to find her. I won’t lie, I’m worried for her, which is why I’ve taken the decision to ramp things up. Whether she’s a suspect or a potential victim, we need her found. Whatever it takes. Smith?’
‘Yes, guv.’ The PC undid his jacket and exhaled as he leaned back.
‘Given what happened to Alexander Swinton, I need you to organise a search of all woodland in the area. Get the dog team out. If Penny is out there somewhere, she may not have long, unless we’re too late. It’s been nearly three days since she was last seen.’ Gina swallowed. Finding another shallow grave with a body in it was the last thing she wanted. ‘Just because some of her friends aren’t worried, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be. We have one murder; I don’t want there to be another.’ The emptiness in her stomach caused it to flip. If Penny was out there, she wanted her found. Enough time had already been wasted with the days it took to report that Penny was missing. Those vital hours could never be regained.
As the meeting came to a close, she spotted Briggs passing. ‘Hey, can we talk?’
He looked blankly at her, no warmth in his expression as he ground his teeth. ‘Look, let’s leave it for now. Let me know how you get on today.’
‘Sir—’
It was too late. He was already halfway back to his office.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Cherie gripped her phone to her ear. ‘What aren’t you telling me, Marcus? What did you tell the police?’ She scurried along the path and broke down, just as she turned off the road, away from the police station.
‘I didn’t tell them anything apart from that Penny was missing. What the hell did you tell them?’
‘Nothing.’
He paused on the line as she sobbed into her hands.
‘Shut up with the blubbering, for heaven’s sake. Pull yourself together.’
She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie and glanced around. An elderly man with a walking stick passed her.
‘Are you still there?’
She kept her eye on the man as he shuffled past. ‘Yes. I’m just cutting through Windsor Close at the back of the police station. The press are everywhere. I don’t know what to do.’
‘Say nothing. Do nothing. Just go home.’
She hung on to the call, neither of them ready to end it. A breeze caught her hair and sent a shiver down her neck. It might only be lunchtime, but it felt as though night was looming fast. The weight of the message she’d received was bearing down hard. ‘Have you heard anything from Penny?’
‘No.’
‘I have. She’s not using her own phone.’
‘I know her spare phone was missing. I told the police about that. That’s the one she used to cheat on me with that bastard.’
A cat jumped from the fence behind her, making her flinch.
‘What was that?’
‘Nothing. Just a cat.’
‘You really heard from Penny?’ He paused. ‘What did she say?’
‘Bear with me. I’ll read it to you. “The truth has to come out, you know it does. I just need some time alone, to think, but I’m okay. Keep your phone on, I’ll be in touch soon. Don’t worry about me and don’t tell anyone I’ve contacted you.” I shouldn’t have told you. I didn’t even tell the police.’
‘Whatever. We don’t need to involve the police any further than we need. She’s totally losing it.’ She heard his lips slap before he continued talking. ‘Shit. That can’t happen. I wonder if she’s been in touch with Isaac, telling him the same crap.’
‘Do you think she might have?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe she never sent the message. Or maybe she’s going mad and playing with us. Too many maybes.’
Cherie swallowed and checked up and down the street again. Every window looked dark. Behind that darkness, she imagined eyes watching her. ‘Could Isaac have sent the message?’
‘There’s something you don’t know. No one knew apart from me, Isaac and Penny. Penny has slowly been falling apart so Isaac threatened her. He told her that if she talked, she’d be the next person to see the insides of a coffin and I stupidly backed him up on that one. I didn’t mean it but we needed to shut her up. It was just an empty threat, nothing more. You know I wouldn’t hurt Penny, don’t you?’
The thoughts of Marcus threatening his wife like that ran through Cherie’s mind. She also knew them all too well. People don’t change that much. She doubted she’d changed either and that was