A warm breeze blew across Nikki’s face, and brought with it the smell of orange blossom. There had been an orange blossom at her old home. She wondered if it were still alive after being neglected for so long. She hoped so. She inhaled its perfume, and it made her think of happier times. Nikki sighed. She was making changes, alright, but it was too soon to think that happy times may come round again, although she would dearly love that to happen. One day.

She glanced at her watch. Joseph was meeting her here in just about ten minutes, and she had some news for him. The problem was, she was not sure if it would be welcome news.

As soon as the doctor’s had assured him that, in time, he would make a full recovery, she had gone to Rick Bainbridge and asked if he would consider assigning Joseph to her team as her permanent detective sergeant. The Super had practically tripped over his own tongue in saying yes, but it would all hinge on Joseph. His time in Greenborough had hardly been peaceful and, whereas once she couldn’t wait for him to high-tail it back to Fenchester, now she felt very differently.

She touched the delicate petal of a rose that grew close to the seat. If Joseph hadn’t been with her, even if only in her mind, in that stark and dangerous room, she may not be sitting here now, smelling flowers. Because no way could she have continued as a police officer knowing that she had consigned another human being, and she used the term loosely in Doyle’s case, to a violent death. To protect life, that was what it was all about.

The rose felt like silk to her fingertips. She desperately hoped he would agree to stay. It was all part of her plan for a new attitude to policing her patch, and if he didn’t, well, she wasn’t too sure how she’d manage. She pursed her lips, and gave a little shrug. She’d know soon enough.

Nikki leaned back, closed her eyes, and breathed in slowly. It was so good to be alone like this, with the breeze and the flowers and birds singing. It was very different from the kind of ‘alone’ that she used to enjoy, in dark alleys, waiting for another drug dealer to walk into her trap. Oh, she’d still go after them, and she’d still catch them and lock them up, but that would just be a part of her life, not all of it.

The sound of footsteps dragged her from her reverie. She cursed under her breath, she had hoped to get time alone with Joseph. She’d never really told him that he had been the pivotal point in how she dealt with Frankie Doyle, and she felt that he deserved to know.