Page 63 of Close Protection

‘Or what?’ Henry queries.

He hesitates for a moment. ‘Or they’d send an anonymous tip to the police, telling them about the under-the-table deals my parents made with several judges to keep my name clear.’

‘Keep your name clear of what?’ George asks.

‘Drunk driving, assault, battery. I-I don’t know, there were a lot of incidents.’

‘I see.’ Anguish swims in George’s eyes as he walks slowly to his desk to sit down.

‘What was the riddle, Ted?’ I ask, to get us back on track.

‘They told me to find what’s close to her heart. I didn’tknow what that meant so I thought I’d come here and look around George’s stuff once everyone had gone to sleep. But when Daphne was lying down on my bed her necklace fell out and landed right on top of her heart, making me think that could be it.’

‘Wait,’ I interject, my blood running cold. ‘What was Daphne doing lying on your bed?’

‘W-w-well,’ Teddy stutters, ‘we were talking and I suggested we had a repeat of something we did a few years ago.’

‘And what was it that you did a few years ago, Ted? That would require her to be on your bed?’ I grit out, slowly but very surely losing any restraint I have.

‘We kissed,’ he says quietly. ‘On a sofa,’ he adds quickly. ‘Nothing happened a few years ago other than that, it was just this time that I suggested we…’ he trails off.

‘We what?’ Henry probes.

‘We m-move on to something a little more adult,’ he practically whispers.

George closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. ‘Did you force yourself on my daughter, Theodore?’

‘No! No, of course not, George. I may have… prompted her. But I never pushed.’

‘See, now why don’t I believe you, Ted?’ I push off the wall I’m leaning against and stalk over to him. ‘I’m only gonna askyou this once more.’ I drop to my haunches. ‘How did she end up on your bed?’ I can hear my Balkan accent thicken as I try to remain as calm as possible.

‘I flipped her onto the bed, but nothing happened, I promise.’

‘Your promises mean very little to me, Teddy,’ I state.

His breathing picks up and he looks a second away from losing the last shred of his composure.

‘Calm down, I’m not gonna kill you,’ I state coolly. ‘I’m just gonna take you through a death-like event.’

Teddy’s eyes widen in horror, while Henry laughs behind me.

‘A what?’

‘Here, let me show you.’

‘Please, don’t. I don’t think my body can take it any more.’ The expression in his unswollen eye is panicked and he’s shaking.

‘That seems like ayouproblem, Ted.’ I retrieve the knife from my back pocket and stab it into his thigh. I purposely miss any arteries and blood vessels because he needs to finish answering the questions, but it does bring a flood of satisfaction when he cries out in pain. I leave the knife in his leg and stand, walking away.

‘And who was all that for, again?’ Henry chirps at me, his eyes bright with glee.

‘I have zero problem stabbing that smirk off your face,’ I warn him.

‘Right, right, right, right,’ Henry nods before muttering, ‘because that answered my question.’

‘All right, let’s get back to tonight,’ George says as he stands up and comes round his desk. ‘You saw a necklace on Daphne’s neck?’

‘Yes,’ Teddy says between whimpers. ‘It triggered the riddle in my head but I went to check your room as well to make sure there wasn’t a clue in there. When I couldn’t find anything and Daphne told me the necklace used to be Elizabeth’s, I knew that had to be it.’