who’d upset him. It didn’t matter that he’d belittled her in front of most of the station at Mitch’s leaving do. She’d thought they were friends and now it felt as if they were arch enemies. It didn’t make any sense to her that he was being like this with her. He’d been fine when he arrived at the Potters’ house the day before.
The flat was in darkness, and she prayed Stan was still there in a drunken stupor because he’d finished off the bottle of vodka she kept in the small freezer compartment and the three bottles of wine in her rack. When she opened the door to her flat, she called out, ‘Stan.’ Her voice fell flat; it didn’t seem as if he was here. Reaching out, she flicked on the switch; the open-plan lounge and kitchen filled with light. He wasn’t slumped in her chair like she’d been expecting. She looked around and felt a ball of anger fill her chest.
‘The cheap, lying, stealing bastard.’
Her flat had been ransacked; every drawer and cupboard were open. Her papers and clothes were strewn everywhere. Morgan felt a surge of anger towards the man who had brought her up and done the shittiest job he could. She should have known not to trust him. She didn’t know what to do. The place was a mess.
She rushed into her bedroom. ‘Oh no, you didn’t.’
But he had.
Her bedside drawer was wide open and lying on the bed was the empty black velvet box which should have contained her most prized possession: the rose gold necklace her mum had given to her. It was too much and Morgan felt hot tears begin to fall down her cheeks. She didn’t care that he’d taken the emergency cash she kept in the tin in the kitchen drawer. Neither did the missing wine bottles bother her, but it hurt her that the thing she treasured most was now probably in some Cash for Gold shop, sold for twenty quid when it meant the world to her and was irreplaceable. Clutching the empty box, she felt herself begin to slide down the wall, tears of frustration and exhaustion flowing from her cheeks.
‘Morgan!’
Ben’s deep voice shouted from the entrance door to her flat and she wanted to curl up in a ball and die right where she was. Could this day get any worse?
‘Morgan?’ This time it was higher pitched, concerned. ‘I’m coming in, are you here?’
She heard his footsteps as he walked around the polished wooden floorboards, taking in the mess.
Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she stood up just as he came through the bedroom door.
‘Jesus, are you okay, what’s happened?’
Don’t cry, don’t you dare cry the voice screamed inside her head. She opened her mouth and managed to let out a sob so loud it filled the entire room. Before she could do anything, he was there, his warm arms around her holding her close and patting her back awkwardly as if he was petting a dog he was a little bit afraid of. She should have pulled away and dried the tears; instead she cried even harder.
‘It’s okay, let it all out, you’ll feel better.’
Eventually she did pull herself away from him, and he bent down to retrieve a fallen box of tissues, handing them to her. She took one and wiped her eyes, then blew her nose.
‘Better?’
She nodded.
‘What’s happened, have you been burgled?’
‘Sort of. Stan, my dad, turned up in the early hours this morning. He was drunk and said he had nowhere to stay, so I let him in. I’m so bloody stupid. I knew he’d do this, but I felt bad. Anyway, I came home and found this. He’s taken a necklace that my mum bought for me. It’s all I have to remember her by. He burnt nearly all the family photos after she died. I came home from school and there was a bonfire in the back garden; he was throwing all her stuff onto it.’
‘That’s terrible, Morgan. Let me ring it in. We’ll get CSI here.’
‘No, I don’t want to report it. What’s the point? I just want my necklace back.’
‘But you can’t let him get away with this. I know he’s your dad, but he’s clearly an arsehole, as well as a thief.’
‘I’m already a laughing stock with my shift, thanks to Dan, and if he gets wind of this it will make things even worse; the shame of being burgled by my own dad. Please, Ben,