Page 111 of Disturbing the Dead
“Thus giving Sir Alastair another reason to want to sever the patronage arrangement. We—”
The front door opens. Boots click in.
“That will be Isla,” Gray says. “Would you like me to speak to her?”
I hesitate. I should do it myself, but even at the thought, I want to crumple in exhaustion.
I was able to blurt everything to Gray and then ask to set it aside. Isla won’t allow that. She’ll want the full story, and she’ll have questions. Like Gray implied earlier, to some people, if you say you don’t want to talk about a difficult thing, they think you’re “just saying that.” You really do want to talk but need to be pushed. Or you don’t want to, but you should, for your own good.
“I will speak to her,” he murmurs, leaning in to lower his voice. “I will tell her what happened, and that you need time before you are ready to discuss it.”
“Will she be insulted if I don’t tell her myself?”
As he rises, he squeezes my shoulder, a quick but meaningful touch of reassurance. “She will not. May I bring her to see you after we’ve spoken?”
“Please.”
“Then that will be enough.”
THIRTY-FOUR
Yep, I’m a big ol’ coward. I throw Gray to the wolves and hide in the office until the low murmur of voices ends with Isla saying, “May I see her?”
“Of course. She wants to see you. I only ask that…” His voice lowers, and I don’t hear the rest.
“I will.”
They knock on the office door, and I call them in as I stand. Seeing me, Isla hesitates, her expression schooled to a pleasant but cautious smile, as if she’s walking into the hospital room of a fragile patient. Which, let’s be honest, I guess I am.
“Hey,” I say. “I’m back.”
She strides over and embraces me, whispering, “I am sorry for what you went through, but I am very glad to see you.”
“I’m glad to see you, too.” I hug her tight and then back up. “So…”
“Mallory would like to discuss the case,” Gray says.
Isla turns a questioning look on me. “If that is what you want.”
“It is. Please. The rest can wait. Apparently, I’m not going anywhere. We can figure all that out later. For now, we need to worry about Selim Awad.”
Isla stiffens. “We will not let him get near you again.”
“That’s not it. He wasn’t the one who attacked me,” I say, and we catch her up on the story.
Halfway through my explanation, McCreadie shows up, which means starting over, both with the quick “how Mallory came back” story and then “how Mallory saw her attacker, who was not Selim Awad.”
“I am relieved to hear it,” he says. “Not as relieved as I am to have you back, of course. I was quite beside myself, worrying I had lost my detective-from-the-future advantage.”
“That’s what I was thinking too. The whole time I was gone. Oh my God, I need to get back so I can help Detective McCreadie or he’ll never solve a case again.”
We share a smile at that.
“It is good to have you back, Mallory,” he says. “Also good to hear that it wasn’t Selim Awad who attacked you. I rather liked Selim. Lord Muir, less so. It is always more satisfying that way.”
“Well, we can’t write off Selim just yet,” I say. “Or pin Sir Alastair’s murder on Lord Muir. My attempted murder, though? Definitely Muir. The problem is that if you arrest him, and it turns out he’s holding Selim captive…?”
“We might endanger one by arresting the other. However, if we wait before arresting Lord Muir, it weakens our case.”
