Seth joined them.
“I’m sorry,” Lily whispered, looking at Seth, choking on her tears.
Seth didn’t let her say more than that. Instead, he reached in to give her a passionate kiss on the mouth, hands wrapped around the back of her head, before nodding at the sky, where a police helicopter was moving in. “The cavalry,” he commented with no small amount of irony. “I guess that email made it through after all. Better late than never, hey.”
* * * *
It took a long time to give her statement, but the police woman who worked with Lily was patient and understanding. They’d wrapped a blanket around her, and someone brought her a sweet cup of tea.
Too much sugar, she thought, as she sipped it, not like Seth made it.
Everything had happened so quickly and it was hard to make sense of it all. She’d found herself being led inside the house by a police officer. They took her to the office, a room she’d only seen once or twice during her stay. When she glanced out the window there, she saw that there were police cars parked in the driveway, beyond Seth’s Land Rover. It was local constabulary. The vehicles were marked ’police‘ in both English and Welsh.
Adrian had been led
away when she was. She remembered his fingers slipping from hers, and hated it. They were safe, though. Even so, it felt like the world she had got used to over the last few days was being fractured, and there was an ache in her chest that just got heavier. The last she’d seen of Seth he was with a man in a shirt and tie who had arrived with others in the helicopter. The two embraced each other. Was that the boss, the one with the little girl Seth had sent the message to?
“You’re doing well,” the policewoman assured her. “Take a minute to have your tea. Once we’ve finished your statement, I’ll arrange for you to be taken home.”
“Thank you.” Home? Where was home, now?
The police woman stepped out of the room for a moment, and Lily wrapped her hands around the mug, sipping the tea, taking strength from it.
Home was with Andrea, she reminded herself. Yes, with their business and their flat and all the pride and hard work that went with that. It would be good to see her friend, but at the same time Lily felt distanced from her life because so much had happened in the few days she’d spent with Adrian and Seth. She’d been opened to new experiences, and she felt enriched, both emotionally and sexually, after the time she’d spent with them.
If only I hadn’t turned off the alarm, if only I hadn’t gone out on the patio. Her mind kept flitting back to what had happened out there. They cared, and their actions showed her how much. That gave her strength.
When she was finally done and they let her leave the office, encouraging her to gather her things, she went to where she’d last seen them, the lounge, and looked there and beyond, on the patio. They’d gone. Her heart sank.
“Of course they’ve gone,” she said to herself, feeling as if someone had pulled the earth from under her feet. “Gone to a new safe house, without me.”
Her stomach clenched and her chest ached horribly. She hadn’t even had a chance to thank them for what they’d done, for everything. She put her hand to her mouth, telling herself over and over again not to cry, but the tears came anyway.
Chapter Seventeen
“If you’d asked me, a month ago,” Adrian commented, “what I thought living in a brand new show home might be like, I’d have assumed it would be luxurious.” He stared at the rumpled sleeping bag on the sofa with a sense of wistfulness. “I feel like I can’t touch anything. It’s all so…beige.”
Seth chuckled, glancing at the walls and the sparse but expensive furnishings. “Yes, so it is.”
“I’ll never want to see anything beige ever again.”
“Agreed. “ Seth nodded.
The pair of them were sprawled on the floor of the lounge area in the show home, which was located somewhere on a half built housing estate in Surrey. “You’re doing well. Two more days and we’re out of here.”
“And I miss your Dad’s bar,” Adrian added.
“I know.” Seth gave a rueful smile. “So do I.” Then he shook his head. “That bar will hold legendary status, forevermore.” They exchanged brief glances, reliving the moment.
“Good. Grandest bar I’ve ever been in. Nice drop of brandy, too.” Adrian reached over to the chessboard that sat on the floor between them, replacing the pieces from the game they had shared earlier, and then glanced across at his friend and protector. “And that’s not all I miss.”
Seth’s smile faded and he shot a warning glance. “Don’t even go there.”
Adrian shrugged. “I know you’re thinking about her.”
Seth scowled. “And you aren’t?”
“Of course I am, but not in the same way you are.”