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I push against his arm tight around my chest, but it doesn’t relent. I remember when I was stuck in the car wreck with Mum and Jamie. The seatbelt had squeezed me so tight I couldn’t breathe, just like this.

No—not like this.

Another memory comes back to me, one I haven’t thought about in years. The night before the accident, I was so upset with Jamie that Dad held me until I calmed down. The pressure of his arm around me had the opposite effect from the seatbelt—it helped me to breathe. He never did it again, and I think over the years, I’ve forgotten how it felt to be held tight in safety, not in fear.

“Calm down, sweetheart,” Robbie murmurs against the top of my head, squeezing me so tight I have no choice but to concentrate on my breathing.

I let go of my anger and sink back against him, watching helplessly as the police enter the shed.

“Drop your weapons!”

There’s a scuffle inside, then a gun goes off. Robbie startles at my back, and I dig my nails into his forearm. Neither of us moves an inch, until one of the officers comes out of the shed and walks over to us, gesturing for us to move back even further.

“What happened? Are they okay?” Robbie demands.

“Please, sir, just wait here.”

I don’t fancy my chances squaring off against a police officer holding a gun, so I stay put. But I’m desperate to see Bailey. Robbie mutters things to me, but I’m not listening to him, my mind racing as I picture Bailey bleeding out on the floor of the shed.

An ambulance arrives in a matter of minutes, and I finally glimpse a blonde man stepping out of the shed beside the paramedics carrying someone on a stretcher. Rob’s hold on me goes limp, but I’m too focused on the scene in front of me to look back at him.

“Bailey!”

He doesn’t turn around at the sound of my voice. Doesn’t look away from the stretcher for a second, and I realise who is on it—Theo. He’s loaded into the back of the ambulance, and Bailey climbs in after him. The doors are closed, and the vehicle drives off, leaving nothing but the officers shuffling around in the shed.

“Hospital?” I ask, turning to look up at Robbie. He swallows, dragging his eyes away from the ambulance as it disappears down the lane, and nods tersely.

I scan the waiting room, spotting Bailey instantly. “Bay!” I barrel into him.

He catches me, letting out a cry that rips through my heart. The anxious energy that’s been building inside me all morning finally releases, and I blink furiously, frustrated that it’s coming out as tears.

We don’t do this. I’m not a hugger, but Bailey is the only person I’ve kept close, and I could have lost him. I let all my childhood friends slip away. I allowed distance to grow between me and my brother, and I pushed my dad away. They were all going to leave me eventually anyway; being the one to choose when they left gave me back control.

Bailey is the one exception. He’s safe. We live together, work together, share a fucking bed most nights. But he was almost taken from me too, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

The minute I step away to ask Bailey if he’s hurt, Rob grabs him, dragging him onto his tiptoes and shaking him. “What the fuck have you done?” he growls. “They won’t tell us anything. What did your psycho brother do to Theo?”

Rage boils up in me. The volcano sitting permanently in my chest is active again, ready to blow. I try to pull Robbie away, but he’s too damn strong, so I shove my shoulder into him with force, pushing him backwards.

“It’s not his fucking fault!” I shout.

Robbie growls, taking another step towards Bailey, but I get between them and shove Robbie’s chest.

“He never even told you that he had a twin brother, Noah. No one knew!” he shouts.

I don’t care why Bailey never told me about Shane. That doesn’t matter right now. A fucking serial killer took him from me. I don’t even know if he’s okay yet, and Rob’s going off on him. I look at Bailey over my shoulder; he’s white as a sheet.

I turn my attention back to Robbie. After his reaction to Theo almost drowning, I’m not surprised that he’s scared and angry. But I can’t look after them both at once.

“Go for a walk,” I tell him.

His nostrils flare, and his chest heaves as he lets out a puff of air, deflating slightly. I’m not sure if I’m imagining the hurt in his eyes. “Fine. Theo’s family will be coming soon. I’ll be back when they get here,” Robbie bites out before turning away and storming out of the waiting room.

I want to go after him, but the sound of Bailey’s laboured breathing at my back holds me fast. “I shouldn’t be here,” he gasps.

“Why?”

“They’re going to hate me.”