Page 23 of Last Shot

‘I didn’t misunderstand Libby.’

‘Women like her don’t give away that kind of information for free.’

‘And women like me aren’t stupid enough to think I would get it for free.’

‘What did you give her?’

‘Say you’ll take this seriously and maybe I’ll tell you.’ She wouldn’t. Ever.

‘I haveactualdirections from the Barbaranis to attend to before the gala tomorrow. I don’t have time to play cops and murderers with you on the playground.’ He ran a shovel-sized hand through his short, light brown hair, while his eyes sliced through her – a paper cut that just kept bleeding.

‘You won’t have anyone’s directions to follow if you fail to stop your boss’s murder,’ she said through her teeth. ‘What’s the job outlook on Seek.com for a hit man loyal only to the Barbaranis? Who are all dead by the way, in this scenario.’

‘Grey ...’ Jett shifted uncomfortably on his stool. Max figured it had less to do with the fact that only one of his butt cheeks could fit comfortably and more to do with her callous comment about dead Italians.

‘Jesus Christ.’

‘Max is fine, you don’t have to go overboard.’

He closed his eyes. ‘Will you stop talking for one minute and let me think?’

What exactly was there to think about? Max shrugged and let her gaze roam over anything she might have missed in her earlier assessment of the house, searching for some insight into this tool’s mind. Her eyes rested momentarily on a picture of a small brown-haired boy in the embrace of an older guy in a red cap. His dad? So he was a kid once? The Barbaranis didn’t just build him in their lab?

Eventually, Grey sighed. A deep, resigned,I’m going to regret this for the rest of my life,sigh. He held up one finger from that enormous hand.

‘Firstly, once again, I’m not a hit man. Stop calling me that. Secondly, if I can conjure up some time to investigate your “theory”’—he paused to make the most exaggerated air-quotes Max had seen someone do since year eight—‘it does not leave this kitchen. No one hears a word of this. Not Giovanni, not the workers, the gardeners, not the goddamn cat.’

‘Oh, I love cats. What’s the cat’s name?’

They both ignored her. Grey was looking at Jett. ‘I mean it. Not a word, not to Nella, not to anyone.’

Nella again. Interesting. Was she the female presence Max could feel around this cottage? Nella was definitely the sort of woman she could picture the Giant with. They probably went on runs together around Bindi Bindi Cove – Grey in his sleek black On Clouds and Antonella in her white Nikes. Then they’d have sex in the shower – she’d be tall enough that it wouldn’t be awkward. He was definitely the type to take you from behind. Bend you over a kitchen bench. Like the one Max’s elbow was on right now ...

She leant away from it. ‘I won’t say a word,’ she said after Jett made the same promise. Hers was redundant – who was she going to tell around here?

‘You will stay here,’ Grey said. ‘I don’t want you running your mouth off to anyone or to have people asking who you are. God forbid they actually work it out.’

‘I’d prefer to stay somewhere in town.’ The thought of spending her first night out of her cell block in another tightly confined space made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.

‘You came to me,’ Grey said, his mouth twitching into an almost smile. ‘You don’t get a choice. You want me to see if there’s anything to this murder plot? We do it on my terms.’

‘I didn’t come toyou,’ she mumbled, but secretly she didn’t think she could bear the drive into town to a cold, stale motel room. She’d survived the bus ride through sheer adrenaline and all-consuming fear of what was waiting in Bindi Bindi Cove, but Max hadn’t been able to ride in a car without throwing up since she was sixteen. ‘I need some proper clothes,’ she said, closing her eyes against the memory of broken glass in her nostrils and her dad’s Johnny Cash CD still playing even though the roof of the car was against the road.

His glare stabbed her like thumb tacks all over her skin. Was it this particular shirt he didn’t want her in, or was he just bemoaning the thought that all the dry-cleaning in the world wasn’t going to decontaminate it from her criminal flesh?

‘I have some pants you can borrow.’ He made it sound like he was lending her a kidney.

‘Are your eyes still compromised after the elbow to your face? I’m one fifth of your height.’

Jett was rolling his eyes too.

‘Well, my darling princess, what would you suggest? A pumpkin carriage to escort you to the finest Bindi Bindi shopping mall to purchase a ball gown for every day of the week?’ Grey’s eyes flashed with poison. Homicidal. Maybe he was the murderer.

‘See if Nella’s got anything. They’re about the same size.’ Jett flicked a hand lazily in a random direction, which Max figured was probably Nella’s cupboard.

Grey squinted at Max again. ‘Are they?’

Somehow, even though she knew nothing about Nella Barbarani except for what the internet had vomited up for her on the bus ride here, Max felt like he was insulting her.

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