Page 38 of Moonlit Nights & Northern Lights
“Kit and I went to Meridian,” I blurted out. “They’re clearing the place out. Right now.”
“Jesus Christ,” Maxwell sputtered through the phone. I could practically see his face twisting the way it did when he was trying not to explode. “You didwhat?Please tell me you didn’t break in again.”
“We just walked past,” I said, locking eyes with Kit. “Like normal citizens out for a stroll.”
“A stroll that just happened to take you past Meridian.”
“Exactly! And they’re packing everything up. Moving vans, the whole shebang.”
There was a pause, and I could hear the background noise of Maxwell’s office—phones ringing, muffled conversations, the clatter of keyboards. Despite his obvious annoyance, his voice lacked the razor edge it usually had when addressing me. Kit’s presence clearly made a difference.
“And what has Seb said?” he asked.
“I haven’t told him yet.”
“You… rang me before him?” The surprise in his voice was unmistakable, almost… touched?
I felt my cheeks warm slightly. “I’m increasingly regretting that fact. Could any of your police searches have tipped them off?”
“It’s possible,” Maxwell admitted after a moment. “But look, I’m about to go into a meeting. Ring Seb, and I’ll check my phone afterwards.”
Hanging up, I scrolled through my contacts. “Let’s hope he’s notbusy.”
The phone rang for an age before Seb’s crisp voice answered, sounding distinctly unimpressed. “Rory, it’s Saturday.”
I rolled my eyes so hard they practically did a full rotation. Seb never used to care about weekends before he got a tasty boyfriend to snack on. He used to work around the clock, lived and breathed Killigrew Street. Now I could hear Flynn mumbling something in the background, probably something about brunch or farmers’ markets or whatever normal couples did on weekends.
After checking that Maxwell had filled him in about last night, I quickly explained about Meridian’s sudden evacuation and our theory about police searches possibly triggering their exit, if not Bradley and Brody.
“We’ll meet at Killigrew Street at four,” Seb said after a moment of consideration. “I’ll contact everyone.”
I was tempted to argue for an earlier time—every minute wasted might mean Dev’s demise, if he was still alive—but I couldn’t really push my luck. I was surprised Seb hadn’t shouted at me.
After I’d hung up, Kit’s eyes suddenly fell to his cup. “Oh, by the way, I messaged Seb this morning while you were in the shower. Got his approval for our little excursion to Meridian.”
I nearly choked on my drink. “You what?”
“Protocol.” Kit shrugged as if he hadn’t betrayed me. “You know how Seb feels about unauthorized missions.”
“We were literally just walking past a building!” I protested, feeling a hot flush of betrayal creep up my neck. Kit had gone behind my back, treating me like some rookie who couldn’t be trusted. “That’s not a mission, that’s… that’s exercise!”
Kit gave me that infuriating older-brother look—the one that made me feel about five years old. “And yet here we are, watching them pack up evidence that could be crucial to the case.”
My phone buzzed before I could argue further. A text from Priya.
Priya
Rory, you’re lucky I love you. Emma got us rooftop cinema tickets for Peckham Levels.
A stupid stab of jealousy twisted in my gut. I’d already mentally pencilled in going to see her this afternoon.
Though, what kind of friend gets jealous when their mate finds happiness? A shit one, that’s what.
She’s got four tickets, so I was about to text you and Flynn.
And now I felt super guilty to go along with my patheticness.
Sorry. I love you. Maybe you’ll still be able to make it?
