WILL TIME WAIT: Boxed set of 3 bestselling 'ticking clock' thrillers (15 page)

T
he confusion
clouding my thoughts cleared.  I needed the truth.  I decided to act
before I no longer had the courage.

“I’m
sick of being scared,” I said, trying to ditch my fear.  “If it is you,
there’ll be something on your computer.  Some clue in the history, or a
program for designing those email games and timers.” 

The
laptop wasn’t in the lounge, so I assumed he’d taken it upstairs.  I
grabbed my phone.  “I’m going to look at your computer.  Don’t try to
stop me or I’ll phone the police.  You said yourself they’ll drive here
straight away.”  I waved the phone in the air, tapped in the digits for
the police station and kept my finger poised on the call button.

“Wait!” 
Lee yelled. 

He
ran from the kitchen to the living room.  He reached out for me, so I
hurried for the stairs. 

In
a panic, I brushed my hand against the door, knocking the drink tumbler off the
handle.  “Stay away from me!”

Rapid
footsteps pounded behind me, crunching on smashed glass. 

I’d
mounted the fourth step when he grabbed my shoulders.  I lost my footing
and screamed.  The heel of my shoe caught the tripwire on the stairs as I
tumbled backwards.  I fell, landing on top of Lee, at the bottom of the
staircase by the front door. 

He
groaned.

Movement
made me look up, only to notice the bowling ball swinging in my direction from
above. 

“Watch
out!” Lee yelled. 

He
rolled me sideways and his leg shot up and kicked the ball. 

“Hell. 
Ouch!” he cried.

The
ball got knocked to the left, hitting the wall hard enough to take a chunk of
plaster out.  I felt the impact as it thumped on the floor at my side.

Something
pierced my hand making it sting.  A trickle of blood ran down my
wrist.  I pulled myself up and pressed on the cut. 

Lee
gave a short laugh of relief, which ended in a painful groan.  “Chelsea,
it’s not me,” he spluttered, lying on his back, legs sprawled up the bottom few
steps.  “Besides, why would I hurt you when Laura thinks I’m behind
it?  She’d tell the police about me.  They already know you’re at my
house.  I’ll be the first person they point the finger at if you get
killed tonight.”

My
head spun.  “Everything’s so confusing.”

“If
I wanted you dead, I could have killed you at any point, or let the bowling
ball have a go.  But I didn’t.  Instead, I saved you.”

I
stared at the ball on the floor, surrounded by chunks of wall plaster, realised
it could have cracked my skull like a spoon to an egg. 

My
fear finally subsided when I looked down at Lee’s twisted ragdoll form. 
By protecting me he’d injured himself.  He was no more a danger to me,
than I was to him.  I offered my hand, helped him to his feet, and he
limped into the lounge.

“I’m
sorry,” I said in a cracked voice.  “I guess the only one trying to kill
me round here… is me.”

Lee
rounded forward on the sofa and rubbed his lower back.  “I won’t argue
with that statement.”

“It
would be stupid to kill me in your own home when the police are doing
drive-bys.”

“Too
right.”

Lee
leaned forward.  Seeing streaks of blood on his t-shirt sprung me into
action.  I eased his top up, exposing an eye-popping toned and triangular
shaped back.  Wide at the shoulders and narrow at the waist.  I gazed
a moment. 

“Chelsea,”
he said.  “The glass!”

“Oh,
yeah.  Sorry.”

My
mobile rang.  I ignored it and picked the glass out of his skin with my
fingers, placing the little splinters on the coffee table.

He
told me where to find the first aid kit.  I fetched it from the kitchen
cupboard, focused on his cuts again.

“All
done,” I said, after sticking a few plasters on him.  I pulled his top
back down in one fast motion and got a waft of his aftershave.  How badly
I tried to dislike the sweet, intoxicating scent.  My emotions, running
from one extreme to the other were driving me insane.  How could I accuse
him one minute and have the hots for him the next?

