Page 13 of Criminally Yours

Hugo attempted to shove his foot against the door, but Strike leaned his full weight against it.

“But—"

“Understood,” the officer replied. “I’ll monitor her car and wait for her return.”

Strike slammed the door closed. His boots thumped the lino-covered floor. He yanked the cupboard open and gave her a dead-eyed stare. “What happened? Who stabbed that guy?”

“Your boss’s son.” She crawled out of the cupboard. “I need to go.”

He rocked on his heels. “You’re not going anywhere without me. You need me.”

And for the second time that evening, he grabbed her hand and took control.

CHAPTER 6

Millie

Breathing in the oppressive air, Millie tightened herself into a ball in the hidden compartment under the seat of Strike’s blacked-out four-by-four. Sneaking her into it after he’d driven the car into the garage so he could “pack the last of his boxes” was a good idea, but she wasn’t giving him credit for anything else.

As they backed out of the driveway, the policeman said something indistinguishable. From what she picked up, the officer, or possibly Hugo, insisted Strike open his window.

She held her breath. Tears brimmed her eyes, but she refused to cry as they rifled through the boot.

“As I said, I’m on my own,” Strike responded. Although he’d changed physically, and his personality made him appear removed, there were aspects of the old him pushing through the cracks.

The officer mumbled something.

“I hope you find her,” Strike replied. A whirring sound filled the car as it meandered down the road. “Millie, I’ll let you out on the edge of town once we’re safely away from people.”

She wriggled, stretching her hands and feet. She’d heard everything when the police officer was at his front door.

Her hatred of him wasn’t abating, but the way he’d covered for her suggested she could trust him, at least with this, although his comment about her barely leaving her apartment stung.

He didn’t deserve to know anything about her.

But she needed him in order to escape. She’d left everything apart from her now smashed phone and fidget tool in her car.

She took a breath. The hidden compartment was only big enough for a large man, so at least she wasn’t claustrophobic.

It was as dark as the night of the camping trip she’d taken with Caleb, the night they first kissed. As stars filled the sky, he’d asked her to be his girlfriend. It was the second-best night of her life.

It was hard to believe the same guy had explained tonight’s plan briefly before acting it out with military precision.

Her parents didn’t talk about him. Her mum never liked him, although their dads were close. It was ironic that even though she’d given up medicine for him initially, the truth was she’d never wanted to study it.

He had been an excuse. When she’d declared to him she wanted to study at his university, it was more like a way out. Caleb hadn’t just been an opportunity to get away from her parents and have agency over her future, but she’d thought it would help. Instead, her mum had believed her decision was based on an infatuation and whim.

With her hands tight by her side, she wriggled her forehead to try and secure her glasses, huffing when they dropped down her nose again.

I need a distraction.

She ticked off plans in her head for which clientsshe needed to tell she was taking a break and who to contact in her absence.

But the memory of Strike demanding obedience as he shouted at her to get in the cupboard, his biceps flexing and his eyes piercing, sneaked into the recesses of her mind, warming her cheeks.

The car slowed to a stop. It was only when she tasted a coppery metallic tang that she realised she’d bit the inside of her mouth while thinking about his demands.

Leather creaked as Strike opened the seat.