Instantly.
Yes.
I’m your aunt, I used to be married to Susan’s brother.
Uncle Jonathan?
Angela’s heart was racing so hard, and she was finding it hard to concentrate. She didn’t want to mess up and tell him who she was out of the blue like this when they hadn’t even met.
Yes.
His wife is called Tammy, why is your name Angela?
His first wife.
There was a pause, and she wondered if he’d had enough of her for one day.
I didn’t know he had a first wife.
No, he didn’t talk about me. It was complicated. Would you like to meet for a coffee, I’d love to chat with you, but I understand if you don’t.
The sly dog, he had a first wife nobody knew about. Well, I never. Do you have any juicy gossip you can share about him if I say yes?
Her mouth was so dry, she found it hard to swallow.
I do, as a matter of fact, but it’s not something I’d feel comfortable sharing on here.
I’m free later this afternoon. Could meet you at three at The Coffee Pot if that’s any good?
Perfect.
See you then Aunty Angela
He left the chat, leaving her having palpitations. After all these years she was finally going to meet her son, the moment she’d dreamed about, and all she’d had to do was send a simple message. She could have done this years ago. Why had she waited all this time to put the ghosts of her past to rest? She thought about Cain, and little Ava. How he doted on the babygirl, and it had made her realise it was time to put right the wrongs she had done all those years ago.
THIRTY
The blue room was full by the time Morgan walked in with Ben. John, their temporary inspector, was seated at the head of the table in Ben’s usual seat, his huge frame filling the space. Ben didn’t seem fazed. He strode to the front, sitting next to him, although he had to pull his chair away from John to give himself some room to breathe.
The atmosphere was fraught with tension, not helped by the fact that everyone including the two PSD detectives were staring in John’s direction. Most of them clearly hadn’t met him before. His presence filled the room; there was an expression of mild annoyance on his face making him look like the least approachable person there was in the station. For once Morgan found herself wishing Marc was here instead, and she caught herself; she never thought she’d see the day she was wishing he was in work. She squeezed into a space between Cain and Stan; Cain was furiously typing a message on his phone and, not wanting to be nosey but unable to help herself, she saw Angela’s name at the top and smiled. She liked Angela a lot, she was such a lovely woman, and she and Cain were so suited to each other.
Cain’s face was solemn, and she whispered, ‘Is everything okay?’
He nodded. ‘Yeah, I messaged Angela ages ago and she hasn’t got back to me yet, it’s not like her.’
‘Is she mad at you for spending so much time at Amy’s?’ she whispered back.
He shook his head. ‘No, she doesn’t mind that. She’s been a bit quiet the last couple of days and I’m a bit worried about her, that’s all.’
‘Do you want me to have a chat with her, see if she’s okay? It might be something she doesn’t want to discuss with you. Is her health okay?’
Cain frowned. ‘I think so, she’s never said anything to make me think it wasn’t.’
‘Right then, is everyone here? I don’t want to waste any time. It’s quite clear there’s a lot to do to bring this case to a close. I’m DI John Wilde; I’m retiring in exactly four weeks so I would like this concluded before I hang up my boots for good. Are we all on the same page?’
Heads nodded around the room.
‘Good, I take it I have the pleasure of walking into a shit show of the highest degree. I’m not here to point fingers or blame anyone, what I want is a list of viable suspects. I want anyone who looks good for this brought in and formally interviewed. No pansying around with voluntaries and statements. If we come up with a name that has even the most tenuous connection, then I want them in custody to be interviewed, then bailed whilst we figure out what’s going on. I gather you might not usually work like this, but I do, and I like that it gets results. So who is going to give me a full update, any volunteers?’
