Page 65 of If I Were Wind
“But you’re right. I promise you I won’t touch you again. If that’s what you want.” He gave a quick bow of his head to seal the deal before starting to walk towards the manor again.
A strangled moan escaped me and prevented me from speaking. Right. I should feel happy. That was what I wanted. But why hadn’t he chosen the other option? The option to try to be a couple? And why did I have to give him an ultimatum? It’d sounded like a jolly good idea in that moment, and I’d hoped he would have said something along the lines of ‘let’s be together then, and damn the consequences.’ It hadn’t turned out quite so well.
Serves me right.
We walked the rest of the way in silence and at a proper distance. No brushing arms or hands. And it was all my doing.
Bugger it.
~*~
COMMANDER ALLEN LEANED back on his chair after we told him about the German bomb and our speculations on what the Nazis might know about us. Or rather, I speculated about the Nazis. Roy remained unusually quiet, as if reluctant to discuss the subject. In fact, he hadn’t speculated about his theories on how the Nazis might know about us with me, either.
Allen’s icy blue eyes fixed on something on the wall as he clenched his fist over the desk. In his hardened expression, I caught a glimpse of what the enemy must be facing on a battlefield. A ruthless warrior who wouldn’t stop at anything to reach his goal.
“The investigators didn’t mention anything about a German-made bomb,” he muttered in a low, menacing tone. “They didn’t even tell me they found the damned timer. Those bastards.” He thumped a fist on the desk, causing a pen holder to topple over. “They don’t tell me anything, and yet there’s a spy among us.”
“Do you have the list of people who entered the mill on that day, sir?” Roy asked, regaining his composure again.
The question sobered Allen who loosened the collar of his uniform. “I have a copy. The original is in the hands of the royal military police, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave me an edited list with sensitive information removed. Those bastards are tighter than a Tory’s wallet.” He opened a folder and shoved it towards Roy from across the desk.
I angled my head to read the list. The names didn’t ring any bells. But then again, the scientists and technicians, who worked at the mill, used a private entrance and never mingled with us, and I didn’t know all the beasts. Only one name stuck out and almost caused a gasp to leave my mouth.
Peggy McTavish.
I pressed my lips together hard, not wanting to point out her name. Peggy was a rank higher than I was, but she shouldn’t have any reason or authorisation to enter the mill. Besides, she’d told me she’d been trapped in the dispensary before the explosion. A cold sensation dragged down my neck.
Roy gazed at me, likely wondering what the heck Peggy had to do with anything. There must be a reasonable explanation for that. Peggy wasn’t a terrorist or a Nazi sympathiser. I refused to believe that.
Allen straightened the pen holder and picked up the scattered pencils. “Corporal Sebastian Murphy wants to talk to you. He’s the principal investigator of the team of the royal military police roaming the grounds. He’s taken over Kenneth’s office to use it as his own for the duration of the investigation.” He gazed up, pinning Roy with his icy glare. “He isn’t an understanding man.”
“What would you like me to tell him, sir?” Roy didn’t flinch at the warning.
“Hell.” Allen dragged a hand over his face. “The truth. I don’t care what we tell him as long as I’m informed of every detail he knows.” His massive shoulders slumped, and he looked older than his fifty years, a lost expression on his warrior face. “If the Nazis know about the beasts, we’re facing a different type of warfare.” A heavy silence lingered until Allen recomposed himself and his usual commanding aura returned. “Go and see Murphy. Hopefully you’ll learn something important.”
When we left the room, Allen was slumped on his chair again, tired and broken. Sorrow and worry soured my mouth. But a nagging feeling pricked the back of my neck. There was something about the Nazi conspiracy theory that didn’t sound right, but the hell if I knew what.
“What do you think Murphy wants from you?” I asked while we headed towards Murphy’s office. “What if he wants to see you because he learned that you sneaked into the mill today?”
“I was very careful.” He cocked his head, a pinched expression on his face. “I might be distracted, but I’m not completely useless. The reason for Murphy to see me is about something else. By the way.” He touched my arm, but then withdrew his hand. Oh, bother. As usual, he went all down the opposite way. “Will you ask a few questions to Peggy? We can’t officially interrogate anyone, but she’s your friend.”
I nodded. “I will.”
“I can’t believe she’s a criminal, but we must check.”
“I agree.” We resumed walking at a proper distance. “Should I wait for you here?”
“No. I want you next to me.”
Ah, the right words at the wrong time. If he’d said that earlier…
The bulky figure of Corporal Murphy was crouched over the polished oak desk in Kenneth’s office. His golden eyes gave him away as a beast, and his copper-coloured hair was trimmed short, like every other soldier. Interesting. The government didn’t trust the beasts, but Murphy was considered trustworthy enough to carry out such a delicate investigation.
He studied us, as if pondering where to stab us first, and closed the folder in front of him. The dark suit he was wearing creased over his bulging biceps and stretched over his wide shoulders tightly. He didn’t need the extra strength of his beast to break a neck. A beast, through and through. “Mr Roy Turner and Miss Kristin Easterwood.” His deep voice rumbled into the room.
The way he said our names, he sounded like the headmaster of a school, who had summoned two naughty students to his office. And I wasn’t even sure I should be there. And blimey, he knew my name.
“Agent Connor George has spoken highly of both of you,” Murphy said. If he expected a reaction from Roy, he was sorely disappointed. Roy remained serious and cold, not a muscle twitched. “I read the report you wrote,” he continued after Roy didn’t say a word. “The one on Kristallnacht was particularly interesting.”