“Thanks.” He still didn’t feel great about it. “How are things there?”
She sighed. “I haven’t spoken to Pearson. I think he’s avoiding me. I’m going to stay late and try to catch him before he goes home.”
“Good luck. So, I won’t be seeing you tonight?” He didn’t want to sound too hopeful. Now the insane rush of the last few days was over, it would have been nice to spend some time with her. But theirs wasn’t the sort of relationship to beg. He couldn’t have it both ways.
“No, sorry. I’m rushed off my feet trying to tie up my current projects so I can be with you tomorrow.”
He knew she meant the police station.
“It’ll be great having you back.” After the last few cases they’d worked on, she was almost an honorary member of the team anyway.
They’d first met during the Surrey Stalker case when she’d been drafted in to oversee their investigation. He’d expected to resent her presence, but they’d worked well together and by the end of the case, were firm friends. That had been two years ago now.
He smiled. Who would have thought they’d end up together?
“I can’t wait. Chat later, Rob.”
“Night, Jo.”
Trigger launched himself at Rob as he walked through the door. He fondled the dog’s ears. Unconditional love. No shame in it.
“Let’s go for a walk, yeah?”
It was a sultry night, the kind made for lovers. The moon sat high in the sky, suspended by an invisible string, flanked by knowing stars. Had they been shining the night Arina Parvin and the others had been abducted? Had they seen the horrors that had befallen them?
Or had the rolling clouds blocked them out, blindfolded them. Protected them?
Trigger tugged on the leash, eagerly to explore the bushes alongside the pavement. Other people’s gardens. Other pet smells. Until they got to Old Deer Park, when he let him free.
Sprinting from one end to the other, ears flattened against his face, enjoying the freedom. Rob thought of Katie, safe in her bed. Free.
She still had no inkling of the drama her abduction had caused. Her mother’s anguish. Her kidnapper’s desperation. One day it would be explained to her, verified by a series of newspaper clippings. Her history, in monochrome.
Back home, Rob had a beer while he made a sandwich. Then he had another. Tessa Parvin in custody. Her hell just beginning. Was it worth it?
Four missing girls. Dead, of course. How long had it been? And a serial killer prowling the streets, using the clear night and unsuspecting stars to stalk his next victim.
And they didn’t have a clue who he was.
He sighed, and settled in his chair, Trigger at his feet.
The television was on, but he wasn’t watching. After processing all evening, his mind was shutting down. The faces become a blur. Voices like background music.
Eventually, he dozed off. The deep, escapist sleep of a man who didn’t want to know.
34
Katie found! screamed the headlines.
Rob bought a newspaper on his way to work, but instead of reading it, he folded it under his arm and headed straight to the coffee shop. He needed caffeine to stomach this.
Harry, DS Malhotra, had given a press conference outside Richmond Police Station yesterday afternoon, and every journalist in London had been there. Good news stories like this one were few and far between. And for once, they’d sell newspapers.
Rob ordered his usual double espresso and sat down to read.
Surprisingly, Tessa Parvin had been painted in a sympathetic light by the press. Rob had half expected them to tear her to bits.
Even though the statement to the press had only covered the basics, they’d still managed to dig up Tessa’s past and Arina was mentioned almost as much as Katie.
Four years too late.
Tessa Parvin, the woman charged with the kidnapping of Katie Wells, had herself lost a child four years earlier. Ignored by the police, she resorted to kidnapping Katie in order to get her daughter’s case reopened.
Lawrence was not going to like that. The Police Commissioner, even less so. Stuff ‘em. Lessons needed to be learned.
He read on. At the very end of the article it mentioned that the senior investigating officer, DCI Rob Miller was “delighted” with the outcome.
He was finishing up when his phone buzzed.
“Hi, Jo,” he said after glancing at the screen. “You on your way in?”
“He didn’t go for it.” Her voice was heavy, accusatory. “We’ve got a new case and he needs me to run the team. If I can see this through there’s a promotion in it for me.”
Rob frowned. “I thought Sam was going to have a word.”
“He did, but it’s still a no-go. Pearson wants to make his quota and this case will contribute multiple arrests. There’s no way I can leave now.”
Her voice edged with disappointment. They were dangling the promotion carrot in front of her. Forcing her to choose.
“I’m sorry, Jo. I know how much this meant to you.”
“It’s my sister, Rob.”
“I know.”
There was a pause, then she said, “I have some leave owing to me. I might ask Sam if I can work the Manchester angle on my own, as a consultant.”
“What about your case and the promotion?”
“If this is my sister’s killer, I don’t care about any of that. Pearson can shove his promotion up his arse.”
She was just letting off steam. She’d worked too hard to get to where she was to throw it all away over this. But then again, it could be her sister’s killer. A lifelong quest.
“Look, don’t do anything rash. Why don’t you wait until we have something definite, then you can think about taking leave? At the moment we have one body and four maybes. We don’t even know for sure if they’re connected.”
Other than the satchel. The detail Tessa Parvin had picked up on, and mimicked in her own staging of the crime.
She made a strangled sound at the back of her throat. “I feel so useless.”
“We’re on this, Jo. My team is working around