“Where
are
you
hurt?”  His voice held real concern.

“Nothing
serious.  Just this cut on my hand, but I’ll slap a plaster on it.”

His
chestnut eyes, wide and frank, flitted over my face.   “Allow me.”

Five
minutes later, we’d finished nursing our wounds on the sofa and I struggled to
suppress a laugh.  The only injuries inflicted had been caused by
me
triggering the traps rigged to protect us.  The irony did not escape
me. 

“Well,
that trap worked fine, didn’t it?” I said.

Lee
glanced at the time and the hint of humour on his face vanished.

The
innocuous-looking wall clock with the relentless tick drawing me closer to the
deadline, sounded like the enemy creeping up.  How I hated that
clock!  In fact, I loathed every damn clock.  I wanted time to be
delayed, yet to speed up all at once. 

He
held out his hand to me.  “Until the deadline.  Let’s see this thing
through.”

I
nodded then shook his hand, bowled over by his willingness to forgive me so
fast.

“Come
here.”  He gave me a hug.  “I’ve got your back.  We’re in this
together.”

Safely
in his arms, I wondered why I’d ever listened to Laura.  My mobile rang
again. 
Speak of the devil. 
I drew a frustrated breath, then
answered. 

She
was halfway to Lee’s house, speeding in the car and honking her horn like a
lunatic by the sounds coming through the phone. 

“You’re
wrong, Laura.  You’re just guessing.”

“What
if I’m not?”

“Lee’s
just saved me.  I almost killed myself on the stairs.  If he wanted
anything to happen to me
that
was his opportunity.”

“Get
out, Chelsea.  He’s playing you.”

“Stop
this now.  It’s not Lee.  He called the police.  He wired up the
Goddamn house like a weird gadget show for hell’s sake!  He’s trying to
protect me, and he is.  He’s just stopped a bowling ball from smashing my
skull.”

“A
what?  What’s going on over there?”

“Turn
around, drive back home and let me deal with this
my
way,” I
demanded.  “I don’t want you near me tonight.”

“But—”
she spluttered.

“Go
home, Laura.  Or I’ll phone Paul to come and drag you away.”

I
heard brakes squealing through the phone and what sounded like a thump on the
dashboard.  Laura finally caved.  “Okay, Chelsea.  You
win.  I’ll go back home.  But you’d better keep in touch, phone or
text me all night.” 

I
chucked my phone in my bag and dragged my hands hard over my face.  It was
easier to convince her to do a U turn than I’d presumed it would be.  Why?

A
few moments later, I settled back into the sofa, wanting to see the evening
through as planned, though I knew I still needed to work out a secret backup
plan.

“How
you doing?” Lee asked. 

“Fine,”
I said, huffing.

Lee
faced me.  “If I scared you or did anything to make you or Laura think I’m
some kind of madman, I’m sorry.”  He paused to smile.  “I like you,
remember?”

Lee
was definitely not tormenting me - well not in relation to the death threat. 

“It’s
not your fault.  It’s like she’s bipolar or something.”

He
offered me snacks, a blanket, and more cushions.   By the time I’d
finished the second cup of tea he’d insisted on making, I managed to calm
down.  However, by now, I felt pretty annoyed with myself. 
Embarrassed, too.

We
sat elbow to elbow on the sofa.

I
didn’t want to bring it up, but convinced that Lee wasn’t behind the emails, I
couldn’t deny my feelings any longer - especially with a death threat looming
over me.  I was about to break my ‘no men’ rule yet again.  But, for
once, in a long time, I decided that maybe it was time to stop beating myself
up.  Perhaps I had punished myself enough over my past.  There seemed
to be something the size of a fist lodged down my throat just from the thought
of approaching the subject.  After all, Lee had rejected me, too,
yesterday.  But really, what did it matter if I was going to die tonight?

Lee
smiled.  Affection flickered in his eyes. 

