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Billy: The Chanel Series, #5
Ratings:
331 pages8 hours
Summary
Book Five in the Award-Winning Chanel Series is Here...
The fun continues in this laugh-out-loud story by best-selling, multi-award winning author, Donna Joy Usher. The Chanel Series is perfect for lovers of Janet Evanovich, Deborah Coonts, Jana Deleon and Stephanie Bond.
Everything seems to be finally perfect for Chanel. Billy has moved to Australia to be with her, her parents are together again, and her boss has taken an extended period of long service leave. So when Billy disappears on a dangerous undercover job her world falls apart.
Where is Billy, and what is he working on? Those in power are not sharing anything, but Chanel knows he will need her help.
With the aid of her friends she begins her own investigations, eventually uncovering the dark truth that Billy’s cover has been blown.
Now she’s in a race to find Billy where the stakes are too high. She’s holding all the pieces but her heart is on the line. Can she save Billy, or will she pay the ultimate price for her failure?
Publisher: Donna Joy UsherReleased: Feb 8, 2018ISBN: 9780648015338Format: book
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Billy - Donna Joy Usher
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Acknowledgements
A big, fat, heartfelt thanks go once again to my wonderful editor Felicity Kay, for her support, friendship, and for polishing my work till it shines.
I also feel it necessary to mention a special fan who has become a good friend. Kym, we have you to thank for Billy. Your constant nagging kicked me up the butt and made me write. If it weren’t for you, this book would still just be a series of scenes cavorting in my head. So big ‘Muah’ to you, you wonderful woman.
A huge thanks to all of you who have read the first four books in The Chanel Series and have come back for more. Your emails, Facebook messages, and tweets bring a smile to my face and a spring to my step. Please keep them coming.
And of course I want to thank my Mum, and my girlfriends Nicky and Steph for their love and thoughts on my works in progress. I love having you on my side. x
FREE BOOK OFFER
As my thank you to you for entrusting me with your entertainment, I’d love to give you one of my books for free. If you haven’t all ready read it, you’ll find a link to download Faery Born, Book One in The War Faery Trilogy, at the end of this book.
Even those people in my life who said they didn’t like fantasy – Yes, I’m talking about you, Dad – enjoyed the trilogy. So go on and give it a try.
1
A Hard Dog To Keep On The Porch
Fingertips forged a tingling path across my shoulder. I smiled and rolled towards them. They trailed their way back along my collar bone and up my neck to my face. I nuzzled into the hand as it cupped my cheek.
‘Billy.’ His name came out as a sigh.
‘Morning, Babe.’
I reached for him, my hands catching in the fabric of his shirt.
Clothing?
I cracked open an eye and peered up at him. ‘Why are you dressed?’
He held a mug towards me. ‘Coffee?’
I sniffed. He smelt of pine needles. ‘You’ve showered and everything.’
‘I went to the gym.’
I took the coffee from him and placed it on the bedside table. Then I grabbed the bottom of his shirt and yanked it up towards his head.
He let out a chuckle. ‘You’ll be late for work.’
‘Don’t care.’ My words were muffled by the taut muscles of his abdomen. I trailed my lips over the soft skin there. ‘You had a work out, now it’s my turn.’
He let out a little moan as my tongue passed over his nipple. ‘Ramy won’t be impressed if you’re late.’
I pushed myself into a kneeling position so I could wrestle the shirt up over his head. ‘What more can he do? I’ll probably be on the front desk till I’m old and grey.’ I still wasn’t sure what I’d done to earn my boss’s wrath this time.
My teeth nipped at his earlobe as I pulled him down on top of me. I wrapped my fingers in his thick hair and pulled his head towards me till I could take his mouth with mine. We kissed for a few, glorious seconds.
He broke away and I stared dreamily into his chocolate-brown eyes. There was no way I was letting him off that bed till I had what I wanted.
‘Actually, Trent said… .’ His sentence was replaced by a groan as my hands slid under the waistband of his pants.
‘Trent said what?’ I stopped and peered up at him.
‘Really? You’re going to stop now?’ He looked down at his tracksuit pants and raised an eyebrow at me.
I stifled a giggle. ‘What were you going to say?’
He sighed and rolled off me, looking down at his pants as he said, ‘I know, boy. She may be a tease, but she’s our tease.’
‘Billy.’ I shook his shoulder gently.
‘I saw Trent at the gym. He said you would be back on the beat today.’
