‘Does she ever use drugs?’ Kim asked.
‘Never,’ Daryl said. ‘She smoked up until her pregnancy with Mia. She’s secretly having the odd one now and again without me knowing,’ he said, allowing a fond smile to form on his face. The second he realised it was there, it disappeared.
‘I should have met her. She called me…’
His words trailed away as both Zach and Gavin looked at him.
So she’d wanted some peace and quiet, but she’d also wanted some time with her husband.
‘I couldn’t get out…I was working…’
‘The bloody business,’ Zach spat. ‘You were too busy to meet her because you were working at the family fucking business.’
Kim heard the sneer in the last three words.
So did Gavin, who tried to catch his husband’s eye.
‘It’s not even your fucking family.’
‘Zach,’ Gavin warned.
Kim saw the hurt cross Daryl’s face before it set hard.
‘Doesn’t matter how hard you try, you’re never going to be as much a part of this family as you want to be. You’re not blood, and if you want the truth, my parents only tolerated you because—’
‘Zach,’ Gavin warned stonily, seemingly the only person to have remembered that the man’s wife was fighting for her life on the operating table.
‘Well, it’s true,’ Zach mumbled, determined to have the last word.
Daryl’s thunderous expression said he wasn’t going to allow that.
‘Maybe if you had been a bit more interested in the business, your father wouldn’t have had to—’
‘Didn’t really have the chance, did I? You were sniffing around it before you’d even walked Rachel down the aisle. She must have seemed like a real attractive prospect.’
‘How dare you!’ Daryl exploded, colouring.
Gavin had accepted defeat and had returned his gaze to the window.
‘Please,’ Kim said, holding up her hand. ‘I’m sure Rachel needs you to be strong for her right now. Not to mention little Mia.’
Both men shot each other a hateful look. There was much more that they wanted to say to one another, but thankfully they heeded her words for now.
Kim knew there was little else she could do. Right now, it was a waiting game.
Following her chat with Della Porter, she had questions for Zach, but now was not the time.
‘Zach, may we pop and see you first thing in the morning? Just a question or two.’
‘About what?’ he asked, frowning.
‘Just about the last time you saw your parents before they died.’
‘Feel free to ask, Inspector.’
‘It’s fine. We’ll drop by in the morning.’
‘Please, ask away. The sooner you catch the monster, the better we’ll all sleep.’