Page 99 of Graciously His

“We’ll have a nice meal,” she says, “then we’ll figure out our next steps getting you back to where you should be.”

I subtly look at my phone, thumbing through a series of texts.

Grace, where are you?

Grace… little heart, where did you go?

Are you—did you leave Auckland?

Your location signal went dead at the airport, but I know where you're going.

Do you think I won’t follow? Because I fucking will.

I’m in the air, love.

Stay out of that house.

I love you.

Chapter 40

Nate

There’s a welcoming committee waiting for me in Dunedin. It’s not the Munchausen bitch, which I half-expected. It’s the fucking cops. I’m annoyed to see them—and worried. Constance planned this better than I realised. And it means my little heart will be alone with her that much longer.

Not good. Not fucking good.

One of the cops steps towards me. “Mr Nathaniel Hadley?”

“Yeah. What do you want?”

“You need to come with us.”

I let out a sigh, checking my phone to see that Grace hasn’t answered my texts yet. Fucking hell…

“On what grounds?” I ask, not bothering to look up as I flick through apps.

“We need to ask you some questions.”

It’s not an answer and we both know it. Meeting his eyes, I feel the beginnings of recognition. I stare him down. I know my damn rights.

“What. Grounds.”

When he hesitates, I realise how I know him. He’s Constable Tim’s partner, the cop who handled Constance Reid after Nick’s death. And he was waiting here for me to arrive. The shape of the situation is coming together, and I know I’ve got to get Watson on the phone before I even think about reaching out to Grace again.

“Well?” I prompt. He looks to the other three cops for help. Although he’s clearly the lead for this confrontation, he’s got no fucking clue how to handle someone who knows how to enforce their rights. “Have you got a charge for my arrest,” I continue, “or did you just feel like giving me a ride into town?”

Another brief hesitation before he finally speaks up. “We have, er, reasonable grounds to ask you about some documents filed prior to the passing of your brother. One potential charge is suspicion of fraud.”

Watson always did warn me about paper trails…

I let my tone warm a little. “Any chance I can call my lawyer now, get things started on my end?”

“I’m not so sure that’s—”

“Where’s Tim?” I interrupt, hitting the call button on Watson’s number. “Why isn’t he here, helping you through this?”

“He’ll meet us at the station. If you could come quietly with me, I won’t have to cuff you.”