crucial hours.
He forced himself to make the final steps up to the second floor, cursing inwardly at the debilitating burst of pain. He desperately needed some more painkillers. But first, he had a briefing to give.
He limped along the corridor, heading for what had been assigned as the team’s Incident Room.
As he reached the room his phone vibrated.
‘Brady,’ he answered.
Three words hit him.
‘It’s her, sir,’ stated the liaison officer who had accompanied Brian Ryecroft to ID the body.
Brady paused, digesting the news.
He could hear the agitated mumbling of his team from behind the closed door. Every so often the name ‘Simone’ was thrown in, swiftly followed by ‘bastards!’ It was clear that tempers were frayed. People were on edge. Angry at what had happened to one of their own. Scared even, that whoever did it might strike again. Worst case scenario, they could have a cop killer on their hands.
‘He’s certain?’ demanded Brady.
Given the condition of the body, he had to ask.
‘Yes, sir. No question.’
Brady couldn’t imagine the pain that Brian Ryecroft would be feeling after seeing the horror of what had happened to his daughter.
‘Tell Mr Ryecroft I’m really sorry for his loss, will you?’ replied Brady, knowing that his words would carry little comfort.
‘Of course, sir.’
Brady disconnected the call and steeled himself before facing his team. This radically changed the investigation. Instead of some unidentified body they now had the victim’s name.
Steadying himself Brady opened the door and walked in. The first person to catch his eye was Claudia.
‘Sir, can I have a quick word before you start?’ Conrad asked before his boss had a chance to question Claudia’s presence.
Brady nodded, aware that Claudia was watching him. Closely; too closely.
Then he realised why. He looked as if he’d had the crap kicked out of him; which he had.
Brady walked back out, followed by Conrad who shut the door discreetly behind them.
‘What is she doing in there?’
‘She’s got some information about the branding found on the murder victim, sir,’ answered Conrad.
Brady narrowed his eyes.
‘What exactly has she got?’
‘She hasn’t said, sir. She’s saving it for the briefing.’
‘I don’t think so, Conrad. She has no jurisdiction here.’
Admittedly he had asked her to look into the branding marks found on the victim’s body, but he hadn’t expected her to turn up at the briefing without talking to him first.
‘She seems to think she does,’ Conrad replied uncomfortably.
‘Yeah? Well, let’s see about that, shall we?’
Before Brady opened the door, he looked at Conrad.
‘While I have a word with her can you let the team know that the body’s been positively identified as sixteen-year-old Melissa Ryecroft?’
Conrad looked mildly shaken. But he quickly composed himself.
‘Yes, sir.’
He looked the way Brady had felt when he heard those fateful words.
Conrad waited for his boss to make a move but Brady looked distracted. His face dark, troubled.
In all the time he had worked with him, Conrad had never seen Brady look so on edge. It was too easy to dismiss it as a reaction to Simone Henderson’s attack and the gruesome murder case which, if not solved, could have dire ramifications for them all; in particular Brady. But Conrad knew there was more to it. Exactly what, he couldn’t say, but he had known Brady too long and had too much respect for him not to be concerned about what it was that was affecting him so badly.
Conrad followed Brady as he suddenly turned and walked into the Incident Room.
‘Claudia?’ Brady said, addressing his ex-wife as he entered the room.
Conrad kept his head down, avoiding Claudia’s questioning look as he walked over to the large conference table.
Claudia looked from Conrad to Brady.
‘Yes?’ she questioned, her vivacious green eyes trying to gauge what was going on between the two men.
‘Can we have a word?’
‘Of course,’ she answered.
Brady detected a slight hesitation in her voice.
He watched as she collected her thoughts. She irritably swept her long, curly red hair back from her face as she stood up, aware that he was watching her. As was the rest of the room.
Not surprisingly she was smartly dressed.
She had always worn clothes that commanded respect from men; she used to be a lawyer and was damned good at it.
She walked across the room towards him with an air of control. But Brady could tell that something was troubling her. He knew her too well.
Brady walked out into the corridor and waited until she had closed the door.
‘Why are you here?’ he said bluntly, annoyed that she hadn’t had the courtesy to ask his permission first, before making herself a part of his team.
‘It might surprise you that I’m actually here to help you with this investigation. Be grateful – it’s my day off.’
‘Really? Then maybe you’ve got better things to do than sitting in on my briefing.’
‘Believe me I do. But right now my only concern is helping you with this girl’s murder. Not wasting time arguing.’
Brady didn’t look convinced.
‘Have you seen yourself?’ she questioned, scathingly taking in the damage to his face.
‘What exactly do you have?’ demanded Brady, cutting straight to the point.
‘A typical Jack Brady response. Always dodging the bullet!’
‘I’m serious, Claudia, why are you here?’
She crossed her arms and looked at him.
‘I have information that could be invaluable to the investigation.’
‘And?’ Brady asked. ‘It still doesn’t explain why you’re sat in there. Surely a phone call would have been as good?’
He was mad with her. And he was mad at himself because here he was still letting her get to him. But ironically, he was relieved to have her there, despite how he was coming across.
‘I did try calling you. Maybe you should check your messages. And then I sat waiting in your office for over half an hour.’
‘I got caught up,’ replied Brady edgily.
With everything that had happened since he got back to the station he had simply forgotten to contact her. A foolish oversight, given the information he needed from her.
‘I have better things to do than wait around for you to show. And whether you like it or not, right now you need my expertise,’ she pointed out with an edge of irritation to her voice.
‘I’m sorry, alright?’ Brady said quietly.
He knew he desperately needed her assistance on this case.
She gave a slight nod. Her way of accepting his apology.
‘I’m here now so why don’t you tell me exactly what it is you’ve found out?’ he asked, trying to defuse the situation.
