by Sofia Grey
Right at the back, in a dry, warm corner, was a small, neat stack of straw bales. Bales that Nathan didn’t put there. His anger rose another notch. What else had been stolen, that he hadn’t noticed yet?
He tiptoed to the corner. Spotted the edge of a horse blanket and a half empty bottle of milk. Right. This squatter was going to be history.
Standing up straight, he stepped around the edge of the bales and was barged to one side by a young woman charging past. Her arm banged against his stomach.
“Hey,” he shouted, as he lunged toward her. He grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks.
Off balance, the woman stumbled to the floor with a hard smack, taking Nathan with her. He landed on his knees, pain jolting through his nervous system. She shrieked, and the noise cut through him. Birds took flight, and the half-wild tabby fled too.
Shit. That hurt more than he expected.
The woman lay curled up, arms over her head, sobbing fit to burst. Startling white-blonde hair trailed down her back, straw spills and leaves tangled through it.
Yep, this was who Daisy saw. Nathan scooted back and sat on his ass, stretching his legs out before he got a cramp. He was breathing hard, adrenaline coursing through his system. Okay, so he didn’t mean to hurt her, but one way or another, she was leaving his yard.
Daisy crouched at the woman’s side. “Hey there,” she said, her voice gentle. “Are you okay? Did that hurt? You startled us. We weren’t expecting to find you up here.”
Her soft tones seemed to have an effect. The woman lifted her head, and Nathan saw her face. Livid purple-green bruises covered one side. What the hell? This wasn’t from falling to the floor a few seconds ago.
She wore a short-sleeved T-shirt, and her arms were bruised as well. She turned to face him, and he gazed into blue eyes, so pale they were almost silver. Silent tears coursed down her dirty cheeks. How old was she? Much younger than he thought. Eighteen, at the most. Was she a runaway?
She still hadn’t spoken.
Nathan recognized Daisy’s soothing murmur. This was how she coaxed Samson to her hand. The girl edged closer to Daisy, flicking wide, scared eyes back at Nathan.
“What’s your name?” Daisy asked. “Who did this to you? Should we call the police?”
This merited a frightened cry. “No. No police.” Her voice was husky and heavily accented.
Daisy gazed at her, brow furrowed, then tapped her own chest. “Daisy.” She pointed at him. “Nathan.” With a friendly smile, she gently touched the girl’s hand.
“Irina.” It was a whisper.
Daisy nodded. “Irina,” she repeated. “That’s pretty. Where are you from, Irina? Where is your home?”
“Gdansk.”
“Poland?” Nathan asked. In case he didn’t hear it correctly.
She gave a small nod.
What the hell was a Polish girl doing in his loft? Her eyes were too clear for her to be a junkie.
Nathan inched closer, but she moved further away. “Do you want some food?” He mimed eating, and Irina looked back at Daisy.
Daisy nodded and smiled. “Food, yes?”
“No police?”
Daisy met his gaze. He shrugged in answer to her unspoken question. If he called the police, there was a good chance she’d run away, and right now, it looked as though she needed help.
It was with a deep sense of foreboding that he made his decision. “Let’s coax her inside the house. I’ll give her something to eat, and we can see how badly she’s hurt. You might be able to get her to tell us what she’s doing here.”
*
Jack felt more human when he awoke, and he went in search of Juli, only to find she’d gone out.
“Out?” He stared at Aiden, puzzled. “Out where?”
He shrugged. “Didn’t tell me. And short of cuffing her to the bed, it would have been difficult to stop her.”
“Jesus,” Jack muttered to himself, reaching for the coffee pot, in desperate need of a caffeine fix. As he dug in his pocket for his phone, he felt Aiden’s gaze on him. “What?”
There was a hint of wry amusement on Aiden’s face. “I don’t make a point of getting involved in domestics, but you ought to know. She was pretty angry with you this morning.”
“You mean about Gloria’s?”
Aiden nodded, his lips curving. “She’s your wife, Jack. Wives don’t like lap dancing clubs as a rule.”
Jack glared. “Speaking from experience?”
