“We’re hardly going to delve into the sordid details of our sex life,” I interject. “Track every street camera back to Foxrock if you must.” I bet he already has, and that’s why he’s here. It must be driving him insane that he has sweet fuck all to go on.
Moving my hand to Katie’s shoulder, I rub the knots of tension that have formed. “But I can assure you, Detective, that Katie and I were together the entire night,” I gift him a shit-eating grin of my own. “Didn’t leave the bed until morning.”
She turns her head to glance up at me, I wink back. She knows that part is true, at least on her end. She had the bed, I slept in the spare room, and when I say slept, I mean I barelygot any sleep at all. I kept getting up to check on her and make sure she wasn’t going to take a reaction to whatever those arseholes spiked her with.
“I see.” Moore gets to his feet, clearly dissatisfied with my response. He knows I’m involved. He always does, he just hates that once again, he can’t prove a thing. “If you think of anything else that might be helpful, please don’t hesitate to contact me.” He gives a curt nod before turning to leave the room.
“Arsehole,” I mutter under my breath as Moore exits.
Katie is up and out of her seat, pacing back and forth across the room.
“Bug…”
She pulls the door to my office open and peeks out into the hallway, making sure no one is eavesdropping. “Do you want to tell me why I just lied to the gardaí for you?”
Ok, we’re having this conversation already. I thought she would give me at least a few minutes to collect my thoughts before confronting me. “I didn’t ask you to lie for me—” I duck out of the way of a flying shoe. “Bug!” She throws another. “Katie!” The lamp is next.
When I look up, her perfectly manicured finger is pointing right in my face. “Don’t you try to misdirect me!”
“Did you not see yourself in those pictures? If you fessed up, he’d point a meaty finger at you!” I try to reason with her, hoping to calm her and make her see the situation from a different perspective. “I lied to protect you!”
“You lied to protect yourself!”
“That too.”
Oh, the fists are out again. “Stop, stop! Katie, stop!” Restraining her is becoming increasinglydifficult as she thrashes and swings wildly.
The door opens, and Keith looks in, slack-jawed. “Everything alright in here?”
“We’re just having a disagreement,” I grunt, locking Katie’s arms at her side. A fatal mistake that I realise the second I do it. I’ve gone and triggered her fight-or-flight response. Her eyes narrow, and she lets out a primal scream before turning her head and clamping down on my arm. “Fuckin’ hell!” Blood trickles down my arm as Katie’s teeth sink deeper into my flesh.
“Don’t!” I warn Keith, desperately trying to pry Katie’s jaws off my arm. “Just close the door behind you; she’ll be grand once she calms down.”
Keith lingers for another moment, seeing the chunk of fabric Katie ripped away and spit out on the floor, exposing the raw wound. He hesitates, then nods and slowly backs out of the room, closing the door behind him.
She kicks air, forcing me back against the wall, her writhing body still clamped in my arms. “We really need to work on our communication skills.”
“Fuck you!”
“Yes, let’s go back to that.” I dodge the back of her head as she continues to thrash. “I’m all for trying new things, bug, but I’ve just learned biting is a hard no for me.”
“You lied to me!” She roars like a mountain lion.
“I fabricated one truth to protect you!” I shout back, struggling to maintain my grip on her. I could easily overpower her and beat her to a bloody pulp, if she were a man, she’d be gurgling blood right now. Alas, I have to resort to restraining my little fireball.
“What happened? What did those bastards do to me?” Shemakes another attempt to break my nose with the back of her head.
“I’ll tell you when you stop acting like a gremlin I fed after midnight!” She makes one last attempt to break free before she finally succumbs to exhaustion, her body going limp in my arms. I slide down the wall to the floor, still holding onto her. “I didn’t lie to you. I told you what happened. They drugged you; they tried to rape you…”
“What did you do, Aiden?” Her eyes are like glass. “Full disclosure.”
“You’re not going to like what you hear,” I warn her.
She arches an eyebrow, her voice barely above whisper.
“They’re not missing; they’re dead, aren’t they?”
I nod. “Yes, bug. They’re dead.”
