Page 89 of Savage Protector

“Are you sure you haven’t heard anything from them? Or your uncle?”

“No. Nothing. I’m sorry…”

There’s more sobbing down the line. I’m out of words of comfort, if I ever had any.

“I need to go now, Auntie. I’m sorry. I hope they… I hope they come back soon.”

I hang up and toss the phone onto the bed.

Two days. They haven’t been seen for two days. Deep in my soul, I know they’re not coming back. Never.

I know what I have to do, but first I make one final attempt to reach Zayn.

“I spoke to my auntie. They’re gone, all of them. Two days. Two fucking days. What did you do? What did you fucking do?”

There’s nothing more to be said. Galvanised into action, my decision made, I grab my holdall from the wardrobe and start throwing my stuff into it.

“Going somewhere?”

I whirl at the male voice behind me. Jack Morgan is in the doorway, regarding me with an expression that might almost be sympathy, but I doubt he’d recognise that emotion.

“Yes,” I snap. “I’m done here.”

“Without talking to Zee?”

“I tried. He isn’t picking up.” I glare at him. “I need a lift into the city centre.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

“The police,” I bite out. “It’s time all this was…was stopped.”

“I don’t think so.” He moves into the room. “You can’t go to the police, and you can’t leave. Not until you’ve spoken to Zee.”

“Are you going to stop me?” I demand, somewhat foolishly, I realise, the moment the words leave my lips. Of course he can stop me, and he will. By force if need be.

Sure enough: “Yes. If I have to. I prefer it not to come to that, though. Shall we talk?”

“What is there to talk about. Zayn murdered my family. Didn’t he?”

“Leila…”

“Didn’t he?”

“Yes,” he concedes at last. “You could say that.”

I collapse onto the bed. “Why? Why would he do that? There was no need, he could have?—”

“There was every need,” Jack replies, cutting off my protests. “It was them or you. Zayn cares about you. Maybe he even loves you, I don’t know. But I do know he needed to protect you, and this was the only way.”

“It wasn’t, surely. There was evidence. Witnesses. They’d have been arrested for arson. Attempted murder, even.”

“Yes, perhaps. And they might even have been charged. It’s even possible a jury might have convicted them. You can never tell. But what if that didn’t happen? What if they somehow wriggled out of it? They’d deny everything, obviously. They’d come up with alibis to prove they were nowhere near your flat. It’d be Gregory’s word against theirs.”

“What about the video of them trying to drown me?”

“Are you looking forward to explaining to the police why you waited two years before mentioning it? No, thought not.” He pauses to let me think it through. “Zayn’s way was best.”

I shake my head. “That can’t be right.”

---