Page 53 of Forbidden Need

“We’ll hunt down the debtors,” Niall said.

“Shouldn’t be too hard for the likes of you.” The second the words were out, Imogen panicked and tried to pull them back. “I mean people must tell you things. If his debts weren’t of the official variety, they were the unofficial kind and that’s more your wheelhouse.”

“Good save,” Ford said insincerely. “Jagg and me will ask around the City Hall folks.”

“My people can do that,” McLeod Snr. said.

“Yeah, but they won’t tell the family anything incriminating,” Imogen said. “My dad can help.”

“Can I?”

“Yes,” Imogen drawled. Her attempt to force Strat and Jagg together wasn’t exactly veiled. “They’ll feel more comfortable with you around. A lot of them are older folk.”

“Funny,” Strat said, deadpan, but more than a few other faces enjoyed the daughter’s tease. “You gotta ask the boss; I’m supposed to be keeping bossette alive.”

Bossette? Now there was a joke.

Connel just looked at Niall. “Two hours this afternoon,” the lieutenant said. “Update us after.”

How did Connel do that? Communicate with such little effort? He did it with her too and they weren’t lifelong friends.

“I can stick with Bluebell today,” Daly said. “Our asking’s better done in the dark.”

“I’m only going to work, I don’t need—” Conn squeezed her thigh and that was enough to silence her on the subject. “Anything else?”

“Reconvene tomorrow,” Niall said.

Some rose. Not her or her brother. “Uh, we can’t… the memorial service is tomorrow.”

“We’ll do it after.”

“You expect us to say goodbye to our grandfather and then come here for a meet?”

“It’s okay,” she said, intervening before tensions could rise. “Anything pressing, you can tell me. I’m sure I’ll be around. I can let the others know. We could meet here the day after, Wednesday… if that works?”

“Aye.”

With that agreement, everyone stood to split off.

“Ser,” Lachlan said before she was completely up.

When he nodded her over, she joined him. “You okay?”

Her dad stayed close too.

“We want to do dinner tonight,” Lachlan said. “At your place. Eight thirty. Just family.”

Okay. Ominous. But with everything that had happened in the last couple of days, necessary.

“Lach?” Imogen called from her place with her father, brother, and boyfriend.

Lachlan went to join them, and her father huddled with his own people.

“Macushla.”

The call wasn’t loud, it didn’t need to be. Snapping out of the moment, she about-faced to go over to Connel, Niall, and Daly.

“Sorry,” she said. “My family isn’t always…” Except they kind of were.

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