BLOOD STAINED an unputdownable crime thriller with a breathtaking twist (Detective Claudia Nunn Book by Rebecca Bradley (whitelam books .txt) 📗

A tear slipped down Claudia’s cheek.

‘I know many of you loved Ruth. She was that kind of woman. She was kind and generous and funny and she gave everything to the job and, when she came home in the evening, she gave everything to me. She didn’t do anything by halves. It’s why I fell for her. She was a whirlwind and she scooped me up and never put me down again. Now the whirlwind is gone and I’m not sure where I’m going to land. I’m lost without her.’ His voice cracked and he paused to gather himself.

Claudia swallowed. It was difficult to watch her father struggle this way. She looked down at her feet in an attempt to stop herself falling apart. He needed her now. He didn’t need her to be the one going under as he was.

Dominic looked to the photograph of Ruth that stood at the front with him instead of a casket. ‘She was taken from us far too soon. She will have put up a fight, she will not have gone willingly. She had too much to live for. Too many people she loved and who loved her in return. Now it’s our turn to fight for her. This will not go unpunished. Our love will rise up and we will finish this for her.’ His voice dropped. ‘I love you, baby.’

Claudia didn’t think it was the right place to talk about the killer. This was Ruth’s time, but her dad was so caught up in it all she had to let him say what he needed to.

He wiped at his face before he walked over to Claudia. She smiled at him quietly telling him he did good and he sat beside her as the service continued and people paid their respects to his wife.

Chapter 55

Dominic

The night of Ruth’s attack

It didn’t take long to get home. Ruth’s car was on the drive. He couldn’t remember whether she had driven to work or if she had been picked up by a colleague that morning. He was hard pressed to recall who had left first that day because the mornings were all so alike they blended into each other. It was just a matter of getting ready for work. The usual family morning stuff.

Dominic entered the house — Ruth was home, she’d finished before him. The argument started practically straight away, she’d had enough, she wasn’t going to be taken for a fool any longer. This time she had evidence that he’d been seeing that slut Hayley from the office.

His blood froze as she said this. He thought they’d kept it well hidden. They’d been careful. Ruth laughed in his face. Showed him a photograph on her phone of him kissing Hayley in a car park one night before he’d come home to her. She’d followed him. Had enough of his lies. She talked about divorce, about the fact she should have known he would do it again. He’d cheated on his first wife with her. Why on earth wouldn’t he do it again?

This time though there would be no happy ending. This time she would shame him for his behaviour. It wasn’t a one off. It wasn’t a love conquers all. He was a disgrace and all his work colleagues would know. His bosses. His friends and co-workers.

As a woman, Hayley would come out of this worse. She’d be the force slut. Women are never given an easy ride when they slept with men on the job. Her life would be hell. And Ruth laughed.

Dominic refused to engage with her and walked away and closed the curtains, blocking the outside world away.

The fury built up inside him. Like a monster waking from a deep sleep, it rumbled and unfurled as he paced around the house. The words of the argument going around and around in his head, each sentence, each phrase winding him up more and more until he could bear it no longer. Who was she to talk to him this way? How could she do this to him with all he was going through. He’d given his all, he was tired and she was about to tear his world apart.

He entered the kitchen again. Standing behind her as she stood at the sink washing some glasses. He waited quietly, the monster within him watching. Then he heard it.

She exhaled.

He exhaled. It was time. The argument over Hayley had been the last straw. He wouldn’t have her divorce him and take him for everything he had, his home, his police pension and with it his reputation. She had her own fucking pension, there was no way she was taking his as well. He wouldn’t be made to look like a fool as she wiped him out. And he treasured his reputation. She would destroy it. He couldn’t allow that.

She spun around with the glass still in her hand.

She had a weapon in her hands. She wouldn’t go down quietly, but he had a plan. He’d been building on the plan for weeks as his relationship with Hayley had blossomed. He hadn’t realised that was what he’d been doing, but now it came down to it he realised it was perfect for him. It would sort out all his problems and no one would even look at him. No matter what happened with Hayley he couldn’t live with the fact that Ruth had found out.

His face was impassive.

He took a step towards her, his hand outstretched and open, she turned to her right and ran, a scream about to leave her lips as his hand closed on her hair at the back of her head, jerking her back, pulling her feet up from under her. The glass in her hand flying up into the air as she landed with a thud on