Free The Sect (The Craig Crime Series) by Catriona King Page A

and besides, she’d never expected that the first romantic flush wouldn’t be replaced by something else. Something quieter, warmer; a comfortable semi-detached of a life instead of the glamour of the honeymoon suite.
    No, none of that had killed her love. Its erosion had started when Pete had decided he didn’t like the semi quite as much as her and had gone in search of excitement elsewhere. Another woman; it was such a cliché that she was embarrassed to admit it even to herself. But that was exactly what had happened. His childish selfishness had created a crack in their life and another woman had crawled her way in. The fact that she was the same age as her hadn’t diminished her pain at all, although Pete had seemed to believe that it should. I didn’t go for a younger model, Annette, she was middle-aged like you so what’s all the fuss about? Such sensitivity.
    Even then she’d tried to forgive and forget, for a whole year, but one crack had become one hundred and finally she’d been the one who wanted to leave. Perhaps things could still have been salvaged if her loving husband hadn’t used violence to try to regain control, but a broken hand had sealed their nuptial fate forever, landing her in the E.D. and him on remand in Magilligan; somewhere a jury would hopefully consign him to for a further two years.
    Annette shook herself, realising that she hadn’t responded to Craig’s question. She smiled kindly at him, as if he needed the care more than her.
    “I’m fine, sir, honestly. The kids are fine too, although it’s hard for them knowing that Pete’s in jail.”
    Craig’s voice was firm. “He deserves to be there and hopefully the court will give him years. By the way, how are things with Mike?”
    She made a face, not about Mike Augustus but about her teenage son. “Jordan’s not happy about me seeing him.”
    “Amy?”
    She smiled. “She’s just pleased that I’m happy.” Her voice dropped. “But she’s refusing to visit Pete.”
    Craig shook his head unsympathetically. “There’s nothing you can do about that. Let him try to make things up to her once he’s out. It’s not your job.”
    Annette’s face brightened. “Actually, sir, I wanted to ask you something. Would it be OK if I started to use my maiden name at work? I know I’m not divorced just yet but I’d like to now the nisi’s through.”
    Craig laughed. “Do you think Liam will be able to cope? We don’t want to confuse him.”
    She thought of Liam’s reaction and smiled. “Oh yes we do. I’ll keep McElroy privately, for the kids’ sake, but I’d like to be called Annette Eakin here.”
    Craig nodded. “Fine. Let admin know and I’ll announce it at the next briefing.”
    She rose to leave, a broad smile on her face. “I feel years younger already. Annette Eakin. I haven’t been called that since I was in my twenties.”
    “Just as long as you don’t start acting twenty something I’ll be happy. I’ve already got enough Generation Ys to deal with in this team.”
     
    ****
     
    Davy picked at the Save the Whale sticker on his PC, slowly peeling it off. Lucia had given it to him on a night out months before and it was beginning to look tatty now. As he scraped off the last remnant the musak he’d been listening to on the phone died away and Des Marsham’s cheerful voice came down the line.
    “Davy? Are you still there?”
    Davy dropped the sticker in the bin and nodded, remembering to grunt yes as well.
    “OK, good. Well, the short answer is that we’ve no hits on the first two victims at all. I’ve tried the police national computer, passports and driving licences, but there’s nothing on either mugshots or prints.”
    Davy turned his attention to an errant strand of hair, yanking it out absentmindedly as Nicky winced.
    “You s…said the first two. That means you have something on victim three.”
    “Well spotted. We got a hit. I sent the photos to the education authority as well and they