‘I agree. It was supposed to be helpful. I don’t know what went wrong. I’ll take full responsibility.’

‘Is it true that we have two officers in hospital?’ Her voice was heavy and it took every ounce of strength not to call him a fucking muppet.

‘Sadly so, Kelly. They were beaten. Armed Response was called too late.’

‘Will there be an inquiry, sir?’

She heard a shift in his breath and could have kicked herself. She needed to be careful. Ormond was still top dog around this place and she was a mere DI. She heard him cough.

‘I think we’ll leave it there, Porter. Don’t forget that I still choose the SIOs around here. I might not sit next to your desk, but I know everything you do and it’s my impression that you’ve taken more than a few risks during certain investigations.’ He hung up.

She stared at her phone.

She’d screwed that up royally. There was only one way to regain some ground, and that was to find out exactly what had happened on the Beacon Estate. Should she have to go head to head with Ormond in the future, she wanted her facts straight.

She marched back to the incident room and spotted Will.

‘Will, where have you been? Christ, you look like shit. Sit down.’

‘I’ve been at the Beacon Estate, boss.’

‘What? Were you caught up in that raid?’

‘Yes, ma’am, I had no choice. They needed every pair of boots they could get. I volunteered.’

‘Without telling me?’

The officers on Kelly’s team all stopped what they were doing and stared at DS Phillips, then at their DI.

‘And your rationale for bypassing me was what exactly?’ She’d forgotten where she was and that she had an audience, but a cough from Kate reminded her. She stared around at all the expectant faces. Her glare was enough to make everyone move away, and she turned back to Will. ‘My office.’

She walked away. Will followed. She held the door open for him, and when he was inside, she slammed it shut. Everyone went back to work.

‘I need you to tell me what the fuck just happened, Will. I’ve got Ormond tearing my investigation apart and obstructing me at every turn because he’s involved personally. And now you’ve publicly betrayed my trust!’ Her voice broke. It was a wounding treachery. She leant over her desk, spreading her arms and staring at him. Will stood in front of her, anguish all over his face.

‘It was an order, ma’am.’

‘By whom?’

‘The super, via Liam.’

‘Why?’

Will bit his lip and Kelly studied him closely. The man was in turmoil. What was he hiding?