The torment of others by Val McDermid

Author:Val McDermid
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery, Crime & mystery, Mystery & Detective, Modern fiction, Fiction, Suspense, Hill, General & Literary Fiction, Tony (Fictitious character) - Fiction, Crime & Thriller, General
ISBN: 9780007142880
Publisher: London : HarperCollins Pub., 2004.
Published: 2010-05-21T23:00:00+00:00

"Of course you do. But maybe when all of this is over, you could give me a little fashion show all for myself?" Jan's voice was soft, her breath warm against Paula's neck.

"I swear, Jan, you're as bad as the guys," she said wearily.

"Trust me, Paula, I'm better than any of them." Jan put a hand on her shoulder, smiling when Paula flinched. "The changing rooms are over there," she said, pointing to a curtained-off cubicle behind the clothes rails. She stepped back, allowing Paula to pass without crowding her.

Five minutes later, Paula surveyed herself in the changing cubicle mirror. Even without make-up and the right shoes, she knew her best friends would be hard pressed to recognize her. She barely knew herself. It was disconcerting how so superficial an alteration rendered her undeniably other. A shiver of apprehension gave her gooseflesh and she hastily stripped off and gratefully assumed her own personality along with her black jeans and white shirt. She yanked back the curtain, holding the clothes at arms' length. "These'll do," she said.

Jan held out a PVC bomber jacket that almost matched the skirt. "What about this to finish it off?" she said. "It'll be fucking freezing out there tonight."

Paula shook her head. "Jackie and Sandie weren't wearing jackets. I'm supposed to look as much like them as possible. But I do need some fuck-me shoes."

"You need the jacket," Jan insisted. "You've got to have something to hide the wire going down your back and the bulge of the transmitter."

"I hadn't thought of that. You're right." Paula took her purchases to the counter and handed over her credit card. Thank goodness nobody she cared about would see the monthly statement.

"God, there's some weird stuff here," Jan said, peering curiously into a cabinet containing bondage equipment.

"Takes all sorts," the woman behind the counter said huffily.

Jan gave her a cool look. "So it would seem." She turned away. "See you outside, Paula."

When Paula joined her, Jan was leaning against the wall, rolling a cigarette. "I didn't know you smoked," Paula said.

"Only when I need to take the taste out of my mouth," Jan said.

"I thought you were having a laugh in there."

Jan licked the paper and efficiently finished the job. "Did you? Whistling in the dark, Paula. That's what that was." Her expression was unreadable, but her voice was softer than Paula had ever heard it. "You're putting yourself on the line tonight. That's probably the scariest thing a cop can ever do."

Paula sighed. "Thanks, skip. And there was me trying to convince myself you lot would take care of me."

Jan's smile looked forced. "We will. Don't doubt it. But there are times, Paula, when it's sensible to be scared. And tonight is one of them."

The day ticked relentlessly on. There was a ziggurat of paperwork in the incident room that Carol could have skimmed, but there were other officers to do that. Teams reading statements and reports, filling in slips for actions that needed to be pursued, detectives

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