The Silent Suspect by Nell Pattison (epub e ink reader .TXT) 📕

until he’d finished his ritual and was ready to sit down with a drink. It meant he had to wait about fifteen minutes, but he could be patient.

Lukas, Roy declared, smacking him on the shoulder as he sat down next to him. How are you?

Roy wasn’t as good a signer as he thought he was, but Lukas had to give him credit for his efforts. Of course, recently he’d come to realise that Roy had only put the effort in because he felt it could benefit him somehow. They’d built up a friendship over several years of sitting at the bar together, but the dynamic had changed ever since Lukas had accepted Roy’s offer of a loan. He should have known at the time that it was a bad idea, that he should have gone to the bank instead, but he thought they might turn him down. Now he was racking up a huge amount of interest every day, interest Roy had somehow never thought to mention before the money was in Lukas’s possession, and there was no clear way that he’d ever be able to repay it.

I’m okay, Lukas replied, wary of Roy’s intentions. There was a gleam in his eye tonight that Lukas didn’t like.

Good. And what about that lovely wife of yours? Has she been working hard?

Lukas noticed a smirk on Roy’s face. What’s that supposed to mean?

Roy let out an unpleasant laugh. Oh, you know. Nadia is obviously very interested in helping you pay back your debt. It’s … Roy paused for a moment and switched to fingerspelling the next word: admirable. But I wouldn’t let my woman go around doing what she’s doing, just to earn some money. I wouldn’t feel like a man if she had to do that.

Do what? What do you mean? Lukas had no idea what Roy was talking about, but he got a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach as he thought about what he might mean.

Where were you this afternoon? Roy asked, his face a picture of innocence.

I was at work. Why?

Maybe you should ask your wife why she felt the need to dress herself up like a tart after she’d finished work.

Lukas thought about the nice dress Nadia had been wearing when he’d got home, then looked at the smug expression on Roy’s face. Oh no, she wouldn’t. Would she? He felt a sickening mixture of horror and anger at the idea. How could he have let it get to the stage where Nadia felt that was their only option? He knew things had been difficult recently, especially with the disruption in their home, but he hadn’t expected her to be that desperate to change things.

Getting to his feet so quickly that he knocked over his stool, Lukas jabbed a finger towards Roy’s face.

Don’t you dare say a word about my wife!

Roy laughed again, and Lukas saw red, throwing a punch before he even stopped to think. A moment later, two other men were pulling him off. They dragged him over to the door and threw him out onto the street. Seething, Lukas kicked the wall a couple of times. Should he wait outside for Roy to emerge and then finish what he’d started? Even through his rage, Lukas knew that wasn’t a good idea. Roy ran a gym, and he had plenty of strong blokes who would help him out, so Lukas wouldn’t stand a chance.

Letting out a roar of fury and frustration, Lukas turned away from the pub, intending to head home. Before he got very far, however, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he was spun around, a punch landing in his gut before he could even see his attacker. He fell to the ground and automatically curled up, arms covering his head as kicks and blows rained down on him.

As soon as the attack had started, it ended, and Lukas found himself lying on the pavement panting, alone. It was a warning, he realised. If they’d wanted to put him in the hospital, or even to kill him, they wouldn’t have found it difficult.

Hauling himself to his feet, he winced as a pain shot through his ribs. He would go home and talk to Nadia and find out what had really happened before he did anything else. But then, Roy Chapman would pay.

Chapter 31

Wednesday 24th April

I spent a strange night in the hospital. In the wall opposite my bed was a pane of glass covered in an opaque film; presumably it used to be a window, and then the ward was rearranged. There was another private room on the other side, and I could see the glow of the other patient’s bedside lamp through the glass, and a shadow crossing it whenever they moved around the room.

I slept fitfully, dreaming about being chased by faceless men on bikes, and Singh telling me I had to set the hospital on fire to save Lukas. Twice during the night, nurses came to check my blood pressure and other vitals, which didn’t help. I was relieved when I heard the trolley of tea and coffee coming round, because I felt like it was an acceptable time to give up on the idea of sleeping and attempt to get out of bed.

The moment visiting hours began, Anna was shown into my room and threw her arms around me. Little more than a year ago our positions had been reversed, when Anna had been the one in hospital with a head injury, and the significance of this wasn’t lost on me. Thankfully, I was in nowhere near as serious a condition as she’d been, but that probably didn’t make a difference to how much she had been worrying about me. I could see tears in her eyes as she pulled away from me, and I spent several minutes reassuring her that I was okay, and I’d only been kept in as a precaution.

What the hell happened? she asked, sinking down into the