Free No Hiding Place: An edge of your seat mystery/thriller. (DI Sally Parker thrillers Book 2) by M A Comley Page A

with anyone.”
    Leona looked thoughtful for a
moment or two. “I see. I can’t really tell you if Gemma had fallen
out with anyone lately. I wasn’t that close to her, not like Colin.
I suppose working odd shifts gave Colin the chance to pop over
there for a chat, more than I managed anyway.”
    Colin stared at his wife
aghast. “Hardly, love.”
    “Oh, come on. Lately I know
you’ve been working a lot of overtime, but you used to pop over
there quite often. He loves playing with Samantha, you see. We
haven’t been blessed with children of our own.” She held her mug
with one hand and reached out her other hand to touch her
husband’s. “We’re going through fertility treatment now.”
    Colin’s eyes rolled up to the
ceiling. “Yes, love. That’s in its infancy, Inspector. We have a
long way to go before they enrol us on the scheme. Plus, there’s
the matter of trying to find the money to fund all the treatment,
of course. Five grand is a lot of dosh for an ordinary couple like
us to stumble across.”
    “I understand. Have you been
trying for a baby long?”
    Leona’s eyes moistened. “About
three years now. They’re not sure what the problem is, but Colin
working different shifts to me could be the cause of it. At least
that’s what the doctor seems to be suggesting.”
    Colin patted his wife’s knee.
“All right, love. Stop talking about it. You know how upset you get
when you think about the subject.”
    Leona sniffled. “You’re right.
I’m sure we’ll get our own little one soon enough.”
    Sally studied Colin. The caring
way he patted his wife’s knee was a vast comparison to the way he’d
been moments earlier when he was alone with her and Jack. The man
was a real Jekyll-and-Hyde character if ever she saw one.
    “I hope that works out for you
both soon, Leona. Okay, I think we have enough to be going on with
for now. Mr. Whiting, would you mind showing us out?”
    Colin walked ahead of Sally and
Jack and opened the front door. He looked over his shoulder before
he spoke, “I’ll drop by the station tomorrow then.”
    “Four o’clock. I’ll be in
reception, awaiting your arrival with anticipation, Colin. Can’t
wait to hear what secrets you have to unveil.”
    He shrugged. “It’s nothing
major, I can assure you. But then, if it gets me off your hit list
of suspects, then it’ll be worth the inconvenience of coming to the
station.”
    “I’ll see you at four tomorrow.
Look after your wife, Colin. I think she’s suffering more than she
is letting on about her infertility, by the looks of things.”
    “Don’t worry, Inspector. I’m
well aware of how fragile my wife is.” With that, he shut the door,
putting an end to the conversation.
    “Little shit!” Jack
mumbled.
    They hopped in the car and
headed back to the station. “What was your impression of him,
Jack?”
    “If you must know, it was
mixed.”
    “Care to clarify that?”
    “Well, one minute, I would have
loved to bop him one on the nose, but then right at the end, when
the couple were discussing their infertility, I felt like throwing
a consoling arm around each of them. That must be hard, mustn’t
it?”
    “Wanting a baby so much that
you go down the fertility route?”
    “Yeah. What a comparison to
Teresa, eh? Apparently, she got pregnant the first time she had
sex. What are the odds of that happening?” he complained.
    “Quite high, actually, if I
recall a magazine article I read last year about the subject. Not
that it was of any interest to me of course.” Sally wrinkled her
nose. “I’ve never seen the attraction to cleaning up after a baby
twenty-four-seven.”
    Jack laughed. “You wouldn’t
object to doing that to a puppy, of course, would you now?”
    Her eyes left the traffic for a
second as she turned to wink at him. “You know me so well. They
don’t bawl their eyes out, either.”
    “True enough. Hey, what do you
think his big secret is?”
    “I have no idea. I’m leaning
towards him