Page 62 of Bonetide

“And I said I was at the castle, alone, as I am most nights.”

“Can you prove it?”

“He didn’t ask me to.”

“Why do you think he came alone?”

“He’s careful, I take it. He wanted to look at me. He wanted to look at the castle. He wanted to take what he saw and put it next to what MacRae has on file. He’s building something.”

I swallow uneasily. “Building what?”

“A case, or the start of one. Or a conviction in his own head, which is often the same thing.”

No fucking thanks to me.

“Think he has it in for you?”

He lifts a shoulder in a shrug and I loop my hands around his neck. “Maybe. Maybe he just wants the truth. Can’t blame a man for that.”

And what is the truth?

The water laps at my shoulders. He shifts his weight, treading slightly for both of us as a small swell passes through, and his arm tightens around me. His eyes sweep the dark bay for things I can’t see.

“He asked me about you.” His voice is low, his gaze meeting mine again.

I knew he would. I still feel my stomach drop.

“And? What did you tell him?”

“That you and I are acquainted. That we have spoken on a few occasions. That you have never invited me into your cottage, and that I have never been there.”

“I suppose that’s true. You’ve never been inside…”

Don’t let him in, don’t let him in.

“Aye. And then he left when his whisky was done. He told me he might come back. He told me to call him if I thought of anything else.”

“Thought of anything else? He thinks you’re to help him with it otherwise?”

“I suppose it’s better than nothing.” He pauses, his gaze darkening slightly, or maybe it’s the fading light. “I told him one more thing, Iris.”

“What?”

“I told him I’d become acquainted with you, and that I respect you, and that I would not want my acquaintance to cost you peace of mind. That if he had questions about me, he could come to me with them, and leave you out of it.”

“Oh, no.” I shake my head. “Why did you tell him that?”

“He took it badly,” he says instead of answering. “Said I was not in a position to tell him whom he could interview. He said it more politely than that, but that was the gist. I expect he will come back to your cottage now. Sooner than he might have.”

“You drew his attention to us,” I hiss.

“I drew his attention to me.”

“That’s not the same. Now he knows we’re together.”

“He already figured that out; he’s not dumb, this one. He was going to come back to you anyway. Better to have the truth in the open.”

The truth…