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Theo nodded. She understood the implications. He had complained and she hadn’t… Of course he had—he was professor of law; he knew how it worked.
“When he finds out about this, Mendes will want to question you,” Gus said. “Just tell him what you told me. And don’t worry, I’ll be there.” He paused. “Your thing with Murdoch…he didn’t try to—”
“I wanted to be with Dan. He was nothing like Hugh.”
“He was an older man,” Gus reminded her. “Mendes could well suggest his advances, too, were unwelcome, and you reacted in the same way you did with Carrington, but that this time you killed him.”
“That’s absurd.”
“I know, but I want you to be ready.”
“What’s happening, Gus?” Theo dropped her face into her hands. “It feels like everything is going wrong, and there’s nothing I do that helps. I can’t find my way out.”
“Darkest before the dawn…I hope. All of this is circumstantial at best.” He kissed her forehead. “Just hang in there, Theo, we’ll get through this. I have it on good authority that you’re represented by a legal genius.”
A tap at the door. Mac’s voice. “Gus, it’s me.”
“Come in.”
Mac opened the door. He didn’t seem surprised to see Theo. His eyes were sympathetic. “You told her then?”
Gus nodded. “Mac found the record of complaint this morning,” he explained for Theo’s benefit. “He figured the police wouldn’t be too far behind, so he called me just before he came back here to rescue you from the Kelly gang.”
Mac seemed to understand or guess the reference to Australia’s most famous bushranger and his family. He apologized for his own. “They’re gone.” He shook his head. “Quarter hour intervals and in different directions in case Homeland Security is watching.”
Theo glanced at Gus. He nodded. Mac needed to know, and she needed to become accustomed to recounting what had happened, however difficult or mortifying the words were. Theo did not look at him when she explained why she had a record of assault.
“Right.” Mac’s tone was gentle. “I’ll see if there are any other complaints involving or by Carrington. This could be a pattern, and if we can establish that, then the probative value of Carrington’s complaint against you is minimized.”
“How long do you think it will be before the police find out?” Theo asked tentatively.
“They might already know by now,” Mac admitted. “They will probably want to speak to you about it soon.”
“Oh.” Theo tried to imagine telling Mendes about Hugh Carrington. Telling Gus, whom she loved, and Mac, whom she trusted, left her feeling flayed, exposed in a way that made her want to curl into herself away from the world. All this time she had refused to think about what had happened.
“It may have been my fault,” she said.
“How could it possibly be your fault?” Mac asked.
Theo swallowed and compelled herself to say it, to face it. “There were times when I wondered if he thought…if he wanted…” She took a breath. “There were times when he made me uncomfortable, but I ignored it, told myself that I’d misunderstood, that it was an accident. I may have given him the impression—”
“Aw, mate.” Gus’s arm was still around her shoulders, and he pulled her closer. “Men don’t have nuclear codes. They can always stop, always turn themselves off…even if you were giving him a bloody lap dance!”
Mac flinched when he mentioned lap dancing, but he agreed. “He grabbed you when you were trying to leave, Theo. He couldn’t have been under any misapprehension then.”
“Yes, as far as I’m concerned, you were within your rights to kill him to get away,” Gus growled. “I may yet.”
Theo smiled slightly. At that moment she felt completely safe for the first time since Dan Murdoch had been killed. She knew that she was clutching at threads, that it was an illusion, arising from the fact that she was protected and defended, and by her brother, loved. That was not the same thing as being safe, but for the moment she felt it.
CHAPTER 22
Caleb kept his eyes on the road as he went over what had just happened. Fuck! Theodosia Benton was living in his brother’s house. What did Mac think he was doing? Of course, Mac wouldn’t know. As much as he thought he knew everything, he wouldn’t know this.
Caleb scowled as he thought about the young woman his brother was harboring. She wasn’t very big. He couldn’t see how she had killed Primus…not unless she’d had a gun. Which was unlikely given the way she looked at their weapons when they disarmed for dinner. Like they were rattlesnakes or something. And she was Gus’s sister… They’d all known Gus for a while… He didn’t know, but Caleb was sure he wasn’t complicit either. Theodosia Benton, on the other hand, had been there when Primus died…she had to be involved somehow. Caleb thought about turning his truck around, confronting her with what he knew and warning his brother. Of course, Mac wouldn’t believe him. Caleb shook his head. He wasn’t sure when Mac had gone wrong. Their mother spent a lot of time praying he would see the light. But Mac was obstinate—it would probably take more than divine intervention.
Still, they were brothers. He’d have to do something or Mac might end up like Primus.
It was half past seven when Theo remembered that she had agreed to meet Veronica Cole for breakfast. All thought of the appointment had been dislodged by guns and Etheridges and memories, and so she showered and dressed in a panic and hurtled downstairs with just minutes to spare. Gus was flicking through a file as he talked to Mac.
