Page 34 of The Question of Us (Fisher & Church #2)

Okay, so that response was a little light on the shelving-his-opinion bit and I rolled my eyes.

“Come on, Samuel, neither the Aussies nor the New Zealand police are even looking at Lee and Marty because there’s nothing there to officially tie them to the investigation.

The Cleary brothers aren’t talking. Marty was never on that boat—he wasn’t even in New Zealand.

And there’s nothing on CCTV at the marina to prove otherwise.

Plus, Lee is denying everything. Our suspicions about Marty are irrelevant, you said so yourself.

The fact that Lee and Freddie were on the same flight back to Australia the next day has a reasonable explanation.

They knew each other, and Lee insists he returned to Australia to rekindle a relationship with Marty willingly.

So, tell me exactly what police investigation are we interfering with? ”

Samuel chewed on his lower lip but said nothing. He didn’t need to. His exasperated expression said it all. We were right and he knew it. “Fine.” He folded his arms over his chest and glared at us. “You’ve got five minutes to convince me you haven’t completely lost your fucking minds.”

“Absolutely. Nick can do the honours.” I waved my boyfriend forward and his eyes widened in that you-are-in-so-much-trouble way he’d perfected. I batted my lashes and reminded him, “He’s your brother-in-law.”

Gazza snorted and Nick turned a steely eye on the younger man who wasn’t in the least bit intimidated. “Hey, I’m just the pretty face in all this,” Gazza answered to the blistering look. “The honey trap. Isn’t that what they’re called?”

Nick groaned and rolled his eyes skyward. “God almighty, give me strength.”

“I don’t care who goes first,” Samuel positively growled through the speaker. “But dammit, someone better start talking soon or there’ll be hell to pay.”

“Calm down. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Nick dragged his chair closer to the phone.

Recognising that Samuel’s temper was seconds from exploding all over his office, I kicked Nick in the ankle to make my feelings clear.

He shot me an amused look that said he was having way too much fun, and I returned an explicitly not- amused glower that wiped the smile off the idiot’s face in two seconds flat and got him talking.

The man truly was a royal pain in my arse.

Didn’t mean I wasn’t head-over-heels loopy for the arsehole.

Nick brought Samuel up to date on everything from our encounter with Lee in the supermarket and our confirmed suspicions about the abuse, including Marty’s threats regarding Lee’s brother to what happened in the bloodstock sales, Gazza’s invitation to the party, and our plan for Gazza to use that invite to try to talk with Lee on his own.

The bit about Nick being stowed in the back of Gazza’s car in case he was needed was admittedly glossed over, while the part where Nick actually intended to hide in the garden to keep an eye on things was completely omitted.

I sighed but I got it. Anything truly illegal, like trespassing—although it was a grey line with it being a party, after all—would put Samuel in an awkward position.

Need to know basis, right?

When Nick was finally done, Samuel said nothing, just sat there chewing on his bottom lip like it offended him while refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

“Well?” Nick prodded, but Samuel simply gestured for us to wait while he scribbled a few things down on a piece of paper and then stared at them blankly before sighing again.

“For fuck’s sake.” Nick sat back in his chair with a heavy sigh. “It’s not the great train robbery, you know.”

I kicked Nick again, because although that might be so, we needed Samuel’s advice and Nick knew it.

He just didn’t want to admit it. I reached out my hand and Nick took it, his squeeze telling me he was sorry.

I didn’t believe that for a second, but the gesture was appreciated.

I returned a don’t-bullshit-me look and he grinned.

Eventually, after the second age of the dinosaurs had passed, Samuel looked up. “Do you know how fucking pissed I am about all this?”

Nick’s lip twitched before he replied. “I’d say I have a fair idea, yes, but nothing you say is going to change our minds about going to this party. Lee is in trouble. His brother too. We’re not just walking away from this, Samuel. You know me well enough to understand that and the reasons why.”

Samuel blinked at the last part before answering in a much softer voice, “That was damn sneaky of you, but yes, I do understand. And I admire you for it. Doesn’t mean I approve. I’m not just your brother-in-law, Nick. I’m a cop.”

Nick huffed. “I don’t need your admiration or your approval, and the fact you’re a cop isn’t the point.

