“How long is he going to be?” Benjamin asked.
Sid turned back to him and over his shoulder, spotted the probation officer emerging from the main gate.Shit. Fresh panic surged and he gripped Benjamin’s arm. “I don’t know. I gave him a big list. Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t know the probation bloke was still doing home visits.”
“It’s okay.” Benjamin frowned at Sid’s hand cutting the blood supply to his wrist. “We’ll figure it out. This kind of thing must happen all the time.”
It made sense, but Sid was beyond reason. He let Benjamin go and watched him intercept Dante’s probation officer. Their exchange was short and jovial. The probation officer had an easy grin—for Benjamin, at least.
A heartbeat later, he approached Sid with a keen gaze that made Sid squirm. “Where did you send Dante in town?”
“Supermarket. And the shopping centre.”
“What for?”
“Clothes. He needed some extra as he came out of prison with fuck all, and we’re around the same size, so I figured he could shop for both of us.”
The probation officer smiled. “Dante needed a little persuading to shop for himself?”
Sid nodded, pursing his lips.
“And to visit the shopping centre in general, I’d imagine. He still finds crowded places difficult, doesn’t he?”
“I think so. He doesn’t talk about that stuff much.”
“If he talks about it at all, then you’re doing something right. Will you have him call me when he gets back? I’m in the office all afternoon.”
“Sure.” Sid forced himself to return the probation officer’s smile. “It might not be until later, though. I gave him some other stuff to do as well.”
“That’s okay. Tomorrow morning is fine, but I do need to speak with him by then, just to check in as he hasn’t responded to my calls in the last twenty-four hours.”
“His phone broke,” Sid lied. “That’s one of the other things he’s doing.”
“Did he drop it?”
“No. I did.”
“Fair enough.” The probation officer turned to leave, then seemed to change his mind. He spun back to Sid and fixed him with a stare Dante would’ve been proud of. “You know I’m here to help, don’t you? If there’s ever a problem, I’ll do everything I can to resolve it before further action is taken.”
Benjamin joined them as the probation officer finished speaking. He shot Sid a quizzical glance.
Sid ignored him and forced another smile. “There’s no problem. I’ll get Dante to call you in the morning.”
The probation officer left. Sid tracked him as he crossed the estate and exited through the gate, then let out a long breath, forgetting Benjamin was there.
Benjamin raised his brows again. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“So?”
“So tell me the truth.”
“There is no truth. Dante didn’t know he was coming, so he didn’t know to be here. They’ll catch up tomorrow.”
Benjamin held Sid’s gaze. As tolerant as he was of Sid’s abrasive demeanour, he was a man who didn’t take kindly to bullshit. “There’ll be consequences if he doesn’t. You know that, right?”
“What does it matter what I know? It’s not my business, and it’s not yours either.”