Page 58 of The Question of Us
I swallowed a smile. “I’m not talking as a friend. I’m talking as aboyfriend.” I waggled my eyebrows.
That shut him up.
Which only encouraged me. “And also, stop talking crap. Neither one of us likes people in general, and the idea of more friends even less, so don’t bullshit me that I’m the problem. We’re both coping out in the big, wide social world so far, aren’t we?”
Nick huffed but there was a trace of a smile on his lips. “You might be. I’m starting to feel distinctly murderous, so the jury is still out.”
I patted his shoulder. “You’ll cope. Now call.”
Nick’s glare turned lethal, but he called, and as far as confessionals went, the conversation panned out pretty much as expected, once Samuel moved past the whole shouting, calling-of-names, and issuing some fairly specific-threats phase. In other words, not well at all.
Feeling guilty and a little sorry for Nick, who’d drilled me with an I-told-you-so look during the entire conversation, Gazza and I joined the fray to help him out. All three of us crowded around the video on Nick’s phone, which had been propped against a vase of sad fake flowers on the dining table. The puce tone to Samuel’s cheeks said everything that needed saying about his thoughts regarding our plan. He was pissed and understandably so. No surprise there.
With no desire to poke the bear, we let him rant on uninterrupted about what a right royal bunch of idiot jerks we were until he eventually ran out of steam. At that point, he took a minute to gather himself and calm down. I hoped that also meant he might be ready to put into practice all those qualities that made him a great detective, starting with shelving his opinion and actually listening to us, but...
“You’re lucky I don’t have you all arrested for interfering with a police investigation.”
Okay, so that response was a little light on the shelving-his-opinion bit and I rolled my eyes. “Come on, Samuel, neither the Aussies nor the New Zealand police are even looking at Lee and Marty because there’s nothing there to officially tie them to the investigation. The Cleary brothers aren’t talking. Marty was never on that boat—he wasn’t even in New Zealand. And there’s nothing on CCTV at the marina to prove otherwise. Plus, Lee isdenying everything. Our suspicions about Marty are irrelevant, you said so yourself. The fact that Lee and Freddie were on the same flight back to Australia the next day has a reasonable explanation. They knew each other, and Lee insists he returned to Australia to rekindle a relationship with Marty willingly. So, tell me exactly what police investigation are we interfering with?”
Samuel chewed on his lower lip but said nothing. He didn’t need to. His exasperated expression said it all. We were right and he knew it. “Fine.” He folded his arms over his chest and glared at us. “You’ve got five minutes to convince me you haven’t completely lost your fucking minds.”
“Absolutely. Nick can do the honours.” I waved my boyfriend forward and his eyes widened in that you-are-in-so-much-trouble way he’d perfected. I batted my lashes and reminded him, “He’s your brother-in-law.”
Gazza snorted and Nick turned a steely eye on the younger man who wasn’t in the least bit intimidated. “Hey, I’m just the pretty face in all this,” Gazza answered to the blistering look. “The honey trap. Isn’t that what they’re called?”
Nick groaned and rolled his eyes skyward. “God almighty, give me strength.”
“I don’t care who goes first,” Samuel positively growled through the speaker. “But dammit, someone better start talking soon or there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Calm down. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Nick dragged his chair closer to the phone.
Recognising that Samuel’s temper was seconds from exploding all over his office, I kicked Nick in the ankle to make my feelings clear. He shot me an amused look that said he was having way too much fun, and I returned an explicitlynot-amused glower that wiped the smile off the idiot’s face in two seconds flat and got him talking. The man truly was a royal painin my arse. Didn’t mean I wasn’t head-over-heels loopy for the arsehole.
Nick brought Samuel up to date on everything from our encounter with Lee in the supermarket and our confirmed suspicions about the abuse, including Marty’s threats regarding Lee’s brother to what happened in the bloodstock sales, Gazza’s invitation to the party, and our plan for Gazza to use that invite to try to talk with Lee on his own. The bit about Nick being stowed in the back of Gazza’s car in case he was needed was admittedly glossed over, while the part where Nick actually intended to hide in the garden to keep an eye on things was completely omitted.
I sighed but I got it. Anything truly illegal, like trespassing—although it was a grey line with it being a party, after all—would put Samuel in an awkward position.
Need to know basis, right?
When Nick was finally done, Samuel said nothing, just sat there chewing on his bottom lip like it offended him while refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.
“Well?” Nick prodded, but Samuel simply gestured for us to wait while he scribbled a few things down on a piece of paper and then stared at them blankly before sighing again.
“For fuck’s sake.” Nick sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh. “It’s not the great train robbery, you know.”
I kicked Nick again, because although that might be so, we needed Samuel’s advice and Nick knew it. He just didn’t want to admit it. I reached out my hand and Nick took it, his squeeze telling me he was sorry. I didn’t believe that for a second, but the gesture was appreciated. I returned a don’t-bullshit-me look and he grinned.
Eventually, after the second age of the dinosaurs had passed, Samuel looked up. “Do you know how fucking pissed I am about all this?”
Nick’s lip twitched before he replied. “I’d say I have a fair idea, yes, but nothing you say is going to change our minds about going to this party. Lee is in trouble. His brother too. We’re not just walking away from this, Samuel. You know me well enough to understand thatandthe reasons why.”
Samuel blinked at the last part before answering in a much softer voice, “That was damn sneaky of you, but yes, I do understand. And I admire you for it. Doesn’t mean I approve. I’m not just your brother-in-law, Nick. I’m a cop.”
Nick huffed. “I don’t need your admirationoryour approval, and the fact you’re a cop isn’t the point. We’re not breaking the law, and I’ve lived Lee’s story in more ways than I care to remember. My mother too. Marty’s an abusive arsehole and we—Ican’t simply leave him and his brother in that situation and walk away without trying to help. All three of us feel responsible in some way for where he is now, especially after he’d managed to get himself free and start a new life.”
My heart squeezed at the crack in Nick’s voice and I closed my other hand around his. It was the first time he’d really admitted that he felt it too. The guilt. The responsibility. I knew he had. He was too good a man not to.
Then another hand was added to the pile, and I turned to find Gazza had pulled his chair alongside us.
