Strings Read Free Page B

were brothers in all but name, and he was the closest person to Luke after Melissa.
    ‘ Have you found Amber? She’s a maniac and she needs to be stopped, you do understand that?’ Dale felt uneasy that someone so clearly unstable was allowed to walk the streets freely in this day and age, especially after what had happened recently.
                  Fox knew it was essential to maintain his professionalism in such an emotionally charged situation. ‘Please be assured that we’re giving this investigation every available resource, Mr Baxter. But our first priority is to find Mr Black.’
                  Melissa shivered and Dale tightened his arms around her protectively. His thick jumper and his strong arms warmed her enough to stop her shaking. Dale was like a brother to her – there was nothing to be read into this long embrace except a friend taking care of a friend. He was one of the very few people in the world she trusted. The quizzical look on Fox’s face showed what anyone else outside of their close-knit group would think, but she ignored it.
                  ‘Don't look at us like that! Luke is my best friend and I would never betray him. And anyway, my girlfriend is right there!’ Dale was defensive. He was sick of the lies about Melissa. It was beyond ridiculous. On more than one occasion she had been accused of sleeping with the entire band. Yes, he thought she was attractive, but he didn't fancy her. He was in love and very happy with her best friend, who at that moment was pacing the room, looking ready to kill someone. Their glances met, and Dale gave her an ‘Are you OK?’ look.
              ‘Yes, I’m fine’, her expression silently replied.
                  ‘I wasn’t looking at you like anything, Mr Baxter,’ said Fox, although he knew he had been.
                  ‘Yes, you were!’ Dale snapped.
                  ‘OK, I’m sorry, maybe it seemed that way, but I just noticed that you seem very close.’
                  Dale nodded, realising he had overreacted. ‘We’ve all been through a lot together. Melissa is like a sister to me, that's all, and if this was the other way round and Beth was lying in this bed, Luke would be here doing exactly the same thing. We take care of each other, all of us – we’re a family.’
                  Fox was still nodding and his younger colleague was scribbling everything down, quietly trying to look studious and professional and not the least bit excited at being involved at the centre of this hugely high-profile case. The rest of the world was on tenterhooks, wondering and speculating about what was happening in this room, and he was here, listening to it first-hand.
                  Melissa looked up at Dale like a frightened animal. ‘She could come back to finish me off … she hates me so much. I don't think she’ll rest until I’m dead.’ There was panic in her voice.
                  ‘No, she won't. But if she does she’ll have to take me on first,’ Dale said, and Jean, who had been silent for a while, patted her daughter’s hand.
                  ‘Nobody will let her near you again, darling,’ Jean assured her, although privately she was terrified that if they left her alone again, even for a minute, anything could happen.
                  ‘That twisted little freak of nature should be in a nut house! I’ll take her down myself! Just give me two minutes with her, just two ...’ Beth quietly raged as she paced round the room, flicking her curls as she did so. She was a tough girl, on the outside anyway. She definitely ‘told it like it was’ and made no apologies for it.
                  ‘What protection does she have?’ Jean asked Fox.
                  ‘I’ve arranged for two officers to be outside her door at all times until we track