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CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

F rankie refused to speak to anyone other than Ana.

‘I trust her,’ she said. ‘She’s more like us, she is. I know your lot, you’ll twist everything so it looks like I’m involved, and I’m fucking scared. What if he saw me?’

Needles had gone wild in the interview room, demanding to see his sister. He’d had to be restrained, and the tables and chairs he’d thrown over put back before Beth and Tom could question him. Once told that his sister was alive, he calmed down.

‘Your parents are with her,’ Beth reassured him. ‘The head injury isn’t as severe as we thought, but she’s having trouble breathing for some reason. Did your sister take drugs?’

‘Fuck,’ he cursed, dropping his head into his hands. ‘No. I don’t think she did. I don’t really know.’

‘Colin, can you tell us all you know about what happened tonight.’

He heard the whirring of a tape recorder and lifted his head. ‘You recording this?’

‘It’s the procedure,’ said Tom.

‘Don’t I need a lawyer?’

Beth sighed. She’d hoped to get the questioning over with.

‘We can get you one,’ said Tom.

‘Well, I aint saying nothing until I have one,’ Needles said firmly.

Beth scraped back her chair. ‘Right, we’ll arrange it.’

Ana felt weary. She couldn’t get rid of the ache in her heart. She stripped off the blood-stained dress and took a shower. As the hot water washed over her, she found herself unwillingly thinking about him again.

The bastard could be fucking anywhere. It was hard for her to hold back the tears. It seemed she would never find him.

She massaged her aching temples. Thoughts swirled through her mind, memories pinging back and forth as the rage built within her. She dug her nails into her scalp to stop the thoughts and try to calm the rage, but it built up like a volcano about to explode.

She’d returned to the clinic after passing her exams to confront him, but he’d gone.

‘Transferred to Oxford,’ they told her. ‘A few years ago.’

She used some of her savings to pay a private detective to find him. So how could it not be him?

‘Where the fuck are you? You fucking deviant bastard,’ she screamed, slamming the bathroom cabinet so hard that the glass shattered. She stared at her distorted image in the mirror. I vowed he’d never break me , she thought, but there was her broken image staring back at her. The fucking prick had won.

Blood was dripping into the sink, and she realised her right cheek was bleeding. Glass must have flown into it. She was cleaning it with some antiseptic when her mobile rang. Her temples were throbbing so much she thought her head would explode.

‘Hi, it’s Matt. DS Harper is asking if you’re still at the hospital?’

‘No. There was no point staying. There won’t be any news on Laine Lees for a few hours.’

‘Beth wants you to visit Frankie. She refuses to speak to anyone except you.’

‘Frankie?’ she questioned.

‘The sex worker who saw the attack.’

Ana sighed. ‘I’m officially off duty.’

‘Don’t shoot the messenger,’ he said, and she heard the smile in his voice.

She looked longingly at her bed and then pulled a blouse and pair of jeans from the back of the bedroom door. She’d be buggered if she’d put her uniform on. The glass would have to wait until later.