Page 91 of Twisted Lies

Barney opened his eyes, realised there were no words in the sentence of interest to him and closed them again.

So far they had nothing to link Jacob Powell to the murders, except his strange behaviour and a busted-up laptop found by Penn at his address. She was hoping the techies could pull something from his laptop carcass to link the man to Amelia Dixon. It was a long shot, she knew.

She decided it was time for a fresh coffee and stood, shaking some life into her behind, which had turned numb.

‘Really?’ she asked as her phone began to ring, as though it had been waiting for her to stand up.

She switched off the iPod before reaching for the phone. The screen was illuminated with a number she knew well.

‘Stone,’ she answered.

‘It’s Jack, from the front desk.’

The second part hadn’t been necessary. They’d been working together for years, but she was unsure of his reason for calling. After-hours calls normally came from the control room.

‘Just handing over, marm, and I noticed you’d put an alert on the property of Tracy Frost, who lives at—’

‘Yes, Jack, I know where she lives.’

‘Received a call about an hour ago. Her house has been ransacked. Officers were dispatched immediately but, seeing your name on the alert, I thought you’d want to know.’

‘Any injuries?’

‘None reported.’

‘Okay, Jack, thanks for letting me know,’ she said, ending the call.

Shunted in her car yesterday, her home broken into today – it looked like Nick Morley’s cronies were trying to scare Frost good and proper.

She sensed the arrival of that distant voice, prompting her to assist Frost in some way. She fought it back with the knowledge that the woman hadn’t been hurt, and she was sure the officers present were handling it appropriately.

She emptied out the old coffee from her cup and refilled it. Barney sidled up and stood before her.

‘What?’

He sat and stared.

‘What do you want me to do? I can’t stand the sight of the woman.’

He moved forward.

‘She’s in safe hands. The folks there will look after her.’

He tipped his head.

‘Listen, buddy, I can’t go sticking my nose into everyone’s problems. She took it upon herself to run with this story.’

And you started it by taking her to see Penny Colgan in the first place, said a small voice inside her head.

Regardless.

‘There’s nothing I can do,’ she said, turning away from his accusing stare.

She counted to ten and turned back. He hadn’t moved an inch.

‘Damn it, Barney, you drive a hard bargain.’

She sighed heavily. She knew when she was beat.