Chapter 13

Kate checked her watch as she turned off the engine and climbed out of her car. One thirty in the morning and she needed to be back at the station by seven. They were only two days into the investigation, and she was already exhausted. Gotta love a major incident on the run-up to Christmas. Just one more day and she would have had some time off, but God alone knew if she’d get it now. As for Christmas…well that was anyone’s guess. She’d been looking forward to her time off over the Christmas period, the first one she’d not worked since joining the police force, and she was looking forward to spending every moment of it she could with Gina and Sammy. Maybe it would still happen. If they could get their hands on Ayeshydi. And find out if he was the bomb maker. And find out if there were any more bombs waiting to be detonated. Then…maybe. The paperwork would still be there if she had a day off.

She slid her key into the back door and let herself in.

“Hey.” Gina’s sleepy voice met her from the sofa, the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree that hadn’t been there that morning illuminating the room like the tiny twinkling stars they were meant to represent.

“Jesus Christ.” Kate put her hand to her chest, gasping for breath. “You scared the crap out of me.”

“Sorry,” she said quietly with a small shrug.

“It’s okay. I knew you were here. I just didn’t expect you to be here, here.” She pointed to the sofa.

“Hi, Kate,” another voice said from the smaller sofa.

Kate stared at Gina, then at Alison, then back to Gina. “Hey, Alison.” She mouthed to Gina, What’s going on?

Gina smiled and shook her head.

Kate hoped this meant something along the lines of “I’ll tell you in a few minutes” and not “none of your bloody business”. But she wasn’t entirely sure.

“I should get going.” Alison said. “Thank you for, well, for everything, Gina.”

“You can’t go,” Gina said.

“I can’t?”

“She can’t?”

Kate and Alison had spoken at the same time.

Gina shook her head. “We’ve gone through two bottles of wine.” She pointed to the empties on the coffee table. “You’ll never get a taxi at this time of night. It’s hard enough to get one in the daytime, never mind after midnight. They’re all around the towns, not out in the sticks.”

Kate rattled her keys. “I can give you a lift.”

“Then she’s got a problem getting back for her car in the morning,” Gina said. “And no doubt you’ve got an early start, right?”

Kate nodded. “I need to leave here by six thirty.”

“Ouch.” Alison grimaced. “I don’t mind the sofa.” She smiled. “It was comfy enough before you got home.”

Kate chuckled. She didn’t really want to head back out to take Alison home, she just wanted to crawl into her bed and try to get rid of the thoughts of dead bodies, bastard fathers, and bombs careening around her mind.

But even those awful thoughts couldn’t shift her mind away from the fact that Gina had been there. She had been in that shop when Nadia Ahmed and Saba Ayeshydi had pushed those buttons. She’d been at the heart of it when it all started. Stella was still in the hospital because they had both been in the shop. And that was something Kate couldn’t get out of her head. She could have lost Gina before they even really got started.

She rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger, and when she opened them again Gina was standing next to her.

“Hey, you okay?” Her blue eyes swam with concern, and she wrapped her hand around Kate’s arm. “You look exhausted.”

Kate smiled ruefully. “I am.”

“Come on, then. Let’s get you upstairs. You can show me where the spare bedding is for Mum.”

Kate let Gina tug her towards the stairs. “Night, Alison.”

“Night, Kate. Sorry for crashing.”

Kate waved her hand. “No worries. Glad to see you two together.” With a smile on her face, she followed Gina up the stairs. She tugged her into the third bedroom, empty but for the huge wardrobe, some drawers, and a bookcase jammed full of books. The room was too small to make a decent-sized bedroom, so Kate had never thought to set it up as one. She’d always intended for it to be an office of sorts. How many spare rooms did a single woman with no real friends and no visiting family need, after all? “There’s an extra duvet in there.” She pointed to the wardrobe. “And a couple of pillows, I think.”

“Thanks.” Gina pulled it open and quickly removed what Alison needed for her night on the sofa. “I’ll just run these down to her, and then I’ll be back.” She nodded towards Kate’s bedroom. “Can I come in when I come back up?”

Kate looked at her, startled, confused, shocked…turned on. Was she…? Did she…? But I’m knackered.

“I wanted to talk to you for a few minutes. Is that okay?”

Kate let out a relieved breath. “Of course.” She chuckled. “I’ll leave the door open.”

Gina quickly kissed her cheek and disappeared down the stairs.

Kate stripped and changed into the long T-shirt and leggings she wore to bed and was brushing her teeth when Gina reappeared.

“She’s asleep already.”

Kate rinsed her mouth and put the brush back in the cup. Drying her hands on a towel, she said, “That was a surprise.”

“You can say that again.” Gina sat on the edge of Kate’s bed. “We’ve had a long talk.”

“Over wine?”

Gina nodded. “It made it a bit easier, I think. Both to say and to hear.”

“And are you okay?” Kate sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her gently against her body.

Gina snuggled into her side. “I think so. It’s a lot to process. Did you know that my mum had another child before me?”

