Page 48 of Her Lips Are Sealed

For a moment, she thought that he looked a little familiar, but she couldn’t place him and closed the door behind him, letting a complete stranger into her flat and breaking every rule she’d ever set for herself since she’d been living on her own.

THIRTY-ONE

Tired, stressed but feeling strangely happy, Morgan had been the one to buy the coffees this morning. She’d told Ben she’d meet him at work, happy to drive herself there instead of car sharing with him like she usually did.

Josie had seemed so grateful to be a part of their group last night, she hadn’t stopped smiling to herself. She was funny and kind, not to mention clever enough to actually answer questions at the quiz last night and apparently get them right without even gloating once.

The Coffee Pot wasn’t busy yet, which was just the way Morgan liked it. She tried not to think of Angela meeting Tristan here and walking with him to her death. It was too painful, yet Cain still managed to come here despite him knowing this. If he could do it then so could Morgan. And besides, Jade, the owner, was lovely and Morgan tried her best to support her business as much as she could since she’d lost her daughter Melody a couple of years ago. Sometimes it was Jade who did the supporting of Morgan though and she looked after her as if she was her younger sister, which was nice because Morgan had been an only child. Well, until she’d found out she wasn’t and she’d rather not think about her brother Taylor, because he was rotting in prison for the murders he’d committed.

‘Penny for them?’

‘Oh hey, Jade. I wouldn’t wish my thoughts on anyone. How are you?’

‘Surviving, how about you?’

‘Same.’

‘What can I get you, Morgan?’

She counted on her fingers. ‘Four lattes and three cappuccinos, please.’ She didn’t care who drank what, they could fight over them in the office, as long as she had her latte to wake her brain up from the funk it was in this morning. She looked longingly at the assortment of fresh traybakes that Jade baked herself every morning. ‘Oh, and one of each of those, please.’

‘Take a seat, Morgan, I’ll shout you when they’re ready.’

‘Not until you’ve taken the money for them, you won’t. I know what you’re up to, Jade, and it’s far too much. You have to pay the bills.’

Jade laughed so much, warmly and joyfully, it was a lovely sound that filled Morgan’s heart with joy. ‘Are you sure, you know I don’t like taking money from you.’

‘Don’t be daft, we’d eat you out of house and home. You can’t keep giving us coffee and cake for free. We do get paid for going to work you know.’

‘But you work so hard and I heard about the two women. It’s so awful, I couldn’t sleep last night. What is it with this area? It’s cursed, I’m sure of it.’

‘Ah, I wish I knew. I’ve said that before and my aunt Ettie would agree with you that there is something on the land around here that brings out the utter worst in people. We know that better than anyone.’

Jade nodded, her eyes shiny but still she kept the tears at bay and held the card machine out for Morgan, who squinted at the total.

‘Erm, that seems awfully cheap for seven coffees and cakes.’

‘Staff discount.’

‘Jade.’

‘It’s that or I’m not serving you.’

Morgan smiled at her. ‘You are the kindest person I ever did meet.’

‘And you are the bravest, so that makes us equal.’

‘What a pair of women we are,’ Morgan said, laughing, and Jade giggled.

‘We have our own superpowers and I like that; we are a good team, Morgan, and it makes me happy knowing you have a caffeine fix from me to help you with your day.’

Morgan sat down and wondered if today was the day they’d finally get to interview Paul Graham, but she knew she wouldn’t be on the team for that. Lucy was highly skilled in interviewing and Ben would want to utilise her expertise as a DI, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t go and speak with Rena. She’d see if Cain would go with her because she didn’t know how stable the woman was.

While she was waiting, she phoned the bus station and asked them the time of the last bus to Kendal the night Rachel had been murdered, and she also requested the CCTV footage from all the buses running that evening. She knew it would take a while for Stagecoach to get the footage, but at least the request had been made. It was one more thing ticked off her list.

Jade placed a cardboard tray on the table with four drinks inside and a paper bag with the traybakes in. ‘Do you want to put that in the car and I’ll bring the other drinks out?’

‘Thank you.’