Page 26 of Killing Mind
‘I heard sirens. Is everyone okay?’
‘It’s all being dealt with,’ Kim answered as she heard the sound of the drone returning.
‘I didn’t mean any harm,’ he said, as the drone came into view.
‘I know but we just gotta keep stuff private.’
The drone hovered and then landed expertly at his feet.
‘Pretty cool,’ she said, getting to her feet.
‘Not as cool as the Tello Drone Boost. Now that’s a beauty.’
‘You got a licence for that thing?’ Kim asked. The recent law dictated that any user had to sit an online test and pay £9 to join a register if the drone weighed more than 250g, which was pretty much all of them. How it was going to be monitored and policed was another story.
Ricky shook his head as his mum stepped forward, her face reddening. ‘We’ve been meaning to…’
‘Tell you what, we’ll waive that thousand-pound fine if you just delete the footage and keep it grounded until you’re legal, okay?’
The relief that passed over his face was nothing compared to that of his mother.
Kim smiled as he nodded eagerly.
She offered her hand. ‘Thanks for your co-operation, Ricky.’
She turned and left.
Because now she had a second body.
Twenty-Two
Bryant felt the vibration of the phone in his pocket as the two of them entered the station.
‘I’ll get the coffee,’ he said as the guv took the stairs two at a time to brief Woody on the second body.
He didn’t particularly want to check his messages around her. He knew how she felt about his continued involvement in the old case and part of him knew she was right. And maybe the text message was the final part of the journey for him. He knew what it was going to say.
Perhaps if he witnessed the event himself he’d be able to accept that there really was nothing more he could do.
He stood in line and selected an assortment of plastic wrapped sandwiches along with the drinks.
Three people before him were yet to be served.
Finally, he took out his phone and read the message.
Peter Drake was due to be released from prison at 6 p.m. that night.
And he for one would be there.
Twenty-Three
Kim entered the squad room, pleased to see that their second victim had made it on to the board.
‘Thanks, Penn,’ she said, grabbing a triangle of chicken salad from one of the open containers. She nodded her acknowledgment to Bryant as she perched her bottom on the spare desk.
If not for Bryant’s gentle prompts throughout the day she’d forget to eat completely.
‘Okay, guys, update from your field trips this morning?’ she asked, after her first bite.
