Sweet Seduction Shield(6)

"How long have you been an accountant?" he asked, eyes on my New Zealand Tax Law books below the window.

"Twelve years."

"Did you study in Wellington?"

"Victoria University."

"Bachelor of Commerce?"

I nodded.

"Your husband was a Chartered Accountant as well?"

I could see what he was doing. I could see the path he was meticulously laying down. He was good at this. But I needed to be better. Just how I'd manage that, I didn't know. Because the questions he was asking weren't any that I shouldn't answer. But collectively, they'd be my ruin.

I knew this and yet I still couldn't stop it from happening.

"Yes, he was," I said, praying Suzy would hurry up with the coffees already.

"And you met at University?" A small smile tipped up the edges of my lips. These questions were a farce. He knew the answers to them already.

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" I said, leaning forward in my seat and resting my hands on my desk, still clasped. "You know a lot about me already. What don't you know?"

My chest ached with the speed in which my heart beat. I could play the part of a confident ice princess, but that didn't mean on the inside I wasn't a second away from erupting. Years of containing my reaction to my body's physical responses to a given situation, have meant I am adept at denying the flush that wants to heat my cheeks from the inside, keeping my respirations at a sedate twelve breaths per minute. All of this is achievable, but my pulse? That is the hardest to hide of all.

I willed my heartbeat slower. Even while I watched the detective as his eyes coasted over my carotid artery in my neck. He knew, but he didn't openly let on that he did.

"I'll tell you what, Ms Cox," Detective Pierce said, leaning forward in his chair too, eyes target locked on mine, face impassive. "I believe Roan McLaren killed your husband. I believe you witnessed it occur. I believe you're terrified of what he will do to you now, five years later, faced with his imprisonment and the fact you could testify against him."

His eyes flicked over my desk to the photo frame of Daisy.

"I understand your fear," he said, returning his gaze to mine. All he would have seen was a blank face. Nothing giving away what I felt beneath the surface. "You have a right to it." If only he knew. Truly knew, how much right I had to fear. "Whether you wish to testify against him or not, until he is sentenced, you are at risk. Your daughter is at risk. We can help you. Tell me what happened, Marie. If I know what McLaren knows, I can protect you."

Breathe. Just breathe. He's still fishing.

"You already know," I said, voice steady as ice. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't," I added. "Giving you details of that night will change nothing, except if McLaren hears I've opened my mouth." I shook my head. "So, no. No dice, Detective. I will not be another feather in your arrests-made-this-year hat."

"Marie," he started, but just then Suzy appeared with a tray of coffee and packaged biscuits. Whitcomb & Associates Ltd might charge an arm and leg for their accountancy services, but don't expect any of that funding to go into edible treats for their clients.

Pierce sat back in his chair with a frustrated scowl. Neither of us said a word as Suzy methodically set out the coffees and plate of cookies on my desk. I nodded my thanks, but returned my eyes to the detective before she'd even left the room. He was watching me, not the steaming cup of coffee.

"I guess we're back at square one," I suggested, taking a sip from my own coffee as though I didn't have a care in the world.

"What are you planning to do, Marie?" he asked. Somewhere along the way he'd dropped the formality. Hearing my given name fall off his lips was too personal for the type of conversation we were having right now. I wished he'd return to Ms Cox. Hell, I'd even take Mrs Costello at this stage.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Nothing." A blatant lie. I was planning on high-tailing it out of the office as soon as he left and collecting Daisy from school. Then grabbing our passports from home and heading straight to the airport to board a plan for Australia.

He didn't need to know that. The less people who knew now, the easier it would be to board a plane and escape.

Pierce studied me for a while, then with a nod of his head admitted defeat. For a brief moment I was disappointed. For a fraction of a second I had expected more. Then reality came rushing back in as he stood from his seat and cleared his throat. He was leaving. No more questions. In a few minutes I could make an excuse to my boss and grab my daughter. Make sure she is safe.

In a few hours this could all be a memory. Just like that night.

He reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a card. Leaning down he placed it on the desk and began to scrawl something on the back of it. Then he extended his hand with the card between his fingers. I stared at it for too long, making him place the card on my blotter right before my eyes.