43. She Puzzled It Out

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GWEN

I loved jigsaw puzzles as a kid.

Every so often, Mum would stumble home with a new box she'd picked up from the second-hand store, toss it at me, and tell me to leave her alone. She'd said that a lot. No bother. I'd spread all the jigsaw pieces on the kitchen table and rummage around in the mess to find the corners. Then, I'd slot together all the straight lines to frame the outside. The middle had always taken the longest, but the days squinting at a thousand bumpy edges had always been worth it when I'd popped in that final piece.

Somewhere in the last few months—maybe longer—my life had turned into a jigsaw.

Me, Toby, Ian, and Kayleigh were the corners. I'd pieced together most of the straight lines that joined us together. Clusters of Ian's schemes were starting to take shape in the middle. Ian had hired Kayleigh, dangled her like bait under Toby's nose, and waited until his best friend was blind enough—lonely enough—to stumble after her right into his trap. Ian had lied and lied and lied...

But...

Why?

"Gwen." Cautious fingers touched my leg. "Seatbelt."

My head whipped around. "Huh?"

Toby was sitting in the driver's seat, waiting. "Seatbelt, doll." His lips tipped up in a cautious smile. "Safety first."

"Oh. Yeah," I mumbled. "Sorry." It took two attempts to tug on my seatbelt and click it into place. My mind was still lost in all the swirling possibilities of why. Vaguely, I registered that we still needed to move. I flicked a glance at Toby.

His brows were pinched together, mouth speared down in a frown. "What happened in court was good...right?"

"Yeah, that was a good outcome." True. "It would've been better if Kayleigh had conceded to the order and saved everyone a full hearing, but I guess she's decided to put us through the wringer... Probably hoping we'll give up..." I scoffed. In their dreams. Those tactics might scare other people off, but they wouldn't work on me. Bring it.

"Then why aren't you smiling?" Toby asked. "You're quiet. You've got your thinking face on. Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Lots of 'somethings', actually.

Toby raked a hand through his hair. "Is it because the lawyers were arguing about Ian refusing to hand over the security footage?"

"More than that. Ian's lawyered up. That's not how people usually react unless they've got something to hide," I said. "He's worried. There's something in that footage he doesn't want anyone to see. Where exactly are the security cameras in the clinic?"

Toby paused, thinking a moment before jabbing the ignition button. The car hummed to life. "The cameras are mostly in the common areas. The waiting room. Hallways. Outside the changing rooms." He lifted a shoulder. "In the carpark."

"Treatment areas?"

"Nah. Patient privacy and all that."

"How long does the security company keep the footage?" He flicked a confused look at me, so I added, "Do they wipe the footage every day... Every month...?"

"I have no idea," he said. "Does it matter?"

"Maybe. It obviously matters to Ian. And that's..." Strange—that's what it was. Rather than plow through the thoughts alone in my head, I turned to Toby. "Here's my thinking..."

His face brightened. "You're going to talk it out with me?"

"Yeah." I smiled back at him. "We're in this together, right?"

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