Broken Girls: A totally addictive and unputdownable crime thriller (Detective Bernadette Noel Book 2)

by Joy Kluver

  ‘Or, if Ryan Willis is telling the truth – the motorcyclist boyfriend?’

  ‘Very likely. I’m sure Ryan is telling the truth but he’s definitely not told us everything yet.’ Bernie took another bite of her pie. ‘Oh, this is getting cold. Less talking, more eating.’

  Anderson gave her a warm smile that caught her by surprise. Bernie didn’t want to admit it but she was having a good evening.

  Although she was sure she had no room after the pie, the dessert menu was calling.

  ‘I’m just going to pop to the loo. Be back in a minute.’

  The bar and restaurant were very busy and she had to push past a few people before she saw the sign for the toilets. She headed in that direction and then suddenly stopped. A waitress nearly collided with her.

  ‘Oh, sorry.’

  The woman tutted as she walked past and placed a large plate with three tasting-size desserts on it in front of a couple. The man was facing away from her but she still recognised him. He picked up his spoon, delved into a chocolate brownie and then fed it to the young woman opposite him. Bernie felt sick and rushed quickly towards the toilets.

  Thankfully, the ladies’ was empty as Bernie locked the cubicle door. She sat down and tried to regain her composure. Had he seen her? Or had he been too focused on the pretty woman in front of him? Bernie swallowed down the acid rising from her stomach and finished in the toilet. She was just washing her hands when the door opened and the young woman she’d seen walked in. She smiled at Bernie.

  ‘Are you OK? You look a bit peaky.’

  Bernie nodded. ‘I’m fine. Eaten a bit too much.’

  ‘Me too. Made the mistake of going for the sharer puddings. But they’re so delicious. It’s all right though – my boyfriend will finish them off.’ She leaned against the sink next to Bernie. ‘Actually, I shouldn’t complain. It’s a special meal tonight. Our one month anniversary. To be honest I thought he’d forgotten but then he called me up late afternoon and said he’d booked a table.’

  Bernie remembered the text she’d sent earlier in the day and the reply she’d received back.

  Sorry. Cos I hadn’t heard from you I’ve gone out on the lash with Ali. I might stay over at Mum’s. See you tomorrow?

  Bernie plastered a smile on her face. ‘That’s nice. I’m Bernie, by the way.’ She scanned the young woman’s face for recognition. There was none.

  ‘I’m Alison. Ali to my friends. Anyway, I really need the loo.’

  ‘Of course, good to meet you.’

  As she opened the door, Bernie knew what she had to do and she only had a few minutes.

  She slid onto the chair opposite Alex.

  ‘Shit,’ he said.

  ‘What? The desserts? They look pretty good to me.’ Bernie picked up a spare clean fork and cut a piece of sticky toffee pudding. ‘Mmm.’ She chewed and swallowed before speaking. ‘Banana in there as well. Lovely. Definitely not shit. Oh, of course you don’t mean the puddings. You mean the fact that I’ve caught you out. Funny how you never explained all those times you were out with “Ali” that he was actually a she. Your one month anniversary, apparently.’

  Tears pricked at her eyes but she wasn’t going to give Alex the satisfaction of crying in front of him. And she certainly wasn’t going to beg him to stay.

  ‘I’ll have your keys back now, please. Quickly, before Ali comes back. She seems a nice girl and I don’t want to embarrass her.’

  Alex fumbled in his jacket pocket and pulled out some keys. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Bit late for that. We’ll sort out later when you can get your stuff. Bit busy looking for a murderer at the moment, as you well know.’

  Bernie grabbed the keys and left quickly. As she reached the door to the garden, she looked back. Ali had just come back from the toilet and was smiling at Alex. She bit her lip and opened the door.

  Anderson looked up as she approached. ‘You OK? You were gone for a while. Do you still want dessert?’

  ‘No, not really. I’m not feeling so good. I’d like to go home, if that’s all right with you.’

  ‘Sure.’ Anderson stood up and touched her arm. ‘I’ll just pay.’

  Bernie reached for her bag. ‘Of course. I’ll find you some cash.’

