Silent Girl: A totally addictive crime thriller (Detective Nikki Gill Book 2), page 1
SILENT GIRL
M.L. ROSE
ALSO BY M.L. ROSE
Detective Nikki Gill Series
Stolen Souls
Silent Girl
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
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Also by M.L. Rose
A Letter from the Author
ONE
Charlotte was drowsy for a number of reasons. The alcohol and numerous chemicals in her bloodstream had created a numbness, a kind of dreamy comfort. She could be like this forever, stepping on a cloud, gliding away.
The tall summer grass, yellowing in the heat, was brushing her thighs. She could hear the buzzing of insects. The darkening dome of the sky seemed to blot out the land at the horizon, where it met the sparkling waters of the lake. She heard another sound: the faint cry of a voice. Someone was calling her name. Or was it the wind?
She half turned and almost fell over. She giggled, then straightened herself, brushing away bits of earth and grass. The sun had slipped under the horizon, the blue velvet spreading across the sky mesmerising her senses. She heard the voice again and squinted. Then she saw him. He was running over, coat tails flapping. She wondered why he had his coat on. He came closer, till he loomed above her, blotting out the sun. His face was ruddy, forehead pouring with sweat.
‘I wondered where you went. I thought we were going together.’
Her tongue said something that didn’t make sense. She giggled again, and he smiled. He grabbed her hand, and she leaned against him.
‘Are you enjoying yourself?’ he asked.
‘Um hmm.’ Enjoying wasn’t quite the right word. She didn’t even know if it was legal to host parties like this, but they obviously could. It was the last party of the summer, and boy were they going out with a bang.
He put his arm around her, and she could hear his heartbeat. The tinkling of bass beats came from the distance as the wind changed direction. She felt him stiffen and turn to the sound behind them.
‘Come on, let’s go this way.’
He practically carried her, and she let him. It felt warmer cocooned against his broad chest. They sank down in the grass, and his lips found hers. They kissed slowly, and his mouth moved to her ears.
‘My mother would love to meet you,’ he whispered.
He said it again, and the words finally made sense. It was a strange thing to say, and it penetrated the woolly fog in her brain. She opened her eyes and stared at him. His face seemed large, covering the sun. The brightness made his face darker. He was staring at her with wide eyes. She smiled, and so did he, but it seemed a distant smile that didn’t touch the rest of his face.
‘She really would,’ he said.
Charlotte didn’t know what to say. She pulled on his neck to lower his face to hers. The neck muscles were rigid, like the rest of his body. His hand moved up from her chest to her neck, then rested on her throat. She tried to move, but he pressed gently on her flesh, stopping her.
‘Don’t move,’ he said softly. His hand circled her neck, slowly getting tighter.
Charlotte frowned, not liking this at all. Her dulled senses were struggling to keep up, but she knew something was wrong.
‘Get off me,’ she said, raising her voice. Her words seemed alien to her, like someone else was saying them.
He increased the pressure on her neck, pushing her head into the ground. Panic blossomed in Charlotte’s guts. She kicked with her legs, but they were feeble. He draped one leg over hers, holding her down.
‘Just imagine if she could see you.’ His face was now darker, the skin mottled.
With both hands he squeezed her throat. Charlotte fought and bucked against him, trying to throw him off, but he was too strong. She couldn’t breathe any more. She screamed, but only a croak came from her open mouth. As the light faded from her eyes, she only saw his sweat-streaked face turning the sky to black.
TWO
DI Nikki Gill looked at her sixteen-year-old daughter, Rita. ‘What do you mean, you can’t stay?’
‘I’ve got things to do. Like, stuff.’
With time, Nikki had learned to watch what she said to her teenager. She couldn’t say the first thing that sprang to mind. No way. Often, silence was the best course of action, especially if Rita was in a bad mood. Which, thankfully, was less now that her exams were over. Rita didn’t do exam stress very well. Her dad couldn’t handle her, and she had stayed with Nikki throughout May.
Nikki had spent a lovely week with her mother, Clarissa, and Rita, in Bibury, a village in the heart of the Cotswolds. She had needed that time with them, to lay her brother Tommy’s soul to rest and to heal together. It had been heart-warming to see how well Clarissa got on with Rita. Nikki had also opened up to Rita about Tommy. They had cried together, Rita wondering what life would be like if she had an uncle.
‘Bibury was nice, right? What if we go to another place like that next year?’ Nikki ventured gently.
Rita shrugged. ‘Maybe.’ She thought about something. ‘When will I see Grandma again?’
Nikki hid her smile. Ever since she met Rita earlier this year Clarissa had shown signs of change. The bottles of alcohol that littered her house had vanished. She had stopped drinking, and was even smoking less. The change was slow but noticeable after their week together. The new bond between Clarissa and Rita, to Nikki’s mind, was the biggest validation of her decision to return to Oxford.
