Page 54 of Her Lips Are Sealed

Two officers ran in behind them, followed by paramedics. Cain gently pulled Morgan to the side so they could begin to work, and they watched with bated breath praying for her to pull through.

‘She’s got a pulse, barely, but it’s there,’ Nick, one of the paramedics, said. He nearly always ended up at Morgan’s crime scenes.

‘Don’t let her die, Nick, please.’

‘I don’t intend to, Morgan.’ He didn’t tear his gaze away from Lisa as he managed to get an IV line into her hand.

The other guy, whom Morgan didn’t know, had an oxygen mask on Lisa’s face.

‘Let’s get her to hospital ASAP. Hey, can you two go get the gurney out of the van, please, and help us get her down?’

Mac, who stood watching, looking shocked, nodded, then he turned and ran back out to get the trolley. Scotty followed him. Morgan’s knees were trembling so much watching this horror story unfold she didn’t know if she was going to be able to stay standing much longer.

Cain’s arm looped through hers. ‘I’ve got you. It’s going to be okay, Morgan. Look.’

He pointed and there was a steady beep on the defibrillator, and Morgan sucked in a huge mouthful of air.

‘I hope so. Wait, he can’t be far. How did she manage to phone us?’ Morgan pointed to the three doors that were closed, a loud miaow coming from inside one of them. Cain nodded at her.

Before either of them could move Mac stepped in front of them.

‘No, you don’t, let me. I have a taser and a size fourteen boot that I’m not afraid to use.’

He strode across to the door the cat was locked behind, pushed down the handle, throwing it open. The tabby cat shot out, darting past them and straight out of the front door. It was Lisa’s bedroom and it was in total disarray. The bed was messy, clothes strewn on the floor, and sticking out from underneath the corner of one pillow was the edge of a piece of paper.

‘It’s the same guy, but what happened? Did he think she was dead and left?’

Cain shook his head. ‘Maybe she played dead, could have saved her life.’

‘Or maybe he panicked when she managed to call you,’ Mac said.

‘Whatever happened, he was sloppy this time and had no time to clean up after himself. There has to be evidence left behind.’

‘Oh crap,’ Morgan. muttered.

‘What?’

‘Well, whoever did this was not Paul Graham or Rena Derry.’

Cain groaned. ‘I thought we were doing too good for it to be true. Bloody hell.’

‘Can we get a hand, please.’ Nick called out.

Cain and Mac went to help, while Morgan slipped on a pair of gloves from the pocket of her jeans and walked slowly towards the bed. She should let CSI document this first. She took out her phone, tugged off one glove and recorded the bedroom slowly, then photographed it before putting the glove back on and gently teasing the paper from out of its hiding place enough that she could read it. She recognised the writing immediately.

SHE LIVED ALONE I HAD TO DO IT I DID NOT WANT TO BUT SHE KNEW IT WAS TIME WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IS UP TO YOU I HAVE THE NEXT ONE YOU WONT STOP ME NOW IT’S YOU OR THEM MORGAN BROOKES YOU DECIDE

She felt her knees wobble as she read the note twice to make sure it said her name and she hadn’t just imagined it. How the hell did they know her, know she was the one finding these notes? The thought made her queasy. She snapped a photo of the note then left it in situ so as not to contaminate the crime scene further. She was going to have to tell Ben about it and he would totally freak out.

She backed out of the room the same way she came in, hands in pockets so as not to touch anything.

Lisa had been taken out to the ambulance, and Morgan surveyed her flat looking for something, anything, that might help them figure out how and why she had been a victim. A warm body pushed itself against her leg and she looked down to see the cat. It gave out the littlest squeak she’d ever heard.

‘You’re hungry, huh? Come on, let’s feed you. then we’re going to have to find someone to take care of you for a little bit.’

Morgan bent down and rubbed its head, just behind the ears the way Kevin liked her to stroke him, and it began to purr, so loud it was vibrating her leg. She found a pouch of cat food and emptied it into a bowl, filled the other up with fresh water and closed the front door behind her.

Then she ran outside to see the ambulance being driven away by Mac.