The Grand Pact (The Grand Men #1)(93)

“Luce.”

I sigh, not knowing how much more I can take in one night. “What?”

“Just forget about it today, okay? Get some sleep, and I’ll take you out tomorrow. I’m just annoyed I’m not going with Alec. It was a big job I blew off for you.”

With the guilt of what I’ve done festering within me, I nod my head and disappear into the bedroom.

I call Elliot five times, but unsurprisingly, he doesn’t answer.

Tomorrow morning, I’m going home.





“Lucy. Lucy.”

My eyes snap open to find Maxwell standing over me.

“Lucy, get up. Alec’s in the hospital.”

I sit up in the bed, fear making my heart pound. “What? What’s happened?”

Maxwell throws me a hoodie, and I slide my arms in. “I don’t know, he was followed home and Polly’s missing. He’s in the hospital now.”

“What?”

“Get up.”

I dash around the bedroom to get ready, then rush down the stairs. Out on the street, Maxwell waves down a taxi, and I stand beside him with my heart in my throat, my brain not quite caught up as I fully rouse from sleep.

Polly’s missing?

Elliot.

Oh God, Elliot.

What have I done?

Maxwell looks down at me once we’re seated in the taxi. His face instantly softens. “Come here.”

He pulls me under his arm, and I fall into him, knowing I don’t deserve his pity.

We arrive at the hospital and are shown to a waiting room, where Maxwell leaves me almost immediately. “I’ll be back,” he utters, and I watch his back as he disappears through the doors.

I wrap my arms around my body as the room falls silent. My eyes scan the seats, the water machine and plant in the corner of the room. I move to sit down, feeling like I’m having an out-of-body experience.

After a few minutes, a police officer enters the room, knocking the doors into the wall as he throws them open in an obvious rage. I sit up straighter as adrenaline pulses through me.

“Sorry,” he gives me a tight smile as he realises he isn’t alone, regaining some composure as he steps further into the room.

“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath, locking his hands on the back of his head.

I can tell he’s just arrived by the way his chest works and the despair at being placed in the waiting room.

Just as he takes a seat opposite me, the doors open again, and a man in dark-blue scrubs walks in.

The policeman stands straight back up.

“Murley Wright’s next of kin?”

“Yes,” he tells him.

“She’s waking up. You can see her now.”

They leave the room, and I smile to myself, knowing his turmoil might be over soon.

I wait for fifteen minutes, then decide to go and find Maxwell.

I want to go home.

I have to find Elliot.

I walk down the corridor, trying to be respectful with my gaze as I look around for him.

I notice a room in the middle of the corridor. I’m only drawn to it because it’s heavily guarded on the outside, the blinds pulled tight on the windows.

I wonder if there could be someone dangerous inside.

Why else would they have guards on the door?

Just as I pass, the door eases open, and I can’t help myself as I peer through the thin gap. I see the policeman from before and frown, and then see someone else, right before the door is wrenched closed.

I shake my head, clearly mistaken.

I’m tired and shaken from the night before.

There’s no way that was Polly.

“Excuse me,” I say to one of the guards. “Could you tell me who’s in that room? It’s just my friend Polly might be missing and—”

“This is a police matter. Please, move along immediately.”

I frown at his tone, stepping back and walking forward a couple of steps. At the other end of the corridor, I spot Maxwell being shown into a cubicle. I quickly make my way to him.

“I’ll have it ready for Felix. Go back to—”

“Hi,” I say, poking my head into the cubicle. “Are you okay?”

Alec is sitting on the edge of the bed, his legs dangling. He looks to be okay bar a nasty cut that sits just below his eye.

“I’m okay. You didn’t need to come down here.” He looks at Maxwell, annoyed.

Maxwell started working full-time with Alec when he moved into the house. They’ve spent the past month working all the hours in the day, and it’s one of the main reasons that Maxwell’s been so snappy. He’s stressed and tired. I can see it in his face. Hear it in the way he speaks to me.

“I wanted to come,” I assure him. “Where’s Polly?”

Alec’s jaw clenches, and he looks to the floor. “I don’t know. She wasn’t home when I left earlier.”

I frown, rolling my lips. “What? How don’t you know?”

“Come on, we should go.”

Maxwell takes my hand and tries to guide me from the cubicle, but I frown and pull away.

“When did you last see her?” I question.

“She left me a note.” Alec looks across at me. “She went home to see her mum. She does this sometimes.”