Free Time to Play (North East Police) by K.A. Richardson

her friend. She allowed Danny to lead her out to the van.
     

Chapter Seven
    4 th November, 1105 hours – Sunderland City Police HQ
    Ali glared at the computer screen in front of him. Sometimes days just sucked, and this was one of those days. It had started when he arrived at work to a note on his desk from the chief superintendent requesting his attendance at a meeting at 10 a.m. – a meeting he had just got out of and was still reeling from.
    He’d been brought into the force as a secondment almost a year ago, and had initially been based out of Newcastle. Then changes had been brought forth due to budget cuts and what not, and he had been transferred to Sunderland to provide cover. The chief super had disclosed that morning that the force may not be able to justify him being in position and were considering terminating his secondment and sending him back to Police Scotland.
    To say he was fuming was an understatement. He’d uprooted his whole life to move down to the North East of England, on the proviso that the secondment would be two years in length and may lead to permanent employment. It had been somewhat easier because his brother Alex was living in Sunderland, but it had still been a hell of a decision to make, leaving his home in Edinburgh and relocating, renting out his flat, leaving his family behind. Ali was the second oldest of eight siblings, Alex being the oldest. It had been hard to walk away, even knowing they were only a few hours over the border.
    He’d really only just started settling in, had decorated the flat he rented and was just becoming comfortable with the people he worked with. To be told ‘thanks for your service but you’re not needed’ was a kick in the teeth. He wondered if it had to do with the prisoner that had escaped. Deep down he knew it hadn’t been his fault. The offender hadn’t even been in police custody at the time, but he knew people blamed him. If he was honest with himself, even knowing he couldn’t have stopped what happened, he still blamed himself. Setting his chin in determination, he resolved to speak with the Federation rep later.
    After the meeting he’d returned to his desk to find the system offline, meaning he couldn’t update Holmes on the latest spate running through Sunderland. People were doing those stupid Neknomination contests: drinking a lot of alcohol in one go then tagging a friend via social media to continue the trend. So far he’d dealt with one death from the contest and a couple of very near misses where the persons concerned had been assaulted and robbed in the street without being able to remember a thing. It was a ridiculous trend; one he hoped would peter out soon.
    With a sigh, he pushed the file to one side and reached for the next on the pile to his left. Opening it, he realised it was the Grant Cooper case. There wasn’t much to do on that one: the post mortem had ruled accidental death by drowning. The family already had the body back and were arranging the funeral. He was lucky really as the Coroner’s Office had dealt with pretty much everything, and was speedy on providing him with updates. It all just needed finishing off on the system then the file could be archived.
    Ali felt grit in his eyes and tried to remember when he’d last had a good night’s sleep. It felt like it had been ages. He was well over-due some annual leave. With everything going on it could be the perfect time to head home for some relaxation. The thought of a week of being pampered by his mum was appealing. She loved it when he or Alex went home: the house became filled with smells of baking, and the cups of coffee were endless. He knew if he went home now, the family would all rally round for tea and his mum would cook a huge roast. His mouth salivated at the thought of a full dinner with all the trimmings.
    ‘Hey, bro,’ greeted Alex suddenly, pulling Ali from his day-dream.
    ‘Hey,’ he replied. ‘Sorry, I was away with the fairies.’
    ‘No