The Next Girl(Detective Gina Harte #1)(41)

He watched as she looked away. Her lip quivered as she wiped a tear from her cheek. There was nothing he could do to quell her pain. He’d felt something with Brooke, a genuine connection.

‘Where does that leave us?’ she asked. ‘I mean, I know you weren’t ready, but I thought we had something.’

He sobbed and rubbed his foot. ‘I’m sorry. I’m just so confused.’

She leaned down and picked up the pieces of cup that were strewn on the floor. She grabbed the kitchen roll and began mopping up. ‘We’ve been friends for a long time now, haven’t we?’ He nodded. ‘I’m here for you. I’ll help you with the kids. If they want to come to mine to stay or for tea, like always, they’re still welcome. If you want to talk, that’s also fine.’ Brooke looked to one side and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. ‘What I’m trying to say, damn it, is that I don’t want to lose your friendship. Nothing really happened and I… I really like you.’

‘I’m sorry.’ He stood and hugged her. He had no idea what the future held, or if Debbie was going to be found, but he did know he needed time to digest all that was happening. ‘I have to go and get ready for this DNA test now,’ he said as he hobbled across the floor, hoping that she’d leave him to think. He’d get the DNA test done, the quicker the better, then they could start looking for real suspects – like the intruder in the hoodie, the man who’d been watching him.

‘Shall I come with you?’

‘No. I want to be alone.’

Brooke’s cheeks were soaked with tears. ‘Well, you know where I am.’ She snatched her bag off the table and left. He smacked the door with the flat of his hand and continued to hobble towards the stairs, wondering where his life was going.





Twenty-Seven





Gina crossed the car park and thought about the night before. Briggs was good company when he wanted to be. They’d laughed, chatted about the case, then they’d enjoyed each other’s bodies until they were spent. She inhaled the fresh smell of coconut conditioner coming from her hair. She certainly felt more human after popping home for a shower and a piece of toast. As she grabbed the door, Jacob stepped out, almost knocking her over.

‘In a hurry?’ she asked.

‘Thank you so much for my lovely cold,’ he said, sneezing a load of mucus into his hand. ‘Feeling well? You look well. In fact, you look better that you have done in days.’

‘I’m on top of the world,’ she replied with a smile. Jacob stuck his tongue out. ‘Bleugh, thanks for infecting me.’

Gina passed him a tissue and laughed at his sullen face, contorted intentionally into a grimace. ‘You know, Driscoll, you could win a gurning competition with that face.’

Briggs, who had just pulled into the car park, stepped out of his car. ‘Morning, sir,’ Jacob croaked as he wiped his red nose.

‘Sir,’ Gina muttered as she looked away.

He grabbed his briefcase from the passenger seat and stomped towards the pair. He glared at Jacob’s runny nose. ‘Not you too.’

‘Afraid so, sir.’

Briggs took three large steps back from Jacob. ‘See this distance. I want you to stay at least this far away from me all day. Do you hear?’

‘Yes, sir,’ Jacob replied.

Gina almost wanted to laugh. He hadn’t kept her at a distance, even though she was nursing the same cold.

‘He can be a tosser sometimes,’ Jacob said.

‘What? Because he doesn’t want your cold?’

‘I didn’t want your cold either, but shit happens.’ A couple of raindrops landed on Jacob’s face. ‘I’ll see you in there. I’m just going to grab some painkillers from my glovebox.’ Driscoll ran towards his car.

‘Morning,’ the desk sergeant, Nick, called as she entered the office. She smiled and checked her watch. It was almost nine. Luke would arrive at the station for the swab she’d ordered in about half an hour. She had just enough time to catch up. First, though, she needed approval to take the swab from Luke. Briggs was monitoring every cost that passed through the station. She raced to her office and booted her computer up. As soon as it came on, she printed out the paperwork pertaining to the sample. She passed the incident room, and saw that Jacob had updated the board with details of the attempted break-in from the notes that she’d uploaded. She knocked on Briggs’s door.

‘Come in,’ he called.

‘Are you okay? You look a little tired, if you don’t mind me saying.’

‘I got woken up abruptly in the night.’ She smiled at him, and he looked at his computer. ‘Right, why are you here? Have you solved the case? Got me some good news to report to the powers above?’

She shook her head and held out the paperwork. ‘I wish. As you know, we need to eliminate Luke Jenkins. We’ve asked him to come in for a DNA swab. He’s due in a few minutes.’

‘And you want me to sign off?’

‘Yes.’

He took the paperwork and scanned over it before signing the bottom of the page. ‘I don’t think for one minute this will come up with anything, but I suppose we have to be seen to be doing things right. I’ve read the notes on the attempted break-in last night. We need to get to the bottom of this as soon as.’