Page 77 of He's the One

“I didn’t want my face in the paper. I know the chances of being linked to the past are small, but when Dominic is released, I want him to have somewhere safe to be and if they ever find out I’m his brother, they’ll hound me and he won’t want to be with me.”

“Right.”

“Have you googled what happened?”

“No. You told me. Why would I need to know anything else?”

Col smiled.

“I didn’t get the chance to ask you because Dick Dastardly interrupted, but did you get anywhere in Nyman’s office?”

Col swallowed a mouthful of fish. “I took pictures. I’ve not had time to look at them. Bez said that as far as he knew, nothing unforeseen had cropped up with the roof.”

“We could check the office tonight.”

“All right.”

“We’ll take pictures and compare them to the ones you took.”

“What are you going to do if you think Darnley’s been cheating your father?”

“Tell him.”

“You need to be sure you’re right.”

Theo nodded.

Theo checked Dastardly’s car had gone before he led Col over to the side entrance to the hall. About half of the scaffolding had been taken down and the poles, boards and connectors were neatly piled in the courtyard. It made Theo think of how timing was everything. The stonemasons had been so close to finishing when he’d met Col, and if Col hadn’t come to the Autumn Show, Theo would never have seen him again. His world would still have been empty. Now anything seemed possible.

“I doubt we’ll bump into anyone,” Theo whispered. “But if we do, pretend you’re a ghost. I’ll act as if you’re not there.”

Col grinned.

Though if they encountered his mother or father, Theo intended to tell them Col was his boyfriend. The thought brought a flutter of panic to his chest, as if a flock of tiny birds had suddenly taken flight inside him.Maybehe’d tell them.Maybehe’d feel brave enough if Col was by his side. But they reached the office without seeing a soul and Theo was disappointed in himself to feel relieved. He hadn’t changedthatmuch then. He unlocked the door and once they were both inside, he switched on the light.

The renovation file was still in the cabinet and Theo put it on the desk.

“Do you want me to take the pictures?” Col asked.

“I’ll do it. It’ll be easier for us to compare them to those you took.”

Col stood by his shoulder as Theo turned over each sheet of paper.

“Stick to stuff about the roof and invoices,” Col told him.

A couple of times, Col stopped him and told him to take a picture.

Theo breathed a sigh of relief when the file was back in the cabinet. There was no reason why he shouldn’t have looked at it, but he was still anxious.

“Pity you don’t know how to get into his computer.” Col ran his fingers over the keys. “Are all the accounts on there?”

“Yes. But even if I knew his password, the computer shows what’s been recently looked at. He’d notice a file listed that he hadn’t opened.”

“So what? There shouldn’t be any secrets. He works for you.”

“Well…”

“Your father then. This computer is technically your father’s. I mean, if you sacked him, Dastardly wouldn’t be taking it with him, would he? Maybe you can think up a reason to get him to give you the password—or make sure you’re standing somewhere you can see it when he logs on. Then copy everything.”

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