The grin disappeared. “Yes, actually.”
“Hell, man. I didn’t realise you were married.”
“I’m not anymore.” Business-like again, Aiden gestured towards Jack’s phone. “I’ll give you another chunk of free advice. Grovel a bit. It might help.”
Jack dialled Juli’s number, but it went to voicemail. Composing himself, he spoke lightly. “Hey, babe. Wondering where you are. Gimme a call.”
Aiden watched. He mouthed the word grovel.
Turning his back, Jack dropped his voice a notch. “I didn’t do anything last night. Why would I, with you waiting for me? It was just a reccy. Love you, babe.”
Stifling a yawn, he turned back to Aiden and picked up his coffee. “What time did she go out? What did I miss?”
Aiden glanced at his watch, and Jack automatically looked at his own. He’d had a grand total of four hours of sleep.
“She gave Yanni breakfast, chatted to him for a couple of minutes, checked her emails, and went out—oh—half an hour ago.” Jack’s head snapped up at Yanni’s name, and Aiden went on. “I hung around within earshot, apart from getting the handcuff key so I could take him to the bathroom. She asked if he was feeling better, had a look at his dressing, asked if he needed any painkillers—nothing significant.”
“She checked her email? Was that all?” Jack eyed Juli’s laptop, lying on the coffee table.
“I didn’t check. I wasn’t aware you wanted me to.” There was a sharp edge to his voice.
Jack pulled a face. The idea of spying on his wife left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. If he couldn’t trust her, what did that say about their marriage? Loyalty battled briefly with military reasoning. He had a pretty good idea what her password was.
“If I log in to her laptop, can you tell me what pages she accessed?” That was all. He wouldn’t dig any deeper than that.
Aiden raised his eyebrows. “I can. Are you sure you want me to?”
Did he? He’d hate himself for it. “Yep. Just make it quick.”
Jack opened the laptop and keyed in the password he’d seen Juli use recently. ArcticMonkeys101. “I’m in. It’s all yours.” He handed the device to Aiden, who sat at the kitchen table.
Aiden tapped away at the keyboard, while Jack topped up his coffee and checked his phone.
“Okay,” said Aiden. “She looked at a Hotmail account, registered to Juli_Pascal_999, and her TM-Tech mail account.” He looked up at Jack. “Do you want me to check which sites she visited?”
Jack felt like a disgusting piece of shit, but he nodded. “Go on.”
Aiden continued. “A couple of newspapers, the TM-Tech news page, the UK weather forecast, and what looks like online banking.”
God knew what Jack expected Aiden to find, but he swore to himself he wouldn’t stoop so low again. His phone trilled. It was Juli. Fuck. Did she have some kind of snooping access set up on her laptop? He didn’t think of that. “Hey, babe,” he said. “Where are you?”
“Just getting a little shopping. I’ll be a couple of hours. Is everything okay?”
She sounded reassuringly normal, and not like someone who suspected her husband of prying into her business. “Yeah. All quiet here. Did you take the car?”
“Yes.” She hesitated. “Aiden told me you’re handing Yanni over tomorrow. Is that true?”
Damn. Jack hoped to break that little piece of news to her in person. “Yeah, that’s right.”
“While I’m out, I’ll pick up fresh clothes for him. You can’t have him
arrested in just a T-shirt. His stuff was wrecked.” She sounded pissed at him.
Aiden might be right about the grovelling. “Good idea.”
“Okay. I might catch up with Maria for a coffee, and come back around lunchtime. I’ll see you later.”
Jack was unhappy with her for not staying at the apartment, but with her safely out of the way, he and Aiden could talk to Yanni without fear of her overhearing.
“Okay,” he said to Aiden. “Shall we see how talkative he’s feeling this morning?”
*
Irina was clearly reluctant to leave the security of her loft, but after a great deal of gentle encouragement, she followed Nathan and Daisy down the ladder. She limped across the yard, her feet bare, and stuck closely to Daisy. Eventually they had her sitting at the kitchen table, while Nathan cooked breakfast. She wolfed down a pan of scrambled eggs and four slices of toast, eating silently and watching him constantly.
