Page 114 of Better the Devil

‘I need a word, Jack,’ Ben told him.

‘Right. Well, I just?—’

Ben stepped back and pointed to the spot on the floor where he’d just been standing. ‘Now. I need to talk to you now.’

Logan grimaced. He had been sure he’d heard Ben’s popcorn packet rustling behind the glass of the one-way mirror. He’d have heard everything. And he understood procedure better than most, so he’d know exactly the risks Logan was running by talking to Olivia in the first place.

‘Look, I can explain,’ Jack said, stepping out into the corridor and pulling the door closed. ‘She made clear that she would talk to me and me alone. I set the recording going so?—’

‘She was with me, Jack,’ Ben said, cutting him off. ‘The other night. She was with me at the café, doing an extra shift.’

Somewhere in the pit of Logan’s stomach a yawning chasm opened.

‘What? What do you mean?’ he asked.

Not that it was hard to grasp. Not that there could be any way of misinterpreting what he’d just heard.

‘She’s been doing extra. She asked specially,’ Ben told him. ‘Said she wanted to save up.’

‘Save up?’ Logan asked. ‘Save up for what?’

Ben winced. Clearly, he’d been dreading this question. ‘I don’t think that’s my place to say.’

‘Ben,’ Jack urged.

The older man sighed, looked down at his feet, then met Logan’s eye again. ‘For the anniversary.’

‘Anniversary?’

The words were a struggle. ‘Of her moving in. With you pair. She, eh, she wanted to get you something.’

Logan almost choked on the first word that came to mind—‘fuck’—so he said it again, but with more emphasis.

‘Aye,’ Ben said.

‘Oh, Jesus!’ Logan groaned. ‘Oh, Jesus Christ.’

‘Aye, that too,’ Ben agreed.

‘Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you stop me? Why didn’t you say something?’

‘Because I didn’t know you were bringing her in!’ Ben replied. ‘If you’d said something, if you’d told me what you were planning, I would’ve set you straight.’

Logan grabbed his head and held it, like he was trying to contain an explosion.

‘Oh, God. What have I done?’ He looked back over his shoulder at the door. ‘This is… I’ve fucked this. This is all fucked.’

‘Maybe not. Maybe she’ll…’ Ben began, but he buckled when Jack flashed him a look. ‘No. No, you’re right. She did seem pretty upset. You should’ve told me, Jack! I could’ve said something.’

Logan could hear the hurt in Olivia’s voice again. The venom, too. When he blinked, he saw the pain on Shona’s face.

Oh, God.

What had he done?

‘It’s fine. It’s fine, I can sort this,’ he said, more to himself than to the man beside him. ‘I’ll… I’ll talk to her. I’ll explain. I’ll… Aye. I can sort this. It’ll be fine.’

He drew in a deep, steadying breath.