“That doesn’t explain the community service though. Grievous bodily harm is a serious assault, so she should have been tried as an adult.”
“There were witnesses, apart from her sisters, which helped her case. But the flat they rented was owned by a local businesswoman who had a lot of property in the area, meaning she had power and connections. Far as I can gather, their landlady was seriously pissed that the girls had been hurt. She had a word with the local judge on Agnes’ behalf, and her word held sway.”
“Was the community service connected to a hotel by any chance?”
Lake flashed a rare smile. “Just so happened that their landlady owned a small hotel. Agnes worked out her time there, then went on to paid employment with time off to study. The owner organized other work placements for Agnes too, helping her get all the experience she could, not to mention the money she needed. If it wasn’t for deferring her study to help support her sisters, she’d have had her management degree years earlier. I think she planned to work in the woman’s hotel when she qualified, but the owner died years ago, and her properties were sold.”
It seemed Agnes Sinclair just couldn’t catch a break. “What happened to the father?”
“Well, he can’t play the piano anymore,” Lake said drolly.
In spite of everything, Logan laughed.
“He’s been in and out of prison. Agnes and her sisters have nothing to do with either of their parents.”
“I wouldn’t mind paying that man a visit.”
“You’d need to get in line. Donna’s husband, Duncan, asked first, and Callum’s itching to talk to him too.”
“So,” Logan said, his eyes straying to the door where Agnes had disappeared, “she’s used to dealing with her own problems any way she deems fit, and she’s desperate to hold on to this job because it’s her only chance to shake off being blacklisted.” Logan thought about it for a minute and then sighed. “I’d better call my mum and get her to watch the kids tonight. I’m going to be busy stopping Agnes from getting herself into trouble.”
“And that right there is why you get paid the big bucks.” Lake relaxed back in his seat, taking
his coffee with him.
And Logan flipped off his smug English boss.
Chapter 7
Logan spent the rest of his day running routine background checks for Benson Security clients. As the information guy in the operation, his job was to dig through databases, investigate trails online, and call leads for preliminary chats before presenting his work to the field agents in a report. To others, it might have sounded like dull work, but it took skill, creative thinking and some serious finesse.
Really, it wasn’t unlike the work he’d done as a detective in Glasgow. And, as well as giving him the same training as the rest of the Benson Security staff, Lake gave him jobs out in the field to keep his skills sharp. But, generally, he was home in time for dinner. As was the case that night.
When he’d first moved back to Invertary, a year or so after his wife left him, he’d stayed with his parents while he looked for a house. Only, while he’d been looking, the house that made up the other half of his parents’ building went on sale, and he’d jumped at it. Now he lived next door to his parents and had built-in babysitters for his kids. His mum loved it. He wasn’t sure what his dad thought, as he spent most of his time in the shed at the bottom of the garden.
“Hello,” he called out as he let himself into his parents’ house.
He followed the smell of beef stew to the back of the house and the kitchen.
“Dad!” His daughter, Darcy, roller-skated over and wrapped her arms around him. “I got a certificate in school today. For maths. I’m a genius!”
“Well done, you.” He squeezed her in a bear hug and kissed the top of her head. She had the same rich brown hair her mother had sported before she’d gone blonde, but she had his hazel eyes. In other words, she was perfect. “Should you be wearing roller skates in the house?”
“I can’t wear them outside, Dad. It’s dark and cold.”
“Maybe take them off until we get home. By the smell of things, Gran has dinner about done anyway.” Plus, his half of the duplex came with a concrete-floored garage, where she could roller skate until she exhausted herself.
“Hey, Mum.” He leaned down to kiss his mother’s cheek.
“I made apple crumble for pudding.” Shona McBride smiled up at him. “You look tired.”
“It’s going to be another long night tonight too.” He hung his jacket on the back of one of the chairs at the dining table. “Seeing as I’ve got a stakeout.” However, this stakeout wasn’t so much to catch the bad guys, but more to save the good guy from herself. Working for Benson Security was definitely very different from being a cop in Glasgow.
“Oh!” Darcy squealed. “Can I come?”
“No,” Logan and his mother said at the same time.
“I never get to do anything fun,” Darcy complained as she sat down to take off her skates.