Ruthless by Cath Staincliffe Read Free Book Online

dad’ll have to take you,’ she said, forking up the last of her food.
    ‘Why can’t you?’
    ‘Because I’ve just started an investigation. I’m not going to have time to draw breath.’
    He sighed heavily, brought ham and cheese out of the fridge.
    ‘Or take Orla,’ Gill said.
    ‘Cool.’ Shopping with his girlfriend obviously appealed more.
    ‘Revision?’ she said.
    ‘Done some.’ He’d three more exams to sit, then his schooldays would be over.
    ‘Orla’s being nominated for prom queen,’ he said.
    ‘Is she now?’
    ‘Yeah. I think Daisy Tuttle will get it, she’s more popular.’
    ‘We never had any of that sort of thing,’ she said, ‘proms.’
    ‘You had a party, though, didn’t you?’
    ‘Of sorts. Smuggled in vodka to mix with fruit juice, crammed into the school hall. Smelled of sweaty trainers. Disco – that was our lot. No limos, or kings and queens. If anyone had worn a suit they’d have been laughed out of court. The only people who wore suits were teachers and squares.’ She laughed.
    ‘Sounds rubbish,’ he said.
    ‘It was brilliant,’ she said. ‘We were free, school’s out, all that business, we burned our ties. None of this American tosh.’
    ‘And you knew then you wanted to join the police?’
    She studied him for a moment. ‘I did. Never thought about doing anything else. With Grandma and Grandpa in the job, although Grandma left when she married.’
    ‘Why?’ he said. He took a huge bite of the sub sandwich he’d made.
    ‘That’s how people did it back then. Married women weren’t supposed to work, a man was expected to support the whole family. Guess it was in my DNA, the police.’
    ‘And mine,’ he said with his mouth full.
    ‘Lot easier to join then.’
    ‘You keep saying that, like you want to put me off,’ he said.
    ‘No, I don’t. But it is important you know how tough it will be.’
    ‘I do know. I’ve got to get more experience. I’ve applied to join the special constabulary, so I can start that as soon as the exams are done, and I’ve got my driving licence. Once I’ve done some time volunteering with them I can try for the police community support officers and the police proper after that.’
    ‘Yes, but who knows how long there’ll be a freeze on police recruitment,’ she said.
    ‘You still think I should have gone to university.’
    She chose her words carefully. ‘I think it might have given you more options. You’d have a degree, which is a valuable qualification, in the police as much as anywhere else. If there aren’t any openings in the police, if you don’t get in, then what?’
    ‘Go abroad, Australia or somewhere.’
    ‘Seriously!’ She had never imagined him emigrating. Felt a squirt of panic but then thought about his future, his life. ‘That would be amazing,’ she said. ‘I could come and visit.’
    ‘How? You’re always at work.’
    ‘When I retire. Not all that long now.’ She could barely imagine it. Work, the job, had shaped her life over twenty-eight years. What on earth would she do without it? Maybe there’d be space as an adviser, a specialist. Retired officers did sometimes keep their hand in, working as consultants.
    The force had changed almost beyond recognition in Gill’s time. Advances in science and technology had perhaps made the biggest impact. Everything from DNA profiling and CCTV coverage to mobile phones, the internet and a plethora of software systems provided tools for the detection of crime. There had been improvements in prevention as well: the police advised on secure building design, for example, features that reduced the opportunities for crime, neighbourhood watch schemes. Crime was falling as a result. How much more would change in Sammy’s lifetime?
    But beyond all those tools, the most important resource was the staff themselves. Trained, monitored, mentored, assessed. There was no space for slackers or the mediocre in the service. God knows how Kevin Lumb had got through