The Devil Among Us by Ramsay Sinclair (easy books to read txt) 📗

“Well, judging by the papers, they all follow the same pattern. The reports said something about a tip-off, then shootings. The criminals were either caught and jailed or pronounced dead on the scene. None of the investigations ever went much further than that, and the journalists reported the police couldn’t find anything,” Michael rambled on whilst I couldn’t physically move.

A trickling sensation ran across my entire body, and it wasn't the dripping water anymore.

“DI Cooper?” He pushed against me to break the daydream. Or was it a living nightmare?

In a split second, I kicked into gear, the pumping adrenaline taking over.

“DI Cooper? Where are you going?” Michael queried as I jogged out of the tunnel.

“I need some signal,” I grunted and held my phone up in a variety of angles until the bar symbol showed itself as full. “I think we’ve been set up.” Holding the phone up to one ear, I listened to the dialling tone ring out.

“Someone pick up,” I hissed, having rung the CID department first and foremost. Nobody answered, and checking my wristwatch, I noticed it had well past home time. So, I attempted McCall’s personal phone instead. The dialling tone rang twice, then thrice.

“Come on, McCall,” I hissed and crossed my fingers in hope.

10

McCall

“Goodnight, Sarge,” Rebecca appeared at my desk, scaring me half out of my wits. Glancing at the wall clock, we’d all stayed slightly later by accident. That’s what happened when we were invested in our cases. Looking up, most of the constables had disappeared a while ago and escaped without me noticing.

“Have you seen DI Cooper yet?” I asked the studious woman, who shook her head.

“No. Not since he left to talk to Michael,” she answered with a polite smile. Even after such a long and tedious day, she still had the energy to be polite. It was nice having another woman in the office again, a pleasant break from the boyish banter.

“Yeah. I guess he just forgot about the time too. It sure flew by.” I smiled fondly. “See you tomorrow. Have a great night.”

She grinned and gathered her belongings together, exiting promptly. Sighing and probably sporting a severe frown, I rubbed my eyes tiredly. A voice came from the other side of the office, half scaring me out of my wits.

“Did you forget about me?” John coyly smiled at the sight of me, dimples exaggerated by the movement.

“Urgh.” I hung my head into my hands. “How long have you been waiting there for me?”

“Around an hour. I figured you were busy as you had that same old concentration face on, so I left you to it,” he explained gently. “Are you hungry yet? I was thinking we could try that new restaurant that was taken over by the new owners recently. Their menu on the computer all looks really--”

I’d completely forgotten we’d arranged to have dinner together tonight. I’d been preoccupied thinking about Flynn Jones. Even though DCI Reid didn’t want to spend any more police time on questioning him, I decided to visit the hospital after work hours. That way, I’d get to spend a decent amount of time talking to him and working on building trust between us.

I couldn’t exactly tell John my plan as he’d probably try to change my mind. Although I loved him, he had a fear of breaking the rules laid out for us at CID. Furthermore, if DCI Reid found out I’d snuck around even after he said not to, there’d be consequences.

No. John didn’t need to be dragged down by my actions.

“I’m sorry,” I groaned and mentally kicked myself for having to miss out on this. “I’ve got a lot to do tonight.” It wasn’t a lie.

“I can help,” he offered kindly, a handsome soul as well as face.

“No!” I sounded guilty already. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “I mean, no, thank you. It’s private… stuff,” I failed to think of a reasonable excuse.

“Oh.” Although John seemed put out, he did well to leave on an encouraging smile. “Let me walk you to the car, at the very least. We’ll get to spend a few minutes together.”

How could anyone not melt at that suggestion? Always the gentleman. Despite our age difference, I couldn’t help but be smitten by him. Most men over a certain age didn’t ever act as courteous as John did on a daily basis.

“I’ve got your coat.” He came sauntering over. From his long legs, to the ears that poked out adorably beneath a mane of luscious locks, John was perhaps the most attractive constable in the station. Or maybe, I was purely biased.

The automatic lights brightened when they detected John’s movement, and CID felt quiet without anyone else here.

“Hi,” he whispered, pecking my cheek sweetly. “I’ve waited all day to actually be able to do that.”

Even though the team knew DC Taylor and I were together, we didn’t want to cause tension in the office by displaying PDA. We agreed to act professionally within office hours and get on with our work in the usual sergeant-constable way. It drove us crazy, but that’s what kept our relationship alive.

Feeling myself flush a pinkish shade, I turned towards the desk and picked up some sparse files.

“Extra work? If I'd have known that’s what’s keeping us apart, I would’ve kicked up a bit more of a fuss,” John teased and barely noticed which files they were.

Outside the department hub, a few uniformed officers were gradually filing out of the station in groups. Home time for people was always a mad rush, where we’d been cooped up for too long. We were all hungry, exhausted, and ready to relax.

“That’s what happens as a sergeant.” My shifty laugh sounded too fake.

“Rather you than me.”

John placed my woollen winter coat tenderly over my shoulders by John. That’s when the office phone started to ring off the hook. Who would ring now, knowing we’d finished our shifts?

“Leave it,” I insisted. “One of the night shifts can answer,