Chapter Thirty

Present

Imogen pulled the burned toast out of the toaster. It didn’t matter what number she put it on, it always burned. It wasn’t like it was the toaster’s fault either; this was the third one she had bought. It was definitely something about her that was causing the problem. She felt Adrian’s hands on her hips as he pulled her into an embrace, and she leaned back into him and huffed.

‘I like it burned, it’s good for you,’ Adrian said.

‘I’m pretty sure it’s bad for you, actually.’

‘Doesn’t matter, I’m not that hungry anyway.’

‘Who says it was for you?’ She threw it in the bin onto four other slices of black toast.

‘Do you want me to make you some toast?’ Adrian offered.

‘Yes, please.’ She let him kiss her and then pulled away to make some coffee – something she rarely messed up. There was no denying that this was strange. Her there in her underpants and T-shirt, and Adrian with a towel wrapped around him after having a shower, having just spent another night at her house. It occurred to Imogen that it was even weirder because it felt quite comfortable. There was a slight cringe moment when they first slept together, but it was gone now, over with. He put a plate of perfect toast in front of her; she found this made her even more annoyed.

‘What are you doing today?’ she asked, knowing that Adrian had the morning off.

‘I’m meeting Tom for breakfast. Second breakfast. He’s on study leave for his mocks, so he wanted to meet up. I’ll go into the station after that. What are you doing?’

‘I’m going to go and see Caitlin today, see if we can get a link to the person who attacked you. She must be able to tell us who gave her those bruises and I’m betting it’s the same person.’ She saw Adrian flinch at the mention of Caitlin’s name.

‘Don’t go alone, God knows what she might accuse you of,’ Adrian said.

‘I’ll take Matt,’ Imogen said, trying to gauge whether or not they were at the point yet where she could say what was on her mind. ‘Listen, Miley, we still need her. Until this case opens up and we find out more. I know this is difficult for you, but she was as much of a pawn in this as you were.’

‘I know.’

‘I just hope this doesn’t colour any further investigations.’ She had said it. She braced herself for a confrontation, but she had made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t hold back on her thoughts now that they were in a relationship for fear of an argument.

‘What does that mean?’ Adrian turned and looked at her.

‘You know how rare false accusations are. I don’t want you … or me … to be jaded by this. We judge each case on its merits and try not to pass judgement before we have the facts.’