Chapter 21 #2
“OK, I’ll tell you. But you have to promise not to say a word to anyone. And when I say anyone, I mean it. Not Kate, not Olivia. This has to stay between us.”
Again, I saw a flicker of concern in Henry’s eyes, which sent an uncomfortable twinge shooting through my chest. I hadn’t caused him or the hotel any trouble in the past few weeks, but he still didn’t trust me. Old habits die hard.
“Can I count on you?” I pressed.
He looked at me. “I won’t say anything. I promise.”
The kettle started to hiss, and I poured the hot water into the two mugs I’d prepared, setting them on Henry’s desk before sitting down opposite him. “I’m guessing you’re up to date on Amy Claymore’s accident?”
“I know the police still aren’t getting anywhere, if that’s what you mean.”
“Yeah. And you’ve heard about the missing video footage?”
He nodded, clearly curious about where this was going.
“I just spoke to Hank. He explained to me how the security cameras work, and confirmed that they were still working fine on the afternoon of the gala. Which suggests someone deleted the footage to cover up something about the accident. But there are only three people who have access to that data.”
My words didn’t seem to surprise Henry. It was as if he’d heard it all before. He stirred his tea. “We both know whose fingerprints are all over this.”
“Have you tried talking to him about it?” I didn’t have to say our dad’s name for him to know who I was talking about.
“Of course. He denies everything.”
I waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. “And you just let it go?”
“What was I supposed to do? I have no proof, and it isn’t my job to solve this case. I couldn’t, anyway. I’m not an investigator. I told the police everything I know. The rest is their job.”
My fingers tightened around the mug handle.
“Only they’re not doing their job. The police have completely abandoned Grace and her family, and they aren’t looking into it at all.
That’s why I’m here. Grace has started investigating herself, because she thinks someone paid the police off. And I want to try to help her.”
I had promised Grace I wouldn’t tell anyone about her break-in, but I hadn’t said I wouldn’t mention her investigation.
I knew I was risking betraying her trust, but I wouldn’t go behind Henry’s back, even to help her.
He was my brother, after all, and I didn’t want to jeopardise our newly improved relationship by breaking into his office to get those lists.
Besides, he was trustworthy. If he promised not to talk to anyone about this, I believed him.
He held my gaze for a moment before silently opening his laptop. Less than a minute later, my phone buzzed with a notification—a new email. He had sent me the lists.
Henry closed his laptop and reached for his tea. Without a word, he fished out the tea bag and took a sip. How he didn’t burn his tongue was beyond me. “What’s going on with you and Grace? Kate told me you two had a little adventure in the hotel pool.”
“Tell your girlfriend she’s a gossip.”
Henry laughed. “I’ll pass that on, but that doesn’t answer my question.”
“You seem to already know the answer. We ran into each other at the rooftop bar, and one thing led to another.” Even though it was the truth, it still felt like a lie.
It hadn’t just been the chance encounter that had led to our time together in the pool.
It had been all the moments before, the arguments and conversations, the stolen glances and confessions we’d shared in the days leading up to it.
All of it had made it feel like something more, something it shouldn’t have been. “I just want to help her.”
Henry frowned. “Why?”
“Have I really been such a shitty person these past few years that it’s so hard to believe I just want to see justice done?
” The honest answer was probably yes. But I still wanted to help Grace find her sister’s killer.
Otherwise, she’d never be able to come to terms with what had happened.
She deserved to heal, to finally feel better again.
At least, that was what I told myself was my reason for helping her.
It had nothing to do with the fact that I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head.
“No, you weren’t a shitty person, just a pretty selfish one,” Henry said.
“I mean, you didn’t ask me once last year how I was doing, or how I was coping with everything.
You never offered to help like you did the other day.
And I really could have done with your emotional support.
Maybe that would have been too much to ask, given how things were between us, but—”
“No, you could have asked,” I cut him off before he could take the entire blame for our situation.
It was my fault. Or at least we were both responsible.
After all, neither of us had dared talk to the other.
“This is my family too. My hotel. I might not love The Darlington the way you do, but I could have been more involved. I could have at least tried to cause less trouble. But I’m trying to do better.
I want to be more than the next fucked-up headline about this fucked-up family. ”
“Ethan!” Henry’s tone was sharp, and my first instinct was to apologise for my language.
But when I looked into his eyes, eyes so similar to mine, I realised that wasn’t what he meant.
“You’re already more than those headlines.
You don’t have to prove that to anyone. The press doesn’t know you.
They only report on the parts of your life that sell best. Their headlines don’t define who you are.
” He stressed every word, as if trying to hammer it into me, syllable by syllable.
“You have so much potential. And it makes me happy that you’re finally not wasting it anymore.
Not because of the headlines, but for yourself.
You deserve more than you’ve ever allowed yourself to have. ”
I took a deep breath, but didn’t speak. Because between what Henry wanted to see in me and what I saw in myself lay worlds that words could never bridge. Our dad had made sure of that long ago.