Page 167 of In Too Deep

Jake’s smile faded.

And for the first time since they’d come through the access door, he properly registered the emptiness around them. The abandoned building beneath their feet. The demolition fencing. No salvage lads. No survey team. No one else anywhere in sight. And Roman standing between him and the only way down.

Jake rose slowly. “Right. So what the fuck am I doing here?”

Roman smiled. “Finally.”

Jake’s pulse kicked harder, but he kept his expression flat. “If you’ve got summat to say, say it.”

“I wanna know what you told him.”

“Who?”

“Don’t piss me about, Whitton. Your fucking detective fuck buddy.” Roman dropped his cigarette and ground it beneath his boot. “What did you find at the yard?”

Jake stared at him. “What’s it matter to you?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Why?”

Roman stepped closer. “Because you went sniffing around somewhere you had no fucking business being, and next thing I know police are crawling all over it. Asking questions. We all gave our statements, but you brought them back to us.”

Jake narrowed his eyes. “You worried about summat?”

Roman laughed. “You’re the one who should be worried.”

“Should I?”

“Aye. You really fucking should.”

Jake glanced towards the access door before looking back at him. “Well, this has been great, but I got a bonus to collect, so…” He started towards the door.

Roman stepped into his path.

Jake gritted his teeth. “Move.”

Roman cocked his head. “What’s your angle, anyway?”

“What d’you mean?”

Roman chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Fucking the detective.”

Jake swallowed.

Roman chuckled. “What? Thought no one’d noticed? Whole town’s got eyes, mate.”

Jake said nothing.

“What is it? Think if you bend over for a copper, he’ll help you dig up your dead sister?”

Jake’s breathing shallowed. “You keep my sister out of your fucking mouth.”

“Funny, cause I heard she had enough in hers.”

Jake took a step forward, ready to lunge.

He’d heard versions of that his entire life. In school corridors. Outside off-licences. Across pub tables after too many pints. People lowering their voices when they realised he was within earshot, then carrying on anyway because some part of them thought Robyn had earned it. Thought disappearing somehow turned a person into public property. And for years he’d responded with his fists. That was how he’d ended up with a record in the first place. Not because he enjoyed violence. Because eventually someone always said the wrong thing about his sister, and Jake had never learned how to walk away from it.