As she ended the call, a gust of wind blew against the kitchen window and she shuddered, glad it was he who would be braving the elements in the name of research, and not her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
‘Thought I’d find you here.’
Kay jerked upright, shaken from her thoughts, and turned her head to see Barnes approaching along the tow path towards her.
She moved her handbag and shuffled up the bench seat so he could join her, then turned her attention back to the line of narrowboats neatly moored along the opposite bank, mist rising from the water in the early morning sunlight.
He handed a Styrofoam cup to her.
‘Coffee?’
‘Spicy pumpkin soup. Marie at the café said it’d warm us up faster.’
‘Thanks.’
She removed the plastic lid and blew across the hot surface of the liquid.
The tow path next to the River Medway had become a favourite haunt of Kay’s over the summer months.
Tucked behind the grandeur of the Bishop’s Palace, it provided a sanctuary from the bedlam of the police station and a respite from the noise of the café the team frequented.
Barnes had stumbled upon her there late one morning, and the two of them had spent time together since, mulling over various cases while devouring sandwiches or chatting over a quiet coffee.
‘How’re you doing this morning?’ said Barnes. ‘I heard, of course.’
‘I’m okay,’ said Kay. ‘Frustrated and upset we didn’t find out sooner. We might have saved some of them.’
‘Can’t play “what if”, Sarge, you know that.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Are you going to tell me what’s going on?’
Kay lowered the cup and turned her eyes to his. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Come on, Hunter. This is me you’re talking to. How long have we known each other?’
‘Too long.’
‘Very funny. Look, I realise you probably didn’t want to say anything front of Miles and Piper the other night, but come on. Something’s troubling you.’
She sighed, and leaned back against the hard wooden planks of the seat, her gaze returning to the river and a pair of swans that glided past.
‘I used to like this job, Ian. When I joined up, I thought I’d make a difference.’ She choked out a bitter laugh. ‘Now, I know that sounds naive, but it’s true. That’s why I worked so hard to make it to DS. After the past eighteen months though, I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve made some sort of mistake.’
She sighed, and squinted up at the washed-out pale sky as a pair of jet trails stretched across the town, her thoughts turning to Adam.
The prospect of trips to the Continent with him excited her – they hadn’t had a decent holiday in years, and if he could get some work on the conference circuit as he’d suggested, she’d be more than willing to tag along.
Barnes took a sip of soup, and then frowned. ‘You’re not quitting, are you?’
She shrugged in response.
‘’Cause if you did, it’d be a real shame. I know you’re shaken up about what we found in that building – we all are. It’s not a reason to get despondent about the number of criminals we’re up against though.’
‘It’s not that, Ian – I mean, that was nasty, yes – it’s the politics of everything. It’s all the secrets and layers above us.’
He straightened, and shifted his weight so he could face her. ‘Is this about Harrison?’
‘I guess.’
‘Because he’s just like Larch, you know. Ambitious.’
‘Speaking of ambitious – did you know about O’Reilly’s secondment to SOCU before he appeared back here?’
‘No – news to me. Mind you, we’ve always worked on different teams here, so our paths haven’t crossed, to be honest.’
Kay sipped her soup. ‘Seems a strange choice, that’s all. I never took him for a particularly good detective.’
‘Oh?’
‘Well, it’s like that business with the attack on Gavin. It’s gone nowhere.’
‘In all fairness, Kay, you know how hard it is to get a result with attacks like that. No witnesses, and his attackers covered their faces.’
Kay shrugged, unwilling to concede the point. ‘I’m still angry Harrison didn’t come forward until now to tell us about his involvement though.’
‘Think he did that on purpose?’
‘Positioning himself to take over the case, you mean? Maybe.’
Barnes’s eyes narrowed. ‘I knew I didn’t like him for a reason.’
‘I suppose he has to protect his people. I can see it from his point of view.’
‘Well, I’m glad you can. I guess you haven’t lost that sense of ambition after all.’
Her jaw dropped open, and he winked.
‘Be honest. You’re not going to quit. Remember what you said to me after we found Emma that day? Take a break. Have a think about it.’ He gestured to the swans paddling away from them and brushed his trousers down as he stood. ‘But, I reckon you’ve done enough thinking for one day. Come on.’
He took her empty cup from her and tossed both into a bin next to the tow path before turning back to her. ‘What about what happened to you with the Professional Standards investigation? Are they going to do anything about it?’
Kay shook her head. ‘I want Demiri, Ian. That’s why I insisted Harrison let me onto his investigation. He couldn’t really say no – they’re understaffed as it is.’
Barnes emitted a low whistle, and shook his head.
‘I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into, Kay.’
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kay cast her gaze over the people that filled the incident room.
Each and every one of them wore a grim expression; word had got around about what had been discovered within the bowels of Demiri’s nightclub, and Kay knew what was troubling them.
Somehow, he’d managed to run his sick business without any of them knowing, and they had no idea how many women had been slaughtered before their bodies were dumped by Demiri’s men.
Even O’Reilly seemed subdued, his normal bravado silenced by the scenes from the raid.
She watched as Gavin wandered over to Carys’s desk, placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of
