“Who’s on the phone? Dobby asked.
Sam swore. “Georgie.” He righted his phone, and she could see him and Dobby now.
“Is it Arthur?”
Sam hesitated and then nodded.
“We have to tell Amy,” Georgie said.
Amy might be estranged from her brother, but she deserved to know he was injured.
“Not yet,” Dobby said. “Not until we know more. All we know is he’s on a plane and being medically evacuated to Perth. Anything could happen en route.”
Meaning he could die. Georgie’s heart clenched as she thought about how she would feel if it was one of her brothers. She’d want to know immediately, but she could understand the sense of not worrying Amy unnecessarily.
“When will you know?”
“By tomorrow morning,” Dobby answered.
There was nothing Amy could do between now and the morning except worry. “But you’ll call her as soon as you know more?”
Dobby pressed his lips together. “I have to notify next of kin.”
“Which is their father?” Georgie guessed.
He nodded.
“Sam, you can tell her, right?”
He sighed. “Yeah. Brandon will kill me if I don’t.”
Good.
Cindy poked her head in the door. “Is everything all right, here?”
Georgie glanced at Sam.
“Let me talk to her.”
Georgie handed the phone over and went outside to overlook the canal while they spoke. Arthur was a few years older than Amy and they’d been estranged since Amy had left home at sixteen. They’d reconnected through Brandon, who was Arthur’s teammate, but though the two siblings had spoken a couple of times, they hadn’t seen each other in person. Arthur was supposed to come to the wedding, except he’d been called away on a mission. Brandon had been pissed off, but Amy had been more disappointed than surprised.
And now this.
Georgie ran her hand through her hair. She hoped Arthur survived, but what did ‘bad’ mean? He’d been shot, blown up, beaten half to death? She didn’t even know where he’d been.
Cindy joined her and handed back Georgie’s phone. “Sam said he’ll call you in the morning.”
He’d better. Georgie forced a smile. “Is he putting an offer on the place?”
Cindy nodded. “I’ll email him the paperwork when I get back to the office.”
She hoped the owners accepted. The settlement date should work out perfectly for when Sam got out of the army.
Georgie kept Cindy company while she locked the townhouse and then said her goodbyes. It was a short drive back to her place in the cheaper end of town. As always it felt so quiet when she walked in. Perhaps she should get a dog, but it didn’t seem fair with her gone all day. Not much space in her courtyard garden for one to run around.
Her phone rang and she grabbed it, hoping it was Sam with news.
“Hello?”
