Chapter 21
NOW
Late August
Wednesday
The drive home passed in a blur. My foot pressed heavier on the accelerator than usual, in my eagerness to put distance between me and Blackwater Stables.
I couldn’t believe I’d done that. Broken in. Stolen records.
My eyes flicked from the road ahead to the rear-view mirror, my stomach churning.
There was nothing behind me. No headlights, no flashing blue lights. Yet my pulse didn’t ease. When had I become this?
I shook my head.
When Charlotte had taken everything.
I forced myself to slow as I reached the outskirts of Swanage, despite the urge to keep pressing on. Getting away with breaking into the stables would be pointless if I got myself pulled over for speeding.
I turned into the car park in front of the flats and pulled into my space. I cut the engine and sat for a moment, concealed in darkness.
My gaze lifted to the interior light that was still switched off. I flicked it back on. An unexpected hint of relief settled in my chest at the restoration of a tiny piece of normality.
I turned my head and looked out across the dimly lit car park. A familiar prickle crept across my skin at the thought of stepping back out into the darkness.
It’s not the same, I reminded myself as I forced myself to move.
I stepped out of the car and hurried across the quiet car park, keys already in my hand. I fumbled slightly as I unlocked the main door, before slipping inside.
The stair rail rattled as I grabbed it, hauling myself up, my legs shaky beneath me.
As soon as I stepped into my flat, I flicked on the hall light, then crossed to the living room and did the same, pausing only to adjust the dimmer switch to maximum brightness.
Light flooded the room. Only then did I feel like I could breathe.
‘It’s okay,’ I murmured to the empty room. ‘I’m okay.’
My gaze swept the room until it landed on my laptop on the sofa. I dropped down beside it, dragging it towards me, jamming the USB drive in before it had even finished booting up.
I kicked off my trainers, tucked my feet beneath me and pulled the laptop onto my lap. My fingers drummed against the cool metal as I waited.
‘Come on,’ I muttered.
Finally, the log-in screen appeared. I tapped in my code and dragged the cursor straight to Windows Explorer. My body tensed as I waited for the drive to open.
What if I’d corrupted the data?
What if yanking it out like that, before it had finished uploading, had destroyed everything?
What if all of this had been for nothing?
The screen sprang to life. Folders filling the space. Accounts. Customers. Invoices. Payroll. Vet.
I closed my eyes, trying to calm the pounding in my chest.
They were all here. I got them.
I clicked into the first folder and opened a spreadsheet. I nodded at the familiar layout. It was exactly as I remembered it. Basic, but functional. Just about.
I scrolled down. Payments in. Payments out. Nothing unusual.
I opened another folder. Invoices this time. A mixture of Word documents, PDFs and JPEG scans. I flicked through them one after another. Some were typed, some were handwritten and scanned, some were clearly duplicated copies saved too many times.
It was messy. Disorganised. I rolled my eyes. Nothing had changed there either.
There had to be a reason Charlotte hadn’t wanted me involved in the stables admin. A reason she was meeting the vet.
I clicked into the Vet folder. More PDFs. Treatment notes. Invoices. Medication logs. Breeding records. I scanned them quickly. It all looked normal. Some invoices were higher, but that wasn’t unusual. Vet costs fluctuated. Emergencies happened.
I dragged a hand across my face, frustration building. I’d broken in for this? For a few spreadsheets and records I didn’t fully understand?
I switched folders again, selecting Customers this time. Boarding invoices. Sales records. File after file.
Nothing. It was all—
My chest tightened as I frowned at a scanned document. I leaned forward, my gaze narrowed, locked on the bottom of the page.
A signature.
My stomach dropped.
My signature.