AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Yes, she could have that.
‘I followed where the investigation took me.’
‘But it’s not our investigation,’ Stacey argued.
‘You’re right. I wouldn’t have had to touch it with a ten-foot bargepole if one of my team wasn’t attached to it. I mean, do you have any idea what it could do to your career if your name came anywhere near this? Your irresponsibility in prioritising your own well-being defies logic, not to mention your training as a police officer.’
‘But no one would ever have linked me to him,’ Stacey protested.
Kim thought of the bedroom wall in Birch’s house. ‘Oh, trust me, they would have.’
Stacey frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Nothing,’ Kim said, gathering paperwork for the briefing.
She wasn’t stupid. The only way Vik hadn’t found the photos was because they were no longer there. She hadn’t removed them – and Bryant had made sure he was protecting more than Stacey when he’d refused to tell her what he’d done.
‘Let’s just say Birch made no secret of the fact that you were his target.’
Stacey looked stunned.
‘And there’d have been no conversation with Devon if I hadn’t watched footage of her punching him and then following his direction of travel in a car that bears a striking resemblance to the one that reportedly caused the accident that killed him.’
‘But there’s no way Devon could ever do something like that.’
‘She told you where she went on Monday night?’ Kim asked. ‘Please share – I’ll check it out and that’ll be the end of it.’
‘She just wouldn’t do anything like that,’ Stacey said, giving her no answer to her question. ‘She wouldn’t jeopardise her career for someone like Birch.’
‘That’s a statement, not an alibi, Stace,’ Kim said, folding her arms. ‘We don’t always think clearly when we’re angry. You’d just told her what had been going on. She felt side-lined, useless, unable to protect you. She was full of rage when she stormed out of your flat. You didn’t even know she’d punched him, so do you really know what she might have been capable of?’
‘Yes, I do. I know she isn’t capable of such a thing even in anger. How could you even question it?’ Stacey asked.
‘I’ll tell you why I question it, Stacey. The minute you told me what you’d been going through, I could quite easily have torn Terence Birch apart limb by limb. Knowing that he’d caused you so much suffering would have prompted me to run my car at him then reverse and maybe even do a few donuts on his ass if he’d been right in front of me. That’s how I felt as your boss. I can only imagine how Devon felt. So unless you can tell me where she was with a time stamp or witnesses, Devon’s name stays firmly on the list.’
Stacey was almost as shocked as she was at the outburst she hadn’t known was coming.
Kim nodded towards the squad room, which was filling up fast. ‘Briefing in two minutes.’
Stacey turned and left the Bowl to a room of curious glances.
Bryant looked Kim’s way and raised an eyebrow.
She nodded that she was fine and took a moment to compose herself before officially starting the day. She hadn’t meant to share the depth of her own rage, and it still coursed through her when she thought of the power that insignificant little man had managed to wield.
She pushed down her feelings and headed into the squad room.
‘Okay, folks, that’s now three of our Psycho Six dead, so let’s see if we can get our arses in gear before we lose any more.’ She turned to the behaviourist. ‘Thoughts, Alison?’
‘It definitely seems like a vengeance campaign. This group pissed off a lot of people.’
‘We won’t know exactly how many until we get the court order into Welton’s records,’ Kim responded, looking at Penn.
‘First job after briefing, boss.’
‘There’s something else though,’ Alison said, frowning.
‘Go on.’
