“Listen, Rafe. All the relevant information to convict Freddie was in that file. We only interviewed the family to see if we could expand the case to any of their other activities, but nobody talked. It’s irrelevant now because, for the upcoming case, we have everything that we need to take down the Masons anyway, thanks to our access to the messaging network.”
“Why would you keep Clara’s name out of the file?” I pushed. “You had extensive reports on each member of that family. The mum hasn’t hurt a fly, but there were two pages dedicated to her. Why not the same for Clarabelle?”
“This is pointless old ground,” said Grant.
“Don’t lie to me,” I snapped. “What aren’t you telling me? For fuck’s sake, Grant, can you just––”
“Look, why do you even care?” Grant snapped. “First Willow, and now you giving me hassle.”
“Willow rang you?”
“I told her the same as I’m telling you: I can’t compromise my sources. Got me?”
“Yoursources? What does that have to do with Clara?”
“Drop it, Rafe.”
And that was when I realised.
I sat down heavily on my office chair and felt the blood drain out of my face.
Christ. I had been so goddamn blind.
“Grant, I’m going to need your help.”
Chapter 30
You’ll get her back?
Rafe
“Areyou going to explain to me why you’re here in your house at two pm on a Tuesday afternoon with the gate wide open, and not in your chambers beavering away to make the country a safer place?” Poppy said. “I’ve pretty much never known you to take a weekday off in my entire life.”
“Pops, I’m sorry,” I muttered, tearing my hands through my hair for what felt like the hundredth time that day. “But I don’t have time to explain. I just need you here and I need you to pick Ozzie up from school. Listen, are you sure you haven’t heard anything from Clara? Text? Call? Anything?”
“No, Rafe,” Poppy said, her voice softening as she watched me pace the kitchen. “I already told you. She cut off all contact with me way before you instructed me to block her.”
After all that shit that went down at court, hurt pride and frustration meant I’d told Poppy to cut Claraoff completely. Thank God my little sister didn’t ever listen to a word I said, because not only had shenotblocked Clara, but she’d immediately tried to ring her after bollocking me over the phone for believing that Clara could ever deliberately set me up.
“Listen, Rafe,” Poppy went on in a placatory tone. “I’m sorry, but I really doubt Clara’s gonna take you back anyway, not after the way you behaved.”
“It’s not just about getting her back,” I snapped. “It’s about making sure she’s safe.”
“W-w-what?” Poppy’s face paled, and I immediately regretted my words. The last thing I wanted to do was scare my little sister. I was scared enough myself and I needed her to keep her shit together for Ozzie. “She’s not safe?” Poppy whispered.
I let out a deep sigh, the weariness and worry dragging me under for a moment. I’d barely slept last night, and had spent all morning gathering resources to track Clara down. I was coming up against brick wall after brick wall. Grant was willing to help, but there was only so much he was able to provide me with, given that I hadn’t been able to come up with a solid reason for extracting Clara from her family. In order for the police to initiate any kind of intervention, there had to be evidence of a credible threat to Clara’s life.
If I had let her actually speak to me in the courthouse corridor and not brushed her off like the prideful bastard I was, we likely wouldn’t be in this position. But now all we had to go on was my bad feeling and the memory of Clara’s frightened face. It was too weak to action what I wanted, which was a full-on armed response team invading the Mason family home right now, not for them to wait until they were bloody well ready.
What I did know was that Clara hadn’t been back to her flat. The courtroom appearance was the only time she’d been spotted in public.
“You’re going to find her, right?” Poppy’s words were trembling now. She wanted her big brother to reassure her that everything was going to be okay and that her friend was fine. I pulled her into a hug. More for myself than for her.
“It’s fine,” I muttered. “She’s coming back. She’ll be home soon.”
Because this was Clara’s home now. Her home was with me and Ozzie. I may have forgotten that for a while, but it didn’t make it any less true.
I pulled away from Poppy when I heard banging on the front door and walked to yank it open, only to be confronted by a tall, lanky teenager with familiar chocolate-brown eyes and a thunderous expression. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could say anything, both his hands came up to my chest and he shoved me back, hard. It was more surprise than anything that made me go back onto one foot. The kid didn’t exactly pack the kind of muscle required to floor me, which had clearly been his intention.