‘Really?’ I sat up and ran my hands through my hair. ‘Why didn’t you say so before?’ I glanced at the clock. ‘Oh no. I’m going to be late.’ I jumped out of bed, grabbed my coffee, and scampered down the stairs to the little bathroom.
‘Hey, boy.’ I bent and ruffled the hair curling on the top of Cocoa’s head. He let out a ruff, licked my hand, and then padded back to the kitchen, looking wistfully up at the bench. Billy had taken the bacon out of the fridge.
I took a couple of mouthfuls of my coffee as I waited for the water to heat up, and then tipped the rest down the sink. My shower was perfunctory, more a ritual than an actual washing.
‘Your uniform is on the bed,’ Billy called from the kitchen below as I charged back up the stairs.
I looked over the mezzanine edge, blew him a kiss and then climbed into my uniform. It took another couple of minutes to turn my bedhead into a tidy bun. Then I headed for the front door.
‘Here.’ Billy handed me a plastic container. ‘I made you a salad for lunch.’
I hooked my free arm over his neck and pulled myself up for a last kiss. As normal, as soon as my lips touched his, all urgent thoughts of time fled.
‘You’ll be late,’ he murmured against my mouth.
‘Right.’ I grabbed the lunchbox and shoved it into my backpack before bending to give Cocoa a hug. His eyes stayed fixed on the bacon. ‘Don’t feed him too much. He’ll put on weight.’
‘He’s already been for a run this morning.’
‘You went to the gym and for a run? Why didn’t you wake me?’
His smile was devilish as he said, ‘Well, you didn’t get much sleep last night. Or the one before that.’
I could feel a blush start up my cheeks as I pulled the door open. He still had his shirt off and memories of the night before were running rampant through my mind. It was only thoughts of being put back on the front desk that got me out the door.
Trent had said I’d be back on the beat? Ramy didn’t normally share his plans with anyone, not even his detective. So how did Trent know that?
***
‘In here, Chanel.’ Trent’s voice was the first thing I heard when I barged in the front door.
A woman I’d never seen before stood behind the counter. I waved at her as I trotted past. ‘I’m, Chanel,’ I said.
‘Lucille.’ Her smile was friendly.
Trent’s voice had come from Ramy’s office. I slid to a stop outside, dropped my bag, smoothed down my skirt and pasted a smile on my face.
‘Come in,’ Trent said.
I poked my head around the door, trying to gauge what sort of mood Ramy was in. Trent sat in Ramy’s chair.
‘Where’s…?’ I looked over my shoulder to see if he was waiting behind me. It would be just my luck for him to overhear me saying something unpleasant about him.
Not that I would ever do that. Not about my Commanding Officer. No, Siree.
‘He’s taken long service leave.’
‘Really?’ I couldn’t hide the delight in my voice as I stepped into the room.
‘Yes.’ Trent gestured at the seat opposite the desk from him.
I sidled up to it and poked it with a finger. I normally didn’t get asked to sit down when I was in that room. It was making me nervous.
‘Sit, Chanel.’ Trent’s voice held exasperated affection. I suspected I would have become his step-daughter if Harry hadn’t come back into our lives. I knew he only had my best interest at heart.
‘’Kay.’ I threw one more glance over my shoulder to make sure Ramy wasn’t waiting to pounce, and then I pulled out the chair and slid into it. I bounced experimentally up and down a couple of times. Comfy.
‘You met Lucille?’
‘The lady out the front?’
‘She’s been working admin in the city station. They’ve agreed to let us use her here.’
I raised an eyebrow at him as I continued to bounce. It really was a very springy chair.
‘Ramy’s been using admin as a punishment. I thought our constables’ talents would be better used out in the field.’
I stopped bouncing. Ramy was going to be furious when he found out. ‘So…how long exactly is his long service leave?’
Trent shrugged and leaned back in his chair. He stretched his long legs out in front of him, shifting in his seat as he crossed his ankles. ‘I’m not really sure.’
I could feel my eyebrows lowering as I leaned forward.
‘You’re going to get frown lines if you keep that up,’ Trent said.
‘I’m not frowning. I’m thinking.’
‘Oh, is that what the smoke is from?’
I let out a laugh and sat back, slumping lower as I kicked my own legs out. I stared at the tip of my shoes as I wiggled my feet back and forth. ‘He’s on long service. You don’t know when he’s coming back but you’ve already made changes.’
