Page 107 of The Jealous Girl

‘You were—’ Ryan’s gaze flicked back and forth from me to Atlas. ‘You were stroking him,’ he said hesitantly, as though he wasn’t sure he could quite believe what he’d seen.

‘I just…’ I shrugged, not sure how to explain my sudden friendliness towards his horse. ‘I just came by to check how you’re doing,’ I said quickly.

‘You mean, with the way we left things?’

I shifted my weight but didn’t reply. It was true. But it felt selfish to admit it.

‘Kirsty, what are you doing here?’ Denise’s voice sliced through the quiet stables.

I turned abruptly.

She stood by the entrance, two uniformed police officers just behind her, one male and one female.

‘I just came to⁠—’

‘She came to see me,’ Ryan said quickly, as he stepped close and took my hand.

I stared at him, stunned. It was one thing to do so in private where we were still trying to figure out what it meant. But here? In front of Denise? In front of the police?

‘Kirsty Palmer?’ the male police officer asked.

I turned back to face him. ‘Yes.’ My voice felt distant. Weak.

He knew my name.

How?

Why?

‘Good timing, your name has just come up.’

‘It has?’ My gaze shifted to Denise. What had she said about me?

‘We understand you saw Charlotte yesterday morning?’

I nodded. There was no point denying it. But how had Denise known about that?

‘We have a few questions,’ the officer continued. ‘If there’s somewhere we can talk?’

‘You can use the office,’ Ryan offered helpfully. His fingers loosened their grip and his hand slipped from mine.

As hesitant and uncomfortable as it had felt when he’d reached for me, the absence of his hand now felt worse. I felt worse.

‘Kirsty knows the way,’ he added when I didn’t move.

‘Right,’ I said, turning to lead the officers towards the office.

Spook snorted as I walked past and I sidestepped away from him. I might be less fearful of Atlas now, but Spook would always intimidate me.

‘I’m PC Grove and this is PC Day,’ the male police officer said as we crowded into the small office.

My breathing sounded heavy, even to my own ears. What if they knew about the last time I’d been in here? Sneaking around in the middle of the night, stealing files.

What was the punishment for breaking and entering?

Though technically I hadn’t broken in…

‘You were one of the last people to see Charlotte Lewis yesterday,’ PC Grove said, gesturing for me to take a seat at the desk, while he and his colleague lingered by the door, blocking the exit.