Imogen picked her clothes off the bathroom floor and left the room, then went downstairs and put the kettle on. She made two coffees and slipped her jeans back on over her underpants.

‘Why did you come here tonight?’ Adrian said as he walked into the kitchen moments later, his hair still wet from the shower.

‘I couldn’t sleep. Can’t stop thinking about this case. We need to figure out what the hell is going on. We also need to find Parker before anyone else does, before he kills again.’

‘Tell me something I don’t know,’ Adrian said.

He took the coffee from the side and sat at the table; she could see he was sobering up fast. The air was thick with the things they weren’t saying. Was there any way past this without talking about it? Imogen had come here to discuss the case, but if she was honest with herself then that wasn’t all she was there for. It wasn’t about sex. Although sometimes she thought they should get that part out of the way because, until they had, this feeling wasn’t going to go away.

‘We should talk,’ she finally said, the awkward silence a little too awkward to ignore.

‘About what?’

‘About us.’ There was no avoiding it any more. If they didn’t deal with it, they wouldn’t be in control. Although it felt like control went out the window a long time ago.

‘What about us? I mean, I know what you want to talk about, but why are we talking about it?’ Adrian asked.

‘Because I’m worried that we are going to do something stupid and regret it. I’m worried we are going to ruin … this … us. In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have an abundance of friends, and I’d hate to lose you, too.’

‘Who says you would lose me?’ Adrian said.

‘I think I will unless we start being open and honest about what is going on here. I know neither of those things come naturally to either of us, but it’s important. However uncomfortable this feels, I think we need to stop pretending it’s not happening.’

‘OK. So, let’s talk.’

Imogen took a deep breath before speaking. ‘I like you, Adrian, we have something special. You are the person I turn to when I need someone. I think it goes both ways. We look out for each other.’

‘You’ve been there for me a lot more than I have been there for you lately.’ Adrian’s lips were trembling slightly and the excess water from his hair dripped onto his shoulder. He shivered a little and clasped his hands around the hot mug.

‘It’s not a competition, it’s just … nice. It feels good to care.’

‘It does, and I’ve got to admit that it makes me a bit crazy seeing you flirt with other guys.’

‘What are you talking about? I don’t flirt with any guys. Name one guy you’ve seen me flirting with,’ she said, racking her brain to try to think who he might be talking about.