Helen Fields - Perfect Crime

‘Yeah. Tired now,’ she said. ‘Would you mind helping me up? My muscles are starting to seize.’

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Eyes closed, I promise.’

‘You’d better. I couldn’t stand to see the look of disappointment on your face after being used to Selina’s five feet ten inches of pure legs and all-round Spanish gorgeousness.’ She reached a hand out to put on Callanach’s shoulder as she climbed gingerly from the tub and picked up a towel. ‘Okay, I’m decent.’

‘Why do you always do that?’ he asked.

‘Ask for help getting out of the bath? I’m not sure I make a habit of …’

‘Put yourself down and make a joke of everything. Is that really how you see yourself, or are you just pushing men away?’ Callanach asked, letting her lean on his arm as she left the bathroom.

‘It’s too late for serious conversations,’ she said. ‘You take the bed. I’m already invading your space. I’ll be fine on the sofa.’

‘No, you won’t. You’ll sleep on the bed and I’m staying next to you. I don’t like the look of that bump and you shouldn’t be left alone. Now lie down. I need to put some Steri-Strips on those wounds.’

‘How come I never noticed you were this bossy before?’ she smiled, lying back against the pillows.

‘You never nearly fell from a castle wall when I was responsible for your safety before,’ he said, peeling the stitches from a pack and applying them every inch along the gash to her leg.

‘It was awful,’ Ava said, suddenly serious and biting her nails. ‘I really thought I was going to fall. It seemed to take hours and I was aware of everything. Every part of my body, the weight going through my hands, the pain in my shoulders, you yelling. I could taste the blood running from my head. And I really, really didn’t want to fall. I hope that’s not how our dead man felt. I’ve been scared before, Luc, but never like that, so out of control. I felt utter hopelessness.’

Callanach finished what he was doing and looked up. Ava was tearful and pale in spite of the hot bath. The eye beneath the bump on her head was beginning to blacken. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen her cry since he’d first met her and she’d been through hell on more than one occasion. Drawing the covers up to get her warm, he went to dim the lights and draw the curtains before climbing onto the bed next to her and sliding an arm beneath her neck.

‘It’s all right now,’ he said. ‘You’re safe. Go to sleep. I’ll be right here if you feel ill or have a nightmare, or … anything.’

She was silent for a couple of minutes, crying against his shoulder.

‘I’m not going to thank you for saving my life,’ she said. ‘It’s not enough to say it. I’m not even sure how to start. I’ve never in my life been able to trust anyone the way I can trust you. Natasha maybe, but it’s not the same. I owe you everything, Luc. I hate what brought you to Scotland, but I’m glad you’re here. Don’t ever leave.’ She shut her eyes, relaxing into sleep with her arm across his chest.

‘I won’t ever leave you,’ he whispered. ‘You don’t need to worry about that.’

The Major Investigation Team was buzzing. Detective Superintendent Overbeck had even graced the briefing room for once and was standing in front of the crowd looking at her watch when Ava walked in. The right-hand side of her face was remarkably unscathed, but her left eye was black. The gash along her cheekbone was being held together with butterfly stitches and the bump on her forehead was such a perfect half-egg that it looked almost unreal. Overbeck stared openly at her, arms folded, mouth gaping. Ava went straight to her to apologise.

‘Don’t even bother,’ Overbeck said before Ava could get a word out. ‘Is Police Scotland pay really so bad you’re having to audition as an extra in a fucking zombie movie? Just tell me you weren’t on duty at the time, because you’re not suing the department for whatever screw-up you got yourself into.’

‘You don’t have to worry about that, ma’am,’ Ava reassured her.

Overbeck was nothing if not direct, which – being grateful for small mercies – meant most conversations were cuttingly brief.

‘Good, let’s get on then.’ Overbeck turned to face the crowd, banging a deserted mug on a table to get quiet. ‘Right, now that the detective chief inspector has joined us, even though you might not particularly enjoy looking at her today …’

That got Overbeck a laugh. Credit to her, Ava thought. Her boss never missed an opportunity to work a room.

‘I want to introduce you to MIT’s new additions and to congratulate’ – Overbeck paused to check her notes – ‘Max Tripp on his promotion to detective sergeant. Most of you have worked with DS Tripp for some time now, and I’m sure you’ll be relieved that there’s now a younger, fitter and less offensive sergeant on your team than just DS Lively.’

That one was met with an absolute roar of laughter and Lively seemed to be enjoying the attention in spite of the fact that it came wrapped in a bow of insults. Ava looked from Overbeck to Lively. It was only a few months since she’d caught her heel-toting, self-declared queen bitch of a superior in flagrante delicto with the dour, die-hard sergeant and she still hadn’t been able to wipe the memory from her mind. They were about as unlikely a couple as you could imagine and yet Overbeck had still managed to make Ava feel as if she was the sad case.

‘Ach, you love me really, ma’am,’ Lively aimed, bravely, at Overbeck.

Ava waited for the superintendent’s explosion. Their affair wasn’t public knowledge and Lively was asking for trouble by sparring with her in front of the squad.

‘That’s right, Sergeant,’ Overbeck said with a smile. ‘Like I love my shoes. I get to tread on them every day, they go where I decide and if there’s any crap, the shoes get it on them rather than me personally. Then, when they get old and scruffy, I throw them in a bin and it’s as if they never existed.’

That one got not just a laugh, but also a round of applause. Overbeck looked genuinely pleased with herself rather than merely supercilious. Ava couldn’t believe it. Sergeant Lively got away with so much bullshit and now Overbeck wasn’t even rebuking him, just adding to his kudos points with the lads.

‘All right,’ Overbeck said when her ego had sucked in enough of the jollity. ‘Our newest team member worked with us before on a temporary placement before going off on maternity leave. I’m delighted to say she’ll now be joining you full time, so please don’t any of you reveal your true natures until she’s settled in a while. Stand up, if you would, DC Janet Monroe.’

The short, neat Hispanic officer stood up, her dark hair shining in a perfect bun, looking completely at ease in the predominantly male room. Ava was keen to recruit more females into MIT, but it was slow-going and not helped by the locker-room atmosphere. Janet Monroe was tough, smart and more than a match for her new colleagues.

‘And, finally, your new detective inspector. Not shipped in from Interpol, I’m afraid, but perhaps you’ll actually be able to understand this one’s accent …’

There it was, the dig at Callanach. Ava had been waiting for it. She looked across the room to Callanach, who gave a simple shrug. He was used to the abuse.

‘Transferring to us with promotion after a long and distinguished period working with undercover teams across Scotland, Detective Inspector Pax Graham.’

Graham stood. He’d been sitting at the very back, but he couldn’t hide in the most crowded of rooms. Ava wondered how he’d ever been selected for undercover work at his size, and it wasn’t just his height. The man was a mountain – 100 per cent rugby-playing Highlander.