Time To Play by KA Richardson (best book club books of all time TXT) 📗

She was almost fully immersed; her head face up into the water with her dark hair spread around her like a large feather. She was petite, very young, and the bumps of her ribs were visible just below the water’s rim. Her torso was caught under a thick branch, and it was the tree that held her in place. The girl’s face was bruised, her nose bent at an awkward angle. Her glassy eyes stared up at Marlo.

The girl’s left leg floated on the surface of the water, being buffeted by the flowing river. It was completely bare, the same as the rest of her body. A dirty bandage was wrapped around the ankle, but Marlo could see the bruising at the top.

It didn’t look good.

‘Doubt we can free her from the branches without you going in the water. You ready?’ asked Sharpie from beside her.

Marlo nodded and moved position so she could enter the water. Because the body was on the surface, she didn’t need the air hoses or her breathing gear. Sharpie followed suit, and they both lowered themselves into the brisk cold of the river. They pulled themselves to the body using the tree and pulled her free from its grasp. Working together, they manoeuvred her into the body bag. Marlo pulled her glove off with her teeth so she could get a grip on the zipper and fastened it quickly.

They then swam, dragging the body bag between them, towards the waiting RIB.

Suddenly, it pitched and veered sharply; the hull swinging round and narrowly missing hitting Marlo on the head.

‘What the hell, Mac?’ she yelled. Both she and Sharpie paused in their movement towards the RIB, waiting for one of the team to tell them what the hell had happened.

Connor’s face appeared over the side, ‘It’s Mac, Sharpie, he’s collapsed. Doc’s checking him now.’

‘Can you hold the body?’ Sharpie asked Marlo. She nodded and watched as he swam to the side. Connor pulled him over the edge, and he vanished from view.

Seconds later, Connor jumped into the water beside Marlo. She heard Doc shout to the shore from the RIB, ‘Call an ambulance!’

Connor sounded shaky as he spoke, ‘Doc doesn’t know what’s wrong. His pulse is thready, and he’s not breathing right. Sharpie says can we tow the body to the bank.’

It seemed like hours before they made the riverbank, but in reality, it was only a few minutes. The RIB had already arrived, and as eager hands from Ali and Charlie, one of the detectives, pulled the bag up onto the grass, Marlo dragged herself from the water. Ignoring the shooting pains in her fingers from the cold, she looked at Ali. ‘One sec.’

She jogged over to where Sharpie and Doc were leaning over Mac’s inert form.

‘He’s OK,’ said Sharpie, ‘He’s breathing and his hearts still going. Ambulance is en route. We’ll stay with him. Go deal with Ali.’

Marlo nodded, emotion clogging her throat. They were a close-knit team, and when a strong ox like Mac went down, it was harrowing. Pushing it back, though, she turned back to Ali.

‘Sorry, Ali. I had to—’

‘Say no more, I understand.’

Ali’s hand on her arm made her pause momentarily, and she glanced at him. Breaking contact, she knelt beside the body, fiddling with the zip in an attempt to open it. My fingers are bloody freezing. Stupid Kevlar gloves. They should invent thermal gloves for when you’re in the water. Grumbling to herself, she put her fingers to her mouth and blew hard, before rubbing them together vigorously.

‘I’ll get the zip,’ said Ali, kneeling down and opening the top of the bag so the girl’s face was on view. ‘Put your fingers under your armpits, it’s warmer there.’

Marlo glanced at him in surprise. She knew that, but it wasn’t the normal kind of thing a cop would say. Most of them would wait until she’d warmed her hands up to see what was inside the bag. Shrugging slightly, she did as ordered.

‘She’s a kid, Ali,’ said Marlo. ‘No more than about sixteen I’d say. From her bone structure, I’d say she’s Asian. East of here, but not as far as China. Completely naked, bruising to her face and ankle. Looks like burn marks around her mouth too. There’s nothing in the river that would cause those kind of burns. They look chemical.’

Ali leant in, and she watched him frown. ‘Pathologist will be here shortly, maybe he can shed some light on it. She’s just a kid; I’d be surprised if no one’s missing her. Bonnie wee lass too.’

Marlo saw Ali’s eyes become haunted, and she wondered what demons he saw when he did it. She’d noticed him do it at the last water body too. None of my business. But whatever it is, it hurts him.

‘You OK?’ she asked, putting her hand on his arm this time.

But he didn’t reply. He got to his feet and walked back towards his team silently.

‘He just blanked you completely,’ said Connor, suddenly appearing beside her as she zipped up the bag.

‘He’s got stuff on his mind, is all.’

Marlo didn’t even realise she’d spoken aloud until Connor said, ‘Oo aye, and you’d know that how?’ He nudged her with his hip, ‘You and him an item?’

‘What? No. Bog off, Connor,’ said Marlo with a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She turned towards the place where Mac had been lying just in time to see the paramedics wheel him off on top of the trolley.

Chapter Ten

River Wear, Washington Wild Fowl Park – 5 November

E lvie felt like she’d been walking for days. Her feet ached, the thin plimsolls doing little to prevent the undergrowth from feeling as hard as large rocks. Her side was a constant throb that pulsed with every step she took, and the cold