Page 75 of Savage Redemption

“Rosie, that’s the problem.”

“Ah.”

“She’s gone.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“What part of ‘she’s gone’ don’t you get?”

Jack moves to grab him, but I raise my hand to stop him. “Explain, but keep a civil tongue in your head unless you want to pay a visit to my cells until you cool down.”

I don’t miss the flicker of uncertainty that flashes across his features. He’s just realising I mean it.

“Rosie’s gone,” he repeats.

“I gathered that much. Do you need me to arrange a search?” I think of the stinking weather outside. This is all we need.

“She’s not on the island. I already checked. She left yesterday, said she was going shopping.”

“Alone?”What was Tony thinking?

“Yes, I suppose so. Mr Haigh said there were no guards to spare, not that she should need a bodyguard to do a bit of shopping. She went to Glasgow and should have been back by yesterday evening.” He rakes his fingers through his hair. “She’s gone looking for San Antonio. I know it.”

“Oh. Is Rosie not back yet?” Magda has just followed us indoors, having stayed behind to secure the helicopter.

“You know about this?” I move over to let her get close to the fire.

“Yes. I dropped her off at the heliport in Glasgow and watched her hop in a taxi. She was going to John Lewis’s, I think. She rang me a while later to say she was held up and would get a taxi to Oban and take the ferry back. I told you all this, Mr Darke.”

“You left her. On her own, in Glasgow.” His tone is accusing, and I’m not having it.

“Magda has other responsibilities apart from babysitting your daughter, Nathan. She probably missed the ferry, or it got cancelled because of the weather.” I’m trying to keep him quiet while I think. The ferry is our own private service and runs when we need it, not to any timetable. Rosie couldn’t have missed it.

“She’s not answering her phone,” he snarls. “Not to me, or Eva. And she left Erin with Eva, so surely…”

I take his point. He’s probably right to worry, and I suspect he’s also right about where she’s gone. “Let me have a word with Tony. In the meantime, I suggest you go back to your apartment. I’ll let you know if I have any news.”

“I’m not going anywhere. You need to?—”

Now I do give Jack the nod. “Escort Mr Darke back to his apartment, if you would, please. And I strongly suggest, Nathan, that you stay there until you hear from me, or youwillsee the inside of my cells.” I sincerely hope he heeds my advice. Really, Ineed him back overseeing the construction work not languishing downstairs.

Jack, aided by Rome, bundles a protesting Nathan Darke out of the hall, and I turn to Magda again. “Is that all she said? That she was going to John Lewis?”

“Yes. Just a quick trip to buy some earrings, I think. For Eva’s birthday. I’d have waited, or tried to pick her up somewhere in the city centre, but I had all the kids on board, and?—”

“You did the right thing. It was all you could do. Look, you get warmed up, I’ll see what I can find out.” I leave her to dry out by the fire while I take the stairs two at a time. I find Tony in my office.

“Boss.” He gets to his feet. “I didn’t realise you were back.”

“Well, I am. And there was a welcoming committee waiting.”

“Nathan Darke?”

“The very same. Cornered me in the hall. He’s very upset.”

“Don’t I know it? He’s been camped out here for most of the day, demanding that I send a small army to Tenerife to extract his precious daughter.”

“He seems convinced that’s where she’s gone. What did she tell you?”

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