There was a shaky moment, when Shaz strolled into the kitchen. Irina shoved her chair back, looking as though she would flee. It took Daisy to persuade Irina to sit down again and finish her food. Shaz scowled at Daisy, but stayed silent while she brewed a pot of tea and fixed her own breakfast.
“I don’t suppose you speak any other language, do you, Nathan?” Daisy asked.
“You’ll be lucky,” drawled Shaz from her position by the kettle. “Nathan only speaks two languages—English and Bullshit.” She smiled sweetly at him, while Daisy gaped at her rudeness.
“Take no notice,” Nathan growled to Daisy. “Could we pull up a Polish-to-English interpreter on the internet?”
“I’ve a better idea.” Daisy’s face lit up. “My brother-in-law works for an electrical store, and I’m sure he has a large group of Poles working in his warehouse. There are huge Polish communities in Manchester. Let me call him and see. He might be able to help.”
She caught her brother in law as he was leaving for work. “I need to find someone who can do Polish-to-English translation,” said Daisy. “I wondered if any of your staff might be available. It wouldn’t take long, and we could do it over the phone. It’s quite urgent, though, and it would need to be a woman. Do you have anyone?”
She listened and nodded. “Yeah, it’s a work thing. We’ve got someone here who barely speaks English. We’d only need her for an hour. That’d be great. Thanks Paul, I appreciate it.”
She disconnected, and Nathan couldn’t help teasing her. “A work thing? Did he buy it?”
“I didn’t know what else to say. But yes, he did. A lady called Maja works in his office, and he’ll ask her. He’ll call me back as soon as he can.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what else to suggest.”
Irina remained silent and huddled into herself. She was traumatised by something, but did she need medical help too?
Nathan made fresh coffee, while Shaz went to do the morning feeds on the yard, and they hung around, waiting for Daisy’s phone to ring.
When Daisy’s phone trilled, she pounced on it. Nathan listened at first, then when he realised it wasn’t her brother-in-law, tried to look busy with the washing up.
“Yeah, sorry. I’ll be back soon. I went out for a walk.” Was she talking to her fiancé? “Should I pick up Cal on my way back? I won’t be much longer.”
Nathan smiled at Irina, slid a mug of coffee in front of her, and told himself not to listen to Daisy.
It was impossible. “Charlie still in bed?” she asked. “Uh huh. Tell him I won’t be long. See you soon.”
“Do you need to get home?” Nathan asked, and that led to another question. “Where do you live? I guess it’s somewhere close by.”
A flash of something like sadness flitted across her face. “I live next door to Kate at the moment. I’m nanny to Alex and Sylvie’s little boy. You met them yesterday.” He nodded. “But I guess I’ll be moving to London soon. That’s where Charlie lives.”
Her phone trilled again, and this time it was the call from her brother-in-law. She hung up after a short conversation, and turned to face Nathan, frowning and nibbling on her lower lip. “Paul says that Maja is working the afternoon shift, so he’s going to ask her to call me at three. Will you be free if I come back then?”
“Yeah. I’ll make sure of it.” They both looked at Irina. “I’ve got lessons today. What should I do with her in the meantime?”
Shaz was listening from the doorway. “You might as well put a sign outside. Nathan’s Refuge. You like them needy, don’t you?”
His stomach clenched at her malice.
Daisy stared down at her coffee, visibly embarrassed, her cheeks pink.
“Shaz, button it.” Nathan stared at her, willing her to stay quiet.
She shrugged and strolled off, whistling to herself.
Daisy abandoned her mug on the counter. “I really need to go. I’ll—um—see you later?” She disappeared too, leaving Nathan with an anxious looking Irina.
He had work to do, horses to exercise, and a lesson in an hours’ time. What the hell did he do with Irina until then? The first thing would be to sort out a proper bed for her and show her the bathroom. Feeling more awkward by the minute, he gestured to her to follow and led her upstairs to the spare room.
She closed her eyes and swayed at the bottom of the stairs, then followed him, a bleak expression on her face. She trailed behind him into the guest bedroom.
