Silent Scream Read Free Page A

really enjoyed his company. He had made her feel attractive – sexy even. It wasn’t love, she knew that; it was something she had never experienced before – a kind of lust. Anna had few friends and even fewer lovers, James Langton being the most recent and the most important in her life. Having Damien, being with him, had helped her confidence. He had bought her sexy underwear, encouraged her to dress in a more flattering way, and even suggested a new hairstyle.
    Anna never kept the hair appointment. On the day she was going, Langton turned up on her doorstep. It was early on a Monday morning, three weeks before the trial was due to take place. She was nervous at seeing him and he didn’t make it easy for her. He refused her offer of coffee, saying he wasn’t there for a social meeting. Tossing his coat onto the sofa, he lit a cigarette and she passed him an ashtray. From the way he was behaving she knew something was wrong.
    ‘OK, I won’t beat about the bush, Anna. Are you seeing Damien Nolan?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Then fucking stop it, you stupid girl. One, he’s involved in the entire investigation, two, he’ll be called by the defence and three, it is fucking unprofessional.’
    She couldn’t look at him.
    ‘You having sex with him?’
    ‘None of your business.’
    ‘It is my business, Anna. I am leading the case, and to have one of my officers screwing a possible suspect . . .’
    ‘He hasn’t been charged with anything.’
    ‘Jesus Christ, Anna, his wife has and he’ll be asked to give evidence. What you are doing is crass stupidity, let alone insubordination. I could have you disciplined – which would result in you being demoted or possibly kicked out. I can’t believe you would not only be so unprofessional, but what the fuck are you doing with that prick?’
    She wanted to say, ‘Having great sex,’ but all she ended up doing was bursting into tears.
    ‘End it now and I’ll not mention it again, you hear me?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Good, then do it – and if I hear you are still seeing him, having any kind of relationship with him, then you will pay a high price.’
    He picked up his coat and walked to the front door.
    ‘Don’t think I wanted to come here and tear a strip off you. There is nothing personal in this, you understand what I am saying?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Good. Then no more is to be said.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    As he glared at her, she felt as if his dark eyes were boring into her head.
    ‘Yeah, you should thank me, because I won’t let a whisper of this get out. You’ve got a bright future and you almost blew it.’
    She hung her head like a schoolgirl and he walked out, slamming the door behind him.
    She had not seen Damien Nolan since then. She had been on tenterhooks during his wife’s trial, hoping he would not be called to take the stand. He wasn’t, but he did show up in court. Anna had kept her face turned away from him, never meeting his quizzical looks. Damien’s wife was sentenced to twelve years for attempting to pervert the course of justice, assisting an offender, and possessing Class A drugs with the intent to supply. Five years were added for assisting Fitzpatrick’s escape. He had never been caught and his whereabouts remained unknown. The failure to bring him to justice sat heavily on everyone involved in the lengthy investigation, and especially on Langton. Fitzpatrick had been so audacious that Langton knew he had lost. It was one of the few cases with no closure for him, and it had infuriated him.
    Anna was asleep when the phone rang. She checked the time: four-thirty in the morning. It was DCI Mathews and he was not a happy man.
    ‘You heard of Amanda Delany?’
    Travis was still half-asleep, so made no reply.
    ‘Movie actress – well, she was; she’s been found dead. I don’t have any facts and I’m on my way there, so you join me as soon as possible.’
    Anna drove herself to Amanda Delany’s mews house in no time at all at that hour of the day.