My
confidence returned, although I still felt cautious of his reaction.  “I
know it’s a strange time to bring this up… but… here’s the thing, what you said
about liking me.”

His
eyebrows knitted together, and he spoke in a drawn out voice.  “I
do.  What about it?”

I
paused to reconsider, then thought,
go for it!
  “I’m kind of into
you, too.  A lot.  I just wanted to say that in case I don’t get the
chance to later.” 

“Oh! 
You’re into me, are you?”  His voice sounded amused and alert, which
surprised me.  Then he laughed.  “So, you like people you think are
trying to kill you?” 

“Well,
no.  Yes.”

“Which
is it?”

“Well,
obviously I do.  Don’t tease me.”  I looked away, feeling like an
idiot. 

“Oh!
Chelsea you’re hilarious at times.”  Lee pretended to warm his hands on my
cheeks, rubbing them together how one would over a campfire.  “The mind
boggles.”

I
pushed his hands away and chuckled.

Our
laughing put a sudden glint in his eye and dissolved my embarrassment. 
His seductive smile and long eye contact suggested he was about to make a move
on me.  And this time, I sensed we were both ready.

“You’re
so…” he broke off, stroked my hot cheek with the back of his hand and stared
into my eyes.

This
irresistible man, with sparkling eyes was inching closer to
me
.  I
felt his warm breath caressing my face.  His magnetic personality set him
apart.  His kindness, sharp mind and determination drew me to him. 
Not to mention his face: the face that caused my breathing to quicken, and my
heart to pound whenever I so much as glanced at him. 

The
more his gaze travelled down from my eyes toward my lips, the hotter my cheeks
burned.

My
heart pumped hard and my next breath seemed to jolt me.  I felt convinced
his rejection beforehand was just because his thoughts were confused enough to
tangle into knots. 

It
didn’t surprise me that our mouths seemed to draw together of their own accord.

He
leaned in even closer, broke through my personal space bubble, and parted his
lips.

The
air between us felt warm and charged.

I could
almost feel his mouth brushing against mine.

“Wait!”
I said breathlessly, pressing a finger to his satiny lips.  I needed to
know.  “I know why I did, but why did
you
pull away yesterday when
we kissed in the bar?”

He
stared over my head, but didn’t answer.

“Please.
I want to know.  Because part of me still thinks that you were using me,
you know, teasing me to keep me close to get a lead on your brother.”

He
took a deep, deep breath then pulled my finger off his mouth.

Waiting
had my head in a scramble and my words came out rushed.  “Just tell
me.  No lies.  No secrets.”

“Okay. 
Okay.  It’s been hard.  I’m not made of stone, you know?”

I
prodded his arm.  “I never thought you were.”

His
face morphed to an ashamed expression, one he hadn’t shown me before. 
“Yes.  At first I did just think of you as a
lead.”

“I
get it,” I said, jumping in.  “I know you don’t believe the police can
help, and I guess I understand if
you
want the glory of bringing your
brother’s killer to justice.”

“And
as for you, Chelsea, well, maybe I’m weak.  Getting close to a person
who’s got some kind of bounty on their head, it was too much to deal with, even
for me.  Too soon after losing Daryl.”

I
stroked his leg.  “I understand.  Really, I do.”

His
eyes locked on mine.  “I’ve tried to fight my feelings, but you’re just
so… ugh!  It’s getting harder and harder to keep my hands to myself.”

A
snorty laugh escaped me.  “Not that I want you to keep your hands to
yourself, but something could still happen to me.  So what’s changed?”

Lee
caressed my lips with his finger.  “I can’t help who I fall for.  But
I’ve decided.  If you can just trust me, you’re going to survive
this.”  Passion burst out through his voice, causing my nerve endings to
tingle.  “I’ll make damn sure of it.”  On his last word, he pulled me
towards him and kissed me with urgency.  His arms tightened around my
back.  There was no way he wanted to either hurt or risk losing me. 
Not when he kissed
with such pent-up desire.