Deep Hurt - Eva Hudson Page 0,16

more chance there is Tommy will be his next victim.”

9

Ingrid stared at her vibrating phone, suspecting it was Svetlana rather than Mike Stiller, wondering whether she could face speaking to her. She answered just before the call diverted to voicemail. “Hi, Mom. Before you ask, I don’t have any news yet. And yes, I did put in a request with one of my old colleagues.” She hit the speakerphone option on her cell and rested it on the counter between the sinks in the ladies’ washroom. “All we can do now is wait.” She put her hands under the faucet then ran her wet fingers through her messy hair in an attempt to restyle it.

“Oh we can do plenty more than just wait,” Svetlana said. “You think you know what I’m going to say before I get a chance to open my mouth? Well you’re wrong. I’m calling to beg you to speak to Kathleen. She’s been talking about you all day. She got out the photograph albums this morning. She showed me the pictures of you and Megan. The two of you looked so happy.”

We were. But I ruined all that.

“I can’t go through this again with you, Mom. Please stop asking me. My answer isn’t going to change.”

“Where’s your conscience?”

Locked in a secure file cabinet at the bottom of Lily Lake, just where the psychotherapist told me to put it.

“I didn’t raise you to be so heartless.”

You didn’t raise me at all.

Ingrid hung up and tossed the phone into her purse. The door into the restroom opened and a uniformed policewoman walked in. Ingrid reapplied her lipstick and gave herself a long hard stare in the mirror. She was looking tired. Her eyes were a little bloodshot and dark shadows had started to appear underneath them. She ran her fingers though her short blond hair again, but it was well past restyling. She could take some consolation from the fact she was spending the evening in Holborn Police Station rather than on a much anticipated date with Detective Constable Ralph Mills—at least he wouldn’t see just how crap she looked. She corrected a smudge of lipstick with the tip of her little finger and fished around in her purse for some concealer to deal with the dark circles beneath her eyes. Before she found the tube of makeup her phone started to vibrate again. She pulled it out, saw it was Ralph calling and couldn’t decide whether or not to answer.

What the hell.

“I just got your message,” he said, as soon as Ingrid picked up.

“I’m really sorry. I wouldn’t cancel if it wasn’t important.”

“That’s why I’m calling. There’s no need to cancel. I’m walking up Theobalds Road as we speak.”

That was just around the corner. “I really can’t leave right now.”

“That’s why I’m coming to you. I’ve got two pizzas and half a dozen chilled beers. I went for a quattro formaggi and pancetta with mozzarella and rocket. How does that sound?”

“I don’t know—I really need to work.”

“I can help. I do know my way around an incident room. See you in five.” He hung up.

Ingrid stared at her phone. She was tempted to call him back, but she was ravenous, and a big part of her really wanted to see him. She’d been on a few dates since she’d ended her fourteen- month engagement with Marshall Claybourne. Feeling a little on the rebound, she’d wanted to get Marshall out of her system, so she’d dated men who didn’t really mean that much to her. But Ralph was different. She’d wanted their first date to go well. For once she actually cared what impression she made. But an impromptu meal in a busy corner of a station house? It wasn’t an auspicious start to a relationship. Not that Ingrid was even sure that was what she wanted from him. She dug into her purse again, found the tube of concealer she’d been looking for, plus some mascara and eyeshadow. She did the best she could to enliven her tired features. The female PC emerged from one of the cubicles just as Ingrid put the final flourish to her eyelashes.

“Are you working the abduction case?” Ingrid asked her, feeling she couldn’t exactly ignore the woman in the cramped restroom.

The policewoman nodded at her via the mirror.

“Taken any promising calls yet this evening?”

“Not so far. I have had two proposals of marriage, a heavy breather and a shed load of abuse though.”

“What gets into folk?”

“Your guess is as good as