be in a lot of danger.'
'I spoke to her father before I came off duty this morning, and he told me that she couldn't have been abducted because she phoned him from Gatwick airport late last night on her way out of the country on holiday.'
'But she was with me late last night. And she never mentioned anything about a holiday. In fact, she said she'd just come back from somewhere, on business.'
'Well, that's what he said, Mr Fallon.'
'And have you managed to speak to her work? What have they said?'
'Ah, her work...that's an interesting one.'
I didn't like the way she said that.
'It took me a while to find the name of her employer with the limited information I had to work on, and I was off duty when I finally called them. I even put off my sleep for it, because I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. But I got through to her boss, a Miss Murton, and guess what?'
I began to get an ominous feeling in my gut. 'What?'
'She left three weeks ago.'
Ten
After she got off the phone, Tina found it impossible to get back to sleep. Eventually she got up and made herself a cup of strong black coffee. She knew she'd been a bit harsh on Fallon. Part of the reason for that was because she was always grouchy when she got woken up. The other part was because she still didn't know what to do about the investigation herself. A lot of Fallon's story made sense and there were some strange coincidences that appeared to back it up. Yet the fact remained that he was the only witness to this crime. And some things counted against him, like the fact that he'd been drinking heavily on the night and had had difficulty remembering Jenny's last name, as well as his claim that Jenny had told him she'd just returned from a business trip when, in reality, she'd left the company three weeks earlier.
She lit her first cigarette of the new day and tried Jenny's mobile number again – her fourth attempt – but like the other times, the automated voice told her the handset was switched off. This was turning into a real puzzle, one she was going to have to talk through with somebody. And she knew exactly who.
Tina had worked with Mike Bolt at SOCA, the Serious and Organized Crime Agency, for more than a year before returning to the Met a few months earlier, and he was one of the few people whose opinion on criminal matters she trusted absolutely. But their parting of the ways had been difficult, which was what had stopped her picking up the phone to him earlier that morning.
During their time working together they'd become very close friends, and almost inevitably a mutual attraction had developed. One night he'd given her a lift home from a surveillance job and had made a pass at her. They'd kissed in the car, passionately, and she'd been tempted to let things go further, but she'd had a relationship with her boss in CID four years earlier, before SOCA, which had ended in tragedy, and she was desperate to avoid putting herself through the emotional mill again, especially with someone she was going to see so much of, so she'd pulled away from his embrace.
Mike had apologized and nothing more had been said about the incident, but their relationship had never been the same after that. To be fair, it hadn't been the only reason she'd left SOCA. She'd also grown tired of the long-drawn-out investigations into those shadowy figures running the UK underworld, which so often ended in abject failure. But Mike hadn't seen it like that. He'd thought it had something to do with him, and though she'd tried plenty of times to persuade him that wasn't the case, she knew she hadn't convinced him. And if she was entirely honest with herself, she wasn't convinced either.
They hadn't spoken since, which didn't help, and the longer time had gone on the harder it had become to re-establish contact. She regretted this because, despite the fact that she'd made the break, she missed him.
Now, though, seemed a good time to finally make that call. She speed-dialled
'I spoke to her father before I came off duty this morning, and he told me that she couldn't have been abducted because she phoned him from Gatwick airport late last night on her way out of the country on holiday.'
'But she was with me late last night. And she never mentioned anything about a holiday. In fact, she said she'd just come back from somewhere, on business.'
'Well, that's what he said, Mr Fallon.'
'And have you managed to speak to her work? What have they said?'
'Ah, her work...that's an interesting one.'
I didn't like the way she said that.
'It took me a while to find the name of her employer with the limited information I had to work on, and I was off duty when I finally called them. I even put off my sleep for it, because I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. But I got through to her boss, a Miss Murton, and guess what?'
I began to get an ominous feeling in my gut. 'What?'
'She left three weeks ago.'
Ten
After she got off the phone, Tina found it impossible to get back to sleep. Eventually she got up and made herself a cup of strong black coffee. She knew she'd been a bit harsh on Fallon. Part of the reason for that was because she was always grouchy when she got woken up. The other part was because she still didn't know what to do about the investigation herself. A lot of Fallon's story made sense and there were some strange coincidences that appeared to back it up. Yet the fact remained that he was the only witness to this crime. And some things counted against him, like the fact that he'd been drinking heavily on the night and had had difficulty remembering Jenny's last name, as well as his claim that Jenny had told him she'd just returned from a business trip when, in reality, she'd left the company three weeks earlier.
She lit her first cigarette of the new day and tried Jenny's mobile number again – her fourth attempt – but like the other times, the automated voice told her the handset was switched off. This was turning into a real puzzle, one she was going to have to talk through with somebody. And she knew exactly who.
Tina had worked with Mike Bolt at SOCA, the Serious and Organized Crime Agency, for more than a year before returning to the Met a few months earlier, and he was one of the few people whose opinion on criminal matters she trusted absolutely. But their parting of the ways had been difficult, which was what had stopped her picking up the phone to him earlier that morning.
During their time working together they'd become very close friends, and almost inevitably a mutual attraction had developed. One night he'd given her a lift home from a surveillance job and had made a pass at her. They'd kissed in the car, passionately, and she'd been tempted to let things go further, but she'd had a relationship with her boss in CID four years earlier, before SOCA, which had ended in tragedy, and she was desperate to avoid putting herself through the emotional mill again, especially with someone she was going to see so much of, so she'd pulled away from his embrace.
Mike had apologized and nothing more had been said about the incident, but their relationship had never been the same after that. To be fair, it hadn't been the only reason she'd left SOCA. She'd also grown tired of the long-drawn-out investigations into those shadowy figures running the UK underworld, which so often ended in abject failure. But Mike hadn't seen it like that. He'd thought it had something to do with him, and though she'd tried plenty of times to persuade him that wasn't the case, she knew she hadn't convinced him. And if she was entirely honest with herself, she wasn't convinced either.
They hadn't spoken since, which didn't help, and the longer time had gone on the harder it had become to re-establish contact. She regretted this because, despite the fact that she'd made the break, she missed him.
Now, though, seemed a good time to finally make that call. She speed-dialled
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