by Diane Saxon
Jenna massaged the back of her neck to loosen some of the tight muscles there. It would do her good to walk Domino. The dark nights were still difficult and Fliss wasn’t yet ready to walk the dog on her own in the dark. It made no difference to Jenna, she’d come to appreciate the long walks with sister and Dalmatian. She’d almost lost them both.
Weary, Jenna pulled the car into the station car park just as static crackled out over her Force radio. ‘DS Morgan, Chief Superintendent Gregg requests the pleasure of your company in his office the moment you return to the station.’
The short buzz of Airwaves filled the silence as Jenna reversed into the parking space and snapped off the ignition. She made a mental note to chase the person responsible for driving in forwards.
She turned her head and raised her eyebrows at Mason as he blinked open bleary eyes. ‘The pleasure of my company… great!’
‘Shit. Deep, deep shit.’ He grinned.
Jenna raised the Airwaves radio to her lips. ‘Acknowledged.’ About to put it in her open handbag, she paused as it crackled to life again.
‘He’d also like to see DC Ellis if he’s with you.’
With an air of superiority, Jenna shot him a sadistic grin. ‘Looks like I’m not taking this fall on my own.’
Mason flipped his middle finger up, his lips twisting with disgust. ‘That didn’t take long. We’re about to get the bollocking of our lives.’
She didn’t answer.
17
Wednesday 5 February, 17:05 hrs
Side by side, they walked the corridors, took the stairs in silence and paused at the top to catch their breath. The drag of her feet more a reluctance to meet the Chief than exhaustion from the long day. Both factored, but Jenna knew which one held more weight.
Chief Superintendent Gregg’s wide shoulders filled the black leather chair he reclined in and spilled over the sides. Gruff, grey eyebrows lowered over his steel grey eyes as Jenna and Mason entered his office.
Jenna’s spine went ramrod stiff and she stood with a deep, ingrained respect for the man before her. It wasn’t long ago he’d given her his complete, unquestionable support. Now, she was prepared for him to wipe the floor with her. It was the way of things.
‘Take a seat.’ He addressed them both, flicking a hand to indicate the two hard chairs opposite his desk. She suspected he’d chosen them deliberately, so people didn’t make themselves too comfortable and outstay their welcome. The man was all about calm subtleties and hard-line discipline.
The creak of the chairs filled the silence for a moment before Chief Superintendent Gregg leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk and link his fingers in front of his face. ‘I’ve had a phone call from the governor of Long Lartin Prison.’
Jenna kept her silence, gaze direct on Gregg, and hoped Mason could keep his mouth shut for once.
‘She tells me you incited one of her inmates to attack you, Sergeant Morgan, resulting in the inmate becoming injured.’
She’d had almost two hours to prepare herself to answer the accusation but found she couldn’t pull a single word from her strangled throat.
‘Sir…’ The word exploded from Mason’s lips and halted just as quickly as Gregg held up his hand and continued.
‘I’ve lodged an official complaint with said governor for failing to provide adequate protection for my officers while they carried out their official duty under the care of Her Majesty’s Prison Service and with the permission of the governor gained only this morning. Official documentation signed and filed.’
Shocked pleasure rippled over Jenna as she stared with admiration at the man opposite her. He’d never failed to support her in the past, there was absolutely no reason why she would question his support now. ‘Thank you, sir.’
He raked his sharp gaze over her. ‘Were you injured?’
‘No, sir.’
From her peripheral vision, Mason flexed his hand and grimaced.
With a slow turn of his head, Chief Superintendent Gregg faced Mason. ‘DC Ellis, I’m told you physically abused the same inmate.’ He consulted his handwritten notes, good old-fashioned pen and paper. ‘Paul McCambridge.’
Straight in with a reply, Mason didn’t hesitate. ‘Not abuse, sir, but defence.’
‘Self-defence?’ Hawk-like, Gregg’s gaze pinned Mason to the spot.
‘No, sir. Defence of my senior officer, sir.’ Pride punched Mason’s chin a notch higher.
Unmoved, Gregg held him with a cool gaze. ‘How did that occur, DC Ellis?’
