a nice drop.’

‘Billy.’ She tapped her finger against the side of her glass. ‘You’re really worrying me.’

Billy sighed. ‘It’s nothing to worry about. Not really. It’s just that . . . ’ he sighed again. ‘Craig called the other night after the awards – congrats by the way. You and your bands apparently scored quite a few.’

Lexi put the glass back on the desk, not caring for the time being about the awards. She knew what was coming. A little flutter of excitement started low in her belly. If this was what she thought, it couldn’t be better timing. She sat forward. ‘They want to work with me?’

Billy nodded. ‘Apparently Dae has been trying to contact you for quite some time. Craig says he was practically frothing at the mouth during the awards telecast. That was when my idiot of a brother mentioned he knew you.’

‘That doesn’t sound like Craig.’

‘Ha! You credit him with a brain.’ He took a swig of his drink. ‘Anyway, I’m not sure how, but I ended up promising I’d ask you to meet with Dae. I told him about you bringing Cat home. Craig was apologetic but pleaded with me to ask you anyway.’ Billy stopped and sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Lexi. I’ll tell him you can’t meet them.’ He stood up as he spoke, placing the glass on the desk with a hollow thud.

Lexi leaned forward, put her hand on top of his. ‘Billy. I’ll meet with him.’

He went still. ‘You don’t have to.’

‘Yes I do. I owe you and your family.’

Billy shook his head. ‘You are part of our family. Mum and Dad would be the first to agree, as would Craig. You don’t owe us anything.’

‘Maybe not, but my understanding of family is that you do things for each other even if you don’t want to.’

Billy pushed the chair back and began to pace. ‘Goddamn Craig for doing this! He bloody well knew you would do it out of guilt.’

‘I don’t feel guilty.’ She watched him pace. ‘Billy, please sit down. You’re making me dizzy.’

‘I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to do.’

She shook her head slowly. ‘Actually, I think I do want to do it. I’ve been so preoccupied with bringing Cat home, but now she’s here, I’m beginning to see I need something else to concentrate on. I thought I’d have more to do to keep me busy, but with you taking care of her therapy, and Bev and Karl running the farm, I’m worried I won’t have anything to do and the thought is driving me crazy. I can organise my schedule so I can still spend plenty of time with Cat. In fact, I think I’ll be better able to stay positive with her if I have something creative to do. Do you know what I mean?’

Billy’s mouth quirked up at the corner. ‘Yeah, I know. You never could sit still.’

She shook her head. ‘It’s not just that. It’s . . . So much of my life has been about getting to this moment. But now Cat’s here . . . If I don’t do something else, I know she’ll come to rule my life and I’ll never put the past behind me. I’ve struggled for too long to break away from all that. I need to keep something for me as well.’

‘But what about the extra publicity The Sidhe will bring?’

She winced, thinking of the letter she’d just received. But really, her stalker had always been around, right from when her career began to take off. Having The Sidhe around wouldn’t change that. Besides, she could always insist on certain rules.

Smiling a little, she looked Billy in the eye. ‘If Daemon Flagherty really wants to work with me, he’ll agree to play by my rules. He won’t be bringing the press with him. And even if they somehow get wind of it, I think I can deal with that now. I know what I’ve said about working with established bands in the past but those reasons aren’t so valid any more. Besides, it’s not like I’d have to do the red carpet thing or go to the awards nights with them.’

‘God forbid! That would be awful.’

She laughed at his dry tone. ‘You know what I mean.’

‘Yeah, I do.’ He frowned. ‘Are you sure about this?’

‘Yes. I’m sure. Give me Craig’s number. I’ll call and organise a meet.’

‘Right now? Don’t you want to take a little time?’

She pulled a face. ‘No. I want to do this now.’ She stopped, shook her head. ‘No, I
need
to do this now. Working with a musician of Daemon’s calibre will really keep me on my toes. I think together we could do something truly brilliant.’

Realising she was sounding just a little too enthusiastic, she coughed and sat back. ‘It won’t hurt to just meet him. Besides, I have enough clout now that I can make demands. As I said, if they want to meet with me, they’ll have to do it my way.’

Billy smirked as he wrote a number on a piece of paper and handed it to her. ‘This I want to see. You’re one of the most stubborn people I know. Dae won’t know what’s hit him. And Craig says he needs to be whacked upside the head. He’s been a bit of a shit since the divorce. Even more so since his ex decided to drag his past to light to get more publicity for herself.’

Lexi grimaced in sympathy. She hadn’t seen the tabloids, refused to ever read them. She knew what they could do to a person. ‘He probably just needs to get away from things. Get back to the music. This will be good for all of us.’

‘Maybe.’ Turning serious, Billy met her gaze. ‘Don’t let Dae charm you into anything you’re not comfortable with.’

‘I’m not one of his screaming fans, Billy,’ she scoffed. ‘I think I can deal with the infamous Daemon Flagherty. And if he wants to work with me, he’ll have to do things my way and leave his attitude at the door.’

He grinned as he stood up. ‘Make sure you give Craig hell about breaking his promise.’

‘Don’t worry, I will.’ Her smile was evil.

‘That’s my girl.’

She laughed then waved her hand. ‘Get out of here so I can make this call.’

‘All right. Dinner’s at seven.’

‘I’ll see you then.’

He nodded and left.

Lexi ran her finger over the paper, feeling the deep indents of the numbers.

The Sidhe.

A little tremor of excitement prickled under her skin.

Their sound was unique. Many bands had tried to emulate them but they were missing Daemon Flagherty’s unique songwriting ability. However, their last album had been less than it should have been. Strong material ruined by too-slick production that missed the earthiness of interpretation the songs needed. Lexi knew she could fix that. She took a deep breath and picked up the phone. She was really going to enjoy the challenge.

‘Hello?’

‘Craig, this is Lexi.’

‘Oh, Lexi, look, I’m so sorry about this —’

‘Craig, stop. I’m calling to say I’ll meet with you and Daemon.’ She smiled at his loud sigh of relief.

‘Great, that’s great. I’ll just go get him.’

‘No, Craig, wait. There are some things I need to make clear to you.’

‘Sure. Right. Anything. Shoot.’

‘Firstly, if you want to work with me it has to be on my terms. You know I’ve just brought Cat home so I’m not leaving here. You’ll have to come to me. Secondly, I don’t want any press or your entourage around. They distract from the work and I prefer to work in privacy. Is that all clear?’

‘I’m sure there won’t be any problems, Lexi.’

‘Good. How about you come up here for the meet next Wednesday?’

‘Where’s here? Billy didn’t tell me.’

‘You’ll have to come up to Newcastle. Billy will pick you up and bring you here; it’s a bit out of the way and it’s easy to get lost.’

‘Sounds like a plan. And hey, Lexi?’

‘Yes?’

‘I owe you one.’

‘I know you do, but I’ll let Billy make you pay.’

Craig laughed. ‘You are truly evil, you know that.’

‘You’ve got that right. I’ll see you Wednesday.’ Lexi was still laughing when she hung up the phone. Despite the long day and the awfulness of receiving that letter, she felt surprisingly good about this decision. For the first time in a long time, she was looking forward to the future. One thing was for certain: life was about to get a whole lot more interesting with a musician as brilliant as Daemon Flagherty to work with.