The officer leans forward slightly, steadying the conversation. “We’re looking into that. It could be a clerical error, something simple. The agency is contacting all their carers to confirm if anyone attended that evening.”
That’s it.A clerical error.It has to be.
“If you remember anything about her,” the officer continues, “anything at all, it would help.”
Ray nods again, and I can see it now. The shift, from calm to pissed. There’s anger building beneath the surface.
“We’ll also need access to your CCTV,” the officer adds.
Ray’s gaze flicks to me for a second. “I checked the cameras at the casino entrance and the elevators, they were off from around four in the afternoon.” The police officer raises a suspicious eyebrow. “I know how that looks,” he snaps. “I’m trying to get it recovered. I’ve got experts looking at it as we speak. Did you talk to Luke Malone?”
The officer nods. “He has an alibi.”
“Of course he does. Screwing his wife, no doubt.”
“We’ll be in touch once the full postmortem is completed. If you could come down to the station this week and give your statements, it would be helpful.”
RAY
The silence stretches long after the police leave. It’s heavy and unforgiving.
Catherine gathers the mugs, muttering something about washing up before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving us alone in the wreckage.
“I didn’t know Luke was a danger to her,” Wynter says quietly.
I don’t look at her. I can’t bring myself to. I fix my eyes on a spot on the floor, like if I don’t move, this won’t be real.
“Anika begged to see him,” she continues, her voice shaking. “I didn’t know why you stopped her. I thought—”
“It doesn’t matter what you thought,” I bellow. She flinches, recoiling slightly. “I gave you an instruction,” I snap. “I am your boss. You follow it. At the very least, you call me.”
“But she was so sure,” she insists, desperation creeping in. “She needed to talk to him—”
“She didn’t see what he was doing to her,” I cut in, pacing now, the anger burning through me. “Every time he showed up, he dragged her down. I was protecting her.” My chest tightens, the guilt clawing in. “I should’ve known,” I mutter, more to myself now. “The second she started talking about death again, I should’ve seen it.” I stop and turn to her. “But I trusted you.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
The words do nothing to calm my raging anger. “All those nights,” I say, my voice dropping, quieter now but no less sharp, “all the times we were in bed and you didn’t think to mention it?”
Her face crumples. “Once you told me about him, I swore I wouldn’t let it happen again. But then I found her and—”
“Enough.” The word cracks through the room. “Pack your things and go,” I say, finally looking at her, letting her see exactly how I feel. “You need to stay in London while the police investigate, but you’re not staying here.”
“I don’t have anywhere to go.”
“That’s not my problem.” I step closer and she squares her shoulders, forcing herself not to back away. “I can’t stand to look at you,” I grind out. “You’re the reason she’s dead.”
Her tears spill faster now, but something in her expression hardens. “No,” she says, shaking her head. “That’s not fair. Anika made her own choices. She wanted to see Luke. She wanted to stop him taking Sebastian.”
“He doesn’t want the kid!” I shout, slamming my hand against the wall beside her head. “He never fucking wanted him.”
She cries out in surprise, flinching.
Catherine rushes back in. “Ray, enough.”
“He wants her money,” I snap, not even looking at her. “And you’re fucking lucky I moved most of her assets before this happened.”
Catherine frowns. “Did Anika know about that?”
