conversation with him. Heavy footsteps pounded the pavement behind her and she hoped it wasn’t some mugger about to take her out and end her day with a bang.
‘Christ, I don’t do running. Can you slow down a minute?’
She turned to see Ben, his face red and his breathing heavy.
‘Sorry, I didn’t realise you wanted me to stop. What’s up?’
He took a couple of breaths. ‘Nothing, I wanted to make sure you were okay. That Dan is such an arrogant little shit. I had to stop myself from ripping his head off.’
She nodded. Her eyes glistened with tears. Don’t you dare cry in front of him. You don’t know him, sort yourself out. She looked down at the floor.
‘Look, I’m driving, can I give you a lift home, or wherever you’re going?’
‘Oh. Well yeah, if it’s not too much trouble.’
‘No trouble at all, I’ll go get my car.’
‘I’ll walk back with you, thanks.’
They walked the short distance, neither of them speaking. She didn’t want to make him feel obliged to make polite conversation. He pressed the key fob and the lights on an old VW Golf flashed. They crossed to it and Ben climbed inside, sweeping empty sandwich and crisp packets off the passenger seat.
‘Sorry, it’s a bit of a state. I don’t usually give anyone a lift and I never have the time to clean it.’
‘That’s okay, I’m grateful for the ride. I take my car to the hand car wash at—’ She stopped talking, not wanting to sound like she was telling him what to do, especially after Dan’s comments about her.
‘Where do you live?’
‘Singleton Park Road. Do you know where that is?’
He nodded. ‘Nice area.’
‘I like it.’
They reached the turn-off and she directed him to the large house which was now split into three flats.
‘I’ll get out here, thank you.’ Relief she was home flooded over Morgan. She wasn’t in the mood for polite conversation.
‘Are you okay?’
She nodded. ‘Embarrassed, but I’ll live.’
She got out of his car; about to shut the door, she paused, but couldn’t help herself. ‘I guess they haven’t located Olivia Potter’s family?’
He shook his head. ‘Not before I left for the evening, but I’m sure section will trace them.’
Closing the door, she walked across the gravel to the steps which led to the pale green front door of her building. Opening the heavy door, she turned and waved, but Ben was already driving out of the gates.
Morgan went inside her ground-floor flat. The air was tinged with the smell of fresh paint and no hint of her ex-partner who’d left her when she told him about joining the police. She was happier on her own anyway; relationships were too complicated. Hers had been the first flat in the building to be refurbished. When the letting agent had shown her the brochure she’d fallen in love and knew she had to live here. The huge picture windows that overlooked the formal communal gardens were the perfect place for her to read on a rainy day. Inside everything was brand new; the white walls were pristine. It made the rooms look much bigger than they were. When she had some time off she was going to paint a feature wall in her bedroom: a splash of dramatic bottle green to match the gold accessories she loved to collect. The rest of the walls she’d leave white for the time being.
She kicked off her uncomfortable boots and went straight into the bedroom to put her pyjamas on. It had been a long day. She was tired but unable to switch off.
Her mind kept replaying Dan’s words. They hurt. She’d thought they were friends and didn’t understand why he would show her up in front of almost the whole of Rydal Falls police staff. It just reaffirmed what she already thought: that you were better off alone, no partner or friends to make you feel like crap. Tugging her hair from the bun, she let it fall over her shoulders and shook her head, rubbing her fingers through it where the bobble had been.
Taking a bottle of white wine from the fridge, she poured herself a large glass; it would help her to sleep. For a few hours anyway. Carrying the glass, she took it to the only chair she had in the living room. It was an oversized, worn leather armchair which looked out of the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the gardens. Sinking into it, she curled her feet underneath her and sipped at the chilled wine