“Robyn, I don’t know the ins and outs of what happened between you two, but give yourself some slack. Parents have this ability to cripple us emotionally. Trust me. You’re doing good. I mean, look”—she gestured up the sand dunes to my trailer as we approached—“you’ve turned what was a flying visit into an indefinite stay so you can find the person who did this to Mac. Give yourself some credit.”
I snorted. “I would if I were any closer to figuring out who’s behind the attack.”
Concern strained her features. “You don’t have any clue?”
“There are a few people who have motive, but there’s no evidence to support it’s any one of them.”
“Shit.” Lucy drew to a stop at the hood of the Range Rover, her arms crossed over her chest. “I’d hoped you were getting somewhere.” Her stunning blue eyes met mine. “At least Lachlan discovered the security system was hacked.”
Surprised moved through me. “He did?” Why didn’t I know about that? I felt a sting of emotion I didn’t want to name.
“Yeah. He just got word last night. His security guy found all kinds of evidence the system was hacked, so now he’s trying to hack the hacker to see if they can trace who it is.”
“Did Lachlan inform the police?”
Lucy shook her head. “He’s pretty irritated with them. They came around a few times this past week to interview members and informed Lachlan they were out of leads. He’s supposed to tell them if anything else happens, but—”
“He thinks he’s more competent than the cops?” I sneered. Arrogant asshole.
“No.” Lucy grinned. “I think he thinks you’re more competent because you have a reason to be invested in it. That’s why I hoped you might have figured something out by now. Don’t tell Lachlan, but it’s why I’m sticking around. I’m supposed to be in the South of France with this guy I’m casually seeing, but I didn’t want to leave Lachlan, or Eredine, for that matter, in the middle of all this.”
The thought of Lucy taking off disappointed me. While we’d only known each other a week, I’d miss her if she left. She was the opposite of everything I thought a famous actor would be in real life. Down-to-earth, funny, considerate. Plus, she was the most confident woman I’d ever met, and while some might think her arrogant, I found it refreshing how much she owned the fact she thought she was the shit. More people should be like Lucy.
But I didn’t want her to feel unsafe. “I don’t think Eredine or Adair would want you to put off plans for them.”
“That’s what friends do.” She nudged me with her shoulder. “Besides, wouldn’t you miss me?”
I chuckled. “I would, actually. I don’t have a lot of female friends back home. My closest friend is married to my old partner.”
“Your cop partner?”
“Yeah. We drifted apart when I gave up the job, but we’re still good friends. The job kind of became my life, though, so I don’t have friends outside of it.”
“Well, you have me and Eredine now. And I’m not going anywhere. Sex with a guy in the South of France is easy to come by. Friends I actually connect with? Not so much. Which is why I’m staying, even though”—a cloud darkened her eyes—“this person is starting to give me the willies. Not knowing what’s going to happen next … especially since it looks like it’s someone close to Lachlan.”
Protectiveness surged inside me at her display of vulnerability. “Lucy, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Her expression lightened. “I believe you.”
“And I promise, I’m constantly thinking about this case. I will figure out who is behind it.” At the moment, I was leaning toward McCulloch and his granddaughter, Sarah. They seemed the most obvious choice. Occam’s razor: the answer that requires the fewest assumptions is usually correct. “How much do you know about Sarah McCulloch?”
Lucy braced against the hood of the SUV, seemingly as uncaring as me about the drizzle dampening our respective hairdos. “The housemaid. I mean … housekeeper.” She grimaced. “Lachlan admonishes me for calling them housemaids.” Her voice lowered to a gruff brogue. “They’re housekeepers, Lucy. How many times do I have to remind you that you can’t call them maids?”
Smirking at her impression, I nodded. “Yeah, the housekeeper.”
Lucy gave me a look. “I’d say you’re on the right path if that’s the way you’re thinking. She has a serious thing for Lachlan.”
“How serious?”
“Like every time I’m with him and turn around in that castle, she’s scurrying out of sight like she was watching us. She blushes and stammers around him, all googly-eyed and adoring.”
I grunted at the idea of anyone acting that way around Adair.
Lucy chuckled, apparently reading me like a book. “You don’t like him, huh?”
“I’m not going to disparage your friend.”
“But …?”
I couldn’t help myself. “He gives off this vibe like he thinks he’s better than me.” I winced, hating how juvenile I sounded. “It’s … I’m not good with people who lord their superiority over others. Considering I’m pretty epic, I take offense to someone thinking I’m not good enough.” Beneath my bravado, there was that kid who’d been abandoned by her father, who worried that maybe she wasn’t good enough.
“Girl, you are epic, and I love that you know it.” Lucy pushed off the hood and gave me a coaxing smile. “So few of us are brave enough to admit our awesomeness out loud. But be nice to Lachlan. He’s my friend, and my friends should be treated well.”
Hearing the edge of admonishment in her voice, I looked away.
Lucy prompted, “I take it Lachlan told you that he and I …”
I shifted uncomfortably, hoping me knowing wasn’t a problem between us.
“I get that for
