“No. I need to go. It’s best for me. And you. I... I need time to be with Nicola. I need to tell her what’s happened. And see if I can earn her forgiveness. It’s time for me to put her first for a change.”
Helen could see he was resolute. She was gutted to lose one of her best officers—one of her best friends at the station—but he had made up his mind and there was no point fighting him.
“I thought you’d try to talk me round, so I also dropped a copy into Harwood’s office on the way here.”
Helen couldn’t help but smile. This was typical Tony—diligent to the end.
“What happened, Tony?”
Tony looked her straight in the eye as he responded, refusing to duck his responsibility:
“I was weak. I wanted her and... It’s not an excuse, but my life has been so... barren. So empty. And she offered me something I didn’t have. Truth is, I’d probably still be with her if she hadn’t... I needed to do it. Needed to remind myself what’s important. What I love. I know now that I want Nicola. I want her to be happy, us to be happy. I’ve got some money put away, so... so I’m going to spend some time with my wife.”
Helen was struck by his sense of purpose. For a man who’d been so lost, who’d fucked up so badly, Tony was suddenly completely clear in his mind what needed to be done. His strength of feeling was admirable, but it was still a terrible waste.
“I know I could try to wheedle my way out of it, but I’ve betrayed my wife and I’ve betrayed the force. When I first sat down with Melissa, I told her about Angel—what we knew, what we didn’t know—and she created Lyra to fill in the gaps. Told me what I wanted to hear. She would never have been able to lead us down a blind alley if I hadn’t revealed things, confidential things, about the investigation. I was suckered by the oldest trick in the book. To protect you, to protect the team, it’s best I go.”
Helen was about to interject, but Tony wasn’t finished.
“If it’s okay with you, I won’t go back to the station again. I’d prefer that they remember me in a good light. As I was.”
“Of course. I’ll square it with HR and I guess your rep will be in touch. I’ll try to get the best deal for you, Tony.”
“You’ve done enough already. I’m just sorry that ultimately I did so little.”
With that he stood up, emotion suddenly ambushing him. He clearly wanted to be gone and Helen didn’t stop him.
“Take care of yourself, Tony.”
He raised his hand as he left, but didn’t turn round. He had been one of her most promising officers, her sounding board, and now he was gone. Angel was still out there and Helen was more alone than ever.
97
“What I’m about to tell you stays in this room. We can’t afford any unnecessary distractions—thiscannotleak out. So don’t discuss it, don’t tell your friends or partners. I want a total lockdown.”
The team had assembled in the incident room at short notice, all except DC Fortune, who couldn’t be found. Helen was loath to do this without everybody present, but she had no choice. She had to nip this in the bud.
“You’ve no doubt heard the rumors and I’m sorry to say that they are true. Tony Bridges had a sexual relationship with Melissa Owen and compromised the investigation.”
The team clearlyhadheard the rumors, but it was still a hammer blow to have it confirmed.
“Lyra Campbell is a dead end, an attempt by Melissa to shift the blame for Anton Gardiner’s murder onto someone else. She thought she could use Tony to get her off the hook. The only good thing to come out of this sorry mess is that she will do time for what she’s done. Tony... Tony won’t be coming back. He resigned this afternoon. Charlie will take over his duties.”
Helen shot a look at Charlie, who for once wouldn’t meet her eye. Helen hesitated, unnerved, then carried on.
“So we start over.”
A couple of heads sank, so Helen carried on briskly.
“We have some new information that might be helpful. Forensics have done their analysis on the blood found at the cargo yard. There was plenty of blood on the crates and the ground that belongs to a female, blood type O, who is a heavy user of alcohol, sedatives and cocaine. More interestingly, there are raised levels of prolactin in her blood. Which strongly suggests that she’s breast-feeding.”
An audible gasp from the team. A surprising development and one that significantly raised the stakes.
“So maybe Angel has a baby, or recently gave one away, but either way, someone, somewhere will have come into contact with her. Could be a GP, a prenatal clinic, a drop-in center, Social Services, an A&E department or just the local branch of Boots. Thanks to Jason Robins, we now have a new e-fit of Angel that’s strong on facial detail—DC McAndrew will distribute it—so I want everyone, and I mean everyone, out there asking the right questions in the right places.”
The team was about to disperse, but was brought to a halt by DC Fortune’s sudden appearance.
“The call was for the whole team, DC Fortune,” Helen chided him.
