Chapter 46
Sophie was cleaning up after dinner when she saw the police car turn into the driveway.
She put the pan in the drying rack and watched as Jimmy Galatas got out and put his hat on.
Her first instinct was to assume there’d been an accident, but the kids were safe in their rooms and Ryan was watching the Raiders game in the lounge room.
She dried her hands on a tea towel as she walked to the doorway. Ryan was sitting in his armchair.
‘The police—’
He raised one hand to silence her, his eyes still on the screen. ‘Go! Go! Go!’ he shouted, then, ‘Ah shit, he lost it.’ He turned to her. ‘What?’
There was a knock at the door.
‘It’s the cops,’ she said again.
Ryan frowned. ‘The cops?’
She nodded.
‘What the hell …’ he muttered as he got up and opened the door. The porch light reflected off Jimmy’s shiny leather jacket.
‘Evening, Jimmy. To what do I owe the pleasure?’ Ryan said. Sophie listened from the kitchen door.
‘I’m here about some emails sent to Poppy Berry,’ Jimmy said.
Sophie’s heart pounded.
‘Who?’ Ryan asked.
‘Lauren and Steve Berry’s fifteen-year-old daughter. She’s been receiving anonymous emails. Threatening ones.’
Ryan shook his head. ‘What’s that got to do with me?’
‘We traced the IP address to this location.’
‘What does that mean in English?’
‘It means that the emails were sent from a computer at this address.’
‘Bloody Charlie,’ Ryan muttered under his breath. Sophie’s stomach lurched. ‘Charlie! Get out here!’
She winced at the sharp edge in his voice.
‘My oldest boy was in a fight with their kid last week,’ Ryan explained as he waited for Charlie to appear.
Charlie came down the hall, gave Sophie a nervous glance, then walked tentatively to his father at the front door.
‘The cops are saying something about anonymous emails. What do you know about that?’
Charlie shook his head, clearly confused. ‘I don’t know, nothing.’
Ryan eyeballed him. ‘You haven’t been sending emails to Leo Berry’s sister?’
‘No, I swear, Dad. I haven’t!’ There was a desperate tremor in his voice.
Jimmy looked from Charlie to Ryan. ‘Look, this is just a warning to whoever’s been sending the emails. They need to stop,’ he said, directing the comment to Ryan rather than Charlie.
When Ryan shut the door, he turned to Charlie, glaring into his son’s wide eyes.
‘Listen here.’ He jabbed his finger into Charlie’s chest. ‘I don’t need the bloody cops coming around here, so you make sure it doesn’t happen again. Got it?’
‘Yes, Dad.’ Charlie nodded. ‘But I didn’t do it, Dad.’
Sophie saw Ryan’s temper flare. His jaw twitched. She willed Charlie to stop talking.
After a long moment, Ryan spoke again. ‘Go to your room.’
As Charlie hurried down the hall, Sophie let out a shaky breath.