The Next Girl(Detective Gina Harte #1)(84)

‘The detective wants to speak to you. Can I bring the phone to you, in the kitchen?’ Luke called.

‘Tell them to leave, now!’

Luke shook his head at Gina. ‘He won’t talk. He said leave now. I’m scared he’ll hurt her. Please leave.’

Gina held up her arm to the others and Luke watched and listened as she instructed them to leave. One by one, the cars left until the road was clear. ‘They’ve moved to the next road. I’m going to end the call. Tell him we’ve all gone.’ He watched Gina’s trembling hands as she ended the call and headed to the side gate.

‘They’ve gone,’ he called as he went back to the kitchen and waited by the door, with Brooke sobbing behind him. Devina had stirred and was trying to sit up.

‘I didn’t want it to be like this. I know they’re close by. We were all meant to go together, but it looks like Florence and I will be going here.’ He placed the screaming baby back in the basket. As he lifted the knife above her, he closed his eyes. ‘Goodbye, Florence. Daddy will be joining you soon.’

Brooke screamed as she covered her eyes.

Luke dashed across the room and jumped against the man, catching his hand on the blade. The baby basket tipped over, flinging Isobel under the kitchen table. ‘You bastard. This is for my wife,’ he yelled as he brought his fist onto Wall’s nose over and over again.

As he brought another punch down, he felt his arms being restrained. ‘Get all units here now,’ Gina yelled into her phone. Within seconds the place was stormed by several officers. A young paramedic walked over and attended to Devina, who was crying and holding her head. Baby Isobel was lifted off the floor by an officer and Wall was restrained and read his rights by DS Driscoll. Luke lay on the floor, bleeding and exhausted. He cried for the wife he knew to be dead as her killer was dragged from the scene.

‘I loved her,’ the man shouted as they dragged him out of the door and along the slabs, his nose showering blood all over the garden.

Devina was being helped out the door. ‘The baby, Isobel. Is she okay?’

‘We’re just going to check her over now,’ said the paramedic, as she took the wailing baby from the officer. ‘She looks very lively and responsive though. Let’s get you checked over. That looks like a nasty bang to the head.’

‘You saved the little one,’ Gina said, as she slid down the wall and sat next to Luke on the kitchen floor.

‘My Debbie’s dead. He told me. He killed Debbie.’ Luke was sobbing so hard he couldn’t breathe, his injured hand wrapped in a blood-soaked dishtowel.

‘No, Luke – we’ve found her. She’s been taken to Cleevesford Hospital. She’s alive and she wants to see you,’ Gina replied.

Luke dragged himself to a sitting position, and his tears turned to sobbing laughs. He saw a tear slide down the detective’s cheek. He grabbed her and hugged her with his good arm. ‘Thank you,’ he said as he sobbed into her hair.

Brooke walked over and kneeled in front of him. DI Harte looked away. Luke opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

‘You don’t have to say anything. I know.’ Tears filled her eyes and she began to sob.

‘I really am sorry.’

She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. She now understood it was the end.



* * *



‘You alright, guv?’ Jacob asked as he came back into the kitchen.

‘No one is seriously hurt, thanks to Mr Jenkins,’ she replied. Officers and detectives bustled around the scene, but Gina remained on the floor. The case was solved and Wall was going down. She picked up her phone and called Briggs. ‘We have Wall and Deborah is safe.’

‘Yes!’ he shouted. She knew he’d be punching the air.

A paramedic helped Luke to stand and led him out of the back door towards the ambulance. Jacob offered Gina a hand up. She needed to be there when Luke saw Deborah. ‘Come on, we’ll take my car to the hospital,’ he said.

‘What a day,’ she replied as she followed him out. And it was going to be an even longer day, with interviews and evidence – and she wanted to be the one to interrogate Wall. They’d finally solved the case of missing woman Deborah Jenkins. She was now free of Wall. There was no doubt that she and her family would need ongoing support, and Gina had no idea what the future held for them, but that evening, she was going to celebrate with the team. Pizzas delivered to the station were on her.





Epilogue





Saturday, 9 December 2017





Gina shivered as she trudged through the muddy graveyard. A gust caught her umbrella, turning it inside out. Within seconds, her hair was damp. She turned the opposite way, trying to get the wind to catch the umbrella and fix it. Just before she could declare herself officially drenched, the umbrella turned in again, protecting her face and body from the storm.

She glanced at her watch. In half an hour, the rest of Terry’s family would arrive for the service. She passed the little graves and noticed a headstone for a baby. Her mind wandered back to little Isobel and Deborah. How Deborah managed to give birth to a healthy but small baby was beyond her comprehension, given the conditions she had been living in.

The previous day, Gina had gone back to the hospital and seen the reunion between husband and wife, a moment that had confirmed that all the sacrifices she’d made for her career were right. Days like yesterday made it all worth it – the danger, the calls in the middle of the night, the ruined baths, all of it. The sight of Luke running over to his wife and hugging her, both of them sobbing and holding each other, would stay with her forever.