  ‘It’s fine. We’ll sort it out later. I’ll be back in a minute.’ He pulled out his car keys and threw them to her. ‘Wait in the car if you want.’

  She watched as he walked to the pub door, hoping he wouldn’t see Alex inside.

  It seemed ages before Anderson returned but Bernie knew from looking at her watch it’d only been five minutes. He took her hand without looking at her.

  ‘You saw him then?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Did he see you?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. I’m sorry, Bernie. I know how that feels.’ He squeezed her hand and looked across at her. ‘Let’s get you home.’

  23

  They were silent on the drive back. Bernie was doing her best to not think about Alex. Instead, Louise Anderson came to the forefront of her mind. She thought about Kerry’s earlier comment that maybe it was Louise who had been the real manipulator. She knew she had to tell Anderson what his ex-wife had told her back in May.

  Anderson pulled up outside her house. ‘Would you like me to come in? Make you a cup of tea? I really do know how this feels,’ he said.

  She nodded. ‘I know you do. Yes, please. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.’ She fumbled in her jacket pocket for her keys and fished out Alex’s. ‘Oh, shit.’ The key-ring had a picture of a chalk white horse that she’d bought especially for him. She sniffed.

  Anderson took them from her. ‘I’ll open up.’

  Five minutes later, Bernie had her feet tucked under her on the sofa. She picked up the hot mug of tea Anderson had made and curled her hands around it. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘No problem.’ Anderson sat down in an armchair. ‘What do you want to talk about? I think we can leave the case until Monday.’

  She shook her head. ‘Not the case. I want to explain what happened. Why I didn’t turn up for lunch that time.’

  Anderson got up from the armchair. ‘I don’t need to hear it.’

  ‘Yes, you do. Hear me out. Back in May, I had a phone call. It was Louise, your ex-wife.’ She waited to see how Anderson would react. He slowly sat back down.

  ‘All right. What did she want?’ he asked gruffly.

  ‘She wanted to know where to send some of your things. Asked if she could send it direct to headquarters.’

  ‘Bullshit. I’d asked her to send anything to my mother.’

  ‘That’s what she asked me.’ Bernie drank some of her tea. ‘But she also said something else. She asked me if I had any female officers on my team. She asked if I would keep an eye on them because… apparently, you’re a dangerous man. You controlled and manipulated her and made her life hell.’

  Anderson rubbed his face with his hands. ‘And you believed her?’

  ‘I didn’t know what to believe.’

  ‘But instead of coming to see me and ask me, you went off and threw yourself at an estate agent instead.’

  ‘It wasn’t like that. And besides, I didn’t get together with Alex until after the sale was completed. Not that any of that matters now.’

  ‘Maybe not but you still ignored my texts and phone calls. God, I wish you had come to me straight away, Bernie. Let me tell you about Louise. She’s a precious little princess. What Louise wants, Louise gets – an only child used to getting her own way. I’m one of five – I grew up knowing how to share. Louise didn’t. She couldn’t bear to share me with anyone. Not my family and definitely not the job. Hated the long hours. I stupidly thought things would settle down after the wedding but no, she even hated our honeymoon. She wanted to go to the Maldives but I couldn’t afford that and it was too far to travel. I wanted to show her where I’m from. I took her to Florence.’

  ‘Your family’s from Florence, lik
e Rosa?’

  ‘Originally on my mother’s side, yes. I thought she would love it. I hired a car and we drove around. I took her to the mountains, to the beach, round Florence but… she hated it all. I saved up and took her to the Maldives the following year. But I still didn’t get it right. Apparently I booked the wrong hotel. She wanted the five-star hotel that I couldn’t afford. I was never good enough for her. If anyone is controlling and manipulative, it’s Louise.’

  Bernie waited. She was unsure what to think and say.

  ‘And then, just to show me that I really wasn’t good enough for her, she went and shagged a colleague of mine. And I hit him. And that’s why I was transferred. I didn’t sense any atmosphere when I went into the pub to pay so I’m guessing that, unlike me, you didn’t lose the plot tonight.’

