Page 33 of The Question of Us
“Lee? Yes. Blond again. Come on.” Mads made a beeline after the guy.
I quickly trailed after him. “And do what?”
“Talk to him,” he answered, pausing at the top of the aisle to scan the area before racing off again.
I grabbed his arm. “Mads, slow down. People are looking.”
He glanced around and immediately slowed his pace. “Sorry. But he’s alone, Nick, and this is a busy public space. It’s a perfect opportunity and it might be the only one we get. Why the hell didn’t we bring one of those spare phones?”
Purchasing the two prepaid phones had been a last-minute suggestion by Gazza and a good one. In New Zealand, you weren’t required to register them like you were in Australia, and it would give Lee a way to get in contact without risking using his own phone.
Still... “We didn’t bring them because, in case you’ve forgotten,thiswasn’t the plan.” I dropped his arm. “Come here and pretend we’re looking at a shopping list.” I pulled out my phone and we both peered at it. “You can’t be sure he’s alone. Marty could be in another aisle.”
Mads straightened and scanned the store. “Okay. So that’s not a terrible assumption. Good call.”
I raised a brow.
“But we can’t just let him leave without trying,” he insisted.
And he wasn’t wrong. We had Lee right in front of us and possibly alone. Who knew if we would get another chance. “Okay.” I pulled Mads aside to let a woman with a baby in acar seat clipped to her trolley pass by. “Here’s the deal. If Leeisalone, you can approach while I keep a lookout.” I grabbed a can of chilli from the discount shelf at the top of the aisle. “But if I see anything I don’t like, I’ll drop this can and you get out of there as fast as humanly possible, got it?”
Mads nodded distractedly.
“Mads?” I demanded.
He looked at me then. “Yes. Okay. I’ve got it. Now come on, before he leaves.”
He spun on his heels and took off at a fast walk leaving me trailing behind. I could only hope we wouldn’t regret this.
Lee was shopping in the cheese section of the deli when we finally caught up to him. He was apparently alone, which got me second-guessing whether he had in fact been telling the truth and he was with Marty by choice. But that couldn’t be right based on what Mads had seen on the boat. None of it made sense.
“I don’t like this,” I whispered. “It feels off.”
Mads all but ignored me as he began to approach Lee.
“Wait,” I snapped, keeping my voice down.
Mads turned; frustration etched in his expression. “What?”
“Have you thought about what you’re going to say?”
He shrugged. “That’ll depend on whether he recognises me.”
“In that wig?” I scoffed. “I doubt it. You weren’t even sure he saw you on the boat. It was only for a couple of seconds as he passed the galley where you were hiding, right?”
Mads’ brows drew together in irritation. “But I sawhim. It doesn’t really matter if he saw me. I’ll just play it by ear. You got a better idea?”
I didn’t. “Just be careful.”
He nodded and gave me a quick kiss. “I will.”
CHAPTER NINE
Madigan
Lee hadhis back to me as I approached with my shopping basket on my arm. I strolled along the deli cabinet, browsing the selection, and came to a stop about half a metre away from him. I picked up and put down a few cheeses, pretending to look at their labels. Lee shot me a curious sideways glance, then returned to his shopping with seemingly no idea who I was.
I put a South Australian brie in my basket and reached for a packet of artisan crackers displayed on top of the cabinet right in front of Lee. “Excuse me,” I said as I leaned close to snag the crackers. “It’s Lee Shepherd, right?”
