Page 55 of The Twins

“We’re not sure if Candy Floss knew this person,” I said. “But they were certainly doing the same thing, just from different Eastern European countries.”

“Sick fucks,” she muttered. “And who are these people?” She continued along, away from the human trafficking section.

“They’re on our watch list,” Cillian said, folding his arms and rocking back on his heels. “They’re all guilty as fuck, and we’re waiting to see what their trials bring.”

“But…how do you know they’re guilty?”

“Some information we’ve sourced. Mitch is great because of his contacts at the police,” I said.

“And we also work with, if that’s how you could describe it, The Convicts.” Andrew stepped forward.

“The who?” Rebecca turned to him.

“Ex-cons,” he said. “They keep their ear to the ground inside and outside the prison walls. Pass on a lot of useful information to us even if they are a shifty bunch of crazies with dubious morals.”

Rebecca took a deep breath, peered at a few names and faces that had crosses through then moved to the opposite end of the wall. “Ah, I know him.” She stabbed her finger at Ian Bateman. “What a nasty bit of work.”

“You do?” I asked.

“Yes, he was an alibi for Reg Jacks.”

My eyes widened. “The guy we think is stalking you?”

“He told the police they were together, at some bar in Birmingham, when the robbery on the old couple happened, but at the last moment, just before he took the stand he backed out, said he couldn’t remember if he’d got the date right. It was one of the reasons Reg Jacks went down. Without an alibi, the evidence stacked up was pretty damning.”

“Reg Jacks,” Andrew said, scribbling on a card and then pinning it next to Ian Bateman. “Okay, another asshole.”

“So we presume they hate each other now?” I said. “Ian and Reg.”

She shrugged. “Get Reg’s visitor documentation from the prison, you’ll soon find out if their friendship survived it. These criminals either hate each other or they’re loyal, not much in between.”

“Fuck, she’s smart,” Andrew said with a huff.

“Sexiest thing about her.” I set a kiss on her cheek and breathed in the petal scent of her skin.

She turned to me and squeezed my arm. “I’m not sure how I feel about all of this. I’m a lawyer, I believe in the system, the Crown Court, yet—”

“Yet you see it has its flaws,” I said.

A line had formed between her brows. “I find injustice the most frustrating thing about my job. Either someone going to prison who shouldn’t or for too long, or someone getting away with murder, quite literally on occasion.”

“Which is exactly how we feel.” I studied her. “We’re the good guys, you know.”

“Yes, I know.” She managed a small smile.

“It’s okay.” Cillian came to her other side. “We’ve shown you what we do now, so there’s no more secrets.”

“I’m not good with secrets.”

“We can tell.” I smoothed my palm down her bare arm.

Cillian looked at me, and I recognized the glint in his eyes.

“There is one other thing,” Cillian said. “That we shouldn’t keep from you.”

“There is?” Her frown deepened.

“Yeah, but we’ll have to go back to Rose Cottage to show you,” he said.