‘The wanker… I mean inmate, sir, launched himself over the table at DS Morgan, dragging the poor little bastard… I mean prison officer, over the table with him. It was my belief then, and my continued belief, that he had every intention of committing physical harm to DS Morgan.’
The Chief turned his attention to Jenna. ‘Was it also your belief that it was McCambridge’s intention to commit physical harm to you?’
Without hesitation, Jenna confirmed. ‘Yes, sir.’
One swift nod was all he gave in acknowledgement. ‘How come you were the one to strike the prisoner, DC Ellis?’
‘Because it was a full frontal attack, sir. DS Morgan took a defensive stance, but in my opinion, with the scrambling backwards to get away, she lost her balance and the guard was completely ineffective at restraining McCambridge. He was stronger than we suspected, a f— a bull, sir. The prison officer was down, and the only other person in the room at that point was McCambridge’s counsellor. I imagine he wasn’t trained in how to restrain a Class A prisoner. In my opinion, during that moment in time, no amount of restraint would have been effective. It may well have been carnage. He didn’t see me coming. It took four guards to contain him once they entered the room.’
‘Four?’
‘Yes, sir. He’s a bloody big bastard, sir.’
‘Mmmhmm.’ Gregg looked at his notes. ‘What was it they considered an assault?’
‘I hit him, sir. Once. With my fist. In his face. Broke his nose, I believe.’ Mason skimmed a look over at Jenna for verification.
She grimaced. ‘It looked a little skewed, sir.’
Gregg nodded. His mouth twitched at the edges. ‘That’s what I heard.’ Gregg turned to Jenna. He stared at her from beneath a furrowed brow. ‘I’m informed that there may have been some provocation on your part. What did you say to provoke him, DS Morgan?’
Jenna gave a casual shrug to disguise her deep discomfort. ‘I had no intention of any provocation. I believe the mere fact that I was a woman in a position of command was all the incitement he required. There were a number of times he… stressed my rank when addressing me, as though it was an insult.’ She only hoped Mason kept his snort silent as she needed to get to the point. ‘McCambridge appeared to have detailed knowledge of the murder, sir.’
‘Already? How would that be? Don’t we have a gagging order on this?’
‘Yes, sir, we do have a gagging order in place. We have no idea how he obtained the information so fast. He claimed the press announced it, but I wasn’t aware we’d released any information, apart from that a body had been found. Possible suspicious circumstances, but no details at this stage, sir.’
He rocked back in his chair. ‘Inside knowledge?’
‘There is that possibility. I need to check my facts. There may be an internal leak, we’ve had them before. The press seems to get hold of a little more information than I’m comfortable with.’
Gregg nodded. ‘Speak with Acting DI Evans, get him to deal with it.’
‘Yes, sir,’ she agreed and then ploughed on. ‘However, I believe on this occasion it’s worse than that. I believe McCambridge may actually have received a communication with the killer. He was overexcited about the entire situation even before DC Ellis started to question him. He literally vibrated. It’s the only way McCambridge could have known about it.’
Gregg squinted at her, his top lip curling up to show his teeth. ‘This is not good.’
‘No, sir
.’
‘I’m told you showed him a photograph of our latest victim and it got him overexcited.’
Jenna had learned never to give everything all at once when dealing with diplomatic situations. Throw in a little at a time, judge which way the wind blew before giving the next little nugget.
‘No, sir. I showed him a photograph of his first victim. I wouldn’t dream of imparting current information to a convict.’
Jenna slipped the folder onto Gregg’s desk and flipped it open. The paperwork, permission slip, report, profile analysis, were all shuffled into the disorder they’d been in when Harper handed her the file. She’d not had time to organise them again, but she flicked through, a sharp slice of panic hitting her as she rifled through a second time, and then a third. A cord of fear twisted her gut.
‘It’s gone.’ Her voice cracked as she whipped her head up and met Mason’s quizzical gaze.
Gregg narrowed his eyes, his voice dropped low. ‘What’s gone, Sergeant?’
