Page 73 of North (The Moral Compass 2)

Until Mirabella wakes with a scream followed instantly by Isabella, and then, finally, I have a screaming Annabella in my arms going bright red. I look over to the nurse who smiles and comes to the rescue.

“We’ll take them to the nursery and get them changed, fed, and settled. Why don’t you all go and have some tea or something? I’m sure you could do with a little break, Sutton?” the younger of the two suggests. Sutton nods. She’s not happy, but she’ll behave better than I would have.

“Don’t you have an appointment at the prison?” North asks.

“No, I got an email earlier. It’s been cancelled. I was going to ring up and find out why, but I’ve been a little busy.” I smile a cheeky smile.

“Hmm, yes you have. Do you want to go out instead?”

“What? You mean on a date, Mr. McGarry?” I grin.

“Yes, Kara Simpson, will you allow me to take you on a date tonight?” he asks, all gentleman-like.

“Okay. Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know, let’s start with food and then go from there. Sound like a plan?”

“Yeah, it does.”

Chapter 50

North

Iwasacompleteand utter bastard yesterday. I never knew I had it in me to be such a dick. Kara and I have had a real rollercoaster of a relationship, so there’s no wonder tempers and feelings run high between us. It’s no excuse, but I’m hoping that things can settle down now, and we can be a normal couple, living in a normal-ish house. Maybe someday, we can have a couple of kids.

That’s why I took Kara on a real date. We went to a nice Italian restaurant and then caught the late showing of some horror film neither of us watched. We spent the whole two hours making out in the back row like teenagers.

This morning, however, is going to be another difficult day. The police are on their way to show us some pictures of the woman they have in custody. She still hasn’t told them her name. Her prints don’t show up on any database the police have. So, they are hoping one of us recognises her and can at least solve that bit of the puzzle.

We all gather around the big table in the dining room as the police arrive. They give us all a brief rundown of everything the woman has said—which amounts to nothing—and then they hand us a photo of a blonde woman. I take a really good look, wracking my brains to remember if I have ever seen her, but she is not familiar at all. Sutton, Kara, and East are next, and they, too, don’t recognise her at all. This is not looking good.

West takes the photo and studies it hard. Then, he shakes his head and passes it across the table to South.

South takes one look at the photo and drops it on the floor. His hands shoot to his face.

“Oh fuck! No. Please tell me this is not the woman you have in custody?” He looks at the police officer.

“Yes, sir, do you recognise her?” he asks as South falls into a dining chair. Liz rushes to his side.

“Whatever is the matter, South? Do you know her?”

South doesn’t speak but looks directly at me. Instantly, I know who she is. She’s South’s mystery woman. The one who he didn’t want to marry but didn’t want to let go of, either. Fuck!

“I’m sorry, sir. I can see this is a shock, but could you please identify her for us and provide us with a name?”

“Paula. Her name is Paula DeMott. She is my ex-girlfriend,” he says quietly. I can see all the eyes in the room on South, and then on me. By rights, I should be raging that it was someone that he knew that nearly killed me, but none of this is his fault. He didn’t know. He’s been waiting for her to bloody text him, for God’s sake. Poor schmuck.

“Thank you.” The police officer writes it down in his book.

South interrupts the officer, “Look, if she is not talking to you lot, maybe she will talk to me. We were together for over two years.”

“I’ll have to clear it, but right now, Mr. McGarry, I don’t think we have any other options. She is just not talking whatsoever,” the older officer offers.

“Do you think she will even see you, South?” I ask.

“We’ll find out, won’t we?” He shrugs.

“Thank you for your help. We will be in touch as soon as we have confirmation, Mr. McGarry. Oh, and North McGarry? Could you please come down to the station at the same time and complete your statement for us? We are still missing a few details from you, too.” I nod in response, but my concentration is on South. He looks like he is about to explode.

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