Paparazzi by Jo Fenton (best free e reader .txt) 📕

could pursue that unlikely angle, while you focus on the more obvious channels.”

“I’m not really used to working with civilians, and I can’t get my head around your status yet, Becks. You left us in July. Why should we work with you now?”

“Because you know me, and you should trust me. I thought you did. But if there’s no trust, perhaps Joanna and I should do our own thing and not bother to liaise with you.” Joanna goes to the kitchen and shuts the door behind her. The tension in the room is palpable, as Finn stares at me for a long moment.

“You don’t need me to tell you that withholding information is also a crime.”

“Seriously?” I glare at him. “What are you playing at? Do you want us to help or not? If the answer’s no, we’ll just get on with our case. But I think Troy was beginning to trust us, and he might speak more openly about his past to us than to you.”

“What do you know about his past?” Finn still sounds suspicious.

“So far, only what’s on the internet. Troy’s been a musician since he left school, but when he was seventeen he had a run-in with the police about drugs. I don’t think he’s going to be too trusting with you and Molly poking around.”

“Back to bloody trust again. Why should I trust you when you left me?” There’s a peculiar expression on his face, and I shiver.

“What do you mean? I didn’t leave you. I left the force, after they bloody abandoned me in that sodding warehouse with Rachel dead at my feet. No sodding support for my own injuries, whether physical or mental. Just ‘If you can’t work through it, you’d better leave’ from the big man himself. Arsehole.” I fight back tears as pain and fury compete for supremacy. I can’t believe Finn’s accusing me of abandoning him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realise they’d treated you like that. Was that Quentin?” Finn lowers his voice, as he seems to realise he was out of order.

“Who else!” The Chief Inspector, our boss, Douglas Quentin, was a first-class git, with the sensitivity of an iron bar. He was an ambitious, ruthless taskmaster who really didn’t like women, but saw them as a necessary evil to keep his statistics within acceptable bounds. He was a significant factor in my resignation.

“You’re right, Becks. I do trust you. I was just angry and hurt when you left and then didn’t get in touch for six months.” He puts his pizza box on the floor and comes to sit next to me on the sofa. Pulling me into a hug, he whispers in my ear, “Are we friends again now?”

I hug him back. We hugged briefly in the pub the other day, but I could sense that he wasn’t at ease with me. A tightness eases in my chest.

“Sure, and I’m sorry about not getting in touch for such a long time. I was very freaked out by what happened, and cut off all my friends from work until Joanna talked some sense into me.”

The door opens and Joanna comes in from the kitchen.

“All sorted now?” She grins at both of us and picks the empty box up from the floor. “So what’s the verdict on this case? Can we help, or are we relegated to mere ‘civilians’?”

Finn releases me from the hug, although as he sits back he drapes an arm across the sofa behind me.

“It’ll have to be unofficial. My boss is a…” He struggles to provide a suitable epithet.

“Git? Prick? Misogynistic old fart?” I offer as solutions. I know exactly who he’s talking about, and they’re all true.

“Yep! So, if he hears I’m accepting help from outside the team, I’ll get lynched. I think I’ll be eating a load of pizza in this living room if that’s okay. Just gained a new friend. Totally not work-related.”

“And I suggest not mentioning that I’m here at all. If Molly asks about us, we’re working on our own case. She might say something.”

“Yeah. Molly’s a stirrer, and an ambitious bitch. She licks Quentin’s arse whenever she gets a chance. Dumping me in it would give her the greatest pleasure.”

“Well, that’s sorted then. Finn is coming round here to see me, having taken a fancy for my company when I turned up at the crime scene today. If he also happens to be in your company, Becky, I’m happy to cover to Molly or anyone else who might ask.”

“He’ll only be in my company for work reasons, of course, so there’s no need to cover with Matt.” Joanna gives me a sharp look. “I wouldn’t cover with Matt anyway. You’re allowed to have male friends, I presume?”

“Yes, of course. And Finn and I have been friends for ages. If I’m meeting Finn, Matt will be told, regardless of whether or not it’s for work.”

“I’d better go. I’m going to let you two make your own enquiries about Troy, but be discreet. Speaking to him whilst Janice is there would be a bad plan.”

“Who’s Janice?” asks Joanna.

“Do you remember, she’s the family liaison officer?”

“Oh yeah. Sure, we won’t drop you in it, Finn. We know how to be discreet. You know Becky, and secrecy is my middle name.”

Back out in my car, with my headlights on, my earlier fears come back to me. I’m fairly sure there’s no one hanging around outside, but what if they’re at my house? I type a quick message into my phone, and Matt responds almost immediately.

‘I’ll open the garage and put the light on. Drive straight in. You’ll be fine. Didn’t see anyone when I looked out earlier. They might have gone.’

With his reassurance, I drive home, but I can’t help looking around as I approach my house. I don’t see anyone, but my heart is beating fast as I drive into the garage and turn off the engine. Matt’s at the internal door waiting for me and slips past the car to close the