She craned her neck so she could see Mason. ‘Did you see it? Was it still on the floor?’
His mouth dropped open as he slid the file towards him to inspect it for himself. ‘It’s not there.’
‘Exactly what is it that’s not there?’ The Chief Superintendent commanded.
‘The photograph, sir. The one we took with us. Not the one I showed him of his fourth victim. But the one of our victim. The one CSI took yesterday. We never showed it to him. It was meant as a taunt.’
Gregg’s nostrils pinched white. ‘And just how is it possible that it’s gone missing?’
Jenna shook her head, heat surging through her. ‘During the incident, sir.’ She closed her eyes to conjure up the scene in her head. ‘When he launched himself at me, the table was upended, the file hit the floor, paperwork everywhere.’ She tapped her mouth with her fingers, then pointed at the file. ‘There’s no way McCambridge could have got hold of it. There was too much going on.’ She recalled. ‘When the guards rushed in, he had nothing in his hands, nothing on him beyond what he came in with. Nothing.’
She envisaged the upturned table and chairs and her heart sank. ‘It must have skidded under the furniture. We left pretty quickly after the incident. We were all shaken. We hadn’t expected him to kick off in the way he did.’ She raised her hands and ran her fingers through her hair. ‘The counsellor, Harper, gathered everything that was on the floor and handed it to me. He must have missed it. It had to be there, under the table, a chair. I’m sure of it.’
Grim faced, Gregg reached for the phone and tapped in a number. ‘We want to pray they found it in the clean-up. We want it back, and pretty damned quick, DS Morgan, or this image is going to go viral and the stink really will be on us.’
Desperation clawed at Jenna’s chest. She turned the event over in her mind and still couldn’t see what could possibly have happened to the photograph.
Crushed, exhaustion hit her.
She was ready to go home.
18
Wednesday 5 February, 19:35 hrs
A warming aroma of enticing food hit Jenna as she walked through the front door into her house.
The next thing to hit her was the enormous Dalmatian.
Instead of attempting to push past him, Jenna dropped to her knees on the floor and enveloped him in her arms. Gurgles of laughter rumbled in her chest as he pushed her onto her backside, his toenails tapping on the wooden flooring as he gave her a whole-body wiggle, delight pouring from him.
Just as delighted, Jenna scrubbed her fingers through the short silken softness of Domino’s fur, savouring the texture as she buried her nose in his neck, her lips kicking up in a smile.
There was no other greeting she’d rather have.
‘Hey, baby. Did you have a good day?’
Unable to stay still, he pulled back and then launched himself on top of her again so her back whacked against the front door, slamming it shut. He snuffled his nose through her hair, his toes digging into the soft flesh of her thighs to shoot sharp stabs of pain through her black trousers.
She grabbed his head with both hands and planted a fast kiss between his eyes before he had the chance to headbutt her. ‘Enough. Now bugger off.’
His white eyelashes fluttered with pleasure and he slipped out a sly tongue to swipe at the tip of her nose.
The soft glow in her heart expanded as she looked up and caught her sister watching from the kitchen doorway.
‘Hi.’
Abandoned by the dog in a heartbeat, Domino trotted over to Fliss, his tail a wild circular wag, his lips kicking up in a Dalmatian smile to expose his front teeth in a happy snarl. He wound his way around her legs, his feet high stepping in a proud prance, tossing a superior look over his shoulder at Jenna as she struggled to her feet.
‘Something smells unusually great.’ Fear of her sister’s cooking kept Jenna from committing until she found out what it could be. Anything would be better than croissants.
Fliss scratched the top of Domino’s head and hit Jenna with a bashful grin. ‘I chucked together a casserole before I went to school this morning, popped it in Mum’s slow cooker. I figured you might need it after your long day.’
‘I do.’ Quietly amazed, she scanned her younger sister, something she found herself doing frequently. Fliss’s skin glowed a healthy pink, probably from sitting in front of the open fire with the dog for the last hour, but her eyes contained a happy glint and a ribbon of warmth curled through Jenna’s stomach. Any good news was always welcome. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Yeah.’ A slow smile curved Fliss’s lips. ‘Come on through when you’re ready. You can tell me about your day, and I’ll tell you about mine.’
