Deadly Cry (DI Kim Stone #13) - Angela Marsons Page 0,70
not normal practice? What makes you think he’ll respond to this tactic?’ she asked, demonstrating that her quick mind was still in attendance.
However much Kim wanted to, she couldn’t divulge the contact that had been made. She trusted Robyn with the information; she just didn’t trust whomever Robyn chose to trust with the information.
‘I can’t answer that, Robyn. Not yet.’
‘Bring him back to me, Inspector,’ she whispered as fatigue set in and her eyes began to droop.
‘I plan to,’ Kim said as she quietly left the room.
Sixty-Nine
Stacey was sure the wave of tiredness was being passed around the room like a Mexican wave. All three of them were covering their mouths to stifle yawns.
The ten-minute walk around the building had temporarily revitalised both her and Penn, but had had the opposite effect on Alison, whose eyes were drooping and growing heavier by the second.
‘Alison, get off home. You don’t even have to be here.’
As an unpaid consultant, Alison didn’t have to wait to be dismissed by the boss. She could leave whenever she wanted.
‘Hey, the team that walks together stays together… or something,’ she protested, stifling a yawn.
Stacey turned back to her computer as the clock hit nine and a loud thunk sounded from the spare desk.
‘Was that her head?’ Stacey asked, looking over.
‘Yep,’ Penn said, wheeling his chair over to Alison.
He touched her lightly on the arm and a loud snore sounded, startling him.
Stacey felt the giggles rising in her stomach. The more she looked at Penn’s efforts to gently wake Sleeping Beauty, the funnier it became.
‘Bloody hell, she’s out colder than a knocked-down prize fighter,’ Penn said.
Another loud snore reduced Stacey to fits of laughter. Whether or not it was the effects of fatigue kicking in, she couldn’t stop the tears from rolling over her cheeks.
‘Stop it, Penn, you’re hurting my stomach,’ she said, wiping her eyes.
‘Stace, stop laughing and help me wake her. I don’t want to startle her.’
Stacey managed to get hold of herself and fought the laughter away. Just for a moment it had felt so good.
‘Okay, Penn. Step aside, I’ve got this,’ she said.
Penn rolled his chair back to his own desk.
‘Hiya, boss,’ Stacey shouted.
‘What?… Where?…’ Alison spluttered as her head shot up.
Both Stacey and Penn couldn’t contain their laughter at her panicked expression.
‘Alison, seriously, go home,’ Stacey said.
The woman conceded defeat and reached for her handbag.
‘I swear to God, you pair…’
‘Hang on, that’s it,’ Penn shouted, standing up and looking at Alison. ‘Noah, the name. We’ve exhausted every other theory except one. The animals came in pairs.’
Seventy
‘Thanks for dropping me home, Bryant,’ Kim said as he pulled up outside her house. That last meeting with Robyn had drained her last reserves of energy. She’d left a house that a couple of days ago had been filled with normality, a family, and now it held only strangers. Right now all she wanted was a hot shower, strong coffee and a late-night dog walk.
Bryant killed the engine. ‘I’d love to come in for a coffee, thanks for asking.’
‘You okay?’ she asked, getting out of the car. She was running on fumes, but if Bryant needed to talk she’d summon the energy from somewhere.
‘I’m tickety boo,’ he replied, following her to the front door.
She unlocked and pushed it open to see her favourite sight.
‘Barney, my boy,’ she said, leaning down to pet him as Bryant walked around her.
‘I’ll put the kettle on.’
‘So what’s up?’ she asked, rubbing Barney’s head as he walked beside her.
She opened the back door for Barney to go out. Their night walk would come after Bryant had left.
‘You have a fight with the missus?’ she asked, concerned.
It would be unusual for the two of them, but every marriage, even the best ones, hit rough patches. And Bryant’s was the best example of a good marriage she’d ever seen.
‘We’re in your home, so I’m still Bryant but you’re now Kim, right?’ he asked.
‘Yeah,’ she said. That was her rule.
‘And we’re officially off duty after a fourteen-hour day?’
‘Bryant…’ she warned. It was too late in the day for these kind of games. ‘Out with it.’
‘You were dead wrong to speak to the team the way you did earlier today.’
‘Is this because of Woody’s call?’ she asked, reaching for a carrot when Barney came in from outside.
Her boss had called her once she’d left Kate Sewell’s address to ask why her team was outside walking around the building.
The news had both made her smile and prompted her to instruct Bryant to send them home.