‘What do you mean, what I did?’
‘You know. You bloody well know.’
How? Justine struggled to swallow the lump in her throat. She knew how. Her cheating husband was in a relationship withthe very person who would tell him everything. How his tone had changed. The man before her was some kind of monster given how he’d messed up. Yes, she’d done something terribly wrong but not as bad as the things he’d done. Was he trying to justify his behaviour or even excuse it? No, his was way worse than hers. Just looking at him made her want to throw up. If it wasn’t for Danny and the fact that he’d be in big trouble without Craig to take the blame, she’d hand her husband to the police on a platter but she couldn’t lose her son to whatever stupid mistake he’d made. She wouldn’t say a word. Protecting Danny was her number one priority above anything else.
Heart pounding, she needed to get as far away from him as possible. She turned and ran, dragging Pixie along, choking on the sobs that filled her throat while hoping that he wasn’t behind her because now he knew her secret, she was a sitting duck. And what did he mean by set-up and decorating the apartment? She tore through the trees as far away from him as she could get. She lost him and hurried back to her mum’s, past the creepy scarecrows. That’s when she heard the cracking of a branch coming from behind the hedge. Coils of vapour snaked up above the hedgerow. She knew that Danny had started vaping. She inhaled and was sure she could smell toffee apple, or something sweet and fruity. ‘Danny, you’re scaring me.’ Had their son seen everything? Had he followed them or hid out while Craig attacked her? He’d stood by and let it happen – her own son. The coils of vapour vanished. Her every instinct was yelling for her to hurry back to her mother’s and lock the door, but she couldn’t help stepping forward to part the shrubbery. The only clue that someone had been there was the lingering scent of vape juice. He’d gone. Pixie whined and wagged her tail. ‘Toffee apple,’ she muttered. She knew Danny had used vapes despite her telling him she disapproved. He obviously didn’t want to talk to her yet.
She dragged Pixie and darted to her mother’s without looking back. Lindy was missing. Kain was dead and Craig mentioned that there seemed to be another victim. Was she next? Her phone beeped.
It was an Instagram message from an anonymous user with no profile or posts. Her jaw began to tremble. How could her own son do this to her?
The truth is coming out. Everyone will know what you did and they will all hate you. You’re a skank!
THIRTY-SIX
The warmth of his hands caressing her set her senses alight. She reached out and touched him back – just his bicep. Her body tingled as he drew her in, closer to him, then his lips brushed against hers. Then Pia stood over her and spoke. ‘You should just go for it. Briggs has moved on. He was getting too complicated and moody anyway, and he’s made it clear, he doesn’t want you. You could just have some fun. You deserve some fun, don’t you, Gina?’ She turned back to him knowing she had to give in to the pressure her own desire was putting her under…
‘Gina, I brought you coffee and some breakfast.’
‘What?’ She lifted her head off her desk. Embarrassing – she’d dribbled on her notes. She took a couple of breaths and looked away from a very fresh-looking Brodie Fraser, in the hope that he wouldn’t be able to tell that she’d just been dreaming about him. It had all seemed so real. Guilt tugged at her chest as she thought about Briggs. The not hearing from him had been the worst. She had no idea what was going on his end, all she knew was that he’d done something terrible. Was Pia’s voice in her dream merely her inner self, trying to get through to her that she and Briggs were over? ‘Sorry, I fell asleep. I was going to gohome to grab a few hours and a shower but I got looking into all this and, next thing, I’m face flat on my desk.’
‘You should head home for a bit. Wyre and O’Connor have just arrived and Jacob is on his way.’
She inhaled the woody body spray that Brodie wore and it made her tingle a little. That dream had really messed with her head. ‘No, I’m good. What’s in there?’ She pointed at the paper bag next to the coffee.
‘An almond croissant. I left some on the main table but I wanted to make sure you got one.’
Damn. ‘The thought was there but I’ll just take the coffee.’
‘Don’t you like croissants?’
‘I love them, but my cholesterol doesn’t. Too much butter. You have it.’
He burst into laughter. ‘My cholesterol would say no too. I’ll leave it on the main table. If only we could go back to those days when we’d come in at seven in the morning and eat pizza from the night before.’
‘I’m surprised we didn’t all die of food poisoning.’ She smiled as she raked her hands through her tangled brown hair.
‘You looked like you were dreaming when I came in. I didn’t want to wake you but I was worried you might get a bad neck. By the way, there’s a couch in the office I’m using at the moment. If you need it, it’s yours. Hope you were having nice dreams before I interrupted.’
She pressed her lips together. They were sealed – for now. ‘Any news on DCI Briggs?’
‘They let him go in the night. He’s home. He was at the station during the time Lindy was taken, but that’s all I can say.’
‘It can’t be that bad if they let him go?’
‘I can’t say too much, Gina, but he’s not off the hook. I will say that.’ He smiled.
She leaned back in her chair knowing she looked like a hideous, sleepy-eyed mess but the show had to go on. Briggs was free, for now. She checked her personal phone. No missed calls. She hated that he hadn’t even bothered to message her again even though he was out.
They had a murderer to catch and a briefing to head to. Panic hit her. How could she sit around talking about croissants, the past, and dreams when Lindy was still missing? She swallowed, knowing that still, Briggs had done something terrible. Maybe he should be facing whatever that was. Then she thought about her own past. She was as bad as him. She’d do anything to protect herself and still, she’d do anything to protect Briggs.
‘Guv.’ Jacob stood in the doorway.
‘What is it?’
He held a croissant in one hand. A loose almond dropped onto her shabby-looking carpet. ‘I’ve been looking into Sheena May and checking out her social media. Well, Kapoor started and I picked up where she left off. We know Sheena is engaged to someone called Fabien. He’s on social media as Fabien Stone. He works as a debt collector and his brother died by drowning in a pool at nine. Fabien was thirteen. He was never a suspect but he had been looking after his brother at the time. He’s been brought in for fighting in the past. The first time resulted in a caution and the second was thrown out by the CPS through lack of evidence. Most of his Instagram is full of photos of him flexing in front of weights at the gym and there’s a cryptic message under a gym post about two weeks ago.
A man can’t call himself a man unless he can protect his wife and then his children. A real man will do anything it takes. Are you a real man?
