Catch Her Death by Wendy Dranfield

Author:Wendy Dranfield [Dranfield, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803146546
Published: 2022-09-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

It’s not yet 8 a.m. when Madison arrives at the station, closely followed by Detective Adams. The office is as busy as always, with patrol officers coming and going and the constant sound of at least one desk phone ringing non-stop. Alex Parker is already in, helping Stella remove the frankly lousy display of Christmas decorations scattered around the place. When he notices them, he stops what he’s doing. “Ah, Detectives. I have an update for you. Care to follow me to my office?”

“Hold that thought,” says Adams. “I need coffee first.” He disappears in the direction of the kitchen.

Madison switches her computer on and takes a seat at her desk, next to a window. Rain pelts hard against the glass, and as it’s still dark out, she can see her tired reflection. She’s always surprised by the woman staring back at her, as she looks more like her mother than she expects to. Her lungs constrict as a heavy sense of dread washes over her. She has to get Kate and Ben home unharmed. She doesn’t know if she could bear to be responsible for letting something bad happen to them.

When Alex appears behind her reflection, she spins around and fixes a smile on her face. “How are you, Alex? I imagine living in the US is tough at this time of year without your family around.”

“Not really,” he says, leaning against her desk and smiling. “My family still manages to annoy me, even from thousands of miles away.”

“Did you spend the evening alone?”

He nods. “Yes, but you needn’t feel sorry for me, Detective. I have plenty of things to keep me occupied. I know a lot of people find this time of year difficult, but living alone really doesn’t bother me. After spending most of my time at work, it’s actually a relief to go home to an empty house.”

She’s not sure she believes him. “Call me a romantic, but I thought I saw a spark between you and Shelley recently and kind of hoped you two would be dating by now.”

He reddens slightly. “It’s become evident I’m not her type. I believe she’s more into former high school football stars like Jock Rubio.” He takes a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m being vindictive.”

“No, she isn’t,” says Madison. “She went on one date with him before realizing he’s an asshole who, when it comes to his treatment of women, never mentally graduated from high school. I’m pretty sure she’s available and I know she likes you.”

A hint of a smile appears on his face, before he straightens up. “Probably best not to mix business and pleasure, especially as we work different hours a lot of the time. Imagine how awkward things would get around here if we broke up.”

Madison thinks he’s looking for excuses when actually he just lacks confidence, which is a shame. Detective Adams rejoins them. He has a coffee for her, but it’s black like his. If he had bothered to ask, he’d know she likes milk or cream in hers.

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