Somewhere to Hide (The Estate, Book 1) Read Free

even, on one occasion, armed police. Several times, it had been a husband returning from an all-night bender wanting to speak to his estranged wife – or a wayward teenager the worse for wear after a night on the tiles.
    This morning she pulled back the bolts, keeping the chain in place before removing it when she saw who was standing on her doorstep.
    ‘Morning, Josie,’ she smiled. ‘To what do I owe this pleasure? Or is this a business call?’
    ‘It’s always a pleasure to see you, Cath. But I do have business to discuss as well. Is that the sound of the kettle boiling?’
    Cathy closed the door behind them and followed Josie down a brightly lit hallway into the kitchen.
    For a Mitchell Housing Association property, it was certainly a step up from the norm. For starters, the rubbish was in a bin: it hadn’t been chucked to the floor and left to rot for months. The top of the dining table wasn’t piled high with a metre of dirty washing. Worktops were clear: there wasn’t a single food product festering in a dish, no congealed greasy residue in the sink, no pyramid of used teabags that threatened to reach the ceiling. And it smelt of something lemony, with a slight hint of bleach, and…
    Clean: it smelt clean.
    ‘Hey,’ Cathy flicked on the kettle, ‘do you know anything about that boy whose body they found in the canal last week?’
    ‘I’m sure decent people discuss the weather when they sit down to make small talk,’ replied Josie. ‘Whereas we talk dead bodies.’
    ‘Yes, but that’s because you know everything that goes on around here.’
    ‘More is the pity.’ Josie sighed. ‘He was only in his late teens, poor kid.’
    ‘Anyone we know?’
    ‘Too early to tell. There was no ID found on him. Mind you, it is a strange one. Apparently, he had cigarette burns all over his cheeks. It looks like whoever killed him strangled him first, used his face as an ashtray and then dumped him in the water.’
    ‘First?’ Cathy frowned. ‘Don’t people usually go doo-lally before they kill someone?’
    Josie shrugged. ‘You know the Mitchell Estate. It’s had its fair share of weirdoes over the years.’
    ‘Yeah, and you’ve visited most of them, Ms Housing Officer Extraordinaire.’
    ‘It gives me a chance to send the worst of them to you though, doesn’t it?’
    ‘Don’t I know it?’ Cathy tutted. ‘My hair is turning grey far earlier than it should. You’ll have me old before my time.’
    Josie doubted that. Cathy Mason was one of the few women on the estate who took pride in their appearance. Looking far younger than her thirty-nine years, with long dark hair and enticing brown eyes framed by the longest of lashes, she was slim with clear, almost radiant skin. Hardly a wrinkle underneath her natural-look make-up and wearing immaculate yet simple clothing, Cathy wouldn’t have it said but she put a lot of women on the Mitchell Estate to shame.
    And she never missed a thing.
    ‘Heavy caseload?’ Cathy asked, noticing Josie’s drooping shoulders. She handed her a mug of tea and sat down at the table.
    Josie nodded, following suit. ‘Not enough hours in the day, as ever. How’s Jess?’
    ‘Jess is Jess.’ Cathy huffed. ‘That girl will always think of herself and no one else. Did you hear what she did last week? She whacked one of the Bradley twins.’
    ‘Oh dear.’ Josie grimaced. Gina Bradley was another of her tenants. She had three out of control children but the twins, fifteen-year-old girls, were by far the worst.
    ‘I had their mother on the doorstep after my blood. That Gina thinks those girls are blameless, the silly cow. They’re always in the thick of things but she won’t have it.’ Cathy pointed at Josie. ‘You should do something about it.’
    ‘You’re right. I wish I could get rid of the whole Bradley clan. I can’t understand how we allowed them to take on so many properties in the same street. We should have been savvier and split them all over the estate. Now