We’re not breaking the law, and I’ve lived Lee’s story in more ways than I care to remember.

My mother too. Marty’s an abusive arsehole and we— I can’t simply leave him and his brother in that situation and walk away without trying to help.

All three of us feel responsible in some way for where he is now, especially after he’d managed to get himself free and start a new life. ”

My heart squeezed at the crack in Nick’s voice and I closed my other hand around his. It was the first time he’d really admitted that he felt it too. The guilt. The responsibility. I knew he had. He was too good a man not to.

Then another hand was added to the pile, and I turned to find Gazza had pulled his chair alongside us.

The three fucking musketeers. God help us.

Gazza surprised me by speaking for all of us.

“We need to do the right thing here, Samuel.” He sounded light years older than he was and a lot calmer about the whole thing than either Nick or me.

“ We’re the ones who have to live with the role we played in Lee’s current.

.. predicament. You don’t. It doesn’t matter whether we had a choice or not when it all happened; we have one now.

This is about stepping up when no one else can or will, the police included. You must see that.”

They stared each other down until Samuel finally threw his hands in the air.

“When will you accept that none of you were responsible—” He didn’t finish, his gaze caught on our hands still stacked atop each other.

He blinked furiously, sighed, and then dragged both hands down his face while muttering something I couldn’t catch and likely didn’t want to.

Nick shot me a look and I shrugged. It was anyone’s guess how this was gonna play out.

My biggest concern was that Samuel would set his Australian cop mate on us, something with ramifications for our friendship, which would force an awkward decision—we either walk away from the party idea entirely, or continue and potentially invoke the wrath of the Australian and the New Zealand police.

Not to mention land Samuel in hot water on both sides of the Tasman.

“Fuck me” were the first words out of Samuel’s mouth, and they were strangely comforting. “You do realise that although Gazza might have an invitation, you don’t.” He eyeballed Nick. “Which means you’d be trespassing.”

“Oh, come on,” Nick protested. “It’s a party. That’s stretching things a bit, don’t you th?—”

“Don’t push it.” Samuel scowled. “Do you have any idea how much freaking trouble we’re all going to be in when I tell Lizzie and Shirley about this hare-brained scheme of yours, not to mention that I didn’t stop it?”

Shirley? “There’s no need to—” I baulked at Samuel’s don’t-you-fucking-dare look.

“There is, and I will,” Samuel ground out in reply.

“And if you think I’m pissed, you wait until you hear from them.

I’m going to bury you in family drama for the next six months, so help me God.

” He blew out a measured breath as he raised and lowered his hands in slow motion several times, like he was calming himself.

“Having said that—” He paused for dramatic effect as his gaze landed on each one of us in turn.

“—and I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but it’s not the worst plan you could’ve come up with. ”

I blinked, wondering if I’d heard right. “Really? You think it’s a good plan?”

“No.” He eyeballed me. “I didn’t say that. I said it’s not the worst. But having a bunch of clueless amateurs like you lot trying to pull it off is a huge concern.”

I felt Nick bristle. “Hey?—”

I elbowed him in the ribs and his mouth snapped shut.

Samuel continued like he hadn’t noticed.

“Starting with Gazza’s role. If what you think about Marty is true, then the man’s a coercive, controlling, abusive bastard who trapped Lee in that relationship for years before Lee finally escaped.

Ergo—you don’t ever want to be the centre of Marty Klein’s attention.

” He eyeballed Gazza. “Something that seems to have been forgotten.”

“My concern too,” I admitted, earning myself a glare from Nick, who, frankly, could just suck it up.

Gazza grimaced. “Do you think I don’t know that?”

Samuel studied Gazza like he was trying to gauge his true measure, and Gazza straightened in response, his gaze narrowing on the older man, happy to accept the challenge.

At length, Samuel gave him a curt nod. “Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t.

But I’ve been doing a little digging myself via a police colleague in Wangaratta.

She’s one of the ones we sent to check on Lee a few weeks ago.

She was really helpful at the time, which is saying something since Marty’s made a point of being on good terms with the local police—known for his sizeable donations and for hosting fundraising events.

Most look on him as some kind of local hero.

When we asked them to pay a visit, they were reluctant to believe our suspicions and happy to inform us that all appeared well.