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“Dealt with, how?” I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose to ward off the headache I could feel building behind my eyes.
“That’s not your concern and probably better you don’t know,” he replied, his voice flat and emotionless. “All you need to know is that we have dealt with him and we are keeping an eye on his business interests to make sure no one tries to step in and take his place.”
“We?”
“That’s not important, but so you’re aware, we’re on the same side.”
“On the same side, as in you’re a cop?”
Thomas laughed before replying. “Ex-SAS, but I’m still very much one of the good guys.”
“Mr. Lanton, is this something the police should be worried about?”
“Today, I’m just the messenger. But I want to be a helpful contact, so I’m sending you everything we know about him. It might help you with some of your other cases. But just to warn you… there is a lot.”
With that, he hung up, and an email pinged into my inbox. Opening it, I found a picture of our suspect hog-tied in the back of a van, looking like he’d take a hell of a beating. Frustrated about the amount of effort we’d already put into this case, I typed out an email to everyone on the team, telling them to stand down until I looked into these allegations further.
I spent the next few hours reading through the hundreds of pages of information Thomas shared about our suspect, wondering where the hell he’d got it all from, and planning what to do next.
When I looked up, most of the office was in darkness and it was well after 10 pm. I tried Emma again, but there was still no answer.She must be having an early night.Grabbing my keys and phone, I headed home, exhausted.
I opened the front door to find the house in total darkness. Emma hadn’t even left a side light on, which was something she only did when she was furious with me for something.Was it our anniversary? Her birthday? Did I promise to do something that I’d forgotten?I couldn’t think of anything, but I crept quietly upstairs anyway, hoping I could make her forgive me quickly because I didn’t have the energy to be in the doghouse tonight.
“Hey, beautiful. I’m home,” I whispered as I pulled off my suit jacket and tie, throwing them to the chair by the dresser before I turned on the lamp at the side of the bed.
The light was low, giving me just enough illumination to find my way from the bed to the bathroom without breaking my neck. I didn’t hear her stir as I pulled off my shirt, tossing it into the hamper.
Flicking on the bathroom light, I closed the door, so I didn’t wake her and turned on the shower. Unfastening my belt, I stepped out of my pants, desperate to wash the information I’d seen in those files from my mind before I went anywhere near my beautiful wife; the disgust I felt for Nicolas Preston clinging to my skin like the acrid smell of smoke after a fire.
After a quick shower, I stepped back into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around my waist, drying off my hair with another. The bathroom light spilled into our room. “Sorry I couldn't speak…”
I froze. My heart hammered in my chest, bile forcing itself into my mouth as I looked at my wife. Laid out on our bed, her tousled curls covering part of her face; the rest spilled out over the pillows she rested against. Her white button-up pajamas were stained crimson, as were the baby blue bed sheets caused by the three bullet holes that desecrated her beautiful body.
I cried out, running over to her and pressing my fingers against where her pulse should beat fiercely, but I already knew I’d find nothing.
My feet carried me on autopilot from the bedroom to the nursery across the hall. Pausing, with my fingers wrapped around the door handle, I whispered a silent prayer that Alfie was okay. My hand shook with fear as I pushed it open slowly so I wouldn’t scare him.
He looked like he was sleeping. Peaceful. Perfect. His soft blond curls, which he’d gotten from Emma, were pressed against his face and his fingers wrapped tightly around the blue bunny he insisted on having with him everywhere we went.
I let out a sigh of relief, moving to pick him up and hold him tight. It wasn’t until I stepped closer to his cot that I saw the truth. Alfie’s face looked vacant. His lips were blue and the rosy glow that constantly covered his cheeks since he’d started teething was gone. A pillow sat at the foot of his cot that shouldn’t be there.
“Alfie?” I whispered, slipping my hand under his sleep suit to touch his tiny chest, wanting to feel the rapid hammering of his heart. His cold skin against my fingertips was the final straw. The bile I’d fought to keep down after finding Emma exploded as I vomited on the carpet. Sinking to the floor, I sobbed with the realization that my wife and son were dead.
Six years ago today, on the 5th of May, my wife and 11-month-old son were murdered in our home. Emma was shot three times in our bed. My son, Alfie, suffocated with a pillow while he slept. There was no forced entry, no DNA. In fact, there was no evidence of any kind.
I quit my job a week later, blaming it for keeping me away from them when they needed me the most. But I blamed myself way more. They died because of me, and I promised myself that I would suffer their loss for as long as I lived. It was what I deserved.
Chapter 1
Frankie
“Look,Iknowwepromised the job to Rob, but he’s useless. I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him, and I’m not risking the safety of my brothers and sister, Addi. Matt is great. Loads of experience, scary as fuck to look at and he will get the job done. I want to make him head of our security team.”
Tanner sat crossed-legged on the kitchen counter in the penthouse suite we were staying in, while the rest of us sat on chairs around the dining room table, like civilized people.
“Rob is going to be pissed, Tanner. I mean, seriously pissed. He’s been talking about taking over since Mick told us he was leaving. He’s been here the longest. He has the most experience. Are you sure about this?”
“The bloke doesn’t talk. Half the time, he has no clue what’s going on or who’s where. The rest of the team hates him, Addi. We can’t put him in charge. Everyone else will quit and one of us will probably get kidnapped.”
