“At the fair,” Billy supplied helpfully, like I didn’t know. “I smashed his car window to let the dog out because it was dying of heat exhaustion, and now they reckon I went back to his house and nicked it.”
“When?”
“Sometime around six.”
“You were still at the fair, though. Surely the whole town can vouch for you?”
“The fucking mayor can vouch for me. I was stood next to the boring bastard for an hour while he leered at your sister.”
I cringed. “Nice. Was Luke there too?”
“Yeah. But Mia made him stand at the back so he didn’t deck anyone.”
I kind of wished Luke had punched the lecherous old mayor, but right then it was more important that he’d been seen. I’d already messaged an old flame from Grindr who’d give me reason to be seen in Kent if I needed it. As far as I could see, all bases were covered, though, to be honest, I hadn’t imagined the police taking the case of the missing dog as seriously as they seemed to be.
The search teams moved onto the garage. I rolled my eyes and approached the officer in charge. “Can I see your warrant?”
“We don’t need a warrant if we’re granted entry.”
“Billy let you in?”
“Yes. Are you the owner of the property?”
“I am.”
“And are you refusing us access?”
“No, you can look anywhere you want. I was just curious as to how you’d officially worded your reasons, because as far as I can see, you don’t have any, and that’s harassment.”
“Do you want to make a complaint?”
“Not yet. But you need to let Billy go. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“The dog is still missing.”
“Yeah. The same dog who was left in a boiling hot car all morning. Don’t you think it’s more likely they left the front door open or something?”
The officer ignored me, and it was probably the most pointless conversation I’d ever had, but a few minutes later Billy was released, and the search was called off. By then, my neighbours were making popcorn. I waved to them, locked the garage door, and dragged Billy inside to watch the police drive away from the living room window.
I blew out a breath. “Well, that was fun.”
Billy chewed on his lip. “I’m really sorry. I had no idea it’d go this far when I broke the window. I didn’t think of the impact it would have on you.”
“What impact? They opened a few cupboards. It wasn’t like it was a full drugs bust.”
“Could’ve been, though. It’s only cos you’ve got me all clean living that I didn’t have an ounce of weed stuffed in my sock.”
“But you didn’t have an ounce of weed stuffed anywhere...did you?”
“No.”
“Then there’s no problem here. They’re harassing you because Keane’s a middle-class white man who can cause them more grief than you. That’s all. Remember when Luke left the handbrake off the van and it rolled into that Mercedes—no, of course you don’t. You weren’t here. But it was the same thing. Three police cars for a fender bender, all because some rich idiot was jumping up and down.”
Billy shot me a strange look. “Why are you rambling?”
“I’m not rambling.”
“You’re totally rambling. Are you drunk?”
“Drunk? Why would you think that?”
“I just told you. Because you’re rambling about shit I don’t care about.”
“Charming.”
“I try.” A ghost of a grin warmed Billy’s face before he fell serious again. “I’m worried about Jessie, though. What if they dumped her? Or she really did escape and she’s out there somewhere?”
“They’d have found her if she was running loose. There were enough coppers out looking for her.”
“I’m gonna go out and look.”
“And get yourself caught lurking around Keane’s house? Billy, no. That’s ridiculous. Let the police deal with it.”
“They’re not dealing with it. They rocked up here because they thought they’d find something more exciting than a cocker spaniel. Why do you think they looked in the loft?”
“Um...for the dog?”
Billy rolled his eyes. “No, because they once found a giant cheese plant at my mum’s place. I got away with it because she said it was hers and she had no idea what it was, but they were after me for years after that.”
“And even more years have passed since. Jesus, how many of them even remember you?”
“At least one. David Keane. Surname sound familiar? You probably know his brother.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh. I’m sorry I let them into your house, though. I just figured if they went away and got a warrant, they’d come back and mess it up even worse.”
“I don’t mind that you let them in.”
“Seriously?”
I turned to face Billy. “Seriously. You’ve done nothing wrong. They can search the place every day, for all I care. Where’s Grey?”
“In the bathroom sink.”
“Again?”
“Yep.”
“Your cat is weird.”
“So are you.”
“How so?”
Billy shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Good answer.”
“It’s all I’ve got.”
I reached out and took his hand, twining our fingers together. “You’ve said that before, and the next day my fridge was full of food, so I’m not complaining.”
Billy stared at our joined hands. For a heart-stopping moment I wondered if he’d pull away, but he didn’t. He squeezed my fingers tight and raised our hands to knock my knuckles against his forehead.
His were cut and bloodied, and my heart couldn’t cope. He’d done the right thing for the right reasons, and he was still the one who’d got hurt.
I pulled him close, released his hand, and wrapped my arms around him. He fit against me like we’d been cut from the same mould, his sharp edges against my broader frame. It was so perfect, I couldn’t cope with that either. I shivered and buried my face in his neck, breathing him in, as if his scent could ground me.
It couldn’t. At least, not in the way I was asking it to. One lungful made my heart race. Two sent heat to my groin.
I started to back up, but Billy growled and held me tighter.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Run
