Page 88 of One Left Alive
‘I won’t. Thanks, Amy, I’m glad you got him and are okay.’
‘See you back at the nick. Ben is going to need to go to A&E, but I’m not arguing with him. Unless you want to meet him there. You can’t come here, though, because you might cross-contaminate the scene and then everything will have been a waste of time.’
Amy turned around to see that Ben was grimacing.
She walked back towards him. ‘Anything I can do?’
He shook his head. ‘Remind me not to be an idiot in future.’
She laughed. ‘Not sure about that, for some people it comes natural.’
Sirens echoed in the distance and she turned away.
‘Amy you didn’t; please tell me that’s not for me?’
‘I didn’t, it’s probably for someone else.’
He could tell by the way she was avoiding eye contact that she had requested an ambulance despite his request not to. He wasn’t going to tell her this, but he was relieved. He didn’t want his hand to drop off and it didn’t seem quite so dramatic if he hadn’t asked for it.
It wasn’t an ambulance but a car. The paramedic got out, grabbing the heavy kit bag from the back seat. He came walking towards him.
‘So, what have we got here?’
Amy spoke for him. ‘He stuck his hand in a blazing fire pit to retrieve some evidence.’
The paramedic nodded. ‘Good effort, I like it. That’s what you call dedication. Let me get this wrapped up; an ambulance is on its way to take you to hospital.’
‘No, thanks. I mean, yes please, get it wrapped up. I’ll make my own way there. I’m not wasting your time.’
‘You sure? I can take you in my car if you want.’
‘Positive, thanks.’
He gave him his hand, his mind wandering as he stared into the distance. Greg Barker had all this: land, a beautiful house, money and what good was it to him? None at all, because where he was going he would be lucky to ever see freedom again and that suited Ben just fine.
Fifty-Five
Morgan wanted to go and see how Ben was, but she knew he’d be annoyed with her. Amy was with him and she would ring her if she needed her. It was late; it had been one long day. She watched as the tow-truck driver lifted the car onto the back of the low-loader to be taken to the big warehouse, where it would be stored until it was forensically examined. They hadn’t turned up anything else of any evidential value and she wondered why he had come here last night. Maybe he’d come to retrieve the newspaper clippings so he could take them home and dispose of them. Whatever it was, they had him now; hopefully there was enough evidence to secure a conviction. There was nothing left for her to do. She didn’t even have a lift back to the station. She’d offered to wait for the vehicle recovery to get here; the other officers hadn’t had to be told twice and left her there, freezing, without a car to sit in. It had started to rain an hour ago, fine drizzle at first but it was typical that now as she set off walking it was getting heavier and she was going to be soaked through in a matter of minutes.
A car pulled up behind her. She turned around and smiled to see both Amy and Ben.
‘Need a lift?’
She jumped into the back of the car.
‘You okay?’
Ben turned to her and waved his bandaged hand. ‘I’m fine, it’s just a surface burn, more of a nuisance than anything.’
‘Gee, what a hero he is. If you want to know the truth he’s whinged and moaned like a child the whole time. He’s only acting all tough in front of you because he wants to impress you.’
Morgan blushed and Ben quickly turned away. ‘Thanks, Amy, make me out to be a baby, why don’t you.’
Amy looked at Morgan in the rear-view mirror. ‘Why are you stuck here without a vehicle?’
‘I offered.’
Both Amy and Ben glanced at each other. It was Amy who spoke. ‘Rookie mistake. Look, there are certain rules and codes of conduct that come with being a detective and working in our department. For instance, if there’s a scene guard you never, ever offer to do it. Uh-uh, you just don’t. Officers and PCSOs are there to scene guard. It’s what they’re trained to do and part of their role. You are a detective now, you’re the one investigating the crimes. You pull rank; if you’re too nice you’ll get walked all over. Did anyone offer to come back and pick you up?’
