The Elemental (Blair Dubh Trilogy #1) (16 page)

“
It was him, all in black, like a giant bat.”

“
You thought it was Logan because he wore the same clothes?”

She nodded, curling in on herself. Craig thought this explained her severe reaction back at her cottage. She
’d been so certain it was Logan that she’d briefly reverted back to being that terrified eleven year old girl.

“
Okay,” was all he said, not wanting to push her. She looked like she could shatter at any moment. Craig nodded at his mum to leave him alone with Freya, so she went into the kitchen and shut the door. “Freya,” he said, taking her hand. “Are you okay?”

“
When I saw that figure I felt like I was a kid again, watching my mum being buried alive.”

This statement validated his theory and he felt awful for her.
“I think this proves you’re in very real danger. From now on you don’t leave this house without me, Steve or Gary. They’re the only ones who can’t be the killer. Other than Mum they’re the only people I trust in this entire village.”

“
I don’t intend to go out again in a hurry.”

He noted her shaking hands.
“Is that nerves or the need for a drink?”

“
Both. It’s going to be a lifelong battle.”

“
Don’t give in, will you?”

“
No way. I want to live.”

He was heartened by the determination in her voice. Taking one of her trembling hands he held it tightly and she started to calm down a little. Their eyes locked and Craig experienced the urge to kiss her. He thought he must be crazy .

“I made an idiot of myself back at the cottage,” she said.

“
It’s already forgotten. Listen, I’ve got to get back to work. We need to finish up at the Parish House,” he said, gently extricating himself from her.

“
Oh, okay.”

“
I’ll get Gary to wait here until I come back, just in case the figure in black makes a reappearance.” He half hoped his colleague’s clumsy flirting would charm her and take her attention off him. He attempted to ignore the pang of pain the prospect caused him.

“
Stay close to them,” Craig told Gary when he arrived.

“
I’ve no problem with that Sarge,” he replied, eyes on Freya. “She’s okay now, isn’t she?”

“
Yeah, the figure at the window brought back some bad memories.” He was a little taken aback when Gary gave an understanding nod.

Craig watched him take a seat beside Freya and regard her with concern. As they launched into another conversation about music, he felt that pang again.

CHAPTER 10

The search of the Parish House yielded nothing. Between Craig and Steve it took the rest of the day, even though some of the rooms were empty. Craig had felt sure they’d find something crucial to the case but if there was anything to find he assumed it had been burnt up in the fire. Neither had they come across any more pressed roses even though they’d examined every book in the study. On top of that he received a phone call from DI Armstrong that he really didn’t need.

“
Shit,” he sighed, hanging up.

“
What’s up?” said Steve, dragging himself out from under Claire’s bed where he’d found nothing but dust and a large dead spider.

“
Just bloody Armstrong telling me what will happen to my career if I don’t catch the killer. As usual she didn’t give me anything useful.”

“
She’s an arsehole. You know when she was in West Kilbride when she was supposed to be here?”

“
Yeah?”

“
It’s well known she’s shagging a CPS lawyer who lives there. I bet she was with him instead of doing her job.”

The knot of muscle at the base of Craig
’s jaw pulsated with anger. “And thanks to her love life we’re stuck in this hell hunting a murderer with sod all to go on.” He was tired and the prospect of the meeting in the Community Hall that evening made him positively miserable. “Let’s get back to Mum’s. We can’t do anything else here and I’m starving. A whole day wasted. I felt sure we’d turn something up.”

Nora had dinner ready when they arrived and the five of them ate in silence, Craig
’s bad mood infecting them all. The responsibility was pressing down on him and Steve and Gary were both glad they weren’t sergeant. When they’d finished eating the two constables scurried across the road on the pretext of changing before the meeting, but in truth they just wanted to escape the atmosphere. Nora shut herself away in the kitchen listening to music and cleaning her heart out while Craig slunk upstairs, leaving Freya alone on the couch.

After some deliberation she went upstairs to make sure he was okay. He
’d been so kind to her she wanted to return the favour. She encountered him coming out of the bathroom, freshly showered in a second futile attempt to scrub off the stench of burnt Mrs Logan, a white towel around his waist. A blush crept up Freya’s neck and into her face, torn between admiring the tattoo on his chest and the muscles.

