Left for Dead: A Maeve Kerrigan Novella (Maeve Kerrigan Novels) by Jane Casey Read Free Book Online Page B

wanted to read up on the other sexual assaults this guy has carried out. Sally-Ann’s attacker.’
    ‘In case you get asked to be on the team?’ Andy started to grin. ‘I don’t think God is going to be asking for you, somehow. Not by name, anyway.’
    I felt my face flame. ‘I’m just interested.’
    ‘Yeah, you must be. You’ve only got ten minutes to get ready before briefing. If I was you I’d get a move on.’
    I checked the time and realised he was right. Swearing under my breath, I logged out and ran.
    I got kitted up in record time and logged on to the radio just before I slid into the briefing room. I got the last seat, right in front of the inspector, and tried not to look flustered as I willed myself to cool down. Chris wasn’t in his usual spot by the door, I noticed, and I leaned over to ask Ray West if he’d seen him.
    ‘Off sick. You’ll be crewed with someone else.’
    It was a learning opportunity and nothing to be scared of, I told myself sternly. But when the inspector read out the crewings, I wasn’t at all pleased to hear my name bracketed with Gary Lovell. I was intensely aware of him sitting at the back of the room. He’d watched me hurry in. If I turned around, I knew I’d see him watching me.
    How the hell was I supposed to manage eight hours in a car with him when just being in the same room with him made my stomach flip over?
    I tried to listen to the list of stolen vehicles and suspect number plates, but my mind kept wandering. Inspector Saunders was brief and brisk when she dealt with the events of the previous night. There was no news on Sally-Ann’s condition. There was no sign of a likely suspect.
    On the way out of the briefing room, Gary nudged my arm. ‘All right? Did you have a good day? Get some rest?’
    ‘Not much,’ I admitted, blushing again.
    ‘Busy, were you?’
    ‘I couldn’t sleep.’
    ‘It’s hard to switch off sometimes. You have to learn how to leave the stress at work.’
    ‘Easier said than done.’
    ‘You’re telling me. You need something to distract you. Or someone.’
    There was something in the tone of his voice that made me glance at him, and he wasn’t smiling, as I’d expected. He was watching me with intense concentration, and when our eyes met he didn’t look away. I couldn’t hold his gaze for long. I stared down at the floor, tongue-tied. Other officers pushed past us, talking loudly about everything under the sun, but we might as well have been alone.
    He took pity on me in the end. ‘Come on. Let’s get a car and get going.’
    I followed him into the writing room, passing the inspector who was talking to her opposite number on Team 3. She eyed me as we went by, and I could practically hear what she was thinking.
    You’ve been warned. Don’t get this wrong
.
    I squared my shoulders and lifted my head. I wasn’t going to let her down.
    Besides, if I couldn’t deal with Gary Lovell without coming over all flustered, I was in the wrong job.
    * * *
    ‘Do you ever wonder if you’re in the wrong job?’
    ‘Never. You?’
    Sometimes
. ‘No,’ I said. ‘Not really. But I’m still getting used to it.’
    It was the dead time of night, the time when you couldn’t help being honest. Half past three. The pubs were closed. The nightclubs had kicked out their patrons. The people of Camberwell, whether law-abiding or criminal, were fast asleep. Half of the shift were back at the station processing the people they’d arrested earlier. We were following Inspector Saunders’ orders from briefing: if you’re not on a call, stay on the move. Even if it was unlikely that we would run across the rapist this way, at the moment it seemed to be Saunders best hope of finding him.
    ‘This job,’ Gary said. ‘It’s not like anything else, is it?’
    ‘Definitely not.’
    ‘What did you do while you were waiting to get called up for training?’
    ‘I was at university.’
    Gary whistled. ‘Clever girl.’
    ‘Not really.’ It always