Page 108 of Forbidden Need

No snitch, though the omission could’ve led to them looking in completely the wrong place.

“Thank you, Mr. Sneddon. This has been useful.”

“You good?” Daly murmured.

“Aye,” she muttered, then remembered the thought she’d had in the shower, “oh, just one more thing, do you have your security pass?”

“My security pass?”

“If you’re not working, you don’t need it. With my grandfather gone, you won’t have to go back.”

“Yeah, I—but I—”

The guys closed in as the side guys hauled Sneddon to his feet.

“Bluebell gets what she wants,” Hock said.

Sneddon was tossed to the wall. Familiar Side Guy held him there while Stranger Side Guy searched his pockets. Snuff went around searching the apartment, making a mess as he did.

“Hand it over. Make it easy on yourself.”

“I don’t have it. I… I lost it.”

She wasn’t buying that, and neither were the guys. Hence the blow to his belly and his wail of shocked, winded pain.

In the corner of her eye, the front door swung open.

Shit.

“Lach…” she said to her brother observing the scene.

“Is this what you are now? What Ire McDade has turned you into?”

Before she could reply, her brother stormed out. Shit. She couldn’t let him go, not like this.

THIRTY-SEVEN

“YOU JUST RUN out on me?” she called, going after him.

“I don’t know who you are anymore, Sersh,” Lachlan tossed over his shoulder from the flight of stairs beneath hers. “How many guys you got in there beating on him?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“You think he killed Henry, is that it? Why? What’s his motive? He’s only doing himself out of a job by killing his boss.”

“No one was beating on him—Lach!”

Her brother got to the first floor and blasted out the communal door before she could catch up.

When she hit the street, he was on the other side, striding up the quiet block.

After a quick check for traffic, she ran across, hurrying until she was just a few feet behind him.

“You don’t have to be there.” Somehow her brother must’ve sensed her. “Only reason Ire wants you there is to make you an accessory. He’ll use it to blackmail—” He suddenly spun on the spot, so fast she almost ran straight into him. “Is that what he’s doing? This whole relationship is—or is it the alibi? He’s holding something over you and—”

“I asked him for the backup. This is my meet, for me. Conn is protecting me. I wanted to talk to Sneddon, but I’ve never met him before and I’m not much of a force on my own. I asked Conn for help. For manpower.”

Lachlan’s focus rose over her head. “You’re out of there and they’re still keeping tabs on you.”

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