Free Finding Justice by Rachel Brimble Page A

the circle of his arms and cupped her hand
to his jaw. Gratitude pushed the air from his lungs. She smiled softly.
    “I’m not turning away from you. You do know that, right? I’ll
still be here in the morning and we’ll find Sarah’s killer. This is just a lot
for me to deal with...”
    Her words trailed off and turning his head, Jay kissed her
palm, eased down her hand and held it tightly.
    “I know. It’s a lot. I’ve done a lot, but doing that to Sarah
was probably the worst. I tried to apologize, tried to make it up to her, but
she never forgave me.”
    She shook her head. “She did. She called you right before she
died. She needed you. Don’t you see what that means?”
    His eyes scanned her face, her beauty, her fire, and hope burst
behind his rib cage. “Whatever was going on with her was serious enough to
forgive me and get me back in her life. Quickly.”
    She nodded. “Exactly. She was into something so bad it got her
killed. Whatever both of us have or haven’t done in the last seven years, from
now on that’s our only focus, okay? Once we get whoever killed Sarah behind
bars—”
    “You’ll go home.”
    She closed her eyes. “Jay—”
    “So I have to talk about this, Cat. I want you to know. I don’t
want any secrets between us.”
    Her eyes snapped open and something akin to panic shot across
them before she took her hand from his and focused on the cabin. “I need to
sleep. We’ll talk in the morning...after I’ve had my visit with Bennett.”
    Surprise catapulted him upright. “You’ve managed to get an
appointment with Bennett?”
    She nodded. “Nine o’clock. I need to sleep.”
    She took off before he could stop her, but Jay followed,
marveling at her ability to make anything possible—and wondering what inside her
caused such fear to appear in her eyes when he’d said he wanted no more
secrets.

CHAPTER SIX
    T HE TAXI PULLED UP outside the front double doors of the Templeton Cove police station and
Cat delved into her bag for her wallet. She extracted a ten-pound note and
handed it to the driver.
    “Keep the change.”
    She got out of the car and slammed the door. The facade of the
tiny station looked almost quaint compared to the city station back in Reading.
Yet it wasn’t quaint. It was a place that dealt with the same crimes, murders
and thefts as anywhere else. She drew in a deep breath and tried to clear her
mind.
    Still vibrating from the shock of Jay’s revelation last night,
it was an impossible task. First the drugs and then his cruel breaking of
Sarah’s trust.
    Cat had woken at seven and gone around the cabin like a
burglar, tiptoeing around his house, desperately trying not to wake him. She’d
snuck downstairs, trying and failing to avoid creaking floorboards as she’d
walked to the kitchen. Once there, she’d taken a glass from the cupboard and
then fumbled with it, thankfully finally managing to catch it like a clown at a
kids’ circus, before it crashed to the floor.
    Jay. Her Jay. Sarah’s Jay.
    Aware of cops and civilians walking around her, Cat wandered
away from the entrance. She was half an hour early despite killing time asking
fruitless questions about Sarah at the convenience store and coffee shop. She
pulled her cell from her bag and feigned interest in the blackened screen. Jay
and what he’d done bounced around inside her head like a Ping-Pong ball.
    The reality of his going to Sarah’s school while high on drugs
told her just how tightly his addiction had gripped him. The worst Julia had
done was to turn up at police headquarters carrying a dilapidated bunch of
daffodils, demanding she see her sergeant daughter on her birthday.
    Cat’s birthday had been a month before.
    She looked at the ground and waited for the memory to abate.
Humiliation and fear of what her mother would do next had been paramount that
day. No doubt the same emotions swept through Sarah at a more terrifying rate
than Cat could contemplate. How could Jay have done that