I looked up at Trent. He was watching me with a bemused, half smile.
‘He’s not coming back, is he?’
‘Is that a question or a statement?’
‘Stop avoiding the question.’
‘Ahhhhh. So a question then.’
‘Trent,’ I squealed in exasperation.
He let out a laugh. ‘I still can’t get over how much Ramy used to underestimate you. You’re the best constable here.’
Heat washed up my cheeks. ‘Daniel’s better than me.’
Trent shook his head. ‘Daniel’s more diligent than you.’
‘And smarter.’
‘And smarter.’ He nodded his head. ‘But he’s missing your intuition. You’re like a bullshit-seeking missile.’
Laughter burst out of me. ‘A bullshit-seeking missile?’
‘You know what I mean.’
My laughter stilled. ‘I didn’t see Roger coming.’
He pulled his legs back in and sat forwards, his elbows resting on the table as he said, ‘None of us saw Roger coming.’
I nodded. All of a sudden words were incapable of conveying the complexity of my feelings.
Trent nodded. ‘You’ll be with Bob today.’
That was one of the things I loved about the people in my life. They knew when not to push.
‘Thanks.’ Working with Bob was easy. As long as I let him eat when he wanted to, he let me do whatever I wanted.
‘So, how’s Billy?’
I paused at the door and looked at Trent over my shoulder. ‘Great. But, you saw him this morning. You should know that.’
‘Oh, of course.’ Trent pulled a face. ‘I meant, how are you and he?’
I could feel the blush lighting up my face.
‘Forget I asked.’ Trent waved a hand at me.
I scampered out the door and down the corridor to where the office room was.
‘You okay?’ Bob stopped in the act of putting a biscuit into his mouth as I burst through the door. ‘You look all,’ he circled his hand in front of his face, ‘flustered.’
‘I’m great, thanks.’ I hurried to the female locker rooms and placed my bag in my locker, remembering my lunch at the last second.
Bob was waiting for me when I came back out. ‘What’s that?’ he nodded his head at the plastic container in my hands.
‘A salad.’ I crossed the room to the fridge and deposited it safely within. I would have worried about the safety of the contents if it had been anything but a salad.
‘When did you start making your lunch?’ Bob still held the half-eaten biscuit in his hand.
‘I didn’t. Billy did.’
Bob’s face lit up. ‘Is Billy coming in today?’
‘Billy’s coming?’ Dave looked up from his desk.
I sighed. It wasn’t just women who swooned when Billy was around. All of my co-workers had a professional crush on him.
Daniel pushed his glasses further up his nose. His face twisted between a smile and a grimace. ‘Oh good. I had something I wanted to ask him about. I was reading up on the Maratti case, and I was wondering how he worked out that Mrs Maratti was…’
His voice blurred in my head as I studied his face. I wasn’t quite sure what Daniel really thought about Billy. He always had a million questions for him, but almost seemed to resent the answers.
‘He’s not coming,’ I said.
Bob and Dave groaned but Daniel’s face flushed pink. Yes, the jury was still out on that one.
I jumped as the door crashed open behind me. Nathan and Mark pushed at each other as they came through the door.
‘Fifteen minutes to go.’ Mark shook his head.
‘He was shoplifting.’
‘It was a packet of gum.’
‘A box of gum.’
I looked at the clock. The night shift should have left by now.
‘Hey, Boys.’
Nathan raised a hand toward me and then held it up in front of his mouth as a yawn stretched his face. ‘Hey, Chanel. Good to see you back where you belong.’
Mark nodded, his bloodshot eyes sliding past my face to the coffee machine.
‘You start,’ I said. ‘I’ll get you coffee.’
Mark shot me a rueful grin and slumped into the seat behind his desk. He poked at his computer’s start button and stared mesmerised at the screen as it fired up.
Bob joined me as I grabbed two mugs and dumped sugar into them.
‘So,’ he said, ‘how is Billy?’
I glanced sideways at him. ‘He’s great, thanks.’
Mark looked up from his computer. ‘So he’s…happy? Content?’
‘He certainly seems to be.’ I shook my head and stuck the first mug into the coffee machine.
‘He’s making her lunches now,’ Bob said.
Dave pulled a face and sucked air in between his teeth, the noise a cross between a hiss and a wince.
I held the teaspoon up in the air in front of me like a weapon. ‘All right. What’s going on?’
