Leaning forward, he placed a quick kiss on my lips before hopping out of bed. His swiftness caught me off guard, and I began to wonder if he’d been faking sleep, if he’d been listening to my entire conversation with Tony. It hit me suddenly that I’d been about to tell him everything, and it completely sobered me. I’d been about to warn a criminal that his business was going to be searched, and I’d barely even had to think twice about it. What the hell was happening to me? Being with Lee was changing everything, and I was one-hundred-percent sure I didn’t like it.

He dressed like normal, and there was nothing in his demeanour that made me think he was anxious to leave. He acted just like any man who had a meeting to get to; hurried, but not overly so. Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe he hadn’t heard the call. I sat up in bed, watching him dress, and when he was done he came toward me, kissing me one last time. Again, it was on the tip of my tongue to warn him, but I couldn’t seem to find my voice. Lee hovered for a second, his eyes flickering between mine, almost like he was waiting for me to say something, but that couldn’t be right.

As soon as he was gone, I got up, showered, and dressed, all within the space of half an hour. I had just enough time to grab a large coffee from Starbucks on my way to the station in lieu of a breakfast. When I arrived, I found DI Jennings in the briefing room, heading the search team. Steve had a list of the cars suspected of being stored at the garage, including all of the makes, models, and vehicle identification numbers.

All of a sudden, everything felt a little too real, and though I hadn’t yet eaten a thing, I was struck by a wave of nausea. Tony drove and I sat in the passenger seat, with Keira in the back as we made the short journey to the garage. Keira prattled on about the fight she’d been having with her boyfriend, but I barely registered what she was saying. On the outside I might have seemed calm, but on the inside I was panicking.

Why hadn’t I warned Lee?

Yes, he was guilty, and I’d always believed that guilty people deserved to be punished. But now that I had very real feelings for a guilty person, the lines were starting to blur. I pulled my phone from my pocket, on the cusp of typing out a message, but it was too late, and what on earth would I say to him anyway? It wasn’t like you could flush a stolen car down the toilet or hide it under a rug.

A minute later Tony pulled up outside the garage, joining a number of other police vehicles. Jennings was standing by the entrance, her mouth moving as she barked orders at the assembled officers. Tony, Keira, and I got out and joined the others right before Jennings turned and banged three times on the door. My heart hammered as I waited, hoping like hell that it wasn’t Lee who answered. In the end, it was Stu who appeared, and Jennings immediately announced herself and her intention to search the premises.

“No chance,” said Stu, standing tall and crossing his arms over his chest. “This is private property.” I was suddenly aware of his size, his broad shoulders and muscular arms, and how scary he appeared when facing down Jennings, who was half his size but just as fierce. She took her time pulling out the search warrant before smugly waving it in his face. Stu scowled at her for a long moment, but eventually stood back and let her pass.

Jennings turned and motioned for the search team to enter. I was one of the last to go inside, and when Stu saw me he shook his head, letting out a hard laugh as he shot me a look of pure disdain.

“Oh, this is fucking priceless,” he said, not a hint of humour in his voice. I was thankful nobody else was paying attention to him.

I was about to follow the others when Jennings stopped me in my tracks. “Sheehan, stay here and make sure no members of the public try to enter.”

I nodded at the instruction and went to stand by the door. The search team was noisy, barrelling through the garage, pulling open cabinets and toolboxes in search of anything even remotely suspect. Jennings knocked loudly on Lee’s office door, and I went utterly still when I heard him saying something to her, the irritation clear in his voice.

Stu stood just a couple of feet away, leaning against the wall with his arms folded as he continued to eye me.

“I warned Lee about you, and now look. Knew you were going to be nothing but trouble for us.”

“This hasn’t got anything to do with me,” I said quietly, fervently, unable to prevent the hitch in my voice.

Stu rolled his eyes. “Likely fucking story.”

“I’m not lying!” I whisper-hissed, glancing around to make sure nobody was listening. “I care about your brother a lot.”

“Not enough to warn him about all this, though,” Stu responded, motioning to the search team currently rifling through the place.

“I never planned for any of this to happen, and if I could rewind the clock, I would. I’d try to make a better decision, but you should know that all of this would have happened whether or not Lee and I became involved.”

He didn’t say anything, just continued to stare me down, and I was surprised I managed to stand my ground. Stu was nothing if not intimidating, especially when he was angry. Eventually he turned and walked in the direction of Lee’s office. I heard the two brothers talking and grew nervous, wondering if Stu was telling him that I was there. I expected Lee to come and find me at any moment, but it never happened. Over an hour passed, and I had to turn away a number of customers who stopped by. Clearly, there was a legitimate side to the business; I just didn’t know what percentage it was compared to the non-legitimate side.