Dead Lost by Helen H. Durrant

Author:Helen H. Durrant [DURRANT, HELEN H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Women's Fiction, Contemporary Women, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, Mystery, Police Procedurals, Contemporary Fiction, Action & Adventure, Crime, Detective, Psychological, Romance, Short Stories
Amazon: B018W6EANQ
Publisher: Joffe Books Mystery, Crime Thriller, Suspense
Published: 2016-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Ruth had backache. So much for resting, she thought bitterly. Standing up, she put her hands on her hips and arched her back. Another two months or so and it would be over. She couldn’t wait. She wanted her old body back. She’d never complain about it again — what was the odd pound or two after looking like a beached whale for months on end?

Lauren’s laptop sat on her desk in the corner of the room. A constable from the nick had got it for her within an hour of her conversation with Mrs Steele. She was supposed to be having a hot bath and a nap. But she couldn’t resist: the laptop was calling out to the detective in her.

Seconds later she was into Lauren’s Facebook account. The girl had left herself logged in, so it was easy. Ruth scrolled through the posts, all historical and all about nothing. No mention of a ‘Mac’. Perhaps her mother had got it wrong. Then she clicked on the messages folder and there they all were, entire conversations going back months, and all from him. He was quite a charmer. The conversations were peppered with compliments. He liked her hair. He liked the new dress she’d bought. He wished her well with the exams and promised her a present when she’d completed them.

Last year, in the second week of November, he’d suggested they meet up. Ruth could tell from Lauren’s replies that she wasn’t too keen. He’d written that he was in London — but she didn’t have money for the train. He said he’d help. He said if she came, he’d show her a good time, take her to a show, and she’d stay at a posh hotel. None of it would cost her a penny. Ruth felt her hackles rise. This was grooming, pure and simple.

Lauren had sent him a photo of her with her sister. She’d said she couldn’t leave until the New Year because her mother was ill. He’d been annoyed, and there was nothing from him for several weeks. If only she’d let it drop, Ruth thought. But she hadn’t. There was one more message, telling him how fed up she was. Apparently Lauren had had a crap New Year and had decided that she wasn’t going back to college. She wanted out. She wanted to see him.

* * *

“Inspector Calladine. My office,” Birch said.

He had no idea what this was about. The woman had a knack for making him feel like a naughty schoolboy and he was racking his brains, wondering what he’d done wrong.

“Sit down. I’m told that this will come as quite a shock, so naturally I didn’t want to be the one to have to tell you. But I am your senior officer so, like it or not, the task fell to me.”

Now he was scared. Her face had softened, and it didn’t suit her. She coughed. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just get on with it.”

A

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