Rather than argue, I said, “Then call them. Because I remember exactly where I put that letter last night, and if the cleaner hasn’t been here, then someone else has.Somebodytook it.” I stared pointedly at Mads. “Which meanssomebodyread it.” I didn’t need to spell it out.
“Austin?” Mads looked at me like I might be losing the plot. “You don’t think that’s a bit of a reach? How did he know where?—”
“We mentioned Primrose Cottage to Chloe before we left yesterday, and Austin was there, remember?” I reminded him. “Unless you can think of someone else who’d be interested enough to take a simple letter but leave behind a digital watch sitting in full view?”
Mads glanced toward his bedside table and swore. “Shit. I forgot to put it on this morning... again.”
I huffed. Nothing new there. Mads rarely wore his watch for fear of it catching on whatever book he was restoring, which meant he usually forgot to wear it the rest of the time as well. “Let’s say Austin was snooping around to see what he could find out about us and he happened to read that letter. He’d recognise Chloe’s handwriting for sure.” I played it out in my head. “Which means he knows we lied about who we are.”
“And he knows he might be in a spot of bother.” Mads sank onto the mattress with a groan. “Fuck.” He pulled out his phone.“I’ll call the owner while you check the cottage top to toe just in case.”
Five minutes later we had the answer to both questions. The owner hadn’t been near the place, nor had a cleaner, and the letter wasn’t anywhere in the cottage or the rental car. The owner apologised profusely for not having any camera surveillance on the cottage’s driveway or front door and said he’d get the latch fixed as soon as possible. Mads convinced him that we’d probably just thrown the letter out by mistake and not to worry. The last thing we wanted was to involve the police before we knew exactly who and what we were dealing with. Which meant waiting for Samuel and Jacko to get back to us.
I was certain my duffle had been searched because the shirt I’d worn the day before wasn’t on top where I’d left it. Mads had unpacked his clothes into a couple of drawers—the man was a finicky bastard when it came to wrinkles—but he also thought his things might’ve been moved around. When we’d done all we could, I shot Samuel a text telling him we’d found some discrepancies in Chloe’s account and could he please hurry things up. That was as much as I dared rile the man.
“Earth to Nick?” Mads cupped my cheek and turned me to face him, frowning when he saw my expression. “What’s up?”
I dropped a soft kiss on his lips. “I can’t stop thinking about how we’re going to tell Chloe about all this tomorrow. And what the fuck are we going to do after that? She can’t stay here with Austin hovering just a few suburbs away waiting on his inheritance.”
Mads wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. “Funnily enough, I’ve been thinking about that. How about we see if she’s interested in moving to Auckland?”
I blinked. “You mean into Golden Oaks?” I hadn’t even thought about that. “You think she’d be okay leaving Blenheim?”
He shrugged. “You can only ask. You are her son, after all, and she’d get to see a lot more of you. They have villas in Golden Oaks as well. And I know Shirley would look out for her. Jerry too. It’s just a thought.”
I pulled him down onto the bed and we rolled to face each other. “It’s a brilliant idea, is what it is.”
Mads beamed. “You think so?”
“Like you said, we can only ask.” I slid a hand around his waist, and he played with the hair on the nape of my neck. “Let’s see how tomorrow plays out. When Samuel gets back to us, I’m going to ask if he has any police contacts down here in case Chloe wants to press charges.”
“Or in caseweneed help,” Mads added in a wry tone. “In case you’ve forgotten, we have a habit of biting off more than we can chew and needing backup.” He snuggled against me. “I’d really like this particular scenario to go a little smoother.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MADIGAN
“Nick, wake up.”I shook his shoulder a second time. Neither of us had slept much, our minds too busy with everything that was going on. At 1:20 in the morning I’d woken to find Nick’s side of the bed empty and the man freezing to death on the sofa with his head in his hands.
I’d grabbed a blanket and wrapped both of us in it. We talked again about his mother’s predicament and Nick shared a few more stories from his childhood—some happy, some quite plainly horrific. When he’d finally talked himself dry, I led him back to bed and curled around his shivering body until he fell asleep. I had been less fortunate, clock-watching until around three thirty, the soft buzz of Nick’s snoring oddly reassuring. When I finally drifted off, I slept like the dead until banging on the cottage door woke me around eight.
Grabbing sweats and a T-shirt, I raced to see who it was before the commotion woke Nick. It was going to be a huge day for both him and Chloe, and Nick needed as much sleep as he could get.
When I’d opened the door, I wasn’t sure who I expected to be on the other side, but it certainly wasn’t the police.
“Nick, baby.” I yanked the covers from his shoulders. “You need to get up. The police are here.”
“Who?” Nick’s eyelids fluttered open. “The... police?” He wriggled his legs over the side of the bed and I helped him sit. “What the fuck are the police doing here? Did Samuel send them? Did he call? Shit.” He reached for his phone, squinted at the screen, then brought it closer.
I swallowed a smile and handed him his glasses. He shot me an adorably pissy look and slipped them on. “Nothing from either of them.” He frowned and looked up at me. “What do they want?”
I bugged my eyes at him. “I don’t know. Now will you please get dressed?” I threw his jeans and shirt from the day before onto the bed. “Maybe Austin filed a complaint about us visiting Chloe.”
Nick’s gaze jerked to mine. “You think so? That’s pretty ballsy of him, considering.”
I shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”
