Page 6 of Gone in the Night (Detective Morgan Brookes #16)
SIX
‘I think that rock was a pretty good reason, Declan. It’s massive and has very sharp edges.’
He glared at her for a moment, then looked at the rock and began to laugh. ‘Mary, mother of Jesus, how did I hit that? Do you think I need some driving glasses?’
She shrugged, trying not to grin, not wanting to antagonise him as they watched Ben driving slowly down towards them. Declan had got suited and booted whilst waiting for him to arrive. He got into the front seat of the car, Morgan into the rear. He held up his hand towards Ben and spoke.
‘Don’t even ask.’
Ben glanced at the blown-out tyre. ‘I wouldn’t even.’
‘Can you not get me a body somewhere decent for once? You know, if there is a remote location that even Bear Grylls would struggle to find, I can guarantee you or Morgan will come up trumps.’
Ben glanced at Morgan in the rear-view mirror. She was grinning, and she looked as if she knew he was struggling not to laugh.
‘I hate to break this to you, mate, but it literally has nothing to do with either of us where we find the bodies.’
Declan let out a sigh. ‘I suppose not. What’s happened then, who took first look at it?’
‘Me, but I’m not saying anything because I don’t want you to shout at me.’
He whisked his head around to face her. ‘Would I shout at you? Never would I do such a thing, Morgan. Why are you saying that?’
‘You’re in a bad mood.’
‘I’m annoyed about my tyre, but I’m annoyed with myself not you or Ben.’
‘Good. You need to see for yourself anyway because I don’t know what’s going on. There’s a lot. I can tell you one thing though, it’s enough to put you off camping in one of those tent things for all the money in the world.’
‘I wouldn’t camp for love or money. The last time we had to deal with bodies missing from tents was enough to put me off for life.’
As Ben reached the scene, Declan leaned forward. ‘This is beautiful, look at the mountains, it’s framed like a picture postcard. No wonder she picked this spot to camp; but why was she up here alone and how did she find this spot because it’s completely off the beaten track?’
Morgan nodded. ‘I’m going to try and find out through her Instagram or her friends once we identify her. Maybe she posted on the internet where she was camping and someone who knew this area decided to come pay her a visit.’
Ben smiled. ‘That’s an excellent idea. Hopefully, we’ll find identification with a name inside the tent. Could you do that as soon as you can, and maybe we will see who commented or liked the posts, if there are any.’
‘Unless some random walker saw her and took the opportunity to kill her.’
Declan shrugged. ‘Nothing surprises me anymore; it would not even make me question that, Morgan. You know what this whole area is like, I’m convinced there is something in the air around these hills and mountains that takes a relatively sane person and turns them into monsters.’
‘Me too, I think the land was cursed centuries ago.’
Ben rolled his eyes. ‘Well, when the pair of you have finished scaring the crap out of each other can we focus on the here and now?’
Declan waved a hand in Ben’s direction. ‘I’m on it. Is permission granted to take a look? I can’t see Wendy anywhere.’
‘Wendy has been and recorded it; she went back to the station to get some gear whilst we were waiting for you to arrive. You’re good.’
Declan arched an eyebrow at Morgan. ‘Ah, that’s a shame, I’m sad I missed her. I kind of like being told off by Wendy. She’s like the mother I never had.’
Morgan had to stifle the laughter; he was such a bad influence on her.
Whenever she was with Declan, she reverted back to her fifteen-year-old self who on the rare occasion in school used to get the most inappropriate giggles and would always do what Brad, her best friend back then, would tell her to do, even though more often than not it got them both into trouble.
She closed her eyes momentarily, picturing Brad, missing him more than ever.
Ben walked away to go and speak with Marc, and Declan whispered, ‘Who is that?’ His gaze was in Stan’s direction.
‘Amy’s replacement. Stan.’
‘He’s hot, but don’t tell Theo I said that.’
‘I know, don’t tell Ben I agreed with you.’ She winked at him. ‘He hasn’t got much of a stomach for this kind of thing though; he puked when I described the state the body is in.’
