Page 13 of Their Burning Graves
‘Sorry, forget that suggestion I wasn’t thinking straight.’
‘Actually, I would like you to attend, but I kind of think we owe it to Des.’
‘We do, and Will has probably asked Adele to go with him anyway, she’s his right-hand woman.’
‘Just like you’re mine.’ He winked at her. ‘I couldn’t live without you, Brookes, you saved my life in more ways than you could ever know.’ He reached forward, pulling her close for the briefest of hugs then stepped away.
‘Do you want to go and grab the footage from Maggie?’
Morgan laughed. ‘I would, I still can’t drive though.’
He looked down at the boot on her foot. ‘Damn it, sorry, I forgot all about that. You’re probably the only copper in this entire county who would still come to work with a badly sprained ankle and not moan about it.’
‘I could get Cain to drive me, he’s around.’
‘You’re resourceful too.’ He winked at her then turned to leave the too small, stuffy room.
‘Ben.’ He turned back to her. ‘Are you okay, like deep down okay with this? I’m worried about you, your heart.’
‘My ticker is just fine, the tablets they gave me seem to have done the trick. I’m saddened beyond belief but I’m good and I think I’ll feel even better once we get today over with; it’s going to be a long one.’
He disappeared up the three little steps out into the corridor, and she let out a sigh, yes today was definitely going to be a long one.
Hobbling to the lift she went to the ground floor in search of Cain, who was leaning against the door of the patrol sergeant’s office, arms crossed, laughing at whatever joke Mads had just finished telling.
‘Cain, are you busy?’
Mads was shaking his head. ‘Don’t answer that one, she’ll have you chasing around after killers and making you work for a living.’
‘Not at the moment, Morgan, what do you need?’
Mads groaned. ‘Sucker, you’ll regret it.’
Morgan glared at him. ‘I need to grab some CCTV footage from Hest Bank Road. If you could give me a lift, I’d really appreciate it.’
She walked away, and Cain followed. ‘Hey, wait up he’s only joking, Morgan.’
Stopping in her tracks she turned to him. ‘I know, I’m not in the mood that’s all. I’m fed up wearing this boot, my ankle is hurting, and I don’t want to go to Des’s funeral.’
Cain’s mouth opened wide. ‘You having a bad day, kid? You never complain, come on let’s grab a coffee and go get that CCTV.’
‘Thank you.’
He shrugged. ‘That’s what I’m here for, always happy to help.’
Cain parked outside The Coffee Pot. ‘I’ll go grab a couple of lattes; do you want anything to eat?’
‘No thanks, I feel sick to the bottom of my feet, I don’t think I could eat anything.’
‘That is probably why you should eat something then, empty stomach, too much stress, it’s not a good combination.’
‘I’m fine, thanks.’
Shrugging he strolled into the café, his hands in his pockets; he looked the epitome of cool, calm and collected. Morgan flipped down the sun visor to look at herself in the tiny mirror, and sighed. She looked pale, there were dark circles under her eyes, and she was tired beyond belief. Tired of all the death that seemed to edge the fringes of her life, tired of losing people she cared about, tired of just about everything. She pushed the visor back and lay her head against the seat, closing her eyes. The door opened and the strong aroma of fresh coffee wafted into the car. She took the drinks from Cain.
‘I love the smell of fresh coffee, it’s like an instant hit of joy to my brain.’
‘I know what you mean, I also love the smell of bacon and the sweet aroma of freshly baked cake, which is why I bought you a white chocolate and raspberry cupcake. You look as if a sugar hit might perk you up. No arguments, and besides I wanted one but couldn’t stuff my face in front of you when I’m supposed to be eating healthy.’
