They had worked non-stop since Sophie Miller had identified the house much earlier in the day. The owners of the rental property were none too happy, given that it was now a crime scene. Officers had got to work, seizing anything that appeared to be of interest. The suspect had left in a hurry, with little time to clean up after himself. He’d taken time to mop the floor, but fingerprints had been found on the mop handle. Such mistakes were going to trip him up. But now it was gone midnight and their officers needed sleep. They were meant to have eleven hours between each shift, but Swann knew he’d see them all first thing. Such a rule was discarded when working on cases like this; they would rest when the suspect was found. He listened as Alice told him all about her day, focusing on every word as she spoke about their boys.
“Night, boss!” his sergeant spoke on the cusp of a yawn, before turning off his desk lamp. Most of the time Ray was sloth-like, counting the days to retirement and doing what was needed to get by. But even he had perked up as they closed in on the suspect.
Swann bade him goodnight. Sighing, he undid the top button on his shirt, watching the last of his officers filter out of the door. Jamal finished tidying his desk, then pulled his coat and scarf on before leaving. He lived on the outskirts of Lincoln, his flat a twenty-minute drive away. Ollie and Kelly left together, laughing at some in-joke. Ness turned back, gave Swann a flamboyant final wave. He acknowledged her with a nod and a smile, keen to end his phone call.
“What are you doing up so late?” Swann asked Alice. “I thought you’d be in bed by now.” That wasn’t entirely true. He’dhopedshe’d be in bed. He didn’t enjoy lying to the mother of his boys.
“I couldn’t sleep. You know I worry when you don’t come home.”
But Alice seemed to sleep less when Elea was around. “Go to bed, love. I’ll speak to Mum tomorrow, see if she can look after the twins for a few hours, so you can have a break. Go into town. Do some shopping...”
“And be on my feet all day? No, ta.”
“Go for a bit of pampering, then. Please. Let Mum come over. You know how much she misses them.”
“We’ll see,” Alice said dismissively. “We’ll talk whenever you get in.”
Swann muttered a few choice expletives as the line went dead. Alice had stopped trusting his mum to help out with the kids when one of them fell from the sofa and ended up with a bump protruding from his skull. It could have happened to anyone, but now his mum was in the doghouse. Alice was not quick to forgive. She complained about being tired, but refused to accept help. She would burn out one of these days. It didn’t help that he was lying. He could easily be making his way home by now.
The reason for his lateness entered his office, a wry grin on her face. She was carrying a pizza box. Elea was usually pretty health-conscious, but cold pizza was a guilty pleasure of theirs. The nights they had both stayed up, eating pizza and drinking red wine, as they discussed the Ice Angels case. It had consumed them, until the case turned cold. While Elea kept up the momentum over the years, Swann had wanted to move on. That’s when the arguments began.
“Trouble in paradise?” Elea’s voice rescued him from the past.
Swann shrugged. He didn’t want to talk about Alice anymore. “How are you doing?” He put the onus on Elea.
“Good.” She looked at him with sincerity in her eyes. “It’s coming to an end. I can feel it. I’m ready.” She opened up the box and presented him with a slice of Hawaiian stuffed crust.
Swann raised an eyebrow. “It’ll play havoc with my indigestion.”
“Mind over matter,” Elea smiled.
They sat at his desk, enjoying the peace. It was almost like old times.
Chapter 48
The man in Elea’s shower was singing out of tune, some old eighties number that Elea couldn’t put her finger on. She sat back on the double bed, sipping her glass of Merlot. This was wrong. Very wrong. But after the day she’d had...She’d spent the last decade cocooned in guilt, couldn’t she just have one night off? Perhaps a little selfishness was needed tonight. It wasn’t as if anyone was going to find out.
Her skin still tingled from the sex they’d had. It was good to feel alive. Sometimes she’d felt like she was calcifying, becoming cold, hard, and fossilised. But not tonight. Her eyes roamed over the messy bed. The sheets were new. Egyptian cotton. She had bought them from Marks & Spencer that day. But the flat came fully furnished and the mattress belonged to Swann. This was where he had slept with Alice, where his twins had most likely crept in between them both. Elea took another sip of wine as the image played out. She shouldn’t be here. She should have rented a place of her own.
A smile crept over her face as the song changed to a Bon Jovi number. He was definitely an eighties fan. She thought of the sauna. Of the view over the Brayford and how beautiful it looked at night, with the twinkling lights from the restaurants and pubs reflecting on the still water. She had her own parking space. A swimming pool. A gym. Lincoln was a small, usually safe city, which suited her fine. The students who attended the university here brought life to the place. She would stay, at least until this panned out.
She thought of her passport, which had recently been renewed. She’d stored it away safely in her bedside cupboard. She was ready to return to Finland should a lead come up, but for now her heart was in Lincoln. Because she’d never felt closer to finding Liisa anywhere else. She thought of the girl in the freezer. Karen had decided to wait until later to identify her. Later, when she wasn’t bent out of shape. Later, when she was thawed and lying beneath a sheet. Elea didn’t blame her. At least there were no obvious injuries. Elea hoped that death had been granted while she was asleep. That poor girl, with her shitty home life and mother who didn’t know how to care for her, most likely because she’d been dragged up herself. She hoped that guilt wouldn’t eat away at Karen. What was done was done. If only she was as good at taking her own advice.
She pushed the thought away as the singing came to an end and the shower was turned off.Have a night off, for God’s sake,she told herself. But she knew it would not be long before her thoughts returned to Chelsea and the man who took her. The man she wanted to kill.
The en-suite door opened, and she was met with a smile. He stood in the thick white towelling dressing gown, towel-drying his hair.
“I didn’t know you were an eighties fan.” Elea smiled, licking the wine stains from her lips.
“There’s lots of things you don’t know about me.” He picked up his watch from the other side of the bed and checked the time. “I suppose you’re kicking me out now, to do your milk rounds.”
But Elea did not want to be left alone with her thoughts. Not tonight. “Stay.”
“Your wish is my command.” Mitch’s smile warmed her inside. She was not an island, much as she tried to be. She had sent Swann home to Alice. As much as she disliked the woman, she couldn’t break up their relationship. Those boys needed their father, and Swann had made his choice years ago.
Then Mitch had texted her when she was home, asking if she was awake. Their late-night conversation had been a welcome one. When he turned up at her flat with a moving-in present of a bottle of wine, she could not resist. She watched him slip off his robe and get into the bed beside her, the scent of her almond shower gel rising from his toned body. A shiver ran down her back as he planted a butterfly kiss on her neck.
A missed-call notification buzzed on her phone. It was Maria, Anu’s mother. But it was late, and Elea needed a break from her despair. She would call Maria first thing in the morning. She turned off her phone before returning her attention to Mitch. She didn’t want her “trauma buddy” to think she was moving on. Most of all she needed a reset, to help her cope with what lay ahead. She entwined her limbs around the man in her bed. For tonight, she would forget.
