Page 7 of The Question of Us
“How much more proof do you need?” I demanded.
He sighed like he was doing his best to be patient, which only raised my hackles further. “Even if Lee and Graham are the same person, he might’ve wanted a new identity for any number of reasons. He could be a criminal, for fuck’s sake.”
My mouth dropped open, mostly because that hadn’t even occurred to me. “But it was a list of people trying to escape abuse.”
“Who says?” Nick protested, shocking me silent. “If Lachlan hadn’t put that idea into our heads, would we have thought of it ourselves. What if he was wrong?”
No. I couldn’t believe that.“But ninety percent of them were women.” My voice rose as I struggled to believe what I was hearing from him. “And up until now, I thought you agreed with the theory.” I stared him down. “What’s suddenly changed?”
Gazza’s chair scraped back. “I think that’s my cue to leave.”
“It’s not sudden.” Nick ignored Gazza, his gaze fixed on me. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while—weighing up what we actually know as fact versus what we’ve been assuming.”
“And you think I haven’t?” I rankled. “You think you’re the only one with questions?”
Nick sighed. “I don’t want to fight about this. I’m just trying to be objective.”
Gazza rolled his eyes at the word. “Oh boy.” His gaze danced nervously between us.
“And I’mnotbeing objective, is that it?” I fired back, acutely aware that I was starting to sound acutelyunobjective.
Nick’s lips pursed like he was counting to ten and it was all I could do not to slap him. Where the fuck was all this coming from? Nick hadn’t mentioned any doubts to me about Lee or what the list was for, not until that very moment. Just another thing he hadn’t chosen to talk about.
“You didn’t see Lee on that boat,” I reminded him through clenched teeth. “You didn’t see the fear in his eyes and how freaking terrified he was.”
“Andyouonly had a momentary glimpse,” Nick countered, equally sharp. “You said it yourself.”
“I saw enough to?—”
“Um, guys?” Gazza held up his hands. “You’re supposed to be setting me a mature example for future relationships. Can we maybe take this down a notch?”
Nick and I turned as one to glare at him. The only thing we could agree on, it seemed.
Gazza’s eyes widened in response. “Or maybe not.” He stood and backed away with his hands raised. “Like I said, I’m gonna head to the studio. Much safer all around.”
“I’m going over,” I blurted, surprising even myself since I hadn’t been thinking about doing that at all until the idea suddenly popped into my head. But now that it had, it seemed a solid option, to piss Nick off if nothing else.
Nick’s grey eyes narrowed menacingly. “Going where exactly?”
“To Melbourne.” I straightened in my chair. “I’m going to see for myself if Lee’s okay. I might even talk to the police. There might be stuff they wouldn’t put down in writing.” Was I also pissed at Nick and wanting to fuck with hisobjectivehead a little? Absolutely. I was sick of his assumption that his way was the only way. Sick of not being included in his thinking.
An eerie silence filled the room and Gazza glanced uneasily between us.
“You’re what?” Nick pinned me with a wide-eyed glare, and I suddenly felt like a stranger to him. “Since when?”
“Since... this morning,” I said primly. Like two seconds ago, if I was being honest, but Nick didn’t need to know that. He clearly hadn’t thought I needed to know about his reservations about Lee, after all.
I pushed my chair back and began collecting the empty coffee cups. “Which you’d know if you’d bothered to really talk to me or include me in your thinking.” A bald-faced lie if you refer to the part where I’d only just thought of the idea. I shot him a sweet smile. “Breakfast?” Without waiting for an answer, I headed for the kitchen.
“Now wait just one minute.” Nick shot to his feet and followed me.
“This is definitely my cue to leave.” Gazza gathered his satchel from the floor. “But I have one thing to say before I leave you two love birds to peck each other’s feathers out.”
I raised a brow. “And that is?”
Gazza ran a hand over his mouth. “If you go, I’m coming with you.”
Nick groaned. “What is wrong with you people?”
