Stop Dead

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by Leigh Russell


  Geraldine turned to see her former sergeant, Ian, towering over her.

  ‘You saved me a stamp,’ he grinned, reaching into his pocket.

  He pulled out an envelope, only slightly crumpled.

  ‘What’s this?’

  ‘An invitation.’

  ‘Another do?’

  ‘Ian’s not leaving, more’s the pity,’ someone called out.

  ‘No life of freedom for him,’ Ted laughed.

  ‘He can kiss that goodbye,’ another voice added.

  Geraldine smiled, understanding that she had been handed an invitation to Ian’s wedding.

  ‘You’re really doing it then?’

  ‘Finally. The wedding’s in December. I hope you can make it.’

  ‘Work permitting.’

  ‘Such commitment,’ he said, shaking his head at her as though her dedication was something shameful.

  ‘That’s why she’s a DI on the Met,’ Ted told him.

  ‘And there I was putting it all down to your brilliant mentoring,’ Ian replied.

  Ian put the invitation in her hand. She was pleased to see him looking so happy. Last time they had spoken he had been stressed over his wedding plans. Ignoring an unexpected stab of dismay, she smiled at him.

  ‘I hope it’s all going smoothly now?’

  He shrugged.

  ‘I’m leaving everything to Bev.’

  ‘I’m sure that’s the best thing to do.’

  ‘Yes, except that now she’s complaining I’m not involved. Seems I can’t win.’

  ‘It’ll be fine once you’re married,’ she reassured him.

  She was surprised to see how her words cheered him up. What did she know about marriage?

  Although she was pleased for him, as she slipped the envelope in her bag she felt strangely abandoned. They had worked so closely together in the past, it was almost like losing a friend. Of course she knew his marriage wouldn’t make any difference to the way he behaved towards colleagues, and in any case she hardly saw him any more since her move to London. She shrugged the feeling off as several other officers joined them. They all quizzed her about the capital, as though they couldn’t possibly imagine what it would be like to live there.

  Geraldine mumbled something about having been too busy to explore London life, which was no exaggeration.

  ‘What with the move, and then I’ve been involved in a couple of tricky cases –’

  ‘Nothing you can’t handle, I’m sure,’ someone said.

  Geraldine paused, remembering Ingrid’s frenzied attack, Linda’s despair, and the horrific injuries sustained by Patrick Henshaw, George Corless, Maurice Bradshaw and John Birch.

  ‘I bet they aren’t as friendly on the Met as we are,’ a constable chipped in.

  Geraldine recollected Sam’s spat with Nick after his outrageous comment about a rape victim. “She probably asked for it.” No one spoke like that about Ingrid’s victims, although there was no way of knowing what appalling behaviour on their part had provoked her attacks.

  ‘They’re friendly in a different way,’ she said, shrugging off her troubling memories.

  It was strange to return to the camaraderie of her former work colleagues. Looking back on her time in Kent, she realised they had been a close-knit team. Although they hadn’t all been on first name terms, as was the norm in London, they had all known one another. Looked at from outside, the familiar form of address adopted by her colleagues in London seemed superficial. She experienced a fleeting regret at having moved away from Kent.

  ‘So you’re OK in London?’

  Ian was at her side. He always seemed to sense when she was feeling despondent.

  ‘It’s different –’

  She hesitated, tempted to confide her reservations. But now was not the time. She hoped Ian’s future wife appreciated his sensitivity and consideration, and realised how lucky she was to be marrying him.

  It was late when Geraldine arrived home at the end of a tiring day, with one last task to carry out before she went to bed. Sitting at her desk she sent an email to her father, telling him how much she had enjoyed seeing him again, and giving him her new address. Then she went to bed, without setting her alarm for the morning.

  First published in 2013

  by No Exit Press

  an imprint of Oldcastle Books

  P O Box 394,

  Harpenden, AL5 1XJ

  www.noexit.co.uk

  This ebook edition first published in 2013

  All rights reserved

  © Leigh Russell, 2013

  The right of Leigh Russell to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN

  978–1–84243–858-9 (print)

  978-1-84243-859-6 (epub)

  978-1-84243-860-2 (kindle)

  978-1-84243-861-9 (pdf)

  Typeset by Avocet Typeset, Chilton, Aylesbury, Bucks

  For more about Crime Fiction go to www.crimetime.co.uk / @crimetimeuk

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Copyright

 

 

 
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