  Bernie nodded her head. ‘I was very tempted to. But Ali seemed like a nice girl and clearly had no idea who I was. Dougie, I’ve been thinking a lot more about that phone call. I can’t help but think now that Louise was talking directly to me, warning me off you. But how did she know?’

  Anderson looked at her. His face was flushed.

  ‘Oh shit, I think I told her. But I didn’t say your name. She texted me, the day after we… had that moment. She wanted to try again.’ He shook his head. ‘I’ve fallen for that one before, I wasn’t going to go back. Told her I’d found someone else. Another officer who understood the pressures of the job, understood me. She must have worked it out somehow.’

  Bernie felt her heart beat faster. ‘You told her that? But we’d only known each other about a week at that point. And most of the time we were arguing. Still are.’

  ‘I know. I don’t normally believe in that “love at first sight” crap but with you… God, Bernie, you have no idea what you do to me.’

  There was a longing in his eyes. His feelings towards her hadn’t changed. Bernie put her tea down and stretched out her legs. Her body was sending out signals she recognised all too well.

  ‘Ask me,’ she said. The words were out of her mouth before she’d even realised. Maybe it was the shock of Alex’s disloyalty. Or the wine. Or maybe she was finally admitting to herself her true feelings for him.

  ‘Ask you what?’

  ‘What I would have said, if there hadn’t been a phone call from Louise.’

  ‘And what would be the point? I should go.’ He stood up.

  Bernie stood too. ‘Ask me.’ Her brain was trying to send out frantic messages to stop but her body and her heart overruled it. She stepped closer to Anderson until she was right in front of him.

  ‘Dougie, ask me.’

  She saw him hesitate and then saw the intensity in his dark eyes.

  ‘What would you have said?’

  ‘Yes.’ She reached out and caressed his cheek. His stubble was rough under her thumb.

  ‘Bernie, you’ve had a shock tonight. This isn’t a good idea.’

  ‘Ssh. No more talking.’ Her hand slipped to the back of his neck and she pulled him towards her to kiss him.

  24

  Sunday

  Bernie knew it was morning without even opening her eyes. Birds were singing and people were talking outside. Soon the bell at the church would start to toll, calling the village to the service. She squinted. Sunlight leaked out from the edges of the heavy curtains. She was lying naked on her back, the duvet wrapped tight around her. He was sleeping next to her, his breath gently rising and falling.

  Her phone buzzed. She ignored it. Anderson stirred slightly next to her. Bernie held her breath. She wasn’t ready for him to wake up and had no idea what to say. She had done what her body had told her to do and it had been very good. It had never been like that with Alex. She refused to feel guilty. He’d been cheating on her for a month.

  The phone buzzed again. Was it a text? God, I hope it’s not Mum. She opened her eyes. Turning slowly away from him, she reached for her phone.

  CALL ME ASAP. It was from Kerry. A text in block capitals meant urgent. And if Kerry was asking Bernie to ring, it meant Kerry could receive a phone call but couldn’t be seen to make one.

  Worthless. Something’s happened but he doesn’t want me contacted.

  She slid herself out from under the bedclothes and found her knickers and top on the floor. If Anderson woke up, she wanted to be at least partially dressed.

  She crept into the bathroom and closed the door before making the call.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Kerry? It’s me, Bernie.’

  ‘Oh hi, can you wait just a second, please?’

  The phone was muffled. Bernie looked in the bathroom mirror. Her make-up was smudged. There hadn’t been an opportunity to remove it the night before. A few seconds later, Kerry was back.

  ‘Sorry about that. I had to leave the room I was in.’

  ‘What’s going on? Have you got a suspect? Have you arrested someone? Is it Rupert Fox?’

  ‘Whoa, slow down. Nothing like that. We’re no further forward with Rosa. But you need to come in.’

  ‘But it’s my rest day and you just said you’re no further forward.’

  ‘We’re not. It isn’t Rosa. I’m at the Moffatts’ farm.’

  Bernie grabbed a facial wipe and started to clean the smudged mascara from her light brown cheeks.

  ‘Oh no. Is Craig all right? I thought he was getting better.’

  ‘No, not Craig. He’s on the mend. It’s his sister, Laura. She’s missing.’

