Page 29 of Her Hidden Shadow

‘I don’t think things can get any worse for me right now.’

Gina wished that were the case. ‘What did you know about Robbie and Sienna’s relationship?’

Lauren shook her head and shrugged. ‘Nothing until Saturday night, or maybe early Sunday morning, once I’d processed what had happened. I didn’t think Robbie would ever cheat on me again.’ She dabbed her tears on a tissue. ‘He slept with someone while we were on holiday, and he begged me to give him another chance. I trusted him and I believed him. I guess I was a total fool.’

‘There’s something you should know.’

‘What?’

‘It looks like Robbie was paying child maintenance to Sienna and Sienna’s mother confirmed that Robbie was Dora’s father.’

Lauren shook her head. ‘No, she slept with this man. He was a soldier and he got shot in Afghanistan.’ A loud sob emerged from her mouth. ‘It was all lies, wasn’t it? How could I have been so stupid?’

Telling Lauren about Sienna’s daughter had left Gina’s heart banging. She felt the woman’s anger, her loss, her sense of confusion. Within two days her whole world had fallen apart. All her dreams of an upcoming wedding, her new life – shattered.

Lauren’s mother burst into the kitchen, towel wrapping up her hair, bathrobe tied up around her waist. ‘What’s going on?’

‘He’s dead. Robbie has been murdered and that’s not all. He was Dora’s father. They were lying to me for years, Mum.’

‘I’m so sorry, love.’ The woman drew her daughter in and stroked her hair like she was a little girl as Lauren cried into her chest. ‘I think she needs a break. Sorry, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Can we continue with this later?’

Gina stood and nodded. ‘Again, we are so sorry for your loss and if you remember anything else, please call me.’

Nancy nodded. ‘Thank you.’

Wyre finished noting down what was said and popped her notebook in her pocket. As they left the cottage, Gina glanced back, wondering how Lauren was going to get through the next few days. She pulled her phone from her pocket and saw that she had a message. It was Briggs asking her to call him as soon as she could.

She pressed his number.

‘Gina, we have an update. We’ve found fibres of that rug in the boot of Robbie Shields’s car. He was transported in his own car and then it must have been returned before Lauren Cross came back. We also have a witness. Someone else saw Robbie on the evening of Sienna’s murder. They’re out of the area now but they’re coming into the station this afternoon.’

‘A witness, that’s great. I’ll make sure we’re back for that. Wyre and I are going to visit Gerard Hale’s place of work next. As soon as we’re finished there, we’ll hurry back. We haven’t called ahead so our visit will be a surprise. We need to catch him off guard, not give him a chance to think. It’s all happening right now.’

‘I won’t hold you up then. Keep me updated if you find anything out.’

‘Will do. Please send someone to Tiffany Crawford’s to let her know that we’ll be conducting drive-bys. For now, to be on the safe side, I want the cases linked until we’ve seen Tiffany Crawford’s case file. Can you urgently get me the file?’

‘I’ll chase it up right now.’

Twenty

Tiffany

Another knock on the door sent Tiffany shaking. She kept her back against the kitchen wall in the hope that the caller wouldn’t peer through the window. When the caller headed back down the path, she’d glance through the window and decide if it was safe to answer. Only then would she open the door. Over the sound of her heart pumping and the blood whooshing through her head, she heard crackling, like that of a police radio. It was the police again. It had to be. Could she even trust the police when she’d read that so many forces were being held up for not tackling misogyny and racism. Those in trusted positions were coming under scrutiny and being charged with the most heinous of crimes it made her skin crawl. Hell, her attacker could have been police for all she knew. No wonder everyone was scared. She was scared and she wasn’t about to trust anyone.

Her fingers itched to answer the door but with Kieron being out at work, she didn’t feel safe. She exhaled. Then again, if it was the police, they might have something important to tell her. Maybe she had to trust them. With shaky legs, she crept to the door, slid the chain across and opened it. ‘Hello.’

‘Mrs Crawford, I’m PC Smith and this is my colleague, PC Benton. May I speak to you for a moment?’

‘Can I see your IDs?’

The officers held them up. She stared at each in turn, a man and a woman. ‘I need to call the station to check. It’s nothing personal but I’m on my own here. I’ve been watching the news and, frankly, I don’t trust anyone, especially the police.’

‘Of course,’ he replied as he passed her a card. ‘Call that number. If you need to google it, you’ll see it’s the number for the station at Cleevesford. We prefer that people check and we understand that you can never be too sure.’ PC Smith smiled.

She closed the door, feeling slightly bad for checking on them especially as they seemed pleasant. Hands shaking, she pressed the numbers into her phone and waited for an answer. Within minutes the person on the other end of the line had confirmed that the officers were genuine. She then opened the internet on her phone and double-checked the number and it did belong to Cleevesford Police. She hurried back, her slippers slapping on the tiled hallway floor, and she opened the door. ‘Come in.’

‘Thank you.’ The PCs removed their hats and followed her to the living room.

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