Sinead nodded. “Aye. Aye, he will, it’s just…” She took a breath, suddenly aware that all eyes in the room were on her. “Tyler and I need to take some time off. Tyler, mostly. But I won’t be around for a few days, either. Maybe a bit longer.”

Ben gave a half-laugh, like he had just heard a joke that he didn’t quite understand, but didn’t want to look like an idiot. “Time off?” he said. “I thought the honeymoon had been postponed? You came back in.”

“Not… it’s not for a honeymoon, sir,” Sinead said. She ran both hands up the sides of her face and through her hair. “I should wait until Tyler’s here. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Ben sat on the desk again, bringing him closer to the DC’s height. “Sinead, what is it?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just, eh…”

Ben indicated Logan’s office at the back of the room. “Want to discuss this through there?”

Sinead stole a glance at Hamza. His face was a picture of concern. So much so, in fact, that she felt tears welling up behind her eyes, and a shake creeping into her voice.

“It’s fine, sir. It’s just…” She cleared her throat. Gave herself a mental slap across the face. Shook her metaphorical shoulders. “It’s about Tyler,” she announced. Composed. Professional. “I’m afraid we recently got a bit of bad news.”

* * *

Detective Superintendent Gordon Mackenzie—better known to polis far and wide as ‘The Gozer’—looked up from his computer screen and came dangerously close to jumping all the way out of his skin.

“Fuck!” he yelped, and his distress pleased the man standing on the other side of his desk immensely. “Where did you come from, you creepy big bastard?”

“Hell of a welcome that, Gordon,” Logan said. “Nice to see you, too.”

“That’s Detective Superintendent Mackenzie to the likes of you,” the Gozer said. He stood, smiled, and shook the hand of the much larger DCI. “What brings you down this way, Jack? You looking for your old job back?”

“No, I’m looking for yours,” Logan replied, which drew a derisory snort from the Detective Superintendent.

“Aye, we both know that’s not true. You’d be bloody welcome to it, though.” He motioned for Logan to take a seat, then lowered himself into his own. “You’re looking well. All that fresh air agreeing with you?”

“It has its moments,” Logan said.

“Enjoying the peace and quiet up there?”

It was Logan’s turn to be amused. “I wouldn’t exactly call it that,” he said.

“Keeping busy, then?”

“I’m keeping my hand in, aye,” Logan confirmed, then they both lapsed into a slightly uncomfortable silence that involved a lot of nodding and smiling from the senior officer.