Deadly Cry (DI Kim Stone #13) - Angela Marsons Page 0,75

Woody didn’t hold a grudge and neither did she.

After their previous exchange, he could be forgiven for barely giving her the time of day, never mind listening and agreeing to her proposal.

And if there was any doubt in her mind on that score, he clarified it when her feet reached his office door.

‘And do give my regards to Frost if you just happen to bump into her later today.’

Seventy-Four

‘So Jasper baked?’ Stacey asked once the boss and Bryant had left the office.

Penn felt the smile lift his lips as he remembered the night before.

‘Yeah, he was cooking up a storm last night with Lynne while I was still here.’

Penn felt brighter today. The heavy weight that sat upon his grief was a few pounds lighter this morning.

After Lynne had left, the two of them had cried and talked and cried some more. They had a long way to go, but he now knew they’d make it.

‘Lynne?’ Stacey asked. ‘Isn’t she one of your old colleagues from West Mercia?’

‘Yeah, Jasper and Lynne hit it off the first time they met.’

‘That’s cos your brother is awesome,’ Stacey said. ‘But tell me more about Lynne.’

‘Nothing to tell, sticky beak. Now get back to work,’ he said, reaching for the headphones in his drawer.

Stacey got the message and picked up her phone.

Putting on his headphones gave him the privacy to be alone with his own thoughts. He had to admit, it had been quite a surprise to see Lynne in his kitchen cooking with his brother when he’d got home the night before. He’d been pleased to see her smiling face and had felt thankful to her for spending time with his brother.

It was only later when an exhausted Jasper had finally climbed the stairs to bed that Penn had returned to the kitchen and had found it feeling emptier than normal. He could still see her there behind the counter, dressed in his naked-man apron, comparing muffins with his brother.

It was no secret to him that he missed working with her. They’d shared the same humour and had often found things funny that other people had not. He had always been able to talk to her about anything, and she had become a really good friend.

Only, last night he’d also noticed just how brown her eyes were and the way she tipped her head slightly when speaking.

He shook the thoughts away. Lynne was engaged. She was happy. Her whole life was ahead of her: a glowing career and probably a family. He knew his own situation hardly made him the catch of the year, and Jasper would always come first.

Anything further with Lynne was not an option for more reasons than one. He pushed the thoughts firmly away and focused his attention on work.

Seventy-Five

‘Hey, Frost, how are you doing?’ Kim asked when the reporter answered her phone.

‘What the fuck you want, Stone?’ she asked groggily.

Bryant smiled at her response as her terse voice filled the car on loudspeaker.

‘Oh, Frost, who hasn’t yet got out of bed the wrong side this morning?’

‘You do know you’re not funny, don’t you?’

‘Bryant thinks I am, don’t you, Bryant?’ she asked, moving the phone closer to his mouth.

‘Bloody hilarious,’ he answered.

‘Stone, what the hell do you want at this ungodly hour of the morning?’

Kim could hear from the background noise that the reporter was now up and moving around.

A sudden, unwelcome thought occurred to her. ‘Err… Frost, you don’t sleep naked, do you?’

‘No, but my breath smells like a son of a bitch.’

‘Okay, TMI, Frost, way too much information and, just so you know, it’s almost eight o’clock.’

‘Which is way too early to listen to you quoting and then explaining acronyms to me. Now just get to the point. Clearly, you want something from me, so hurry up unless you want to accompany me into the shower.’

‘Ugh… no thanks. Bryant here would like to buy you a coffee this morning if you’ve got a minute.’

‘Why?’

‘Cos you’re his favourite reporter and—’

‘Stone, it’s too early for this shit. For fuck’s sake, spit it out.’

Kim did the calculations between their first visit of the day and Nicola Southall’s post-mortem at ten.

‘Meet us at Sam’s Bostin Bites, Old Hill, at nine fifteen. Now go get clean: you stink.’

Bryant chuckled as she ended the call.

‘You think she’ll go for it?’ he asked of her plan. She’d already told him what she wanted to do.

‘I think so if we make it worth her while.’

She’d cross that bridge later, but right now she was on