Guards slammed into Rory with riot shields, and batons struck him. He weakened, and the fight left him as quickly as it had come. They dragged him out of the room, down the corridor, down endless dark tunnels until he ended up in a concrete box on his own.

Only then did he scream. Scream until his throat spasmed with agony, then he fell silent.

****

Rory had his hands on the table, and for the first time, they were cuffed. He stared at them instead of looking at Hamish.

“You didn’t tell me.”

“We thought it was for the best.”

Rory tipped his head back and released a laugh. It hurt his throat and crackled as it left him, and he closed his eyes and relished the throb of agony.

“You didn’t tell me my sister had died.”

“You were doing so well. I didn’t want to—”

“You sat here last time, told me my dad would be proud, that I was doing a great job, and you knew she was in the morgue. You didn’t say a thing.”

“Rory—”

“And I find out in an art class, three weeks after …and then I’m locked in a concrete box for two weeks.”

“I didn’t know you were in solitary.”

“I asked to speak to the governor, but the guards ignored me, and I went crazy in that room.”

Rory flexed his fingers, bruised and split from lashing out at the wall. They warned him repeatedly he had to stop or they’d put him in the jacket.

“And now I feel nothing, absolutely nothing.”

He hurt, he ached, his knuckles throbbed with fire, but he was emotionally dead. His heart still beat, but it had been poisoned with grief.

“You were doing so well with Sebastian Claw, and there was nothing you could’ve done for your sister.”

“Nothing I could have done?”

“She and her partner died instantly in the crash.”

“Danny, his name’s Danny.”

“It was a tragic accident, and she was placed in the morgue for when you got out.”

“Is that your idea of a welcome back present?”

Hamish hung his head. “I really am sorry.”

“Sorry that she’s dead, or sorry for not telling me?”

“Both.”

Rory leaned forward. “You can shove your apology up your ass. It’s not gonna bring her back, is it.”

“No.”

“I love my sister, she’s all I’ve got in the world, and now she’s gone, and I’m alone.”

“You’re not alone, you’ve got me, you’ve the whole police force, we’re your family.”

“You don’t keep massive secrets like that from people you care about.”

“You do when it’s for the best.”