Page 29 of Forbidden Need

Thank God for the club below.

Falling to her knees on the mess, she drove her fingers into her hair, pulling hard, too hard maybe, except no ache registered.

She was a mess.

Life was out of control.

Loss was the only thing left. The only out. How long could she keep fighting alone?

THIRTEEN

SHE MADE A MESS. That was what she told Daly on her departure. She’d slept some in the closet and was just too tired to even try to clean up. Daly said they’d take care of it. And there she went, making life more difficult for everyone as usual.

In her kitchen the next night, she drank coffee, giving liquor a wide berth. People sat around the dining table. Her brother and father were discussing something about the geography of the city.

The witness statement on the counter caught her eye.

David Sneddon. The security guy on duty the night her grandfather died. Nothing out of the ordinary. Yeah, she’d read that part before, but two words piqued her interest. Access log. Hmm, she hadn’t seen that. Why was Sneddon referencing it?

Access logs showed her grandfather, their shift change, who else was on it? Her grandfather wouldn’t write down the time he entered his own home in any kind of logbook. Shit. Was it digitized?

“You want pizza?”

Lachlan was putting on his jacket, coming closer.

“Pizza? No,” she said, screwing up her face. “It’s eleven at night.”

“And no one’s eaten since lunchtime. Given you hardly eat lunch, I’ll guess it’s been longer for you.”

“I live on coffee,” she said, but poured the rest down the sink. “I’m going to try to sleep.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll tell everyone to keep it down.”

“You don’t have to go out for pizza, just FYI. They have these things called deliveries.”

Her brother smirked. “Hilarious, little sister. I need to get out into the air.” They could all do with a little space and needed to grab the chance when they could. He kissed her cheek. “Try to sleep.”

He departed and she exhaled on her way to the bedroom. Sleep might be a pipedream; the place was still bustling when she lay down in bed. She put her phone on the nightstand and sought the end of the charger to juice it up.

A few minutes. She’d close her eyes for a few minutes and try to clear her head. It was best to avoid her father as much as possible, especially without Lach around to referee. Her father didn’t want her help. Why should he? Police Superintendent McLeod already knew everything… except what really mattered.

When her eyes opened, it was dark. Quiet. Unsettling. Something didn’t feel right. She turned over and stared into nothing for a few seconds before launching herself toward the nightstand to grab her phone. The charging cable fell to the floor. Shit. That wasn’t good. Usually, she had to pull it out.

When she tried to wake the device, all she got was a black screen in return. Damn. It was dead.

She stretched as she got up. Even that didn’t shake the tension from her muscles.

People had places to be, things to do, so the silence in her living room was fine. Normal. Right? Yeah, her place had somehow become a hub for the unofficial investigation, but people went home eventually. It was night. Time for bed.

Except when she tiptoed over to the couch, it was still a couch. Unoccupied. Not pulled out.

Where was Lachlan?

She got the remote from the end table and turned on the news channel to look for the time. Two sixteen in the morning. Damn—

“…arrest made in connection with the alderman’s murder.” The TV was talking and flashed up a picture of her grandfather. “In this troubled metropolis, it’s likely no surprise that the perpetrator was one of the city’s most notorious crime bosses, Ire McDade.”

When his picture came on the screen, she stopped listening. Oh, shit. She couldn’t even fathom it. Couldn’t think… Shit. Shit. Shit. Where was Lachlan? It was late, he should be home. And she couldn’t call him from her dead phone.

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