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

fond memories of sitting on her Noni’s lap reading all William’s letters. She hadn’t let on she knew English to the men, of course, and there were some words she hadn’t understood. But she understood the gist of it. She knew what was implied and was grateful the big one had stopped the thin one from forcing them to do something they wouldn’t want to do.

Whatever this place was, it wasn’t a good place to be. They had to find a way out.

Elvie felt her eyes grow heavier, her legs felt like weights. She looked at Nita, confused at the depth of her tiredness. But Nita was already laid out on the bed with her eyes closed, breathing deeply. Elvie had nothing left to fight with; she sank back onto the bed and let the darkness take her away.

Neither girl noticed the bedroom door open nor saw the two males enter with two other young girls. Between them, they picked Nita and Elvie up and took them to another room.

Durham Cathedral, Durham City – 2 November

Marlo jumped out of the 4x4 used to tow the RIB and made her way with Sharpie over to the melee of cops stood around an unmarked vehicle. The dawn had just broken, and the cathedral loomed in the background, ominous yet protective. It had seen its fair share of war and was still standing, though some of it had been rebuilt and restored over the years. Marlo shifted her attention to the conversation as they reached the man who was obviously the DI.

‘DI McKay? Sergeant Colin Sharp, dive team. This is my lead diver, Marlo Buchanan.’

‘Just Ali is fine. Thanks for getting here so quickly. Don’t envy you the job of getting in the water on a day like this. It’s bloody freezing. Guess winter’s definitely on its way.’

‘The suit keeps me warm enough,’ replied Marlo, making eye contact with him. His suit jacket was fastened over his shirt, and his dark hair moved with the wind. His grey eyes held her gaze and her cheeks flushed again as she remembered her comments of earlier. She really needed to learn when to shut up. ‘Show us the body?’ she added.

The river was high, not far from the top of the bank and almost at breaking point. Any more rain and the river would flood the nearby cricket field, not to mention immerse the lover’s chair that sat not too far away on the footpath. The chair had been there for a long time. It was made of stone and from the front looked like a normal chair, but the back had gargoyles pulling from the stone as if trying to escape.

Marlo and Sharpie glanced at each other as the body came into sight.

It was still in the same place, caught in the water tumbling at the base of the weir. The body was being battered but held solid in place. It had to be snagged; otherwise, the river would have carried him off towards the ocean at Sunderland.

Sharpie frowned. ‘I don’t like the sheer volume of water here. Getting you in the water, even with the lines, wouldn’t be safe. We’ll try to do a snag and bag. We can reassess once we’re in the RIB if need be.’

Marlo nodded. When the water was that bad it made sense to reduce the risk as much as possible.

‘Go suit up and help the team,’ said Sharpie with a nod. He turned back towards Ali and added, ‘Are we thinking murder?’

‘Won’t know ’til we get the body out. There’s a couple of missing persons outstanding, but I think he’s too old; they’re both just teenagers. Maybe he’s a jumper. The sooner we get him out and make an ID the better. It’s getting later anyway. The last thing we need is more people having a heart attack.’

Sharpie looked at him, puzzled.

‘Sorry. The old boy that found him had a heart attack. He managed to get it rang in to the control room but then passed out. Doesn’t look good for him, but he’s at the hospital now.’

‘Jesus. Poor fella.’

‘Are you wanting me on the RIB or the bank?’ asked Ali.

Sharpie raised an eyebrow – the DI knew boats? ‘Bank is fine. I’m gunna go brief my team.’

Ali watched as he walked off. He’d noticed the look of surprise. No one down here knew he’d worked the dive team in Edinburgh years before. There’d never been any need to tell them. His heart filled with sorrow as he remembered his reason for leaving. You’ll never catch me diving again. Turning, he made his way back to the car.

River Wear, near Durham Cathedral, Durham – 2 November

The engine of the RIB hummed loudly as it came to a stop in front of the weir. The body was more in view now with the sun rising and banishing the darkness. Marlo could see the male was in his early twenties, and a jagged gash was visible against the pale skin of his forehead. It didn’t look good: wounds like that usually came from being clocked round the head with something hard. Marlo glanced at Sharpie, and he nodded almost imperceptibly. This was potentially a murder.

She held the pole steady as she tried to hook the body to pull it towards the RIB. Sharpie was at her side, acting as the standby diver. Mac and Doc were both working on the tanks in case Marlo had to go in the water, and Connor stood at the engine trying to maintain position against the heavy flow of water. Marlo managed to hook the body and tugged, trying to free it from the hold of the weir.

A tree branch hit the RIB causing it to jerk suddenly, and Marlo felt herself pitch forwards. She inhaled a sharp breath in anticipation of the blast of cold water that