Page 54

Dom’s team looked somewhere between concerned and happy to see Reid as he made his way to his corner of CID.

‘All right, mate,’ Dom said, going to give him a shoulder squeeze. ‘Kit Frankland should be here in fifteen, and he’s our main person of interest at the moment.’

Reid gave him as much of a grin as his face currently allowed. The painkillers had at last started to do something, so while his jaw wasn’t fully mobile, it at least didn’t feel on the point of rupture.

‘I’d like to be in on the interview.’

‘Let’s discuss,’ Dom said. And then he drew Reid aside to say, ‘Overnight we got phone records back from the burner phone Anna was using as Aria Lauder. The last call she made was to her father, which didn’t connect.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Just before that, she tried to call your old number.’

Shit.

Reid still couldn’t explain exactly why he’d felt the need to change his number after the break-up. He could easily have blocked Anna. But somehow the fear that she would call him from another phone and trick him into talking to her had been heart-pounding.

Looked at now, in the cold light of day, it had been a mad thing to do. Why had he been so afraid of her contacting him?

But he knew the answer. He’d been afraid of experiencing all the feelings he’d had since yesterday afternoon. He’d been afraid of having to accept that he’d been the one in the wrong, and that he’d ruined everything.

If he’d just kept his bloody number she’d have been able to ring him. She’d been calling from a totally different phone.

‘I have to ask,’ Dom said, his expression apologetic. ‘With the email to you, and the call… You definitely haven’t seen her since her disappearance?’

Reid suddenly understood why Dom had wanted to tell him this in person. He needed to make sure that Reid wasn’t involved in his ex’s disappearance.

‘No,’ Reid answered. ‘Not at all. I changed that number eighteen months ago, which is why she had no idea I wouldn’t answer.

If I hadn’t, she might not be missing.’ He gave Dom a very steady look.

‘I really let her down, Dom. I can be a judgemental prick sometimes, as you know. And the fallout of that was not being there for her when she needed it on Monday night. But when her dad came and asked for my help, I realised he was right. She was in danger.’

‘All right. Thanks.’ Dom blew air out, then nodded. ‘I’d appreciate your help with Kit Frankland. We’ve found out something about him we think might be relevant.’

‘What’s that?’ Reid asked.

‘Holly Moore was the second young woman whose death he was peripherally involved in,’ Dom said. ‘There was another girl, back when he was at school. She was sixteen, and she apparently hanged herself.’

Reid felt a wash of cold. Whatever Anna had said about being wary of Kit, there was no question that she’d been caught under his spell. She wouldn’t have wanted to believe he was a killer. Not really.

He could see in Dom’s expression that he was thinking the same, and realised that he must have read all of Anna’s email by now. He might even know more than Reid did, and that made Reid feel a strange pang of jealousy.

It had been written for Reid, at least at first. It was his to understand.

‘If someone can make me a coffee, I’ll be ready in ten,’ he said, and went to find a quiet corner to read the rest.