The Next Girl(Detective Gina Harte #1)(18)

‘That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it or wouldn’t like to do it again some time—’

‘Stop. You don’t have to say anything else. It shouldn’t have happened. Really, it doesn’t matter.’

‘I like you, Gina. Think about things and we’ll have a pint or a coffee or whatever you want.’ He fell silent. She didn’t have an issues sussing out the perps, but when it came to her personal life, she felt like a clueless teenager again. She didn’t want to admit that she’d enjoyed the night, that it had been the release she’d needed after so many years. Flashes of her desperate hands running through his sweaty brown hair and gripping his buttocks tight raced through her mind.

‘I might take you up on a coffee. A pint would be too dangerous,’ she replied.

‘I like danger.’ With that final comment, he ended the call. Gina grinned and leaned back on the toilet seat. The soap suds from her hair dripped into her eyes, stinging. She dropped the robe onto the floor then stepped back into the shower to finish what she’d started.





Twelve





Sunday, 3 December 2017





Gina yawned as she grabbed the three coffees from the side. She placed one on Jacob’s desk. ‘Let no one tell you I don’t care,’ she said as she placed O’Connor’s coffee beside him. ‘Give the lab a call and see if they’ve run the DNA test yet? If not, tell them to get a move on. I need it yesterday.’ O’Connor nodded and continued to munch on his bacon butty. Gina hurried along the corridor, closed her office door and sat in front of the computer. Jacob wasn’t exaggerating when he said they’d received a lot of irrelevant calls about the baby case. Her inbox was bursting at the seams with what the service desk had forwarded to her.

There was a tap on the door and Jacob entered, holding his drink. ‘Thanks for this,’ he said. She leaned back in her chair. Jacob swigged his coffee and ruffled his other hand through his messy hair. ‘That call yesterday has certainly thrown up something odd with this case. The quicker we get the results back the better.’

‘I’ve nudged O’Connor to chase up forensics. I did mark them as urgent so I’m hoping to hear soon.’

One of Jacob’s eyebrows lifted slightly. ‘That’ll be a nice bill.’

‘It certainly will be, but how the hell are we meant to do our job without forensics? Our budgets over the past few years have been pathetic and I doubt the next few will be any better. I’m sick of being told we’re overspending, that we need to cut back and save it for the crimes that matter. An abandoned baby matters, crime of the century or not.’ She felt a familiar itch in her nose and grabbed a tissue off her desk just in time to catch a sneeze. ‘I’m not feeling at my healthiest today. Damn Smith for bringing in the lurgy last week.’

Jacob’s phone beeped. He smiled as he picked it up and scrolled down the message. ‘Looks like Abigail’s giving me another date opportunity.’ He tapped on his keys while staring intently at the screen. ‘That’s that sorted.’

Gina’s phone lit up and a text popped up from her daughter.

We’re coming round this evening. If you’re not there, that’s it. I’m sick of you cancelling. Can’t you put us first, just this once, instead of your stupid job?





Gina turned her phone over and stared at all the emails that had been sent. She’d deal with Hannah’s text when she had a moment. ‘I thought they filtered the crank calls out before forwarding them to me,’ she said to Jacob. ‘The first one I open says that the person reporting saw flashing lights in the sky before a beam of light shone from some sort of flying craft. Apparently, a package was sent down from the Lord. Where do these people come from?’

Jacob laughed and looked up. ‘I sense you’re working with a closed mind, guv.’

‘Closed mind, my arse.’

The door burst open and O’Connor stood in front of them, panting, his face red. ‘Ma’am, the results weren’t what we were expecting. I think you need to put your coffee down before I say another word.’ Jacob put his phone in his pocket and looked up at O’Connor.

She took another swig of her coffee to lubricate her dry throat and tossed the empty cup in the bin. ‘Okay. We’re ready for it.’

‘Remember the Deborah Jenkins case, four years ago? The disappearance?’

‘Just about. It was when I first started here as inspector.’ It had been the first case in her new role and she’d failed to solve it. Maybe this was her second chance. Gina stared into space and then clicked her fingers. ‘Don’t tell me. Young woman. She leaves work late. It’s close to Christmas. She vanishes without a trace. The only thing we have in evidence from that night is a shoe we’ve confirmed to be hers. The shoe, from what I remember, was found by the roadside. What has that got to do with the baby case?’

‘That’s the thing, guv. Her husband provided us with her toothbrush and razor back then, which allowed us to obtain and log her DNA on file. Her DNA is a match for the baby’s.’

Gina stared at O’Connor. She’d been promoted to inspector at the start of the case and had been transferred from Birmingham to Cleevesford, where there was a post. She remembered the investigation all too well. It had haunted her for months afterwards. She could still see the look on Deborah’s husband’s distraught face. Luke Jenkins.