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“You could put him in the freezer in your garage,” Donna said. “It still works, doesn’t it?”
“Aye, but it’s old, full of rust and smelly,” Isobel said.
“I don’t think he’ll care,” Donna said.
“What do we do with him once he’s in the freezer? We can’t leave him there forever.” Isobel gnawed at her bottom lip and wondered how her life had come to this point.
She was a single mother of two, with two failed relationships behind her, a mountain of debt she hadn’t personally accumulated, a minimum-wage job in the village shop and an ever-growing list of crimes under her belt. It was not how she’d imagined life would be at the grand old age of thirty-two.
“We need advice. We need someone who knows what to do with a dead body,” Agnes said. “We need an expert.”
“I’m not calling the police,” Isobel said adamantly. She was the only stability her kids had. She couldn’t even think of risking it.
“I wasn’t thinking of the police,” Agnes said. “I was thinking of an outlaw.”
“Yes!” Mairi clapped her hands and grinned. “Great idea, Aggie.”
“No.” Isobel shook her head. “No. Just no.”
Donna placed her hand on Isobel’s arm. “Don’t dismiss this idea just because you fancy the man. He used to be in the army. He’s bound to have seen dead bodies during conflict. He must have an idea what to do with them.”
“I-I don’t f-fancy him,” Isobel protested, but nobody was listening. No, she just dreamed about him every blooming night. What was it with her and bad boys? Hadn’t she learned her lesson by now? Why couldn’t she find a nice six-stone weakling of an accountant to fall in love with?
“It’s well known he’s dangerous,” Agnes said. “Old man McKay used to tell everyone that his grandson was deadly. He was in the Special Forces. He knows about dead bodies.”
“Plus,” Mairi said, “there’s a security company watching him—covertly.” She whispered the last word as though it had special powers. “That must mean he’s on the other side of the law now, which means he won’t report us to the cops.”
“I didn’t know he was being watched.” Donna’s eyes went wide. “Maybe talking to him isn’t such a good idea.”
“I spoke to the woman who was setting up cameras,” Isobel said. Of course she was going to grill a stranger who was setting up CCTV in the street, in the dark. “She showed me her ID and said he wasn’t dangerous to the town. He isn’t a criminal. She said he’s only dangerous to bad guys.” And then the blue-haired woman had laughed. It wasn’t reassuring. Neither was the fact she was wearing a Wonder Woman T-shirt and a pair of pink, glittery Doc Marten boots. “She gave me her business card, in case I was ever worried about anything.”
“Maybe we should call the security company instead?” Mairi said. “We can ask them what to do.”
Agnes groaned. “I can just imagine that conversation— ‘Hello, we have the body of a stranger in our freezer and we’re looking for suggestions on what to do with it.’ Aye, that would go well.”
“It was only an idea.” Mairi frowned at Agnes.
“Whatever,” Agnes said. “I think our best bet is the outlaw. You said he’s huge and there are weapons lying around in his house. He’s obviously used to dangerous situations. I bet he’d know what to do with the body. You need to ask him for help.”
“No.”
Isobel had been delivering groceries to Callum McKay’s house for almost four months, and she’d only seen the man three times. All three times, he’d scared the life out of her. Rage covered him like a shroud. But there was also something about him that made her heart ache. Maybe it was the utter desolation in his eyes, or the fact that the only people she’d seen near him had been from a security company that was hiding in the dark. She’d never met someone so completely alone. And so brutally raw. He was the embodiment of her own personal weakness—the tortured bad boy, with muscles like Thor. She didn’t have to be massively self-aware to realise that he was the last person she should approach for help. No, for the sake of her sanity, it was best to keep far, far away from the man.
“Honey,” Agnes said, “we don’t have a lot of options here. Either you get help from someone who knows what to do with a body, or you keep the guy frozen in your old chest freezer for the foreseeable future.”
“Aye,” Donna said. “And what if this is just the beginning? What if the boat people dump more bodies? We need a plan. We need advice.”
“Or we need to start our own crematorium business,” Mairi said.
“Think of your kids,” Agnes said. “This is getting worse every month. We’re in way over our heads. We need help. If this guy can help, then great. If not, we’ll try something else.”
Isobel’s heart sank. Agnes was right. They were out of options. Staying away from Callum McKay had become a luxury she couldn’t afford. And it wasn’t as if she wanted to start a relationship with him. No, she just wanted advice on what to do with the dead stranger who’d been dumped on her beach.
“You can do it,” Donna said softly. “We have your back.”
Isobel blinked back tears, as love for her sisters overwhelmed her. She didn’t know how she’d survive without them. She needed to talk to Callum for their sakes. This situation with the mysterious boat was well past the point of being dangerous, and they were getting in deeper every month. No, they weren’t—she was. And she was dragging her sisters down with her.
“Okay, I’ll talk to him.”
