Angela was still crying. She didn’t want to do this anymore. She wanted a life where there were no screaming babies and she got to sleep for more than thirty seconds at a time.
She knew she should have got his baby bath out and filled that, but she was too tired to start messing around with it.Kneeling she lowered him into the warm water, hoping it would settle him more. Her eyelids were so heavy, it was so hard to keep awake with the warmth from the steam in the bathroom. She blinked several times to wake herself up, but it was no good. Angela felt her mind giving in to what her body wanted, and she didn’t even realise that she’d let go of her baby as she slumped against the side of the bath.
The door banged making her jump.
‘Angela.’
Jonathan was home, she realised. Thank God, he could take over. And then she noticed her arms were empty and she wasn’t holding her baby. Jonathan stepped into the bathroom and screamed. Rushing over to the bath, he stood on her as he bent over and scooped the tiny, lifeless figure out of the water.
‘What have you done? Call an ambulance, Angela!’
Angela couldn’t move; she just stared at the small figure in Jonathan’s arms. It wasn’t moving and a wave of sickness washed over her. Clutching it to his chest he ran to the phone and dialled 999. He screamed, ‘Ambulance,’ down the phone. ‘Our baby isn’t breathing; he was in the bath.’
Then he thrust the receiver at Angela as he bent down and began to gently use two fingers to push against the baby’s chest. Then he placed his mouth over its nose and mouth, gently blowing air into his lungs.
‘What’s your address? An ambulance is on the way.’
‘Flat B, Windermere Road,’ Angela’s voice croaked into the phone.
Jonathan was repeating the same movements, chest compressions, then blowing into the baby’s mouth, and for a moment Angela wanted to tell him to stop what he was doing. Wouldn’t their life be so much better without him crying all the time? Without her smelling like gone off milk and both of thembeing able to sleep all through the night like they used to before he came along?
‘I didn’t mean to; I was so tired I passed out.’
Jonathan wouldn’t look at her, he carried on until the baby began to cough and water dribbled out of its mouth. Then it opened its mouth and began to wail once more. Angela closed her eyes and began to cry, not with relief, but with regret that he was still alive.
The ambulance staff ran into the flat and Jonathan passed the baby to them as they wrapped it in a blanket and rushed it out to the ambulance. He glared at Angela.
‘Will you put something on for God’s sake. We can’t go to the hospital with you in your bra.’
She did as she was told, getting dressed. She was a bad person, she had almost let her baby die, but she didn’t regret that. She regretted Jonathan coming home and saving it.
FOUR
Scotty and Amber left with Mike in the van; they had assured him he wasn’t under arrest but needed to get his prints and a swab, which he hadn’t even argued about. This made Morgan doubt he had anything to do with the murder, but it would be foolish to not process him. Better to rule him out than let him walk away from here ready to kill again. As much as she hated being right, from her experience, anyone who committed a violent crime such as this didn’t just walk away and turn into a saint for the rest of their lives. The violence was always there bubbling underneath the skin, just waiting for the right moment to break free.
Wendy, Ben, and Morgan sheltered inside the CSI van, waiting for backup to arrive in the form of a search team. Marc, their detective inspector, beat the search team to it as he drove up the pitted, bumpy drive in his Porsche.
Wendy rolled her eyes. ‘I thought he was going on holiday. I bet you two a tenner he insists on going inside there to have a look around.’
Morgan smiled. ‘I bet you twenty he does.’
Ben shook his head. ‘I’ll bet you both fifty because there is no way he’s going to wait outside like a good lad should.’
They watched as he got out of his car, walked to the boot and began to rip open a packet containing the white crime-scene overalls they were already wearing. When he was suited and booted, he walked towards the hotel, turning to wave at them. When none of them attempted to get out of the van he beckoned them to him.
Ben groaned. ‘For fuck’s sake.’
Wendy sniggered, cupping a hand across her mouth. ‘Go on, your boss is calling you both. I don’t answer to him so I’m staying put until you tell me that Michael Myers isn’t hiding out in that creepy hotel ready to stab you all.’
‘You wait here, Morgan.’ Ben’s order was clear.
She paused to think about it then opened the van door and jumped out. ‘I don’t think so, if you’re going in, so am I. Don’t give me any of that crap, we’re a team.’
‘We’re also trying to stay alive and if you wait out here, you can tell backup to hurry up when we get chased out by a knife-wielding maniac.’
‘Wendy is quite capable of doing that.’ Morgan strode towards Marc, and she heard Ben muttering under his breath behind her.
‘Boss.’
