‘I can’t talk about that here. You know I can’t.’ A flash of pain shot through her head. Briggs knew her secret. He’d known it for a while but she couldn’t think about that right now. Not yet. He said he’d understood but now it felt as though he was badgering her for more. Not satisfied with what she’d given already.
‘We need to talk soon. Really, Gina, we do.’
A look passed between them. The kindness in his eyes that she’d been so familiar with wasn’t quite there. He gave her nothing but a vacant expression to fathom.
‘I’m sorry.’ This is exactly how she didn’t want to feel. That’s why secrets were best being kept and she’d blown it.
He placed a hand over hers. ‘Stop saying you’re sorry.’
As he left, all she could feel was the warmth he’d left behind on her fingers and that would soon be gone. He’d read her well. She’d wanted him to touch her. She felt the frostiness within spreading through her body as she thought of Marianne Long and her next appointment of the day.
The morgue – she was going to be late.
Chapter Fourteen
Gina headed along the corridor and was met by a suited woman, her hair in a tight bun and her glasses dangling over her chest on a piece of cord. ‘Come through.’ She opened the door leading to a small, whitewashed waiting room where Marianne Long was sitting.
‘I have to see her, I have to,’ the woman repeated in a quivering voice.
Gina nodded to Wyre who took a seat.
‘I can’t believe someone hurt her like this. She’s such a gentle girl.’ Marianne paused. ‘Was. Someone has taken her from me and if I find out who they are, I swear I will kill them.’ The teary woman began to seethe, breathing rapidly as she slammed her fist into the wall. She stood back and shook her hand out.
‘Ms Long. Are you ready?’ Gina placed a hand on her shoulder and the suited woman used her pass card to open the door.
‘Have you got children?’
Gina nodded. ‘I have a grown-up daughter.’
‘You understand then.’
Gina was glad she didn’t. She couldn’t begin to understand what it would be like to lose Hannah in this way; in fact, even though they weren’t speaking again, she couldn’t imagine losing Hannah at all. She swallowed the mass that was forming in her throat as the door closed, leaving Wyre behind in the waiting room. Her colleague was exhausted. Gina was shattered too and it was setting her emotions alight. Gina looked away, unable to observe Marianne’s expressions as they took the long walk to where the bodies were stored. This was no place for her to crumble.
‘Through here.’ The suited woman opened another door. Holly had been laid out ready, a sheet brought neatly over her shoulders on a stainless steel table.
‘Thank you.’
Gina guided Ms Long through, feeling her quivering beneath her coat. The woman almost crumpled. Gina hurried beside her and helped her remain standing. The woman nudged her away and leaned over, kissing her daughter once on the forehead before standing back.
The wound to her head had been cleaned and she looked almost angelic. Long red hair neatly framed her face and her pale skin made her look completely drained of blood.
‘I don’t want to leave her. It’s cold in here. Holly hated the cold.’ A tear streamed down her cheek and the woman turned to the wall. ‘You have to get the animal who did this to her. You have to.’
Gina closed her eyes and tried to imagine different things. Gracie, her cat sleeping in her bed. Briggs – his warm hand over hers. Anything but the young woman in front of her, triggering something of her own past that she couldn’t bear to think about. Her own wedding night, the gasping and pain. A shiver started in her legs as she tried to evict her horrible memories and think of Gracie. Her granddaughter, the little girl she loved so much, even though her daughter thought she had no time for either of them.
‘Goodbye, my love. Sleep peacefully.’ Ms Long pressed the exit buzzer and hurried back into the corridor.
Grateful of the distraction, Gina followed. ‘Ms Long – Marianne – we haven’t managed to locate Holly’s phone.’
‘I always make jokes about that. She was never without it. Either that or her trusty pink tablet.’ Marianne smiled as a tear ran down her cheek. ‘I moaned at her sometimes for ignoring me while she was texting or browsing Facebook. I’d do anything to be able to moan at her again.’
‘Again, please accept our sincerest condolences. I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through.’ Gina swallowed the lump in her throat.
‘Thank you.’
‘We want to catch this person more than anything. To do that, we need to learn all we can about Holly. Would you have a key to her apartment?’
Marianne nodded. ‘I was meaning to go there. I just wanted to feel close to her.’
