Page 23 of Gone in the Night (Detective Morgan Brookes #16)

TWENTY-THREE

Morgan slept through Ben’s alarm. It was only when he was standing at her side of the bed with a mug of coffee and plate of toast in his hands did she open her eyes.

‘Argh, what time is it?’

‘Seven.’

‘How are you up so bright and early?’

‘I didn’t spend hours watching Sharon Montgomery’s YouTube channel like someone I could mention.’

‘True, I couldn’t stop though, I just kind of got sucked in.

She was good, really good, in fact she was a natural; she could have been a TV presenter.

You know how some of those YouTubers are just awful, she wasn’t and I’m not just saying that.

Everything was really professional, the sound, the music, the camera work. ’

‘Did you find anything useful?’

‘Unfortunately, no. I took screenshots of the comments under her most popular vlogs to check the names out with the ones on her Instagram account. I did find some beautiful spots to go wild camping though. She had some amazing recommendations.’

‘And will you be going wild camping anytime soon, Morgan, that’s the question?’

She paused, took the mug of coffee from him and sipped at it. ‘Absolutely not, I’d be terrified after seeing her body in that tent yesterday.’

Ben smiled at her, then leaned down to kiss her forehead. ‘Good, I thought that might have put you off. Let’s stick to nice hotels in the States for now if that’s okay with you. What’s the one in Salem you booked us into?’

‘The Hawthorne, it’s a historic hotel and right in the heart of downtown. It has a tavern inside and it’s all wooden panelling, it’s beautiful. Oh, Ben, it looks so amazing. I can’t wait to visit, and apparently it’s haunted.’

‘Is it? No campsites over there you want to try out?’

‘Probably, but I’m more of a flushing toilet kind of gal anyway.’

He was smiling at her. ‘Seriously though, we have a bit of a day ahead of us.’

‘I know, what’s different? Don’t we always have a bit of a day ahead of us?’

‘You’re right, we do. I’m just making sure you’re okay and not too tired.’

‘You don’t know the meaning of tiredness. For years I woke up at the same time and could never go back to sleep. It was only when I met you and found out about my crappy family history that the insomnia stopped.’

‘I’m good.’ He winked at her and walked out of the room to the sound of Morgan’s laughter.

She finished her toast and drank half of the coffee before grabbing her outfit of the day.

Black trousers, black T-shirt, black jacket, Doc Marten boots, always the same colour.

Corporate Goth was a thing, she’d recently discovered on Instagram, only Morgan had been doing it for as long as she remembered.

It was strange walking into the office and not seeing Amy sitting at her desk.

She was always early. Always the first one in.

Morgan wondered how she was after Jack’s untimely confession.

She sent her a quick message to check in with her then began to gather the assortment of empty coffee mugs.

She wondered what would happen if she didn’t do this every single day.

Would the guys just leave them fermenting on their desks until they ran out of clean cups in the brew cupboard?

She was scared to answer that question because she knew they would.

Cups scrubbed clean, kettle refilled and boiled, she made herself and Ben a coffee.

There was still no sign of Cain or Stan, come to mention it there was no sign of Marc either, which was a bit strange.

Were she and Ben early or late? She looked at her Apple Watch, no, they were on time.

Ben came out of the lift with a stack of papers under his arm.

‘Where is everyone?’

‘No idea, but let’s enjoy the rare moment of peace before it gets spoiled.’

She passed a chipped mug to him and followed him back into the office. ‘Well, there’s not going to be much of a briefing at this rate if it’s just us two.’

Wendy knocked on the door and walked in. ‘I’m just on my way out, it’s awful.’

Morgan felt a sinking feeling inside of her as her stomach dropped to her feet. ‘What’s awful?’

‘Haven’t you heard?’

Ben looked concerned. ‘Heard what?’

‘They found Jack White’s body an hour ago. Joe is already on scene, but I said I’d give him a hand if he needed it.’

Morgan felt her fingers loosen their grip on the handle of the mug as it fell onto the floor and smashed all over the carpet tiles in an explosion of porcelain and hot liquid.

She cupped her mouth. ‘No, no, that’s not right.’

Wendy nodded. ‘I’m afraid it is, sorry. I didn’t know you were close.’

Ben intervened whilst Morgan tried to pull herself together. ‘We’re not, but we were speaking to him at Amy’s yesterday afternoon. How did he die?’

‘First officers on scene said it was suicide, but I said I can’t see him doing that.’

‘He was murdered?’ Morgan’s voice had a quiver to it that she didn’t recognise.

‘I don’t know, Marc is on scene. Cain and Stan went there, and I think they sent Cain to speak to Amy. Madds and Stan are going to his parents’ house to speak to them or at least that was what I think was happening. It was a bit hectic over the radio.’

Ben’s expression was grim. ‘Don’t we always say that we never saw it coming though?’

Morgan knew Ben was talking from first-hand experience. His wife, Cindy, had taken her own life, and he’d truly never saw that coming.

Wendy shrugged. ‘Yes, we do. Anyway, I’m off to the scene so thought you might want to make your way there too.’

‘Where is the scene, his flat?’

‘Nope, the poor farmer who found Sharon Montgomery found him slumped against the gate of the field where her 4x4 had been parked. Hanged himself from a tree next to the gate, but the rope snapped and he fell to the ground.’

Morgan turned to Ben, she didn’t like this one bit. Wendy left them to it, and Ben waited until she was out of the door before saying, ‘Guilty conscience or murdered by the same person who killed Sharon?’

‘I don’t like it, Ben, it’s too much of a coincidence.’

‘We need to get up there and see what’s happening. Christ, is this ever going to get any better?’

Morgan shook her head. ‘I don’t think it could get much worse.’

Ben smiled at her, black humour at its best. She was trying to lighten the heaviness they were both feeling, but Ben’s smile never reached his eyes, and she didn’t think she would be able to push this to the back of her mind like she usually could.