Page 2 of Her Deadly Promise

He shakes his head. ‘She was okay when she picked me up from school, but she gets headaches.’

She leads him through the dark alley. It’s not as scary with Joanna and Digger. As the old woman reaches the back door, she knocks. ‘Billie.’ She knocks again.

Kayden pushes in front of her and goes to open the back door, but Joanna pulls him so hard, he almost falls forward onto the floor. Tears are falling down her cheeks as she drags him and her yelping dog through the alleyway and back out the front. ‘Is Mummy in? I didn’t see her go out.’

Joanna gasps for breath and leans on the wall while grappling in her bag for her phone. ‘Can you be a good boy and sit on the step with Digger?’

He nods and takes the lead off her before sitting on the front step, right by the door.

Joanna walks away and starts to talk. He can barely hear what she’s saying but he can see that she can’t stop crying. What she said next made him shiver and he begins to cry.

‘There’s blood everywhere. You must come quick.’

TWO

Detective Gina Harte pushed her office window open to its max as she grabbed her mini fan and set it going in front of her face. Red cheeked and damp under her breasts, she was looking forward to heading home soon and getting into a cold shower. She stared down at the car park as Briggs strode towards the entrance. He moved onto the path as a police car pulled in. Earlier, she’d heard him saying that his car was having work done at the garage so she knew that his new girlfriend would be picking him up. As he glanced back, she ducked. He can’t see her watching. If he did, he’d know how hurt she was.

She thought back to not long ago when they were happily continuing their secret relationship, until he dropped the bombshell that he was seeing someone else behind her back. Not only was he seeing a woman from his past, but it was also serious. She thought they were serious. They were. But she could never give him a family or even a conventional relationship.

Rosemary was her name, the woman who was making DCI Chris Briggs so happy and the whole team were pleased for him, except Gina. Little did they all know, his happiness was her heartache. He might be happy in his new world where he gets to play father and devoted partner but when Gina asked if he loved Rosemary, he couldn’t answer. He loved the idea of normal family life. She clenched her fist and threw her fan across the room where the blades became detached from the base. Great, now she’d have to cook in her oven-of-an-office or head to the storeroom to see if someone had returned a desk fan. Hot flushes were plaguing her and a constant reminder that she could never have given Briggs what he wanted anyway. She’d had her daughter years ago. Hannah was in her twenties, and Gina was a grandmother to young Gracie. If only she’d met Briggs all those years ago and had a family with him. Her life could have been so different.

Should she be happy that he stood a chance at normality? Maybe, but she wasn’t. She wanted things to go back to how they were; them having a secret relationship, as neither would be prepared to leave Cleevesford Police Station if it came to it.

Slowly, she peered over the ledge. He stood at the end of the road waiting and scrolling through his phone. Only ten weeks ago, Gina had been in his bed then he’d dumped her, cold. Later, she’d go home alone, and she wouldn’t be able to call him, and he wouldn’t come over for a takeaway or shower with her.

The red soft-top car pulled up alongside him where elegant Rosemary smiled as she waited for him to get in. Her sunglasses and headscarf gave her a timeless look, a little Audrey Hepburn. Who wouldn’t be captivated by the hairdresser’s beauty? As she drove off with the man Gina loved, her chest tightened. The only way to release that tension would be to have a good cry.

Someone knocked on the door. She ran and picked up the components of the fan and sat down. ‘Come in.’

Detective Constable Paula Wyre pushed the door open. Her black hair was neatly plaited at the back and her fringe as poker straight as ever.

‘Could you pop the wedge in? It’s so hot in here.’

Wyre nodded. ‘Whoa, yes. It feels as though I’ve just walked into a wall of lava.’ As she grappled with the wedge, Gina grabbed a folder and wafted it in front of her face. She’d only closed the door so no one would see her watching Briggs leave. ‘There. It’s not much better but at least there’s a bit of air flow.’

‘What can I do for you?’ Gina forced a smile.

‘I thought I’d come and see how you were doing?’

‘Okay.’

‘You know, I wondered if you fancied going out for a drink sometime or maybe a pub lunch.’

‘I’m err… I’m a bit busy at the moment.’

Wyre shrugged. ‘How lovely, what have you been up to?’

‘You know? This and that.’

Wyre furrowed her brows.

‘Watching TV, sitting in the garden, playing with my new pet rabbit.’ After Thumper’s owner was arrested, it appeared that she now had a rabbit until she could find him a permanent home. ‘Do you want a rabbit?’

Wyre laughed. ‘Not likely. I live in a flat and I’m never in.’ Sitting at the opposite side of Gina’s desk, Wyre leaned in.

‘How’s your lovely granddaughter?’

‘Gracie is doing fine, happy as always. I must go and see her and Hannah soon, but my daughter is always so busy.’ Gina furrowed her brows. Although they hadn’t always got on, they were fine now.

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