Finding Justice by Rachel Brimble Read Free Book Online

from her
bag and then came in with it all smudged around your eyes. Lord, I had to leave
the room so she could tell you off without me standing there fit to burst with
laughter.”
    Happy memories rushed into Cat’s heart. “She didn’t miss a
thing back then, did she?”
    “Nope. She had your cards marked, you and Chris, both.” He
winked. “As we all did. The pair of you couldn’t get anything past me, either.
No matter how many times you tried.”
    Cat continued to smile, her heart aching with the heavy weight
of her mother’s demise bearing down on her chest. George’s intelligent gaze
wandered over her face as though looking right inside her. She looked to the
floor. “I’ve missed you.”
    “Hey.” He put a finger to her chin, forcing her gaze to his.
“While you’re here we’ll find time to catch up properly, okay?”
    She smiled, warmth spreading through her. “I’d like that.”
    “Good. But right now, I must get on.” He pressed a kiss to her
cheek. “I’ll see you soon, my darling.”
    Cat smiled, not wanting him to leave. No part of her wanted to
be left alone with Jay. “See you.”
    George moved to step away and then stopped. His canny gaze fell
on Jay and his brow furrowed. “Cat got your tongue?” He laughed. “Did you hear
what I said? Cat got your tongue. Cat. Catherine.” He shook his head and swiped
a hand under his eye. “Lord, I make myself laugh sometimes.”
    The tension hitched up a notch, the silence heavy and
awkward.
    George’s smile dissolved and he looked from Jay to Cat and back
again. “Right...well, I’ll leave you to it, then.”
    He shot Jay a meaningful glare before ambling from the room and
out toward the kitchen that lay beyond. Alone again, Cat met Jay’s stare.
    “I...” She shook her head as any words to sum up how she felt
escaped her. “Just show me where I’m sleeping.”
    “Cat, we need to talk.”
    Anger rose in a hot flame scorching her heart. “Not yet. I
can’t...I can’t even look at you right now.”
    He squeezed his eyes shut. “I told you the truth. Surely that’s
better than lying?”
    “The truth?” She trembled. “How about you telling me the truth,
the whole truth when you picked up the phone and
summoned me here like some damn innocent, huh?”
    His eyes snapped open, their brown depths shining with what
looked like unshed tears. “What?”
    Anger blistered through Cat’s sympathy. “You heard me. Now, I
said show me where I’m sleeping.” Her breath rasped painfully against her throat
and her chest grew tight.
    After a long moment, he threw up his hands. “Fine. Follow
me.”
    He brushed past her toward the stairs and she followed.
Stopping at the third door along a long gallery landing, he pushed opened the
door. “I’ve put you in here.”
    “Thank you.” She stepped inside and slammed the door.
    She waited with her forehead against the wood until his
hesitant footsteps disappeared. Only then did she release her held breath.
    “No, no, no.” Cat’s words whispered out on a breath of barely
contained despair.
    An addict. Jay was an addict. An addict like her mum...and
possibly Sarah.
    She pushed away from the door and faced the room. She shook her
head. How had he afforded the cabin? How had he managed to get sober and look so
damn good while her mother festered in her own destruction? The room and its
opulence swam in her blurred vision as she stumbled toward the four-poster
bed.
    Cat willed her heartbeat to slow. How could seven years pass
and a man still smell the same? His lingering scent of musk and man
infuriatingly teased her nostrils as it had before. When she’d sat next to him
in the taxi, the smell had risen between them. She inhaled, actually smelled him
like she was Hannibal Lecter savoring his next meal, for crying out loud.
    He’s a suspect. A suspect. A recovering
addict. An angry man, a selfish man, a dishonest man...
    Although she saw the peach satin-finished wallpaper and the
thick, cream