‘Tell you what. You know our plan to go to Stratford-Upon-Avon?’
‘Yes?’ Rita replied cautiously. ‘I might not have time for it, like I said.’
‘Well, why don’t we go with Grandma?’
Rita pressed her lips together. ‘We’ll have to walk around a lot. Will she be OK?’
‘I think so. Tougher than she looks, your nan is. She walked around all right in Bibury.’
‘But not on the hills.’ Rita shook her head, looking wiser than her teenage years. It made Nikki smile.
‘I just don’t know if I have enough time,’ Rita said, turning down her lips in an expression designed for sympathy.
Nikki knew not to give in, even if the next step might be a little argument. ‘But we have a plan! You wanted to see Stratford-Upon-Avon.’ Shakespeare’s birthplace wasn’t far from Oxford, and Rita wanted to study English. She wanted to apply to Oxford as well, and she was clever enough to get in, Nikki thought with a surge of pride.
‘Yeah, I know.’ Rita wouldn’t meet her mother’s eyes.
Nikki stared at the tall teenager’s long hair, recently washed. It was jet-black and shone in the sun. Rita was getting close to her shoulder height, which was scary. An iPhone was open on Rita’s lap.
‘So what’s changed?’ Nikki took a sip of cappuccino. They were sitting outdoors, in a café in Kidlington, and the sun was warm on her neck.
‘Just stuff, Mum. I got a life, you know. Need to get back.’
‘Yes, I get that. But will anything change if you wait till Sunday?’ It was Friday afternoon now.
Rita gave a shrug, her eyes still downcast. Nikki knew she was flicking through her phone.
‘Stop that.’
Rita looked up at her. Then she sighed, did the teenage eye-roll thing, and put her phone in her pocket.
‘Has anything happened? Bestie being emo?’ Nikki smiled, then wiggled her eyebrows. Rita grinned.
‘Stop it,’ the teenager said, punching her mum playfully on the arm.
‘Right then. If there’s no problem, then you can stay, right? I’ll put you on the train on Sunday.’
‘You don’t get it, Mum,’ Rita whined. ‘I’m busy with stuff.’
Nikki’s pager beeped, and she cursed in silence. She was SIO till the end of shift, and it had been quiet so far this week. One robbery,
Young IC1 female found in Turnham Green. Homicide suspected.
Nikki sighed. Officially, she was due to be off from 6 p.m., so the weekend was still on, if she could convince Rita to stay.
‘Duty calls, huh?’ Rita asked.
Nikki blew her cheeks out. ‘I just need to make a call. Back in a moment.’ She rose, pulling her work phone out.
‘Famous last words,’ Rita called out behind her.
Nikki shook her head and waved back. She called Patmore first. He coughed once, then drawled in his guttural, twenty-a-day voice, ‘Got the news?’
‘Yes, sir. Anything you know?’
‘No, but the girl was wearing a nice dress and shoes. Looks like a college girl. You know what that means.’
She did indeed. Any crime in an Oxford college was treated with kid gloves. It was kept from the press for as long as possible. In many cases, the perpetrator was never caught. The colleges liked to do things their own way, which meant hampering an investigation because, frankly, they were bumbling, old-fashioned idiots who didn’t have a clue about modern policing. Nikki knew there was another, more sinister aim – to ensure no blame was cast upon one of the college members.
‘I guess you’ve told the units to keep it quiet, sir.’
‘Yes, and keep it that way until we have a positive ID. I got a bad feeling about this one.’
That wasn’t a sentiment DS Patmore often shared, and it gave Nikki pause. ‘I’ll get on it now, sir.’
She called her sergeant.
‘Guv,’ came Tom’s flat, business-like voice.
‘Sitrep, please, Tom.’
‘A jogger found the body, guv. It’s deep in the woods, near the Waterperry turn-off on the A40. Uniforms have cordoned off the woods.’
‘Have you put roadblocks in place?’
Tom hesitated, and she had her answer. She also knew what his objection would be. ‘Block the exit and entry to the A40. I don’t care about the traffic, Tom. Do it now.’
‘But, guv, it’s going to be peak time soon…’
Nikki glanced at her watch. It was 3 p.m. ‘We still have an hour, maybe two. Besides, it’s summer. Traffic will be less. Has Scene of Crime arrived?’
‘On their way,’ Tom said in a subdued voice. He liked to sulk when he didn’t get his way.
‘Dr Raman?’ Sheila Raman was the veteran and formidable pathologist for Thames Valley Police.
‘Not called her yet.’
‘Don’t worry, I will. See you there, okay?’
She hung up and made her way back to the table. Rita was on her phone. She looked up at Nikki, eyes glinting.
‘Dead body? Or drug dealer?’
Nikki frowned and put a finger to her lips. ‘Shh.’ She sat down, gulped her coffee and glanced at her phone. Rita was watching her closely.