  Bernie’s heart sank as she pictured the sulky pre-teen girl. ‘What happened?’

  ‘She was supposed to be spending the night at a friend’s house while her parents stayed late at the hospital with Craig. Her mother remembered it’s church parade today for Guides so she rang the friend’s mother early this morning to say she would come and pick Laura up.’

  ‘Let me guess, the friend’s mother said she wasn’t there.’

  ‘Yep. So Mrs Moffatt dialled nine nine nine and we’ve been put on it. And she’s going loopy and asking for you.’

  ‘Where’s the DCI?’

  ‘He’s here, trying to placate her. Said there was no need for me to ring you.’

  ‘Well, you haven’t. I rang you. Do I really need to come in? Isn’t she with another friend?’

  She threw the wipe in the bin.

  ‘No. The friend’s mother managed to get out of her daughter that Laura had gone to meet someone. A boy she’d met online.’

  ‘Oh shit. Check for social media accounts, probably Instagram. I’m fairly certain she has one. OK. I’ll get ready and grab something to eat. I’ll aim to be with you within the hour.’

  ‘Thanks. See you soon.’

  Bernie hung up. She looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look any different but felt it. She needed to make a decision about Anderson. But not now, Laura needs me. She opened her bathroom cabinet, pulled out a strip of pills and found the one marked ‘Sunday’. She popped it out, put some water in a plastic mug and swallowed it down.

  She bent down to splash cold water over her face and flinched as two hands moved under her top and cupped her breasts.

  ‘It’s OK, it’s only me,’ said Anderson as he nuzzled into her neck.

  ‘Well it’s not going to be anyone else.’ She reached for a towel to dry her face, trying to ignore Anderson’s hands moving down both sides of her waist and him hooking his thumbs into the top of her knickers to roll them down.

  ‘Stop,’ she said.

  ‘Really?’ He kissed her neck.

  ‘Really. I have to go to work.’

  Bernie looked again at the mirror, at Anderson standing behind her, naked. She couldn’t read his face. Disappointment? Confusion?

  ‘Why? We’ve both got a rest day.’

  ‘Remember Craig Moffatt, the teenager who found Rosa?’

  ‘What about him? Oh God, he’s not dead, is he? He didn’t look good when we sent him off to hospital.’

  ‘No, he’s doing better but his sister, Laura, has gone missing. App
arently she went to meet someone she found online.’

  ‘God, what is it with these girls? Why do they think these guys go after them? And why do you have to go?’

  ‘Mrs Moffatt has asked for me specifically. Kerry said she’s going mad with worry. I have to go.’

  Anderson pulled his hands away. ‘I see. What about us?’

  Bernie turned round to face him. ‘You said last night you told Louise you’d found someone who understood your job and the hours you have to work. I need the same.’

  ‘Point taken. But…’ He brought his hands up to hold her face and kissed her. ‘I don’t want to wait another five months. You have to decide what you want.’

  Bernie looked into his eyes and saw concern there. Anderson was more vulnerable than he liked to admit to. ‘I know.’

  25

  DCI Worth glowered at Bernie. She didn’t bother to return his stare and instead kept her eyes fixed on Laura’s mother.

  ‘I’ve tried all her friends, well, all the ones I know about. She went to secondary last year and it’s not the same as when they’re in primary. You don’t get to know the friends and their families.’

  ‘Mrs Moffatt…’

  ‘Please, call me Caroline.’

  ‘Caroline, do you know what social media Laura has, other than Instagram? Or are there any websites or games that she goes on? Ones that allow you to chat with other people online?’

  Caroline Moffatt slowly shook her head. Her eyes were red-rimmed. Kerry had said she’d spent the last couple of hours crying but now her face was dry, as though she had run out of tears.

  ‘I don’t know. I said she could have Instagram but she wasn’t to follow anyone she didn’t know.’

  Bernie looked across at Kerry. ‘I’m assuming that her phone—’

  ‘Has been checked, yes, DI Noel, we have done that. It’s not here so we assume she took it with her. It’s switched off,’ Worth cut in.

  Bernie couldn’t ignore him any longer. ‘Just re-checking all avenues, sir.’