Bob turned away and started whistling, and all of a sudden the computers in the room appeared to be far more interesting than they had been a few seconds ago.
‘Men,’ I muttered under my breath as I turned back to finish off their coffee.
I thumped the mugs down on Mark and Nathan’s tables and headed for the locker room. I didn’t feel like being the butt of some secret joke. Slinging my vest on, I headed straight back out to the gun locker room.
Bob, Dave, and Nathan were clustered around Mark’s table. They bent over a piece of paper, the three of them watching while Mark wrote something. Daniel, the only one seemingly not involved in whatever they were doing, flushed pink and then cleared his throat as I met his gaze.
I cocked my head to the side as I watched them. There was no doubt whatsoever that what they were doing had something to do with me and their repetitive line of questioning.
‘But, he’s making her lunch,’ Bob said.
‘You don’t know that’s a good thing. It could just be a last ditch attempt to keep himself occupied.’ Mark pointed at the piece of paper they were staring at. ‘Look at this graph. The number of times he drops in to see her during the day has been on a downward trend for the last month.’
I felt my mouth pop open in surprise.
‘Maybe she asked him not to,’ Nathan said.
‘Hmmmmm,’ Mark tapped his front teeth with the end of the pen. ‘It could be that. But how do you explain this?’
I crept up behind Bob and peered over his shoulder. The piece of paper was covered in graphs and tables. The table Mark pointed to was labelled, Has An I-Got-Laid Smile When Arriving at Work. The beginning of the table was full of Y’s, while the end had more N’s.
Daniel cleared his throat again and I shot him a look. He grimaced and shoved his glasses up his nose as he turned back to his computer.
‘I’m keeping my bet,’ Bob said. ‘I think he’s here to stay.’
‘I’m so going to hate taking your money,’ Nathan said. ‘That there’s a hard dog to keep on the porch.’
‘Nah,’ Mark said. ‘I don’t think he’ll stray.’
‘You changing your bet?’
‘Nope. I think he’ll just get too bored. I mean he’s obviously somebody who thrives on adrenaline. I give him another six weeks.’
‘This is all very interesting,’ I said. ‘But do I get to place a bet?’
Bob let out a squeak as he turned towards me. The others stared with expressions I imagined would be what a goldfish caught with his fin in the fish food jar would wear.
I leaned across the desk and picked up a red pen. ‘You’ve got this aaaaall wrong.’ I pointed at the I-Got-Laid Smile table. I hummed as I scribbled over every single one of the N’s with a fat, red Y. ‘I knew I’d gotten better at hiding it,’ I said as I stood back to survey my handy work.
The four of them stared at the table.
‘Really?’ Mark said. ‘Every night?’
‘Do you want to start a graph on how many times a night?’ I raised my eyebrows as I stared at him.
‘Nope.’ He gulped. ‘That won’t be necessary.’
‘Right.’ I dusted my hands against each other and turned toward the gun room. ‘You coming, Bob?’
‘Yes, Chanel. Whatever you say Chanel.’ Bob face was a blotchy red.
I kept my face neutral as we loaded our guns and headed out of The Station. I remained calm as we strolled the streets. It was only as Bob was buying his first hotdog of the day that I examined the small ball of panic that had set up camp in my gut.
A hard dog to keep on the porch? Too bored?
Was Billy getting bored? I mean it was nearly three months since I’d come home from the Whitsundays, alone except for my crutches. What had followed had been a miserable fortnight, during which I had cried myself to sleep every night, trapped in the country by my return of service.
And then, like something from a romance novel, Billy had appeared on my doorstop with a backpack, and a bunch of roses. He’d taken leave without pay, because as he said it, ‘If I couldn’t come to him, he’d just have to come to me.’
And since then he’d spent his days like my live-in maid. Cooking and cleaning. Shopping and walking Cocoa. He spent some time with our parents, but…
Ice walked up my spine and the little ball of panic seized its moment. It exploded into a cloud of chaos, a storm of insects biting at me from the inside. I battled it for control of my lungs, only just stopping a shriek from escaping me.
Of course he would get bored. What had I been thinking? He was a lion, and I had him caged up like a pussy cat.
‘Chanel.’
How long? How long did I have before the decay started? How long till he started avoiding my gaze; before he stopped reaching for me at night?
‘Chanel.’
