Kay put her handbag on the kitchen worktop and padded over to the kettle, flicking it on and pulling out a china mug from the cupboard overhead.
She had passed Adam on her way home, her other half raising his hand while he walked Oscar along the road from the supermarket, a bulging hessian tote bag over his shoulder.
Rubbing at tired eyes, weary from the hours she was keeping and the stress of the past week, she yawned as the kettle came to the boil and slopped hot water over a tea bag before smushing it against the side.
The front door opened, and Oscar came streaming into the kitchen, his tail wagging as he found her and buried his nose into her hands.
‘I haven’t got any biscuits, no,’ she laughed, and pointed at the stainless steel bowls next to the back door. ‘Go and have a drink.’
‘Hi.’ Adam walked in and placed the shopping bag beside hers before starting to unpack it. ‘I bought us some fish for tonight for a change – sound good?’
‘Wonderful,’ she said, and wandered over to kiss him. ‘We can have that with some steamed vegetables.’
‘You’re home early.’ He frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m off the case. Suzie Chambers managed to get hold of photographs of me leaving the Gregors’ house yesterday, and they’re all over the front page of that news website she works for these days.’ Kay exhaled. ‘I’ve got a meeting with Sharp and the Chief Superintendent over at Northfleet in the morning. Peter Gregor is going to be there as well. Sharp says he’s going to do his best, but there could be a professional standards investigation about my involvement in the case.’
Adam wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin against her hair. ‘I’m so sorry to hear that. I take it Isobel Gregor didn’t make a complaint? I mean you’ve been doing everything you can to give them some answers about Felicity’s death.’
‘No, I don’t think so. Isobel seemed relieved to have someone to talk to yesterday. This is all Suzie’s doing – it was only a matter of time before she caused trouble. After all, she’s been trying to break a story for years about me.’ She pulled away and gripped his hands. ‘I’m sorry, Adam. She included your name and the name of the practice in the same article. She’s worked out that we think these deaths may be connected to the ketamine theft.’
He grimaced, and then gave her a rueful smile. ‘Look, I doubt very much that anything Suzie says will damage my business. The local papers have already reported the theft and the fact that I got attacked. All of our existing customers have been incredibly supportive. Stephanie popped around earlier and said they’ve never been so busy. Suzie can’t destroy that. I’m just sorry that you’re going to get dragged over the coals because of her.’
‘At least Sharp will be there with me tomorrow. I wouldn’t fancy having this conversation without him. I just wish Peter had come to us first rather than going straight to the top.’ Kay sighed and moved to the worktop, running her hand over the surface. ‘It seems that his political ambitions outweigh common sense – it’s almost like he’s using this to get a foothold in at headquarters and curry favour with the top brass before he’s even formally announced his intention to run for the police commissioner role.’
Adam moved to the sink, washed his hands, and then opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a cold beer and a soft drink, handing her the beer.
‘What’s he been like to deal with so far?’
‘All right, in the circumstances I suppose. Although,’ Kay said, frowning, ‘Isobel did say yesterday that he was already insisting on attending parish council meetings and the like. I think she was shocked, given that Felicity has only been dead a week.’
Adam clinked his drink against hers. ‘Well, let’s hope tomorrow goes as well as it can.’
‘Yeah.’
Kay took a swig, and contemplated the label on the side as she ran her thumb over the condensation.
‘Look on the bright side,’ Adam said, reaching out to squeeze her arm. ‘You’ve got a team working on this who are more than capable, and you’ve got Sharp on your side. If it’s any consolation, you could do with a break anyway. When was the last time you took a rostered day off?’
‘True.’ She sighed and peered at the kitchen walls. ‘I suppose I was looking for an excuse to paint in here.’