Free A Velvet Scream by Priscilla Masters Page A

him down, Matt. He takes it personally.’ She smiled sadly. ‘I’m his fallen angel.’
    â€˜You’ll soon fly back into his good books,’ he said. ‘Ring me when you can.’
    Her stomach was too churned up for breakfast so she poured herself a lemon, honey and ginger smoothie then left, shouting up the stairs to Matthew, who was now under the shower.
    The drive in from Waterfall to Leek was achingly familiar. Every twist and turn in the road, every incline, every downhill. She might be driving her car today but she’d ridden this way so many times on her bike that she could almost feel the pull on her legs as she finally arrived at the station and turned into her parking slot.
    She got a few looks of sympathy as she walked into the station but some officers looked at her with a sort of righteous indignation. DS Mike Korpanski was a popular member of the Leek police force and his injury had upset them all. The finger had been well and truly pointed at his superior, Detective Inspector Joanna Piercy, who had risked his life with her cavalier decision.
    She sat outside Colclough’s door, her stomach in knots, feeling like a fourteen-year-old waiting outside the headmistress’s office to be expelled for smoking or a patient waiting to go under the knife, or a criminal awaiting the hangman’s noose or the judge’s verdict or  . . . Her imagination finally ran out of ideas.
    The door opened and she was ushered in.
    Police complaints were a serious business. Justice and fairness had to be done. More importantly it had to be seen to be done . Besides Colclough there were three other senior officers, two men and one woman, all in uniform and all of whom stared at her, straight-lipped. The thinnest of them introduced himself. ‘I am the Chief Constable of Staffordshire, Jonathan Taylor,’ he said. ‘These are Detective Chief Inspectors Stuart Wrekin and Teresa Finney. Chief Superintendent Arthur Colclough you already know, I believe.’
    Joanna couldn’t even look at Colclough. She couldn’t face the look of disappointment she would have seen there. Instead she focused on the chief constable, who met her eyes fearlessly.
    â€˜First of all, Inspector Piercy, you accept that a senior officer is responsible for the safety of his or her junior officers?’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜Do you also accept that you took an unacceptable risk in staking out the farm without backup?’
    â€˜As it turned out, sir.’
    Taylor’s eyebrows lifted at this weak attempt at self-defence. To him it would be interpreted as impertinence.
    â€˜There are rules designed to protect our officers from harm. Particularly where firearms are concerned.’
    â€˜I didn’t know there was a firearm involved, sir.’
    â€˜As I understand it the murder you were investigating was committed with a shotgun.’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜So you might have guessed that a gun would be involved.’
    It’s so easy to be wise after the event. ‘Yes, sir.’
    â€˜Yet you decided to stake the place out, taking with you one sergeant and letting no one know of your intention.’
    Put like that it sounded black. She caught the four officers exchanging glances and sat stone still, waiting for the axe to fall.
    â€˜Detective Sergeant Korpanski could have died in this rash attempt.’
    Joanna lowered her eyes, remembering the blast of the gun and Mike’s instinctive dive in front of her. This was what Fran Korpanski would never forgive, rather than the risk to her husband’s life. Joanna could still feel his swift movement, the jerk when he was hit, then the weight of his body and the warm, stickiness of his blood. She closed her eyes and simply nodded, still crushed by her memories.
    Taylor continued. ‘You and DS Korpanski have a close and loyal working relationship, it has been noted.’
    Again she simply nodded.
    Stuart