Page 23 of Her Last Breath

‘I think you did this,’ she confirmed in a measured tone. ‘And I will greatly enjoy it when you are sent down and spend years locked up in a tiny little cell. Remember Alice then, day after miserable day.’

Jane got up abruptly, stopping the interview recording and leaving the room, pulling DS Johnson out with her.

‘Shouldn’t we carry on?’ he enquired, struggling to keep up with her as they hurried back to the incident room.

‘No, I want him to stew overnight. Give him time to unravel a bit more.’

It was late so Jane swiftly dismissed the team. A few moments later she looked up to find DC Chan at her office door, ready to leave the office.

‘Ma’am, we’re heading for a quick drink.’ She spoke with an embarrassed shyness. ‘Myself, DC Berry, some of the team …’

‘Is that an invitation?’ Jane teased.

DC Chan smiled awkwardly.

‘Thank you, but I have to get back to my mother. You guys carry on.’

The team departed in dribs and drabs, leaving only DS Johnson at his computer.

‘You didn’t join them at the pub?’ Jane said, walking over to him.

‘They know I don’t really drink on a school night, so they’ve stopped asking,’ he replied, focused on his screen.

‘OK, well I’m leaving now,’ she said. ‘You should head home too. We can’t do anything else tonight.’

She stood watching him save his work and close down his computer, before neatly filing away his documents in locked drawers. Jane put her own computer in sleep mode and messily stuffed her paperwork into her desk. They couldn’t be more different if they tried.

It had been a while since her mum had called; she hoped there wasn’t an issue. She messaged Lorraine to see if everything was OK; her mother hadn’t worked out text messaging yet.

Sorry car broke down. Was late for the evening shift. Got your mum ready for bed but only managed a light snack for dinner. Do you mind giving her something proper when you get back? Sorry!

Jane re-read the text message, feeling the burden of another thing she had to do before the night was over.

Minutes later, having left the office, she sat in silence in her car, the repair garage having dropped it off during the day. Jane contemplated the journey back home, her mother waiting for her. Feeling her head full of Liam Harrison and Alice Rogers, of her own past and Ed, marking off the days ahead with work and home, she felt trapped by the narrowness of her options.

The satnav blinked at her, showing her the way home.

Not yet.

Instead, Jane audio typed an address in the Turf Moor area. Heading in the opposite direction to her mother, feeling the guilt of betrayal scuttling around inside her as she did so.

Chapter 13

Jane was surprised by the level of unease flooding her senses. She felt like her mother was watching her, judging her, even though she knew that was illogical.

The bay-windowed, semi-detached house, two streets away from the impressively revamped Burnley FC stadium, was a mainstay from her childhood. Ed had come here on match days growing up, Jane tagging along. She had loved seeing Ed’s passion for the Clarets, the sheer joy on his face when they scored. The anguish and moodiness when they lost. Until he decided this was a boys-only thing, her parents telling her to leave him be. She had thrown a tantrum at first, but eventually accepted that Ed wanted this space to himself.

Jane saw the curtains on the front room windows twitch, felt a flush of warmth, knowing who was waiting for her. The entrance light went on. A dog barked in a neighbour’s house. The woman who opened the door looked out at Jane with real affection in her eyes. It had been decades since they last met.

Melody Rust wrapped her niece in an enveloping hug inside the hallway, and the two women stood still, letting the time they had spent apart dissipate. This was everything Jane had wanted from her mother, but seldom received. The genuine love and affection, the tight embrace. Melody grabbed her niece by the hand, settling her into the lounge as she went into the kitchen.

‘I know you can’t stay, but I wasn’t going to let you go home without feeding you,’ Melody shouted to her, her voice echoing through the house. ‘So I made you something to take with you.’

‘You didn’t have to do that.’

‘Nonsense, it’s the least I could do for my only niece.’

Jane looked around the chintzy living room. It felt as though the eighties had vomited all over it, the same furniture she remembered from her childhood, with doilies and porcelain miniatures in the glass cabinets. Her aunt came back with Tupperware and two glasses of lemonade on a tray.