Page 35 of The Truth Will Out
“How did he take it?” Bob asked.
“It wasn’t the right time to tell him. He was on site. I wasn’t prepared to shout the information down the phone at him.”
“Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I think you did the right thing. When are you going to tell him?”
“He’s back in a couple of hours. I’ve asked him to give me a call when he gets home. I’m going to be on tenterhooks until then.”
“I don’t think you’re going to get a chance to. I need to speak to you privately.”
“Can it wait? I need to bring the DCI up to date.”
Bob shook his head and walked past her and into her office. Sam glanced around the rest of the team. They all avoided eye contact with her, making her dread what Bob was about to tell her. She marched into her office and closed the door. She sat opposite her partner and searched his eyes for the answer to her unspoken question.
“I’ve forgotten something. Bear with me.” He jumped out of his seat and darted out of the room. He came back holding a sheet of paper.
“This looks ominous. Does this have something to do directly with Claire?”
“Not this, not exactly. Umm… I’m not sure how to tell you this.”
Sam’s patience was already tighter than a prison cell door at lights out. “Get on with it, Bob. I can’t stand the suspense much longer, and don’t forget I’m eager to see the DCI.”
“Sorry, I’ll get to the point. Rhys’s name crops up in the file.”
Sam frowned and shook her head. “What?” She opened the file on the computer and scrolled through it to check for herself. “Holy shit balls! What the fuck?”
“Have you found it?”
“Shh… I’m reading it now,” she said, preferring to read from the screen for herself rather than what he’d printed out, as if it made any difference. It didn’t—the fact was there in black and white. Rhys did a placement at Pendle during his time at university. Sara stared at her partner and muttered, “He’s never mentioned it.”
“Why would he?”
“True. Oh shit! What else are we going to bloody uncover, Bob?”
He fidgeted awkwardly in his seat, and she could tell he was keeping quiet about something else.
“Let me have it.”
“I couldn’t resist it. I know you only conducted a brief search of Claire’s computer earlier. Well, I took the liberty of digging a bit deeper and…”
“And? Damn, I swear you can be frustrating as hell at times. Just give me the facts without all the drama attached.”
His mouth gaped open for a second or two.
“Sorry, me having a go at you isn’t going to help matters, is it?”
“Apology accepted. Please, you have to remember I’m on your side, Sam.”
“I don’t need reminding.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t you?”
“Bob,” she warned, the heat warming up her veins once more.
“Okay, are you ready for this?”
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes again.
“All right, here we go. I checked the recent files Claire had created and found one that she had encrypted.”
