‘No. Really. Mam and Dad will find me a bed or even Bethan.’
‘Don’t you think I haven’t thought of that? With that reporter sniffing about, staying at either isn’t going to be a deterrent. And anyway, she’ll be glad of the company. Jake’s just left for his stint on the oil rigs and you know she’s always complaining about how lonely she is when he goes away.’ He shot her a look before returning his gaze to the road ahead. ‘You don’t really have a choice here. It’s Rebecca or a hotel and I’m sure you’ll be happier with my sister.’
‘But what about my cat and …?’ She was starting to cave in. Spending time with Rebecca was exactly what she needed right now.
‘Izzy, let me worry about your cat. If you give me the keys, I’ll make sure he’s looked after. And as for your clothes … I’m happy to collect your toothbrush and a few essentials when I’m there but I’m not prepared to rummage through your drawers,’ he said, his colour rising. ‘You’re not too far off Rebecca’s size. I’m sure she’ll be happy to lend you anything you need. It should only be for a few days.’
The A487 was deserted; there was nothing to distract from the empty road in front of them and, into the sudden silence, he finally spoke.
‘So, what was it about the car that upset you so much?’
Chapter 26
Gaby
Thursday 9 January, 2 p.m. Swansea Police Station
The incident room was heaving, the smell of hot bodies and stewed coffee steaming up the windows and adding to the overall feeling of anticipation. The chase was on after a hiatus of five years. No one present liked the idea of failure and the Grant case had been failing within days of Alys’s disappearance.
Gaby opened her notebook with a sigh, trying to dampen the excitement building underneath her Marks and Spencer navy trouser suit. She was almost shaking with the hope of having something concrete to focus on. But she also knew the stats. The best opportunity for finding Alys had been in the first forty-eight hours. What they were doing now was damage limitation. They wanted to end the case, tie all the ends off in a neat little ribbon of explanation that would please Detective Superintendent Holmes, a man she’d only heard rumour of because he sure as hell didn’t come into the squad room.
‘Right people. Can I have your attention please?’
Gaby looked up from her notes and to where DCI Brazil-North was standing, her sharp grey suit and plain white shirt complimenting her blonde hair, brushed to a glossy sheen around her cheeks. She’d earned every one of her steps up the ladder the hard way, but still managed to exude the impression that she was just about to head out to have coffee with friends instead of head up a murder investigation.
Her attention wandered while the DCI droned on about how successful an operation it was. Blah de blah de blah. She didn’t want to listen to all that tosh. She wanted to be back behind her desk searching for clues, not that clues could help. Now it was a waiting game while the forensics team worked their magic, step by painful step. Gaby didn’t have to listen too closely anyway. After all, she knew what was coming. She’d been in the car, hugging the back seat, her eyes and ears pinned to Rhys and Izzy when he’d questioned her gently about what she’d seen that no one else had. The car was one huge weed-covered mass of stinking green and, even with all her skill and training, she could barely make out the shape of the interior and certainly not anything inside, which made her all the keener to hear Izzy’s take on it.
Gaby turned to where Rhys was propping up the radiator. He’d spent the last fifteen-minutes holed up in the office with her ladyship and Gaby would bet her only pair of Manolo Blahnik’s that he’d just had the dressing-down of his life. It was easy to see in the way he’d immediately moved from her side when they’d entered the room, his arms folded, his chin set, his lips drawn into a thin line. It couldn’t be because he’d arranged for Izzy to stay with his sister. While a little over and above, it probably wasn’t a bad idea to get her out of the way of the media shower that was heading her way. No. There