‘Problem?’ Detective Sergeant Cummings said behind her, not that Jade had imagined he would be the slightest bit concerned unless he fancied getting into her knickers.
Jade turned, making sure to look girly and wary for a second, and then hugely relieved when he flashed his ID. Plainly, he was thinking she’d be impressed, the full-of-himself prat. ‘Slow puncture,’ she said, with a helpless shrug. ‘I don’t have a car pump with me, unfortunately, and I have to get my charge back to her parents.’
DS Cummings followed her gaze to Evie in her baby carrier. ‘Can’t you ring them?’ he asked.
Clearly not Sir Galahad then. ‘Well, I will, obviously, but her mum’s due to go out soon.’ Jade checked her watch. ‘Hell! I’ll probably get the sack.’
His gaze roving over her, Cummings ran a hand contemplatively over his chin. ‘I don’t have a pump in the car, but…’ He glanced at her tits, then down to her tyre, and then nodded behind him. ‘Tell you what, I’ll go and ask in the pub. The owner’s bound to have one.’
‘Would you?’ Jade all but wilted with relief. ‘That would be so kind. I’d be really grateful.’
‘No problem,’ Cummings assured her, glancing down to the hand she’d placed on his arm and then back to her face, lingering appreciatively at her breasts again on the way up. ‘Why don’t you wait in your car? You never know what sort of cretins might be hanging around a dive like this.’
Oh, I have a pretty good idea. ‘Thank you, I will.’ Jade fluttered her eyelashes and turned back to the car.
Cummings held the door open, all the better to ogle her as she climbed demurely inside, bum first, threading her legs slowly in and smiling suggestively up at him.
‘Don’t go anywhere.’ He winked, looking pleased with himself, as he turned to jog keenly back to the pub.
Five minutes later, Jade looked on in suitable awe as DS Cummings inflated her tyre. ‘So strong,’ she said, smiling coquettishly, God help her. ‘You have a wonderful pumping action,’ she breathed, her voice loaded with sexual innuendo.
He paused in his wonderful pumping action to scan her eyes questioningly. ‘So I’m told,’ he said hopefully, and most definitely weighing his chances.
Jade lowered her eyes, perusing the length and breadth of him slowly before coming back to his face. ‘I can see why,’ she said, running the tip of her tongue provocatively over her lips.
At which the guy looked positively orgasmic and pumped harder.
‘You’re an absolute hero,’ Jade said, once she was good to go, her eyelashes now unashamedly in overdrive. ‘I honestly don’t know how I can thank you.’
At that, his mouth curved into a lurid smirk. ‘Oh, I can think of a way,’ he said, taking the bait. ‘How about you let me buy you a drink?’
‘It should be me buying you one,’ Jade pointed out.
‘Tomorrow night?’ he said, pushing it. ‘I could pick you up, if you’d like?’
‘Better not. I’m a babysitter – live in. Might not go down well with my employers. I’ll meet you here. Seven thirty.’
‘Excellent,’ he said, having a last inspection of the goods he no doubt fancied sampling. ‘I’ll look forward to seeing you then.’
Job done. Jade was going to enjoy seeing this disgusting, drug-pushing creep get his just deserts. ‘See you tomorrow,’ she said, planting a soft kiss on his cheek and noting his sharp intake of breath with satisfaction.
Forty
LISA
‘In your own time, Cain,’ DCI Edwards said, drumming his fingers impatiently on Mark’s desk and looking hugely unimpressed.
‘Yes, sir. It’s here somewhere.’ Mark scrolled through his inbox again, obviously not finding what he wanted, and looking like shit. Dark circles under his eyes, four o’clock shadow, he looked as if he hadn’t slept for a month. The distinct whiff of whisky Lisa had already caught wasn’t going to go down well either. Edwards, who had a nose like a sniffer dog, was bound to notice that.
Lisa glanced across to Mark, rolling her eyes as Edwards exaggeratedly checked his watch, as if he’d been waiting half an hour rather than a couple of minutes. ‘Got it,’ she called across. ‘Sending it over now, sir,’ she said, emailing the forensics report Edwards had asked for across to him.
‘Thank you,’ Edwards said curtly. ‘My office, DI Cain. Now, please,’ he added, twirling around to march in that direction.
Leaning back in his chair, Mark thumped the heel of his hand against his forehead, and then looked royally pissed as Cummings, who’d just strolled in late from lunch – a liquid lunch, by the looks of him – walked past with a smug smirk on his face.
‘Sleeping on the job, sir, tsk, tsk. More water with it, mate,’ he suggested. ‘And maybe a few less night-time excursions?’
‘You should do stand-up, Cummings, you really should. Preferably in the middle of the motorway,’ Lisa snapped, reaching into her desk drawer for her emergency supply of extra-strong mints. She’d had occasion to sit up pondering her problems through the bottom of a glass herself. Mark, however, looked as if he’d been brooding over his at the bottom of the bottle.
‘Make sure you swallow it before you go in,’ she advised, tossing the mints across to him.
‘Cheers, Lisa,’ said Mark, getting wearily to his feet.
‘Fancy a drink after?’ Lisa asked as he bypassed her desk, thinking he might need to offload a few things.
Marks smiled wryly. ‘Probably not a good idea, but thanks. And Mel’s cooking anyway.’
‘Ah.’ Lisa nodded. ‘Another time then. Good luck,’ she added, as, running a hand through his hair in a vain attempt to smarten himself up, Mark headed for the high jump.
Cooking? Lisa knitted her brow. Well, that was progress, she supposed. From what she’d gathered from Mark, life on the home front had lurched from bad to worse, though she only had to look at his dishevelled appearance to realise that. His decision-making was a bit awry, as well. Yesterday he’d deployed uniforms to premises that had already been thoroughly checked. Walking away from his computer and leaving confidential information on the screen, Lisa had noticed that too. All of which had given her cause to worry, particularly about Miss Baywatch Babe, who’d appeared on the scene around the same time things started going pear-shaped. It had been convenient for Mel and Mark that she’d just happened to be there – a homeless, fully qualified babysitter, looking for a job – but Lisa couldn’t help thinking that the situation had been extremely convenient for Jade as well.
Could the au pair, whose house renovations seemed not to be imminent anytime soon, be causing problems between them? Mark loved his wife and kids more than life itself, Lisa had no doubt about that, but it was a bit of a coincidence that Mel was suddenly imagining that Mark was having an affair – albeit with her. Mark Cain was a good-looking bloke, and under other circumstances, Lisa might have been tempted, but they were nothing more than good friends. She wondered at Mel’s madness, allowing a pretty young woman to live with them. And, although she really shouldn’t be judging her, from what she’d seen when she’d met her, the babysitter had been a little underdressed for the job.
She glanced towards Edwards’ office, where Mark was shuffling awkwardly on the spot as Edwards bollocked him, loudly, to Cummings’ amusement. She might be barking up the wrong tree, probably fuelled by the fact that she was upset about her own cooled relationship with Mel, but…
Lisa was only marginally surprised when Google coughed up sweet FA about Jade Hart. Had Mel done all the checks? Had Mark? Had they actually seen the woman’s paperwork? Though, she wouldn’t have any paperwork, would she? Not hard copies anyway. All burned to a cinder, presumably – and also too conveniently for Lisa’s liking. Mel might not have pursued it once they’d decided Jade was an angel sent directly from heaven.