‘What are you talking about?’
‘You. Us. I follow you blindly and then you let me down.’
Henley felt her breath catch in her throat.
‘I’m not doing this with you,’ she eventually said. ‘This has nothing to do with us.’
‘Your actions don’t match your words, Anj. They never have.’
‘You want to go through all this again? You want me to tell you again why I can’t leave my family? I’m not going to do that, Stephen. I’m not going to take precious time away from this investigation to talk about something that doesn’t exist anymore.’
‘Would it make a difference if I told you that Laura and I … she wants something that I can’t give her,’ Pellacia spoke as though he hadn’t heard Henley’s words. As though he knew that this time shewaslying.
‘No, it wouldn’t make a difference,’ Henley’s voice broke.
‘And you’re content to be in an unhappy marriage with a man who doesn’t understand you or support you?’
‘Just because Rob and I have problems like any other married couple doesn’t mean that it’s unhappy.’
Pellacia snorted with displeasure. ‘Keep telling yourself that.’
‘Why don’t you focus more on the SCU and less on what happens outside of it? What I do in my spare time has absolutely nothing to do with you.’
‘Are you serious? You’ve dragged Ezra into this, and you really think that what you’re doing doesn’t impact me? I don’t understand why you’re being so selfish.’
‘How am I being selfish?’
‘By taking advantage of a widow’s grief and giving her hope when there isn’t any. Let it rest and focus on what you’ve got to do in this building. Stop thinking of yourself for once.’
‘Wow.’ Henley shook her head with disbelief. ‘Anything else you’d like to share?’
‘Yes. Do your job or I’ll think nothing of getting someone else in to do it for you.’ Pellacia snapped. He walked back into the building slamming the door behind him, leaving Henley outside alone.
32
Ramouter had thought that playing The Verve loudly would have made the car journey bearable, but he was wrong. Henley had barely said two words to him since they’d left the office. When they stopped at the traffic lights on Blackfriars Bridge, Ramouter broke.
‘Is everything all right, boss?’ he asked. ‘You just seem … a bit annoyed.’
Henley released her foot off the brake and turned onto Farringdon Street. ‘Did you know that Copeland was going to be joining the SCU?’ she asked.
‘Why do you think I knew?’ Ramouter asked, turning his face towards the window.
‘Because you’re the only one who wasn’t surprised when she walked in.’
Ramouter put a hand to his chin and rubbed at his beard. ‘It’s not what you think,’ he eventually said. ‘We were out for a drink last night. She told me then it was a possibility.’
‘A drink? I didn’t realise you were that close.’
‘We’re not close. I bumped into her when I was at Lewisham for the press conference, and she suggested drinks. It just happened that I was there when she got the call from the borough commander that her transfer had gone through.’
‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’ Henley asked, her tone sharp.
‘To be honest, I assumed you already knew, and you’d agreed to it.’
‘I didn’t know it was approved, and I can’t say I’m pleased about it.’
‘I think it could be a good thing she’s here, DC Copeland that it is,’ said Ramouter as Henley parked the car. ‘It can never hurt to have an extra pair of hands.’
