‘Sorry, dog, that was not in my plan, but it happened. Now, be thankful I never did the same to you.’
Taking some treats out of the jar he’d filled up, he scooped Barney up and took him into his bedroom, putting him on thebed. The last thing he needed was the dog trotting around in all the mess, leaving a trail of bloody pawprints everywhere.
THIRTY-SIX
Ben was nowhere to be found, his office had been well and truly taken over by their temporary inspector. Morgan rang him and his voice was low as he asked her, ‘How did you get on?’
‘Where are you? I have coffee and cake.’
‘In Marc’s office, can’t stand being in such close proximity to that man, it’s too claustrophobic in my office with him in there. I don’t know what cheap deodorant or aftershave he uses but give me Lynx Africa any day over the putrid stuff he wears.’
‘On my way.’ Morgan snorted with laughter, grabbed a coffee out of the holder and a bag with two cakes in it out of Cain’s fingers.
‘Where are you going?’
‘To speak to Ben. Give me ten minutes, will you, before you come charging into Marc’s office.’
‘Oh, right. Yes, will do.’ He winked at her and saluted.
‘Bugger off, Cain, I mean to talk to him about what we’ve discovered.’
‘Oh, yes.’ Now he had one hand free, he took out his phone and was staring at it. His brow furrowed as he squinted at it and Morgan guessed he still hadn’t heard from Angela.
‘Look, why don’t you nip home whilst I’m talking to Ben and go see if she’s okay. There are probably several reasons why you can’t get hold of her. I bet her phone isn’t working.’
He nodded. ‘You think Ben would mind?’
‘Of course not, let me know when you get hold of her, okay. Just to put my mind at rest too.’
Cain had one coffee left in the carrier and he took it out, threw the carrier into the recycling and hurried away with the spare coffee. Morgan watched him, her stomach a little queasy thinking about Angela’s prolonged absence. She was praying she hadn’t got into a car accident or any other kind of accident, but surely there would be a log on. She realised then that neither she nor Cain had been paying any attention to their radios all afternoon.
Taking the stairs, she saw Ben’s shadow in the glow of the computer monitor behind Marc’s desk. He was sitting in the dark, which made her smile. Pushing the door open she walked in.
‘Am I glad to see you, is that for me?’
Morgan passed him the cake and the coffee. ‘Yes, it is.’
‘I could kiss you.’
‘Well, don’t let me stop you.’ She grinned at him. ‘I have news which I think puts Scotty out of the question unless—’ She stopped talking. Could he be the adopted brother of the Williams sisters? Who knew? Should she be ruling him out so soon?
‘Tell me then.’
‘There is an adopted, foster, half or stepbrother.’
Ben’s eyes widened.
‘There is? How did you find this out?’
‘By the way, Cain came with me. He sent Stan to speak to Lauren’s boyfriend, is that okay?’ Ben was nodding. ‘Also, I said you wouldn’t mind if he nipped home. He hasn’t been able to get in touch with Angela for a few hours now and he’s worried.’
The look of concern on Ben’s face made her remember just how much of a good boss he really was. ‘He hasn’t? Do you think she’s okay?’
Morgan shrugged. ‘Probably, her phone might be broken, but he looked really upset.’
‘Should you have gone with him, do you think?’
‘I didn’t ask.’