Jenna shrugged her coat from her shoulders and hung it on the coat rack beside the front door. She toed her shoes off and shuffled her feet into a pair of slippers. A sigh of pleasure slipped from her throat as she flexed her toes inside the old-fashioned moccasins. The type her mum would have approved of – it just went to show how much like her she was becoming.
The savoury scent of the casserole had Jenna’s taste buds popping as Fliss served it up with a dollop of mashed potatoes and a small pile of greens and then sat down at the small kitchen table. Jenna studied it for a long moment, serious doubt curling in her stomach that her younger sister had managed to produce a real, nutritious, aromatic meal without help.
Jenna slipped into the chair opposite Fliss and smiled as Domino rested his chin on her thigh, not convinced at all by his docile attitude. Given half the chance, he’d snaffle her food from her plate.
She eyed the glass of red wine Fliss poured her and raised her eyebrows.
‘We have wine? On a school night? Again?’ A little snake of fear swam through her veins. Fliss was about to tell her she’d accepted the job. Jenna held on to her smile, determined to show the support she really didn’t want to give. The thought of Fliss moving out, moving away, not even down the road, Jenna’s heart quailed.
Fliss’s smile spread wider. ‘I thought I’d put you out of your misery and let you know you’re going to be stuck with me a while longer.’
Jenna’s heart jumped. ‘How come?’ She reached for her wine and took a sip in an attempt to smother her delight.
Tension tightened Fliss’s shoulders as she hunched them up, no longer able to restrain her happiness. ‘Because I spoke with the Head today.’
‘Sally?’ Jenna needed clarification that it was the Head of Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge and not the Wolverhampton school.
‘Yeah.’ Fliss ducked her head and stabbed a piece of beef with her fork. She raised it to her mouth and paused. ‘I explained to her how I felt about moving away.’ She waggled her fork around. ‘And do you know what she said?’
Jenna forked up mashed potato and scooped it through the casserole gravy. ‘No. What did she say?’ She took a bite and closed her eyes. Ecstasy, pure ecstasy. She hummed in the back of her throat and when she opened her eyes, her sister was watching her. Jen
na shrugged. ‘This is too good, Fliss, just like Mum used to make.’
Fliss blinked, a wash of tears rushed into her eyes and she dipped her head. Jenna scratched the top of Domino’s head and gave Fliss the moment she needed to compose herself. If there was one thing that would reduce Jenna to floods of tears, it was seeing her younger sister well up, and they’d done enough of that since their mother died. They just had to ignore each other’s occasional surge of emotion, otherwise they’d be in a constant mess.
Fliss blew out a breath and conjured up a smile, but her voice still held a tinge of smokiness to it. ‘Sally said it was the worst possible reason to move. Everyone already knows my business. Give them another couple of months and they won’t even think about it. She said I’d isolate myself from friends, colleagues and family and put myself in a vacuum if I moved, probably withdrawing from a social life as I won’t know anyone in Wolverhampton and I’ll be too scared to talk about what happened to me. At least here if I burst into tears or want to talk, I can. People know. I don’t need to keep a secret as though I’m ashamed of what happened.’
Jenna opened her mouth, tempted to agree with every single word the wise headmistress had uttered, but it appeared Fliss was not finished.
‘She also said that Jean Deighton had hinted at retiring at the end of this school year and there would be a vacancy for her position, which would be a promotion for me if I cared to apply.’ She hauled in a long breath, took a forkful of stew and held it up to her mouth as her slightly manic gaze caught Jenna’s. ‘I’m not guaranteed to get the promotion, but she said I had a good chance. So, what do you think?’ She opened her mouth and forked in the food.
Jenna took her time to study her sister’s barely contained excitement, the first flicker of interest she’d witnessed since Fliss had been abducted. If she’d known Sally had that much influence, she would have sent Fliss along to see her several weeks ago. As it was, the timing was probably just right. Maybe Fliss was ready to come out of her shell and face the world again.