Indefensible (DI Sara Ramsey Book 12), M Comley [world of reading TXT] 📗

me. Give me a shout if you’re unsure about anything.”

“Oh my, what about using the till?” The young woman seemed terrified at the prospect.

“It’s okay. Just give me a call if a customer wants to buy something.”

The girl nodded, her gaze flitting between the customers and her boss.

Mr Load led them through a narrow passageway to a tiny office near the back of the property. “This place is a dive, sorry, we tend to spend most of our time out the front. Sorry about Abby, she’s new, I’ll have to go if she needs me, I haven’t started training her on the till yet.” He laughed. “That should be fun. She’s the type who is scared of her own shadow, that one.” He shook his head. “It was a different story entirely when she came for the job last month, she was brimming with confidence which is why I took her on.”

Sara smiled. “I’m sure she’ll come good under your expert guidance, Mr Load.”

“Yes, yes. I hope you’re right. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind telling me why you’re here.”

Sara prepared to destroy this man’s world. Her breathing became ragged, she inhaled a steady breath and motioned for him to sit down in the one chair in the room. “Take a seat.”

He fell into it, his gaze fixed on her concerned face. “What is it?”

“Sir, it’s with regret I have to tell you that we believe your daughter’s body was found earlier today.”

His hand touched the side of his face and his brow furrowed. “I don’t understand. Her body? Mona’s? What are you saying? That she’s dead?” His hand trembled, and he thrust it into his lap.

“I’m sorry. Yes. There’s really no easy way of telling you. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Are you?” he snapped. “Why? You don’t know me from bloody Adam. Why should you feel sorry for me?”

Sara was taken aback by the venom in his words. His mood had switched from congenial to angry in a flash. While the man’s reaction was understandable, it still came as a shock. She stared at him, lost for words for a moment.

Carla saw her struggling and stepped in. “We appreciate how upset you must be, Mr Load, please, breaking the news to you isn’t any easier than you receiving it, I can assure you.” Carla’s stern tone appeared to break through his rage.

“No, it’s me who should be apologising. It was just a shock to hear that my baby girl is dead.” His head dipped and his hands covered his face. He openly sobbed in front of them.

Sara and Carla glanced at each other, unsure about how to proceed. In the end, Sara decided it would be best to let him cry, to try to heal his inner emotions.

Eventually, Mr Load dropped his hands and wiped his tears on the cuff of his blue woollen jumper. He stared at Sara and said one word, “How?”

She hesitated for a moment and then said, “I’m sorry, she was murdered.” She decided to keep the fact that his daughter had been raped out of the equation for now, at least. Fearing the news would only compound how upset he was.

His head shook slowly. “Why? I can’t believe she’s gone. We only lost her mother last year and now… my baby is with her. Why? How could this be happening? What have we done to deserve such misery? Hasn’t the world seen enough death and destruction over the past year or so? Why would someone knowingly choose to take another person’s life when we’ve all spent the past year trying to save each other’s? It makes no bloody sense to me at all.”

“I know, it’s so hard for us to fathom at this time. Are you up to answering some questions for us?”

“Not really, but if you’re saying it’ll help your investigation, then yes, ask your damn questions.” He inhaled a breath. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. I’m shocked to the core and have no control over the anger bubbling inside me at this moment.”

“Honestly, we have broad shoulders. You don’t need to apologise, we understand completely how raw your emotions must be at present. Can you tell us when you last saw your daughter?”

“Yesterday. She came to dinner last night. We spent the evening going through the family photo albums and reminiscing about her mother. Jesus, that sounds so profound. Do you think it was a sign? It was her decision to look through the photos.”

“Did she give you a reason?”

“No.”

“What sort of mood was she in?”

“She was her usual bubbly self to begin with, but once we opened the albums, we both became reflective and quiet. We were a very close-knit family. Although she moved out to set up house on her own years ago, she knew she could return any day and she did, stay over I mean, frequently.”

“What about last night?”

“No. She went home last night. Don’t tell me this wouldn’t have happened to her if she’d stayed with me last night. I couldn’t bear the thought of knowing that, if it were true.”

“I don’t think so. According to the pathologist, your daughter died a few hours ago. Do you have any idea where she was going?”

He sighed and stared at Sara, his expression pained and full of emotion. “I’m not sure. Where did you find her?”

“In an alley, close to her house. It would appear she was taking a shortcut, at least that’s our perception at this stage.”

“God! Not that damn alley, I warned her about going down there by herself, especially at night, but you say this occurred today? In broad daylight and nobody saw it?”

“We’ve yet to canvass the area. We’ve got uniformed police doing that right now. Our main priority was to track you down and break the news to you before you possibly heard it on the TV or radio.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that more than you know. It’s important for loved ones to hear as soon as it happens. I can’t think of