‘Did he now, that’s a shame. It takes away from that manly ruggedness.’
‘Do you plan on looking at the body or are you two just here for the gossip?’
Ben had walked back towards them whilst they were whispering to each other, and Morgan felt her cheeks burn, hoping he hadn’t heard them.
They both straightened up, and Declan smiled at him. ‘Just getting ready. My, he’s tetchy today, isn’t he? Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?’
‘First day back, I’m jet-lagged and wasn’t expecting this.’
Declan clapped his hands. ‘Of course, how was New York? Did you love it, did anything exciting happen?’
Ben’s eyebrows were scrunched up that tight Declan grimaced. ‘Never mind, you two can fill me in on everything later.’
Ben’s phone began vibrating in his pocket, and he answered it as Declan lifted up Morgan’s left hand to feel her ring finger underneath her gloves.
She wondered what he was doing and then as his eyes went wide she realised: he was looking for a ring.
She shook her head at him, and it was his turn to scowl.
Shaking his head, he rolled his eyes in Ben’s direction and then walked along the metal foot plates that Wendy had placed to give him a direct route to the vehicle without compromising any possible evidence.
Everyone had stopped to watch Declan who was at the foot of the small ladder. He was almost tall enough to peer into the tent without climbing it and only had to step on the first rung. As he unzipped the tent, Morgan watched as he took in the sight before him. He didn’t flinch.
‘Morgan, I’m going to need you to pass me some things from my case.’
She hurried along the temporary path towards him, still thinking about Declan’s reaction to Ben not giving her a ring.
She hadn’t even thought about getting married.
They were happy as they were, weren’t they?
She didn’t need a ring from Ben to prove he loved her.
She knew he did without that kind of commitment.
‘Paper bags for her hands, please, and elastic bands. I want to preserve them in case she managed to put up a fight and get me some lovely DNA.’
Declan’s voice stirred her out of her thoughts and into action as she prayed that the victim had.
Ben was watching. There was nobody around, the whole area was silent except for the occasional bleating of sheep in the field behind the Land Rover.
There were no crowds, no onlookers and Morgan thought that at least it was peaceful.
The farmer had been sent home, and Cain had gone to take his statement.
She envied Cain, no doubt he’d managed to get himself a cup of tea and was sat in a cosy farmhouse kitchen whilst she was dealing with the horrors of what had happened here.
‘We have a possible ID for her,’ Ben’s voice called out. ‘The car is registered to a Sharon Montgomery. Can you see if there’s anything in the tent with her ID on, Declan?’
Declan was busy collecting samples of maggots and pupae that were left on her face.
He passed the collection pots to Morgan, who wrote on them before putting them into his case.
Ben wouldn’t normally be shouting out private details about victims, but they were so remote there wasn’t anybody to hear.
While she waited on Declan’s next pot, she watched as Ben began talking to Stan who was nodding his head a little bit too emphatically, and then Stan turned and began to walk down the narrow track.
She turned back to see that Declan was watching him go.
‘Well, if your new boy didn’t just get a gift from the Gods. Why didn’t Ben send you to follow up on enquiries and let him do the donkey work?’
‘Because I trust Morgan with my life, and I have no idea what Stan the man is capable of. I’ve sent him to go and check the isolated houses that are dotted around the roads up to this point, to see if they have any doorbell cameras or CCTV.’
Declan had the decency to look embarrassed, and Morgan felt bad for him.
‘You need to stop creeping up on us today, Ben, you’re freaking me out and at some point you might overhear stuff that wasn’t for your ears.’
‘I can hardly creep up on you, we’re on the side of a fell, out in the open.’
He lowered his voice. ‘Morgan, it’s not that I want to make you do all the work, you know that, don’t you?’
She nodded, she did know that and despite the horrors that her job often brought, she wouldn’t change it for the world, because nobody would work harder than she would, and she was good at finding the sick killers who thought they were invincible and bringing them to justice.