His and Hers by Alice Feeney

Author:Alice Feeney [Feeney, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2020-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Him

Wednesday 08:00

It’s not nice seeing Anna so upset, but I do my best to reassure her.

A phone vibrates in the inside pocket of my jacket. I know it isn’t mine, because I’m holding that in my hand. I walk away from the team that has gathered around Anna’s Mini, and take out Rachel’s mobile. I think I’ve been in denial about finding it in my car boot, but when I read the text message on the screen, it’s a little harder to ignore:

Miss me, lover?

Rachel is definitely dead, and I do not believe in ghosts, so there is only one conclusion I can reach: someone, somewhere knows something they shouldn’t.

I put the phone away and look around. If whoever sent me the text is watching, waiting to see my reaction, I’m determined not to give it. I scan the car park and see Anna in the far corner. She’s a short distance away from everybody else now, staring down at her own mobile. It’s as though she feels my stare and immediately looks straight up at me, looking at her.

‘I thought you might need these, sir.’

Priya appears out of nowhere, and it actually makes me jump. I’m about to snap at her, when I see a brand-new packet of my favourite cigarettes in her hand.

‘Why do you have these?’ I ask, but she just shrugs.

The way my junior colleague is staring up at me makes me feel even more uncomfortable than the phone in my pocket receiving text messages from a dead woman. Unlikely as that may sound.

‘Well, thank you,’ I say, taking the packet.

I open it immediately, pop a cigarette in my mouth, light it and take a long drag.

The satisfaction is instant, spoiled only by Priya’s presence.

‘Look, it’s very sweet of you, but you don’t need to keep buying me things and being so… thoughtful. It’s about the work, right? Solving cases. You don’t need to be so nice all the time. Just do your job and we’ll get along fine.’

‘You’re welcome,’ she replies, as though she didn’t hear my impromptu speech. ‘And I think I have an update that might cheer you up.’

‘Go on.’

‘Rachel Hopkins’ phone was never found, so I told the tech team to put a trace on it.’

I inhale far harder than I intended, and start to cough.

‘I don’t remember asking you to do that?’

I continue to smoke with one hand, while reaching inside my pocket with the other, trying to switch off Rachel’s phone.

‘You didn’t, sir. But you did tell me to start showing some more initiative. The phone received a text a couple of minutes ago, and someone read it. Someone has Rachel’s mobile, and they are somewhere near here. The guys are trying to triangulate the signal now. So long as the phone stays switched on, I think they’ll get a pretty accurate location.’

She stares at Anna.

‘You think Anna has Rachel’s phone? You think she might be involved?’ I ask.

Priya shrugs. ‘Don’t you?’ She interprets my silence as an invitation to keep talking.

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