Just as she and Jacob were about to get into her car, PC Ahmed called her. ‘Guv.’ He ran across the road to them. ‘We’ve found an illegal disposable vape by the tree. We’ve bagged it up for the lab.’
‘A vape is good. The neighbour we just spoke to mentioned seeing smoke or fog coming from those trees last Friday.’ Gina imagined someone loitering outside Tina and Agatha’s house, vaping while watching them. The perp would have been able to see right into Tina’s living room from that vantage point. They may have seen how busy looking after her mother she was to care if a car had been left on her drive for several days. Gina wondered if the perp had already killed their victim by this time or had they been there preparing for the deed? A shiver tickled the back of her neck. It felt up close, personal and calculated, and she was glad that Tina and her mother were staying with a relative for a few days.
A CSI beckoned them all back over towards the cordons. Gina ran across the road with Jacob, her knees slightly shaking at the thought of having to go near the car again. The CSI held the clear evidence bag up so that Gina could see what was in it. ‘We found this in the victim’s pocket, the one he was lying on in the boot. We could just about reach into it.’
Gina read the name on the photo driving licence. She looked at the small photo of the man with the blond hair and blue eyes. His name was Kain Pickering.
FIVE
JUSTINE
It was almost three in the afternoon. Justine tried to call Craig again but he still wasn’t answering.
‘Mum, have you seen my footie boots?’
She flinched and put her phone away. Craig might not return her call for ages. Maybe he was in yet another meeting. All day? She second questioned everything now. He’d been travelling back and forth to Newcastle for weeks trying to set this new accounting system up for the multinational company he worked for. She looked at her boy, almost the spitting image of his father with his green eyes and flaming-red hair that she loved so much. He too always wore a cap to tuck his sprawling mop into, which she hated. Both he and Craig had gorgeous hair.
‘I put them in the garage. They were getting mud all over my lovely floor and Pixie was trying to lick them. I didn’t want her to get sick.’ She nodded to their very old bulldog who lay snoring in her basket.
‘But I need them and I’m late.’ Danny slammed the back door to go to the garage.
She shrugged and she didn’t care. For years she’d cleaned his boots and his kit but he was an adult now, he could do those things for himself and if he couldn’t, his dirty boots andtrainers would live in the garage. After heading upstairs to her office, she turned her computer off. The bridal shop video edit could wait until later. For now, she had her yoga class to attend and she wasn’t going to miss that for the world. She lived for the smoothie bar there and the time spent with her friends that came after.
The house shuddered as Danny slammed the front door. She glanced out of the upstairs window and watched her son running towards the bus stop. Late – always late. Not bearing the mental load of organising his life was doing her the world of good and she knew it would help Danny to become more independent, too. He needed to learn to organise his own life now. She was being cruel to be kind, only he couldn’t see that yet.
One last mirror check. She was loving her new crossover jumpsuit in fern green – just perfect. She checked her messages and tried to call Craig again, this time he answered. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Are you out of breath?’
‘No, but you did get me out from under a desk. I was having a fight with a cable that had dislodged itself from the back of a computer. Is everything okay?’
She sighed, wondering if now was the right time to tell him how much it upset her when he forgot to call her. She felt like just another wife of a man who worked away and forgot she existed. She was a cliché. No, she was turning into her mother. Her father was the type to leave her mum wondering when he’d be home, not only that, he’d been a prize cheater. Her stomach dropped slightly. Deep down she knew that Craig had been cheating on her and when he got home, they were going to have to talk. ‘I guess. You didn’t call me back last night and you weren’t answering today. I thought something had happened.’
‘So sorry, love. I’ve just been working hard to get this project finished so I can come home. I worked late, got back to the hoteland fell asleep. I was out early this morning to battle the traffic. I knew you were working on the wedding shop video and I didn’t want to disturb you.’
Disturb her. She’d been trying to call him. No, her gut was telling her not to trust him one bit. This type of job only normally lasted a couple of weeks but Craig had been at it too long for her liking. ‘You said you’d be back by now.’
‘And everything is running behind. I’ll be back soon, I promise.’
‘How soon?’
The call ended abruptly. She FaceTimed him instead and he answered immediately looking a bit red and flustered. His freckles were far more prominent than usual, like he’d got hot and bothered, or like whenever he’d been out running. ‘Sorry about that. I think the signal dipped. As you can see, I’m okay and I’m working my socks off.’ He held a piece of cable up and smiled. ‘I’ve had it up to here with leads.’
‘It’s just nice to see your face. I miss you.’ She tried to peer at the office he was in but all she could see was a blank wall.
‘I miss you too.’ He blew a kiss at her.
They’d been married twenty-two years which is how she knew something had changed between them. She couldn’t put her finger on when things had changed but she could put her finger on the light red scratch on his neck if he’d been in the room with her. ‘Have you hurt your neck?’
‘Err.’ He scrunched his brow and felt the line. ‘I did it shaving, the other morning. It’s just a nick.’
‘How did you really do it?’
His smile turned into a frown. ‘Justine, I am not doing this now. I’m at work and people are listening. I did it shaving, okay. I love you. There is no one else. Do we have to go through this every time I work away? It’s exhausting. Is that why you had to FaceTime me?’
She let out a long breath. It wasn’t good to argue, not with him being so far away. She needed him home. Maybe the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach was just her missing him and everything was okay, but that scratch wasn’t caused by shaving and she resented him treating her like she was stupid.
‘I’ve got to go. The boss is coming. Love you.’ He ended the call.
