BooksBarbecue
Back When I Lost You
Chapters (81)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Dedication
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Fifty-four
  59. Fifty-five
  60. Fifty-six
  61. Fifty-seven
  62. Fifty-eight
  63. Fifty-nine
  64. Sixty
  65. Sixty-one
  66. Sixty-two
  67. Sixty-three
  68. Sixty-four
  69. Sixty-five
  70. Sixty-six
  71. Sixty-seven
  72. Epilogue
  73. Acknowledgments
  74. Read More
  75. Prologue
  76. One
  77. Two
  78. Three
  79. Four
  80. Follow Merilyn online
  81. Dedication

Lighting a cigarette in the alley beside the betting shop, she dialled the office. ‘Carla? Nell. Gloria rents the flat O’Brian was found in. Can you run a check on her, a proper one? Known addresses, vehicles, the usual. See if you can find her for us.’

Carla was silent for a moment and Nell’s irritation grew. What was it with Carla and this Gloria? They all had one victim who stuck with them; why the hell did Carla’s have to be on her case?

‘A proper one?’

‘Sorry?’ Nell blew smoke towards the bright blue sky, feeling the sweat under her armpits start to spread to her ribcage.

‘You said a proper one, as if I haven’t done a proper job on Gloria before. If you’re suggesting I’m deliberately protecting her, I’d rather you just said.’

Nell rolled her eyes. ‘Sorry, no, I’m rushing. I just meant a thorough one.’

‘So I haven’t been thorough?’

For God’s sake. Nell stamped on her half-smoked cigarette and turned to go back inside.

‘Can you just check it out, please?’

‘Is she a suspect then?’ Carla clearly wasn’t going to let it go.

‘You don’t think she’s viable?’

‘I just can’t imagine her having the balls to do it. She was …’ Carla searched for the right words, ‘… addicted to him. Why would she kill him?’

‘Jesus, I don’t know – jealousy, love? Pick any of the emotions women say makes them kill.’

She heard Carla sigh.

‘OK, I’ll do some digging then.’

Her tone let Nell know she thought it was a blind alley, but what the hell else did they have to go on? O’Brian had been murdered in a flat Gloria rented. Did Carla expect her to gloss over that because Gloria had once been his victim? If anything, it made it all the more likely.

‘Thanks. And can you send me over a screenshot of Gloria. We’re about to go over the CCTV and I want to know who I’m looking for.’

‘Sure, will do.’

Nell hung up. The pain in her right eye had got worse and all she wanted was Carla to do her job – plus a paracetamol and a bottle of Coke.

As she made her way to where Paul and Terry sat, engrossed in CCTV footage, her phone pinged. Opening the text message, she saw a picture of a young blonde – no more than twenty-one – looking at the camera as if it were about to attack her. Victim shot, Carla had typed, then underneath, just after O’Brian broke her arm.