“
I err…,” she began, forgetting what she wanted to say. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were in the shower.”

“
Do you need the bathroom?”

She blushed deeper.
“No. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You seem pretty down.”

“
I’d feel better if I had a bloody clue what I was doing,” he sighed before walking into his bedroom.

Taking a deep breath she followed him in.
“You’re doing a great job.”

“
If I was then Claire would still be alive.”

“
You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“
I watched the first Elemental case destroy my dad. I feel like this one is doing the same to me. I can’t stop thinking about it but it’s like I’m staring at a brick wall. Another woman is going to die and I can’t stop it.” His gaze softened.
And it could be you.

Freya saw his genuine distress and went to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her head on his bare shoulder. Despite his reticence, Craig hugged her tightly, enjoying how soft and warm she felt, how nice she smelled.

“You’re doing all you can. Not even DI Armstrong could do any more.”

“
I feel useless.”

“
You’re not. You’re an excellent police officer, it’s what you were born to do and you will catch this bastard.”

“
Thanks for your faith in me.”

“
You’ll always have it.”

That actually meant a lot and he clung onto her tighter.

“Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?”

He gave her a mischievous grin.
“You should be careful making an offer like that to a man wearing nothing but a towel, but there is one thing. You could show me your tattoo.”

She smiled.
“You really want to see it?”

“
If it’s not in too sensitive a place?”

“
I suppose it’s only fair, I’ve seen yours a few times now.”

“
Go on then,” he said, smile broadening.

She turned her back to him and lifted her jumper to reveal a path of fire emerging from the waistband of her jeans and blazing up her spine, leading to those flames he
’d seen yesterday licking up her neck. To the left of the flames was a tidal wave that threatened to crash down onto the flames and on the right were two lines of Chinese symbols. He also noted she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“
That’s amazing,” he said.

“
It hurt like a bugger over the spine.”

“
I’ll bet it did but they’ve done a fantastic job. How many sittings?”

“
I lost count. I had a bit more added whenever I had the cash. It took a year and a half.”

“
What do the symbols mean?”

“
They’re Chinese for earth and air. Obviously you can’t draw air and it was the only way I could stand to have earth put on my body. I thought it might help my recovery by being open about what happened and trying to face it. Plus I love tattoos.”

Craig gently ran his fingertips over the flames blazing up her spine to her neck then across to the waves. He felt her go tense, heard her breathing quicken and suddenly he was intensely aroused. Dipping his head he kissed her back, feathering the area around the Chinese symbols.

“Craig?” she said softly.

“
Yes?” he replied, letting his fingertips run down her spine.

She turned to face him.
“Don’t play with me. I couldn’t take it.”

He ran his fingers through her long hair.
“I’m not,” he whispered before kissing her.

The chemistry between them surprised them both, it was passionate and powerful. They fell back onto the bed kissing hard. He let his lips run down her neck, hands sliding beneath her jumper, stroking her smooth flat belly, enjoying the feel of her hands on the bare skin of his back. This was what he needed right now, the warmth and comfort of another human being. Things started to heat up and this time it was Freya who wasn
’t sure what to do with her hands. Craig was almost naked and no matter how much she liked him, she wasn’t ready for that yet.

“
Craig?” she said as he kissed a path down her stomach to the zip of her jeans.

“
Mmm?”

“
No further.”

He was disappointed but nevertheless respected her wishes, pulled her jumper back down and slid back up her body to kiss her mouth.

“You certainly know what to do with your hands now, don’t you?” she smiled, trying to keep her eyes off the towel around his waist, which now resembled an impressive tent.

“
I’m glad you think so.” He sighed heavily. “Now I don’t want to leave this room but I have to go to the meeting and face the wrath of the village.”

“
Don’t let them bully you. They’re all scared and they’ll want to lash out at someone and that person might be you.”

“
Well thanks, I feel better,” he said sarcastically. “Are you going to be there?”

“
No. I’m worried everyone will blame me for this.”

Craig wanted to reassure her but couldn
’t because he thought she might be right.