Her expression worried him. Her eyes suddenly looked old.
“Okay.” Her voice held no inflection. She reached up and removed her T-shirt, exposing small, naked breasts, raked with bruises.
While Nathan gaped at the damage some bastard had done, his brain yelled at him. Stupid. Stupid. In a fluid, practised, movement she dropped to her knees in front of him, and reached up to unfasten his jodhpurs.
He froze. What must she have thought? Why didn’t he think of this? Christ. He had to stop her.
He yelped, pushing away her hands. Stumbling backwards away from her, he jarred his elbow painfully on the chest of drawers. Her gaze followed his movement, her face a mask.
“No, Irina. No.” He couldn’t look at her. Averting his eyes, he bent down to grab her discarded shirt and threw it back at her. Gulping for breath, trying to control his crazy heartbeat, he turned to look out of the window. Jesus-fucking-Christ. She looked barely old enough to be out of school. His face burned.
He heard a rustling noise behind him, and the creak of the bed. Was it safe to turn around? He risked a quick look over his shoulder. She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at him, T-shirt in her hands.
“For food.” She sounded matter of fact. “Later?”
“No. Not later.” Why couldn’t Daisy have stayed a little longer? Nathan hurried past Irina and into the bathroom, and fetched a clean towel. He tossed it on the bed next to her and tried to avoid looking. “Bathroom.” He pointed along the hallway.
He was completely spooked. He held out his arm and tapped his watch. He held up three fingers to her, pointed to the watch face, and then mimed making a phone call.
“Later?” Her face still showed no emotion.
Shit. Did she think he meant he’d come back for her at three? “No, we talk later. I have to work now.” This was ridiculous. How much did she understand?
Something must have gotten through. She nodded and lay back on the bed, turning away from him. “Thank you.” It was a whisper.
*
Maria was glad when Juli called, and she didn’t have a problem with meeting her for coffee again. Would Tanner have said anything? Unlikely, but with Tanner, anything was possible.
She needed the extra-strength concealer today. Sleep had taken a long time to come, and then she’d been teased all night with dreams about him. Infuriating man, she shouted inside her head. Yes, but the one she’d been pining for, for years.
Grrr. She was Maria Sanchez. She didn’t do pining. Not for Tanner or any guy.
She lifted her head high and walked into the café five minutes early. Juli was already
there. This time she was alone. And visibly upset.
They hugged. Maria ordered drinks and muffins, as Juli looked too distracted, and then she guided her friend to a seat, before sitting at her side.
“What’s wrong?” Maria asked. “What’s happened now?”
Juli lifted her hands and then dropped them on the table. “Where do I begin? Quite apart from the way Yanni’s trying to get inside my head—which is fucking me off, big time—Jack and Tanner went to Gloria’s last night. No matter that everything we know about that place suggests it’s dangerous, they still went. It feels like I’m trapped in a weird alternate dimension where everyone does the opposite of what they should.” She huffed a sigh. “I’m tired. Sorry to unload.”
After a moment’s annoyance at Tanner for spending the night in a strip club, Maria realised he’d been more affected by her than she thought. The wasps had emerged after all.
Taking a sip of her drink, she watched as Juli absently crumbled the muffin on her plate. “It’s a club. He told you he didn’t do anything, so why are you still mad at him?”
Sharp, angry eyes met hers. “It’s not that.” Juli glanced away for a moment. “Not just that. They’re handing Yanni over to the police, or MI6 or someone. Tomorrow.”
Yup. That seemed like the right thing to do. Maria was surprised they hadn’t done it yet. Why was Juli having a problem with this? Maria waited for her to continue.
Juli seemed to be struggling with herself. “I promised, if he saved Papa, I’d let him go free. And that decision has been taken from me.”
Seriously? Maria didn’t know where to begin, to unpick this lapse in Juli’s judgement. “Umm, Jack hates him.”
Juli frowned, her brows knitting together, staring at the muffin crumbs. “That’s an understatement. He won’t tell me why. And now Yanni’s started saying things about him. I don’t know who or what to believe.”