‘Does Adam know about this?’
Sharp nodded. ‘I arranged for a car to meet him at Heathrow the moment the ambulance was taking you to the hospital,’ he explained. ‘Carys told me you’d mentioned to her that his flight had been delayed, and I wanted to get him here as fast as I could. We thought we’d lost you, Kay.’
His voice broke.
Kay looked away, uncomfortable at his genuine concern.
‘I don’t understand why Demiri didn’t simply escape the country,’ she said eventually. ‘We nearly lost him, guv. Why stay? Why wait to confront me?’
‘We can only assume he became obsessed about you,’ said Sharp. ‘As you did with him, wanting to see him put away for what he’d done.’
‘What about the cameras and listening devices in my house?’
‘Definitely Demiri’s work. Harrison states neither he nor O’Reilly had anything to do with those.’
‘You believe them?’
‘They looked absolutely petrified when it was put to them.’
Kay sighed and let her head rest back on the pillows once more. Her head ached, and not just from the bruising she’d sustained when Demiri had banged her skull against the hard, wet sand.
There was too much to comprehend.
Too much treachery.
‘Hang on,’ she said, jerking upright once more. ‘Why you?’
Sharp stopped pacing. ‘What?’
‘Why has Harrison been targeting your team? What’s his problem?’
He didn’t answer, and Kay narrowed her eyes.
‘Wha—’
Sharp held up his hand to silence her as the door to the room opened and Adam entered, his hands wrapped around two takeaway coffee cups.
He nearly dropped them in his haste to cross to the bed, and handed the drinks to Sharp before enveloping Kay in a hug.
She savoured his embrace, closing her eyes and pushing away the sudden flashback of her terror at being held underwater by Demiri, sure she was going to die.
Right here, right now, she was safe, and with the one person who mattered most in her life.
Adam broke off his hug as Sharp cleared his throat, and pulled across a second visitor chair to the side of the bed, wrapping his fingers around Kay’s free hand.
‘I wanted to wait until you were both here to do this,’ said Sharp. He reached into the inside of his jacket and extracted a white envelope before holding it out.
‘Guv?’
‘Take it.’
She reached out with a shaking hand, turning the envelope over. Her eyes met Adam’s.
‘Help me open it?’
He ran his thumb under the flap and eased out the folded page within until she could grasp it in her right hand.
She paused a moment, wondering if this was when her whole career came crashing down, a request for her resignation surely the only option open to her superiors after the events of two nights ago.
She sniffed, then unfolded the page and ran her eyes over the black text.
The words blurred, and she wiped at her eyes before she tried again, and then gasped.
Your promotion to Detective Inspector has been recommended and approved.
Her hand shook as she dropped the letter to her lap.
‘I can’t accept this, guv.’
She heard Adam’s sudden intake of breath, but kept her eyes on Sharp.
‘Can I ask why not?’
‘It’s become too political. All I wanted was to be a good detective. I saw what was going on between you and Harrison. The rivalry. With all due respect, guv, I don’t want to be a part of that. I just want to get on with the job.’
‘At least think about it,’ he said, and then fell silent as the door to the private room opened once more.
Kay frowned; two uniformed officers entered the room, followed by DCI Angus Larch, his eyes blazing.
‘I should have known I’d find you here, Sharp. Detective Sergeant Hunter, I’m sorry to intrude.’ He didn’t wait for her to respond. Instead, he turned his attention back to her senior officer. ‘Detective Inspector Sharp, I’m here to relieve you of all duties pending a Professional Standards investigation into your conduct as a senior police officer.’
Adam’s grip on her hand tightened before a sickness crawled into Kay’s stomach, her heart racing as her eyes shifted from Larch to Sharp. ‘What’s going on, guv?’
Sharp’s jaw worked, and he moved to where he’d placed his jacket on the other visitor chair. He shrugged it over his shoulders before lifting his gaze to meet hers. ‘I’ll explain when I can. But you’re right. The rivalry and the politics don’t make it an easy job.’
Larch watched as Sharp was led away by the two uniformed officers before turning back to Kay.
‘You surpassed even your own stupidity this time,’ he said. He held up a hand to stop her interrupting, and pointed at the page in her lap. ‘And if you think you’re going to take on that promotion, you can think again. Until I say so otherwise, you’re acting Detective Inspector while this whole mess involving Sharp has been cleared up. One way or the other.’
‘What will happen to him?’
Larch pursed his lips, then shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. Obviously, he has an exemplary record for successful investigations, and that will be taken into consideration.’
Adam collapsed into his chair, and ran his hand over his mouth. ‘I can’t believe it. I—’
Kay reached out until her hand found his.
‘On the understanding this doesn’t leave this room, Sharp was assisting Professional Standards with an investigation into Harrison’s methods of running cases,’ said Larch. He contemplated his fingernails. ‘All I’m prepared to say is that it seems Harrison used some less than savoury methods to conclude his investigations. On the other hand, Harrison has made some serious accusations about Sharp, and those accusations have to be fully investigated.’
‘God, what a mess,’ said Adam.
Kay said nothing, but thought back to the meeting she’d had with Jonathan Aspley, and wondered if the journalist had anything to do with Larch’s admission.
What had happened between Harrison and Sharp to cause such animosity?
Would Aspley ever tell her if he’d uncovered more about Harrison than he had previously told her?
Larch cleared his throat, interrupting her thoughts. ‘Anyway, I’ll let you two
