BLOOD STAINED an unputdownable crime thriller with a breathtaking twist (Detective Claudia Nunn Book by Rebecca Bradley (rooftoppers .TXT) 📕

the interview for the recording, then stood and opened the door. Sharpe was standing in front of her. Face pale and drawn, her lips pinched.

‘What is it?’ Claudia asked.

‘With me.’ Sharpe clacked down the bare corridor not waiting to see if Claudia was following her.

Claudia didn’t like this, she didn’t like it at all. Sharpe knew better than to interrupt an interview. Especially this interview. It had been at her behest that Claudia was in this one in the first place and now Sharpe was here knocking on the door and pulling her out of it. It could only mean one thing.

Bad news.

She turned back to Kane. ‘Can I ask you to put Dominic back in a cell temporarily as I don’t know how long this is going to take and we can resume as soon as I know more. Come and find us when you’ve done that.’

‘Sure.’ Kane stood. The strip light above shining on his head.

‘Claudia?’ Dominic rose, anxiety oozing from him.

‘I don’t know,’ she said, closed the door on them and followed the direction Sharpe had walked off in. Sharpe was nowhere in sight and she had to find her. An emptiness gnawed at the pit of Claudia’s stomach and nausea rose in her throat. Claudia walked into the open custody area and couldn’t see Sharpe so doubled back and reviewed the closed doors she had passed. There was a consultation room. She placed her hand on the door handle. A prickle of sweat slicked over the metal shaft as nerves made her palms damp. Then she pushed down and entered the room.

Sharpe was standing with her back to the door. She didn’t flinch as Claudia entered the room and quietly closed the door behind her. Her arms were crossed in front of her, her face still rigid and stern.

‘What is it?’ asked Claudia, wanting to get straight to the matter at hand.

‘Have a seat.’ Sharpe waved to the table and chairs in the middle of the room but made no move herself to sit.

Claudia stayed where she was in front of the door. ‘Tell me why you’ve dragged me out of the interview you pushed me into.’

Sharpe turned her back to Claudia for a moment, paused, then turned back to her. ‘I’d rather you had a seat, Claudia,’ she said. ‘Stop being so stubborn.’ This last was pushed out emotionally. Claudia was not used to seeing this side of Sharpe and she took an involuntary step back.

‘Sit,’ said Sharpe again. This time she pulled out a chair herself and looked Claudia in the eye, daring her to go against her.

Claudia stepped forward, her stomach swirling, and pulled out her own chair. They both sat, each mirroring the other. Sharpe let out a small breath as though the hardest part of the job had been done.

It was far from done. This was just the beginning. She was tense. Her muscles clenched in fear of what was headed her way. She bent her head from one side to the other in an attempt to relax herself, but it was no good. The one thing she needed right now was to hear why Sharpe had interrupted the interview. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t good.

‘What is it?’ Claudia asked again.

Sharpe placed her hands on the table and clasped them tightly together. ‘We’ve had the results back on the blood recovered from the Harrisons’ garage this morning.’

The swirling in Claudia’s stomach flipped over and she had to grit her teeth to stop herself from vomiting up her breakfast. She had expected this and yet hearing the news as a definite with no hope left scooped out her insides.

‘Did you hear me?’ Sharpe was peering at her over the table. Her lips pursed in concern.

Claudia shook herself free from the darkness that was circling her. ‘Yes. Yes, I heard you. I take it . . .’

‘I’m afraid so. It was a match for the DNA of Ruth Harrison. I’m so sorry, Claudia.’ Sharpe did something Claudia had never seen her do in her career, she reached out a hand and placed in on Claudia’s. It was warm and soft. All unexpected. Claudia looked up at her in shock.

‘Even though we suspected as much, it’s not easy to hear, is it?’ Sharpe added. Tears pricked at Claudia’s eyes but she refused to let them fall. She was working, she was responsible for trying to identify what had happened to Ruth. Breaking now was not an option. She blinked hard.

‘Is there anything I can do for you?’ Sharpe asked.

Claudia shook her head, unsure of what she was supposed to be thinking. Everything had been twisted inside out. She’d been interviewing her father all morning and now this — it had been confirmed that it was Ruth’s blood in the garage. How could this be? If it was her father, it would be stupid to have left it there . . . She mentally shook herself. She needed to focus.

Sharpe withdrew her hand as quickly as she’d placed it there. ‘This doesn’t mean she’s dead, Claudia. Ruth is a strong woman. Yes, there’s massive blood loss, but she could survive it. We need to get to her quickly. How’s the interview going?’

‘He’s saying he didn’t do it, of course. That he’s being set up. He believes it’s something to do with the case he’s been investigating for the last six months.’

Sharpe was all business again. She straightened in her chair. ‘And what do you think?’

Claudia shook her head. ‘You do know that’s my father in there, don’t you?’

Sharpe tutted. ‘I’m well aware of who he is, Claudia. We had this conversation this morning. If he’s had something to do with it you’re the best person to rattle and unnerve him and get relevant information out of him. Yes, of course we know your relationship, that’s