‘Why, what have you done? The way you two looked guilty when I walked in, I thought you were about to get up to no good.’
Morgan slapped his arm. ‘Cain.’
‘What?’
‘We would never be so unprofessional.’
‘You wouldn’t be the first coppers to get it on in that blue room.’
‘Ugh, that’s disgusting. I don’t want to know what you’ve done in there,’ she said, putting her hand up to stop him from talking. ‘I’d rather be blissfully ignorant.’
‘Your call, I’m just saying that there are plenty of empty offices and cupboards in here that have seen a bit of action.’
‘Stop it.’
‘Come off it, Morgan, don’t tell me you’ve never got it on with anyone inside of here because that’s unheard of.’
‘And have you got it on with anyone inside of the station? Actually, for the love of God, please don’t answer that question.’
‘I’m a gentleman and a gentleman never boasts about his conquests inside or outside of work.’ He winked at her. ‘Should I come with you to track down the person commenting on the Williams sisters’ social media posts? Ben said he didn’t want you to go on your own and I could do with a break from Stan. I already asked him to speak to the boyfriend, and he jumped at the chance. He is so boring, I’d rather work with a premenstrual Amy. She would get so violent, she would kick me and slap me non-stop for almost an entire eight-hour shift.’
‘I can understand why she would, Cain, you can’t go around saying stuff like that.’
‘I can to you, you’re my mate.’ He rubbed the top of her head as if he was praising his pet dog.
Morgan pulled away from his hand. ‘You’re even more annoying today than yesterday and I wouldn’t have thought that could be possible.’
He nodded. ‘It’s a skill, I’ll tell you that for free. So, can I come or what?’
He was almost pleading with her, and she didn’t have the heart to say no. ‘If Bigfoot has a meltdown over it, you’re taking the blame. I’m not saying you can, or you can’t, you’re a grown man, you make your own decisions.’
Cain was grinning. ‘I can handle him, he’s only a foot taller than me and surely, he won’t want to fight more than one person a day. Not after he’s annihilated Benno anyway.’
‘Will you stop saying that, now I’m worried that Ben’s going to get beaten up on top of the stress he’s already suffering.’
He mimed zipping his mouth shut and followed her out of the rear doors that led into the car park. She headed towards the plain car that belonged to their department, and they left the police station in silence. Morgan had wanted to talk to Scotty’s neighbours, have a nosey at his social media accounts whilst she was away from prying eyes. That wasn’t going to happen with Cain sitting next to her, he didn’t miss a trick, and she didn’t want to start any rumours. She had been here before, thinking Scotty had been involved in another case when he hadn’t so she knew she needed to be extra cautious. But the Williams sisters were killed by someone they knew, and finding someone who knew all three of them was an important lead.
‘Have we got time to go to The Coffee Pot for a decent coffee and cake?’
The thought made her stomach groan, but she shook her head. ‘Not now, on the way back we will unless we find somewhere in Bowness first.’
‘You’re the best, Brookes.’
She rolled her eyes at him but smiled to herself.
THIRTY-TWO
Angela was nervous, she had got to the café thirty minutes early to make sure she could get a table that was tucked away in the corner, to give them some privacy. This was going to be difficult enough without anyone listening in to her conversation. She hadn’t told Cain what she was doing, as she wanted to judge her son’s reaction first. He might tell her to stay away from him and get out of his life for good. Then there would be no reason to tell Cain. No matter how hard she tried, the guilt tainted her so deep inside it made her hate herself if she thought about it too much. She couldn’t face the rejection if Cain shunned her as well as her son.
She had the well-worn bunny with her that she was going to offer to him; it would help her explain that she’d wanted to be in his life, but that Susan and Jim had shunned her. They had refused to let her be there, not even watching from the sidelines, and she had never forgiven either of them for that.
When Susan and Jim had died in the head-on collision, she hadn’t even felt bad; in fact she had probably gloated a little more than she should. She had read about it in the newspaper as it had been front-page news. It had made her cry, although not for Susan or Jim, but for herself and her son. She had wantedto reach out to him then, to offer him some comfort and let him know he wasn’t alone, but she’d been too scared. It had been too long since he’d been taken from her, and he was probably traumatised enough without her turning up and announcing she was his birth mum.
She had gone to the funeral and kept to the back of the church, wearing a hat, keeping her head low in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the man he had become, but there had been too many mourners to even see to the front of the pews where the family were sitting. Then her nerves getting the better of her she had crept out before the end of the service. Better to leave him alone. What would her turning up in his life do to him now?
Angela had got on the train and cried into a tissue all the way back home. Karma was real and although it had taken a very long time for Susan to get hers, she had in the end, as had Jonathan.
Every time the door opened, she glanced up, fear and a lot of hope in her eyes. She wondered what he would think about her pink hair and small tattoos. Would he be embarrassed or would he not care? If she’d raised him, he wouldn’t care one little bit, but the family he’d been left with were the biggest snobs she had ever known, judgemental too.
