‘Typical Healys,’ he said. ‘Bad people. Violent. You see, Tammy.’
Just then, there was a growl of an engine, and a beat-up SUV pulled up next to the house. Haze stepped out.
‘Finally,’ Conor said. ‘Thanks for heading over, Haze.’
But Haze didn’t look at Conor or even Tammy’s dad. His eyes were fixed on Shay.
‘Shay Healy,’ he said, a burning intensity in his voice. ‘You have betrayed the members of this community. We’re built on anonymity. On safety. This is asanctuary! No-one has the right to bringanyonehere without my express permission. You are to leave first thing tomorrow. Do you understand? Pack your bags then leave. And never come back.’
Shay sighed and nodded. Inside he was howling, but his face remained impassive.
‘You don’t have to wait until tomorrow,’ he said simply. ‘I’m gone.’
He paused for a moment and looked straight at Tammy. How could he let her know just how much she meant to him? Although his brothers might not have known it, being at Liberty had been one of the happiest times of his life. Being able to be himself, around other Daddies and Littles, had been wonderful.
But now, he had to give it up. He did so willingly, to protect the woman he cared for more than anyone else in the world. But she’d never know.
For a moment, he felt as though tears were about to come. But just before they pricked his cheeks, he turned and left.
CHAPTER 11
Tammy barely slept that night. Her cold had pretty much gone – it had been nipped in the bud, thanks to the way Finn and Conor had looked after her. But even though she didn’t feel ill, she found it almost impossible to keep her eyes closed. Even with all her stuffies around her, and her warm red light next to her bed making her feel as safe as could be, she just couldn’t do it.
It just didn’t feel right. For starters, it was hard to sleep when she knew that her father was so close. Haze had decided that – because Vincent didn’t know about the tight security at Liberty – he wasn’t at fault for coming out to see his daughter. But hewasat fault for just about everything else.
So, Haze had told him that since it was late he could stay the night, albeit in one of the worst houses in the settlement. He’d leave the following day, just as long as Tammy confirmed that it’s what she wanted. In the meantime, Angel had been posted to guard him — Haze didn’t want Vincent bothering Tammy, or any of the other Littles, while he was here. He’d also asked Vincent to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement. It meant that he wasn’t allowed to share the location of Liberty, or any details about the place. To Tammy’s surprise, he’d signed the document without complaint.
The Non-Disclosure agreement didn’t help Tammy feel much better, though. She felt like everything had already been ruined, and the safety and sanctuary of this place had been destroyed.
Why had Shay done it? He knew how much she hated her father. The only possible conclusion was that he hated hersomuch that he wanted to ruin her life. He hated her so much that he didn’t care about ruining his own life, just so long as he ruined hers.
In her bed, this morning, looking up at a ceiling that was fast becoming home for her, she thought about Shay. Thought about the way he’d looked at her before leaving. So weirdly tender, so apologetic. For a moment, she had been convinced that he was about to break down and confess something to the crowd. But he didn’t. He just disappeared.
‘There are certain things that only a doctor knows.’
That’s what her father had said. The words had wormed their way into her brain like a virus.
‘Ugh. Don’t let him do this to you,’ Tammy said. But she knew, deep down, that he’d already affected her. Last night, despite the protestations of Finn and Conor, she’d decided to sleep alone. She’d just needed some space to think things through in her head.
Fat lot of good that had done. She was more confused than ever. And the most confusing thing of all was that she missedShay. It was absurd. It was dumb. It was maddening.
She rose, showered, had breakfast. Even with all the craziness of last night, she had a professional duty to carry out. And today was a big day — the results of everyone’s blood tests should be in.
Tammy checked her personal emails first. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting — something from Shay, maybe? — but there was nothing interesting. So, she opened her work email.
As predicted, the bloodwork had come back. It took a while to go through the whole lot. Everyone was clear of pathogens, which was great news. There were a couple of mild vitamin deficiencies, but nothing major. She would speak to Haze about handing out some multivitamins, to make sure everyone’s immune system was topped up.
Then, she got to Haze’s results.
‘Hmmm. This isn’t quite right.’
Hemoconcentration was present, and his cortisol levels were extremely elevated. There was no question — Haze was suffering from the physical effects of stress. And this sample had been taken well before the commotion last night. There was no chance that he’d be getting better.
Haze, for all his flamboyant strangeness, was the backbone of Liberty — like the spider at the center of the Liberty web. His mood, his ideas, affected everyone in the town. If he was stressed, it wouldn’t be long until that stress spread to everyone else living here.
In fact, as she checked over everyone else’s bloods one more time, it was clear that there were slightly elevated levels of cortisol present in almost everyone. Still within normal limits, which is why she’d missed it the first time, but there was a definite pattern.
She wondered whathercortisol levels were like. Right now, they had to be pretty damn high.