‘You need to go, right?’
Nikki hated this. But she had no choice. ‘Yes, darling,’ she sighed.
‘Can I come with you?’
‘No.’ Nikki’s tone was hard as steel.
‘Oh please. You never take me. I want to see a real crime scene. I won’t take any photos. I promise.’
‘Answer is still no.’ Her eyebrows twitched. ‘Why are you interested in this anyway?’
Rita twirled a strand of hair near her shoulder. ‘Because it’s like, no one’s ever done it, and it’s like—’
‘It’s like not going to happen,’ Nikki interrupted. She eyed Rita’s phone. ‘And don’t you go snapchatting or TikToking any of your friends about this either.’
Rita’s mouth fell open with a look of hurt. ‘As if. What do you take me for?’ She rolled her eyes again. ‘Momcop.’
They had watched Kindergarten Cop one night, because Nikki wanted to show Rita a film she liked from when she was younger. Rita came up with the name Momcop, which they both found funny.
She grinned at her teenager. ‘You better believe it. Come on, I’ll drop you off at home. Hopefully, we’ll still go out for dinner.’ She took the keys out of her bag and stood.
‘I’m still going home tomorrow,’ Rita declared, strapping herself into the seatbelt.
Nikki didn’t say anything as she reversed the car and started driving. An argument was brewing, and she was crestfallen that she wouldn’t get the weekend with Rita. This new case would be more than a distraction, though, and she wouldn’t rest till she had solved it.
THREE
Nikki drove fast, indicating to leave the A40, and then zoomed up the empty road to Waterperry. On either side, verdant green fields undulated, dotted with white sheep. Within minutes she was pulling up next to the two squad cars parked near the roadside at the woodlands.
Broadbent, the new uniformed sergeant, was standing to one side of the cordoned-off path that led up the hill, thumbs hooked on his chest rig.
Nikki got out of the car, inhaling the smell of damp heather and earth. She had tied her hair back into a tight bun, and she lifted her eyes briefly to the sunny sky.
She smiled at Broadbent in a reassuring manner. The poor bloke was two months off basic training.
‘Thanks for setting up the perimeter, Neil.’
The young man’s pale face took on a relieved expression. He tipped his cap. ‘No problem, ma’am.’
Nikki stopped short. ‘Don’t call me ma’am. Got that? Guv is fine.’
She wasn’t some old fuddy-duddy who had arse-kissed her way to the top. School of hard knocks had been her tuition, coaching and graduation. Hell, she even managed top marks in her detective-level graduation class. Ma’am made her sound old.
Neil swallowed as the harsh rebuke hit him. ‘Sorry, ma— I mean guv.’
Nikki squeezed her eyes shut and sighed. ‘Don’t worry. Where is it?’
Neil pointed up the slope. ‘There, guv. Right at the top.’
‘SOCO here?’
‘Not yet, guv. Sarge Armstrong is up there.’
As Nikki climbed, small rocks scattering and twigs breaking underfoot, sweat broke out on her forehead. She stopped and took off her light coat. The victim must’ve been terrified to clamber her way up here.
Nikki tried to keep herself fit with running and yoga, but the last four weeks with Rita home she had done neither. This jaunt reminded her she needed to get back into shape.
As she climbed, she examined the ground. Tangled spines of twigs, branches, small rocks. But she didn’t miss the splash of dark crimson when she saw it on the grass. It was about five centimetres wide and already getting oxidised to its black colour. Blood, no doubt about it. She found another splash not far away, and they became smaller, harder to see without the untrained eye.
But they were present. Small, dry puddles of blood, aligned up the hill like the footprints of a cat on snow.
Her lungs were burning by the time she spotted the blue and white tape flapping in the wind. The short, slim figure of Tom Armstrong was visible, a grey outline against the cornflower blue sky.
Two Uniform constables were keeping watch at the perimeter of the tape. Tom turned as he heard her approach. His lips were pursed, a deep frown covering his face, and it only let up fractionally when he tilted his head towards her.
Nikki nodded back. Then she looked at the ground and realised why the veteran sergeant looked so troubled.
FOUR
A young woman, fully dressed, lay on the ground. Her black dress was knee length, but it had rolled upwards. Blonde hair plastered the dark-brown ground, forming a halo around her head. It looked artificial, like a carefully arranged feature. The eyes were open, the blue of the pupils just about visible. Pallor had seized the sunken cheeks. The mouth was slightly open, and with the eyes, the face had a ghastly, stunned look, like she couldn’t believe this had happened to her.
The dress looked expensive. So did the black-heeled shoes. Nikki shook her head. No way had she climbed up that slope on those heels. They weren’t huge, definitely walkable, but certainly not for hill climbing. She noted the lack of mud on the heels as she stepped closer and looked for signs of injury.
