Just Keep Breathing by GS Rhodes (good books to read for 12 year olds .txt) 📕

“They’ll be happy you’re okay,” Kidd said. “They’ll have been worried sick about you all day.”

“They won’t,” he mumbled. “They’ll yell at me.”

“No reason to yell at you, lad, you didn’t do it,” he said. “And you did a good thing by reporting it.”

“But I broke out of the house—”

“That they shouldn’t have been keeping you locked up in, in the first place,” he interrupted.

Dexter opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it. He reached for the door handle but DI Kidd stopped him.

“Hang on, lad,” he said, taking a card out of his jacket pocket. “I know it’s not much, and maybe keep it from your parents, I have a feeling that they’re not going to like me much after tonight, but if you need anything from me, at any point. Just give me a text.”

Dexter took the card and looked at it carefully before putting it in his pocket. “Thanks.” And without another word, he got out of the car and started towards the house. Kidd followed suit.

Right, he thought. Time to piss off some parents.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Kidd hated that he’d had to leave Dexter in that house with those people. They hadn’t been too impressed with him coming home so late, nor about the fact that he’d been arrested in the first place. Paying out for Andrew Grace’s time was a huge inconvenience to them apparently, which was enough to make Kidd hate them even more than he already did.

He told them how helpful he’d been, and also got statements off them regarding Dexter’s whereabouts over the weekend. He wanted to let them know that their darling son wouldn’t be able to pray the gay away no matter how hard he tried, but he imagined that it would fall on deaf ears and would only get Dexter in more trouble. The lad had it hard enough without Kidd adding to it.

He made sure to let them know that he wasn’t charging them with perverting the course of justice, tempting as it may have been, and made sure to get statements as to their whereabouts for the whole weekend. He didn’t believe they had anything to do with it, but he wanted to scare the shit out of them if he could.

The station had quietened down as the afternoon had turned into evening. Owen had been sent home to clean himself up, though his appearance had caused Zoe to laugh so much that she had fallen out of her chair. DC Ravel had to hide behind her computer screen because the tears were streaming down her face when she saw him.

That had made it worth taking Campbell with him. And the fact he had actually asked a few good questions. He might have been a little unbearable some of the time, but Campbell was a pretty decent DC. Not that Kidd would ever tell him that.

DCI Weaver joined them in the Incident Room as Kidd updated them on everything that had happened and then he sat back while Zoe did the same.

“He was in the house, but he wasn’t coming down,” she said. “Well, there was no way that Alexandra Kaye was going to let him come down, she told us how sick he was, so I don’t really know what to do with that.”

“Did she seem upset at all?” DCI Weaver growled.

“Yes,” Zoe replied. “She looked like she’d been crying. She commented on it regarding Caleb too. I think she’s worried about him.”

“We need to talk to him,” Weaver said.

“I know,” Zoe said. “We’ll get there. She seemed concerned about his health, and her own safety too.”

DCI Weaver didn’t seem convinced. DI Kidd wasn’t feeling it either. There was something about Ms Kaye that he couldn’t quite put his finger on, something that told him they should be watching her a little closer than they were. But she’d given them no reason to doubt her yet, had she?

“Is she not close with the Harpers?” DCI Weaver said. “I’m sure I read in someone’s notes that they were close friends.”

“Given everything they’ve been through, I do wonder if it’s a little bit for show,” DI Kidd said. “They were friendly with one another at the school reunion, but looking back, I wonder if it wasn’t more like keeping up appearances.”

“She was a little secretive when it came to the affair with Mr Harper,” Zoe said. “Didn’t bring it up until I mentioned it.”

“So she was trying to hide it then?” DC Ravel chimed in. “She definitely wouldn’t have brought it up if you hadn’t said it?”

“I’d say not.”

“Definitely not,” DC Powell added. “She seemed flustered when you brought it up.”

“So it’s a touchy subject,” DCI Weaver said. “Hardly surprising. I don’t think anyone is about to go around flaunting their infidelity.”

DI Kidd kept his mouth shut. Given what he’d seen with Greg the previous day, it wouldn’t be surprising if he was.

“One last thing,” DS Sanchez said, heading to the opposite side of the Evidence Board and tapping on the picture of Norman Kaye. “Norman came up a little in conversation.”

“Norman Kaye?” DCI Weaver asked. “Guy you brought in last night.”

“Yeah, he got into a fight with Chris Harper at the reunion,” Kidd said. “It’s all in the paperwork.”

“Well, she brought him up because she’s apparently frightened of him,” Zoe said. “Given what we saw, I’d be frightened of him too, but it makes me wonder if he might have more to do with this than we thought.”

DCI Weaver stood up, clapping his hands together. “Then it looks like we have a new prime suspect on our hands,” he said, turning to DI Kidd. “Good work on getting the Dexter lad cleared. Now work on getting me the real bastard who killed that poor girl. Is that everything?”

“Just about,” DS Sanchez said, offering him a smile as he walked towards the door.

“Back at it again tomorrow then,” Weaver said, looking at his watch. “Onwards!”

He left the room and everyone