Twelve
Simon had been arrested. Hauled away in the back of a police car, with blood still streaming from the nose Malcolm had broken. The only reason Malcolm had escaped arrest himself was because of Charlotte and Gavin’s testimony that Simon had been threatening them, trying to force Gavin to go with him. The police now knew Gavin was Simon’s son. That he’d run away from abuse. That he’d been living at Lochmara. The full details weren’t out yet, but an inquiry would happen, and everything they’d worked for this past month would fall apart.
All because Malcolm had failed.
Christ, he couldn’t get the image of Charlotte’s face out of his mind. That flash of terror and bafflement as Simon wrenched the shovel out of her hands. The resolute way she’d planted her feet and lifted her tiny fist
