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

‘OK guys, pack it up for now. We’ll break for half an hour or so, warm up and what not. Start her up, Mac,’ said Sharpie. He ran his hand through his hair and looked weary. ‘When we come back out me and Marlo will dive.’

They pulled the RIB up on the shore, and Mac caught the 4x4 keys as Sharpie threw them over.

‘Chips and coffee, please, mate,’ he said with a grin.

Mac took the rest of the orders, and knowing Marlo would come with him, headed for the car.

‘Not chips then,’ he said to her as he turned the key.

‘God no, you know I can’t bear those greasy horrible potato sticks from the seafront.’ Marlo grimaced at the thought. She knew the others thought it odd, but she couldn’t abide chip shop chips. ‘I’d kill for a cuppa and a pee, though. You going to the chippie near the amusements? There’s a cafe round the corner: I’ll pop and get something from there.’

When they got back to the shore, Connor, Doc and Sharpie clambered in the back, unwrapped their chips and dived in.

Marlo breathed in deeply. For all she hated the taste, the smell of chip shop chips couldn’t be beaten. Unwrapping her ham salad sandwich, she waited for the ribbing to start. Never one to miss a trick, Sharpie chimed in, ‘Rabbit food? Thought your suit looked a little snug on the hips. Put on a few pounds, have you?’

‘Cheeky git,’ said Marlo, knowing he was joking. She was one of the lucky ones, her body weight rarely altered from the lean, physically fit shape she’d had for years. She knew other women hated her for it; it wasn’t even like she tried to keep it steady. She loved her wine, ate takeout a couple of nights a week, and if she wanted chocolate, she had it. She acknowledged it was probably why she seemed to get on better with blokes: there was less competition and more comfort. Granted they ribbed her about being afraid of blood, but that was par for the course. Hell, she could fart in front of these guys if the need took her and it would just be accepted as a matter of course. Not that she did that. She smiled to herself. That sort of stuff was best kept for when she was diving.

Taking a sip of the coffee, she nearly gagged. ‘Blurgh, trailer coffee. Still, it’s hot and wet.’

‘Chips … good…’ mumbled Doc with his mouthful.

‘Take it easy, you don’t want to cramp up.’

‘Aye OK, Mum,’ he replied. Knowing she was right. He ate a few more, then wrapped the rest back up.

‘Couple of minutes wander about and we’ll get back to it,’ said Sharpie, pushing open the rear door.

Dive Team HQ, South Shields – 14 November

Elvie paused at the base of the stairs, listening intently. She’d heard the team leave a few minutes ago, not the team with the girl on – she wasn’t sure where they were – but the team of all men had left in a mass of raucous laughter, one of them obviously sharing something funny. There didn’t seem to be anyone upstairs, and the whole building had fallen silent. She couldn’t wait any longer though, she was desperate for the toilet.

She padded up the stairs to the bathroom at the top and dipped inside swiftly. She’d gotten into the routine of knowing when the teams were on duty, and she tried to time venturing from her hiding place around the hours they weren’t there.

Yesterday she’d even wedged open the door to the rear yard and had found a heavy coat that almost drowned her slight form. Venturing outside, she’d been surprised at how cold it had been. Did it get even colder in this country? She didn’t know, but either way it had been nice getting outside and breathing in the fresh sea air. The village she came from was near the coast, a good bus ride from the main city of Manila. She missed the smell of the ocean, and the people. She’d never felt as lonely as she did in this country. Her grandmother sprung into her mind as she washed her face. She’d have moved heaven and earth to get Elvie back. She’d have died stopping those men from taking her. For the first time since her Noni had died, Elvie was glad she wasn’t alive to witness where she was now, was glad she hadn’t had to put up with the pain of losing her. She was surprised to find that the easy tears that had sprung to her eyes every time she thought of her grandmother, this time stayed at bay.

She jumped in the shower, rinsing herself down and dressing in some of the clothes she’d found the night before. The combat trousers hung off her, but she tied some string around the waist as a kind of makeshift belt, and they stayed resting on her hips. The T-shirt she donned had the old dive team logo on. Not that she would know that. The insignia had changed a few years ago when the three forces had amalgamated. The old, out-of-date stock was left lying around because no one had quite got around to returning it to stores for destruction. The whole building was very untidy, with bits of kit and equipment lying in the rooms that were not used on a regular basis. The building had originally held some admin staff, as well as three dive teams, and had facilitated training courses for a lot of the police divers from around the country. The job cuts in the force had left the whole building being used by the two dive teams alone.

Finishing in the bathroom, she peeked into the canteen area to ensure no one was there, and entered, making a beeline for the fridge.

One shelf was full of