He did so reluctantly, giving Callum a dirty look as he passed. “This is punishment for giving you great relationship advice, isn’t it?”
“This is work,” Callum said. “Nothing more. Suck it up and act professionally for once.”
Ryan let out a sigh. “And even though you say stuff like that, I still prefer working with you to working with Cruella.”
The door slammed behind Ryan and Jack as they went out to meet with Rachel.
“There are two bedrooms up here,” Callum said to the three team members left. “Sort yourselves out in them. I’m sleeping downstairs after I call Lake, and the Sinclair sisters leave.”
“Bagsy the one with the bathroom,” Megan shouted.
Dimitri grinned at her. “Guess we’re in the master bedroom.”
“I don’t care where I sleep,” Elle said. “I have searches running, so I’ll probably camp in here with my baby.” She stroked her laptop lovingly.
“I wonder about you,” Megan said.
“I wonder about all of you,” Callum muttered, and headed off to find somewhere quiet to talk to Lake.
CHAPTER 20
ISOBEL COULDN’T SLEEP. SOPHIE DIDN’T have the same problem. They were sharing a room with bunk beds, and she was out cold on the top bunk, snoring adorably. Isobel couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent a night where she didn’t listen to Sophie. As soon as she’d been born, Rob had run off and Isobel hadn’t been able to afford the mortgage on the house they’d bought together. She’d sold the place for just enough to cover its cost, and moved into the only rental available in Arness—the two-bedroom house that had burned to the ground. She remembered well the nights lying in bed listening to her baby daughter breathe, wondering how she was going to make it through the next week—heck, the next ten minutes. But she’d done it. She’d built a life for her kids and had been fine. Until Rob’s past was thrust upon her.
She tossed back the blankets and snuck out of bed. Jack was staying in Campbeltown overnight because his friend was away visiting family and wouldn’t be back until the following afternoon. Ryan and Jack wanted to be there as soon as she arrived, to get the things Jack should have thrown out—things Jack had swapped for something he’d wanted, because Isobel couldn’t afford even a second-hand game for her son. She felt her chest clench at the thought, and knew there would be no sleep that night. Her memories were just too close. She pulled on the woollen socks Agnes had given her and let herself out of her room, wearing only her underwear and an old grey T-shirt she’d borrowed from Callum.
The strange basement apartment was silent as Isobel made her way into the kitchen area. She glanced at Callum’s room and saw that the door was still closed. She didn’t know if he was in there. He’d been upstairs, plotting, when she’d gone to bed. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she took some milk from the fridge, poured a glass and popped it in the microwave, hoping a warm drink would help her sleep—or at least relax.
“Can’t sleep either?” The rumbling voice wasn’t a surprise. Part of Isobel had hoped Callum would be there.
He was standing in the doorway to his room, no shirt, but his jeans and shoes still on.
“You want some warm milk?”
He shook his head. “Wouldn’t mind a whisky, but I don’t keep that in the house.”
“I remember.” The microwave pinged, and she reached for her drink. It seemed like an eternity ago that she’d been sitting in his kitchen, having a mini-breakdown and begging him to help her.
“Did your team get any further in finding out who the dead man is…was?”
“No.” He stalked towards her like a lazy cat. “The more we dig, the more anomalies we find. I don’t like any of it.”
Isobel felt a wave of guilt sweep through her and looked away from his too-perceptive gaze. “When we leave, will you let this drop?” There was no need for him to continue searching when the body was gone and she wasn’t around to be at risk.
“No. There’s something here that needs uncovering.” There was steely resolve in his voice, and Isobel knew that Callum wasn’t the type of man to walk away from danger.
“I’m sorry I brought this to your door.” She raised her eyes to his and was once again astonished at how intense they were. He wasn’t an easy man, and he didn’t even try to hide that. She could imagine that he terrified most people, yet, for some reason, his dark intensity only drew her to him.
She saw his jaw tighten and the muscles in his shoulders turn to stone. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you earlier.”
Her stomach lurched, and she placed a hand on it to somehow steady it. “Is Jack okay? Did someone follow them? Are there more dead people? Did you kill the loan shark? Are the police after me?” The words came tumbling out, all of her fears piling one on top of the other.
He shook his head slowly as though she mystified him. “Woman, calm down. This has nothing to do with anything but what’s going on between you and me.”
“Don’t call me woman and don’t tell me to calm down. Seriously, Callum, hasn’t anyone told you that’s the worst thing to say to a person when you want them to calm down? It just makes me want to scream.” As she lectured him, his words registered and she felt pain around her heart. Most likely the beginnings of full-blown cardiac arrest. “Wait a minute. Are you married? Do you have a family somewhere else?”
“What? No.”
“Are you sick? Did you come here to die?” Oh my goodness, that had to be it. Why else would he walk away from everything and hide in Arness?