What could I do to stop it? I knew he had applied for a work visa, but would any sort of normal job keep Billy sane?’
‘Chanel.’ Bob shook my shoulder.
‘What?’ I swung towards him.
‘Whoa.’ He skipped back a couple of steps. ‘Your eyes are scary.’
‘It’s the sun. It’s just so bright.’
Bob looked up at the overcast day. ‘Whatever you say.’ He enunciated the words slowly, as he backed away from me. ‘Oh look,’ he pointed at a group of women, ‘they look up to no good.’
I batted the panic back into a little ball. ‘It’s a group of nuns.’
‘Right.’ He stared straight ahead.
‘I’m fine.’
He took a large bite from his hotdog, chewed five times and then swallowed. ‘Don’t let it get to you. I see the two of you together and I can tell it’s the real deal.’
‘Bob.’ I peered up at him. ‘Whatever are you talking about?’
He snorted and shoved more hotdog into his mouth.
‘Come on,’ I said, nudging him with my elbow. ‘Let’s go catch some bad people.’
***
‘Honey, I’m home,’ I said as I shoved the front door open. I threw my bag into its spot by the door and held out my arms just in time to catch Cocoa as he leapt at me.
‘Oh good.’ Billy turned towards me and held out a wooden spoon. ‘You’re just in time to try this.
I froze where I was. He was wearing my hot-pink, frilly apron.
‘Quick.’ He waved the spoon around. ‘Before it gets cold.’
‘What is it?’ I tried to ignore the apron. Cocoa wriggled around in my arms, his eyes intent on what Billy held out for me. ‘Something good by the look of it.’ I placed Cocoa on the couch and shuffled into the kitchen.
‘It’s a recipe I picked up in the grocery store. The woman in the deli said it was to die for.’
I leaned towards the spoon and let Billy feed me, letting out a moan as the warm soup hit my tastebuds. ‘She was right.’
‘Pea and ham soup. So simple to make.’ He turned back towards the stove. ‘The trick is to use a ham hock.’
The ball of panic started jostling the soup for space. ‘How long?’ it whispered.
‘Shut up,’ I hissed back.
‘What was that?’ Billy looked over his shoulder as he stirred the contents of the saucepan.
‘Nothing.’ I gave him my brightest smile. ‘I’m going to get out of my uniform.’
‘I did the washing today. All your clothes are back in your drawers.’
‘Thanks.’ I turned and jogged up the stairs to the mezzanine level. ‘Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up,’ I mumbled at the little ball of panic.
‘Tess and Dad asked if we’d meet them at Dazzle tonight.’
‘Oh, that’s right.’ I stuck my head over the balustrade to stare down at him. ‘The new show starts tonight.’ I couldn’t believe I had forgotten that. Martine would whip my butt and refuse to talk to me for a week if I missed it.
I hadn’t seen as much of her as usual since Billy had shown up. Luckily she had been preoccupied with long phone conversations with Albert.
Billy was still stirring the soup when I came back down but his eyes kept flickering to an envelope sitting on the edge of the kitchen bench next to the phone.
‘What’s that?’
‘What’s what?’
‘This.’ I picked up the opened envelope and fanned myself with it.
‘Oh.’ He bent and opened the oven door and I was distracted firstly, by the shape of his buttocks in his tight, stone-washed jeans, and then by the amazing smell that wafted out of the oven.
‘Is that…fresh bread?’ I bent down next to him and stared into the gap made by the partly-opened door.
‘Uhuh. It’s really not that hard to make. Plain flour, yeast, salt and water.’ He shut the door and turned his attention back to the soup. ‘Of course the trick is in letting the dough rise.’ He looked over at me. ‘You sure learn a lot when you go to the grocery store.’
I let out a snort.
‘What?’
‘I’m sure you learn a lot.’ The women would be lining up to give Billy cooking tips. Probably inviting him around to check out their special recipes. The ball of panic flexed its muscles as Nathan’s voice sounded in my head.
Hard dog to keep on the porch.
‘How far off is dinner?’
‘About half an hour.’
‘I might go for a quick run.’ All of a sudden I needed some fresh air. ‘If I’m going to eat bread.’
I patted my butt and Billy’s eyes widened. He dropped the wooden spoon into the saucepan and turned the stove off.
‘I can think of another way we could get you some exercise,’ he growled as he stalked towards me.
I let out a squeal and ran for the stairs. He caught me at the top, swinging me up
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