Dad sometimes liked to decompress by telling Mum about his work. He thought it was safe, because even if she wanted to tell someone, she didn’t really have anyone to tell. He’d seen to it a long time ago that she didn’t have any friends. Sometimes, though, if she was stressed, I could trick her into talking.

“Some bigwig called McGregor. Your father’s been trying to get him for years,” said Mum, waving away my questions. “Will you go and set the table, please?”

I wanted to ask more, but I knew she’d clam up if I did. So I went and set the table just like she’d asked, and a couple of minutes later we were sitting down to eat. Dad came in, shoving his phone in his pocket, and shot me a frown. That was about as much of a greeting as I ever got from him. We ate for several minutes without conversation, and, in spite of Mum’s warning not to rile him, I couldn’t seem to help it.

“Hey, do you know I was at Upton Park yesterday?” I said, eyeing Dad and pointing to my forehead. “Not that I expect you to express concern over the fact I’m sporting a bandage or anything.”

Letting his knife and fork clatter onto his plate, he grunted, “I’m sure you’ll survive.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I will,” I answered. It wasn’t so much what I said but the way I said it that caused his brow to furrow.

“Something like that would never have happened if you were working in an appropriate field.”

“An appropriate field like what? Becoming a housewife?” I replied derisively. “Not going to happen.”

“Yes, well, maybe that’s for the better,” said Dad cuttingly as he casually tucked back into his food. “I’d pity the man who took you for a wife.”

“Not all men are like you. Some want a woman who can think for herself,” I threw back.

Dad let out a dark chuckle, going directly for the lowest of blows. “Is that why you’re still single?” What he said didn’t hurt my feelings. My feelings were battle hardened, and we’d had this conversation a hundred times before.

“He’s right, Karla. You really should think about settling down,” Mum put in, oblivious as always. “You’re twenty-eight now. It’s a pity you’re not putting your looks to good use.” Was she serious? I swear, sometimes I thought she might be worse than Dad. The way they both spoke was practically medieval.

I sat back and let out a long sigh, while a mischievous idea entered my mind. “Now that you mention it, I am seeing someone, actually,” I lied.

“Oh.” Mum perked up. “How long has this been going on?”

“It’s fairly recent.”

“Well, both your father and I would love to meet him.”

“Maybe I’ll bring him home sometime.”

“That would be lovely. I could make my special recipe cottage pie.”

I resisted the urge to snicker a laugh. I was never going to do it, but it still pleased me no end to imagine bringing Lee Cross home to meet my parents. Dad narrowed his gaze at me suspiciously, like he knew I was up to something, and it satisfied me to know I’d ruffled his feathers.

***

The next day I was on shift with Steve, which meant I had to drown out most of the conversation to keep from shooting myself in the face. I mean, I really didn’t want to hear about the birds he shagged over the weekend, or how he beat his previous lifting record at the gym. I only started listening again when I heard the name “Cross” come out of his mouth.

“What was that?” I asked, pretending like I’d been concentrating on driving.

“We need to go visit the Cross brothers’ garage. Tony mentioned something about interviewing some of the employees.”

“Yeah, I was, uh, going to go after lunch.”

“Well, let’s get it out of the way now while things are quiet.”

My pulse thrummed at the prospect of seeing Lee yet again. After not running into him for months, his presence in my life was starting to become a daily occurrence. A couple of minutes later we pulled up outside the garage; it had a blue and white sign over the entrance that read “Cross Bros.” I found it curious that it wasn’t “Cross & Sons,” because these sorts of businesses were usually handed down from parents. Given that Lee was only twenty-five, he was quite young to own his own business. Then again, if my suspicions were correct, the place wasn’t all that it seemed.

A youngish guy wearing coveralls was standing outside, having a smoke. The second he saw the patrol car, he stubbed out the butt and hurried inside. We were just approaching the entrance when Stu stepped out, his T-shirt stained with motor oil.

“All right, Karla?” he said, eyeing Steve as he wiped his hands on a dirty rag.

“We’re here to interview your employees about Trevor,” I said, and Stu gestured for us to head inside.

“Yeah, I remember. Lee’s in the office. He said you can use the room for your interviews.”

“You go on ahead,” Steve told me, a sudden look of interest on his face. “I’m just going to take a look around.”

I glanced at him, unsure what he was playing at, but made my way to the office nonetheless. Knocking on the door first, I heard Lee call for me to enter. When I did, I found the room to be small, with a tidy row of filing cabinets along one wall and a desk pushed up against the window. He was on the phone, the short sleeves of his T-shirt rolled up to reveal the full length of his arms. His hair was ruffled and looked like he’d just stepped out of bed, but maybe that was intentional.

I cleared my throat and he glanced up, looking like he’d expected me. Had that guy run in to warn everyone that the police were outside? Lee quickly ended his phone call and stood.

“Um, Stu mentioned you said we could use your office?” I began, uncertain.

“Of course, come on in and take a seat,” he said, shooting me a warm expression. Why did he always have to be so…welcoming? It made it difficult to be cool with him when he acted like that.

“This shouldn’t take long. Standing is fine.”

Lee stared at me a moment, still smiling, then ran a hand over his jaw. “Fine, we’ll play it your way. I’ll send the boys in to speak with you one by one.”

“Thank you.”

He left, and I took a moment to scan the room. Nothing immediately jumped out to me that screamed illegal, but then again, it wouldn’t. Criminals didn’t generally run around advertising what they were. At least, the clever ones didn’t.

A minute or two later the first guy came in, and I quickly asked a couple of questions. There was still no sign of Steve, and I had to wonder what he was up to. Unfortunately, when I’d finished speaking with everyone, all of their stories checked out. Steve still hadn’t shown, so I left the office to go find him.

When I stepped into the main area of the garage, things looked the same as before, just a bunch of young men working on cars. But then I saw Lee, Stu, and Steve having what looked like a heated argument close to the entrance.

“Get the fuck out of here before I do something I regret,” I heard Lee threaten as I approached. He looked seriously pissed off, as did Stu.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked with concern, and all three men turned to face me.

“We’re leaving,” said Steve, before turning and stalking out the door.

Lee eyed me. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

I nodded and followed him back into his office. His posture was tense, and when I shut the door behind me, he looked ready to break something.

“Lee?” I said in a quiet voice, sensing that anything louder might set him off.

He turned, and his expression was furious as he pointed to the door. “You see your partner out there? He’s bent as fuck.”

“Excuse me?” I replied in surprise.

“Something wrong with your hearing, Snap? I said your little buddy is a dirty fucking cop, and I swear to God, if he ever shows his face around here again, I’ll break it for him.”

Tentatively, I took a step forward. “Calm down for just a second and tell me what happened.”