Kate shook her head. “You have a sibling?”

“No. He died.”

Kate winced and kissed the top of Gina’s head. “I’m so sorry.”

Gina waved the comment away. Clearly she didn’t want to talk about that right now. “I sent a letter to George Boyne.”

“Wow. That was quick.”

“I couldn’t get it out of my mind, and I just had to do it. I feel better now that I’ve done what I can. It’s up to him now.”

“It gave you some peace?”

Gina nodded and lifted her head to look into Kate’s eyes. “It really did. I feel like I’ve given Pat what I can without becoming a creepy stalker.”

Kate nodded. “Good. And while we’re on the subject of creepy stalkers, I got a call from Styall Prison today.”

“Ally?”

Kate shook her head. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. They tossed her cell, and there’s no sign of any contraband like a phone or anything like that. They’ve been monitoring her calls since you received the flowers, and they checked back the records. It doesn’t look like she sent those roses.”

“But—”

“We knew it was a long shot. I mean, fifty yellow roses, isn’t really Ally’s style, is it?”

Gina sighed. “I suppose not.”

“She’s more your fifty cockles kind of girl.”

Gina laughed. “True. But that doesn’t help us figure out who sent me fifty yellow roses.”

“No, it doesn’t. Do you still have the card that came with them? Maybe I can get in touch with the florist and see if they have a record of who sent them.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s still at home. I’ll pick it up when I go to work tomorrow.”

“Good. Has anything else arrived? I’d be thinking that if this person is serious, then something would turn up for Christmas.”

“There wasn’t anything there when we went to pack.”

“Okay. Listen, do you want me to pop round instead? I know you hate going home with everything, and I could swing by from time to time, you know, to see if something turns up?” Kate didn’t want to say explicitly that this was another reason she wanted Gina and Sammy to stay with her over the holidays. But it was. One of many reasons, but it was one that kept playing on Kate’s mind. Having them both here, safe, would give her some more time to figure out who this mystery flower sender was and if it was a serious threat or just a harmless admirer. Gina had had more than enough to deal with from Ally and her attack, and now King’s Lynn… She didn’t need anything else to top it off.

“Thank you, that’s very sweet, but you don’t have to do that. You’ve got far too much on your plate with work already, and it’s out of your way. I’m practically there when I’m at work anyway.”

Kate yawned. “Sorry,” she said.

“Don’t be.” Gina snuggled in tighter, and Kate wished they could just pull the duvet over them both and let slumber take them.

“You sure? I really don’t mind.”

Gina shook her head against Kate’s shoulder. “No, honestly, I can handle it.” She turned her head and kissed Kate’s cheek. “Thank you. You make me feel very special.”

Kate could feel her cheeks burning, and she hugged Gina tighter to her. She wanted to tell her she was special, very special, and turn to capture Gina’s sweet lips with her own. But she knew she was too tired to follow through on those thoughts, and the desire just to hold Gina was equally strong. Just to hold her and feel the day melt away. “Tree looks good, by the way. Definitely isn’t Grinchy in here anymore.”

Gina laughed again. “No, it definitely isn’t. Sammy had to make sure that Father Christmas would know to leave her presents here instead of taking them to our house. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It looks great.”

“It looks like the leftovers from a bad year at Blackpool’s illuminations.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” Kate chuckled. “But if you insist.” That earned her an elbow to her ribs. “As much as I’m enjoying this, I’m falling asleep. I’ve got an early start in the morning.”

Gina squeezed back. “I know. Sorry.” She lifted her face to Kate’s and pressed her lips gently to hers. Her fingers curled into Kate’s hair, tugging her closer until Kate’s lips parted and welcomed her tongue.

Kate moaned around the caress and tightened her grip on Gina’s waist. Torn between pulling back and continuing, she couldn’t make up her mind until Gina’s fingers slid under the hem of her T-shirt. She gave herself over to Gina’s gentle exploration. She quickly found herself on her back with Gina’s pyjama-clad body on top of her as she slid her legs apart to accommodate her.

She tried to stifle the yawn that broke their gentle kiss, but couldn’t.

Gina chuckled as her jaw cracked loudly.

“I’m sorry, Gina—”

Gina touched her fingertip to Kate’s lips. “It’s okay. I just wanted to say goodnight properly.” She pushed her finger between Kate’s lips and drew in a sharp breath when Kate took it between her teeth.

Moving quickly, Gina replaced her finger with her mouth and set about Kate’s, with a passion that made Kate’s head swim. Kate moaned, and finally Gina wrenched herself away, pushing up and off the bed as she did so.

“You’re rather dangerous, Detective Sergeant Brannon.”

“Me?” She pointed to her chest as Gina’s eyes roamed the length of her prone body. She knew the old threadbare T-shirt and figure-hugging leggings left little to the imagination.

Gina nodded and took a deep breath. “Next time,” she said with a glint in her eye and a wink.

Then she was gone, and Kate was left uncomfortably turned on and wondering exactly what would happen next time. And just how quickly it would come around.