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

so stressful being self-employed during these worrying times.”

“I’m sure it is. Maybe you can get in touch with a counselling service.”

He grunted. “Not for me. The last thing I want or need right now is to be baring my soul to a complete stranger.”

“Honestly, sometimes speaking to an outsider, someone who doesn’t know you, can truly make a difference to what goes on up here,” she said, pointing at her temple.

“Did you do it? When you lost your husband?”

“I had to. I would have gone crazy if I hadn’t. Take my word for it, unburdening yourself rather than dwelling on things is a great healer. You should consider it in the near future.”

His head lowered and he mumbled. “I’ll think about it. I’m sorry you had to deal with such a loss at your young age, that can’t have been easy. Did it affect your career?”

“It wasn’t easy. What doesn’t break us makes us stronger, so they say; I happen to believe that’s true. Yes, it affected my career, but not in the way you might think. I moved areas, I used to live in Liverpool. I came back to Hereford to be with my family.”

“Wow, that must have taken some guts, coping with such an upheaval while you were going through the grieving process.”

“I got on with it. Slotting into a new team usually has its own challenges, but the guys here all took to me straight away and we’ve had a lot of success as a team since then. I want to assure you, we won’t rest until we find whoever did this to your daughter.”

“Thank you, I needed to hear you say that. Are you over the loss of your husband now? How long has it been since he…?”

“Three years. I must admit, I think of him often, especially at times such as this when I have to share bad news with a victim’s family.”

“I can imagine. My wife died eleven months ago and it’s still very raw.”

Sara placed a hand over his. “Which is why I suggested you seek help. The experts will guide you through these dark times, I promise you.”

“Thanks for the chat, tell me, have you since found happiness?”

Sara held up her left hand. “Yes, I’ve met a wonderful man and we got married a few months ago.”

He smiled. “That’s wonderful. Maybe I’ll meet someone else in the near future.”

“Someone will walk into your life when you’re least expecting it, I promise. It’s what happened to me. I met Mark, who is a vet, when my cat got poisoned. He saved her life and stole my heart the same day.”

With his smile still prominent, he said, “You’re lucky to have found love a second time around. I doubt if I will because I still think about my wife each waking moment and now my time is going to be spent reflecting on whether if I could have done more for my daughter.” His chin dipped to his chest.

“You didn’t let her down, you can’t punish yourself by thinking that way.”

“Easier to say than do, I suspect.”

Carla returned to the room. “I have what we need.”

“Good. We’ll shoot over there and have a word with him now. That is, if you’re going to be okay, Mr Load. Or do you want us to stick around for a little while longer? Perhaps you have some questions you want us to answer.”

“No, I want you to get out there and find my daughter’s killer. Any questions I may have can wait. I’m sure I’ll think of a hundred or more when you leave.”

“Here’s my card, don’t hesitate to get in touch.”

He took the card from her and stood. He looked Sara in the eye and whispered, “Thank you for sparing the time to have a little chat with me. It’s truly helped.”

Sara rubbed his upper arm and smiled. “Sometimes the police have a bad reputation for not listening to people. I pride myself on putting victims’ families first, maybe that’s because I’ve been in your position myself.”

“I’m grateful that you and your partner are working on my daughter’s case.”

They followed him back out into the shop. Sara shook his hand. “I hope we don’t let you down.”

“I have more faith in your abilities than I have in myself overcoming my loss.”

“Take care, sir. I’ll be in touch very soon.”

Sara and Carla left the shop and rounded the corner. Sara paused for a moment, leaned her backside against the wall and put her hands on her knees.

Carla placed a hand on her back. “Oh fuck! Are you all right?”

“I will be. That conversation took a lot out of me. I’ve pushed down the feelings I once had for Philip, not wanting to hurt Mark, but speaking to Mr Load… all the emotions came flooding back. I feel bloody drained.”

“Poor you. Shall we have a drink somewhere to help you recover?”

“Good idea. There’s a coffee shop just around the corner that I go to sometimes.”

Once Sara was upright again, Carla surprised her by linking arms with her. She smiled at her partner. “You’re a good woman, Carla.”

“That makes two of us. I’m buying the drinks, it was my suggestion after all. How about a nice sticky cake to go with it?”

Sara laughed. “Now you’re spoiling me.”

“You’re worth spoiling, Sara, you’re one in a million.”

“Get out of here.”

Over coffee, Sara felt a twinge of guilt, knowing what she knew about Carla’s ex and not revealing the truth to her after the praise Carla had just bestowed upon her.

“So we have two tough cases on our hands to deal with now. How do you foresee that panning out? Are you going to split the team up?”

“I’d rather not, but it could very well come to that. Enough about work for a moment, how are things with you? Have you been keeping out of trouble lately?” Sara grinned.

“Yeah. What happened a few weeks ago still lingers in my mind. I wish I knew who the fucker was that worked me