She rubbed her left eye then studied me.
“I am coming back,” I said and bent to kiss her brow. “I’ve made promises to my little girl that I intend to keep.”
She pushed to sitting and glanced at the bedside clock. “I have to go into work in a few hours anyway. Got a lot on today.” She dropped back down to the pillow with a bump and closed her eyes. “But not yet. It’s too early.”
I smiled and brushed a lock of hair from her cheek.
Then after slotting my phone into my trouser pocket, I slipped from the room. I didn’t glance back. If I had and saw her snuggling into the covers again, my resolve to leave would be undone.
Twenty minutes later, I was at Rose Cottage. The garden was still and dotted with dewdrops, and a cat sat on the outside step washing its paws.
“Hi,” Phil said when I walked into the kitchen.
“Coffee on the go?” I glanced at the bank of security screens as was my habit. All was quiet.
“Sure.” He put down his crossword. “You didn’t sleep here last night?”
“Nope.”
“Got some pussy action then?” He chuckled. “About time.”
“None of your fucking business.” My jaw tensed. Amy was so much more than a bit of pussy action. I didn’t know how she’d got to me so fast, but she had. I could smell her on me, taste her, feel her in my arms even when she wasn’t there.
“That girl, Rebecca’s friend,” Phil pressed. “Was it her?”
“I told you.” I sipped my coffee. “None of your fucking business.”
Luckily, before Phil could piss me off further, meaning I’d have to put him in his damn place, Finn and Cillian strode in. Dressed all in black, bandanas around their necks, and with their weapons poked into their waistbands, they were ready for action.
“Here,” Finn said, sliding two handguns across the table, one for me and one for Phil.
Cillian set another on the table. “Andrew will be here soon.”
“Just the four of us paying this twat a visit?” I asked and slotted the gun into the small of my back, between jeans and t-shirt, then whipping a Union Jack bandana from the kitchen drawer.
“Yeah, we should be able to handle a bit of abduction and interrogation between us.”
I chuckled. “Without breaking sweat.”
“He’s a right bit of work, huh.” Cillian shook his head. “These assholes all belong six feet under.”
“That mouth on him might just be his way into a wooden box.” Finn shrugged and peeled a banana. “And our ticket tosome intel. We need it, we’re at a bit of a roadblock with these code words for ordering Kosovan women.”
“I know, pain in the ass, that. But he must know them, or how to get them, he’s done it before,” I said. “So we’ll get that out of him at the very least.” I retrieved a pair of pliers from a tub by the back door and slid them into my pocket.
The door opened, and Andrew walked in, his stubble thicker than usual and his eyes narrowed. He didn’t bother with greetings. “Jamie found some social media stuff on this guy. A whole new level of misogyny, fucking shameless in it. Disgusting fucking videos, fuck knows why the socials haven’t taken them down.”
“Just as well he’s on our radar if tech twats aren’t going to stop him.” Phil unfolded to his six feet five height and rolled his thick shoulders. “We can make him see the error of his ways, no problem.”
“You find out if he’s killed?” I asked Andrew. It was an important question, if he had, we could take him out without conscience. He would fit our code.
“Not that I know of.” Andrew picked up his gun. “Just drink driving, caught three times way over the limit, that’s why he got thrown inside.”
“Let’s go and see what we can find out.” I finished my coffee and set the mug down. “Got a hood?” I turned to Finn.
“Yep.”
Cillian swirled the car keys in his hand. “You mentioned he goes for a run along the canal at seven every morning, Prof.”
