Free Thicker Than Water by Kerry Wilkinson - DS Jessica Daniel 06 - Thicker Than Water Page B

the station’s uniform store a few years ago. Adam
was wearing a T-shirt, which annoyed her as he kept insisting he wasn’t cold, even though he had only just got out of the shower. He was wearing a bobble hat, with small strands of his damp,
long black hair poking out of the bottom of it, and he still hadn’t had a shave, leaving dark wisps of hair on his chin. He glanced over the rail in an exaggerated way, then turned to Jessica
and grinned. ‘I spy with my little eye something beginning with B.’
    Jessica rolled her eyes. ‘You’re not peering through some woman’s bedroom window again, are you?’
    Adam laughed. ‘Not while you’re around.’
    ‘You shouldn’t be looking whether I’m here or not.’ Jessica paused while looking over the rail and then leant back into her seat. ‘I don’t know,
bin?’
    ‘Nope.’ Jessica gave an overstated ‘um’. ‘You can talk about work if you want,’ Adam offered.
    Although he hadn’t asked her to, Jessica had been making an effort to try to keep office matters at the station. Largely she was succeeding but Adam must have noticed how distracted she
seemed. ‘It’s fine,’ she said.
    ‘What about Jason? Is he still suspended?’
    Jessica paused to think, wondering if it was a good idea to bring work home. She sighed. ‘I spoke to him last week and he’s not coming back. Even if they find in his favour,
he’s done.’
    ‘Because he gave information to the papers?’
    The exact ins and outs were more complicated than that but, at its core, that was exactly why the inspector had been asked to stop coming to work. The fact he had been right to do it, certainly
in her mind, didn’t really matter when it came to the wrath of their bosses. You could be as incompetent as you wanted – as long as you didn’t make them look bad.
    ‘Something like that. He’s going to sit it out on full pay and then quit before he gets pushed. He hasn’t told anyone else yet.’
    ‘What’s happening with you, then?’
    Jessica thought for a few moments before responding: ‘Building.’
    ‘Huh?’
    ‘I-spy.’
    ‘Oh right, no.’
    ‘Buggy?’
    Adam leant forward. ‘Where’s a buggy?’
    ‘I don’t know, it begins with B.’
    ‘All right, no, not a buggy.’
    Jessica nodded at the bottle by his foot. ‘Beer?’
    ‘Nope.’
    Taking a deep breath, Jessica put her feet down and picked up the bottle by her own feet, taking a swig. ‘I don’t know if I want to go for the job. It’s a bit more money but
it’s a lot more faffing. I don’t think I can be arsed.’
    ‘You can’t want to be a sergeant forever?’
    ‘Bird?’
    ‘Nope.’
    Jessica swilled the liquid around and had another drink. ‘I don’t know if I want to do this at all forever. Do you want to be in a lab all your life?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Adam said. ‘Maybe. I’ve not really thought about it.’
    Jessica wished she could be like that. ‘Blonde?’ she said, nodding towards a tower block across the way from them. She could clearly see the woman’s hair colour as she shook a
rug over the railing.
    ‘Nope but thanks for pointing her out.’
    Jessica whacked him playfully with the back of her hand. ‘We’ll see. They want to interview me.’ It was a conversation they’d had before and Jessica didn’t know if
he was asking to see if she had changed her mind or because he thought she should go for it.
    Adam picked up his own beer. ‘How’s Izzy?’
    ‘She’s just Izzy. Happy being a mum, happy being at work. Now she’s had the baby, she’s back to having bright red hair and scaring some of the higher-ups. It’s good
to see her around.’
    Jessica clinked her empty bottle on the railing and turned to face Adam, raising her eyebrows. ‘I’m not getting up,’ he said, reluctantly passing across his half-full
bottle.
    Jessica took it and grinned. ‘I knew you’d give me yours.’ She took a swig, adding: ‘Balloon,’ nodding towards the horizon where a hot-air balloon