Lucy considered the question a moment. “You should keep it,” she said, finally.
“But, that money, it’s not mine.”
“Well, it is now,” Lucy said. “Use it to get yourself back on your feet.”
ON HER WAY to the hospital, Lucy stopped at Robbie’s. He was working in the garden, trying to clear weeds from the flowerbed close to the road. The soil was baked hard with the heat, his trowel making little impact on its surface.
“Hey, stranger,” he said, standing as she approached, his hands fitting instinctively into the back pockets of his jeans.
“It’s looking good.”
They both glanced at the bed, thick with dandelions and dock leaves.
“So, how have you been?”
Lucy nodded. “Okay. Busy.”
“I thought you were,” Robbie said. “Ever since I asked you to move in. Or I hoped you were. That you weren’t just ignoring me. Not calling.”
“You didn’t call me,” Lucy protested.
“I was giving you space,” he said. “I didn’t want to be pressurizing you.”
Lucy knew her comment had been an unfair one. Even had he called, she wasn’t sure she’d have answered. Not until she’d made her mind up.
“I’ve had the house redecorated,” she said. “My dad’s house.”
“Really?” Robbie’s face brightened. “To sell it?”
Lucy shook her head. “No. I just felt it was time. He’s not coming back.”
“You’re staying where you are then?”
“I’m sorry,” Lucy said. “It’s not that I don’t want to be with you. I just . . . I’m just not ready to move in. I like things the way they are at the moment.”
“I don’t,” Robbie said simply. “I want you here, with me, every day.”
Lucy smiled sadly. “I appreciate that, Robbie. But I’m not ready for it just yet.”
“What are you afraid of? What do you think might happen?”
“Nothing.”
“You think we’ll fight?”
“No.”
“You don’t want to be with me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then why not move in with me?”
“I can’t be responsible for you, Robbie!” she said finally.
“You’re not responsible for me,” he said, moving toward her.
“I feel like shit every time I see your leg, every time I see you limp. I feel constantly guilty. And do you know why? Because I am guilty. I’m sorry for what happened to you. I wish it had been me. But I don’t want to confuse guilt with love. And when I move in with you, Robbie, it will because I know for certain that it’s because I love you, not because I feel sorry for you.”
“Sorry for me? I don’t want your pity, Lucy,” Robbie snapped.
“That’s not what I meant,” Lucy protested, moving toward him.
Robbie stepped back from her, his hands raised. “Don’t! You know what, I think you’re right. Moving in would be a terrible idea. I don’t think I could stand the looks of sympathy every day,” he snapped.
“I’m sorry, Robbie,” Lucy said.
“That’s all I hear from you, Lucy. How sorry you are. Maybe it’s time you changed the tune. Start living.”
He turned from her and went inside the house, closing the door behind him. Lucy stood in the garden, feeling suddenly alone.
GRACE WAS ALREADY coming through the foyer by the time Lucy made it to the hospital. She looked younger than her age, her frame narrow, her hair tied back from her face which still bore the marks of the beating Thompson had given her.
She smiled lightly when she saw Lucy. “Are you in visiting someone?” she asked.
“I’m here to see you,” Lucy explained, causing the girl to blush. “I thought you’d want a leaving party for getting out.”
“Are you my armed protection?”
“You don’t need one,” Lucy said. “The guy who did this? His wife reported him. He’s been arrested.”
She could see the girl’s shoulders slump slightly in relief, though she said nothing.
“So? What do you fancy for your party?” Lucy asked.
“I’d murder a burger,” Grace admitted.
“I think we can manage that,” Lucy said, taking her bag from her.
“Are you all right?” Grace asked. “You look like you’ve been crying.”
Lucy shook her head. “I’m okay,” she lied.
Grace stayed where she stood a moment, even after Lucy had started moving toward the main doors.
“And what then?” Grace asked, as if afraid to step out through the doors, into the sunlight beyond. “After we eat?”
“Then?” Lucy repeated, moving back and linking arms with her. “Then we’re going home.”
Acknowledgments
I’M INDEBTED TO a number of people for their help with various aspects of this book. My sincere thanks to Tara Vance, Dr. Ciaran Mullan, Mark Quigley, Bob McKimm, and Michael McAleer. I also owe belated thanks to Fr. Paddy O’Kane for his assistance in a previous work.
My thanks to all the team in Constable & Robinson, most especially my editor, James Gurbutt, and to the team at Witness Impulse: Dan, Margaux, and Emily.
Particular thanks to Jenny Hewson in RCW and Emily Hickman in The Agency for their invaluable support and guidance over the past number of years.
Thanks to the McGilloways, Dohertys, O’Neills, and Kerlins for their help and support, especially Carmel, Joe and Dermot, and my parents, Laurence and Katrina, for all that they have done and continue to do.
Finally, my love and thanks to my wife Tanya, to whom this book is dedicated, and to our children, Ben, Tom, David, and Lucy.
About the Author
Brian McGilloway is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Inspector Benedict Devlin and DS Lucy Black series. He lives near the Irish borderlands with his wife, daughter, and three sons.
www.brianmcgilloway.com
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Also by Brian McGilloway
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A version of The Forgotten Ones has been published as Preserve the Dead by Constable & Robinson in Great Britain.
THE FORGOTTEN ONES. Copyright © 2015 by Brian McGilloway. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition AUGUST 2015 ISBN: 9780062336729
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062336736
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