cleared her throat to speak out in protest, but Nick chose not to look at her and continued with the briefing. Once he’d brought everyone up to speed, he stood up to signal the meeting was drawing to an end.
‘Preliminary PM results might be back for team briefing this evening.’ He gave out a few more orders before clapping his hands. ‘Right, people, you have your tasks. Go and do what you do best.’
When Grace returned to her desk, there was a jiffy bag in her in-tray, her name and the address of the station typed on a large white label. She leaned across and picked it up, wondering what it could be. Turning it over, she pulled on the red cotton that would open the seal. Seeing something wrapped in pink tissue paper, she popped her hand inside and drew out its contents. Unwrapping it revealed a Barbie doll: Moonlight Rose.
Grace frowned. She’d had the exact same doll when she was a girl. It had been a present from her father. She could specifically remember him saying that it was a rose for his rose. She shuddered at the thought. Who on earth would send her this?
Sam looked over Grace’s shoulder as she walked past. ‘A Barbie doll! Where’s that come from?’
‘I don’t know. There’s no note with it and the label isn’t handwritten so I can’t even hazard a guess.’ Grace held on to the toy. ‘I think it’s someone’s idea of a joke.’
‘I loved my Barbie. Did you have one when you were young?’
‘Yes. It was my favourite doll.’
‘I got one for my fifth birthday. I think I took it to bed with me on that first night.’ Sam giggled. ‘Come to think of it, I think I took it to bed with me until I was about twelve.’
‘Did you only have the one?’ Grace asked.
‘Yes. I didn’t want any more. I remember my friend having several and I thought at the time it was greedy. How can you give attention to more than one thing at a time? They’re collectors’ items now, you know.’ She clicked on to Google. ‘That one has a sixty-quid price tag.’
‘Maybe Ken will be delivered tomorrow,’ Alex smirked, butting into the conversation.
‘I’m surprised you know she had a beau!’ Grace laughed.
‘I have two older sisters. They used to nick my Action Man and hide him all the time.’
‘You wuss! You let them girls walk all over you,’ Sam teased.
As everyone took a few moments out to join in with the toy-related banter, Grace ran a hand around the inside of the envelope again, but there was nothing else inside it.
‘Do you think it’s anyone from your Manchester crew, winding you up?’ Perry asked.
‘I bet it is,’ Grace said, but she felt strangely unnerved.
Would it be someone she knew? She wouldn’t put it past any jokers at the station where she used to work, although they would probably have done something like this during her first week here. But how would they know about this doll? Could it be a coincidence?
She opened a desk drawer, placed the doll back into the envelope and popped it out of sight for now. When she looked up, Nick was beckoning her into his office.
‘Can you go and see Kathleen Steele?’ he asked as she got to him.
‘Yes, sir. I’ll take Perry with me,’ Grace said.
‘No, go alone – try and get her at home. Pry gently, if you know what I mean.’
Grace knew exactly what he meant. Go against their DCI’s instructions. ‘I don’t think—’ she started.
Nick put up his hand. ‘It’ll be fine. I’ll square it if necessary.’
Then
She woke to the sound of screams and sat up quickly in bed.
‘Mummy?’ Pulling the covers back, she tiptoed across the carpet. When she reached the door, she hesitated. What if Daddy was so cross that he hit her again?
‘Leave me alone!’
A bang. She jumped and almost ran back to hide under the covers, but there was another scream. She couldn’t leave her mummy in the hands of a monster.
She opened the door. Another bang and the sound of breaking glass. She padded across the tiny hallway. The living room door was ajar so she peeped around the corner of the frame. Mummy and Daddy were on the floor. Daddy was on top of Mummy, but Daddy had his hands around Mummy’s throat. Mummy was going red in the face.
‘Mummy!’ she screamed.
They both turned towards her, the room dropping into silence except for the sound of heavy breathing.
‘Get back to bed.’ Daddy pointed at her.
‘You’re hurting Mummy!’
‘If you don’t move by the time I count to three, it will be my hands around your neck.’
‘Go back to bed, darling,’ Mummy said. Her voice didn’t sound like Mummy. It was all croaky and had a shake in it.
She shook her head.
Daddy got to his feet slowly. She froze as he clenched his fist and came towards the door. Then he slammed it shut in her face.
She ran back to her room. Because she knew what would happen next. Her plan hadn’t worked. Grabbing her teddy bear, she crept into the wardrobe. She covered her ears with her hands to block out the sound of Mummy’s screams. On and on they went.
‘Don’t hurt my mummy,’ she sobbed.
She hated it inside the wardrobe. It was dark and things dangled over her and scared her. But it felt safer than being in bed.
And then it went quiet. She squeezed the teddy to her chest. She could hear Mummy crying too.
‘Don’t hurt her, George, please,’ she begged. ‘She’s only six.’
‘Get her in here.’
‘No, let her be.’
There were bangs, as if someone had fallen. She heard Mummy groan. And then the bedroom door opened.
‘I’ll break every bone in your body if you don’t come out from where you’re hiding.’
Daddy’s voice was so loud and scary. She held her breath, trying not to let him know where