The bang of the front door and rumble of voices below announced Gary and Steve
’s arrival and Craig sighed again. “I suppose I’d better get dressed.”

“
I’ll leave you to it then.”

“
You don’t have to,” he grinned.

“
Yes I do.”

“
Fine,” he said with another sigh before rolling off her.

She pecked him on the lips and got to her feet.
“Good luck.”

“
I’m going to need it.”

“What are you doing to catch this animal?” demanded Bill, a sea of stern faces nodding in agreement. The whole village had turned out for the community meeting, all except Nora and Freya, who were being guarded by Steve. Tension and fear filled the air and everyone regarded each other suspiciously, trust between lifelong friends eradicated in a couple of days.

“
These are very unusual circumstances,” called Craig, trying to make himself heard over the mutter of angry voices. “Thanks to the storm we have no access to the usual resources we would normally have in a murder inquiry. If we had then this case would be progressing entirely differently.”

“
You mean the killer might have been caught by now if we had some real police here,” retorted Jimmy, everyone else contenting themselves with nods.

Craig
’s eyes narrowed. “I can assure you we’re all experienced officers and have worked murder inquiries before.” He drew himself up to his full height, absolutely convinced by his words. Freya had given him a much-needed boost.

“
Just shut your face Jimmy Clark,” said Brenda, shooting to her feet. “What are you doing except complaining? These poor boys are trying to do their jobs under very difficult circumstances. We should be supporting them, not having a go.”

In response, Lizzy leapt to her husband
’s defence. “Why am I not surprised you’re sticking up for them? You always were partial to a bit of uniform. I remember that soldier who passed through the village ten years ago.”

When her husband frowned at her, Brenda turned bright red.
“What about you and the postie in Largs?” she retorted.

“
You bitch,” exclaimed Lizzy, lunging for her.

Some of the men got between them but the women struggled furiously, Brenda grabbing a handful of Lizzy
’s hair and pulling, eliciting a squeal.

Craig glanced over his shoulder at Gary and rolled his eyes, who was just relieved the villagers were taking their frustrations out on each other and not on them.

“Everyone settle down,” boomed Craig, his voice rebounding off the walls having the desired effect. Brenda and Lizzy retook their seats and folded their arms across their chests, casting daggers at each other. “Now this is a small village,” Craig continued. “No one can make a move without someone noticing. I want you all to think very carefully. Someone must have seen or heard something. If you remember any detail, no matter how insignificant it might seem, please tell me. If we’re all vigilant then between us we can stop this. Any women living alone please stay with friends. If you do go out then go out in groups, even if you’re just going across the road to the pub. Don’t give this creep the opportunity to hurt you.”

“
Are Claire and Catriona’s deaths connected to The Elemental Murders?” said Howard.

“
Yes, I think it’s safe to say they are.”

The angry murmurs built up again.

“Why isn’t Freya Macalister here? Hiding is she?” said Bill.

“
As I’m sure you’ll appreciate, this has brought back horrific memories for Freya.”

“
Funny how all this started when she came back,” he pressed.

“
Is she a suspect?” demanded Gordon.

“
Miss Macalister was attacked this morning at her cottage. A figure in black tried to kick the door in.”

“
Oh yeah? I bet she’s the only one who saw it,” said Toby.

“
Actually, no. My mum was there too.”

“
Oh,” said Toby, deflating slightly.

“
Rather than a suspect she’s a possible victim so I suggest you try and find a little compassion for her,” said Craig harshly, trying not to think about the fresh mud on her boots.

“
Is she staying at your house then?” said Howard.

“
Yes, for her own protection, not because she’s a suspect.”

“
Come on, the girl’s trouble. You can tell that just by looking at her.”

“
That’s a very narrow-minded thing to say Howard. If people got arrested because they look different then you would have been locked up years ago.”

“
Hey,” he frowned as sniggering filled the room.

“
Sarge,” whispered Gary in warning.

Craig knew it must be bad if Gary was pulling him up about not being diplomatic. He took a deep breath.
“Sorry Howard. It’s important we work together to stop this and accusing innocent women isn’t going to help.” If it turned out Freya was guilty he’d just killed his career.