Page 65 of Killing Mind
‘I don’t fucking appreciate the Spanish Inquisition by an officer from another force.’
Kim felt her own anger rise in line with Travis’s temper. What the hell was Bryant doing going behind her back to another force about an investigation he had no part in? Right now it looked like she couldn’t control her own damn team.
Bryant had stepped way out of line. It was both unprofessional and unethical to try and involve yourself in another force’s case. Travis was right to be pissed off. Had it been her she wouldn’t have been content with going to the officer’s DI. She would have gone higher, and Travis was doing Bryant a favour by coming directly to her. She could cap it right here and that would be the end of it.
She opened her mouth to speak as she turned back towards the window.
Her colleague was staring forward, a set expression on his face. His fingers tapped on the steering wheel.
She realised that over the years he’d supported every decision she’d made both as a colleague and a friend even when he didn’t agree with her. He had always given her the benefit of the doubt. She thought back to their conversation in her kitchen. She had told him to drop it and then dismissed it. She felt a sliver of shame roll into her stomach. Was their friendship just a one-way street?
‘Stone, what the?…’
‘Travis, I’ll talk to you more later because there are things here you don’t understand, but do me a huge favour just this once, eh?’ she said, heading towards the door.
‘Go on.’
‘Give Bryant whatever he wants.’
Fifty-Two
Bryant looked on confused as his boss and colleagues left the office. The guv had offered to shout them lunch.
‘But not you,’ she’d said, placing a hand on his shoulder to sit him back down. ‘Take a nap, make some calls, whatever. I’ll grab you something.’
He tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He was no Penn but even he knew something had gone on that he was unaware of.
Damn it, Travis must have called her. It was the only thing that made sense.
So, right now he should be receiving an almighty bollocking in the privacy of the Bowl. Instead he’d been given some privacy and some time.
His mouth lifted in a smile. The guv never wasted words. Make some calls, she’d said.
He took out his phone and dialled. He was being given an opportunity to repair the damage.
The DI answered on the third ring.
‘Hey, Travis. Listen, I just want to apologise about…’
‘Forget it,’ Travis said. ‘Went over the old case files of Peter Drake. Didn’t realise you’d been on watch duty with that poor kid.’
Travis’s understanding made him feel even worse about ringing up to demand information about a crime scene that had absolutely nothing to do with him.
‘Listen,’ Travis continued, ‘we’ve got the techies over at the scene and the post-mortem later this afternoon. We’re debriefing around seven if you can make it.’
Bryant was speechless. What the hell had the boss said to him? Regardless, he was grateful. He knew he wouldn’t be able to offer Richard Harrison detail of the briefing but he hoped to be in a position to assure him that everything possible was being done. The man needed something. He was unravelling before Bryant’s eyes.
‘This ain’t charity,’ Travis continued. ‘You might be able to offer something useful, that’s all.’
‘Thanks, Travis. I’ll be there.’
Silence filled the line between them.
‘Go on, ask,’ Travis said.
Travis had already combed the reports of Wendy Harrison and Tina Crossley, so he had to know the answer.
‘Is it the same?’
